A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands - Chapter 46Book 3: : Conundrum

Leaning against the attic window, Luo Manman was on the verge of falling.

Her long hair obscured her expressions. With an innately ugly face, even her best efforts could hardly make her figure remotely normal.

Just as she was somewhat inclined to end it all.

[Would you like a better appearance? In exchange for a different life?] A voice named Pandora sounded in her ears.

Luo Manman quirked her lips into a faint smile and gave an unexpected reply: I don’t want it.

[…..]

After Pandora offered her one benefit after another, Luo Manman agreed to this game of life.

Pretending to breathe with difficulty

Starting to peddle composure

The already filthy viscera

Buried under the striking appearance

Was the new life of this skin really a salvation?

Or a cover up of a thrilling sin?

A story about the intersection of skin and destiny unfolded…

In a world intertwining magic, knights, and burgeoning technology, young Leonard grapples with memories of a past life in the modern world after waking up reborn in this new, tumultuous reality. Separated from his family amidst a devastating conflict, Leonard's life takes a precarious turn when he is taken under the wing of Alfonso, a reclusive and somewhat deranged wizard. Under Alfonso's tutelage and the rigorous demands of a daily task panel that rewards him for mundane chores with experience points, Leonard finds himself thrust into a harsh survival regime, far removed from his previous life's comforts. His daily life oscillates between mastering arcane spells, learning the delicate art of Earth Ring meditation, and handling the meager sustenance at the prison-like estate where he and Alfonso reside.As Leonard's skills grow, so too does his awareness of the wider conflicts that plague this world, blend of industrial revolution-era technology and dark magical forces. The task panel becomes a strange companion, guiding him through tasks that blend the mundane with the magical, pushing him to grow stronger. Amidst the backdrop of this grim reality. The complex interplay of power, survival, and the echoes of his former life drives Leonard to not only master his new abilities but to unravel the mysteries of this world and perhaps find a way back to his family, despite the cold indifference of his master. Each experience point earned and each new ring formed in his meditation brings him closer to understanding this world's brutal truths and his own place within it.

Tang Shaoyang, an orphan who dropped out of the middle school to fight on the street as he found out school was useless for a penniless orphan like him.

Tang Shaoyang dropped out of his school, fighting on the street, and made a name for himself. Berserker Tang from Youyouliucun.

Afterward, Dragon Wing triad recruited him and everything was good for him. Even though the public deemed him as a tumor of society, Tang Shaoyang was having a decent life. Until one day, everything changed as an absurd and strange game started.

[… Game starts! Stage one: Survival for The Fittest!]

After the game started, zombies appeared out of nowhere.

In a land ruled by vile monsters, where death is common and life is cruel, one outcast endeavors to have it all. When misfortune drags the odd goblin Stryg from his forest home and into the ruthless city of Hollow Shade, he must try and adapt to a world that only sees him as a dimwit savage.Stryg finds himself embroiled in a school of magic, where an aristocrat's smile is filled with deceit and the simplest of remarks may lead to death threats. Yet nothing will stop him from aspiring to his beliefs of glory: power, honor, and food with salt.But as Stryg navigates through the muddled grey waters of the Ebon Realm, he will learn that some monsters lurk everywhere.