2025-08-05 16:27:16The conference hall buzzed with the hushed murmurs of elite investors, executives, and hungry startups. Crystal chandeliers glimmered overhead as suits shuffled and handshakes sealed silent promises.
This was no ordinary event. It was The Summit, an exclusive investment showcase held only twice a year. Only the top ten rising companies were allowed to pitch. Getting in was a victory. Winning a deal? A coronation.
Ethan stood near the entrance, checking his reflection in the polished steel column. His tailored navy suit wasn’t designer, but it fit like it had been stitched around his ambition.
Behind his calm eyes, the System buzzed.
[System Update] 🔹 Mission: Crush the Stone Objective: Win the Eastline Freight Deal—one Liam failed to secure last quarter Bonus Objective: Humiliate Liam in public Reward: Reputation Boost + Corporate Trait Upgrade ❗ Penalty: Liam’s influence increases, weakening your investor trust score Time Limit: Today
Ethan tightened his fist. This wasn’t just a business pitch. It was payback.
One Hour Earlier…
“Eastline Freight?” Mia had gasped, flipping through the file as they rode to the summit in a rented van. “That’s a giant. They've been searching for a last-mile delivery partner since Q1.”
Ethan nodded. “And Liam Stone’s firm pitched them in March. They declined.”
Mia blinked. “You think you can do what he couldn’t?”
“I don’t think,” Ethan said, eyes narrowing. “I know.”
He tapped his phone, pulling up a custom dashboard he’d built himself—data charts, predictive route optimizations, rider incentives, heat maps of underserved zones.
“This isn’t a pitch. It’s a revolution. All I have to do is make them see it.”
Now, at the Summit
Ethan stepped onto the showcase floor.
Each startup was given ten minutes to present. Ethan was scheduled right after Liam Stone’s new logistics startup—StoneGrid.
As he waited behind the curtain, he heard Liam's voice echo confidently over the speakers.
“—with AI-integrated traffic redirection and a smart parcel-tracking API, StoneGrid ensures 87% delivery efficiency in urban zones.”
Polite applause followed. Liam bowed.
Then he saw Ethan standing backstage.
The smile on Liam’s face turned razor-sharp. “Don’t trip on the stage, delivery boy,” he whispered as he passed.
Ethan just smirked. “Thanks for warming the crowd.”
Ethan’s Turn
He walked onto the stage like he belonged there.
No flashy intro. No video montage. Just a tablet and his voice.
“I won’t waste your time with buzzwords,” Ethan began. “I’ll show you results.”
He tapped the screen. Behind him, the presentation displayed live metrics: ▪ 14,000+ downloads ▪ 3,000 active daily riders ▪ 94% delivery completion within 8 minutes ▪ Expansion into 4 new districts this week alone
He continued. “Where most logistics firms fail isn’t in planning—it’s in trust. My riders don’t clock in. They clock value. They choose which tasks they want, when they want. And we reward performance dynamically, not through some rigid hourly rate.”
The investors leaned forward.
“StoneGrid builds on legacy logistics. We built something else. Something living.”
Then came the kicker.
He tapped again. “And here’s the kicker: 26% of our riders were previously unemployed for over 6 months. We’re not just delivering packages—we’re delivering purpose.”
A pause.
Then thunderous applause.
Post-Pitch Arena
Backstage, Ethan exhaled slowly. His heart thumped like a war drum, but he kept his face composed.
A hand clapped against his shoulder.
Liam.
“You clever little punk,” he growled under his breath. “You think this is over? You embarrassed me in front of Eastline’s board.”
Ethan turned, smirking. “You embarrassed yourself. I just gave them an option that works.”
“You think I’ll just let you rise like this?”
[System Warning] 🚨 Alert: Influence War Triggered ▪ Liam Stone is using private channels to discredit your pitch. ▪ Investor Trust Score: -12% ▪ Defense Strategy Required
Mia ran up with a tablet. “Ethan—bad news. Liam just leaked false reports about rider safety concerns and hinted your app has unstable backend code.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched.
[New Objective Added] ⚠ Crisis Control: ▪ Clear your reputation ▪ Expose Liam’s sabotage ▪ Time Limit: 30 minutes
“Call Samir,” Ethan said.
“Your coder?”
“No,” he said grimly. “My white-hat.”
20 Minutes Later – War Room
In a private lounge, Ethan stood beside Eastline’s director and two key investors, holding a folder.
“This,” Ethan said, pointing to the printed code logs, “is my system backend. Certified, sandbox tested. No corruption, no breach risk. I’ve even included independent security audit logs.”
He flipped the page.
“And this,” he said, holding up a printed email from Liam’s assistant—one Ethan had retrieved through Samir’s backdoor trace, “is a sabotage attempt. A fake report prepared before my pitch even began.”
The room went silent.
The Eastline director turned to Liam—now pale-faced, sweating.
“You tried to poison the deal?”
Liam stuttered. “I—I didn’t—”
“We’ll be in touch,” the director said, standing. “Mr. Cross, congratulations. Your company just secured a \$5 million operations contract with Eastline Freight.”
✅ Mission Complete: Crush the Stone ▪ Liam humiliated in public ▪ Ethan wins a major corporate deal ▪ Hidden ally unlocked: Samir (White-Hat Hacker) 🎖 Reward: Reputation +1 | Corporate Trait Upgrade | Access to Digital Security Tools
Later That Night
Back in his apartment, Ethan couldn’t sleep.
His phone buzzed.
A private number. He answered.
A strange voice filtered through. Male. Calm. Controlled.
“Congratulations, Mr. Cross. Not many win a battle against someone like Liam. But I suggest you look deeper—because not all enemies wear expensive suits.”
Ethan’s brows furrowed. “Who is this?”
“Let’s just say I’m someone who knows what the System really is. And you, Mr. Cross… you’ve only scratched the surface.”
Click.
[System Notification] 🔻 Alert: Interference Detected ▪ System activity monitored by unknown external source ▪ Access Level: Red Tier
Ethan sat upright, the adrenaline surging again.
Something far more dangerous was watching him. And he wasn’t sure if it was man… or machine.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Final Rhythm
The Heart was quiet.Not dead—never dead—but still. The kind of stillness that comes after the last note of a song, when the air itself remembers the melody. Across the continuum, the echoes of the Dreaming God’s light drifted like petals upon a boundless ocean. Every world dreamed; every dream waited.And at the center of that sleeping vastness, Seraphina stood.The air shimmered faintly around her, thick with memory. Each breath she drew carried a thousand sensations—joy, grief, wonder, loss. They no longer weighed her down; they simply were. She was no longer fighting against the pulse of existence or surrendering to it. She had become part of it—an awareness within the dream.Solen stood a few paces behind her, his presence steady, watching as the ripples of light coiled softly around her form.“Do you feel it?” he asked quietly.Seraphina nodded. “Everything. Every dream, every heartbeat, every silence that ever was. It’s all… awake, even while it sleeps.”The horizon quivered. B
The Rise of the Living Dream
The world had not ended.It shifted.Where once there was stillness, there was breath. Where once harmony reigned, now rhythm flowed—wild, unpredictable, but alive. The continuum pulsed like a single living being, every beat echoing through stars, oceans, and the minds of all who remembered the Heart.And at the center of it all stood Sera.Her body shimmered with light that refused to settle—veins glowing in molten threads of red and silver, her eyes carrying the reflection of both dawn and dusk. The Heart beat within her chest now—not as a relic, but as something reborn.She was no longer merely a bearer of the Echo Star. She was the Living Dream.I. The Awakening of the RealmsThe transformation spread like a silent wave.Every city that had once existed in perfect balance began to stir as if waking from an ancient slumber. The rivers of Ariane’s gardens began to flow faster, twisting into new paths as though reclaiming forgotten freedom. The molten towers of Kael’s dominion burned
The Forgotten Pulse
The wind over Lyraen had changed.It still carried the warmth of harmony that had spread through the realms since the Age of Reflection began, but beneath that calm there was a tremor—a rhythm out of sync. Faint, almost imperceptible, but wrong.The city had grown vast. What began as a circle of shimmering stone and song had become a living labyrinth of light and voice. Every street hummed with the resonance of the Heart. Every citizen moved as though in tune with the very breath of the world.Except for Sera.She felt it.The pulse beneath the peace.It started as a whisper in her veins, a discordant echo that made the Echo Star crystal in her possession flicker between silver and red. The others didn’t notice. They believed the crystal was a gift—a symbol of balance, the last remnant of Liora’s transcendence.But Sera wasn’t so sure anymore.That morning, when the first light of Eiran touched the spires of Lyraen, the crystal in her hand beat once, hard enough to sting her palm. She
The Age of Reflection Begins
The world was quiet.Not the silence of endings—but the stillness that comes after a deep breath, the pause between one heartbeat and the next. For the first time since the beginning, the continuum was not tearing itself apart in conflict or remaking itself in fire. It was simply aware.The rivers moved with a gentle hum, the sky breathed in colors unseen before, and the light that touched the soil was neither harsh nor pure—it was balanced.The Heart of All Things had awakened, and through it, every being now heard a faint whisper, like a song half-remembered.“You are not alone. You are part of the dream that dreams itself.”It was the voice of Liora. Not as goddess, not as mortal—but as memory. The essence of all balance.I. The Dawn of the New AgeIn the Garden of Mirrors, Ariane stood at the edge of her lake, watching her reflection ripple with colors that did not belong to the mortal realm. Each hue shimmered with meaning—gold for will, silver for peace, crimson for courage, and
The Echo Between Gods
The world no longer slept. It remembered itself awake.The light of dawn rose not from the sky this time—but from within. Across the continents of dream, rivers shimmered with internal glow, trees whispered like living memories, and mountains trembled as if exhaling the first breath of awareness.The Garden and the Flame both stirred, bound by a pulse neither could define. The twin stars—Eiran and Solas—burned together in a single halo, their light folding into a spiral that reached across the heavens.And in the heart of the Valley of Mists, Liorastood beneath that spiral.Her hands trembled with energy too vast for flesh to contain. One eye glowed with the serenity of reflection; the other burned with the heat of will. The air around her rippled with every breath—threads of silver, gold, and crimson weaving through the fog.She could feel everything: the joy of the Garden, the fury of the Flame, the sorrow of the Witness, and the patient, aching love of the Dreaming God.It was all
The Garden and the Flame
The world no longer dreamed—it decided.The two paths that had once been one now diverged fully beneath the silent gaze of the Dreaming God. The Children of Dawn no longer gathered beneath the same stars; they gathered beneath their beliefs. The air, once filled with the hum of harmony, now carried the pulse of choice.And from choice, history began.I. The Garden of RemembranceTo the east of the world, where the light of dawn fell longest, Ariane built her refuge. It began as a circle of still water—a lake so calm that even the stars above mirrored within it perfectly, without distortion. Around its edges, she planted the first living trees, each born from a seed of memory.Their leaves shimmered faintly in tones of gold and azure. Whenever the wind passed through them, whispers filled the air—echoes of forgotten songs, laughter from the old worlds, fragments of languages no longer spoken.This was the Garden of Remembrance.Her people, the Keepers of Light, believed that peace coul
You may also like
Hidden Billionaire Son-in-law
Deliaha Shine124.3K viewsRevenge of the Abandoned Heir
wounded_warrior126.4K viewsThe rejected Son-in-law
Hunni95.9K viewsUnderrated Son-In-Law
Estherace106.9K viewsThe Hidden Emperor Returns
Felix J228 viewsThe Unbroken Warlord
AFM313.4K viewsThe Devil's lease
PenielThoy 140 viewsThe Triple-D Failure Rises To Power
Twynkl228 views