MTL - Dad, Please Try a Little Harder - Chapter 7 Crossing the river

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

WSA 2025 ENTRYIn the Grand Land of Baltalaha, the Awakening Ceremony is the most anticipated event of the year, where 15-year-olds from across the kingdoms discover their innate powers. Morvane, an orphan raised by a healer grandmother, eagerly joins the celebration with his best friends, Luna and Esmael, each dreaming of the abilities that will shape their destinies.As rulers from the six kingdoms display their awe-inspiring powers, the arena buzzes with excitement and wonder. One by one, children receive marks signifying their newfound abilities, the crowd erupting in cheers with each display of elemental magic, healing, and unique gifts.However, when it’s Morvane’s turn, silence falls over the arena. No mark appears on his shoulder. Confusion ripples through the crowd, and Morvane’s heart sinks. In a moment meant to define his future, he faces an unimaginable question: What does it mean to have no power in a world where everyone else awakens?Unbeknownst to all, Morvane’s fate is tied to a mystery that could reshape the balance of Baltalaha forever.

A merciless and unforgiving world where a common cold could kill you, a world where survival of the fittest applied—A world where humans aren't at the top of the food chain.A world where the roar of predators echoes through the wilderness, and the threat of being hunted lingers around every corner. A world where the natural elements are both beautiful and deadly, with raging storms and scorching heat waves that can wipe out entire communities.Every day is a battle for survival, with individuals and groups fighting tooth and nail to secure food, shelter, and water. The weak and vulnerable are often left behind, their fate sealed by the brutal law of the jungle.And in this same age, same jungle there was a young boy, whose fate changed when he heard an unknown voice in his head.Garnt woke up feeling a little better after he was on the verge of death because of a single wound he suffered from hunting, and the first thing he noticed was that everything around him looked foreign to him, even though the cave he was lying in was supposed to be his home.While he was unconscious from the injuries, Garnt saw several things he couldn't even understand.He saw people using brick-like equipment to communicate with each other and flying monsters that happily served humans by taking them inside their bodies. A bizarre world where everyone covered their bodies. He saw giant structures that stood even taller than the largest caves he had seen and suddenly a voice questioned his mind about what he witnessed.[Why do these waters look muddy? Why don't you filter them?]What are you talking about? This is how they are supposed to look.[Why are these weapons so blunt?]They are sharp enough for me.[Where are your clothes, Don't you get cold?]What are clothes, I don't know.[Why do men and women look like they don't feel anything while having sex? Wasn't it supposed to be romantic and sensual?]What do you mean? It is just an activity for procreation.After witnessing such a world, Garnt felt like they were missing something important. His current status looked like a living hell when he compared it with the vision he had. But was that vision real? Does something like that really exist?[Yes, it exists. Do you want to see that world? I will help you, but in exchange, you should make my dream come true.]

When a soul from twenty years later is reborn in a Chinese-American teenager, the world is different. In the face of this turbulent era, Guo Shouyun’s ambitions burst out like never before. Internet, war, subprime mortgage crisis, European debt crisis, he seized all the opportunities to create wealth for himself, and after 20 years of painstaking efforts, he created the largest capital empire in the 21st century!

Conspiracy theorists: The five consortiums of Guo, Rockefeller, Morgan, DuPont, and Mellon controlled the United States.

Time Magazine: Son of God, the greatest capitalist of the 21st century!

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Following “Empire of the Far East”, “Treasure Eye” and “Taoyuan Villa”, this is the fourth novel by Dongren. Welcome to pay attention!

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