Merchant Crab - Chapter 29: Dessert and Taxes

In the year 2100, global warming has long since made the Earth's natural surface uninhabitable with a new ice age. Humanity takes refuge in huge, closed cities, but life is difficult. Video games are the opium of the people, letting them escape the chaos of life in immense metropolises.

In 2100, the first fully immersive VRMMORPG, "Horus," was released, and the world changed! Entirely coded by an independent AI, "Horus" made all other games look meaningless by comparison.

Megacorporations quickly monopolized on the wealth "Horus" allowed its players to amass, and soon people like Alexander were spending their lives slaving away to make money for the companies who employed them.

But on the day Alexander died of exhaustion, collapsing in his gaming booth...

...He woke up, alive, nine years earlier.

One day before "Horus's" launch.

"This time, I'll do it right! I know everything that's going to happen! I'll become the strongest, and no one will take advantage of me again!"


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///This work takes place in an MMORPG whose main goal is the exploration and conquest of space.///

///my two main inspirations are: The Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God and the Legendary Mechanic.///

///I care about the coherence of the story, even if the theme of overpowering is present, it is thanks to the reflexive and opportunistic choices of the MC and not a chance to come out of nowhere. ////

Humanity's end came without warning when a crimson fog swallowed the sky. Zhao, an ordinary man, watched in horror as a celestial voice declared their fate: their Planet had reached its limit, and its people would now atone for their sins. An otherworldly force crushed resistance, and in an instant, every human was teleported to the Central Land, a vast and hostile realm.The voice from the heavens promised trials that would shatter their wills, but also power beyond imagination for the fortunate. Only those blessed by luck would awaken unique Lord Talents, granting them the means to survive and dominate:In a world where strength lies supreme Zhao will do whatever it takes to get stronger.Zhao awoke in an isolated area near a forest. As despair set in, a voice echoed in his mind:Ding… Million Times Multiplier System has been activated.Just as the rest of the players had known of the world Zhou's subjects were clearing out every resource.When others were building their base he had built a kingdom.And by the time they knew of his threat, HE HAD ALRDY BECOME GOD!

Until he became the lowest-ranked master, his lonely and luckless life never changed.

Suddenly one day, a descendant injected him with a nanomachine, and the machine started ‘speaking’ to him.

“What? What are you talking about?”

This was beyond the boy’s knowledge, he turned pale.

The Nanomachine linked to his cerebrum realized the User was not understanding a single word it said.

“Who are you, and why are you doing this to me?”

“Nano Mashin?”

The boy’s face hardened.

Mashin was the deity the Mashin Religion worshipped, along with the Sacred Fire.

The religions’ Master communicated with Mashin.

“Um, are you really Mashin?”

The boy knelt down and asked with a trembling voice. At this, the Nanomachine attached to his cerebrum realized it had been misunderstood.

At dawn.The light of dawn lingered, hesitant to arrive, while the remnants of the setting sun had long faded into darkness. Within the city shrouded in thin mist, the hidden churches in the shadows, veins clinging to the cracks in walls, the gnawing sounds echoing from the sewers, and the murmuring shadows...A lantern bearer strolled forward.