Dale a 24 years old guy who found the true meaning of love after 24 years of existence.

The life of Chandler "Mac" McCullen is not one that is normal, by any means, but he is trying his best to be normal. Little does he know that whatever normality he's looking for will never happen, as his life will end up changing either for the good or the bad.

It was the 3rd month of Tanatswa's unemployment and things weren't looking up for him. He had surfed the web for companies that would put to use his programming skills, even submitting his CV to businesses that didn't seem like they would need an IT person, but alas, his efforts were met with no responses and harsh berating from his mother. He had been called lazy even though he dedicated the entire day to emailing more than 300 companies. Things were tough but his parental figure's scolding didn't make it easier. Some people got jobs through nepotism, knowing who is who in the market, and the fact that' that piece of networking advantage was lacking in his arsenal of talents, made him feel seriously fucked. 



Even when he did get replies and went for interviews, it almost always seemed as if for some reason, he didn't meet their requirements. Tanatswa took his time to learn more web development frameworks and useful tools like Angular.js, Bootstrap and even advanced forms of PHP. He believed that he could impress a potential employer if he closed the gap of knowledge he had concerning things he needed to know as a developer. The growth was ever so slightly an improvement that made him more competent and capable of handling much more complex software projects, but alas, even that effort didn't pay off. This was undoubtedly a dark time for this young man's life.

 

During this period of his life, Tanatswa tried to find outlets to make money, even returning to the skill sets he had given up on to pursue his education. Though, if was being completely honest with himself, he had barely made it through university. He graduated with a 3rd class degree and finally cleared his tuition debt. He wasn't one to keep debts and liked to owe no one anything, but realized that most of the business tycoons he had read about didn't pay their taxes and owed a lot of money to the government. This made him consider whether or not he felt good about being a debt free person who is also broke and unemployed. The thought would make him feel like shit and he would avert his mind onto other matters, matters like getting back to drawing his comic and entering it for an online contest or pursuing a youtube channel that never really experienced any growth. 



Tanatswa had liked art and also partly chose a computer science program because of his interest in game design and the marvelous art that was accompanied with video games. His art skills were rusty but he knew that with a little effort he could get back into it and level up in the skill chain. Apart from farming the coding knowledge on the internet, he would now dedicate his time to improving his gaming skills and killing time with anime youtubers. This was rather a pathetic lifestyle as compared to the expectations that society expected from someone like him.  

 

Tanatswa went through a gradual slump in his life, but was neither an overt trouble maker and got along with most people, exhibiting manners and respect towards people of all walks in life. However, this wasn't always the case for people who he found annoying or deemed insufferable. The pool of friends that this young man had was small and even he didn't believe that he had anyone he would classify to be his best friend. Whenever he felt depressed or wanted to have a discussion about a show he liked, he didn't have anyone to really indulge him in an interesting conversation. Even if he couldn't do it face to face with someone, the online options weren't always to his liking. Going on forums or even the discord servers to find someone like minded was as tasking as getting a job. 



Sometimes the fun people were there, but their appearance was rare and having to filter through the trolls, memers and the perverts who could not get into intellectual discussions peeved him a lot. He eventually got frustrated and barely used any of those platforms. Facebook, twitter and even Instagram got boring for him. Even youtube slowly began to lose its sparkle. Shows that seemed to have their shine became repetitive and he no longer saw any value in consuming their content. This would propel him to search for other content creators, but when he would find their stuff, after a while he would get bored. The young man felt bewildered by this gradual decline in interest and worried about his mood swings.

 

After a while, Tanatswa had two websites up, one as a web application and another as just a normal site. He thought that maybe due to a lack of a portfolio that maybe he had been side lined from job opportunities because of that and decided to send a link of his work included to his attached CV. This happened at the same time as he was about to finish drawing his comic which he was going to submit to a contest. He was thinking that if things were not going to work out on this Japanese site he would take his material to either webtoons or tapastic. He was now in his 5th month of unemployment and he really wanted his efforts to pay off. As he expected, the inclusion of his finished works made a difference and he got called for just 2 interviews. However, this didn't go as he expected.

 

At interview number one, the tall 6 feet tall, ebony skinned, skinny Tanatswa, came in to an office that was at the outskirts of town. He was well dressed, and looked super dashing in his light grey suit, beige shirt and black tie, accompanied with crimson shoes. He didn't have the broad shoulders to finesse his appearance but at least the tailor had made a suit that matched his body type. He walked into the building that looked more like a home that was being repurposed to be a working environment. There the young man went through the process of telling the secretary that he had an appointment with the head of IT there. The woman on the desk who had a nice face but a body that was in desperate need of exercise, made a phone call. Tanatswa waited and darted his eyes everywhere. 



The place looked kind of interesting and there were a lot of certification frames placed all over the wall and as always, the picture of the president of the country was on the wall. The place looked homely, but eventually, Tanatswa's time for his face to face with his potential employer was about to begin. A stocky man who was light skinned, wearing a striped shirt and black trousseaus called for him. Tanatswa followed the man's lead and meet him in his office. There Tanatswa was grilled about his intentions for working at the company, and the shock of his life came from when he got to see how his 2 websites looked on the man's device. The employer had a Mac desktop and its screen dimensions were extremely wide and everything he worked looked different on it. Some of the icons were off and looked like shit.



 Tanatswa opted for the man to check how the website looked on his phone and laptop, lucky for him, the man gave it a shot despite getting an immediate negative impression from the desktop orientation of his websites on his Mac. The websites looked fine on the other devices, but the fact that he had missed one mark had messed his chances. Finally they gave him an aptitude test to see whether or not he could demonstrate real coding capabilities. 



Tanatswa was given a website that was done by some company that wanted it revamped, but the source code seemed like an abomination. It was well commented but it was clearly a template that was reworked by some tasteless developer who left a mess. It was chore to go through and even more of a struggle to find all ids and classes used for everything. Going through the mess took a while and soon enough, his time limit was over. The end result was that they would assess his performance and give him a call. A week passed and he never got a call and the other interview he went for turned out to be a disaster. This was only the beginning to a perpetual list of misfortunes.

 

After Tanatswa had submitted his comic and got his results after 2 months of waiting, he had mixed feelings about the results. The judges essentially stated that he had the best story out of all the contests but his art was in the lower bracket of their score. Due to this uneven scoring, he didn't place really high in the ranking but he got an honourable mention. This was the first time he was acknowledged for his talents by an organisation and he felt a bit happy, but this wasn't really the result he desired. If he had won, he would have claimed the prize money and moved out to pursue his comic as a published author serializing in their magazine, but even if that did not happen, at least he got consolation that he had writing talent. Tanatswa began to dabble into art tutorials online at the same time doing chores for his mom, who seemed to only escalate he indignation towards the unemployed youth. 



Tanatswa's goals had shifted and he now wanted to become a comic artist instead of dedicating his time towards finding employment where employers didn't seem to want him. This change in what he wanted to pursue fuelled him with fire and he practiced stuff like foreshortening, figure drawing and complex angles of dynamic poses. Sometimes the drawings would come out well, but for the most part it was a struggle. Tanatswa began to wonder whether or not he would ever get as good as the artists he idolized and wondered whether or not he should team up with someone really talented to draw in his stead, however, the young man wanted to make this happen through his own merit. He finally entered another contest but this time, he was unlucky.

 

With the popularity of the prior contest a behemoth of pro artists were attracted to the upcoming one and entered it. His art had improved and his story was plausible but compared to the elite talent that had joined in, his work paled in comparison. Deep down inside he envied them and wished these pro god tier artists would have entered something else so that the rookies could get a chance to shine, but nevertheless, his final chance was taken from him and he was left depressed. Tanatswa thought about the webtoon and tapastic options but the only way to make it on their platforms was to have a consistent release schedule of work and also to become a featured artist on their platform. Featured artists would get paid plus with the promotion from their site, a creator could leverage the traffic drawn to them by opting for a *******, but it took him forever to get even one issue out and his mother seemed tired of supporting a bum like him. Thus he would have to be sent to the village and subsist on farm life or live with his poor uncle in the worst possible part of the country. 



The gamble had not paid off and he was unemployed, a failed comic artist and a failed developer. Eventually, drawing itself became a painful experience. The young man turned to porn, masturbating 3 or even 5 times a day, sometimes he would go on those dating websites which he knew were a waste of time because 95% of the user base were men and the supposed sexy women who wanted to get laid were actually bots posing as actual people. This morbid catharsis made him laugh inside but also made him feel like shit. He was 23 years old and feeling like a loser, but he always made a point of hiding that side of him. Tanatswa never liked wallowing in misery and showing the world that he is sad. Whenever he had the chance, he would always dress up and get fancy hair cuts that made him look cool and dashing, hiding his broke appearance, but that was it, it was all just an appearance. He pretended to be okay, dressed up nice and faked a smile, but was really dealing with depression. He reflected on his life and even began to associate his lack of success as to why he never really had luck with women. He had never gotten laid and he was already 23 years old. 



The closest thing to anything sexual he had gotten were lap dances and really arousing grinding from women who probably had to sit on top of at least 40 random crotches of men in a night. This was mainly a means to deal with his sexual frustration, but at those clubs that he did go to, even married men or guys who had girlfriends would get lap dances, grabbing women's asses and doing unholy things with them that they wouldn't even consider with their significant other.


 Tanatswa believed that he wouldn't have had to come to such a place if he had a girlfriend and probably wouldn't even do it for fear of being unfaithful, but seeing all the alpha males getting lap dances, fucking side hoes at the same time having a girlfriend or wife,  gave him a slight paradigm shift. Being a decent human being didn't matter; all he needed was power, fortune and luck! It became clear to him that he was competing in this world at a handicap and needed a boost. However nothing relieved him from his suffering.


A full year had passed and he was now destined to continue his existence at either his uncle's decrepit living hell hole or at the village to become a farm boy. Tanatswa no longer enjoyed drawing, programming, watching television or even waking up. He got interested for a while in music production, exhausting more than a 100 tutorials and even made a few decent bangers, but then after  some research he realized how cut throat it would be for him to even make it in that scene. At that point he was just throwing darts into the air and hoping that something would just stick. He was wasting time, caught in morbid thoughts and drowning himself in some doom and funeral metal to wallow in his misery. The music gig didn't work out, even the acting gig he tried bombed badly. Everything seemed hard and all he was good at was failing. 




Tanatswa sat on his bed and cursed, "Fuck the world, fuck it, fuck it all!" He looked at the ceiling and darted to the left side of his bed which had a pile of tissues that were covered in the semen of his 6 masturbation sessions. It dawned at him that he was nothing but a piece of shit human being and that he wanted to die.  After all he had done throughout his life he had decided that there was one thing he had to succeed at doing. Ending his life!

A young man struggles with unemployment, failed dreams and overall becoming a useless member in society and decides to kill himself. Upon seeking this method of death, he encounters a being from the alternative realm who gives him an option of starting his life over from scratch, from level 1 on his planet. This gives him the chance to finally carve out a path for himself that he could never do on earth.




**********************************************************************************************

If you enjoy the book, please do leave a book review or comment. I will try my best to respond to all of them so please do. It helps me out. Also, the paperback version of this novel will be available soon so if you want hardcopies, it will be available on Amazon.com

Chapter 11. The Lawless City, Part II

Translator: Khan
Editor: RED

 
4.
 
January 10, 2017.
 
At 4 PM, when the sun began to set in, the city of Bucheon used to still be crowded with people and vehicles.
 
Since yesterday, the snow had been falling all the time, and any traces of the living on the white open snowfield was only here and there, and faint.
 
There was no sense of life anywhere.
 
A city of the dead.
 
"Boss… it's too quiet," Jang Sung-hoon said, unable to stay quiet. "I hope not everyone in Bucheon is dead."
 
Kim Tae-hoon put his gloved index finger on his mouth instead of replying to Jang Sung-hoon's repeated concerns.
 
Jang Sung-hoon shut up. 
 
Looking at the world that was calm again, Kim Tae-hoon tutted quietly.
 
'What the hell happened here during this time?'
 
At the same time, Kim Tae-hoon recalled the events of the recent days.
 
After setting up the library as a base, Kim Tae-hoon had to spend busy days in the radical reform of the Mac Clan.
 
He had to present carrots and whips to the Awakeners who would be his hunting dogs, and he had to work to fortify the library that had become the base area.
 
He could not afford to go out to Bucheon City and do something.
 
It was the snow since yesterday that made him move.
 
Monsters were more like animals. Animals don't move easily on snowy days.
 
In other words, the snowy day was a good day to contact the survivors and avoid the threat of the monsters. When the snow came, Kim Tae-hoon prepared to come down to the city.
 
Their purpose was to contact the survivors, look at the situation, and get the necessary supplies.
 
Jang Sung-hoon accompanied him, saying he knew of the secret mansion of a damn rich man who played with art.
 
'It's so quiet, as Jang Sung-hoon says.'
 
He had enough concern about what would happen before he came to the city.
 
'This was not expected.'
 
But the situation was outside his expectations.
 
"If everything had been done by common sense, there must be a group of survivors here."
 
Kim Tae-hoon thought that the downtown might be organized to some extent.
 
The scary thing about human beings was that they quickly adapted to the world through trial and error.
 
Even in a world full of monsters, even if the social infrastructure collapsed, he thought that someone would adapt.
 
Moreover, there was no huge disturbance that surprised Kim Tae-hoon.
 
For example, if a dragon had once again passed through the air, there would have been a great deal of confusion, but it did not happen. There was no sign of a monster that was so enormous that it could be heard even in the distance.
 
Moreover, Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon were gradually narrowing the distance to the New Jungdong Station.
 
The New Jungdong Station of Bucheon was a large commercial area, with department stores, large marts, and the Bucheon Wonmi Police Station, which was fairly large.
 
By common sense, there were few more suitable environments in Bucheon than New Jungdong Station area for survivors seeking to survive.
 
Kim Tae-hoon's footsteps stopped. At the same time, his hands went up. Jang Sung-hoon's footsteps also stopped at the signal.
 
Whi-ing!
 
In the cold wind blowing past them, Kim Tae-hoon's gaze turned to the snow piles that decorated the roads they wanted to travel.
 
There was nothing special to look at. It was snowy, piled up with fertilizer bags.
 
However, Kim Tae-hoon was sure that it was not a fertilizer bag under the snow.
 
He looked at the snow pile, his eyes sharp. He painted a picture, a picture of a big hand shaking a snow pile.
 
The things under the snow were revealed.
 
It was a dead body that had been frozen blue. It was not just a body... but a decapitated body.
 
"Ugh!" As soon as he checked the body, Jang Sung-hoon barely swallowed the vomit coming up in disgust. "There must be a monster, damn it…"
 
At that moment, the image of a Mud Troll came up in the mind of Jang Sung-hoon.
 
A monster, which could not be killed with bullets, that pulled off the heads of people and ate them.
 
Jang Sung-hoon shivered in the trauma that he will carry for the rest of his life, and the snow piling up on the Werewolf leather he wore fell to the snow softly.
 
On the other hand, Kim Tae-hoon's expression was different. He did not recall the Mud Troll, who had only taken out the human head.
 
"It's not a monster," Kim Tae-hoon said clearly. "That was killed by a man."
 
That body was not one which a monster made.
 
"Yes?"
 
Ignoring the surprised Jang Sung-hoon, Kim Tae-hoon looked around with great caution.
 
'Murder can happen.'
 
It is ridiculous to hope that murders would not happen in this situation. Murder would happen as much as possible.
 
'But cutting off the head is another story.'
 
But cutting the head off a corpse was another story because accidental murder to live did not make a neckless body...
 
"Aaaaaaargh!"
 
The scream was close by. Kim Tae-hoon rose from his crouch.
 
"Jang Sung-hoon."
 
"Yes."
 
"From now on, our enemy is human."
 
At the words, Jang Sung-hoon made a determined expression, rather than a surprised one.
 
In recent days, Kim Tae-hoon had taught Mac Clan's men that the most important thing is the determination to kill not a monster, but a man that threatened their own life.
 
5.
 
"Please save me. Just save me."
 
The snowy field.
 
A woman was naked and seeking forgiveness on the harsh snowfield, which seemed to shake the body just by looking.
 
"Please, please."
 
Her appearance, rubbing her hands again and again, was so pathetic that even the viewer could get shivers.
 
There were three men around her.
 
They were wearing thick vests, holding curtain rods and a spear made from a kitchen knife, and wearing construction helmets.
 
Despite their crude appearance, they were clearly armed. It meant that they were not ordinary people.
 
The three of them gave a spear-sword instead of mercy to the woman who sought mercy in the snow.
 
"Please, please save me. There are no others except for me."
 
A man talked at the repeated sad tone of the woman. "Shall we have some fun before we kill her? Eh?"
 
It was a phrase that made the woman's face turn black.
 
The other two wet their lips with their tongues instead of answering the man's filthy words.
 
"Why don't we just take off our pants since she's taken it all off? Don't you think?" the man repeated to his two colleagues.
 
A nasty suggestion.
 
However, the remaining two seemed to have no intention of easily agreeing with the filthiness.
 
"Shit, let's have some fun!"
 
"Please, please save me. I'll do anything. Anything…"
 
Soon after, she spat out her words as if she had resigned herself to her fate.
 
"Look! She says she'll do anything. Anyway, she is the food for the monster. What's the wrong of doing this? Don't you think?"
 
The man spoke somewhat angrily now. The other two looked at one another.
 
Pook!
 
An arrow flew into the eyeball of one of the two men who looked at one another.
 
All of a sudden, without sound and without a hint of warning, the arrowhead of an Arrow flew through his eye and brain, and it came out through the back of his head.
 
"Uh?"
 
"What?"
 
Everyone, and even the woman who begged for her life, rubbing her hands hard, looked surprised at the sight. Their thinking stopped at that moment.
 
Something white began to come toward one of the remaining two men.
 
Like a leopard leaping for its prey, a man's black fist, appearing with a speed that could not be considered human, shattered the skull of a man with a vacant look on his face.
 
He broke into pieces with his helmet. Fragments of broken skulls were scattered all over.
 
The only man left now was the man who vomited out his zest for rape at a woman seeking mercy.
 
However, the man still had a vacant look on his face.
 
'Uh? Uh?'
 
The fist of the man who had suddenly appeared sped toward the man with such a foolish expression, and broke his helmet and face at the same time.
 
The man who had been hit by the fist screamed and spit out his teeth. But he did not scream for long.
 
"Kuck, kuck!"
 
As he was about to scream, the fist that had crushed his nose was holding the man's neck tightly.
 
The strangled man tried to wrench at the grip, but it was not a human arm.
 
In the meantime, the arrow that had already eaten one person's life began to move on its own.
 
Wii...
 
The Arrow, which made a snake-like sound, soon came near the eyes of the man who was caught by his throat, and it lit up hazily.
 
The man shivered and pissed his pants with a choked gurgle.
 
Kim Tae-hoon spoke calmly. "If you play a trick, you will die. If you hesitate to answer, you will die. If you have a loud voice, you will die. Nod your head, if you understand."
 
Even in a choking situation, the man nodded.
 
Kim Tae-hoon released the power holding the man's neck.
 
"Khuck!"
 
There was a choked gasp.
 
"Huh-uck, huh-uck…"
 
Around that time, Jang Sung-hoon came up to the naked woman and covered her with the hide of the Werewolf he was wearing.
 
The leather jacket of Werewolf was rugged and smelled bad, but it was incredibly warm.
 
"Hush. Be quiet."
 
However, Jang Sung-hoon gave a cruel warning to the woman instead of being kind.
 
This place was now the area of the enemy, in a sense. A disturbance would never be advantageous to Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon.
 
The woman said, "I know what he knows. I'll tell you everything if you let me live. I was with him."
 
A sudden remark.
 
At the words of the woman, the man who was gasping shouted in horror, "That bitch betrays…"
 
Betrayal!
 
As soon as Kim Tae-hoon heard the word, his Arrow, which was in front of the man's eyes, drove in like a striking serpent.
 
The man fell to the ground. Kim Tae-hoon pulled the Arrow from the man's eye, and he said, aiming at the woman covered by the leather of the Werewolf with the Arrow in his hand, "If you play a trick, you will die. If you hesitate to answer, you will die. Even if you have a loud voice, you will die. Nod your head, if you understand."
 
The woman nodded...

The world has changed and so have the people.

December 31st, 2016 – the day before New Year's. Kim Taehoon was just casually shopping for groceries at the large store. Monsters suddenly appeared out of thin air. With the highly trained skills that he had gained from his previous occupation, he starts to hunt the monsters down and manages to win, saving countless people who were also at the mall.

But there are more and they don't stop coming.
Will he be able to survive until the end? 
Will he be able to beat the countless monsters that only seem to get stronger?
And will it just be monsters that he has to worry about? 

The journey of Kim Taehoon, The First Hunter, begins.
----
Editor's views  - from Ekdud

The First Hunter is a short Korean, action-fantasy novel situated in a post-apocalyptic world. Monsters start appearing out of nowhere and people are unlocking strange powers. Those who unlock such powers are called ‘Hunters’, ones with the strength to kill the monsters. To fight and survive, that is their goal. Society crumbles and the world burns.

A very fun novel that dives into the plot almost instantly. The novel is interesting in a way that it depicts a lot of human nature and what people would do in a situation such as this is quite an accurate manner. The character development is also very good as you get to learn about the characters, their backgrounds, and their stories. All in all, this is another novel I’d recommend to a lot of readers who are interested in reading fantasy and gaming novels.

---
**A licensed novel from Munpia**

Just Stay
[Page 2]
ROGUEOWL // 11:29 pm
Tyler looked at her, mesmerized by her expression. The long eyelashes, full lips, wild hair. She was powerful and independent, things that he used to run from in a woman. But in Willow, he was drawn to her like a magnet, dragged to be by her side. 

When she was captured, he imagined what he would feel like without her. When she was injured, he suddenly knew how devastating it could be to see her hurt. She was bleeding, but he felt every drop, was pained by every scar.

"I care what happens, because I care about you, Willow."

She owned his heart, so when it broke, his broke too.


Rylee's Room // 11:31pm
It felt like the temperature moved from 72 straight to 100 degrees (f). Rylee's cheeks flames, she buried her face in her pillow and muffled a squeal, hoping Tara wouldn't hear her. She re-read the post, trying to keep her heart from beating faster. They were just words, but they managed to stir so many emotions. How did RogueOwl DO that? 

It was official. She was swooning over a digital romance.

'It's not like he confessed his love for YOU, you dork,' she thought, holding her pillow to her stomach. She knew real life love stories never turned out that sweet. With Blake it had been an anti-climactic 'hey, lets go out'. She couldn't remember feeling butterflies this intense in that relationship, and they had been engaged.

The thought sobered her, and stopped her from typing her reply. The longer she looked back, the more ridiculous it all seemed. Rylee had been picking out wedding dresses, looking at venues, but it never felt magical.

What if it never felt that way? What if her heart only thundered for someone else's romance?

Well, at least that meant she would feel giddy sometime...right?

Rylee looked at the clock, knowing she needed to go to bed soon. Having the time off her feet did not mean she got to sleep in, sadly. It felt almost routine to get up early and be dumped on Evan's doorstep. If she was honest, she might even say she was looking forward to it.

Rylee spent most of this week helping Evan with his art. They finished the commissions he had due, and Monday's web comic was ready. Instead of being behind, he was actually ahead for the following week. In fact, helping Evan was relaxing, and she had really enjoyed herself. They talked, discussed the projects, and it was nice having lunch with him. Evan still managed to cook decently with one arm, and made tacos, chicken and rice, and a homemade Mac and cheese. When she asked why he put so much effort into cooking, he just shrugged and told her he really didn't have much else he could do.

Rylee couldn't fault him. That was why she was helping after all. She spent the last 5 days off of work, and her time at home was mostly spent on the forum. She enjoyed writing, but it didn't prevent her from feeling restless. She didn't miss working, but it would be a lie if she didn't feel anxious having the spare time. Free time meant hours she wasn't getting paid for. She couldn't afford much more of this.

Tara told her not to worry, believing that the settlement from the accident would make up for lost pay. It sounded nice in theory, but their bills couldn't wait forever. 

Rylee put her phone aside and stared at her ceiling. Tomorrow she had a doctors appointment in the afternoon. Evan offered to give her the ride there, since Tara still had work. With any luck, she would be free of the chair and the stitches, and life would resume to normal. So why did that make her feel so sad? Was it the art?

Or was it Evan?

No. No no. She put the pillow over her face and resisted the urge to hit herself with it. He was a famous artist. He had millions of online followers. She was a no-name nerd who worked at a burger place. Yeah, this week had been great, but he was Zane's friend, not hers.

'You can't go through all of this and still not consider him a friend.'

The thought was surprisingly honest. The car crash, community day, the artwork, all of those things brought them together in the span of a week. Rylee finally had to admit that obligation wasn't all that made her visit Evan.

//Sparrow, you heading to bed?// the message was waiting for her when she glanced at the chat box. 

//Wish I could say no, but I have to work tomorrow.// she responded. //I'll have a reply by tomorrow night though! See you then!// 

Rylee logged off and shut the web browser, wondering what RogueOwl would say about the situation. Helping Evan was still doing artwork, it just wasn't her own project like she wanted to really try. Her desk had more doodles and sketches of Bandit. She even had one of two drafts she felt would be worth sharing online. She just didn't feel ready to jump yet.

Weren't life of death experiences supposed to jump start you to try everything you never imagined you could? Why did she still feel so afraid...

Rylee was a college student with her dreams spread out before her. She was engaged to her best friend, pursuing her passion for art, and couldn’t wait for the future. But everything came crashing down when he departed, leaving her heart and her wallet empty. 

Despite the pain of betrayal, she tried not to loose hope. Putting her plans on hold, she was forced to focus on a 9-5 work cycle, secretly wondering about the ambitions she shelved in the process. The occasional artist alley table was not enough to fulfill her longing to do what she loved, and importantly, to find REAL love.

Everything changes as she grows closer to an online friend. Late night role playing adventures turn into long conversations, and his encouragement spurs her to return to forgotten projects. Meanwhile, she meets a famous artist, who makes her want to give love another chance.

Could it be, this love story, would be hers this time?

Authors notes: Bi-weekly updates, original story, thank you for reading!

After my difficult but not-that-difficult reveal to my friends, the second day of school went along smoothly. Chris, Marsha, and I had decided not to leave our table until the bell rang for classes to resume. We weren't terribly interested in the chaos of the outside grounds. Well, Chris was, but she stayed. After lunch, Bubblegum took her time making neat stacks out of the answer sheets upon her desk when she suddenly snapped.

"Oh!" Bubblegum suddenly yelled from her desk, catching everyone off guard. "I totally forgot about the after-school activities! I was supposed to tell you guys about clubs and stuff today!"

"Why would we want to stay at school after class was over?" Robert questioned, after recovering from the startle he and everyone else had suffered.

"Well, despite what you may think, or have heard, or read in comic books, clubs are really just social excuses," Bubblegum explained. "During the seasonal festivals you guys are required to put on special stuff for the occasion, but otherwise you guys just hang out in a room under the guise of doing whatever your club is based on."

"Does that mean we could make clubs for whatever we want?" Marvin asked.

"Within reason," Bubblegum replied. "As long as you guys can prove to the staff that your subject is something that can be like, an enthusiast activity. Easy ones would be clubs about a particular sport, or traditional activities, or um… art or cooking or something. You just have to fill out a form and turn it into the school staff room by the end of the week. I have them here on my desk if anyone is interested."

You could almost feel the energy vibrating through the air from Chris.

"Let's make a club," she said with a lot of giggling. "Let's make a club. Let's, let's, let's!"

"A club about what?" Marsha questioned. "Do we three have a shared interest?"

"Do you like drawing, Veev?" Chris asked. "I draw comics and Marsha likes to do one-off art pieces."

"They're really nothing special," Marsha quickly said, looking quite embarrassed by the reveal. "They're just doodles."

"I don't think I've ever tried to make art outside of school activities," I said. "I wouldn't mind giving it a try. Would an art club be okay then? Would we have to set goals? Like maybe, they'd want us to do art galleries sometimes?"

"Oh no, that sounds awful," Marsha replied. "I can't put my art in front of people. That would be too much to bear."

"She's crazy," Chris said. "Marsha has great art. The whole exhibition could just be her work. Let me go get a form so we can see if there's anything like that on there."

Chris hurried over to Bubblegum's desk, nearly crashing into a couple students along the way. There seemed to be a great deal of discussion in the classroom about the clubs. Many students had grabbed the club form and started to make little groups. Chris was a lot less enthusiastic when she walked back to us.

"We need a minimum of five people to form a club," Chris informed us, sitting at her desk with a heavy slump.

"Oh, well, maybe we can ask a couple classmates?" Marsha suggested.

"But we haven't really connected with anyone else," Chris argued.

"It's only the second day of school," I said. "Maybe we can find two more before the week is over."

"No! I want to submit it now!" Chris complained. "What if there are a bunch of art clubs and ours is thrown away because there's too many?"

"Chris might be right," Marsha said. "Our subject isn't too unique."

"Could we pick a new subject?" I questioned. "What else do you guys like to do?"

Chris and Marsha looked at each other for a bit. As if their brains were quietly exchanging information, they locked their eyes until an answer came to them at the same moment.

"We like to fight," they said together.

That definitely wasn't an answer I had expected.

"Uh, I don't know if I could be a part of that," I reluctantly said.

"What if we gave you some pointers?" Chris suggested. "We can teach you how we do battle!"

"Chris, you're missing the point," Marsha said. "Veev can't be a part of that because she… um… mac and cheese?"

"What?" Chris replied, looked quite confused. "Oh! Oh, yeah! Damn, sorry."

It felt like I was raining on their parade. Getting in the way of my friends' enjoyment was going to eat me alive if I didn't try. I didn't want to let them down.

"Well, could I just be like, something other than a combatant?" I asked. "Like, I could just be our coordinator? Or something like that?"

"Hey, that could work," Marsha said. "Veev could make schedules for our training and maybe even meal plans for us. This club could be like a training camp for the tournament!"

"Wow, um, okay," I replied. "I could do that. Yeah."

"Oh, but what about the other two members?" Chris reminded us. "It probably wouldn't be too hard to find two students that wanted to train and fight, but still want to make sure we would get along with them."

It was true that our trio hadn't connected with anyone else. A glance around the classroom easily told of the groups that had already formed since the first day and our selection of possible candidates didn't look good. I began to wonder if was all right to recruit members from other classrooms, but then I remembered someone.

Turning myself around and away from Chris and Marsha, I faced the corner desk boy with the spiky black hair that was always hiding his face in his arms. I wasn't sure how I could get his attention. I don't think I had noticed him move or interact with anyone at all the previous day. The boy might have been an angry person to wake, but instead of catching him in sleep, he moved and scared me nearly out of my seat as I reached for him. He lifted his head and looked at me with tired eyes. He was a handsome tan boy with a square jaw. It was hard to tell if he was unpleasant or just really tired.

"Hi, I'm Veev," I said, trying really hard not to stutter. "What's your name?"

The boy didn't answer right away. He only looked at me with a couple slow blinks and an adjustment of his jaw.

"Markus," he finally said with a deep voice.

"You want to join a club about fighting, Markus?" Chris said, standing up next to my desk. "We're going to train hard to dominate the school tournament!"

Markus looked at us without any change in facial expression. Were we annoying him? Was he thinking about the offer? I couldn't tell anything from his blank face.

"Okay, sure," he then said, before putting his head back down in his arms.

"O-oh, okay," I replied, trailing off as he took himself out of the conversation.

"Then that just leaves one more," Marsha said, turning to scan the room.

It looked like everyone in the class had found their circle. I could see the concerned looks Chris and Marsha had. I wanted to be helpful. Surely, you could get students from other classes, couldn't you? I was about to leave my desk to ask Bubblegum when the rear door near us opened. A female student with a long skirt passed her knees and brilliant blond hair down to her elbows came in.

I hadn't noticed her before then, despite the presence she held and the impression she left on me just then. She was pretty buxom for a freshman, I thought. I also usually think of pale skin when I see blond hair, but she was lightly bronzed. Might have been a rich girl who went to tanning salons.

"Hi, y-you're in our class?" I asked her as she walked by us.

"Yeah," she replied flatly, her tone heavy and serious.

"Hey, calm your shit, it was just a question," Chris told the blonde.

The girl stopped her walk and turned to us, giving her full attention.

"You want something?" she asked me.

"I was, just wondering if you wanted to be in our um, fight club?" I asked the blonde.

She looked angry. I couldn't imagine what I could have done to make her so upset. Did she think we were beneath her? I had only asked her a simple question, but the girl looked so mad at me.

Without answering the proposal, the blonde walked away with a heavy step and fists clenched. When she passed me I was expecting to get smacked by her.

"Wow, what the fuck is her problem?" Chris questioned. "I'm going to go give her a piece-"

Before our spunky friend could finish her sentence, we all saw the blonde scoop up her desk and chair together and walk back over to us. She nearly hit other students with the furniture, only missing because they scattered out of her way in a hurry. The blonde sat her desk down behind me in the rear of the class before getting seated and looking sternly at me.

"Sure," she told me. "Sign me up. My name is Ashley."

You ever been so intimidated by someone that you just want to lie down and wait for the pain?

"All right then!" Chris cheered. "We got our members!"

"Don't forget to actually fill out the form and turn it in, Chris," Marsha reminded her.

Veev isn't from the realm of humans. When her world became consumed with war and death, the valiant efforts of a single wizard saved her life as well as many other children. Through a temporary doorway they escaped into a different plane where powerful beings fight over control of those weaker than themselves.

Is the human realm really any better than the one she left behind?

Zhang Zian went back to the shop, wondering what should be done today.
Since Tim's cat food,shipped from the United States, was expected to arrive today, he would not be able to travel far from the shop, and could only stroll around the neighborhood, like buying groceries from the supermarket.
Fina was staring at him, reminding him that it was time for him to fetch breakfast.
Zhang Zian reluctantly put on the jacket. He needed to trouble Uncle Li to prepare breakfast again. 
The business was still rough in Uncle Li’s restaurant, for only a few people were having breakfast there, which was even worse than the times Uncle Li was selling dim sum on a cart. He asked Uncle Li for help, and Uncle Li, though in dismay, agreed to help him in no time. 
When Zhang Zian returned to his shop holding a foam insulation box, he found a girl wandering around in front of the entrance.
She wore a knee-length down jacket, a pair of wool gloves, and a red scarf, looking around nervously like an underground worker. The fringe on her forehead was so long that it covered her eyes, and her scarf was pulled up so high that it had blocked her chin. With a pair of big, thick glasses too, almost her entire face had been concealed completely, a look perfect for robbing a bank. 
"Uh, who are you looking for?" asked Zhang Zian.
She hurriedly pulled down the scarf, revealing a small part of her face and exhaling white breath, "Mr. Store Manager, I... I want... to work here."
The girl seemed very nervous. Stuttering and hands crossed, her face blushed. 
Zhang Zian frowned and looked at her face, "You are...What’s your name again? Sorry that I can’t remember."
"Lu Yiyun," she said.
The girl who came was Lu Yiyun.
Recently, Lu Yiyun’s illustration work was getting better and better, and her life became well-off, compared to living short of money when she had just entered the illustration industry. Even her cat, Jasmine, had gained some weight—when she took it for a bath at this pet shop, Zhang Zian said that Jasmine may be a descendant of Chinchilla, but now she increasingly suspected that it was an Orange Tabby. It was said that almost every Orange Tabby was fat…
However, despite having more money and purchasing better digital equipment and supplies, she horrifically found another problem—Since she practically did not communicate with others in real life, after six months of living alone, she was so nervous around others that she stuttered when she talked to people.
Lu Yiyun was not content with drawing illustrations for others all the time. She knew that it was not a promising career. Her ultimate goal was to become a cartoonist. Although this job had not been accepted by the Chinese public for now, and she still had a long way to go before becoming a cartoonist, she was striving towards her goal step by step. However, another problem arose when she submitted her works to comic websites or magazines. The editors often replied: the painting is excellent, but the topics and characters are mundane, and the dialogues are stiff and banal. Hope you can improve on these aspects. 
She was only good at drawing and couldn’t write very well, plus with the fact that she seldom communicated with people in the real world, she was always at a loss when writing a conversation. She knew this was her drawback, but she didn’t know how to change the situation.
When she learned from Snowy’s live broadcast that the Amazing Fate Pet Shop was recruiting an art designer, she thought she might give it a try. The apartment she rented was located in a nearby neighborhood of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, so it was convenient for her to work there. Most importantly, she had met Zhang Zian twice, so talking with him would be easier than with complete strangers. 
As a super indoor otaku girl, she was frightened of the outside world and of talking with people. So, going out to work was a huge ordeal for her. In fact, she had intended to visit the shop a few days ago, but lost her courage when she was about to leave her house. 
She hated her cowardice and knew that if she went on like this, she would slowly decay in this narrow rental house until she was completely separated from the society and was forgotten by all… She could not help but think of the news that she had read online. Some loners had died from sudden illnesses and were not noticed by their neighbors until the corpses gave off rotten odors… She didn’t want to end up like this! She was fed up with being judged by her neighbors, and the last thing she wanted was to be talked about by them when she died. 
Today, she finally decided to go out of her home.
She had never worked in a company before, but she knew she must nail the interview before she was offered a job.
Along the way here, her mind was filled with all kinds of questions, such as how to act if she was rejected in the interview, or if the store manager had already recruited someone else… she had been thinking of going back home, like a startled cub retreating to its lair. Luckily, her rental house was close to the pet shop, and she arrived there soon. 
When talking to Zhang Zian, she was sweating nervously. She had told herself she must not stutter, but it clearly didn’t work out as she expected. 
Fortunately, Zhang Zian did not seem very concerned about it. He said casually, "You want to work here? Come on in, it’s cold outside."
He pulled open the shutter door, "Please."
Lu Yiyun followed him into the shop, and found that the interior was completely different than it had been before. It was recently refurbished, and there were more kittens and puppies, plus a seemingly fierce large German Shepherd.
Zhang Zian turned around and saw that she was scared while staring at Famous. He comforted her, "Don’t be afraid, it doesn’t bite, it's an angel."
"Ah?" Lu Yiyun was shocked, "An angel?"
In an instant, her anxiety had been replaced by surprise!
Upon hearing the words of Zhang Zian, Famous straightened its chest, squatted on the ground proudly and barked twice.
It was saying, "Yes, I want to be an angel!"
Lu Yiyun glanced at it a few more times and found that unlike the German Shepherd in her hometown that liked barking and biting indiscriminately, this one was well-behaved, and she could rest assured, knowing that Zhang Zian was indeed such a good pet shop owner that he had trained this dog so well! 
Zhang Zian pointed at the brand-new cash register and said, "You will be working here, collecting money when customers buy something, and updating the WeChat public account of the shop from time to time. That’s it. Oh, I remember your calligraphy is excellent. You can also draw, right?"
Lu Yiyun pulled a USB from her pocket. "I bring my previous works."
At the checkout counter was a desktop computer bought online by Zhang Zian, who indicated that she could operate the computer on her own. 
She launched the computer, and when it entered desktop mode, she inserted the USB disk to the interface, and accessed the slide show mode of the image viewer.
"Are these all painted by you?" Zhang Zian was surprised, because the pictures on the screen that made him dizzy were so fascinating and seemed to be drawn by a professional artist.
Lu Yiyun did not speak. She just pointed to her signature at the lower right corner of each image.
"Uh... honestly, you are overqualified for the job here..." Zhang Zian told her the truth, "You won’t settle if I pay you less… but if I pay you according to your level, I will be losing money, for I don’t need such an excellent art designer…"
"It does not matter." Lu Yiyun shook her head. She didn’t expect to come here to earn much money, she just needed to have more contact with real people in real life, "Just pay me a normal wage as other employees. But I have only one condition..."
"What condition?" asked Zhang Zian.
"When there are no customers here, I would like to... draw some pictures here, can I?" she asked in a low voice.
"Of course! When you are free, you can do anything you like." Zhang Zian felt that the condition was so simple, and he agreed without hesitation.
"Then... I have passed the interview?" she asked nervously.
Zhang Zian felt that he was lucky to find such a talent and quickly said, "Yes."
Lu Yiyun got what she wanted and was also relieved, "When do I need to come to work?"
"Uh..." Zhang Zian thought for a moment, "I want to re-open the shop within a few days. Why don’t you come over tomorrow morning? I will tell you the prices and usages of some products, and then teach you how to handle membership cards for clients."
"Okay," she bowed gently, as if Zhang Zian was already her boss.
"Go home. Come back tomorrow." Zhang Zian remembered something and raised his hand, pointing at her hair, "Yes, why don’t you go to the barber shop to have a haircut, your hair is covering your eyes... Of course, this is not compulsory. Forget it if you don’t want to."
She froze there. Using her finger to roll up the fringe on her forehead, she found it was indeed too long. 
"Ok, I'll go back and cut it myself," she said. "Oh, I need to bring over some drawing tools, like a tablet. Can I?"
"Of course, you don’t have to ask my permission for these details. I should have prepared tools for my staff in advance, but I don’t know how to paint and I'm afraid I might buy the wrong tools."
Zhang Zian felt that she was a little strange, but it didn’t matter, for he was also a weirdo in the eyes of others. Wang Qian and Li Kun were also weirdos, and even Snowy was a weirdo. That’s why people said birds of a feather flocked together.
Anyways, he finally had a full-time employee, who was quite perfect—she looked mature and wasn’t a blabbermouth, and had excellent drawing skills. Besides, when he had to run errands outside, he didn’t have to close the shop anymore. 
When renovating the shop, to prevent the pets from running outside, Guo Dongyue specifically installed an automatic door between the cashier area and the shop interior. Lu Yiyun would be working and painting in the cashier area, and wouldn’t disturb him when he communicated with the elves.
Zhang Zian sent a message to Snowy, "I’m back at the shop. I’m available any minute."
Snowy: "Ok, I will immediately contact Sister Deng Jie."


1. Download a suspicious game
2. Catch a few magical pets as partners
3. Go through interesting daily routines and lead the pet shop to a whole new level

I stood waiting. Ed must have heard us talking because he came out of one of the rooms with Derrick. He rapped on the other doors as he came, and the other guys worked their way to the living room. 

The basement door flung open. I was glad I wasn't blocking it like Mac had been. 

Mac literally shoved me out of the way, ran out the front door, and heaved into the bushes there. It didn't look like he was in a hurry to leave them. A second round of Mac throwing up in the bushes had all of the guys exchanging looks between Mac and me and Dad, who had finally come up from the basement. 

I threw Dad a questioning look. 

He shrugged. "I took my time. Maybe I should have gone faster."

I shrugged back and grinned. 

I don't know how many times while watching a movie Mom, he and I would shift. One hand, one foot, full shift starting in different areas of the body. It had been like a game of follow the leader, each of us matching the other's shifts. Control of the shift was something he had drilled into me. 

"At least Running Elk was able to hold it."

Dad threw me an indecipherable look and took up a spot on the one couch waiting for Mac to come back in. I opted for the floor close to dad, sitting cross legged across from the guys and ready for whatever happened next. 

A very peaked looking Mac finally came back in. He went straight to the kitchen, banged all the cupboards around, cussed, and finally poured himself a glass of water. He stood in the kitchen doorway for a minute chugging it down. He turned around, slamming the glass on the kitchen table, before coming to sit on the couch across from dad. 

"Tell me I did not just see that."

Dad shook his head gently. 

"My father walked out of the Black Forest. I can't really tell you more than that."

"You ever..."

Dad took a guess at what he meant. He looked thoughtfully at the small group of men standing off to the side before looking back to Mac.

"Twice. The first time by accident. The man was a rapist hunting on the college campus where I met his mother. We fought, he died. Second time was his mother, at her request. She was beautiful..."

I chuckled a bit when the silence drew out and Mac got uncomfortable. 

"Dad gets to thinking about Mom and he zones out a bit sometimes. Mom was awesome."

Dad and I shared a smile. After another moment Mac cleared his throat.

"You think that's what happened..."

He couldn't finish it. He headed to the bushes for a third heave. When he got back as far as standing in the front doorway, I answered his question.

"Without a doubt. Shitty ass handling of it too. Owww!"

Dad had thunked me on the head. "Watch your language."

"Yes sir." How else can you answer your dad?

Dad motioned to the spot Mac had been sitting and waited until Mac sat down. 

"This is how this is going to work. For now, it stays between you, me, and Little Wolf. You do not speak of it to your men."

Mac started to say something and dad's look hardened.

"No. You listen!"

Dad's voice held a touch of a growl. His eyes on Mac were a hard wolf's stare. He leaned forward slightly.

"I am The Black Wolf. I tell you, the wolf protects its own. You think you watch over your little establishment here? You cannot compare with me protecting my own. 

"Your friend? You can't understand. You can't help, not with that. You haven't thought through the ramifications. I have spent my life thinking of nothing else. You haven't considered the possible different scenarios. I have. You want to walk in my world big man? Come back down to the basement again with me if you dare."

Wow! Who knew my dad was such a bad ass? His tone had been challenging. He didn't let up his stare the whole time. Mac was sweating bullets, literally. Big drops of sweat fell off him.

"We do black ops."

"Mac!"

Some of the guys were surprised that Mac blurted that out, spilling the beans about what they do. Honestly though, I wasn't surprised. Almost all of the fighters were really, really good. Most seemed to have military tats of one kind or another. 

"Shut it!" Mac barely looked at the guys before focusing on my dad. "We run certain types of gigs, usually overseas. We have different teams we swap out between. I was considering recruiting your son. I won't."

Dad sat back and smiled, arms stretched out along the back of the couch. 

"Little Wolf is his own man. The decision is his to make, not mine. Mac, believe me that for now, are you listening? For now, it is better not to say anything. In time," Dad paused, "perhaps. Tell your friend.. no, that won't work. He'd never find The Pointe with his handicap. Little Wolf?"

"He needs... tell Lone Wolf to work on endurance and coordination. He'll know what I mean."

"Seriously? You're calling him Lone Wolf?" Mac asked with this incredulous look on his face.

"There's a reason. He didn't give me anything to call him," I said grinning. "Why not keep to a wolf theme? You just call him Lone Wolf. He'll understand. Tell him you met my dad, who's willing to help, but you should act confused about helping on what; after all, he didn't tell you. If he wants, we can set up a meet. We can let you know roughly where the pointe is. He might be able to find it."

I turned to Dad, considering. 

"As much noise as he makes, you'd hear him if he was anywhere around. Any weekend should be a good time?" I asked Dad. 

Dad nodded and I continued.

"Tell him I said he's got to double down on what I asked of him when he meets my dad."

"What did you ask of him?" asked Dad.

I got up and whispered in Dad's ear about the kneeling and... he waved me off. 

"Triple down. He comes to me acting like that and I'll knock him into tomorrow. You can tell him I said so."

"And that's suppose to gain his confidence so he'll trust you to help? Threatening to knock him out?"

I laughed, as much as the looks on the guys faces that Mac just accepted the fact dad would be able to knock his friend out, as at Mac's derisive tone. 

Dad did that thing where he points at you with steepled fingers. At least this time he was pointing at Mac. 

"I told you. You can't understand the circumstances he's in. The ramifications..."
Dad shook his head. 

"Mac, before this is over I have a feeling I'm going to need the help of you and your men. I will try, I swear, I will give my life trying to keep them safe. I can't guarantee it. You want your friend out? I swear to you I want it even more. 

"There is an obvious wrongness where he's at. Until we know what kind of situation we're dealing with," another pause while dad shook his head. "I don't have enough information yet to know what we need to do in order to deal with it. 

"You lead your men. Think about the danger you would be leading them into this time. They think they would follow you anywhere. Are you willing to lead them there? Are you willing to take that risk for them? 

"You need time to think about it, really think about it, and come to grips with with whatever decision you make. You aren't a coward if you say no. You aren't a hero if you say yes. This life isn't for everyone. I don't think your friend was given a choice."

Dad stood up. I followed him to the door. He stopped before going out. 

"Mac, Little Wolf and I will stop by in the morning after breakfast; do a bit of wrestling on your mat, if you don't mind. Come son."

As we put on the helmets I couldn't resist whispering in Dad's ear. 

"Badass daddy werewolf!"

It got me a thwack across the shoulders but it was worth it.

We headed back to my house. I had more questions, ones I had never thought about. What had it been like to train Mom, to train me? 

We talked about what we might find with these other werewolves. We talked about how Lone Wolf could have gotten to such a state of almost constant terror. There wasn't too much we could actually plan until we knew more. 

We finally headed to bed. There still wasn't any sign of Derrick.

Saturday morning came, and still no Derrick. 

Dad and I went for a run as wolves, hunted rabbit for breakfast. We spent hours together as wolves. It felt good being with him. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. 

It was around nine in the morning when we headed to the gym. Dad insisted we take my bike again. I was beginning to wonder if Dad would end up getting a bike of his own.

I was kinda hesitant going in. There was a new dynamic now in my relationship with the guys. I wasn't some potential recruit to them anymore, I was an unknown. Mac's reaction to my dad had them on edge. 

Mac himself was passed out on one of the couches. There were three bottles of vodka on the floor in front of him. Two were empty, the third mostly full. 

The guys were hanging around keeping watch over Mac.

I could see the question churning in each of their minds. What was it about my dad, and by association me, that had Mac of all people get so off-balanced and afraid, looking half whipped? 

It was as if my dad had some sort of authority over Mac. 

They were warriors, mercenaries, unafraid. Mac had acted like a raw recruit getting caught at something by a general, spilling the beans without a thought.

It gave me an insight into how Lone Wolf might have gotten so pathetic. Some werewolf out there was using what he was to purposely terrify people into obeying him. How much terror, and how long being terrified? How much of a power trip did someone have to be on to do that to someone else? How could they ignore the wolf within? The thought of it still angered me. 

Dad nudged my arm and we made our way to the basement. 

A few of the guys followed us down. Ed walked over, watched as Dad and I stripped down to just pants. A few of the guys were sitting on the steps. Derrick stood halfway between Ed and the other guys. Apparently Ed was the spokesman. 

"Mac doesn't drink."  

Long pause. Neither dad or I said anything.

"Mac hasn't touched a drop in a long time, until last night."

Dad answered him. "I'm glad he has such good friends to watch over him. He'll be fine."

Dad ignored Ed then, and focused on me. I didn't know what else to do. When Dad came at me, I had no choice but to start wrestling with him. I was the better wrestler, he was the better overall fighter. Like most of our practice matches, there were the occasional comments about strategy and moves. We always tried different things to work around different positions. 

Mac came down finally, sat on one of the bottom steps, and watched us. I could smell the vodka in him even from the ring. He held the third bottle.

Dad asked about muscle movement. I started using the subtle muscle shifts I had told him about. Our conversation became a list of muscles and joints. If Mac knew what we were talking about, he gave no sign. 

Suddenly Dad straightened up. 

"Mac, how about having a round with me, see if I can put what this young pup has been going on about to actual use against somebody."

I was surprised when Mac came lumbering over. Eddie tried to take the bottle from him but Mac wasn't having it. I don't know where Mac's mind was when he set the bottle on the edge of the mat and climbed in the ring. 

I moved myself outside the ring, staying by the edge. I tried to place myself where I would block most of the guys' view of the ring. Dad had a tendency to shift his feet slightly for extra leverage power, digging claws in. 

I became coach for dad then, calling out muscles to shift, calling out his feet the one time I noticed a twitch there. 

When Mac had him in a good hold on the mat, I called out hip, shoulder and elbow. The twist that would result from that shift should throw Mac off balance just a smidgen, enough for a good wrestler to take advantage of it. 

Dad managed it, but Mac's bulk made for a lot of weight. Once the hold was broken, Dad stood with his back to the guys. He rotated his shoulder with a growl. I could hear the shift. He partially shifted back and forth a few more times, enough to test his shoulder, then back to totally human before he turned around. 

"Enough. I'm going to have to work on that one." Dad rotated his shoulder normally. "That's going to be sore for a bit." 

He came down off the mat, leaving Mac standing up there. Dad came over to me, put his hands on my shoulder. No words needed. I shifted the joint.

"Hmm. That was only about half what I did."

"Yeah, more than that would have things at the wrong angle."

Dad just looked at me. He had done what I said. I hadn't mentioned at what point to stop. 

"Sorry, still working on it myself."

"Got any of your aunt's salve?" 

"Yeah, in my saddlebags," I answered him, then turned quick to Mac. "Uh-uh, nope!" I grabbed Mac's bottle before he could grab it. "I have something better."

If looks could kill, Mac would have glared me to death.

Ulric Wolcott, know as Little Wolf by his friends and family, was ready leave his childhood home and go make his mark on the world as a man. 

For him, there was no boundary between man and wolf.

His Native American heritage from his mother gave him access to his spirit guide, the Spirit of the Wolf itself. The Spirit of the Wolf blended easily with the wolf nature he received from his werewolf father.

He had no idea the adventures his spirit guide would lead him into as, for the first time, he encountered werewolves outside his family. 

His adventures set his feet on the path to his promised new name. An encounter with a young girl who would become pivotal in his life would seal it. 

Spirit Wolf taught him the meaning of who he was, and gave him a glance into the future being offered him. He learned to balance the life of the wolf physically, mentally, and spiritually with his human self... 

... until finally he was ready to become not only the ruling Alpha of Spirit Wolf's worldly pack, 
but King to all werewolves!

*

Everyone spirit are at the top now after watch how Mac or know as Ultraman Tiga kick the monster from sky.Mac manage to kick the monster a little further from the battlefield.
  (Few...with this distance I can fight the monster without any worry about the people)Mac say as he fly down and landing a couple meter from the monster.
  (NOW LET ME SHOW YOU WHO THE STRONGEST!!)Mac shout and star to punch the monster.But the monster get up and one of the monster head bite Mac right hand before it can hit the monster.
  (Ahhhh... my hand!)shout Mac as he feel pain.Before he can do anything other three monster head bite his left hand and both his leg.The monster the middle head of the monster start charge huge fire energy area around both of them star to get heat repidly.Some tree also start to burnt
  The prince and princess start to get worry when they so the situation.(Brother can we do anything to help ultraman tiga)the princess get worry and ask his brother to help ultraman tiga but the prince only silent.
  (Your highness our troop are ready to retreat and all preparation are complete thank to Ultraman Tiga but is there really no other way to help him)the general speak as he see the ultraman can't move.
  (We can only pray to God Aegis that our savior will win and if we do anything we cannot get near because of the heat also the monster start to fire his stronger move ...)say prince Alax Von with serious face.
  On the Mac side the situation are getting bad.(Sh*t I cannot move and the monster bite me)Mac also start to worry but his only chance is to let the monster shoot him so he can get away.
  A few second the monster shoot huge fireball to Mac and he get blow away few meter from the monster and manage to stabilize himself (the fireball stronger than I thought)say Mac as he almost fall down.
  Beep beep beep beep (Hah..what that sound)Mac shock as he hear beep sound but then he see that the power timer is start to beep with red colour.Mac also feel weak and he knew he need to finish this battle fast.
  (Ok...this is ultraman tiga ultimate move)after said that Mac stand up straight with both his arm make move same as what he saw at ultraman tiga series.
  The monster also start to get alert and charge to Mac but it too late as white ray shoot toward her.The monster stop move and explode with huge boom sound.
  Mac feel his power get more weak after use the ultimate move(Now I understand why the ultraman use their move at last minute it take many light power .Okay the monster destroy let play like hero).Mac then stand up straight and look at the people as them cheer for him.Mac look up and fly to the sky.
  When he fly high enough he turn to small human size light and land at the mountain again.(Wow I finally can become Ultraman Tiga ,this is the moment in my life except the pain part)Mac talk to himself with joy at his face.
  On the battlefield,(Look like the monster have been destroy by Ultraman Tiga.General Taro what do you think about him) Prince Alax Von look at the sky while talk to General Taro.(Your highness I think ultraman tiga is the hero that we need to win this war) reply General Taro.
  (Okay let talk again on the way back to capital later.)Princess Alice Von interrupt the talk.
  (I agree let handle our situation first and this Ultraman Tiga I will report to father)say prince Alax .
  At the mountain,Mac was currently check the system.(System status)Mac say as a status screen show up.
______________________________________________
ULTRAMAN SYSTEM
Host name:MAC
Strength:1000
Defend:1000
Agility:1000
Intelligent:1000
Mana:(LOCK)
POWER:Ultraman tiga(Spark lens level 2),Ultra sign(Level Max)
______________________________________________
  Mac shock when he saw her status(System can you please explain me about the status but on the number 1000 only and the strength, agility, intelligent and defent I already knew what it for as I always watch isekai anime and novel)
  (UNDERSTAND MASTER THE NUMBER OF STRENGTH, AGILITY, INTELLIGENT AND DEFEND IN THIS WORLD IS 500 MAXIMUM EXCEPT THE OTHER WORLD THAT HAVE MORE THAN 1000 AND BECAUSE OF THIS WORLD IS THE WEAKEST THAT WHY IT BECOME THE FIRST BEING ATTACK. BUT YOU HAVE THE GOD AEGIS BLESSINGS THAT WHY YOUR STATUS THIS STRONG.FOR THE MANA YOU NEED TO DO SPECIAL MISSION TO GET IT AND HOST CAN CHECK ON MISSION SCREEN)The system explain.
  (Oooo...now I understand system please show me the mission)Mac order the system (UNDERSTAND MASTER PLEASE WAIT A FEW SECOND FOR THE MISSION) system reply.

A story about Mac reincarnated to another world with ultraman system after he die save two mysterious twin and his adventure in world that made by another God.What more interesting is this world have magic.What adventure he will get in this world that is his story.Please support and comment


 Today is his retirement day after 60 years work at entertainment company as manager .Mac now was at the company to take his stuff and put inside the a box.After 15 minutes he then say goodbye to all his ex-worker.
 Mac then bring the box inside his black Toyota Camry car.Mac then star his car engine and drive out from the parking lot.While driving he turn on his car radio but unlike other old man he doesn't turn it on to listen for news or some classic music but an ultraman music.

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