This World Needs a Hero - Chapter 16

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.

Riding out the apocalypse on a tropical island isn't exactly a vacation. When mana arrives on Earth, Coop finds himself isolated in paradise with only one real option to survive. He needs to claim a civilization shard and level up. Coop maximizes his chances by carefully selecting a class and committing to progression. He’ll need to grind thousands of monsters to compete on the system's leaderboards while upgrading his settlement to represent the factionless.

By a twist of fate, Tang Su discovered that the aloof male god she once had a crush on lived right across the hall.It had been eight years, and he did not remember her at all, so Tang Su had to tuck away her affections and pretend she didn't know him.Every time they met, she would properly call him “Doctor Lu.”……One day, while Lu Han was taking a nap, Tang Su slipped into his office.The duty nurse shot up in surprise, shouting “Stop” as she followed after Tang Su.By the time the nurse arrived, Tang Su was sitting in the chair, stretching out her leg to hook Lu Han's, coquettishly asking, “Doctor Lu, my leg hurts, could you take a look?”Lu Han stepped back and turned to the nurse, “You go out first, I'll handle this.”The nurse nodded, considerately closing the door behind her while muttering to herself that she didn't know how many women had thrown themselves at Doctor Lu. Each one of them had left crying.After a while, the office door opened.The nurse looked up to see that Tang Su as expected, was limping out with reddened eyes.The nurse smiled knowingly, thinking that Tang Su had overestimated herself.Soon after, Lu Han hurried out of his office.He swept past the nurse, scooped Tang Su up at the waist, and carried her sideways back to the office.As he walked, he whispered to Tang Su, “Didn't I tell you to wait for me a while? Why are you walking around with a sore leg?”……After they got married, Doctor Lu was often away for meetings, surgeries, and paid learning, hardly ever at home, not even answering phone calls, leaving Tang Su practically like a deserted bride.She wrote in her TikTok bio: “Living like a widow.”Then—One stormy night, Doctor Lu came back.Before long, she changed her TikTok bio to: “Please spare me.”