MTL - Ascending, Do Not Disturb - ~ 81. Mirage

A huge guy is bawling his eyes out. In this day and age? Sure, maybe the world changed while I was away in that other place. I’m not some old-fashioned boomer.But what if that guy is clinging to my pant leg, sobbing and sniffling—And we’re not even acquaintances?Even in modern times, that’s just messed up. Ask any passing kid, they’d agree.So yeah, I shook my leg. He was gross and too close.“The hell’s wrong with you? Crying just ’cause you saw a ghost?” “N-no! I swear, it was really there! You didn’t see it!!”I let the disrespect slide. Barely. He was asking for help and still talking down to me just because I look young?Obviously, I’m not the one who lost his balls. He is.And yet… when I looked where he pointed—Something was there.I threw some coarse salt and looked again.He stared at me like I was insane, but I ignored it.…Yeah. Something was definitely there.It made eye contact.

Anna Jones, an Australian travelled with her fiancé Lu Jinhu to marry in his home country, only to find out that she has been duped by him and robbed of everything that she owns. A quirk of fate allows her to marry CEO Hou Yi, who was meant to on the same day marry his finance Yang Lin, who in fact married Lu Jinhu. Marriage for Anna, started as a plan to gain some measure of revenge on Lu Jinhu, and for Hou Yi to prevent Lu Jinhu from obtaining the family company however fate had something different in store for them. Not only did they achieve their initially goals, but their relationship turned into something else, that could last a lifetime despite the cultural differences and the trouble Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin caused them.

You shall become king—

Ruling over all “serpents” in the world…

Become the man who bears the brunt of dragonkind’s fear and hatred.

A modern era when humanity is threatened by attacks from giant dragons flying from beyond the sky.

Controlling “leviathans”—serpentine spiritual beings created through magic—humanity is locked in a protracted war of resistance against the dragons.

Fortunately, there exist witches known as “magi”—battle maidens of salvation who formed covenants with “serpents” in order to combat dragons.

Nicknamed Hal, the young man called Haruga Haruomi makes his living through facilitating the covenants of these girls.

At the (partially coercive) request of his childhood friend Asya, one of Europe’s top witches, Hal returns to Tokyo New Town after an absence of three years.

Accompanied by the beautiful Asya whose appearance rivaled a fairy’s, Hal is running all over the place to secure his base of operations and taking care of matters related to school transfer when the elite dragon Soth suddenly attacks—!?

Life has been breathed into a brand new myth between dragons and dragonslayers.

A grand opening to the “birth” of a top-class battle epic!

After a year of relentless effort, Alex becomes the first to conquer a tutorial quest deemed impossible by the entire playerbase of Endless Leveling Online. But instead of loot or leaderboard fame, he earns something far stranger—an invitation from the God of Games.His prize? A one-way trip to Arcana, a living, breathing world where stories shape reality—and a chance to become the Protagonist of his own story.In a land of endless possibilities and ever-shifting destinies, Alex would try to bend the rules, rewrite fates, and forge his own legend. But being the Protagonist means more than glory.It carries a heavy responsibility.As secrets unravel and alliances are tested, Alex must decide whom he must protect, and save before the world collapses under the weight of its own story.