"Let's go rob a Demon King."I stepped into the portal. The world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of green energy and nausea.(I hate portals. Why can't we just take an elevator?)"Brace for impact!" Jessica shouted, her voice distorted by the dimensional shear."I see the exit!" Runa yelled. "It is below us!"Below us?We popped out of the vortex.We were high. Very high.Below us was a massive, gothic castle with spires that pierced the red clouds. We were falling straight toward the highest tower."Roof!" I screamed."Breaching!" Jessica activated her thrusters. She flew ahead, spear point down.CRASH.She smashed through the stone ceiling like a bunker buster.We followed her through the hole.Dust, debris, and confused bats swirled around us. We fell into a massive chamber lit by torches.I braced for a hard landing.But I didn't hit the floor. I hit something... crunchy.SPLAT.I landed on a chair. A very large, spiky chair. And underneath me, something groaned and then went silen

"Show me the treasury," I commanded.The Demon General, whose name was apparently 'Gorg' (creative), led us deep beneath the castle.Valder, the former Hero and current Intern, struggled behind us carrying six heavy sacks of gold coins."This is good training!" Valder panted, sweat dripping from his nose. "I feel my muscles tearing! This must be the Path of the Burden!""Yes," Runa nodded sagely. "The Master teaches that strength comes from carrying the loot."(It teaches that I have a bad back and refuse to lift heavy things.)We reached the bottom. A massive door made of mithril blocked the path."The Core Room," Gorg grunted. "Only the King may enter. The mana inside... it burns.""Burn is a mindset," I said, pushing the door open.Inside, there was no gold. There was only a crystal.It was the size of a house, floating in a void of swirling mana. It pulsed with the heartbeat of the planet.[Target Identified: Server 7 Core.] [Mana Yield: 50 Trillion Units.] [Status: Active.]"Jack

"Because I've always wanted to hijack a spaceship."I buttoned my coat. The wind from the descending skull-ship whipped my hair, but my [Author Authority] kept my footing solid."Jessica," I said. "Can you throw me?"Jessica grinned, her power armor locking into maximum output. "Fastball Special? With pleasure."She grabbed my waist. I grabbed her shoulders."Aim for the bridge," I commanded. "The left eye socket.""Firing in three... two..."BOOM.Jessica launched us.We didn't fly. We were a missile. We broke the sound barrier before we cleared the castle spires.The spaceship loomed above us—a rusty, industrial nightmare bristling with mana cannons."Shields up!" a voice crackled over the ship's external speakers.A blue energy field shimmered into existence around the hull."Cut it," I whispered.I reached into my chest. The [Mirage Edge] flared.[Skill Selected: Concept Cutter.] [Target: The barrier between 'Outside' and 'Inside'.] [Lie: "There is no door."]I swiped my hand.SHI

"Now that is a stage," I had whispered.But the stage was just the background. The real terror was the Green Room.Our floating marble platform drifted into a massive docking bay. It locked into place with a sound like thunder. We stepped off onto a concourse made of solid starlight."Stay close," I murmured to my team. "And don't stare."It was impossible not to stare.The Lobby of the Grand Tournament was a chaotic, terrifying melting pot of the Multiverse.To my left, a squad of Cyber-Paladins from a Sci-Fi Server were calibrating plasma swords the size of telephone poles. To my right, a literal Dragon God—in human form, but with wings spanning thirty meters—was drinking magma from a chalice. Ahead of us, a cloud of sentient gas was arguing with a being made entirely of clockwork gears."We are small," Melody whispered, hiding behind my coat. "Master, these beings... their mana density is infinite. I feel like a minnow in a shark tank.""Size is irrelevant," Runa growled, though he

"I don't run from my wife."I said those words to the woman pointing a spear at my heart.Jessica Ford stood frozen. Her left eye was a vibrant, human blue. Her right eye was a flickering, digital red. Tears streamed down one cheek; data streamed down the other."Delete..." the mechanical voice rasped from her throat. "Delete... Renji...""No!" Her human voice screamed. "Get out of my head! He's my husband!"The spear wavered. The tip crackled with lethal energy, inches from my chest."Elara!" I shouted without looking back. "Analysis!""It's a Logic Plague!" Elara yelled, typing furiously on her tablet. "The Hive Mind uploaded a localized kernel into her neural interface. It's rewriting her personality drivers. It's trying to optimize her by deleting 'inefficient' emotions.""Emotions like love?" I asked."Exactly. If it hits 100%, she won't be Jessica anymore. She'll be a combat droid."[System Alert: Infection Level: 85%.] [Time to Erasure: 60 Seconds.](I have one minute to save h