The Salamanders - Chapter 4 - 1.0

Ethan Carter never thought much about heroism—until the night he pushed a girl out of the way of a speeding truck and felt cold steel and shattering bones instead of pavement. He expected to die. Instead, he woke up in a hospital, completely healed, with a strange blue screen floating in front of him.[System Activated.][Welcome, User. Your journey begins now.]At first, he thinks he's hallucinating. But when his body starts changing—his strength skyrocketing, his reflexes sharpening—Ethan realizes this is real. The System grants him quests, skills, and rewards, pushing him to break human limits. And yet, there’s more. Locked away in his interface is something called *World Travel*—but it remains inaccessible, its conditions unknown.As he grows stronger, Ethan catches the attention of powerful forces—some eager to recruit him, others determined to stop him. And amidst the chaos, women drawn to his power and charisma begin to enter his life, each with their own mysteries.But one question haunts him: *Why was I chosen?*The answer lies beyond this world. And when the time comes, Ethan won’t just step into new worlds—he’ll conquer them.

Modern-day girl boss Vivian transmigrated into a modern romance novel as the male lead’s stepmother, the biological mother of the three antagonists… and the male lead’s father’s lover! She remembered that the fiancee of the male lead’s father almost died in a fire and had three sons, but all of them were killed because of the conflict against the male and female leads. Shivering from the creeps she felt, she decided to leave the male lead’s father.

It was the nineties and five years before the novel’s plots began. The male lead was not a big shot, and the female lead was not yet reincarnated. Also, as the villain, her eldest son was just fourteen and not fully corrupted… The two supporting villains were not born, and there was still hope. To shake off the outcome of death and to gain the ability to protect herself, Vivian packed her bags and fled in the night, using the advantage of her transmigration to accumulate wealth, recruiting and building a financial empire using the economic crisis.

When that was done, she did not forget her children’s education. Her eldest son was a mafia boss who is crazy and self-centered, her genius second daughter was anti-social, while her youngest son provoked problems everywhere… But she would straighten them out so that they became proper modern youths! Hence, her tempestuous eldest son with an inferiority complex became a networking specialist, her autistic and quiet second daughter became a pioneer in scientific research, and her provocateur youngest son became an international star!

While she was shedding tears and rejoicing over her children’s successes, that selfish and crazy man found her:

“Are they the children you had with me?”

Vivian snorted, “The sun is still up, and you’re dreaming up fantasies already?” Did he want to take her children from her? Dream on!

Derek Carter never asked for a System, an apocalypse, or the pressure of being humanity’s so-called “last hope.”He was just trying to survive the daily struggles of being an orphan in Paleview City—dodging bullies, scraping together meals, and lying his way into school. Life was already hard enough.Then, one day, a blue screen pops into his vision:[Warning: The world is doomed. Try not to die.]Yeah, great. Just what he needed—cryptic doomsday messages and no instruction manual.Now, monsters are creeping into the city, reality is unraveling, and Damien’s “legendary” starting stats are barely above zero. The System promises him power, but there's just one tiny problem—he’s never won a fight in his life.Armed with sarcasm, questionable decision-making skills, and the sheer refusal to die, Damien is about to embark on the worst (and possibly last) adventure of his life. Because if the world really is ending… he’s at least going to make it someone else’s problem first.After all, heroes are overrated—survivors get to tell the story.

Elias and friends thought it was just a storm, everyone at Avonside University did, but when the clouds cleared and the sky was revealed again, they were met with a strange sky. Gone were the city lights and everything beyond the limits of their campus, replaced by a mountain wilderness. Elias is further swept away when he is torn from his friend's grasp and transformed beyond recognition. Will the newly dubbed Ryn find her way back to her friends, and or will she return to Avonside to find it ransacked and destroyed by the strange and magical forces that inhabit the new world?