AutumnXd

Chapter 92: The Chicken Is Innocent ( PLAT )

Somewhere in Ohio – Factory Worker's Apartment

Tyler was on vacation visiting his parents for a few days.

During the day with nothing much to do, he'd log into Infinite Realms and play Death Race Battle Royale matches.

The game had become absolutely massive recently. All his coworkers and friends were playing. They'd team up together, but lately they'd been encountering increasingly skilled players, making wins genuinely difficult.

"Dammit, d...

CHAPTER 187 : A Glimpse of the Truth

The data streamed directly into Aidan's consciousness—not comfortable, never comfortable when you're absorbing someone else's entire life experience compressed into digital format. Achilles Ares had lived for nearly three hundred years. That translated to a lot of memories.

Aidan leaned back in the Conn-Pod, eyes closed, and let the information wash over him.

The Precursors. An advanced species native to a planet they called the Anteverse. Popula...

Chapter 91: The Chicken Dinner Phenomenon ( PLAT )

Chris Donovan was ET's secret weapon for game design. The current success of Street Heat was largely thanks to his creative contributions and strategic suggestions.

When Mike found him, Chris had just finished another Battle Royale match and was still buzzing with enthusiasm about Death Race's design.

"It's genuinely fantastic," Chris said, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin. "I've played like six rounds already. Can't stop."

"Chris, listen—can we extra...

CHAPTER 186 : The Anteverse

The moment the Mirror Dimension fully manifested, reality rewrote itself.

The tentacles—those massive stone-flesh appendages that had been surging toward Magician like a tidal wave—simply vanished. Not destroyed, not severed. Erased from this iteration of space, shunted into a different dimensional layer where they couldn't reach.

The entire landscape froze, caught in Aidan's constructed reality. The crimson sphere that had been dominating the sky disappeared f...

Chapter 176: Not Coming Home Rich and Famous is Like Wearing a Nice Suit in the Dark ( PLAT )

The battlefield looked like something out of a disaster movie. Dark clouds churned overhead, pregnant with electricity, while lightning crashed down in precise patterns that had nothing to do with nature and everything to do with Lucian's will. Each bolt fed energy into his cards, creating a feedback loop of destruction that was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Diana from Soochow University stood in the middle of it all, her face twisted in frustration and dawning respect. Sh...

Chapter 90: Undeniable ( PLAT )

Jake didn't disappoint. The moment Death Race went live, he started streaming, and his viewer count exploded past ten million within the first hour.

His small production team worked overtime, editing his gameplay into digestible video content and publishing it across international platforms—YouTube, Twitch highlights, TikTok clips—to maximize reach and funnel more attention toward Death Race.

Within hours, review videos and news coverage flooded social media worldwide. The inn...

Chapter 89: Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner ( PLAT )

"Oh shit, I got the rocket launcher! Mark, you tagged me earlier—time for payback!"

"Bring it, let's see what you got!"

"Damn, you actually dodged it! Your driving skills are legit!"

"Hell yeah! All those hours in Fast & Furious paid off!"

"Crap crap crap, I'm almost out of gas! Where are the fuel drops?!"

"Forget drops at this point—go hunt someone! Ram them off the road and take their fuel!"

"Chris, your armor is insane! My bullets are doin...

Chapter 175: A New Fan Club ( PLAT )

Russell emerged from the mall bathroom looking like a completely different person—which, technically, he was. The "Lord Five" disguise had served its purpose, but walking around Soochow wearing the face of one of the Society's most wanted would be like painting a target on his back and handing out free ammunition.

The shopping mall was perfect cover. High foot traffic, multiple exits, security cameras that mysteriously malfunctioned whenever a Shadowkhan passed by. He grabbed...

CHAPTER 185 : The Anteverse

Back on Earth, everything had changed.

Since the Kyoto conference, Dr. Aidan Ryan's identity as the "Magician" had become public knowledge. The Security Council made a calculated decision: don't hide it. Humanity needed a symbol right now, a figurehead to rally behind. In times of existential crisis, people craved heroes—someone who could stand between them and annihilation and make it look easy.

And if the nations of Earth were going to implement Aidan's impossibly ambit...

Chapter 173: Father and Son Reunion ( PLAT )

Morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in Russell's battle-scarred yard, illuminating what could generously be called "post-apocalyptic landscaping." The crater where his fountain used to be had filled with rainwater overnight, creating an impromptu pond. Chunks of stonework lay scattered like a giant's discarded toys. The whole place looked like someone had decided to recreate Syria in suburban Northgate.

"Definitely need to call Misty about getting a construct...

Chapter 174: A Reasonable Report ( PLAT )

The wet squelch of leather shoes against the rain-slicked alley floor was the only sound breaking the oppressive silence. Dim streetlights cast sickly yellow halos through the mist, throwing the newcomer's face into a patchwork of light and shadow.

Russell stood there, hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like someone out for a casual evening stroll rather than someone who'd just interrupted an assassination.

"...Are you also a member of the Spirit Begging Soci...

Chapter 88: Battle Royale on Wheels ( PLAT )

Melissa, Luke, and Chris had thought the career mode gameplay was already brilliantly designed.

Then Melissa entered competitive mode and read the ruleset.

Her jaw actually dropped.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

Competitive mode offered two different categories:

Mode One: Battle Royale
Mode Two: Team Deathmatch (Coming in future update)

Currently only Battle Royale was available in the launch build. Team De...

Chapter 87: Next-Level Design ( PLAT )

Melissa was completely absorbed, experiencing the story unfold through the protagonist's eyes.

The setting: Terminal Island Prison, a privately-owned facility that had turned incarceration into profit through bloodsport entertainment.

The context: "Frankenstein," the most popular and legendary Death Race champion, had won four races. One more victory would earn him freedom. But during that final race against his rival Machine Gun Joe, Frankenstein died—murdered by the pri...

Chapter 172: An Unforeseen Complication

The Wu family manor was supposed to be a fortress of calm authority, but tonight Wade paced his study like a caged animal. Back and forth, back and forth, his expensive leather shoes wearing a track in the Persian rug. Every shadow could be an assassin returning with good news. Every creak of the old house could signal his problems were finally over.

"Screee... CRUNCH."

The sound was so unexpected, so utterly wrong for the moment, that Wade nearly jumped out of h...

Chapter 171: Who Assassinates the Assassin?

The night air was thick with intent as Kai released his gold-level mental power, letting it wash over Russell's manor like an invisible tide. No subtlety, no finesse—just raw power flooding every corner of the property.

"Let's see where you're hiding," he muttered, a predatory smile playing at his lips.

Why should he care about being discovered? He was a gold-level cardmaker hunting a silver-level brat. The kid should be pissing himself right about now, not that it woul...

Chapter 184 : The Breach

The Precursor civilization operated on a strict hierarchical system—think Roman Empire meets insectoid hive mind. At the top sat a council of elders who made all strategic decisions. What was invading Earth wasn't their entire species, just a colonial outpost. A beachhead established by the council, staffed with expendable forces, designed to terraform a new world for eventual settlement.

The Anteverse and Earth existed in different dimensional planes—parallel universes separ...

Chapter 86: Absolute Madness

Infinite Realms North American Division – Content Competition Review Department

"IT'S LIVE! It's up!" Review editor Chris Martinez practically shouted across the office. "Boss! Luke! Sarah! Stormwind's submission just dropped!"

The entire review department immediately converged on Chris's workstation. Even Luke Wagner—the senior editor who'd reviewed Avatar months ago—abandoned his coffee to see what all the fuss was about.

Ever since Alex Morri...

Chapter 170: A New Kiss ( PLAT )

Russell stepped back through the shadow portal into his living room, his mind still buzzing from the conversation with Blake. The irony of the situation was almost funny—almost. His teacher warning him about the Spirit Begging Society while Russell had just been promoted to second-in-command.

The universe had a twisted sense of humor.

He collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. The envelope Misty had given him sat on his nightstand, the three familiar ma...

CHAPTER 183 : The Planetary Warfare Council

The conference hall had gone quiet. Not the comfortable silence of contemplation, but the stunned silence of people whose worldview had just been violently restructured.

Aidan let them process for another moment, then continued.

"What you just experienced was the Mirror Dimension—a form of spatial manipulation. I hope that's convinced at least a few skeptics." He paused, scanning the assembly. "The Magician Jaeger isn't just advanced technology. It's a magical amplificati...

Chapter 85: Oops, My Bad ( PLAT )

"That's fantastic news!" Marcus leaned forward, clearly trying to extract more drama. "Alex, you must be aware that ET Games just launched 'Street Heat,' which has been getting excellent reviews. They could be serious competition. Are you confident about winning this championship?"

Alex smiled diplomatically. "Honestly? Winning isn't really the point for me. I just want to bring something genuinely new to players who love racing games. Make competitive racing actually fun to watc...

CHAPTER 182 : A Global Meeting ( PLAT )

The dinner conversation stretched on for hours, questions bleeding into speculation bleeding into wild theorizing about what came next. By the time people started drifting away from the table, the atmosphere in the Shatterdome had shifted noticeably. The crushing weight of imminent extinction had lifted—replaced by something almost like hope.

They'd turned the tide. Right when humanity was about to collapse, they'd found a lifeline.

But the real answers—the strategic de...

Chapter 169: A Wolf in the Henhouse ( PLAT )

Russell stepped through the shadow portal into his living room, the familiar surroundings doing nothing to settle the chaos swirling in his head. Lord Six. I'm Lord fucking Six of a terrorist organization. The absurdity of it would have been funny if it wasn't so potentially lethal.

He was just about to collapse onto his couch and try to process everything when a voice made his heart stop.

"Young Russell, are you back?"

The old, familiar voice hit him like a bucket ...

Chapter 84: Speaking Truth to Power ( PLAT )

May in New York was beautiful—trees in full bloom, flowers lining the streets and medians in explosions of color, the city bursting with life.

Today Alex had been invited to appear on "Game Story," a livestreamed talk show focusing on the gaming industry.

Since Fast & Furious went viral, Alex had received dozens of interview requests. He'd declined most—too busy, genuinely didn't enjoy the media circus, preferred to let his work speak for itself.

But this show was di...

Chapter 83: The Window Opens ( PLAT )

Fast & Furious and the Infinite Realms racing championship had definitely stimulated the racing content market. A massive wave of new racing dungeons flooded the platform like a tsunami.

Unfortunately, most of them were absolute garbage.

In the immediate aftermath of Fast & Furious's success, some shameless knockoffs actually made decent money. Players were hungry for racing content and willing to try anything. But gamers aren't stupid—you can only fool them once....

Chapter 168: The Promotion ( PLAT )

The battle's aftermath wasn't fading—it was spreading.

Russell could feel it everywhere he went. The stares on the street that lingered too long. The whispered conversations that died the moment he got within earshot. The reporters who'd somehow tracked down his address and camped outside like vultures until his Shadowkhan made it very clear they weren't welcome.

The entire province had watched him humiliate Wade. Watched the Wu family's dirty secrets get dragg...

CHAPTER 181 : A World of Information

The hologram faded, leaving everyone staring at empty air where revelations had been playing out moments before.

Nobody spoke. The silence had weight to it—the kind that comes when your entire understanding of reality needs recalibration. The memory extraction had been complete this time, not fragmented, and the sheer volume of information was overwhelming.

Newton and Gottlieb looked at each other, their usual antagonistic dynamic suspended. For once, neither had anything...

Chapter 82: Unrecognizable

Inside the precinct, Alex looked across at Dale Sterling and nearly burst out laughing. "Dude, Jake—you really did a number on him. His own mother wouldn't recognize that face."

Dale's face was swollen like a balloon, lips split and bleeding, hair sticking up in every direction. He looked like he'd been hit by a truck, then reversed over for good measure.

The funniest part? The distinctive tread pattern from Morgan's sneaker sole was clearly imprinted on his cheek—raise...

Chapter 167: Two Forms?

The question—Did he win?—was like dropping a match into gasoline.

The arena exploded.

"HOLY SHIT, HE WON!"

"RUSSELL WON!"

"Wait, he actually won!?" Someone grabbed their neighbor's shoulder, shaking them. "I thought he was done!"

"Okay, okay, I apologize!" Another voice cut through, half-laughing with disbelief. "I take back everything I said about him earlier!"

"I get it now!" A young man stood on his seat, pointing at...

CHAPTER 180 : The Kaiju in the Cage ( PLAT )

The waters off Hong Kong had been scrubbed clean.

Two days of intensive cleanup operations had removed every chunk of Kaiju biomass, every fragment of destroyed armor plating, every trace of the battle that had nearly torn the city apart. The ocean looked almost normal again—just water and waves and the occasional patrol boat.

Except for the cage.

It sat about a kilometer offshore, a massive steel construct the size of a city block, half-submerged in the shallows. A...

Chapter 81: Talk Shit, Get Hit

Unlike Emma, Morgan came back to the States almost every winter break, sometimes even during summer. And the first thing she did every single time? Round up Alex, Danny, and Jake for an all-night reunion.

This year was no exception.

"I need the spicy crawfish from that place in Williamsburg. Need it," Morgan announced in the group chat. She was jet-lagged as hell, had just woken up at 2 PM, and her voice was still raspy with sleep.

"Done. That place it is. S...