I'll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 1: The Compass of Life

“When the old gods are forgotten, they do not die—they wait.”In the year 1025, the Viking Age wanes.Iceland bows to Christ. The Althing governs by law. And the gods of old fade to whispers.But in the far Westfjords, something stirs.Vetrulfr, a former Varangian captain and exile, returns from the East with foreign gold, forgotten warcraft, and a hunger no man can name.He comes not in peace, but to raise Ullrsfjörðr from ash and ice; building walls, carving runes, and waging war on behalf of a dying faith.From Reykjavík to Aachen, rumors spread: a ghost walks the North once more. Some call him the son of Ullr. Others, a wolf-cloaked demon.But all will know his name.and when the Valkyries call, he will answer.

Within the dream of the dreamer, the one who was dreamed of awoke.

… Borges

“I exist in the sunlight, the wind, between the heavens and the earth, and also in dreams.”

One night, Yu Hao, a college student who was at his wits’ end had an unexpected encounter with a mysterious visitor – “General” – who had dream travelled. He led Yu Hao in solving the countless riddles that abounded in the realm of the conscious, and lit up the fire beacons on the meandering Great Wall.

Thereafter, the darkness retreated, the sun rose, and when the long night was thoroughly lit up, the him who existed in reality was reborn.

The black dragon that roared, the lighthouse and demonic eye on the coastline, the rain forest before Chichén Itzá, the fierce beasts that wreaked havoc in the Colosseum…the bizarre projection of reality in one’s consciousness reflected the hidden place that the sunlight in reality couldn’t touch – the innumerable sins of the human heart.

The journey of seizing dreams continues, and one can only hope that the sun will continue illuminating the human heart.

…

Fire beacons on the Great Wall were lit up to signal a border invasion.

- Description from Novelupdates

“Here's what happened. I was in a desperate situation when I accidentally encountered a dragon. It told me I was a martial arts prodigy and said it would teach me the Dao of Immortality…” “This excuse for skipping class and cultivating in secret… is that seriously the reason?” “I don’t care whether it’s human or not, what matters is that the dragon said: ‘If you want to become strong, kneel and call me Master.’”

Su Shanshan died a violent death eight years into the apocalypse but somehow, she opened her eyes to find herself reborn. Time had turned back to the day before the apocalypse.

Having the chance to start over filled her with hope. Having lived through the bloody violence of the apocalypse, she now had the skills and knowledge to survive and thrive in the end times. She would repay the man who gave his life trying to save her even though she broke his heart.

The big brother whom she had reviled in her previous life. This time, she would take a chance on love.

As if blessed by the heavens, she had unexpectedly been given a spatial superpower, with which she hoarded resources that would sustain her in the apocalypse.

When the world changed in an instant on Doomsday, and hordes of flesh-eating zombies roamed the place, she set off on a dangerous journey to find him, determined to alter the course of events that unfolded and change what happened in the past.

Characters: Su Shanshan (beautiful, cold, proficient at martial arts), Gu Jincheng (rich, brilliant, awkward in affairs of the heart)