Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars - Chapter 720

Lane Allen, an A-rank Guide, got injured on an emergency mission suppressing a dungeon break, and perished in his almost-lover’s arms.As the remaining members of his team continued to fight for their lives, in a fancy apartment in a distant part of the city, a young man opened his eyes.“Phew… That hurt like hell…”“It’s a bit of a shame to switch so soon… But I guess it is what it is.”“Anyway, who should I become next?”Actually, Lane Allen was not a Guide, but rather an Esper with a mysterious Plunder ability! It allowed him to possess other people’s bodies, and steal their awakened abilities. Keeping his real body safe, Lane could enjoy life to the fullest, constantly swapping identities, and doing whatever he wanted without ever worrying about the consequences! How great was that?Except…Damien Lennox grabbed Lane’s arm, and pressed him against the wall, his clear green eyes staring down at Lane intently, as if he could see right through him. “There’s no one else whose guidance feels so harsh and chaotic, yet pleasing at the same time.”It seems that Damien was somehow able to recognize Lane even after switching identities, and is unwilling to let him go?

In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.

The hero who was killed by the demon king ended up reincarnated as the son of the one who killed him! Thus began the life of the hero who donned in the mask of the ideal demon prince to topple his own kingdom while doing his best to prevent anyone from discovering his identity―― But to do that and blend into the demon tribe society, he had to kill his former comrades. Nevertheless, to become stronger, to save humanity, he had to walk through all kinds of paths of carnage! This is the tale of the demon race’s fake prince destroying his own kingdom.

O Hero, Trample Those Who You Should Protect!

TN: Most part of the other character in the novel is depicted from a non-human perspective so expect something that is completely different from the common sense of human.

Leguna. An orphan. His life changed dramatically the day the thieves’ guild happened to select him for training and development. He would go on to become lifelong friends with a loyal mercenary, the partner of a beautiful magus who was cold as ice, the savior of a mysterious disfigured dark-elf girl with a talent for the Breath, and the unlikely caregiver for a feisty young maiden. And yet, who would be with him to the very end?