I'm Not the Heroine - Chapter 0

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

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.

When the enigmatic and overpowered Kieran Drayke awakens in a foreign magical world after a sudden transmigration, he brings along a system unlike any this realm has ever known. The “Sovereign Architect System” doesn’t just make him invincible—it gives him the tools to build something far greater.But Kieran isn’t interested in world domination. At least, not in the usual way.Disillusioned by the world's surface-level glimmer and the rot beneath it, Kieran sets his sights on the forsaken—those discarded by society, lost in the shadows of nobility and corruption. From slums, war zones, and forgotten ruins, he gathers orphan girls of various races—elves, beastkin, humans, and more—each with untapped potential and pain behind their eyes.He trains them in secret. Guides them. Empowers them. Not as soldiers, but as a family. A hidden organization that operates behind the curtains, shaping the world while appearing as ordinary students at the prestigious Aetherion Magic Academy.Kieran himself? Just a carefree, slightly lazy transfer student with a penchant for sweets, sarcasm, and sneaking naps between classes—on the surface, at least.With a slow-burning plot that weaves magical worldbuilding, deep friendships, training arcs, casual comedy, and a cast of unforgettable girls who grow into queens of the unseen, Chronicles of the Hidden Crown explores what happens when an OP MC doesn’t conquer the world with brute force…But builds a legacy from its forgotten pieces.No betrayal. No forced drama. Just the steady rise of a secret kingdom in the shadows of a crumbling empire.

I have given up power that can make the strongest of men tremble. I bore scars very few can imagine; loved women, very few had the gall to talk; and tread paths with chaosfiends.

“And I'm still standing.”

- - -

Gale was summoned into a mysterious world of magic and monsters for no particular reason. Thrown into squabbles of beings vastly higher than him, Gale strived to make a place for himself in the vain dream of immortality and a better world.

That was six years ago.

Beaten and battered from years of brutal war, Gale finally had enough and resolved to start over a new peaceful life in a totally unremarkable town with his trustworthy companion, Vale. Give up the weapon of slaughter and take up a hoe? That seemed like a fine deal to him.

Unfortunately, the valley wasn't as unremarkable as he thought it to be. Dictatorial governing bodies, suspicious practitioners, an exceedingly unwelcoming guest, and a secret that would change the entire world, all impeded his peaceful life. Gale will need all his mental stability to keep his temper in check, lest he brutalises his way out of trouble. Again.