Above the Great Dao - Chapter 18 - 11: The Victim

The Apocalypse descended as the world turned into a game. And while everyone panicked, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something wrong with my eyes.[Logging into the Game Master’s Account!]And my ‘oh-so-average’ destiny, changed into ‘is this a cheat life?’ Kind of destiny.[Would you like to Create a Skill? GM Points will be consumed!]While others struggled to kill a single goblin, I was searching for stronger monsters. While they were happy with getting even a random weak skill, I was customizing what kind of skills I needed.Even my Talents and Gifts can be customised. The only limit was my imagination.Heck, even the hidden quests that people would trigger randomly were present in front of me even before the scenario began.It wasn’t fair by any means. But isn’t that how life is already?[Would you like to make changes to the quests in the next scenario? GM Points will be consumed!]Is this how an apocalypse is supposed to be? I don’t know. I just tried following the script in front of everyone while trying out my cheat in hindsight. Don't get me wrong with the ‘pig eating tiger’ kind of thing. I just don’t like attention. I would rather stay with two trusted friends than with 10 fake ones.[Would you like to Initiate a Custom quest for the Players? GM Points will be consumed!]And for the players who were bullying the ‘weak’ me. One may even wonder how they ended up losing half of their stats and skills in a randomly triggered impossible type of quest.Fate can be truly scary, you know?One must always be careful of it.

Somebody once told a joke.A man ran in place all his life. He worked a job he didn't love for people he couldn't stand. But at the end of the day, the number in his bank account went up.That man got a second chance at life. He woke up in another world, full of adventures and romances and monsters and gods. And floating above his head he saw the number “1”. So what did he say?“Gosh I better make the number go up.”Not today. Not for this old soul. Reborn as a beast of battle meant to live a short life and die screaming, Garek refuses. He puts the madness of skills and levels behind him and sets out to found a little farmstead. He grows crops. Maybe someday he'll get a pig, and have bacon.It's a shame the world won't let him be. It's a shame that the warmongers and level-grinders hate nothing more than a soul at peace.He put down his sword for a plowshare, but when trouble comes calling, he'll pick it up again.

The fat and ugly Nora Smith is the laughingstock of the town when her fiancé breaks off their engagement.He says, “The sight of your gigantic face and thunder thighs disgusts me! Don't ever pester me again!”“What an idiot.” Nora scoffs and turns around, her lips curling up into a smile.Later, when Nora successfully slims down, she returns as an astounding beauty.Her ex-fiancé comes to her bearing flowers and begs, “I was wrong, Nora. I’m willing to do anything as long as you come back to me.” Nora rests her chin in her hands and smiles as she replies, “Real men don’t dwell on the past.” Angered, he says, “You’re just a dimwit saddled with baggage that I dumped, Nora. No one will want you except me!”But following that…A young and popular singer tweets: “Nora Smith is my goddess!”An internationally renowned surgeon asks, “Are you free tonight, Nora?”Even the rich and influential hotshot whom everyone is scared of comes forward and says, ”I can take care of my wife and children myself, thank you very much.”

Su Jin, an ordinary poor young man from the countryside working overtime every day to make ends meet in the city to support his family, finds himself in the possession of a book only known as Hell’s Handbook.

The Handbook universe initially seems like a video game as it proceeds to throw him into a different world every month, each world filled with supernatural beings, mythical creatures and deities, and even includes a complete point system along with weapons and special skills.

Surviving these challenges is not easy, but it comes with great rewards.

But he soon realizes that all of this is real. The monetary rewards and magical items he receives from Hell’s Handbook can be used in the real world, but in the same way, every person who dies during a challenge dies in the real world too.

As Su Jin desperately tries to survive each challenge he is thrown into, he slowly starts to uncover the truth behind Hell’s Handbook.

Who is behind Hell’s Handbook and its horror filled challenges? Each challenge reveals a new truth about the world Su Jin lives in, bringing new people into his life even as the world around him becomes harder and harder to trust, and perhaps, even a greater mission in life…

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