The Divine Elements - Chapter 196: Signs Of Trouble

The thousand-year-old Imperium is crumbling, and war looms on the horizon, bringing with it both brutalities and splendor. Caught in the midst of this chaos is Lansius, an office grunt and veteran MMO player who has been transformed into a medieval peasant. With no wealth, status, or magical abilities, and armed only with his basic knowledge of the art of war, can he endure and thrive in this realistic medieval fantasy realm?Follow Lansius as he moves from one occupation to another, striving to survive during these turbulent times.

'Kill monsters, eat meat''I mean, Kill monsters, save lives. Got it.''Tut, I could've sworn that the first one sounded better.'She wasn't a girl looking for freedom or self-righteous liberation by a hero, or whatever shit a girl who suffered for almost all her life would crave.-the shit of a life she was living was horrible, but it was bearable, and so she got used to it.Rather, instead of freedom, what this little missy wanted was money. Lots and lots of them so she never has to worry about the next day.Money - bountiful enough that when she has to spend, she doesn't need to look back or calculate her assets to see how much she has left.Money - bountiful enough to get all the fried chicken she could ever dream of. Yeah, you heard it, fried chicken.For those who did not have money to spare leisurely, getting fried chicken was like a pipe dream to them and she had been one of those unfortunate souls.A comfortable roof above her head and no worries as to when she would get ordered around to steal. No worries about when she would get her next meal--That was her liberation.And she got it. Just that, she got it most absurdly.Awakened!Those were the people ruling the world, alongside beastly and deadly monsters who threatened the safety of average human beings.And those awakened call the shots.Alice never dreamed she would one day be awakened, and compared to others with their game-like system displaying their attributes and strength; she had a full-grown man whom only she could hear, watching her back at every turn and telling her what to do.He was kinda a pain in the ass but she couldn't complain.It was this gift he had bestowed on her that made her the most powerful Awakened there was with stats that even S-class awakeneds couldn't compare to.She was the boss, now. Mwa-hahahahaha.But life didn't go as easy and leisurely as she planned. With great power comes great responsibility, right?Well, in her case with great power comes great hunger. She couldn't go a moment without getting hungry and her stomach had become a bottomless pit.And to get food, she needed money, and to get money, she had to hunt monsters. The monsters plagued humanity, causing catastrophes and taking lives mercilessly.Those monsters, as scary as they may be, were her target and she had to face them head-on.The bigger the monsters the more money she would gain.Yeah, that was the plan, but... This guy acting as her system seemed to have other plans, putting her at the forefront of 'justice' and having her clean the mess he somewhat created.'Ugh, I can already sense a shadow of foreboding. Someone, please tell me I'm not acting the main character role. I just want to eat, okay?'

'Nina?'The thought hit me before I even really processed who it was. Nina Shoka from my class. She was just walking along, probably listening to music, totally unaware that this car had lost control and was sliding right toward her.I didn't think about it. Didn't weigh the pros and cons or consider my options. My legs just started moving.I dropped my phone and sprinted toward her. The car was maybe three seconds away from hitting her when I slammed into her side, pushing her as hard as I could toward the sidewalk.She went flying, landing hard on the concrete but definitely out of the car's path.Me? Not so lucky.The impact felt like getting hit by a train. One second I was pushing Nina to safety, the next I was flying through the air. Then I hit the ground and everything went wrong at once.I couldn't move my legs. Couldn't really move much of anything, actually. There was this weird warm feeling spreading across my chest and stomach, and when I tried to breathe, it felt like drowning.'Well, this sucks,' I thought, staring up at the sky. 'Guess that's what I get for being a hero.'My vision started getting all swimmy and weird, but I could make out Nina crawling over to me. She had pulled out her earbuds and there were tears streaming down her face.“Why did you do that?” she kept asking, over and over. “Why would you do that?”I wanted to shrug, but my shoulders weren't really cooperating. It seemed pretty obvious to me - she was in trouble, so I helped. That's what you do, right? Nothing fancy about it.She was talking to me, saying my name a lot. I didn't realize she even knew my name, to be honest. We had been in the same class for like three months and I don't think we had ever actually had a conversation.“Kofi, stay with me, okay?” she was saying. “You're gonna be fine. The ambulance is coming.”

Leaning against the attic window, Luo Manman was on the verge of falling.

Her long hair obscured her expressions. With an innately ugly face, even her best efforts could hardly make her figure remotely normal.

Just as she was somewhat inclined to end it all.

[Would you like a better appearance? In exchange for a different life?] A voice named Pandora sounded in her ears.

Luo Manman quirked her lips into a faint smile and gave an unexpected reply: I don’t want it.

[…..]

After Pandora offered her one benefit after another, Luo Manman agreed to this game of life.

Pretending to breathe with difficulty

Starting to peddle composure

The already filthy viscera

Buried under the striking appearance

Was the new life of this skin really a salvation?

Or a cover up of a thrilling sin?

A story about the intersection of skin and destiny unfolded…