The Devil's Cage - Chapter 20: Snipe

He Yuan had accidentally caused his own death. He had no idea he was even dead until he suddenly woke up on the hard floor of an empty room.

As he tried to get his bearings right, a strange guy suddenly popped out of thin air and he was offered a job.

The job offer granted him eternal life with the alternative being reincarnation. Most would hastily choose to be reincarnated so they can start a new life but not He Yuan.

He was skeptical, why would anyone want reincarnation? Once you reincarnated 'you' cease to exist. He didn't care about what people said about starting afresh, gaining new memories and all that.

All he knew was that once a person reincarnated, they get thrown into a different environment, different family, meet new people and in short became a different person entirely.

What scared He Yuan the most was losing his own thoughts and hence, awareness of his current self and so, he chose to accept the job.

What did the job entail? He carried out tasks given to him by people who were called 'leasers.' They were called this because they leased out their bodies to 'taskers' for a period of time to help set their crooked lives straight.

What the leasers didn't know was that the taskers got into realms and helped them so they( taskers) could focus on their own main tasks which was world/realm balance.

These realms had 'special ones' who siphoned the luck out of it. Luck was the binding force of these realms so without it, the realms would begin to break apart and deteriorate into unlivable hells.

So in essence, leasers gave put their bodies and 'payment' in the form of soul energy, taskers helped out the leasers while balancing the realms and the realms become stable once more.

Pretty straightforward right? Yes.

But can someone tell He Yuan why these world was so full of hypocrites, Mary sue and Gary stu characters who thought it was excusable to do horrible things just because they were in love?

He Yuan grit his teeth. If you want to be in love, then be in love, was there any need to use others as stepping stones?!

He rolled up his sleeves and bounced forward. Just you wait as I teach you all a valuable lesson!

When she woke up, she had already jumped through the dynasty of history. Qiao Wei fell silent, how could she be so unlucky? Sleeping can also cross through history? Even jumping two levels, becoming the mother of the two small buns.

Looking at the small buns sparkling little eyes, Qiao Wei could not say a word of refusal.

Bad! How could she handle such a situation, she wasn’t even a mother, could anything be worse than this?

Raise the buns, get a fortune and become prosperous.

If someone is not being evil, I will leave it untouched. If people respect me, I will respect people, but if people make trouble for me, although hard, I will punish them.

Xinglin spring, even she was an abandoned woman but she could make a beautiful life too.

“Nān Nān, finally aunt found you! How did you leave that year? Aunt was looking for you like crazy! You still being alive is really good, let’s go home with aunt! A woman earning so much money is very unsafe outside!” Said a beautiful woman with a veil.

“You do not care about my children, but want to touch my money, it really hurts me! Do you know it, Aunt?” Qiao Wei looked cold.

Small steamed buns looked back and forth to a cold-looking man: “Mother, Uncle said he is my father.”

Qiao Wei smiled: “Good son, tell your father to prove his identity, what should be done?

Small buns opened a gold booklet, one by one, he said: “Joe’s Family Rules” one hundred and one, insulting an underage girl, will be given palace punishment. “Uncle, if you are really my father … …”

Ranging from a small buns finished, man grabbed Qiao wei’s chin with cold finger, showing a touch of a cold and dangerous smile: “If this Lord remembers right, it seems that night you are being hard on this Lord!”

- Description from Novelupdates

Betrayed and used, Adam Palestar was a man that dedicated ten years of his life to reach the top in the game—Mortal Online—where the strong rule and weak are abused. It was a game where a single death meant the loss of all the hard work. In the end, he died in a way that was common in this game—betrayed by his closest companions—but he never expected that to happen to him.Now, reborn and regressed back to his younger self, he has a second chance—failure is not an option.

Elara’s first life crashed hard. Cruel tricks ruined her name, broke her dreams, and turned the whole entertainment world against her. Friends betrayed her. Lovers sold her out. Everyone she trusted stabbed her in the back. The pain piled up until she felt trapped with no way out. One night, she couldn’t take it anymore. She walked to the river and ended it all in the cold, quiet water.Later, proof came out. Messages. Recordings. Everything showed she had been framed. People posted apologies online. But it was too late. She was already gone.The universe, though, clearly has a twisted sense of humor.Because somehow, Elara came back. She woke up in her own past, every awful memory still sharp in her head. Right then she made a promise she would never break: protect her gentle grandfather no matter what, and never let anyone push her to that dark place again.This time she steps into the entertainment world with her head high. She trains harder, sings better, fights smarter. The same people who once crushed her? Now they get to feel the pressure.Love? Not happening. Her heart is locked tight. But why is it that as she rises and shines brighter, handsome, powerful men start circling her—guys who never even glanced at her in her previous life were now hovering around her.The actor smiled at her during a press interview, leaned closer, and said softly, “We should have dinner sometime.”The footballer sent flowers so big they blocked her room door.The surgeon she met at a charity event checked her pulse and then forgot to let go of her wrist.The singer she collaborated with kept calling her name during rehearsals, as if the mic could not hear him well enough.Elara stared at the ceiling that night and sighed.She only wanted to sing. Why did everyone look like they wanted to adopt her, date her, or both?But the worst one came after the concert.The lights had just gone off. Her ears were still ringing. Sweat clung to her neck. She had barely stepped backstage when a shadow blocked her path.She looked up.The CEO of the greatest company in Aurelia stood there. The same man who once said her voice was “not worth investing in.” The same man who did not even know her name before rebirth.Now he held her wrist lightly, but firmly.“Let’s talk,” he said.Elara blinked. “About… sponsorship?”“No,” he replied calmly. “About marriage.”Her brain froze.“…What?”“I will give you everything,” he continued, as if asking for a glass of water. “Resources. Protection. Freedom to sing. Become my wife.”Elara stared at him, her mouth open, her thoughts running in circles.This was not how it was supposed to be.Why was the world now skipping steps?NB:This story takes place in a fictional world. Aurelia is a country. Solmere, Veston, and Starfall City are the three capital cities of Aurelia. Other cities, such as Lorien and Crelou, are smaller cities.