Diary of a Dead Wizard - Chapter 18: Borrowing Money to Grow

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

[WSA ENTRY 2025 - Discord Nitro for any Gifts ]Elias Kael’s life as a chef was supposed to be simple—until an unexpected event leaves him bonded to a mysterious shard and a peculiar being named Dot. Struggling to make sense of his newfound connection, Elias is drawn into a hidden world where people like him are being hunted, their fates intertwined with secrets that stretch far beyond his understanding.As powerful forces close in, Elias must confront his forgotten past, navigate dangerous alliances, and tap into abilities he never knew he possessed. But as the world shifts around him, the stakes grow higher, and Elias realizes the key to survival lies not only in his own strength but in uncovering the truth behind the shards and the enigmatic forces driving them.A story of resilience, discovery, and unexpected bonds.

Li Yi traveled to a parallel world and became a stall host.

He obtained a mysterious space where he can learn the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage skills, and through the space, he can master countless lost intangible cultural heritage skills.

The [Supreme Emperor Fried Rice] he made made the anchor of Tandian apprentice on the spot in one bite.

His bamboo weaving work “Havoc in Heaven” was collected by the Palace Museum at a price of tens of millions.

His handmade rouge [Four Beauties] series has driven the stars and female anchors all over the Internet into a frenzy!

The audience in the live broadcast room: “At first I thought he was just a fried rice anchor, but I didn’t expect him to be able to weave bamboo.”

Cooking skills, bamboo weaving, carving, female celebrity, forging knives… As Li Yi showed more and more intangible cultural heritage skills in the live broadcast, the audience in the live broadcast room were shocked!

“Anchor, how much hard work do you have?”

- Description from novelbuddy

Noir, third son of a “beggar noble,” lost his job and was at a loss, but fortune struck just as he was contemplating becoming an adventurer.