JACKAL AMONG SNAKES - Epilogue 3.3: Relics of a Bygone Time, Working Well Into Modernity

“I'm sorry, Kiara,” he began, his voice heavy with regret. “We regret to inform you that we can no longer administer these drugs to you.”I was dying. I was going to die.Kiara Williams was dying from Stomach Cancer. With only a few months to live, she could only stay at the hospital.Alone. Her annoying husband did not come and visit her, only her best friend, Jessica remained by her side. She could no longer pay the bills and was sent home.Arriving at her house she caught Jessica and her husband together in bed. In a fight, her husband pushed Kiara down the stairs.Kiara died.Or did she? She was reborn ten years back, but rather than being destroyed, she begged a strange man for a one night stand unless she may die again.

Eli Turner had perfected the art of coasting through life, gaming, lounging, and vibing with no grand ambitions beyond the next high. But his laid-back existence is upended when his laptop inexplicably transforms into a gateway to another world. What starts as a surreal escape becomes a perilous journey as Eli finds himself wielding a mysterious system that allows him to level up, fight monsters, and gain abilities beyond his wildest dreams.At first, the portal world feels like a haven, offering purpose and adventure Eli never knew he craved. Guided, or manipulated, by Azrael, a mischievous god orchestrating the game, Eli rises as one of the system's chosen players. But as the quests grow more dangerous and Azrael’s true intentions begin to surface, Eli struggles to balance the fantasy world with his life back home. His girlfriend, Sara, and his friends are left grappling with a version of Eli they hardly recognize, as the lines between his two lives blur.When the system expands to players worldwide, Eli crosses paths with others drawn into Azrael’s cosmic experiment: Yumi Tanaka, a fiercely disciplined Japanese student with a perfectionist streak, and Arjun Mehta, a charming Indian playboy with secrets of his own. Each carries their own burdens and ambitions, but all three must face the harsh truth: Azrael’s game is far more than it seems.As alliances are forged, rivalries ignite, and the stakes escalate, Eli must confront not only the dangers of the portal world but the growing rift between the person he is and the hero he’s becoming. In a game where every move is a test and every choice ripples across both worlds, the question remains: can Eli, Yumi, and Arjun uncover the truth before the system consumes them all?

When the Terminally Ill Noble Allenbert woke up from his fever, he realized that he was the reincarnation of Karzan, the mad dog who roamed the underworld.…But something about this place doesn’t feel right.“Allenbert, nobles need secrets and darkness.”The sinister and chilling schemes of his brother, like a snake, are suffocating him from all sides.“You’ve been causing quite a stir lately.”The powerful and authoritative eyes and ears of the head of the family are hidden everywhere, watching him.“…When will I see Mother?”Meeting his mother, who has secluded herself due to a mental illness, seems impossible.“But it’s okay.”Karzan failed, but Allenbert’s journey is just beginning.“Two lives, two revenges.”There’s no mercy.I’ll pay back with interest, and make sure it’s done properly.

Zhuang Xian was abducted when she was three years old and lived in an orphanage until she was sixteen when the Zhuang family adopted her. From then on, she jumped from being an orphan with nothing to a little princess. But she wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to find her birth parents and get their love, but she didn’t expect to instead find a family of jackals and snakes. They took advantage of her trust to annex her adoptive parents’ company and forced them to their deaths.

Her three brothers fled abroad, while Zhuang Xian was beaten and scolded by everyone. Locked in a warehouse, she was forced to endure torture for the whole month with a clear mind thanks to drugs. In the end, she died miserably due to her fiance and her sister’s plotting against her. That cheating scumbag and prostitute! Zhuang Xian swore before her death that if there was a next life, she would be willing to do anything for the Zhuang family, and she wouldn’t let these people deceive her like this again! She would make sure that those who treated her well would have a good life! Zhuang Xian didn’t get the next life, but she did return to the first three years of her adoption. For three years, she stayed under the radar and created multiple identities for herself.

When three years were up, she returned to the Zhuang family and beat up those scumbags, while her three brothers doted on her as though she was a treasure! Outsiders say that the Zhuang family’s adopted daughter didn’t learn well when she was younger, that she was completely illiterate, and that she was stubborn. The reason she was rejected by her previous adoptive family was that she was prone to stealing.

However… She was the Chess Saint, the Gold Medalist Designer, and also the world’s best doctor! All of them were her! There was also the crazy slave-like man who loved to spoil her and loved to show off his wife, “Zhuang Xian is beautiful, right? She’s my wife!”