《Whimsical Invitations》The Game
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Here I come,
Here I go,
Selfishness eternal.
I am sorry,
In this way I see,
From my perspective only.
This is how I feel,
To my oldest friend,
Who stood by me,
When things were dark,
He who stood by me,
As I raced through hell,
I love him dearly.
For him I would pay the price,
For he is me,
That selfish bastard.
He is me,
The fearful bitch…
God understands,
He does not judge.
Understand it from this perspective,
For this is how the game works;
Me before you,
Is how I will always play.
So strike me down before I strike you,
Prioritize yourself,
Love you.
You, your oldest friend.
Because if you don’t…
Nobody else will…
If you don’t…
Nobody else would care to…
Why care for someone who doesn’t even value themselves…
Sorry, someone’s calling.
Oh, hi, boss.
Yes, sir.
No, you are my first priority.
Yes, thank you, sir.
I live to serve…
Oh, hi, I forgot to say,
I might be selfish but I’m not dumb,
The game is arranged as such,
Display your greed first,
Commit your sin,
And you’ll be the first to lose,
When that question is asked.
Give in to lust,
And on lust’s stage you will stay,
Arranged among others,
From heaven to hell,
Our place,
And our worth.
I forgot to say,
Sometimes…
The question is generosity…
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On the Road to Elspar (Book 1)
The year is 1329. The Huntress' War has entered its tenth year, inflaming competing nationalisms and pitting the Confederacy of Caldrein against one of the continent's superpowers, the Tenereian Union. Desperately outnumbered, the Confederacy has relied on the prowess of its famed Caldran mercenaries, with highly-trained and experienced warbands returning from foreign conflicts to the defense of their homeland, and it is on their backs that Caldrein has successfully mounted a valiant defense for a decade. But they are losing, and day by day, with all the grace of a sledgehammer, the vast Tenereian armies take one more bit of Caldran territory, one footstep at a time. Sixteen-year-old Neianne from the village of Caelon has submitted herself to Faulkren Academy, one of the centuries-old institutions established to train the next generation of Caldrein's elite soldiers of fortune, to learn the ways of wars for three years before embarking upon the defense of her country. Her dryad family once hailed from reclusive woodland communes isolated from Caldrein's complicated mainstream society, and her upbringing leaves the shy village girl unprepared to suddenly train alongside other apprentices from backgrounds as low as the dirty slums of Caldrein's cities and as high as the halls of aristocratic power. Yet the war is eroding the norms and traditions that the Caldran people have long considered part of their national mythos, and the tensions within the confederacy that have long simmered under the surface - race, class, community, identity - are slowly but surely dividing its people, and Neianne must grow and discover who she really is, even as the war that she is steadfastly training for comes to its inexorable end... On the Road to Elspar is a fantasy quest - a work of interactive fiction wherein readers get to vote on what happens next at critical junctures - that is the first entry in a story that follows Neianne of Caelon, which first began on July 20, 2016. Originally a three-part in medias res prologue to a larger story titled On the Elsparian Road, it was eventually decided that this section - which covers Neianne's three years at Faulkren Academy - become its own independent story due to length, structural, and accessibility reasons. Despite this being a reader interactive work of fiction, due to logistical and verification concerns, voting will only be counted on its thread on the forum Sufficient Velocity, where this story originally began. As such, the content here on Royal Road serves as a story-only archive. You are, of course, entirely welcome to enjoy On the Road to Elspar as a conventional work of fiction, just as you are welcome to comment, discuss, and provide critique. But if you would like to participate in the voting, then I would be honored to welcome you on Sufficient Velocity. To facilitate accessibility and to ensure the best reading experience, this story-only version of On the Road to Elspar will be updated at a periodic pace, even though further content exists, so as to not overwhelm new readers on Royal Road. If you enjoy this story, wish to binge it, and/or want to participate in voting immediately, you may of course read all additional content via the link provided above. This paragraph will be removed once the content on Royal Road catches up with what has already been posted in its original thread. Cover artwork by DreamSyndd.
8 334Embrace the Ether
To burn away the old, rebuilding it anew. Countless years ago, a terrible war came for the ancient Primordials, casting down their once believed immovable dominance and securing the rise of a new empire. The Ether was fractured, broken into numerous pieces as peace was hard-fought. Thrown into this new hectic land, Deus must come to wield an unexplained power, one that threatens both his sanity and life simply to use. If he wishes to survive, he must learn not only how to harness this strength but how to grow and expand it, altering the path of those around him. What he doesn't know is that he's found himself involved in a terrifying plot hosted by those demons of old, a game of sorts to decide the fate of Midnight. Does Deus have what it takes to survive, or has he found himself trapped in a plot he has no hope of escaping? Note: This story has a slow-build and takes awhile for the pace to get going. If that isn't your thing, this may not be for you. Heavy emphasis on world-building and character creation and progression. --------------------------------------------------------------- • Release Schedule • Chapters will be released weekly, with some occasional alterations throughout. This may not be a permanent adjustment, but I'll do everything I can to remain active. --------------------------------------------------------------- • Important FAQ • Q: What is the cover art from?A: The current cover art for ETE is called 'Run Boy, Run...' which is a work from Gustavo Arteaga's collection, which can be found here - https://gusart.artstation.com/https://www.instagram.com/sirgusart/ If you're the original artist of the work and would like me to remove your content from my cover art, please send me a private message telling me so. I'm not making any direct profit off this story or the cover, as everything here is a passion project. Also; This story and all its chapters are a work-in-progress, and may be altered at a later date. Don't expect perfection, but I am trying my best. Look at everything posted on this fiction as a first draft.
8 152He was a Man, and I was a Villain
Heroes and villains battle for dominance in Three Faces, but Chaos wants none of that. Saving lives? Mass murder? Who needs that when you can be a prank Youtuber? The road to the top is paved by hours of effort. When a man sneaks into Genewall, Chaos can’t resist following. Will this chance encounter be his big break, or will he uncover something different, more sinister like… love? - - This is a yaoi action comedy. Updates: Monday/Wednesday/Friday 6pm PST
8 186Telesma
An immortal being who has existed ever since the very first breath of creation decided to assume a human form and descend down to the mortal plane in the attempt to observe humans and experience their society first hand for his entertainment purposes. Unbeknownst to him, chaos has been stirring up both in the cosmos and in the earthen plane below which will bring about a catastrophe that will affect the fate of all of the planes of existence. With a tremendous amount of power far greater than what his physical body can handle, how will he fare himself with keeping his identity hidden all the while being right in the middle of the ensuing maelstrom?
8 149World Devour Overlord [Dropped]
Wilhelm Baumeister, a 23 years old genius hikikomori is another victim of truck-kun. He reincarnate in [Aleyria], a fantasy world where magical monster and slavery is common sense as his in-game character. Can he survive this cruel world ? Author Note : I'm actually a vietnamese, english is my secondary language and this is my first ENGLISH novel so i can only hope that you guys like it. I want this series to be a long one, maybe 200-300 chapter ? This is also to improve my ENGLISH so if you find any grammartical errors then please notify me.
8 134Kueng Ning
A battle from the past.Fast forward to the future.The legend that has been passed down in story.Slowly, that legend comes to life.The man who started the battle.Gave a warning.Did they listen?They did, however ""it"" cannot be found.Slowly he will...Grow..Rise...Conquer..Everything and Everyone shall bow down to him.Earth, Heavens, Stars, Cosmos, Galaxies...Everything is his....A few words to say, my name is KeepSmiling and this would be my first novel.It would have settings in a modern world with xianxia settings.This story would include from all novels I've read, with my own twist, and those novels even include ones from royalroad, only a tiny portion though(i think?) So i hope you will enjoy this novel of mine and give a critical feedbacksHeads up, this might have harem, but i'm still debating on it though.However, maturity would be in this novel. about in Book 2 or 3 at most.
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