MTL - Raising A Golden Crow In Secret - Chapter 326 Bookstore special offer

Time back to 1981…

This year, the famous President Ronald Reagan officially took office as President of the United States…

This year, the world’s first personal computer officially appeared, and the era of Internet technology officially kicked off…

This year, the ten-year stock market crash has once again come to Hong Kong, the future Asian financial center, and an international metropolis alongside New York and London…

This year, the Cold War continued, the contest between the world’s two superpowers, the polar bear and the bald eagle, still has no winner, and peace is still far away…

This is the best and worst era…

It was also this year that he came…

- Description from novelbuddy

Keith, a regular office worker from Earth, suddenly transmigrates to the world of the novel he had been reading for the past decade. The new world, which was also called Earth, was slightly different. People with various powers existed who were called awakeners, making this world comparatively dangerous and also mysterious. While he was thrown into the novel’s world, he was also given a mystical ability to grant systems to other people. Armed with his special ability, he slowly climbs up the power ladder by taking “taxes” from the people he would give systems to. The only question that remained, was what would a realistic normal man, when faced with a similar minded protagonist, do when their goals opposed each other.

In a world where strength determines one’s future, William, an orphan with no extraordinary talents, faces a grim destiny—until a brutal attack leaves him clinging to life. Instead of death, he awakens to a mysterious and powerful entity lurking within his mind: the Shadow System, a game-like interface that promises him unimaginable power. But this power comes with dark secrets, and refusing it would mean his death. Forced into a pact with a voice that can hear his every thought, William must navigate a dangerous new reality where shadow abilities and celestial power collide. As he enters the prestigious military academy, his newfound abilities draw both allies and enemies, all while a deadly conspiracy brews in the shadows. With the odds stacked against him, William must unravel the mystery of the Shadow System and decide whether to embrace the darkness within—or be consumed by it. His journey from a bullied outcast to a potential god will challenge not just his survival, but his very humanity. Power always comes at a cost—will William be able to pay the price? “What am I?” William asked the system. The system’s voice echoed in his head, cold and indifferent. “You are nothing.”

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.