The Road to a Divine Harem Starting with a Stepmom Companion - Chapter 9 - Shaoyang! Stepmom is Tired!

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…

“Born of Dragons, yet cursed by the Abyss—a king of two dooms.”----Ryuk Knull was nothing—just another powerless human in a world ruled by Titans, Vampires, and Fallen Angels. Until the Knulls came and took the only family he had left.On the brink of death, he awakened the Draconic Pets Evolution System—a power that doesn’t just tame beasts but binds them to his very soul. With it, mere monsters become apex predators.And Ryuk? He is their master.But power alone is not enough.He is a fusion of the most hated and the most divine—A being that should not exist.The abyss whispers. The dragons call. And when he rises—none will be spared.This is the Tale of the Abyssbourne Draconis!

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.

Bok Taejin was an ordinary young man who met an untimely death in a car accident—only to wake up in the body of a starving teenager in a strange world. Stranded in the wilderness, he is rescued by a group of villagers and soon discovers that he has transmigrated into the new Sect Leader of the long-forgotten One Flower Sect—a once-powerful immortal sect now reduced to nothing.With no cultivation talent, no resources, and only a mysterious technique called the Life and Death Technique, Bok Taejin soon realizes that the key to reviving his sect isn’t just through martial arts—it’s through farming. Hidden within the sect’s abandoned fields are spiritual herbs and ancient crops with untapped potential. By cultivating the land, nurturing rare plants, and trading with nearby towns, he slowly builds a foundation for the sect’s return.But as word spreads of a declining sect suddenly producing miraculous crops and powerful elixirs, forces from the martial world begin to take notice. Can Bok Taejin grow his sect back to its former glory while fending off enemies who seek to steal his secrets?Armed with nothing but his wits, a hoe, and an iron will, the last disciple of the One Flower Sect is about to change the world—one harvest at a time!