Three years earlier.
The crack appeared on a Tuesday.
Max had been kneading dough when he heard it. A sound like knuckles popping, but deeper. He looked up from the worktable, flour on his hands, and saw the line running down the side ...
2025-12-07 17:51:28 +0000 UTC
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Three days after the troll, the egg vendor was back.
Different spot this time. He'd moved his cart closer to the fountain, away from where the fish stall used to be. The fish merchant hadn't returned. Max had heard he'd packed up and moved t...
2025-12-07 17:51:18 +0000 UTC
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The tomatoes were overpriced.
Max turned one in his hand. Firm enough, good color, but two copper bits? For one tomato? He'd been coming to Mirella's stall for three years. The price had never been higher than one and a half. One and three-q...
2025-12-07 17:50:12 +0000 UTC
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Jason stared at the pulsing text on the Developer Console for what felt like an eternity.
*****
[Developer Points: 0]
[Unlock Progress: 0/2,000]
[New Objective: ???]
...
2025-12-07 17:48:21 +0000 UTC
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Jason didn't return to the Throne Room.
Instead, he found himself walking back toward the Black Gate, drawn by questions he couldn't shake. The entity in the Sealed Wing was a problem for later, when he had more information and, apparently, ...
2025-12-07 17:47:11 +0000 UTC
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The corridor stretched before Jason like the throat of some massive beast, all black stone and purple flame.
He'd designed this hallway to feel oppressive. The ceiling was too high, the walls too close, the lighting positioned to cast...
2025-12-07 17:45:12 +0000 UTC
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Jason opened his eyes to the Sanctum of Eternal Night.
Having designed every inch of this arena over three years of crunch cycles and energy drinks, he recognized it instantly. The obsidian pillars stretching toward a starless void. The floa...
2025-12-07 17:41:45 +0000 UTC
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So my brain... its on OP MC mode after reading some stories.
As you know - I write what my brain leads and it can be nudged... sometimes.
I've got 4 chapters of 2 stories. Each slightly different. Both 'op mc'
I'm going to p...
2025-12-07 17:38:17 +0000 UTC
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The guild hall was less crowded than usual when Arin arrived the next morning, with many adventurers either out on contracts or still recovering from the goblin operation. His party had claimed their usual table in the back corner, and Arin could ...
2025-12-07 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Fowl sat in the center of a ring of fire, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched so hard he thought they might crack.
The flames licking at his skin weren't ordinary fire. Rakonath had been kind enough to provide dragon fire for today's sess...
2025-12-06 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER 12: PROBLEM SOLVING
Wei Chen unrolled the second formation diagram on Elder Shen's desk. Zhao Feng leaned in from his position near the door, trying to see without getting too close.
The formation was more complex than the firs...
2025-12-05 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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The guild hall was packed with adventurers, guards, and townspeople when Arin's party arrived the morning after the goblin operation. News of the battle had spread quickly through Greengate, and those who'd lost family or friends in the fighting m...
2025-12-05 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Batrire stood in the stone chamber, rolling her shoulders as she waited for Sog to arrive. The training arena beneath Max and Tanila's tower had become her second home over the past few months—or was it years now? Time moved differently when you...
2025-12-05 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The sound of the morning bell rang, and Francis opened his eyes, smiling.
"It's earlier than usual," Michael grunted as he sat up. "What gives?"
"Just another day in our lives," Francis said, anxious to read all the notifications that ...
2025-12-05 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! it's december and I'm going full speed ahead before a small break at the end of the month for the holiday.
Quick Update
Book 2 loopbreaker done (editing)
Book 1 Arin - ('doneish - editing)
Book 3 ...
2025-12-04 20:08:22 +0000 UTC
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“There is an error present in the System and yet I cannot locate it,” the archon on the left stated. “Only three beings could have done this and I suspect we know which of the three did.”
Four other beings of light all sat there, eye...
2025-12-04 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Miranna sighed as the last of the petitions moved across the panel. She flicked her finger to read what felt like the tenth one. The request wasn’t that big and yet it needed her attention.
*****
[ Move the spring festival one ...
2025-12-04 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The sound of the morning bell rang, and Francis opened his eyes.
"It's earlier than usual," Michael grunted as he sat up. "What gives?"
"It is," Francis replied, sitting up and stretching. "But it's also time to get to work."
***...
2025-12-04 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“It only took three years,” Sog said as he slid of gold cup toward Sharazael on the obsidian table. “Tell me, how goes the unrest?”
“It is almost stamped out,” the queen of the demons replied, moving the cup closer toward her. ...
2025-12-03 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER 11: FOUNDATIONS
Dawn came way too early.
Wei Chen woke to darkness and the familiar ache of a body that still hadn't fully recovered. It had been two days since the finals. His meridians felt less raw, but the exhaustion linger...
2025-12-03 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The Alpha team leader, a fighter named Bardok, raised his hand to halt the combined teams. They'd positioned themselves at the edge of the forest, just visible enough that the goblins would spot them but not so close that they'd be immediately ove...
2025-12-03 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The road to town felt different this time. Francis walked beside Michael, listening to his brother chatter about nothing in particular, and found himself actually enjoying the moment instead of treating it as another step in an endless cycle. The ...
2025-12-03 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“It has been two weeks since they have entered,” Vaelion informed Rakonath. “Neither of them should need that kind of time to clear a level at their power. Especially as a duo.”
Rakonath frowned, his scaled lip curling up and showing...
2025-12-02 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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When Glitvall and Francis were finally alone, Francis told him everything. The month in Tules that had been ripped away without warning. The discussions with Stenson, Baxter, and Auri about the possibility of an enemy looper. The implications of f...
2025-12-02 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER 10: NEW GAME PLUS
Wei Chen woke to sunlight streaming through a window he didn't recognize and a body that felt like it had been disassembled and poorly reassembled.
Every muscle ached. His meridians felt raw, like he'd forced ...
2025-12-01 14:00:20 +0000 UTC
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“We’re halfway there,” Max stated, pointing at the display their helper had before them. “Only one hundred and fifty years remain before we’re faced with the reality of our protection being gone.”
“Still we’re in a better spo...
2025-12-01 14:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Arin woke to find his essence had recovered somewhat during the night, though not nearly as much as he'd hoped. Sleep helped, but true recovery required either time or the absorption of creatures. He checked his Status with growing concern.
...
2025-12-01 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Francis couldn't believe he had been in the north for almost a month now. It was the longest he'd ever been alive since his first one, and he was beginning to remember what it was like to truly live. He found himself smiling as he worked the metal...
2025-12-01 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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The healing tent smelled of herbs and smoke, a combination that Francis was growing used to sooner than he expected. Hilda, the healer who had been assigned to him, worked with practiced efficiency as she cleaned another wound along his ribs. One ...
2025-11-30 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Max stared at all the games they were playing. He had grown the stone that hovered in the air to over thirty square yards and had over fifty different ones laid out.
“You’re losing,” Gykewotik said, seemingly enjoying...
2025-11-30 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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