Shrouding the Heavens - Chapter 3: Past

Let her shout out: “Oh handsome and sweet-talking Tokyo gentleman, I must have you. You are mine!”This is the story of how a boy from Iwate Prefecture became a Tokyo gentleman.

When his wife left without a word when they were young, he entrusted their child to his mother and spiraled into despair, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.Sixteen years passed in a blur, and his daughter was diagnosed with depression.As she lay on the hospital bed, she struggled to smile.“Dad, I don't blame you, and I never blamed Mom. If I have another life, I still want to be your child, but please, don't leave me again.”With that, she closed her eyes and departed from this world.It felt like something tore apart in the depths of his heart.Gu Chen fell into a coma.Upon awakening again, his two-year-old daughter was calling him “Daddy” with a sweet smile and a childish voice.He was reborn!This time, he vowed to make up for his regrets towards his daughter, to hold his wife's hand and never let her go.This time, he was determined to change everything!

Unite the Clans? Create an Empire?Atrox Soryu thought he was destined for greatness… until he wasn’t.Born into the smaller Soryu Clan, Atrox was a prodigy, praised for his unparalleled swordsmanship and relentless ambition. He vowed to become Emperor of the Eternal Skies, a title that hadn't been claimed in centuries. But on the day he was to manifest his Order Mark—the source of every knight’s power—everything went wrong.Instead of the revered Holy, Elemental, or Mystic Orders, Atrox was branded with a Forbidden Order: Something twisted and wrong. A death sentence in the eyes of the world. Branded a monster and exiled by his own father, Atrox was cast into a brutal labor camp where the weak are crushed, and the strong are barely tolerated.But exile isn’t the end—it’s the beginning. In the harshest of conditions, Atrox awakens the full potential of his forbidden powers, powers that could rival even the strongest Knights. He will forge alliances with the forgotten, turn his enemies into allies, and rise from the shadows to build an empire from nothing.Betrayed, exiled, and broken? No. Atrox Soryu is building an empire—and the Eternal Skies will bow to him.

[Simulation shall commence.]On this fateful day, the world was stunned by the appearance of ancient animals that were supposed to have gone extinct for millions of years. Huge sinkholes appeared in every corner of the world, becoming a tunnel for the ancient animals to emerge to the surface.Humans have found an answer to one of the biggest mysteries in human history. Hollow Earth is real. Here, humans will wrest their lives to explore this new world that has existed for thousands, if not millions, of years underneath them.Before the start of his exploration, Clovis came across a place called ‘Another World Mall.’Dwarven Sword, Magical Elven Clothes, or Giant Race Toy? Everything can be found in this ‘Another World Mall.’As an aspiring Subterranean Explorer, how would he utilize this ‘Another World Mall’ to become the greatest explorer of all time and find the truth about the simulation?