An Alchemist's Path to Eternity - Chapter 26: Unscrupulous Merchants, All are Unscrupulous Merchants

“It's 2025. Who's gonna believe a myth or fantasy anymore? That only exists in the book or game or anime.”And that's how everybody thought before the announcement that flipped the entire world completely.Everybody race to become the new god with the system they got.So, how about the people who don't get the system?( Hey, kid. I can give you some power. Let's make a contract. )

[Mature Content]I was born a bastard to the Archduke of Beloria, scorned because of my odd-looking hair and sickly body, maltreated by my stepmother and sister.And my father? He never looked my way. I was the reminder of a mistake he could never accept.My entire life should've been trying to live through my days as a labeled whores daughter and the taint to the noble house but everything changed when my marriage to the Lycan Monarch was announced.Lycans are apex predators, superior beings, beastmen, and originators of those horror stories your parents told you about to make you behave. My father saw fit to throw me to the beasts as a means to reclaim the lost lands.I was the bargain for a better future for the last human kingdom, but I felt more cursed than blessed. Forced into training to please a beast and ensure I was fit to be his wife.I dreaded the day I'd wed the Monarch and be treated no less than human meat. I've heard stories about him, and they are far worse than any combined. They call him a mindless beast, merciless, the ultimate feared being in the entire realm, and the terror that bested the vampires in war and ended it under his rule.My future was bleak.But when the day arrived and I set my gaze on the beast I'm meant to marry... I realized Drevon Balthar was unlike the rumors; they didn't tell the whole story.

“Honey, be good…Give me your phone…”

“No, no!” The internet-addict girl clutched onto her phone, determined not to give him.

The handsome and noble man slightly sighed. He lowered his body to hug the girl.

“You’re not listening again, hm?” She immediately handed her phone over cowardly as he said so in a clear and distinct voice.

He was the eminent and noble Master Li, a powerful figure in the business world.

She was just from a normal family that suffered from her stepmother’s schemes, a pitiful girl.

An accident made him appear in her world.

Since then, everyone in S City knew that Master Li had a treasure and cherished her dearly. He feared that she might be wronged in the tiniest bit. He will personally tutor her in her studies, personally be her training partner in video games, and even reserve the movie theaters for her movies.

- Description from Novelupdates

Koi Niles has always been alone. Quiet halls and empty lunchtimes are his familiar companions. Grades matter to him; they’re his way out.Ashley Miller owns the school corridors. Captain of the ice hockey team, confident smile, and a name everyone knows. When a class project pairs them together, Connor sees a chance. But Ashley disappears, leaving Connor to carry the weight.Days later, under the harsh lights of Connor’s part-time job, Ashley returns. This time, it’s different. He stands up for Connor, turns the tide against the bullies. A simple act of kindness that feels new and warm.They share moments—short walks, brief talks, the understanding of two worlds colliding. Friendship grows where none was before.But Ashley holds a secret behind those bright eyes. One evening, worry leads Connor to Ashley’s door. What he discovers there changes everything he thought he knew.