The journey of a demon through this world of Cultivation and Magic.

The world consists of ten divine items that were said to be able to go against the heavens. Possessing just one of them could change a person's fate forever.

Sein is a young boy raised by an old man in a rural village in this harsh cultivation world.  

Not knowing who the parents that give birth to him, he vowed to find them with only a necklace from his grandfather's memento.

Though he is below average in terms of raw talent, his slightly naughty nature often gets him more trouble than it should. However, he never forgot his goal.

What kind of fate awaits him, what kind of truth, lies behind?

A child who experienced darkness and loneliness. Found a chance and a new light. The confort leaves weak. Light generates shadows. Greed blinds the heart and soul. Humans and Monsters. Invasions and Wars. Fights and Passions. A game that changes human life bringing with it chaos and hopes.

As days passed by Ema is excited and sad that she will no longer will work as a part-time in the company. Also at the same time Ema still struggle to find friends online that she can trust. Mostly that she can see online is having an experience that they willingly share online. There are a lot of photos being shared nude by the people around the internet. "Hm, what happen to humans these days. They have gone mad and sharing nude photos of themselves." said Ema disappointingly while scrolling down the website for more posts to check randomly on her account. But suddenly she got hold again of the account of Daniel. Daniel's account is having a lot of pictures of him during his travel all over the world. Ema have spent most of her time on Daniel's account and checking every posts that Daniel shared.

"Hm, Daniel is quiet an adventurous type of guy and also the girl that she will be spending the rest of his life with is so lucky." said Ema dreamily upon looking at the smiling face of Daniel. Ema have downloaded some of the photos of Daniel for personal purposes on her laptop. The crush that Ema have for Daniel is currently growing as she seeks more information online about Daniel. "Ema, are you ready for having vacation before you go off to college?" said Amelia as she walk pass the bedroom door to sit beside Ema. "Hey! Daniel's photo? Really? Having that big crush on him??" said Amelia as she pressure the feelings of Ema. "Mama, I am ready and excited to have vacation with you and papa. Hm, mama stop joking around about the photo of Daniel. Isn't it obvious that I really like him. It's nice that I have a copy of the photo so even if without an internet at least I can still see his face." said Ema lovingly at the last photo that she downloaded.

"Hahaha, Ema darling. Oh! You are cheeks are like cherry when you blush like that. Now ... now... hm maybe I'll share your little crush to Daniel. Eh? What you think?"said Amelia to her daughter teasingly. "NOOO! Mama, don't ever share with him about having a crush on him! That's ridiculous!" said Ema defensively to her mother. Her mother smile at her daughter that she's looking at a child rather than a grown up young girl. She misses her daughter to be childish sometimes. Each time that was not spent with her daughter due to her business have passed already. It is already too late that she have the time but this time her daughter will go to college soon.

"Okay, Ema you can count on me to keep your secret. I hope you enjoy your life at college. Also bear in mind to choose your decisions wisely." Amelia told her daughter the advice that she usually get when Amelia was going to college in her past. "Yes, mama I will be keeping all that you have thought me. I really do hope that I will be as successful as you are." said Ema in an endearing way to her mother. As she go to her mama to give a hug that was worth the while of being spent with her mother.

"So going back to the vacation, Ema you must pack light things only since the vacation will be aan out of town preferably with beautiful sunset on. So have you pictured out what it will be like?" said Amelia to her daughter that still have a bear hug on her. Amelia smiled lovingly to her daughter that will soon experience her own struggles that will come to her life. "Oh by the way before I forget. Ema, this is something I get for you. This is a journal where you can write your thoughts on it and by time it will be a start to see you life unfold." said Amelia to her daughter as she held out the journal to her daughter.

"Thanks for this mama, I will surely love to write down whatever happen to me and at the same time have a look at the times that I treasured most. By the way so the vacation that we will have soon is on the beach then, eh? But I bet it is far away. Hm?" said Ema testing her mother to spill some info for the upcoming vacation. " Hahaha, Ema my dear. You will surely love the place as this is a parting gift in a way for you from us. Hope your father have not overdo it. He surely put his thoughts to this family vacation that we will soon have." said Amelia to her daughter giving her some space to think and as she went for the bedroom door to leave.

"Ema , again just pack lightly. I mean it and don't bother to pack so much things. Just enjoy and have a light package with you. Will you?" ask Amelia in a concern tone to her daughter as she knows her daughter that loves to pack everything. It's like getting the entire closet on vacation! Which was totally bizarre, Amelia smile to her thoughts as she left Ema's bedroom. As her mother left the room, Ema was left alone thinking what is the possible things to bring. She get a piece of paper to write down the necessities and the outfits on mind to bring with. 

So Ema have make a list for what to bring for a vacation possibly a beach that was on her mind:
1. Swimsuit
Perhaps one of the most essential things to pack for beach vacation as Ema been searching for at least five sets.  

2. Swim Cover Up 
Also, when packing for beach holiday, you will need of course a swimsuit cover as Ema is checking every swim cover up she have for her five sets of swim wear that she set aside.  Ema is thinking to herself and considering the possible scenery that she might went into. "This is perfect for wearing down to the beach, but you might prefer a sarong as you can also use this to cover your shoulders or legs if your visiting anywhere that has temples or monasteries." said Ema as she chose some decent cover up and some few are sexy.

3. Shorts
"I will bring 2 to 3 comfortable pairs of shorts for wearing down to the beach or walking around town." said Ema in an excited tone as she pictured out what she will do.

4. Tank Tops 
"Hm, maybe I will only need around 3 tops which I can mix and match with my shorts." thinks Ema to herself.

5. Dresses 
" Hm, I think my parents will have an evening night so I will prefer wearing dresses over shorts, I will just bring 1-2 casual sun dresses." comment Ema to herself and picturing out the past formal dinner that she have with her parents.

6. Pants and Jacket
"Hm, If the nights will get cold, I will bring a pair of pants to keep warm and I may also need to bring a light jacket in case it gets a bit cool or windy at night.  A rain jacket may also be worth while if we are going somewhere that often has down pours, particularly during wet season.  Maybe 3 in 1 jackets are perfect as they keep me warm and protect myself from the rain too." said Ema to herself while considering her options.

7. Underwear!
"Hm! Duh! I will bring 2 bras and a pair of knickers for each day. So maybe for a week (7 days) , It comes around 14 pairs .... hahaha just in case I'll bring an extra..." said Ema jokingly to herself.

8. Next will be my footwear....
Flip Flops --- my time at the beach or by the pool..
Sandals  --- for walking around town, shopping or going out for dinner.
Water Shoes  --- At some beach destinations there can be a lot of rocks and coral on the beaches so a pair of slip on mesh beach shoes can be useful items to pack to protect my feet. 

9. Beach Essentials... (Wants)
Beach Hat  --- A big sun hat of course to protect my skin from burning.
Beach Towel  --- Maybe one with microfibres that is lightweight and dries fast. Another reason I like it is that the sand won't stick on it.
Sunglasses  --- it's a must to see through the sun... heat is so coming over...
Water Bottle  --- we all know the devastating consequences plastic bottles have on the environment, so make sure you bring along a refillable water bottle.  I like to have one that won't leak and has a clasp on it so I can attach it my day bag.

10. Bags! .. Hehehe... I literally need it to store my things...
Beach Bag --- to put all my Beach Essentials items in it.
Packing Cubes --- to put all my Underwear in it so it will still be organize.
Toiletry Bag --- to keep all my toiletries in

11. Toiletries ... Hm... I need to keep it simple..
Sunscreen --- a good quality sunscreen to protect my face and body is one of the vital things needed for beach vacation.
Make Up --- personal choice but I will bring whatever I might need for a night out with my parents..
Moisturizing Cream --- some moisturizing cream for my face, eyes and body, the sun and sea tend to make the skin dry.
A Razor -- for my unwanted hair...
Shampoo and Conditioner --- A small travel size, enough for one week is plenty.
Body Wash  --- i prefer to bring my own although I find some free items to one of our recent location...
Toothpaste and Toothbrush --- Duh! Brush my teeth after meals and before going to bed...
Hair Brush and Hair Ties -- for my messy bun to be control...
Deodorant --- It can get very hot in the sun, so I won't want to forget this one!

12. Electronics
Mobile Phone --- mobile phone so I can keep in touch with social media. Especially stalking my Daniel!
Camera --- take plenty of photographs for my memories. 
Memory cards --- one for the camera and one for as a backup!
Travel Adapter --- may need to bring a plug adaptor
Headphones --- listening to music or streaming movies on my phone whilst lying by the pool or whilst traveling
Chargers / Power Bank  --- various chargers I need to keep my tech gear charged and I bring a charger to keep all of my electronics fully charged throughout my trip

Looking at the lists that Ema made for herself, she is satisfied that she will definitely have a good time. As far as Ema is concern this is the minimalist that she can get to pack her things for vacation as she smiled and getting on with the things on the list to be ready.

The Life as we know it. People have shared stories throughout. It might not be perfect for some but still it is life worth living for. Some people have a perfect life but are they happy?

When Emily and Cyril's final class ended they headed outside to search for Aiden. Just as they were passing near the principal's office, the speakers turned on and they heard the principal start speaking, "Every body please pay attention. I have an interesting announcement to make. Tomorrow the college will be taking its students to a camping trip for almost a week. 

Thereby, I request you all to take all the necessary items along with you when you come to college tomorrow and we shall depart at 10 a.m. for Yosemite National Park. Thank you." 

Oh my goodness! Yosemite National Park??!! That place is like heaven! The hallways were filled with cheers and thunderous applause as they could not wait to go to camping the next day.

Emily started jumping around Cyril, "OMG! OMG! OMG!" They saw Aiden walking towards them. "Aiden! Did you hear the announcement they just made?!" Emily squealed merrily. Aiden laughed and patted her head, "Ahahaha! Of course I did." "Hey! Don't treat me like a child." Emily sulked as the three of them laughed together and headed back to their homes.

As soon as she reached home she reported the news to her parents. They agreed happily and gave her a long lecture of safety measures which she listened carefully so that she would miss any details. Her dad shared his experiences and also his mistakes, with Emily, which he made during his youth, when he had gone camping with his friends. Her mom also helped her pack some essential materials which could be possibly needed during camping. 

After everything had been packed, she looked at the time. It was half past 5 in the evening, so that means that in Paris, the time right now would be half past 2 in the morning. Hmm... Maybe she would be asleep, Emily thought and decided to send her a message, so that when she wakes up she would read it. She would also call her before leaving in the morning because then, over there would be afternoon so Linda might pick her call. 

So, she texted Linda and told her everything. From the newly formed bond between Aiden and Cyril, their archery practice and then the declaration of a trip to Yosemite National Park tomorrow. She had sent her many long paragraphs.

She spent the rest of the day helping her mom with chores, talking to her dad and then in the end finally completing her remaining homework. It was 9 p.m. She was lying peacefully in her bed and was about to go to sleep before there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Emily said. It was Chris, he peeked his head inside grinning, "May I come in?" He said sweetly.

"No, didn't you hear, I said leave me alone." Emily snapped. "Alright, alright, I get it, you allowed me to come in and I shouldn't have asked again." Chris replied apologetically, walking inside and waving his hands. Emily raised her eyebrow at him. Why is he being so nice? Is he sick? Noticing her expression, Chris rolled his eyes, "I'm not sick, okay? Well... Actually, the thing is..." Chris started speaking and glanced at Emily pitifully, trying to act cute.

"I don't have the entire night. I have to get up early tomorrow! Spit it or leave." Emily flared up. "Okay big sis, cool down, I won't overact!" He said while sitting in front of her and taking out a book and a pen. "What the-?" Emily gasped. "Now?!" She almost shrieked. "I knowww! I should have asked you earlier but you were busy! Okay?!" Chris howled back. 

"Just explain me these two topics, I don't understand a word. Our cruel teacher will take a test before we leave for camping!" Chris pleaded. "Okay!" Emily stared at him as she started explaining him chemistry. Finally, when they were done, a bit more than half an hour had passed. "Thank you SO MUCH, Emily" Chris thanked her with the bottom of his heart and hugged her extremely tightly.

"Get off me, you pig!" Emily yelped as she nearly choked by the force of his hug. Chris laughed as he let her go and left the room whistling happily. Emily shook her head as she found a comfortable position on her bed and went to sleep.

The next morning, Emily woke at the exact time she had set her alarm for, that is, quarter to eight in the morning. She excitedly got ready, gobbled down her breakfast and dragged her suitcase behind her along with Chris, till the door before turning to say goodbye to her parents.

"Take extreme care of yourself, okay? Don't forget to wash your hands before eating, don't stay up too late, be careful of wild animals, keep your stuff safe, apply mosquito repellent before going to sleep, and, and, uh... I hope I'm not forgetting anything." Her mom lectured her while giving her a long hug. "Haha, no mom. I remember everything. Don't worry!" Emily smiled at her before moving towards her dad and giving him a tight hug.

"You remember the basic survival techniques I told you yesterday, right?" Her dad asked in concern. "Yes, dad. No worries!" Emily said. Chris also bade farewell to both of them and the two siblings walked towards the college together.

Emily has an incredible adventure ahead of her in which she faces the difficulties of being a student and sports fanatic.

Being above average in many aspects, she gains not only many admirers but also many enemies, who are envious of her talents and are intent on dragging her down at all costs. But she has her best friends who she can rely on and to help her in difficult situations.

In her determination to become the best athlete, she has to make many risky decisions and leave her home city, San Francisco, she goes to live with her 'not-so-close' aunt in Los Angeles. Emily not only misses her family and friends, but her time spent with her aunt isn't all that joyful and easy as she gives her a hard time. 

Things get messy, there are ups and downs, as managing to multi task is difficult, keeping up with sports, studies and handling the drama in life, physically and mentally exhausts her.

Special thanks to my sister for: 
1. Making the novel cover!!!
2. Updating the chapters in case of mistakes.

Tags:
FemaleProtagonist, Archery, Races, Studies, Travelling, FriendshipValues, DeterminationAndHope, DifficultTimes, Bullying, StandingForYouself, GirlPower

Eek!
Eek!
Eek!
Xiaobai jumped down from the combat backpack. It lifted up its claw, revealing a fist-sized energy core beneath it. Seconds later, it disappeared into thin air. Not too long ago, Qin Feng and Xiaobai had come to an understanding about the looting of items. He knew that Xiaobai had just used its spatial element to retrieve the giant rat king's energy core. It then transferred it back to its personal space.
"Fine! This belongs to you. I will not take it away."
Qin Feng was slightly frustrated at this but knew that without Xiaobai, it would have been impossible for him to locate the injured giant rat king.
Afterward, Qin Feng planted his dagger right into the creature, drawing a clean cut on its belly. He started to dissect the giant rat king, rummaging through its entrails and retrieving some valuable parts. Teeth and claws had a price to them and could be sold in the market. Other than that, some of the skin and fur on the giant rat king were still in good condition.
As for its flesh, it was, as a matter of fact, edible. Around 100 pounds of tasty meat was all for Qin Feng to harvest. By selling these off, he could earn some quick cash for himself. Fortunately, Xiaobai allowed him to utilize its personal space. Surely, he would have trouble explaining away his bountiful harvest to the people. Having that in mind, he quickly stored all the rat's parts into Xiaobai's personal space.
Leaving only bones on the ground, Qin Feng walked towards the vines. As he approached it, he found out that there were more than three Talent Fruits growing on the vines. Most of them had been gnawed by the giant rat king, leaving tell-tale marks teeth marks. It came to light that it was, in fact, rather difficult for a low-tier ultra beast the likes of a giant rat to evolve into giant rat king.
"Three it is then. Three Talent Fruits are good enough for me!"
Immediately, Qin Feng plucked off the three Talent Fruits from the vines. Unconsciously, he put one into his mouth and took a bite out of it.
Eek!
Xiaobai was staring at the Talent Fruit.
"You can have one!"
He decided to keep the last one for Zhou Hao. He then looked into his backpack, finding a bottle to store the fruit. Back at the base, everyone was still busy cleaning up the mess. None of them had the time to keep an eye on Qin Feng. No one would have noticed him leaving for a short period of time.
Under those circumstances, he could conceal the fact that he had just killed the giant rat king alone. Though an exchange for a reward for this accomplishment was possible, he eventually concluded that he would be better off keeping his discretion.
"Qin Feng!"
Li Yao was looking for Qin Feng the moment the battle died down. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. After looking around her for a bit, she finally spotted him as he returned from killing the giant rat king.
"Qin Feng, are you hurt? I can treat your wounds right now!" Li Yao exclaimed when she saw his hands that were drenched in blood.
"Hey. I'm fine. Thank you."
Qin Feng put on a frown on his face. He remembered that he'd not told Li Yao his name last time. That could only mean that Li Yao probably heard others mentioning his name since he had gotten quite famous at the base.
His rejection had turned Li Yao's face pale. She did not expect that Qin Feng would treat her in such an icy manner. Right at that moment, Xiao Jing approached them as well.
"Qin Feng! Are you okay?!"
Earlier today, she too had taken part in defending the base, which was why she had no idea how was Qin Feng was doing. When she was helping the others clean the plantation, she was unable to locate Qin Feng. That had actually given her a good scare. Now, she was simply thankful that Qin Feng was well and alive.
"Hey? Are you hurt?" asked Qin Feng.
"It's no big deal! I killed 20 giant rats just now!" said Xiao Jing with a smile.
"You should go collect your reward. I might have to go back to the colony!"
Qin Feng nodded at Li Yao and walked towards the military exchange center. Xiao Jing was shocked by Qin Feng's reply. Immediately, she went after him.
"You… you're not staying? Do you need more rest? Any plans to come here again?"
In his mind, he knew exactly what Xiao Jing was thinking. Right after he was reborn to this world, he was the one who had taught Xiao Jing how to hunt. Technically speaking, he was indeed her first teacher and mentor.
"Whether I come back or not, that's not your worry now. With your current strength and skillset, signing up for any mercenary team won't be a problem. I suggest you join the garrison troops first. After all, you have contributed a lot in defeating the rat tsunami."
At Qin Feng's consolation, Xiao Jing seemed to be a little more accepting of his leaving. During her time at the plantation, not only did she just follow Qin Feng around, but she even spent hours trying her best to socialize and learn combat fighting techniques. If she joined the garrison troops, she would be able to use his military merit points to exchange for inner force and learn machinery and fighting skills.
"How about you? Where are you going?" asked Xiao Jing.
"I think it's time for me to go to one of those top colleges, eh!" answered Qin Feng.
"Qing Feng, I have suspicions that those top colleges can no longer teach you anything!"
Xiao Jing believed that Qin Feng was already extremely powerful. Besides, she had always been a cautious spender when it came to large amounts of money. Considering the fact that Qin Feng wasn't yet self-sustaining, it would be unwise for him to spend all that money just to go to college.
"That can't be right. There will always be someone more powerful than me!"
Li Yao followed silently behind them since they had started talking to each other. At first, she too, was unhappy that Qin Feng was going to leave. The moment she heard Qin Feng's college-boy intentions, she put on a smile again.
"Qin Feng, you're going to study at the college? That means you'll be my junior!"
.....
Qin Feng had no idea what went through Li Yao's mind. Unlike Xiao Jing, Li Yao was simply a regular medical practitioner. Besides, Xiao Jing had something to do with his past, which probably explained why he was closer to Xiao Jing.
Both of them soon arrived at the exchange center and submitted videos that were recorded by their communicators to confirm the kills. Undoubtedly, this was one of the more essential functions of the local network of the plantation. However, Qin Feng had turned his communicator off when he was in pursuit of the giant rat king. This had made his video way shorter, an hour shorter when compared to his counterparts. In a blink of ten seconds, the results were released.
Dit!
Dit!
Dit!
[Herbivore Giant Rat kill: 561. Soldier-tier Giant Rat kill: 21. General-tier Giant Rat kill: 9]
The message left everyone around Qin Feng in a dazed shock.
They even started to think that he must have been, in fact, an F-tier ability user.
"Is the system broken? How is it bloody possible that he can kill 500-plus of those rats all by himself?!"
"That's right! Perhaps it's a team's kill count!"
"He doesn't even have an ability user badge on him! Maybe there really is something wrong with the machine!"
It was clear that the crowd had their doubts, well-founded if I may add. However, Qin Feng had no intention to defend himself.
"Hey!!! Watch your mouth! It's true that Qin Feng is extremely powerful! He is not even an officer's son!" shouted Xiao Jing.
Unfortunately, her tiny voice was drowned by the groans and curses from the increasingly dissatisfied crowd causing none to pay any attention to her. Ultimately, the staff decided to check the replay. Its results had left the staff petrified.


The age of darkness has arrived. 
When the rift to an unknown plane suddenly appeared on Earth, monsters invaded, beasts mutated while humans, the once-dominant species fell to the bottom of the food chain. 
A hundred years later, three of the greatest classes evolve amongst humans: ability users, ancient warriors, and gunslingers. 
Qin Feng, an orphan of this dark age was tormented just as he awakened his pinnacle level of special ability, barely surviving for ten years in the post-apocalyptic world. 
Hence, he was reborn...


Chapter 37. University (?)

"Are you confident in passing your exams?"

Lu Fei asked his sister while they were eating dinner.

As the high school entrance examinations would begin in some months, he was getting worried about his sister's performance in them. 

"Yes, I'm confident of getting into a good high school. What about you brother?"

Lu Xiaomei asked, lifting up her small face and looking into the confused eyes of her brother. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the national college entrance examinations. Aren't you aiming for a good university?"

Lu Fei shook his head when he heard that question. He had no intention to attend a university whatsoever. 

"No, it would just be a waste of time."

For Lu Fei, even high school was a waste of time. If not for his mother's last wish, he would have already dropped out of high school. 

"How will it be a waste of time?"

Lu Fei frowned when he heard that. He looked at his sister and calmly explained. 

"First of all, attending university costs money and time. We can't afford it, and you know how bad my grades are, even if I went to do the college entrance examinations, no universities would accept me."

"I think there would be some who would accept you."

His sister was still acting stubborn. She was even pouting her mouth while looking at Lu Fei. 

"What's with you today?"

"I just want you to go to university. It's hard to find a job with just a high school diploma."

"I will earn money by playing games and doing part-time jobs."

His sister grumbled when she heard that, but she still continued to argue with him.

She was young, but her attitude was getting more and more stubborn. Lu Fei couldn't do anything about it as it was inherited from their parents. 

"You should focus on your high school entrance examinations. You want to enter the First high school, right?"

Lu Fei quickly changed the topic of discussion.

"How do you know that?"

Lu Xiaomei had never told her brother anything about the high school she wanted to enter. 

"I'm your big brother. You can't hide anything from me."

Actually, Lu Fei had accidentally heard her sister's call with her friend.

They were talking about their desired high schools, and that's how he had come to know that his sister wanted to enter the First high school.

"I want to enter it, but I already gave up on it."

"Why? If you studied hard, you could easily pass..."

"It's not that!!"

Lu Xiaomei raised her voice as she interrupted her brother. Then, she lowered her head slightly and let out a small voice. 

"I don't want to burden you more."

"What burden?"

"I'm not a child now. I know how hard it is for you to earn money, and the fees of the First high school are too much for us."

Beijing First high school was the most prominent high school in Beijing. Only geniuses and the children of wealthy people would study there.

It was tough to pass their entrance examinations. 
More than that, the fees of the First high school were not small. Lu Fei himself knew that he couldn't afford that much amount of money. 

But he couldn't say that in front of his sister.

"You don't have to worry about that."

A man shouldn't look weak in front of his family, and Lu Fei knew that well. 

"How can I not worry about it? I don't want to trouble you more. You are already working too much."

"I can work more."

"You obviously can't...!!"

Lu Xiaomei roared that and stood up from her seat. With tears in her eyes, she left the dinner table in the middle of the meal and locked herself in her room.

Sigh!

A sigh leaked out from Lu Fei's mouth.

'She's getting more mature and stubborn every day.'

Lu Fei thought as he looked at the leftover dinner left from his sister. His sister was not a kid anymore, but in Lu Fei's eyes, she would always be one.

He knew that she was just worried about him, but he couldn't let his desires come before her dreams.

"I have to work harder."

Lu Fei muttered that as he finished his dinner silently, but there was a fire burning in his eyes. 

* * * 

After getting back to his room, Lu Fei quickly opened the item transaction site and posted the images of Leverill's mace and other items to sell.

The mace was a rare grade item with a skill. Just that would make it a hot item on the item transaction site.

Lu Fei was estimating that it would sell for at least 10k USD, but that was not the end. He also had various armors and weapons of the Lizardmen he had killed in the hidden dungeon. 

Usually, in any VR game, the prices of lower-level items would decrease with time.

It was because lower-level players would gradually level up. Then, the value of lower-level items would naturally decrease too.

But it was not the case with Ark. 

Every day, hundreds of players would enter Ark. One could see players spawning every day in the starting points of Ark.

That's why the demand for items was always increasing.

It could even be said that both the demand and price were increasing. 

'I will at least receive 15k USD.'

Lu Fei thought in his head. 

Although the item transaction site would take 10% of the money, he would still be left with a considerable amount.

15k USD! 

It was not an amount Lu Fei had imagined to earn just by selling an item in a game.

Although it may look easy at a glance, Lu Fei had fought to the death to get that item, so he would never think that it's easy to earn money.

'Moreover, it's just a drop in the ocean.'

15k USD was a huge amount, but it was just a drop in the enormous amount of debt he had. He would have to work hard to fill the ocean and pay back his debt.

"I should start to save money for Xiaomei's high school."

Lu Fei muttered as he closed the item transaction site. Then, he opened up a community forum.

More specifically, it was the official forum of Ark, Ark life forum, or ALF community for short. One could find various types of information about Ark here. 

Lu Fei had entered the forum to search for information about Karios.

He quickly typed the words Karios, but there was nothing. He then began to search with other keywords like 'Healer who conquered death' or 'The entity Karios.'

But in the end, only a sigh could leak from his mouth.

'Maybe, I can ask about it in a post.'

Lu Fei was about to make a post about it, to ask for any information about Karios from the players, but he stopped his hand.

"I should do it anonymously."

It was dangerous to do it from his main account. So, Lu Fei quickly made an anonymous account and began to type the post.

* * *

<Hearing strange voices in Ark>

Today, when I was in a battle, I suddenly started hearing a strange voice in my head.

The voice was of Karios, the healer who conquered death. He told me to look for him and release him, but before I could ask anything more, his voice disappeared.

After that, a quest opened in front of me.

Here's a picture of what the quest is about.

<Picture attachment>

If anyone has information about Karios or any clue about the healer who conquered death, please let me know.

* * *

Lu Fei checked the post two times before posting it. It would take some time for the post to get some hits and become popular. 

'I should go sleep.'

Lu Fei couldn't stare at his old computer for hours. That's why he closed it.

He then looked at the time. It was just 10:23 P.M., but he was already feeling sleepy. It was because of the fight with Leverill. 

Giving your body rest was also an essential thing to keep playing VR games. That's why Lu Fei went to sleep without wasting any time.

He didn't know that his post would come on TV at that time.

* * *

-Welcome to GBC's new program, 'Forum talks.' I'm your host Guan Zhou and accompanying me is the face of GBC, Ms. Ling Yan.

-Hello everyone, I'm your favorite host, Ling Yan. 

-Ms. Ling, I thought I was the favorite host.

-You sure know how to joke.

Two broadcasters were talking with each other in the program called Forum talks.

It was a new program that appeared on the GBC public network, which was one of the television stations which focused on VR games or, more specifically, Ark.

In this program, both the broadcasters will talk about interesting posts in the ALF community.

It was a program with a new concept, and it was still in the testing phase, but the viewers' response was good till now.

The show's concept was simple. 

Both the broadcasters would talk about the latest post on the ALF community, which had gotten popular or had some buzz around them.

The main focus of the show was that, but the two broadcasters were the backbone of the show. 

They were reasonably popular broadcasters, especially Ling Yan.

-Just last week, the Silver wolf guild made a post saying that they had conquered the Simon castle located in the Torn kingdom. 

-They are one of the top guilds in the Torn kingdom, and I heard that their guild leader has even received the title of Viscount by the king.

-It's really rare to meet the king of a kingdom.

-Yes, it's really rare to meet the king, but the more extraordinary thing is to meet the emperor.

-By emperor here, you must be talking about the emperor of the Althiem empire. 

-Yes, recently, there's a rumor going around the ALF community that the bow princess, Rachel is in the empire. 

-It's a reasonably new rumor, and it's getting a good amount of popularity, mainly because Rachel is known for not leaving any traces. 

Like that, both the broadcasters talked about some more posts in the ALF community or some rumors going around in the forum. 

After that, they started their new segment called 'Ridiculous posts.'

It was a segment in which they would talk about some ridiculous posts in the ALF community, which made no sense.

These posts are mostly posted by attention seekers, and the audience really loved this part of the whole show. 

-So, let's start with our first ridiculous post, which is called 'Hearing voices in Ark.'

It was Lu Fei's post, which the broadcaster Guan Zhou picked first.

He then proceeded to read out the whole post, and Ling Xiao laughed when he ended.

-It's pretty evident that it's just for attention-seeking. Who's the poster? 

-It's an anonymous post.

-Ohh! Maybe, the poster was scared that he would get roasted by the people.

The male broadcaster Guan Zhou shook his head and laughed while saying. 

-People are already roasting this post.

Guan Zhou then proceeded to read the comments on the post. He didn't read all the comments but only the most hilarious ones.

-The user 'Avatar head' says that the poster would surely be on steroids while writing the post.

-Another user called 'Little loli' says that if the poster can hear voices in his head, then she could change into a spirit. 

-Another user Ronii shows his concern and advised the poster to look for a mental hospital. He even wrote down the address of a psychiatric hospital. 

Both the broadcasters laughed at that and continued to read more comments. 

It was not like that. No one believed his post, but countless people were trying to seek attention in the ALF community.

It was hard to distinguish between an attention seeker and a person who was telling the truth. 

Although Lu Fei had posted the picture as proof, it was just not enough for the majority of the people to believe him. 

Most people would just think that it's a fake photo, and no one had time to clarify it.

-Let's look at the other ridiculous posts now.

Like that, the two broadcasters continued to read out more posts, and the show continued. 

At that point, Lu Fei was still oblivious to all of the situation. Yet, when he would come to know of this, he would inevitably spew out some curses at the broadcasters.

Lu Fei, a debt ridden orphan who struggles through his daily life. His only wish is to provide a good life to his sister.

With the threats of the loan sharks knocking on his door, he sets out to try his luck in the VR game called 'Ark'.

With a dark past as a returner and Ian has his alias, he fights in Ark for a better future for his sister.

Will he be able to reach the top?

What will happen when he suddenly got a mysterious class and he can hear the voices of spirits?

* * *

This novel is inspired by novels like LMS, OG, EOSP, Praise the orc etc.

Join the discord: https://discord.gg/F9xfJWv

Basayev called Youngho two days after their meeting in Chechnya.

He said that he was able to reach the Black Eagles, the armed rebel force in the Caucasus Mountains. It seemed that rebels around the Caucasus liked the word 'black' in their names. Youngho requested Philip to deliver all the necessities at Georgia's border city, Shatili, by December 23.

Youngho planned to bring the farm family to Georgia this time including the Fatima siblings and the Jongil couple. He would slip out from the family to complete the mission to deliver the necessities for the Black Widows, and after that, he would apply for leave from Michael. He thought, if he did not do this, Michael would give him another difficult assignment.

As for Insoo and his wife, Youngho thought that he could give him a break for their honeymoon when he would return from learning basic education in Frankfurt.

Jongil welcomed Youngho's plan. Karajan had been complaining to Jongil, so he was glad to have a chance to redeem himself by making Karajan happy.

The farm was excited because Cha Insoo's wife, Kim Sunghee, announced her pregnancy. Insoo was still in Frankfurt, so the farm family congratulated her. Insoo, who was officially in Frankfurt for farm business to the farm family, heard the good news through a phone call. Insoo became emotional by hearing the news, so much so that he could not continue talking for a while.

Insoo and his wife Kim Sunghee had been dating since high school. They were known to be the couple that never fought. They were both born from poor families in a rural town and had been working hard to get by since young. As soon as Insoo found a job, he had been earning money and paying for his wife's two little brothers' college education. Now that he was making enough money, he settled down with his wife in Baku. There was no wonder why Insoo was so emotional since they finally bore a fruit of their love after all those years.

***

"Zeynep, you're just mean. How can you treat everyone else except me?"

"Oppa, you said you didn't like ice cream because of your tooth."

Everybody laughed while looking at Jongil and Zeynep's usual argument.

At the arrival lounge of Tbilisi Airport, Zeynep bought ice cream for everyone with her own allowance except for Jongil, and now they were arguing about that. Since it was their first trip in a long time, everyone looked excited.

Agent Philip, who resided in Georgia, came to greet Youngho and his family at the airport. Since Youngho and Jongil saved his life, he had been wanting to pay back the favor someday, so he became a guide for their trip.

He picked them up with a twelve-passenger van and drove them to Marriott Hotel that he reserved for Youngho's company. While driving the van, he gave a little tour around the city.
The guys stayed at the hotel café and the others left to go sightseeing. Since Youngho and Jongil already told them that they would be working during the trip in advance, Karajan and the siblings decided to enjoy the trip by themselves.

After ordering coffee, Youngho spoke to Philip.

"Philip, we're sorry to bother you. Since I've been too busy that I couldn't spend time with my family, I brought them here. I promise that it won't affect our job, so don't report this to Michael."

Philip laughed as Youngho jokingly asked a favor.

"Lee, I'm sorry that this is all I can do for you. You became even busier because of me, so don't worry about that. Also, I already hired a bodyguard for your family so they'd be safe around here."

Philip had assigned a local agent in the city as their bodyguard.

"I don't think they'll get in trouble. Isn't this place known to be safe?"

"No, because of your family's beauty, there might be some dregs troubling them. I want your family to have a peaceful trip here."

"Well, thank you for being so thoughtful."

Saying that he wanted to pay him back for rescuing him, Philip acted humbly. He thought that he would be thankful for his entire life since no one in the CIA came to help him, but Youngho and Jongil came to find him in Nagorno-Karabakh after only hearing that 'an agent was captured somewhere.' Despite the danger, they came to rescue him and carried him over a mountain in coldness. It was something that other agents would not do.

Philip reported that the items to be delivered to the rebels were stored in the storage in Georgia's border security at the village of Shatili.

Youngho's company would be standing by at a ski resort in Bakuriani, which was located on the way to Shatili, and they would move near to the Chechnya border on the 23rd.

When finishing up their conversation, Youngho slipped about doing business with the mafia in Tbilisi, Georgia to ask for Philip's help in the area. Philip had heard about how the South Ossetia's store was opened with the help of the Russian mafias. Youngho explained that the mafias would be using Youngho's name as the owner of the business since Georgians did not like Russians. Philip agreed to help Youngho, saying that he could look for a spot for their store and get the business permission from the government.

***

Because of the snow, the tires rotated in the same place without advancing even though they were chained. Around 10 AM in the morning, Youngho and Jongil left the family at the resort, telling them that he had a business in Tbilisi. With Philip, they were on the way to Shatili to make it to the appointed place. It was 3 PM, but the village was still seven kilometers away.

Although Shatili was a famous tourist destination, it was known that no one visited there during the winter due to the massive amount of snow.

There was a blade installed in the front part of the Philip's van just like a bulldozer. Youngho did not know what that was, but now he learned that it was for plowing the snow. However, because of the blade's weak power, the van could not proceed at its normal speed. They shoveled the snow around the tires and pushed the car from behind multiple times on the way. They could finally reach the village of Shatili when it had turned dark. In a public parking lot of Shatili, there was no car parked. Instead, there were three donkeys tied to a pole.

At a hotel café, two bearded men and Basayev waited for Youngho's company. They greeted him as Youngho entered the café with Jongil and Philip. Youngho expected that they would have gone already because it was too late, but they were still waiting for them as if they had expected that snow would delay Youngho's arrival.

Without introducing names, they shook hands each other.

While Philip explained the location of the items to the two bearded men, Basayev and Youngho exchanged the gold bars and money in private. Basayev took the bag of money that Youngho had brought, and Youngho hid the gold bars that weighed about thirty kilograms in the van. When they returned to the café, Philip was finishing up the conversation. Moments later, Basayev invited them to a restaurant for dinner.

The two bearded men were members of the Black Eagles. Since Basayev agreed on giving 40% of the items to the Black Eagles for delivering the items, they had dinner in an amicable atmosphere. It would take them at least 15 days to deliver the items on donkey backs on the rough mountainous paths, but they did not mind at all. The Director of the Black Eagles was happy, looking as if he had received a Christmas gift. He suggested drinks to Youngho's company.

He drank cognac as if it was water. Every time Youngho saw him drinking, Youngho felt like his stomach was hurting. Since he was forced into drinking together, Youngho could not help but drink.

The Black Eagles were people who fought against Russia in the cold mountains. They often slept in the open, and drinking was essential in their life to fight the cold. While drinking, Youngho asked why they liked to use the word 'black' in their names and their answer was impressive. Chechens loved crows from the time of their ancestors, and they just used the word black since the crows were black.

The Director of the Black Eagles added that the 'black' from the Black Widows were not inspired by crows since they were inspired by women's black chadors. However, Basayev defended the Black Widows, saying their 'black' had dual meaning and it was also inspired by crows. They loudly bickered at each other, arguing who was better than whom.

Looking at both sides, Youngho thought that their will was respectable since they were at a guerilla war against Russia for their independence with only 500 men.

The next day, Youngho's company went to the storage with the rebels. There was a lot of checking process since they had borrowed Georgian border security's storage. Youngho had no idea what kind of negotiation Philip had with the Georgian government, but now the Georgian government was protecting the weapons and necessities of Chechen rebels.

The border security was not in favor of the Chechen rebels since they frequently plundered their supplies coming down from the mountains when they were short of their own The Georgian government only decided to store their supplies because the US CIA had promised that they would be in charge of the rebels.

After checking the items and quantities, each side signed on the agreement form for the transfer of the supplies.

When they came out of the storage, there were more than a hundred donkeys lined up, snorting violently. They were the fifty Chechen rebels camping around the village from last night. They had been stealthily following Youngho's company as they moved.

Even with the supernatural sense from the ring's power, Youngho had not noticed them. It was true that they were a skilled, outstanding force that even the Russian Ranger Unit that was famous for their strength could not make them surrender when they attacked them in the Caucasus Mountain Range.

Youngho only expected belligerence and strong personalities from Chechens who had undergone countless attacks from other countries in the past, but he did not expect them to be this extraordinary. Jongil, who standing next to Youngho smoking, also shook his head. He had not felt anything, just like Youngho.

Loading the supplies on donkeys in line with consistency without causing noise, the rebels' actions were fast and neat. Thinking that it would be horrible to meet the rebels as enemies, Youngho turned back from saying goodbye to the rebels who quietly left using the trail that only shepherds used.

Empire of the Ring is a Korean modern fantasy epic adventure novel that sets in the nations of the Caucasus mountain range which separates Europe and Asia. The nations of Caucasus are regions of many conflicts over territories, ethnicities, and religions. The story begins as Lee Youngho, a warm-hearted Korean merchandiser, takes a business trip to a disputed territory of the Caucasus nations to sell Korean unmanned security systems only to get misconstrued as a spy and caught by Armenian militia. Youngho eventually gets involved with the militia and CIA to help out people of the regions from conflicts and works toward a birth of a new empire in Caucasus.

This is an ongoing novel from Korea with more than 750 chapters as of today. The pace can feel a little bit slow in the beginning but as the story unfolds, you will be drawn into the world of Caucasus. If you are a modern fantasy/adventure lover, you will enjoy learning about different regions and cultures in Eurasia and Eastern Europe as Youngho travels around the places. Happy reading! 

*Disclaimer: The following contains depictions of religion and ethnic disputes. We do not support the author's views, we are only translating and editing the novel. This fictional novel is inspired by real-world people, places, and events — the author has taken these people, places, and events and embellished them as characters with conversations and backgrounds as done in fiction.

In the attic, Li Du saw more glassware. There were wooden shelves along the wall, on them many sealed glass bottles.
Other than these things, there was a pile of rose petals on the attic floor. There were two big tubs in a corner, and in the tubs were also rose petals.
These rose petals were dead—those on the floor had dried up while those in the tubs looked rotten, with their color having turned greyish-black.
The glass bottles on the shelves were filled with a sticky liquid. On one shelf was a batch of labels, with "Damascus Rose Essential Oil" written on it.
Li Du scratched his head—what was this all about, had he entered a production workshop instead of a storage unit?
On the first level was some messily-displayed used glassware. Its identity could not be determined, and it looked worthless.
However, based on what was in the attic, these items probably belonged to a production line: the glassware in the attic was neatly arranged in order while the rest on the bottom level had been either put aside for use or left abandoned.
What was the glassware for? Li Du didn’t understand until he saw the labels, some advertising materials, and posters on the shelves. Then, he finally got it:
The glassware was used to extract the rose essential oil—the liquid in the glass bottles on the shelves was rose essential oil extract!
He gave it all a rough once-over. There was a total of 24 bottles of rose essential oil here; every bottle was very small, only containing about 200 milliliters.
At the very least, there was a total of 4,800 milliliters of rose essential oil.
However, he would not be able to deduce the real identity of the liquid unless he opened the bottles. This was just his guess after seeing the rose petals and the labels displayed on the shelves advertising rose essential oil.
He did not know much about things like rose essential oil, so he searched online for related information.
The very first search result he got indicated there was apparently a shortage of pure, good-quality rose essential oil. The price had increased to 500 US dollars for every 10 milliliters.
Looking at this information, Li Du unconsciously swallowed hard.
Five hundred US dollars for every 10 milliliters? If the liquid content in the bottles was what he guessed, that would mean that the value of the items in the attic was 240,000 US dollars!
Even if the quality of the rose essential oil was only average, then half the price would be 120,000 US dollars!
Swallowing another gulp of saliva, Li Du noted down this unit, and released the little bug again for it to look around.
There were another seven storage units left that would be auctioned off, but compared to the storage unit with the rose essential oil, the value of the other abandoned storage was insignificant.
Li Du had a look and was not interested, thus retrieved the little big and waved to Hans. "Let’s go, we should take a look at the next storage company."
Within a day, they had visited more than six storage companies and checked 45 storage units—Li Du was dead with exhaustion.
When they returned to their hotel in the evening, the Iron Knight appeared in their line of vision—Godzilla was here.
Not only had Godzilla arrived, the two young masters Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles were also here.
After Li Du spoke with the concierge, he pushed open the door of Godzilla’s room, and two shadows flew into his arms, one after another.
Mr. Li was extremely exhausted, and nearly fell when Ah Meow pounced on him—he had become a big ocelot at around 25 pounds. Just when he finished struggling to stand firm, Crispy Noodles also leaped over.
Therefore, as though kneeling down respectfully, Mr. Li was being pressed down onto the corridor.
Ah Meow squatted on his back, and mewled non-stop. Irritation showed in his eyes and on his bulging face: he was obviously not happy with Li Du for not having spent any time with him these past few days.
Crispy Noodles also whined, showing his displeasure as well. He leaped to Li Du’s side, and used his front claws to pinch his sleeve, refusing to let go.
Big Quinn quickly helped Li Du up, and said, "Boss, are you alright?"
Li Du laughed bitterly. "Almost got crushed by these little b*tches. I’m fine, let me go back for a rest—I’m probably suffering from a slight heatstroke."
Hans said, "You need to exercise more—why do you get heatstroke so easily?"
"Get lost, go get me something to eat and drink. I’m starving."
Godzilla nodded in consent. "Yes, starving."
On the second day, they split into two groups: Hans brought Big Quinn with him to participate in the Beverly Hills auction while Li Du and Godzilla continued to check on the remaining few storage companies.
During the morning, while he was wandering around a storage company, Hans called. "D*mn, these LA guys are filthy rich. Both units have gone for over 10,000 dollars."
Li Du said decisively, "Then don’t get involved."
The items in the two units could probably be worth more than 10,000 dollars, but they need to be tidied. With the labor costs and amount of time it would take, it would not be profitable to pay 10,000 dollars for them.
Keeping in mind that there were many rich people in LA, Li Du was more thorough in his viewing of the remaining storage units.
There was a unit with some leather. With the humid weather, the leather—which had not been kept properly—was giving off a stench that one could smell even from the outside.
He walked past, covering his nose, while Godzilla frowned and said, "So stinky."
Hearing this, Li Du’s heart jumped and an uneasy feeling came over him!
His minimum expectation for this auction was to successfully bid for the storage unit with the rose essential oil, but he was now worried that it would not be easy to get the unit.
This was because storage units could give off smells; Godzilla’s words had reminded him of this. If they could smell the stench of the leather, then it was probably that they would also be able to smell the scent from the rose essential oil in the other storage unit.
There were shrewd characters among the treasure hunters in LA. After smelling the scent, coupled with those bottles on display, many would probably be able to figure out the identity of the storage unit.
Hence, he went in crisis-management-mode and began to think of solutions for the crisis.
The glassware was confusing—the presence of the rose essential oil could not be deduced from the glassware alone. What was most crucial was the scent.
Li Du rubbed his chin and formed a plan.
He went to a supermarket to buy a water gun, and also a few bottles of strong-smelling antiseptic solution.
That night, he poured the antiseptic solution into the water gun, discreetly crept up to the unit, and sprayed the antiseptic solution into the attic as well as the lower level of the unit using the water gun. The storage had roller-shutter doors with gaps at the bottom of the doors and the two sides, so he was able to spray the water through those.
After this operation, this storage unit smelled like the antiseptic solution.
The next day, they went near Pershing Square, where a storage company there was going to start conducting an auction.
Li Du had previously noted that there was a storage unit here with a high-compression fire extinguisher and an engine, which could both be sold for quite a reasonable sum of money.


They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies. 
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.  
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures. 
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?! 

essential items for college

Essential Love

Essential Supremacy

Ten Divine Items

Trading Game Items

Celebrating Life Ahead!

The Journey To An Unknown Destination

Master of the End Times

VRMMO: The Returnee

Empire of the Ring

Treasure Hunt Tycoon

People search essential items for college also like: