The Dragon of Dreams - Chapter 1: The Mistake of Man

After the divorce, I amazed the world with my child.Forced into marriage, Ning Yichu always thought that Li Linyang hated her as his wife, until one night when he got drunk and cornered her with red eyes, “Ning Yichu? The one I damn well want is Ning Yichu!”Ning Yichu believed it to be true and sweetly managed their marriage, only to be met with a divorce agreement.Five years later, she returns gloriously with a new book “The Years My Ex-husband Couldn't”, alongside a pair of genius twins. She effortlessly navigates the jewelry world, becoming a top-notch jade carving artist, winning awards left and right. Countless socialites are willing to spend extravagantly for her work, causing a sensation online.What? The green tea is sick and dying, wanting her help? No way!What? The scumbag ex-husband is kneeling at the door begging for reconciliation? Let him go.But what's with this scumbag ex-husband? She finally found a tall, rich, and handsome man to be the stepdad for her kids, yet this bastard keeps causing trouble every day!“Wife, today you held Mo Boyou's hand once, met him seven times, spoke 327 words with him!”“Go away, we already divorced. Next, I'm not only going to hold his hand, meet, and speak with him, but also hug, kiss, and walk into the hall of marriage...”The scumbag ex-husband rages, veins popping.She thought he was going to hit her, but instead, he turned and stuffed a cute little girl into her arms, saying pitifully, “Wife, I was wrong. Our daughter cannot live without mommy. Please give me another chance!”The adorable little girl looks on pitifully, “Mommy, please love, please caress, please don't abandon me!”OMG! When did you steal one of my babies?

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

There was a woman. Born as an illegitimate child and raised under the strict control of the queen, her world was as small as a well.

There was a man. He was forced to marry a woman who was his brother’s political marriage partner. His world, which was infinitely wide, became smaller.

The woman’s original sin, and the man’s resentment. “I should have just died instead…”

[Urban Bestselling Epic about the War God] “Sign it, today you must divorce that loser, Ling Fan—you’re not ashamed, but I can’t even lift my head when I go out,” my father-in-law emphatically tapped on the divorce agreement. Three days later, good son-in-law, you rise above the petty, I beg you, please don’t leave my daughter... Three years of tempering, a work of craftsmanship, the legendary War God’s ascension journey....