HP: The Arcane Thief - Chapter 3: The Changes

In 2173, the world’s first Full-World Virtual MMORPG game ‘Astral Online’ went on sale globally, forever changing the blue planet Asteria!

With its revolutionary Digital Capture System, astonishing graphics and ability to scan yourself into the game with up to 20% beautification, countless defenders rallied to play the game.

Fifty million players logged in on launch. There were no queues or lag on launch, leaving countless critics impressed and willing to try the game. Because the game used a 6-hour play limit a day, it allowed even working adults to keep up with young students and the unemployed.

A resounding success, as more people poured onto the game servers, families and friends alike. Astra Online became a household name overnight.

One month later, the game opened its first RMT system, which made earning a living from the game easier... Thus began the Astral rush!

Professional players formed guilds and factions to increase their profits, but nobody could know this prosperity was a mere joke.

One year later, players fused with their avatars, gaining powerful abilities in the real world, which tipped the power and caused chaos.

Two years later, demons and monsters from inside the game invaded the real world.

Three years later, over 90% of humanity perished, leaving the rest to hide like rats, unable to fight back in fear.

Four years later, this world is no longer ours. The demons march on our last bastions, one by one. They exterminated us.

Zell was an average player who liked to collect beasts in the game and evolve them into humanoids, as they were primarily females.

He spent most of his life working two jobs to make ends meet.

Thanks to the excellent healthcare of his country, there were no crippling debts. There was only emptiness.

When the end came, he was powerless and alone. His only companions were his cute pets and Rika, his cherished Flame Rabbit.

She was the only beast he evolved to a humanoid form after his late start to the game.

He died saving the life of a strange girl with white wings and his pet Rika, the sad eyes of Rika and the girl’s sorrow floating through the air as he slowly passed away.

However, instead of dying, he awoke inside an empty white room with a single computer and a strange, game-like screen that allowed him to edit his IRL avatar and persona.

Who offered him this second chance?

For what reason did they help him?

Can he meet Rika again?

Zell could never know; he only knew his second life’s goal.

Survive!

Born with an inauspicious birthmark on her forehead, Annalise finds out that she doesn’t have long to live.

Her determination to uncover the history behind her birthmark and get rid of it before her death day made her stumble into a temple, accidentally awakening the demon which had been sealed within but how could she have foreseen that her desperation would lead her to an even greater doom?

The prince of darkness, the most powerful, feared and merciless Roshan Arlow is finally back! With only one aim in mind and it screams vengeance!

But when a certain human keeps meddling with the affairs of his plans, he has to decide between getting rid of her or making her a pawn to his endless game.

Anna is desperate for the cure and even agrees to a game of foreplay one certain night.

But what happens when the demon starts to find her a little…. tempting?

[Adapted into Manhwa]In a world teetering on the brink of annihilation at the hands of the primordial evil, Erebos, five heroes rose to challenge fate. [The Brave] Arion. [The Divine Blacksmith] Dweno. [The Nebula’s Progenitor] Luna. [The King of Wisdom] Lisinas. And finally, me, [The Hero of Beginnings] Kyle.After my reincarnation, I found myself hailed as a great hero. “Except for one small detail, nobody mentions me.”At the Hero Academy, where the sacred gift bestowed by the gods, the Hero Record, chronicles the deeds of legends, I enrolled to uncover the truth behind my forgotten legacy.“Fine, then. I’ll just go there and become the top student. No big deal.”

One day every human on the world suddenly receives a mail claiming to enact the World Salvation Project. Half in doubt Kurosaki Shion, a diligent university student and loner, follows the mail’s instructions, becoming one of a million Demon Kings governing his very own Domain in the new world.

*** This is a post-apocalyptic story containing many fantasy elements. It is a somewhat dark tale following Shion as he grows while aiming for the unification of the all too sudden new world. It has many game-elements bolstered by strategical thinking while at the same time providing funny moments and romantic encounters.