The Devil's Temptation! - Chapter 2

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.

First Arc:“Don't leave me! Just look at me and stay awake!” Words that haunted Ariana's dreams for as long as she remembered. Dying in the arms of her lover as they both are surrounded and engulfed in flames.However Ariana's quirks never stopped her from living her life. Her journey starts from when her adoptive mother sells her at the tender age of 12, afraid that she was stealing her adoptive father's love. A blow to her head unlocks her past life's memories and life skills.Any object she touches relating to her past life unlocks her past skills and education. Using her memories she changes the brothel she's sold to into a maid cafe, and slowly changes her community.While creatures called Lumas are born from her powers to protect Ariana but who are the Lumas really protecting? Especially when she gets her period on her 13th birthday and it morphs her into a humanoid garnet dragon.Second Arc:In a world full of magic, beast men, warriors, adventurers and elementals could there really be something more frightening then a girl with mixed blood? Garnet dragon, child of the jewel eyed priestess and the soul of someone who was summoned from Earth.Ariana is fully awoken to who she is and has started her life in St. Verusha Academy as their perfect score student. She will have to grow into the young lady she wants to be while trying to unravel the mysteries of her life.With the help of Cayden, her childhood friend and the the Lumas, Ariana will discover the roads she can walk down. The only problem is will she choose destruction or human evolution? Love or world dominance? Revenge or forgiveness? Or will she allow her human mind and heart to be devoured by the darkness inside of her because of a massive betrayal from the one person she thought meant the most to her?Third ArcThe bells of war have been wrung and Ariana has now chosen to save all of humanity. Though she has come to know many truths she still trusts in the relationships she's made and is willing to put everything on the line to become stronger. Her Lumas are evolving, Cayden is her true love that she will never let go, the Goddess of Creation needs her to complete the mission given to her and above all else Ariana is determined to survive.Now with her new knowledge she abandons everyone from their own safety and travels to the Animus, the beast Kingdom to learn how to control her garnet dragon powers from her blood family and hoping that they wil aid her in the fight against Lord Romanoff, the robed army and the twisted church.

This is a story about the protagonist getting the system, going crazy in the biochemical apocalypse, producing aircraft and tanks, destroying zombies, saving good people and killing bad people.

- Description from novelbuddy

Just as a gamer found an overpowered skill book called ‘Item Upgrade’ in the hottest virtual reality role-playing game on Earth, something happened to the game’s system, causing his soul to leave his body and go to another dimension. Common sense dictates that he would be born anew then become the greatest overlord of this world by making use of his advanced knowledge. Not in this case! He was already dead. Only some fragments of his soul and that skill book managed to get into that dimension and merge with an ordinary common youngster called Bai Yunfei.

This was the enormous Tianhun continent, where humans could be said to have no limits. There was a group of humans here who could cultivate the power of their own souls then control their bodies, the natural elements and even other people’s souls with that power! These special beings were called — soul cultivators. Come witness how the several fragments of the dead inter-dimensional traveler’s soul and that skill book, which was not governed by the laws of this plane, were going to help Bai Yunfei become a legendary soul cultivator and craftsman!