The Inner Odyssey - Chapter 66: Ancestral Pool

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…

Praise the Orc! is about Jung Ian, a cafe owner with a dark past, jumping into the world of virtual reality in order to protect his sister from any predators. However, things may not be as simple as he first believed them to be. Witness as he explores the lands of Elder Lord as an orc, a species labeled as the “game creator’s mistake”, defeating any and all before him!

[Welcome to the Magic Universe, a world where magical power reigns supreme.][Congratulations on awakening the Infinity Money System.][Feel free to splurge your money and prove to the entire universe that there's nothing money can't solve.][If there is, it simply means you don't pay enough money!]So, the show of your adventure begins![Detected: Host burned Forbidden rank Scrolls for warmth, rewarded with God rank bloodline: Heart of Origin!][Detected: Host used Temporal Shard to ripen grapes, rewarded with God rank talent: Master of Time!][Detected: Host fed Leaves of the World Tree to a rabbit, rewarded with Mythical Beast: Aetherlapis!][Dear Host, you now bought and own the entire Magic Universe.][Which universe would you like to conquer next?]Good, let’s move on![Ding! Abnormality detected.][Warning, Host, you are not the only system processor…]

Reina Suzuki was an overworked office worker—until she died and woke up as Lavinia Devereux, the infamous villainess princess of the Elarion Empire.She knows how this story ends: she’ll drink poison and die. A painless, easy death. So why bother changing fate? Villainy, revenge, redemption—sounds like way too much work. She decides to do absolutely nothing and let the story play out.But her terrifying father, Emperor Cassius Devereux, won’t ignore her like he’s supposed to. He watches her, questions her, and—worst of all—starts acting like he actually cares.Lavinia just wanted a quiet villainess retirement… so why does everything keep changing?