MTL - The Cold Regent Keeps a Fox as a Consort - Chapter 971 Without his part

Year 2035. A groundbreaking game—“Glory Lords: Arcane War”—takes the world by storm.With cutting-edge VR immersion, players can feel the pulse of magic, the tremors of battle, and the weight of every decision. But more than just a game, it becomes the ultimate stage for global esports. Elite teams rise, billion-dollar prize pools emerge, and the entire world is swept into the frenzy.But for Ethan Parker, this isn’t just a game. It’s a gamble with fate itself.Las Vegas. Midnight. A secret high-stakes game.On the table lies the world’s only Legendary-tier artifact—the Stone of Glory.Its value? Far beyond a billion dollars. Because hidden within it is a secret—one that can rewrite the very rules of reality.Ethan bets everything. And loses.In that moment, he doesn’t just lose the artifact—he loses his future.Then, the world changes.The game and reality merge.Earth is no longer the world it once was. Society collapses, replaced by a brutal new order where a person’s rank in “Glory Lords: Arcane War” determines their status in real life.The strongest players become kings.The weakest? Slaves.And the one who won the Stone of Glory—Griffin Musk—rises to absolute power, ruling over this new world as its supreme leader.As for Ethan? Once the #1 player in the world, he loses everything—his account, his status, his freedom. Reduced to the lowest class, he suffers, tortured until his final breath.But now—he’s back.Reborn with the memories of his past life, he returns to the moment it all began.This time, he wins the gamble.This time, he won’t let the world fall into Griffin’s hands.But fate has more in store for him…When he logs into the game, he realizes something is off.Not only is he the first player in the world to own private territory, but he also acquires something unheard of—the only Legendary-tier unit in existence: the Green Dragon.And then—something even more shocking.These two Green Dragons aren’t just powerful units. They’re heroes. With growth potential and combat abilities surpassing even top-tier players, they have the power to change the course of the entire game.At that moment, Ethan knows—his path to the top has begun.But the real world isn’t done with him yet.Governments, military forces, corporate giants, secret organizations—and even Griffin himself—are now watching his every move.This time, it’s not just about revenge.This time, he’s taking control of the future.The war of heroes has only just begun…

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

With A Tale of Blades & Blood, the world of Avalion takes shape in the form of an all too familiar world. Filled with morals either clear or grey, war is inevitable while peace never lasts. Fifteen centuries of watchful peace and subtle tension have finally boiled, and the conflict rises once more, now filled with more bloodshed than ever before.Beyond the mountains of the Nortenhein, the Weslands arm themselves to take back their lands and bring forth to the south and the east A Bloody Winter. To the east, over hills and through forests of old and past the waters of the Red River, The East Plains stand tall with the Spire as its center, ready to fulfill their Dream of Vengeance. Deep in the south where the cities stand and to the west where the walls never crumble, steel meets steel as brother fights brother in A Dance of Fire and Swords.Witness the adventures of Orevian Ballister, Norien Ravenhan, Forien Strix, and Loran Aelond as they face battles of wits, blades, honor, glory, and tragedy in a story that shall never be forgotten:A Tale of Blades & Blood.

“Master, the people from the Zhuang family have come to cancel the engagement.”

“My fiancé whose beauty was said to be capable of causing the downfall of a city, finally decided to throw me away?”

“I think so.”

“I want to see this legendary beauty, and confirm whether this bastard is as really great as people said to have no flaws in all 360 degree, a picturesque appearance however you see him; does he need me to help him open the corner of his eyes (Epicanthoplasty) or reshape his chin (Genioplasty)?”

“Actually, he didn’t come.”

“He didn’t? He didn’t even come to cancel the engagement? What a wicked b***h.”

“He definitely will get karma.”

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