Merchant Crab - Chapter 1: Stepping Stones

In a land where ancient families are as common as the stars, the weight of millennia-old legacies brings not only honor but also the chains of rigid traditions. Here, bloodlines are the cornerstone of power, the unyielding foundation for climbing the ladder of authority.But what hope does the descendant of a mere hunter have in such a world? How can they claim a seat at the table in this grand feast of ambition and betrayal? Is it through the fragmented remnants of a cheat ability from the game For Honor, now warped and unrecognizable? A fleeting glimpse into an uncertain future? Or perhaps a stroke of intangible, invisible luck?The stage is set, the pieces are moving—will this unlikely contender rise, or will they become just another casualty of the Game of Thrones?

A poor and bereaved medical student rescued an injured black dog from a busy road, but the black dog bit him and gave him a clinic—the Sky Clinic. If he didn’t pay the rent on time, his life would be cut short.

In order to survive, how would Ning Tao, a new cultivator, earn the good and evil value to offset the rent? What kind of bizarre and inconsistent things that were beyond his imagination would continue to happen to him? As a person between good and evil, he must keep himself balanced. How would he enhance his cultivation in the ordinary yet fantastic urban life?

This was a story of an ordinary young man who cured people while praising virtue and punishing vice.

- Description from Novelupdates

If there was an object that could grant any wish you wanted, what would you ask for?Most would ask for wealth and prosperity, while those who are sick would probably ask for health and safety.It sounds impossible, but what if something like that actually existed?...Kirigaya Yuuya, a corporate slave, found himself in an unimaginable situation.After doing a good deed for a beggar, he was given a magical candy that supposedly granted wishes.At first, he dismissed it as nonsense, but when he jokingly wished to be reincarnated as the pathetic character Arthur Vanitas from a fantasy novel he had read, he was stunned to find that the wish had come true!Fear and panic set in as he realized the fate of Arthur Vanitas was a miserable one—he was nothing more than a stepping stone for the protagonist.Just as despair started to overtake him, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.[Ding! The System of a Thousand Worlds is ready to assist you!][By completing the challenges and missions in the selected book worlds, the system guarantees a change in your fate!][Mission 1: Complete the world titled “Rise of the Unwanted Queen!”][Reward: Mastery of the Five Elements Talent and other mysterious rewards.][Mission 2: Complete the world titled “The Destruction of the World by the White Mage.”][Reward: ...]And with that, Yuuya's journey to change his fate began.

‘The moment I faced its enormous eye, an unbearable headache struck me. Just by facing it, the amount of information exceeded what my brain could handle.’

Excerpt from ‘Things I Encountered in Space’ by Terra race space adventurer ‘Con Arche’.

…No, I was just looking out of curiosity…?