Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 86: Night cloak(2)

'Nina?'The thought hit me before I even really processed who it was. Nina Shoka from my class. She was just walking along, probably listening to music, totally unaware that this car had lost control and was sliding right toward her.I didn't think about it. Didn't weigh the pros and cons or consider my options. My legs just started moving.I dropped my phone and sprinted toward her. The car was maybe three seconds away from hitting her when I slammed into her side, pushing her as hard as I could toward the sidewalk.She went flying, landing hard on the concrete but definitely out of the car's path.Me? Not so lucky.The impact felt like getting hit by a train. One second I was pushing Nina to safety, the next I was flying through the air. Then I hit the ground and everything went wrong at once.I couldn't move my legs. Couldn't really move much of anything, actually. There was this weird warm feeling spreading across my chest and stomach, and when I tried to breathe, it felt like drowning.'Well, this sucks,' I thought, staring up at the sky. 'Guess that's what I get for being a hero.'My vision started getting all swimmy and weird, but I could make out Nina crawling over to me. She had pulled out her earbuds and there were tears streaming down her face.“Why did you do that?” she kept asking, over and over. “Why would you do that?”I wanted to shrug, but my shoulders weren't really cooperating. It seemed pretty obvious to me - she was in trouble, so I helped. That's what you do, right? Nothing fancy about it.She was talking to me, saying my name a lot. I didn't realize she even knew my name, to be honest. We had been in the same class for like three months and I don't think we had ever actually had a conversation.“Kofi, stay with me, okay?” she was saying. “You're gonna be fine. The ambulance is coming.”

Chi Xiaochi: fourth-rate citizen at birth, three-time award-winning film emperor, second-rate temper, first-class looks. He crawled his way out of hell on hard mode to become a winner at life.

All I know is this is just wrong. I was just reading the latest chapter of One Piece in my computer. And an annoying survey popped up asking me if I want to play One Piece new beginning. Thinking nothing of it I said yes.And selected ‘Realistic’ difficulty.There was a game loading screen. Loading gibberish, and warning me that the world has a lot of surprises in store for me. Not all things are same, because I had to choose the ‘developer’s time-line’.And then telling me to brace for Character Synchronization. And before I knew it, I was no longer your average Joe. And this wasn’t earth either… no this was One Piece.And, I was Monkey D. Luffy. The future King of pirates.I mean what could go wrong? If Luffy could do it, so could I.But this wasn’t the same One piece world I remember. Some changes are small like Kuina being Zoro’s rival… who’s alive.While others were huge. Like… did you know, Whitebeard had an actual beard?! Man looked like Santa Claus on steroids. Jaked and shit!Just what did I get myself into?But does it matter?No.Because I’m going to have the time of my life. This was going to be one heck of an adventure.

Damien's life was ruined two decades ago by betrayal: his dearest friend Ethan and sister Serena betrayed him, leaving him impoverished and broken. Damien was consumed by vengeance and spent years rebuilding his kingdom, preparing to strike revenge.His plan is now being carried out: he sends his son Nate to seduce Ethan's daughter Evangeline, with the intention of breaking her heart and destroying her family. But as old secrets resurface, Nate discovers harsh facts about his father's betrayals, compelling him to doubt everything.Meanwhile, a shadow from Damien and Ethan's past, James, reappears with his own desire for vengeance, threatening to destroy both families in the concept of killing two birds with one stone.Betrayal by Love is a compelling story about love, vengeance, and the deadly consequences of justice.Who will ultimately triumph in this battle?