Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki - Chapter 5Book 4: -2

Author's message to webnovel readers:Hello everyone, I am Morning Star LL, and I am delighted to meet you all in this way!To be honest, I never imagined that my work would have such a large readership outside China. I was absolutely astonished when my editor told me there were thousands of comments. Before this, my writings were primarily aimed at Chinese readers, and it never crossed my mind that my words would one day be translated into another language.I am both humbled and grateful.I am also extremely honored that my recent work, “This Game is Too Real,” has been given the opportunity to reach an international audience.Unlike my previous works, this book is probably the one into which I've invested the most time and effort. It is set in a fictional post-apocalyptic wasteland.The story mainly revolves around a once-thriving civilization that collapses overnight after a disaster. The MC from Earth uses a legacy system to disguise the entire world as a game, leading players on a quest to save civilization. It intertwines the fates of the struggling survivors in the wasteland with mutual redemption, while also uncovering the historical truths buried beneath the dust.This book contains several easter eggs with “Scholar's Advanced Technological System,” but mentioning them might spoil the story, so I'll leave it to the readers to discover!Moreover, the overall tone of the book remains cheerful and light-hearted. Despite the world being harsh and full of danger, I believe that even in the darkest moments, the warmth and resilience inherent in humanity will continue to shine brightly, emitting the power to dispel the darkness.It would be my greatest honor if my words resonate with you! And the word “resonate” is also a major clue within the story itself.Thank you!by Morning Star LL——————————————This game is too freaking realistic!Bricklaying, running errands, picking up trash, delivering parcels... At most, the company lets you experience the hardships of a 996 schedule, but here you can feel the extreme bonus of 007.Alright, enough chit-chat, the great Manager has called me to lay some bricks.That Manager said that as long as we work our livers off, he can get a brand-new set of power armor next month, and then he'll take us to explore a brand new map, picking up even more trash in the vast Wasteland!...After teleporting to the Waste World, Chu Guang discovered that he had unlocked the “shelter system” and could summon creatures called “players” from a parallel world.From that day on, nothing in the Waste World was normal anymore.

Liu Yong has a pet snapping turtle that can grow continuously. The bigger it gets, the rivers and lakes can no longer accommodate it, so he can only go to the sea to dominate.

This is also a magical snapping turtle. Liu Yong can communicate with it without barriers, and the attributes and skills of the snapping turtle can also be shared. Therefore, someone who is the owner of the snapping turtle also criticized it.

- Description from novelbuddy

Ethan Blackwood wasn’t used to being defied. As the CEO of a global empire, he crushed obstacles with a single glance. But when Lily Anderson stood before him, her chin lifted in quiet defiance, and something in him snapped. “Sign the contract,” he said, his voice like ice. “30 days. You’ll obey every command. After that, you’re free.”She hesitated, her fingers trembling as she gripped the pen. “And if I refuse?”His smirk was cold, but his eyes burned. “Then you’ll spend the rest of your life paying off your father’s debts. Your choice.”Trapped, Lily signed. But she vowed one thing: she wouldn’t let him break her.From the first day, their clash was electric. He demanded perfection; she gave him rebellion. “You think you can control me?” she spat, after he criticized her for being late.Ethan stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “I don’t just control you. Lily, I own you.”But as the days passed, the lines between them blurred. Late nights in his penthouse turned into whispered conversations. His cold demeanor cracked, revealing glimpses of a man haunted by his past. One night, after a heated argument, he pinned her against the wall, his breath hot against her ear. “Why do you fight me so much?”Her voice trembled. “Because I’m afraid if I stop, I’ll lose myself to you.”Their connection deepened, but danger loomed. Secrets from Ethan’s past resurfaced, threatening to destroy everything. When Lily discovered the truth behind his obsession with her, she confronted him. “Was I just a pawn in your game? A way to settle an old score?”His eyes darkened with pain. “You were never just a game, Lily. You’re the only thing that’s ever felt real.”As the final days of their contract approached, their bond was tested like never before. Enemies closed in, and trust hung by a thread. Could they overcome the shadows of their pasts, or would their love crumble under the weight of secrets and pride?

Book I: Lost ThingsTristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape.It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them.Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost.Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies.The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things.Where every year many go, and few return.Book II: Good TreasonsThe trials of the Dominion are over.The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts.Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier.Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying.Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face.Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting.Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive.And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous.Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it?