The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village - Volume 9, Chapter 2: Colorless Prequel@Uchimaku Hayabusa

Ethan's head throbbed violently as he opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused. A dull ringing filled his ears, drowning out his thoughts.“What’s happening…?” he thought, his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up with reality. One moment, he was asleep—or at least, he thought he was—and the next, searing pain forced him awake.His vision swam, shapes blurring together in a disorienting mess. But then, muffled noises filtered through the haze—frantic, panicked sounds. Someone was trying to scream, their voice smothered, choked by something.A cold shiver ran down his spine.As his sight gradually sharpened, Ethan's breath hitched.He was on all fours, looming over someone. A girl.Her body twisted and writhed beneath him, ropes biting into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth was gagged, muffling her cries. Her wide brown eyes, brimming with fear and fury, glared up at him.Ethan's body locked in place, his blood running cold.“What the…?” His mind reeled, thoughts slamming into each other in chaotic disarray. “What kind of bizarre dream is this?”Panic clawed at his chest. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as he scrambled backward, only to realize his limbs felt sluggish, uncooperative, like they didn’t belong to him.“Is this… is this some kind of twisted fantasy I never knew I had?” A sickening thought slithered through his mind, making his stomach churn.The girl's frantic squirming slowed for a moment, her gaze flickering with confusion as she took in his expression—his trembling hands, his wide, horrified eyes. But the fear returned just as quickly. She struggled harder, her body arching, her muffled screams rising in pitch.Ethan wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could force out a word, a glowing blue window materialized before his eyes.His breath caught.A translucent, hovering screen?“What…?”Lines of glowing text scrolled across its surface.---[System Activated…][Host Confirmed.][Simulating Previous Data…]Ethan awakens in a mysterious world, shackled by a curse that clouds his judgment and drives him toward choices he never wished to make. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he must navigate the fallout of his actions while unraveling the truth behind the curse—and his place in this enigmatic new reality.

The Great Thousand World. It is a place where numerous planes intersect, a place where many clans live and a place where a group of lords assemble. The Heavenly Sovereigns appear one by one from the Lower Planes and they will all display a legend that others would desire as they pursue the road of being a ruler in this boundless world.

In the Endless Fire Territory that the Flame Emperor controls, thousands of fire blazes through the heavens.

Inside the Martial Realm, the power of the Martial Ancestor frightens the heaven and the earth.

At the West Heaven Temple, the might of the Emperor of a Hundred Battles is absolute.

In the Northern Desolate Hill, a place filled with thousands of graves, the Immortal Owner rules the world.

A boy from the Northern Spiritual Realm comes out, riding on a Nine Netherworld Bird, as he charges into the brilliant and diverse world. Just who can rule over their destiny of their path on becoming a Great Ruler? In the Great Thousand World, many strive to become a Great Ruler.

Son of the Senior Chancellor, Luo Wei, loved the wrong person in his past life. This mistake caused his entire family to be wiped out, and in the end, he was cast down as a pleasure slave, and died in the wilderness during the depths of winter.

Recommended new novel: A heartwarming story set in the '90s, “Back to 1990, She Set the Surgical World on Fire”When Xie Wanying returned to 1996 and said she wanted to become a doctor, many laughed.“A phoenix begets a phoenix, a dog begets a dog. If a truck driver's daughter can become a doctor, then pigs can climb trees.”“Not only do I want to be a doctor, but I also want to be a female thoracic surgeon,” Xie Wanying declared. When medical relatives sarcastically told her, “There is not a single female leading thoracic surgeon in the country—who do you think you are!”After the college entrance exams, Xie Wanying entered the top surgical class in the country with the highest provincial science score, began as an intern in a top-tier capital hospital, and was fought over by the heads of surgery departments. She performed the world's first minimally invasive heart valve repair, marking the first surgery in the female surgical field!The Overseas Returnee Faction senior brother was a hot bachelor in the capital's circle and changed his QQ profile picture to one with his junior sister Xie.The young boss was a handsome man who came to the hospital every day to bring flowers and offer diamond rings.Not to mention the horde of well-wishers that had practically broken down the door of old Xie's house...——————“No woman loves a man who's not a little bit bad.”When a woman married him, everyone said, “This woman must be a bad woman who would stop at nothing to curry favor with him.”Everyone was curious about what kind of person Mrs. Xiao was when they heard that Mr. Xiao had gotten married.“My wife has overshadowed me. Everyone knows she is deaf, so they blatantly speak ill of her in front of her and openly discuss the bad things they plan to do to her,”Host: ............