Plague Doctor - Chapter 496 - Three-Sided Negotiation

“Commander Lu, there are rumors that we are sleeping together, we have a fling!”

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.

Boxing is power!Making a fist means holding power!A powerful punch is power!Nott Rod, who traveled through the Great Pirate Era, deeply agrees with this.Facing the endless monsters on this sea, only his fists can bring him a sense of security.Fortunately, he has two golden fingers after traveling through time:1. [Knights do not die with bare hands]2. [What doesn’t kill me will make me stronger]With two golden fingers in hand, he decided to achieve the greatest power with the biggest fist!Fists rule the world!Power rules the world!

Michael, an ordinary and average guy, suddenly finds himself in a dangerous fantasy cultivation world after being randomly chosen in a multiversal lottery. Armed with a wish system that may taunt him some times, grants him one wish every week, Michael has to survive in this harsh world of cultivators, monsters, and mysterious powers. However, the system has strict rules—he can’t wish for direct power.However average Michael was, he loved his family on Earth and that's why his main goal is to return to Earth. To do that, he must climb to the highest realm of cultivation, all while avoiding greedy enemies and dangerous beasts. With each wish, Michael gets closer to his goal, but the challenges only grow tougher as the world around him becomes more dangerous.