The Systems Challenge - Chapter 15: Setting the Watches

❗[Current Writing Contest-WebNovel Spirity Awards 2025 Fantas]❗Flain grew up in a futuristic world. When he was born his parents didn't want him because he didn't live up to their expectations and so he ended up very badly.Flain was employed as a slave. He was forced to mine radioactive iron deep in the mines. It was drilled into his head that he existed only to obey orders.Young Flain was obedient. He doubted some of it but knew nothing else. For years, he never saw a single ray of light; light was only spoken of among the others as a legend.The routine was the same: in the morning, he would take a nutrient tablet and water. Then he would mine all day, sleep eight hours, and repeat.Flain worked like this from childhood until he was ten years old. He even found a friend, but that friend died of radiation poisoning right in front of Flain. Flain couldn't stop mining. He kept mining with tears streaming down his face.Before bed, Flain cried. “I will become the strongest. I will kill you all, and you will become my slaves.”Flain stopped crying, stared blankly at the rocky ceiling, then looked ahead. A manic grin appeared on his face, one that would often adorn it from that moment on.At the age of ten, Flain was assigned to a military camp due to his endurance in the mines and his survival against radiation.In the camp, Flain was trained. The regime was much looser; he even had an hour of free time each day. However, Flain didn't make any more friends. Even during his free time, he trained with a smile. He would achieve his goal at any cost, even if it meant training himself to death.Experiments were conducted on Flain. He lost his hair, two long gray arms grew on his back, and a third red eye appeared. Flain became a mutant.Flain was then sent to war. He fought with sharp katabas. He performed quite well in the war, earning himself command of ten soldiers and becoming a small commander.But one day, everything changed.Flain then dies, is swallowed by darkness, and Flain refuses to die, thus appearing as a skeleton in a fantasy world.

“She's back, let's get a divorce.”After three years of secret marriage, he suggested divorce when she faced a family's crisis and was pregnant. He also turned a blind eye to her plea for help. Disappointed, she concealed her pregnancy and signed for divorce.She thought they would be strangers after the divorce, but her pregnancy was suddenly exposed.When he proposed remarriage, she angrily said, “I only want to keep the child with me, and if you want to see them, kneel down!”She thought he would give up when faced with difficulties, but she really underestimated his abilities.Soon, a video of him kneeling and begging for reconciliation was displayed throughout the day on the outdoor big screen in the most prosperous area of the city.

This is a world where humans, demons and mysterious beasts coexist.

Humans cultivate mysterious qi. Demons cultivate corporeal bodies. Mysterious beasts cultivate soul perception.

A legend says that in the middle of an endless rainforest, there are extremely powerful existences; they are called demon kings.

Some demon kings have a tyrannical corporeal body, some are experts in illusions.
Some demon kings are proficient in magic, some can even move mountains.
Some demon kings are able to sense things thousands of miles away.

These demon kings rarely appear in the human world. Even if they emerge in the human world, they would reincarnate in human form; assimilating with mankind while seeking to breakthrough realms…

- Description from Novelupdates

A mysterious car accident caused her to be bedridden for three years.

After Ning Qing woke up, she learned two things.

One was that her elder twin sister had died in a car accident three years ago.

The other was that she had already married someone.

Her husband was Nian Lie, the eldest son of the Yan family who owned the biggest conglomerate in Yan City.

He treated her as a substitute for her elder sister. While he put her through torture, he would tell her that he loved her with reddened eyes.

Initially, Ning Qing wanted to divorce him, but later on, she indulged in his ambiguous love.

Until she stood outside the wedding venue where he was about to marry another woman.

Her heart was dead. Nothing was worth holding back anymore.

She wanted to escape, but she was unwilling to let him live the rest of his life peacefully.

Hence, under the reporters’ flashing lights, she stepped onto the bridge and jumped off with her nearly due baby…