MTL - Beloved Empress - ~ Extra Chapter 5, shame

In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.

WARNING!-DARK ROMANCE-“Why do you have scars?” All of sudden, Iris changed the topic, as she looked at Cane in the eyes. She was still clutching to his sleeves.“Your father gave me,” Cane replied. He thought, Iris wouldn’t remember this conversation when she woke up.“That must be so painful.”“They are.”“Will the scars heal?”“I don’t think so.”The night indeed made you vulnerable and let you said something that you would never admit when it was bright. The obscurity softened your heart.“Too bad. You have a warm soul.” Iris frowned slightly.“I no longer have a soul.” He had sold his soul for the freedom of his people. There was nothing left of him right now.“Yes, you have, but you are in so much pain.” Iris blinked her eyes. “Your beast is in pain. You have so many scars.”“The only scars that I have is on my face.”Iris shook her head meekly. “I am not talking about your face. I am talking about your soul. Too bad, you are in so much pain… what my father and brother had done to you must be painful…”And after that, Iris closed her eyes and fell asleep.======================She is the daughter of an alpha who has killed his family, razed his pack and has also made his people slaves.Now, he has achieved revenge after ten years of being treated as a slave and was living a life that no one would ever imagine. Life akin to hell.And ten years later, Alpha Cane manages to take over and kill the alpha who has made the lives of his people worse than death.It was time for him to make the children of the alpha pay for what their father had done.Only…Iris was a runt and she was very different from her father.

A mysterious virus emerged, and countless people around the world turned into zombies. Luo Yang, a young man who was about to risk everything, receives the blessing of activating the system.Initially, he gains a massive spaceship with hundreds of subordinates and a divine-level talent.Just when Luo Yang thinks he can live peacefully aboard the ship, he discovers the system's function: to obtain rewards by allowing other survivors to live on board.But Luo Yang doesn’t want to be a savior; the spots on the spaceship are limited, and only those who pay will be allowed to live in his refuge.

I never expected my life to change so drastically. One moment, I was a woman with dreams, deeply in love with a man I thought I’d spend my life with. The next, I was betrayed and heartbroken, walking in on him cheating without a hint of remorse.That night, overwhelmed with pain and too much alcohol, I made a reckless decision, a one-night stand with a stranger who, to my shock, turned out to be my new boss.Arec, the vice president of Denco Groups, was desperate. To secure his future as CEO, he needed a wife, and in a twist of fate, he offered me a contract marriage. It sounded absurd, but his desperation mirrored my own need to escape the wreckage of my life.It was supposed to be simple: no emotions, no strings attached. A business arrangement, nothing more. I thought I could handle it, that I could keep my heart out of it.I was wrong.What started as a deal quickly spiraled into something far more complicated. As our fake marriage blurred into real feelings, the world around us began to close in. Disapproving family, old enemies, buried secrets, scheming rivals, and even an attempt on my life threatened to tear us apart.This is my story, a journey of heartbreak, unexpected love, and a fight to protect what we built together. In a world filled with lies and deceit, can a marriage born out of necessity become something real?---