Tatakau Shisho - Volume 9, Prologue: The Demon Lord and Memories of Bygone Days

“I can clear all your debts, but you have to substitute me in my marriage…”

When Liang Dou Kou was diagnosed with cancer, she formed a contract with Qin Zhi Ai to substitute her in the time she would be absent, including her marriage with Gu Yu Sheng.

Initially, Qin Zhi Ai suffered under the cold and harsh attitude of Gu Yu Sheng, who mistook her for Liang Dou Kou. But his heart gradually softened and he fell in love with her.

Just when he thought that he could live happily ever after with her, it is time for Qin Zhi Ai and Liang Dou Kou to revert their identities, and Qin Zhi Ai evaporated from Gu Yu Sheng’s life.

Months later, Gu Yu Sheng meets someone who possesses the gaze of Qin Zhi Ai who captured his heart…

Just when I got to know her, the hairy girl only wants to beat me up!Prim childhood sweetheart treads on me underfoot!Childhood friend turned sister suddenly demands I repay the kindness of upbringing?...Are all these twists of human nature, or the moral decay?Surrounded by young girls wielding knives, Shen Mo Dust trembles: 'Author, why do I only meet bad women?''What exactly are you not satisfied with, let's switch roles!'Jealous at having crafted the protagonist's peak of life with his own hands but without a single girl by his side, the author furiously slams the keyboard!(Spotting the little whips raised by the venerable readers, he picks up the keyboard again)The alternate titles of this book are 'They Shine Like Stars' and 'They Are Lonely Like Stars'.

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.

When Coach Ethan saw Emma for the first time, he was attracted by her. It was a girl's breath. Emma is very stupid in learning to drive, but Ethan is very patient and let Emma sit on the coach to practice driving. This kind of close-up...