The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron - Chapter 166 - : Life and Death Crisis

Amidst much anticipation, the virtual reality game Dark Land, a decade in the making, has finally launched. However, its steep price has caused many long-time fans to hesitate. Meanwhile, an obscure game has gained massive attention, cleverly capitalizing on Dark Land's popularity.Qi Sheng: ”I've got a link to a cracked version of Dark Land! Free and legit!“

Eric Maddox, a 70-year-old American retired football coach once hailed for his tactical brilliance, now forgotten by time—closes his eyes for what he believes is a normal nap in his quiet Florida retirement home.But when he opens them, he's not staring at ceiling tiles, instead, he's on a touchline.Wearing boots in the rain.With players running on the pitch, fans jeering behind barriers, and the smell of cheap turf pellets in the air.“What the hell is this?”He’s twenty-five again, but it’s not Earth. It’s a world where football reigns supreme. A world where the sport is religion, its practitioners, deities in cleats. Coaches are revered, players are worshipped, and even the kit man gets treated like royalty.But there's one catch: none of it is familiar. The clubs, the players, the leagues, the competitions, and even the currency—they're all different. Alien. Like waking up in a dream where the rules are the same, but the language is foreign.As if that wasn’t enough, the body he’s now in? A youth coach with a laughable win record, a looming divorce, and a measly fifty thousand in the bank that his ex-wife is fighting tooth and nail to take. All of it.Just when the spiral seems inevitable, a monotone chime pierces the noise.[Initiating Golden Finger…][…45%… 75%… 100%][System Integration Complete.][Welcome, host. You are now bound to the Pro Manager System. Objective: Dominate the Football World. A new era begins]From washed-up has-been to chosen one of destiny, Eric Maddox is about to trade arthritis pills for tactical boards, and shuffleboard for Prestigious Cup glory.Because in this world, tactics are power.And on this touchline, he’s about to become a god.

As a true over-bearing president scum gong, when Xie He for the Nth time rejected his admirer, he heard a sentence in his head: “Congratulations on achieving the “rejects 100 hosts” accomplishment; as an award you will soon bind to the “Scum Gong and Cheap Shou” system, entering other worlds to complete capture missions.

As a scum gong, Xie He expresses that it is very easy to hide one’s true colors, but…“I Heard My Boyfriend’s Brother Secretly Loves Me,” “Teacher Love Me One More Time,” “Raising Youth Manual,” “Your Majesty, This Servant Obeys,” “The Tyrant Lord’s Substitute Lover,” “Captive of the Empire,” “Disciple’s Cultivation Furnace”…

Xie He: Wait a minute. These words sound really strange… and why is my role the ‘cheap shou’?

System: Fighting poison with poison. Using scum to overcome scum. I’ll be relying on you to abuse the scum gong! Remember to not OOC~

Xie He: He he.

Later…

Xie He: Hm? You say all the scum gong love me? Sorry, I only love myself.

- Description from Novelupdates

Gazing at the Starbucks café at the airports had become a ritual for her. A desperate attempt as she hoped against hope to see him again, probably get one more chance to kiss him again.

Looking at the store all lost, she walked ahead, but stumbled and bumped against someone.

The cup of coffee that he had in his hand spilled all over just like the first time when she had met him.

“Jesus Christ”, he muttered.

The moment she heard the voice she looked up and saw his face. It was the same face that had promised to stay next to her, till death did them apart.

Tears flooded her eyes and she could barely speak, “I knew you would come back for me Raymond”. She raised herself on her toes in an attempt to kiss him, but he blocked her lips with his palm.

“Whoa, whoa, Miss !!! I guess you have mistaken me for someone else.”

“What are you saying, Raymond? It's me, your Akira. The love of your life, your fiancée,” she said and stretched her hand showing the ring on her finger.

He stared at the ring for quite some time and then looked at her face apologetically and said,

“Miss please, I am already a married man.”

And then he silently walked away.