The First Evolution - Chapter 36: Backup Plan

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.

I have clairvoyance, and I can see antique treasures no matter where they are hidden. Is there anything else in the world that I can’t go to?

- Description from novelbuddy

Teresa is a timid human whose life has been a series of unfortunate events—until she meets Lucian Blackwood, a very rich and handsome man who awakens a deep, unexplainable connection within her. But Lucian, an alpha werewolf with a haunting past, is repelled by Teresa’s perceived weakness, blaming weakness for the tragedy that shaped his life. Unable to accept her as his mate, he rejects and humiliates her, leaving Teresa shattered.Just as she’s picking up the pieces, Adrian Daegon, an ancient vampire with his own dark allure, steps into her life, determined to win her heart. Now, Lucian is torn with regret, desperate to reclaim the woman he cast aside. But to do so, he must face a powerful vampire and confront his own fears—while somehow convincing Teresa to forgive his betrayal and reignite their lost bond. Can love and redemption overcome the scars of rejection, or has Lucian's cruel mistake cost him his mate forever?Torn between two powerful forces, Teresa must decide where her true destiny lies—in the fierce grip of the wolf who scorned her or the dark embrace of the vampire who vows to adore her.

In a future where humanity has already conquered the galaxy, a whole new realm of mystery and horrors beyond human comprehension opens up to them, the Primordial Expanse.For as long as he could remember, Alex worked in the mines of an asteroid so desolate it didn't even have a name. But to him, this was home.He knew that his future held nothing for him and he would die a lonely and forgotten death just like everyone else stuck on this godforsaken rock.That was, until one day he wakes up to the realisation that he would die soon, as the Primordial Expanse called for him.This mysterious realm is a place of promise and opportunity for many, but for people from the slums of society like Alex, it was only a curse that almost always guaranteed death.Follow Alex on his journey though the Primordial Expanse as he navigates his way through battles, trials and enemies to carve out a space for himself at the peak of the universe.***[WSA 2024]This novel is purely a work of fiction, any names, locations and characters are all made up and do not depict or represent the real world.