Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith - Chapter 182: A Portal Gallery back alley?

Due to being reincarnated into a financially struggling noble family, I had to find a way to make money.“Just wait one more day, and the next volume will be out!”“Next week is a hiatus? Are you out of your mind?”“Hurry up and give me the next volume!”“Quickly!”Before I knew it, I was overwhelmed with deadlines instead of romance.

“There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery.” — Dante AlighieriThis is a quote that dictates my life perfectly. Ever since I was a young boy, I enjoyed playing games, so much so that I carried that passion even into my sophomore years, all the way to my death.My story in life isn't all that tragic compared to the more unfortunate out there. I am your typical game creator. I made indie games and visual novels for a living.Naturally, being out of passion and an unknown solo developer, I tried my best to get my work out there, working additional jobs, doing side hustles, both online and locally, all just to survive, and all just to sponsor my work.However, in a world where competition is vast in the game industry, everything I make only ends up at the bottom rank. Because of this, I never gave up, but as I went into my thirties, this passion of mine separated me from my family.These days they don't even talk to me anymore. Depressed, alone, and on the verge of a mental breakdown, I lost all hope, and it didn't help that I had two months of rent due and bills that needed to be paid.But all that changed one night when I got a mysterious message that suddenly appeared on my laptop screen:“You who despair! Would you like a second chance at life? If yes click and offer up your life worth's negativity to me, if no forget this message completely!?”At that time, I clicked Yes by accident.But as the message said, I died due to a heart attack and reincarnated into the World of Purgatory. This was the greatest mistake of my life, as it changed it forever. However in this world I came with the power called the Administrator — a power I gained as a newborn Negative Spirit.With this power I exist as an Entity of Dreams, but even without a physical body, I was determined to make my wish come true: to be a game creator. But unlike other devs, my dreams are different. I can create scenarios in the dreams of men, forcing them to play my game. If they win, they walk out of here as an Awakened Spirit Warrior; however, if I win, the abilities they would have gained in my trials go to me. In this game of mine, anything could be wagered. In reality I have nothing to lose as the Administrator. But to the players, what they wager could be a matter of life or death.

“I only want you, Theia. Always have always will and this shall never change. How could I ever want another when I possess the one I solely exist for?”“Phobos,” I call his name fondly a need to hug him and breathe in his calming scent surfaces.“I do not wish to treat you like you are made of glass because you aren't. Your body was made for me and it can handle everything I choose to give it. And this I will prove it to you.”“When?” I ask breathlessly as he ultimately turns around to meet my curious eyes. Golden rings outline his irises his beast announcing his presence and they stand as one before me. A wicked smile paints his face with a flash of canine displayed to me. A promise he gives that I will be ruthlessly devoured.“When I fuck you senseless.”~~~After years of excruciating loneliness, Phobos approached me. A frightening beast, my soulmate who emerged from within the bounds of a ruthless thundering storm. The male I yearned for. He caught me off guard and I was under the spell he cast through his ocean eyes. A spell I couldn't defeat and that very moment I knew I was in trouble. The second our eyes met I knew he would bring me endless heartache.We were childhood friends, him and I. Phobos the gentle and playful juvenile I grew up with and looked up to as a pup vanished and was replaced by a cold-hearted barbarian, he terrified me as he killed many with a blink of his eyes. No regret, no concern his beast often in control surging forward consuming his senses. They were equals.How can I connect with a beast like him? How could I make him call me his? How can I love my childhood friend who has become a merciless monster?

A cursed CD game falls from the sky. I boot it up, build a ridiculously handsome villain with broken talents, and just as I hit “Start”—boom, I get electrocuted.Now I’ve reincarnated as Lucien Caelum Valebrandt, a six-year-old noble and the infamous villain who helped the Abyssians win the last war.Every 500 years, the Abyssian King is reborn. But when the 16 chosen heroes of this generation lost against the battle of the Abyssian King because of my character, the Goddess panicked—and rewound time.Now those same heroes remember everything… and they want me dead.Even though I just got here.All I wanted was to play a game. Now I’m the villain blamed for destroying the world.