I was ready for the uplink. There was just one thing I had to do first. I had to die. Ripcord was a revolutionary new product that launched people into a virtual reality world just moments before death, sparing them their painful end-of-life memories and allowing them to live in a video game utopia for all time. At least, that’s how it was advertised. No one ever came back to say whether Ripcord lived up to its promise. It was a one-way ticket for those lucky enough to get in. Well, maybe “lucky” isn’t the right word for it. My wife had been in Ripcord for two years. I was finally ready to go find her. When I got there though, it was nothing like I had expected and she was nowhere to be found. Oh, and did I mention something is killing everyone off? “Griefing” players that were already grieving. If I ever wanted to see my wife again, I’d have to get a lot stronger, learn how to level up in this strange new world, and hope she found a way to survive this long…

    The game feels like reality, a better version of reality. The primary form of entertainment on Earth is to either play SOO or watch those who do. After becoming a streamer and a professional gamer, Trent abruptly discovered how dark and ruthless the real world can be. Now he does what he can to search for those who threatened his loved ones. His regular job remains growing his career as Vale, a member of one of the most powerful streaming parties in SOO. The new PVP event in Secret of the Old Ones offers unprecedented opportunities for player advancement and quest rewards. But a growing faction of inhuman players are threatening human-controlled lands, razing cities to the ground. Human characters like Vale might actually lose the war. And with everything else going on in his life, Trent feels a growing suspicion that something is amiss in the real world, something related to the game...

    Who’s behind the murder of his family? Who has been after his territories, and why?One promising lead comes from Lady Efera, the very same who had taken a liking to his lands and whom he defeated in an all-out battle. But that information won’t come free. If Richard wants that piece of the puzzle, he will need to help Efera take back the lands she lost to a fierce Baron. Easier said than done, especially when said Baron and his coalition show up at Richard’s door with an ultimatum. He has two weeks to hand over the woman’s Starmetal Signet, or he’ll be the one to suffer the consequences. But Juliet is not a stranger to Richard anymore; now that she’s married to the Frankinsons, she has become his blood too. His responsibility.Once again, it’s a race for survival. Facing imminent invasion by a force far superior to his own, Richard will need to scramble like never before. He will have to secure new alliances and find new ways to improve his defenses. There’s no other way around it, he needs to quickly move up the ranks so as to unlock new units and be able to hire the advisors who will help him master this complex game.The first step to this impossible plan is to reach out to the Kintelis, an elven clan living in isolation in the west. But Richard definitely can’t seem to catch a break; he has barely come in contact with the elves that his carriage is attacked by a group of bandits…

    After being tasked by the king to explore the area and find the ancient ruins, our heroes make their way through this deathtrap. While they find themselves facing danger at every corner, they soon realize that their toughest foe is not hiding in a dark corridor, but deep within themselves.

    They didn’t come for oil or minerals, but us. They collected our strongest warriors and shipped them off to a world called Hadran—a one-of-a-kind artificial planet, a cosmic gladiatorial arena where the slave races engage in blood sports for the Great Ones' entertainment. But Earth has lost the last of its real champions and now risks losing its candidate status. If that happens, it will become less than a slave colony, a target to be cleansed. Clint Rogan is a man fighting to survive in this new world. After a series of unfortunate events, he's ripped from his home, shipped off-world, and forcibly merged with a faulty symbiote. Power, speed, endurance, and the drive to kill are all at his fingertips. That is, if Sarien, his symbiote, doesn’t kill him first. Dropped into Terraria One, Clint and the other human contestants discover the human starting zone resembles the middle ages. With humanity’s fate in the balance, Clint and the newcomers first need to rebuild the base, conquer the surrounding territory, and fight off alien enemies. Can they survive long enough to give Earth a fighting chance? Or will the Battle World consume them just like the others before them?

    Picking a druid, he charges forward into an unknown land as he tries to master an odd combat system. Luckily for him, the crafting system is ripe to make money and the game’s currency is tied to the real-world market.But a strange dungeon forces him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew. Is the company behind this game truly what it seems to be, or is there a nefarious purpose hidden below the surface?

    

    The idea of a cave full of Normeend with their villainous ways being not far away hung like a dark shadow across the lake and heavily on Tom’s mind. He sent out teams to make traps, gather and store food and munitions ready for the day that Tom was sure would come when Sklar arrived and they would need to defend themselves. Would that be enough? He did not know, nor would he ever be sure until every vestige of that shadow, along with the fears the Normeend created, were eliminated from their world. In the process of creating their defences, more obstacles and threats came their way. Dangers to their Cave which challenged their ways and threatened their very existence came from more than one source and by both natural and human obstacles. The team, and especially Kroll, fought back. Then there were the Old Ones.

    He married one of the women from the mountain tribes to make the new alliance go smoother and was prepared to live with her for the rest of his days. Things did not go according to plan, their son was born with a handicap that others in the kingdom would never overlook. Instead of being born a mage like his parents, Rell Duncan was born a charmcaster. Young Rell is sent away and his father remarries to have an heir the people will accept. Now as a grown man Rell has returned to claim his birthright from his younger brother despite what others think about him and prove no mage is a match for The Charmcaster.

    Everything was taken from him and he was pressed into military service as a fighter pilot. A few years later, Jace has gotten out of military service and worked on a corporate freighter. He has grown to love space and plans to never return to earth. Dissatisfied with the corporate life, Jace finds the necessary backing to go independent. Thus, he begins the life of an independent freight hauler. This story is inspired by Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series, Firefly, and some anime.

    The next morning, he awoke in an entirely different body, inside of a polar opposite world. Kings and Queens? Magic? Dragons? Gryphons? Even vampires? Follow Caesar on his journey as he once again attempts to reach the top of the world, but this time, he will do it as no man, but a vampire instead!

    Choosing the body of a half-man, half-serpent creature called a naga, Larson must fight to secure a place for himself in this new world. Soon, he finds himself in a fight against pirates, thieves, and terrors of the deep, all of which seek to end his new life before it truly begins.But Larson is not easily deterred. He will call upon a loyal crew and decades of knowledge from his previous life, standing ready with steel and spell to cut down all who oppose him as he seeks to conquer the Limitless Seas.

    They have created the Domains and there they plan to reside forever. Except, the nightmares of reality have followed them into their new quantum dimension and those nightmares threaten to destroy it all! Now it is up to one of them to help navigate the quantum platform known as EverRealm, a fantasy MMORPG of epic proportions, in order to complete a quest he neither wants to complete nor knows how. With the help of his friends, and a lot of luck, he will have to face trials and tribulations like he's never faced as a player! Because now it is no longer a matter of Game Over, but of life or death! Can he survive it all and come out a winner? The only way he'll know is if he plays the game to the bitter end!

     Well, usually it is. See, Jagloth, the planet they're going to, has been having a few problems lately. But hey, I'm sure nothing bad ever happened when someone Quarantines an entire planet, right? ------------------------ Mandatory disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, for god's sake! These characters are not heroes in shining armor atop brilliant white steeds. Don't take anything done here as a comment on real life. If you have triggers, consider this your warning. **This is an omnibus edition containing volumes 5-8 of Into the Black.**

    Roland grew up halfway to nowhere. His father is human and his mother is elf. Being Half-Elf would always bring difficulties and it also brought about innate magic. He heads off for adventure joining the Adventures Guild. The world is tough and Roland is an innocent. He discovers he is unique in more than one way. Danger is everywhere especially for those who adventure. He makes a decision that will affect him for the rest of his life. The he realizes he has made a rash decision. It might turn out good or it might turn out bad. He just doesn't know enough but he is committed. His unique gifts are needed and he heeds the call for help.