Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 542: News of victory

【Female Lead’s pleasure-seeking + high IQ palace intrigue + female lead schemes against the entire harem + crazy villain personality】

Song Zhao has always been a woman who spares no means to achieve her goals, and at the same time she lives more clearly than anyone else.

From the moment she knew she was chosen by Xiao Jingheng to enter the palace as a concubine, her goal has been very clear:

“I entered the palace just to become the Empress, why else? To go cook for someone else?”

Therefore, as soon as she entered the palace, relying on her beauty and wisdom, she took steps to win the monarch’s heart, and played with the six palaces in her palm.

Anyway, the women in this harem, for the sake of family, for their own favor and honor, there are none who do not compete and snatch,

Since this is the case, what she has to do is take preemptive action,

Make herself a villain, defeat everyone, and successfully ascend to the Phoenix throne.

At first, Emperor Xiao Jingheng favored Song Zhao, just because of her unparalleled beauty in the harem.

The favored concubines often become arrogant due to favoritism, but Song Zhao was different.

Not only did she not compete for favor, she always advised Xiao Jingheng to share his rain and dew evenly, and often go to other concubines.

Her attitude towards him in her daily life was also visibly perfunctory.

This inevitably made Xiao Jingheng suspicious, feeling that Song Zhao was not truly sincere towards him.

The innate desire to conquer that emperors possess made him secretly determine to completely possess this woman:

Not just her person, but her heart as well.

The process of conquering Song Zhao was like climbing the highest mountain in the world.

It’s just that Xiao Jingheng never thought:

When he climbed Mount Song Zhao, he willingly climbed it for a lifetime.

【No transmigration, no rebirth, no golden finger】

It was the year 2050. The world had released an online game, “Second World”, that shocked the public beta. Gold from the game could be exchanged for real-life currency, attracting countless players. Every country in the world fought for game resources. The main character immediately entered the game after this wave.

After entering the game as an adventurer (job before job change), he stepped into the first stage of his life. It was a stage that even a child could pass.

He thought that it was a normal stage. However, he did not expect to be locked into the game and continuously repeat the stage!

As time passed, the stage finally let him pass as per normal a thousand years later. He finally left the dungeon after clearing the stage. It was only now that he realized that this was only the second day of the game!

He realized that this was not a dream after he saw his attribute panel. What followed was a variety of system notifications!

“Reached MAX proficiency with the ax—Ax God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the sword—Sword God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the heavy shield—Shield God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with all weapons—Almighty Master!”

“As your proficiency as an adventurer has overloaded and you have not changed your job in a long time, you can now undergo a unique job change as we have detected your proficiency with weapons—Battle God!”

A deep crack appeared on the ground when he struck the level 1 wild monster with the small wooden sword in his hand!

Time is an illusion, and reality is a fragile thread in Kael's fractured world.Kael's life is defined by darkness, memories that flicker in and out like glitching shadows. Struggling with haunting nightmares and terrifying hallucinations, he finds himself trapped in a reality that doesn’t make sense—a reality where time is breaking, and nothing is as it seems.When a mysterious red notebook, filled with cryptic symbols, falls into his hands, it opens a gateway to a world where the laws of time no longer apply. Every hour, every minute, every second twists and warps, and Kael begins to realize that something—or someone—is manipulating time itself, pushing him to the edge of his sanity.But he's not alone. A girl, whose existence is as twisted as the world around them, seems to be connected to his suffering. Kael's bond with her grows as they both search for the truth behind their disturbing experiences, yet the more they uncover, the deeper they fall into an abyss of despair and madness.The Pulse, an unfathomable force that distorts time and reality, pulses through their very existence. As Kael inches closer to the truth, he faces a devastating choice—one that could either save them or shatter everything they hold dear.Time is collapsing, the Pulse is awakening, and Kael must confront the horrors lurking in the fractured timeline before it consumes them all.

The story is stubbed. Some of its chapters are only available over on Kindle Unlimited. You can read up to chapter 4 for free here, including any chapters beyond the books I've published. Link to Amazon.“Survival of the fittest is easier said than done...why couldn't I have been reborn a bit bigger, huh?”If waking up in a new world wasn't bad enough, an idealistic teen starts her new life as a newborn dragon not by being embraced by a loving family, but having to escape two hungry kobolds wanting some grilled lizard for breakfast. Now, status screens obscure her vision in a hostile forest filled with vicious magical monsters, as two concerning Titles welcome her to her new life.Equipped with fragmented memories from her past life and the game-like mechanics of her new reality, the young dragon must face trials and tribulation, undeterred by the reaper's scythe inches from her neck. Despite her challenges, she is determined to find civilization. For nothing will stop her from fulfilling her one true desire: to become an Idol.Note: I am currently editing and rewriting my early chapters due to growing as an author over these two years. If you guys notice a sudden drop in writing quality or not a note that this chapter was edited, then please know that I haven't edited them yet. I am using you guys' feedback to grow, so thank you for your patience!