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 Argrave approached most things very methodically. His present situation, unbelievable as it was, was no different. In the month he had until the thesis submission deadline, he worked long past nightfall every single day. His diligence could be attributed both to his desire to distract himself from unpleasant existential questions and his own legitimate fascination with magic.
 During this month, Argrave left his room only to eat or to retrieve what few books he needed from the library. Elias still sometimes shadowed him, but Mina avoided Argrave like a leper. It left him ample peace and quiet to thoroughly dissect things.
 After considerable deliberation, Argrave set aside examining two skills: Inscription and Imbuing. They related to the creation of magic items: enchantments, in other terms. Argrave had some plans for those two skills at a later date, but it required a lot of capital that he lacked presently.
 First, Argrave wrote down every elemental magic spell at or below D rank that he could remember from the original game, ‘Heroes of Berendar.’ Once he had them written, he tested his ability to perform them, placing a checkmark next to the ones that he could. If he knew a spell, he performed it as naturally as moving a limb. If he did not, it was like grasping at air.
 Some spells seemed engraved into Argrave’s body like muscle memory. He paid deep attention to what was occurring when he cast the spells. He felt a strange energy permeating his body—indescribable and mystical, yet simultaneously overwhelming and nauseating. Perhaps the nausea was a mental issue from coming into contact with the unknown, though.
 Argrave identified this strange energy; it was magic, naturally.
 Magic felt much like a gas roiling beneath Argrave’s skin as constant as his heartbeat. Indeed, a heartbeat was an apt comparison. If he held his hand to his chest, he could feel his heartbeat; if he touched the mystical forces of magic, he could feel its presence just as consistent as his own heart. Both were always present, and one needed only a cursory search to find either.
 Once Argrave had identified what spells he knew, he looked them up in the books he had borrowed from the library. There, he studied how they worked, and further how magic worked. The process was less challenging than he thought it would be. It felt intuitive—perhaps it was because the former Argrave already knew these things.
 Argrave sat at his chair, hands outstretched. He willed forth a spell-matrix—a horizontal line, nothing more. A small, constant gush of flame rushed forth. He pulled his magic away from the spell, and then morphed the matrix into a zig-zag horizontal line. A small, sparking ball appeared in his hands.
 “F-rank magic. One-dimensional,” he noted, then turned back to his paper to summarize the feeling.
 This one-dimensional magic could only achieve very simple things; lighting a flame, creating a spark, or blowing air no stronger than one could blow from their mouths. They were simple things, yet these lines formed the foundations of the future branches of magic.
 Argrave held out his hand once more, then realized it was dangerously close to a bookshelf. He shifted the chair and pointed in a more open direction. He created another spell matrix in his hands—one with two dimensions, this time. A triangle. Fire emerged again, this time propelled forth by force rather than stagnant and in his hands.
 “E-rank. Two-dimensional.” Argrave wrote down the feeling once more.
 He clenched his hand, and then turned back to an open book by his side, ensuring that he’d gotten the spell matrix right. Content it was proper, he turned back.
 “Now for my favorite spell… [Writhing Lightning].”
 It took him a second to form the spell matrix, but once he did, it felt like a lock clicking. He willed forth the mystical force known as magic, and a jagged bolt of lightning rushed across the room. It struck his bed. Argrave watched the lightning dance across the frame and covers, and then fade away. A smile came to Argrave's face. Just as in the game, this spell transferred lightning through surfaces.
 “D-rank. Three-dimensional magic.” Argrave pulled his hand back, staring at the unblemished pale skin.
 It was here where complex spells that achieved multi-faceted effects manifested. Fire could be given force, allowing it to provide a concussive impact alongside the flames. Ice could spread across the floor or walls, trapping people where they stood.
 And C-rank… Argrave turned his head and opened a thick book. Unlike the other books that merely had diagrams, a spell matrix formed from the book, hovering in the air. Though he stared at it, and could recognize that it existed, it was difficult to wrap his head around. It felt blurry.
 C-rank was where magic departed from the mundane concepts of Earth and deviated into the mystical. A fourth dimension to a matrix. Fourth-dimensional things were only theoretical on Earth. Learning one of these spells seemed a stark barrier of steel, standing tall and firm to block his advancement.
 Rather than foolhardily trying to break past that barrier, Argrave stopped in his tracks and directed his attention elsewhere: the thesis. It was a difficult thing to approach. Argrave had no illusions about himself—he could not produce original research in the brief time remaining in the month. The key point, though, was original.
 An Acolyte was expected to create a thesis to become a full-fledged Wizard, yes, but their findings did not need to be entirely original. They could analyze a system or facet of magic, and that would suffice. Argrave could probably whip together something both from his days writing wiki articles and the recent studies he’d made into the magic system in his new reality.
 Argrave was bent over his desk in his chair, singing a little tune as he pondered what, exactly, to write about.
 “Tropical hot dog night… like two flamingos in a fruit fight…” he half-sang, half-muttered.
 Suddenly, a splotch of red covered the empty parchment he sat in front of. He stared at the red drop, utterly perplexed for a moment. Then, another drop fell onto the paper. He saw where it came from this time. He raised his fingers to his upper lip. He pulled them away bloody.
 “What is…?” Argrave felt nauseous for a moment at seeing blood, but he kept calm. He stood from the desk to stop bleeding all over good parchment, but the sudden movement made him feel lightheaded. He stumbled and tried to catch himself on the chair but failed. He collapsed to the floor, winded.
 Argrave flipped over on his back. He reached into his robe and retrieved his black handkerchief, holding it to his nose as he tilted his head back. After a bit of catching his breath, Argrave started laughing.
 “Verdammt,” he said aloud, muffled and nasally beneath the handkerchief. “Guess being [Sickly] isn’t just a title.”
 He couldn’t rightly discern what had caused the nosebleed—stress, maybe, or something simpler—but a small break couldn’t hurt. Maybe even a medium-sized one. Besides, he needed time to think about what he was going to write about.
 After a minute or two, Argrave’s arm grew sore from holding the handkerchief in front of his nose. He drew back the cloth and felt his nose. No more blood was flowing. He helped himself to his feet, ensuring that he did so slowly this time. He wiped off his face thoroughly, and then stared at the black handkerchief.
 A lot of blood. Argrave held the cloth by the corners, as though it were something disgusting. He was about to throw it in the wooden hamper for laundry, but he paused. The blood reminded him of something.
 Argrave—or at least, the former owner of his body—devoted his time and effort into blood magic. Most players of ‘Heroes of Berendar’ agreed that blood magic was very weak in the early stages of the game. Sacrificing vitality for spells was not an especially appealing prospect. Blood Magic spells were powerful and non-elemental, meaning few opponents could resist them. The spells themselves were somewhat slow, though, and few had usable effects.
 Once a player achieved an A-rank in Blood Magic, they could do an optional quest to research [Blood Infusion]. This allowed players to infuse vitality into all spells to increase their efficacy. Low-magic spells could be repurposed into cheap, fast, and highly damaging attacks at the cost of one’s vitality. [Blood Infusion] alone made learning blood magic worth it for the vast majority of mage players.
 Argrave was not naïve enough to assume he could achieve [Blood Infusion] now. But his task was to make a thesis, and it did not necessarily need to be a proven idea. If he were to write a theory about [Blood Infusion], an as-of-yet undiscovered facet of blood magic… that would be more than suitable. It might help get a foot in the door for restoring the terrible reputation Argrave has.
 With a smile on his face and his idea of a break entirely forgotten, Argrave tossed the bloody handkerchief into the laundry hamper and strode back to his desk.
 “…can’t write too much, though… someone here at the tower might figure it out before I reach A rank blood magic, discover [Blood Infusion] first… would be disastrous…” Argrave muttered.
 Like this, Argrave’s focus redoubled. He spent the remainder of his first month on a new plane of reality locked inside his room, avoiding both sleep and uncomfortable questions. Perhaps not much had changed from his days in college after all.
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 The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl. The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit. Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity. Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals.
 Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game. The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality. Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat.
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 Zhang Daye, who accidentally wandered into the world of pirates, obtained a strange magic circle that can summon characters from other worlds. 
 His first partner turned out to be Tom Cat!
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 Cheng Qianye transmigrates to a period of turbulent war and s*avery. 
 Though at first, she is reluctant to accept her situation, she can’t bring herself to ignore the devastating situation before her. 
 After meeting Mo Qiao Sheng, a miserable s*ave on the verge of death, she saves him and takes the first step to bringing about change. 
 With the help of her system which shows her the aura of a person, she gathers loyal allies and sets about to abolish s*avery and unify the country. 
 Note: This story focuses more on character development and the overall growth of the political situation. Although political, this is an easy read without too many complicated twists.
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 It was the year 2050. The world had released an online game, “Second World”, that shocked the public beta. Gold from the game could be exchanged for real-life currency, attracting countless players. Every country in the world fought for game resources. The main character immediately entered the game after this wave.
 After entering the game as an adventurer (job before job change), he stepped into the first stage of his life. It was a stage that even a child could pass.
 He thought that it was a normal stage. However, he did not expect to be locked into the game and continuously repeat the stage!
 As time passed, the stage finally let him pass as per normal a thousand years later. He finally left the dungeon after clearing the stage. It was only now that he realized that this was only the second day of the game!
 He realized that this was not a dream after he saw his attribute panel. What followed was a variety of system notifications!
 “Reached MAX proficiency with the ax—Ax God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the sword—Sword God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the heavy shield—Shield God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with all weapons—Almighty Master!”
 “As your proficiency as an adventurer has overloaded and you have not changed your job in a long time, you can now undergo a unique job change as we have detected your proficiency with weapons—Battle God!”
 A deep crack appeared on the ground when he struck the level 1 wild monster with the small wooden sword in his hand!
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 In his first life, Victor was lazy, poor, and the ultimate gambler, but the Goddess of Envy gave him a chance.
 [ Die and go back four years into the past to restart your life. ]
 Victor lost all hope and killed himself, and so began his second and also the most miserable life.
 He became rich and successful but soon his girlfriend betrayed him and took away all his fortune, having decided on a desperate act Victor came up with a plan to avenge himself.
 Although his plan was successfully executed, Victor hoped that this time he would die once for all and forget the despair that followed him through his two lifetimes.
 Yet as if to deny him of his salvation, he suddenly heard a feminine voice once again, but a different one this time.
 [ Goddess of Lust, surprised by your actions, grants you a gift ]
 [ Yandere system activated! ]
 It was a turning point for Victor.
 From now on whether it is a Goddess, a Vampire or a Succubus, no matter who it is I must seduce you or I will surely die this time!
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 In the first year of the black hole calendar, meteorites fell from the sky.
 Smashing a black hole in the ocean.
 There are countless opportunities and treasures in it.
 Since then, Blue Star has entered the era of treasure hunting.
 Lin Hun entered the black hole due to graduation assessment, and accidentally turned on the prompt system.
 100 meters ahead, there is a source of divine power. From then on, the power is infinite.
 100 meters ahead, there is Succubus Island. Shangdao directly becomes the master.
 1000 meters ahead, there is a dragon girl's lair. Take the dragon and the nest together.
 10,000 meters ahead, there is the Elven Tree, the Nine-Tailed Fox Mountain, and the Angel Island...
 Lin Hun: Others go down to explore treasures, and I also go down to explore treasures. Is there anything wrong with that?
 Queen of the Elf: The tree of elves has withered and cannot breed elves. Fortunately, Master Lin Hun is here.
 Queen of the Succubus: The Succubus clan has not had any offspring for nearly ten thousand years, and now the clan is dying, Mr. Lin Hun, can you help me.
 Lin Hun: It's a trivial matter, come on, let's talk inside.
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 transmigrate Immortal Cultivation World, because the Spirit Root is really poor, Lin Hao, who has been practicing for twenty years, is still at the second level of Qi Refining.
 After learning from the painful experience, Lin Hao came to the ordinary city and prepared to marry a wife and live a free life.
 However, he unexpectedly obtained the system of having many children and many blessings.
 The higher the wife's cultivation level, the more experience points she will gain.
 The better the Spirit Root of the offspring, the more attribute points they will receive, as well as surprise gift packs.
 A few years later, Lin Hao stood on the top of the universe, overlooking the world: We are all a family, and if you have anything to say, talk it over!
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 [National job transfer + rebirth + decisive killing]
 Su Ming, originally the best assassin in the world, saved hundreds of millions of fellow human beings and was respected as one of the ten strongest men in the Dragon Kingdom. However, he was framed by his lover and brothers and died. He died with hatred and was buried in the S-level dungeon death cave.
 Unexpectedly, he was reborn!
 Su Ming was reborn and returned to high school, on the day of the awakening ceremony.
 He even gained a mythical talent!
 [Professional upgrade to god, innate attributes are full]
 [Awakening Talent: Sublimation of All Things]
 [All loot can be randomly sublimated]
 [Sword Control Technique], [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect], and [Lingbo Weibu] are awakened and added to their top-notch skills.
 The game and real-life data are integrated, and dungeons, secret realms, and battlefields of all races are coming.
 "In this life, I will become completely black and kill gods with one sword!"
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 Lin Jing, a junior high school student, had been a vampire for more than a thousand years.
 One day on the way home, she saw a young woman laying on the ground struggling in death, and her merciful heart took her there to make the young woman the same kind of monster as she was. But the young woman did not obey her order of taking pity on the common people.
 She killed people cruelly in a small village, which brought Jing trouble.
 Meanwhile, another old lady vampire followed Jing as her shade, with the purpose of covering for Jing.
 Jing was always in a low mood because of loneliness. But her depression may be healed by a boy who suddenly comes into her life, her close friend Xiaoya’s brother, a boy who feels like a friend at first sight.
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 Liu Mianmian had transmigrated and became the cannon fodder who was married to a rich and powerful family in the novel. She will be cheated by the male protagonist, she will be suppressed by the female for a lifetime without being able to turn over her life, and she will be driven out of the house by her mother-in-law to lead a wandering life in poverty in the streets.
 Shen Shenxing was an illegitimate son who was laughed at in the aristocratic circle. He was unreasonable, proud, aloof, and conceited. Half a year later, the media exposed that the Shen family’s illegitimate son was loaded with a net worth of over 100 million.
 When all the women were racking their brains wanting to climb into his bed, the impeccably attired young man was coaxing his sulky little wife in a gentle and soft voice, he couldn’t wait to hold her in the palm of his hand and pour out his heart.
 Very late at night, Liu Mianmian was confined in the arms of a domineering, calm, and collected young man. She had no way out. Her lips were red and swollen: “Shen Shenxing, you rogue!”
 The boy laughed lowly: “Hmm, I apologize.”
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 [Villain + System + Female Protagonist + Wearing the Book + Giving for Free + The Protagonist of the Original Book Is Female]
 The frustrated Lu Chuan transformed into the villain of the world of cultivation novels.
 At the beginning, the protagonist and his master were trapped on a cliff.
 The system asked him to practice dual cultivation with the protagonist's master.
 He just wants to be a low-key villain, not follow the original plot, occasionally do bad things, and steal the opportunity of the protagonist.
 But the heroines are all here anyway.
 The future empress, the princess of Monster Race, the Saintess of Demon Dao, we are really unfamiliar with her.
 Protagonist, don't you hate the harem being defiled the most? Why don't you want to take me as your own?
 In fact, I am no longer clean, please keep your distance from me!
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 Winner of Joara 2019 Novel Of The Year:
 One day, I was summoned to this world.
 Beasts poured out, and an incredible crisis came.
 My talent couldn’t have been worse.
 [The player’s talent level is at rock bottom.] [Almost all the numbers are hopeless.] Whether chosen warriors or talented wizards.
 Whether you’ve gone back in time.
 You have to take advantage of everything in order to survive.
 “What about tr*sh? What can you do to survive?”
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 Gu Fan travels through the fantasy world, starts with the collapse of the sky, and takes over the withered sect!
 The elders are separated, and the disciples go their separate ways!
 Fortunately, the critical strike system for accepting apprentices is unlocked!
 As long as you accept apprentices, you can get crit return rewards!
 Give your disciples a chance, and you can even get a high crit return!
 From fate to skills, from pills to spirit treasures!
 All can crit to return rewards!
 Others rely on penance to break through, but Gu Fan breaks through by accepting disciples!
 "You bestowed your disciple's fate [Swordsman's Talent]!"
 "Trigger 100 times crit return! Gain fate [Supreme Sword Bone]!"
 "You bestowed upon your disciple the skill "Heavenly Sword Sutra"!"
 "Trigger a thousand times critical strike and get back! Obtain the immortal skill "Sword Opens the Gate of Heaven"!"
 Many years later, the heavens will unite, and the apocalypse will come!
 When all living beings wither!
 In Tianjian Mountain.
 The Empress of the Sword Dao, the Dao Monarch of the Divine Dynasty, the Ancient Emperor of the Demon Dao...
 One after another, the terrifying giants that shake the heavens and shake the world, come out of it!
 And behind them, there is a man named Gu Fan!
 Master without God!
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Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 5: Bloody Hard Work

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Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 5: Bloody Hard Work

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