Apocalypse: The Ant God's Ascension - Chapter 1 -

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

Let someone else go to war, you, lucky Austria, go get married! What the god of war can give you, the god of love can also give you.

The smoke of the Napoleonic Wars has dissipated, and the Vienna system that once brought peace to Europe is riddled with holes. Beneath the seemingly peaceful appearance, there is a vortex of the times with undercurrents, the tranquility before the storm.

The air is filled with the steaming mist of sweat, and the choking black smoke makes it hard to breathe. On the elegant dining table, a group of soldiers and fat men in suits are pushing each other, feasting on the feast called the world, hanging on the wall Van Gogh’s self-portrait with waltz in his ears.

Suddenly the music turned into a march, and the picture also turned to the battlefield. Soldiers marched in a neat line, walking towards the machine gun barbed wire.

A shell fell on the ground, and after the smoke passed, countless cavalry rushed to the artillery position.

Accompanied by a loud noise, a wooden plane flew close to the ground, then pulled up rapidly, broke through the clouds, and shone brightly.

- Description from novelbuddy

Elijah is dying.Afflicted with terminal cancer, his days are limited. So, after deciding to spend his remaining time with family, he boards a plane and sets off for the Pacific Northwest to be with his sister. However, along the way, Earth is transformed by the touch of the World Tree, injecting it with magical Ethera and connecting it to a much larger universe via the System. More importantly for Elijah, though, it also causes his plane to crash, stranding him on a deserted island. But all is not lost, and through the System, he gains the Druid archetype that may be enough to allow him to survive a hostile environment filled with powerful monsters as well as more mundane threats like starvation and the elements. Meanwhile, his sister, Alyssa, must survive the collapse of civilization as she knows it while trying to keep her family safe. Follow them as they try to navigate an apocalyptic world full of game-like stats, classes, and threats aplenty. Current Release Schedule is one chapter a day (7 days a week) at 11AM CST. Patreon is currently 70 chapters ahead, with an extra chapter (for 8) each week.

A muffled murmur sounded softly,

Crazy goblins ravage the village,

Mutated beasts roam the fields,

The ancient old gods are gradually awakening,

Just when the darkness is about to engulf the entire continent,

A brave man from another world quietly appeared,

This may be the darkest hour before dawn.

Human: “The savior has come?”

Monster: “Have new food arrived?”

Till the fame of the brave spread far and wide,

Walking through every corner of the continent,

He/she/they know,

What is the real darkest hour.

The monsters and humans said in unison:

“I beg you to be human, the ancient gods were so scared that they went back to sleep.”

- Description from novelbuddy