MTL - Waiting For You Online - Chapter 19 . Rice bug occupation

One day, I – a high schooler – found a paperback in the hospital. The “Disease Coexistence Journal” was its title. It was a diary that my classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, had written in secret. Inside, it was written that due to her pancreatic disease, her days were numbered. And thus, I coincidentally went from Just-a-Classmate to a Secret-Knowing-Classmate. It was as if I were being drawn to her, who was my polar opposite. However, the world presented the girl that was already suffering from an illness with an equally cruel reality…

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The Empire's forces retreated in desperation—trampled by faceless horrors bringing darkness and death to these once beautiful lands.Only the most courageous stood in defiance, forming a last defence to buy the people time to flee—fighting until the final embers of hope burned out.A man stands with a silver sword, like a beacon of hope to those around him. He roared with all his might drawing his blade against the overwhelming enemy!“You face Lancelot, Sword of the Empire! ”These horrors tested the Lord's grit and loyalty in the final moments.“Should my blade break, I will use my body!”The knights had fallen, broken swords for their tombstones, and lords fled, betraying the Empire to survive.“If my body breaks, I'll use my Soul!”Lancelot, the sword of the Empire, fought alone.All hope seemed lost.“And if my Soul fails...”What could a single man and his army do?He fights against the dark tide, blade in hand, heart on sleeve.“I will sell myself to the devil for revenge!”But he was too weak, too fragile.The last Lord of humanity stood against the enemy.Lancelot was a master of the sword, a mortal, neither a God nor a Saint.Miracles were beyond his reach.Now only a broken man impaled on his own destroyed throne.His blade shattered—now, like rose petals, it was scattered across the charred ground.Lancelot's soul was fated for the abyss as the light faded from his eyes.His last ounce of resistance used staring at the man who betrayed the Empire.Now with only the desire to kill, crush and seek revenge smouldering inside him.Now unwilling to die and desperate to fight once again.He desired to fight for the people who supported him.Lancelot refused to surrender, to fall like this.As quietly in the abyss, a voice whispered to him.It tried to entice the Lord, ignite his desire to win and fight again.“If given a second chance, to relive your life with a different choice... Would you Accept?”Blood gathered in his throat, forcing him to reply in his mind.A frail and broken voice'There is no reason to ask, of course!'“No matter the cost?”'Even if I were to lose everything...''If my people can live on. I would sacrifice everything I have!'“You will no longer be the same, a monster, twisted and vicious.”“Will you still accept?”The Lord's heart ached, taking great pride in his humanity.To lose that caused his mind to falter.Finally, out of power, unable to speak or reply with a trembling arm.Lancelot reached out.Towards the raspy voice.Towards the abyss.Towards a new future.[So you would accept after all...]'I must accept.''I must stand tall.''I must not break.''Because...''I am the Lord of humanity![Nay, you are the king of demons]

“Hey, have you ever heard of the lunatic roaming around the tower?”“Are you kidding me? Who haven't heard of him yet!?”“Hey hey, are you talking about... that person?”Interesting news travels even faster than light, especially regarding the mysterious figure that everyone in the Ethereal Tower is curious about, the lunatic ascender whom thoughts and deeds are so off-place that even the greatest among them just couldn't grasp his intent, almost as if he is ascending a completely different tower than them.While everyone in the tower talks about the lunatic who lurks on each tower's floor more than he is supposed to, the person they are talking about just goes on his merry way to collecting treasures he wants, and while the world is talking about him.“Come on, give me some luck, maybe roll the hundred times multiplier again...”He's sitting while rubbing his palm together, gambling on something that will make everyone faint.

After being flogged to death for a crime she didn’t commit, Calista received a second chance when a system contracted her. It was simple: complete tasks and she could earn a second chance in life. After completing several of them, the chance to reincarnate in her original world and body was finally granted to her.However, unlike others, she didn’t want revenge against the people who killed her or wanted to unmask what truly transpired back then. All she wanted was to live peacefully and enjoy the bounty benefits which came with the reincarnation.And that was something she found when she met a man she fell in love with in some backward village. Unfortunately, all that was broken when her husband of five years perished at the hands of bandits.Things went downhill when Calista married her second husband, Orson, an amnesiac man whom she scammed into marrying her. But things weren't as simple as they seemed— Orson might be hiding some secrets of his own.Led on a path of revenge that Calista never thought she would be on, she soon realized that Orson might have more to do with her first life and death than he led on. If he knew she was still alive, he might kill her again.That meant that this time, Calista might have to strike first.