The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm - Chapter 5

A story about a history teacher gaming-addict with familial trauma, and a peculiar woman seemingly stuck out of time and beyond out of touch.The two have been thrust into the weird and whimsical world of Altros, a planet with divides born of very real superhuman strength cursory of an odd ranking system, and, naturally, species differences.Not exactly the best of news for our resident Scottish history teacher whose ears have changed into fox ones alongside his nine new fluffy tails.First though, Darren, or Lone, or whatever else the weird system claims he's called, has to figure out how to live with his new companion Sofia, for seemingly forever while also just barely managing to survive being stranded on a monster-infested island with a self-proclaimed former-immortal who can see despite being blind, can freely teleport, and who also, of course, seems prone to experience bouts of extreme depression.Not an ideal situation when he himself hasn't been in a great headspace for over a decade now. But hey, at least there's an incredibly expansive litRPG system to keep the both of them entertained, right? That'll fight off the fear of death, surely.

What is worse than being the worst team in the world?

For Dave Richards that was a very easy but heartbreaking question to answer, a goalkeeper who performed poorly between the sticks, he was still available as a first-choice goalkeeper because Unique FC didn't have any other goalkeeper.

He was slow on his feet, couldn't jump properly and worst of all, he didn't know how to hold the ball properly.

The only way that Unique FC was able to survive taking in a massive goal-fest sometimes was because of the extra effort they put in their defence.

After a terrible match in which Dave wasn't able to make any saves and also made a lot of mistakes, he was seriously scolded by the managerial staff and almost received a beating from his angry teammates.

He got home sad and also angry at all those who told him he looked like his grandfather and would therefore inherit his goalkeeping skills.

He discovered a hidden door below his room and when he got down there the only thing he could see was a black box.

He found the box to be quite familiar and when he opened it the last thing he saw was a bright white light when the light was gone he could see something in his field of vision.

[ Welcome Dave ]

[ You have activated the Goalkeeping system ]

A female voice read out the messages.

This is a story about how an ordinary man who didn't know his place between the sticks went from nothing to pro.

Interview (YGZ – Father, ZZ – Mother, ZW – Son)

1. What is something you carry everywhere with you?

YGZ: A gun.

ZZ: I prefer being indoors, specifically inside a lab.

ZW: Anything that has access to the internet.

2. What is your favorite hobby?

YGZ: Shooting.

ZZ: Experimenting.

ZW: Hacking.

3. What is your worst fear?

YGZ: My wife’s cooking.

ZZ: My lab burning.

ZW: No access to the internet.

4. What is your spirit animal and why?

YGZ: A Bigfoot – has hands to hold a gun.

ZZ: An eagle – has good vision, useful for observing.

ZW: A Spider – can spin a web.

5. What is your biggest regret?

YGZ: Letting my wife escape after our first night.

ZZ: My son being a genius. I chose YGZ to be the father of my child because I thought he was a limbo.

ZW: Not reuniting my parents sooner.

In the far future humanity is threatened by monstrous beings called kaiju now humans have expanded across the galaxy with the development of new techniques and fleets of mechs.Alto a young boy with dreams of becoming a great mech pilot is forced to be a mech designer. He finds a strange technology that opens his eyes to the vast secrets of the galaxy, now with a new purpose Alto must become something the world has never seen before.A/N: Just wanna do a good sci-fi book