It’s Drop Night, the one night every decade when the gods hand out cards to a lucky few. If you get a deck, you’re a deckbearer capable of wondrous feats within the Great Game system. You can control powerful monsters and summon mantles that let you fight alongside your beasts. Ethan Wolfe, top enforcer for the Grimm family mob, has already been overlooked on two previous Drop Nights. People of his ilk seldom receive cards, as the gods tend to favor people who follow their divine mandates, but that doesn’t mean Wolfe can’t hope.

I had lain down in my crypt to rest for a few decades, but when I awoke, centuries had passed. My castle is in ruins, my clan is gone, and necromancers are considered just a fairy tale for children. They take me for a healer. That's because the world is sick. And it's time for strong medicine.

Arthur lives with his father, a fallen but proud former noble, in Border Village #49, along with the other good folks condemned to toil in service to the Baron. But Arthur has an edge: a stolen heart card that secretly fell into his possession, thanks to a dragon. It’s a priceless source of power for the Baron and the tyrant will kill to get it back. Invaluable, too, to a young man of spellcasting ambitions.

As humanity is taking its final breath, facing extinction from a myriad of monsters, the last three people on earth are creating a final chance for the hero to go back in time and stop the apocalypse. However, before the hero can enter the chronomancer portal to the past, she and the portal's creator are both killed, leaving only the weak assistant to carry on their dream of saving the world. Will Nick be able to right the wrongs done to him, and prepare the hero for the world to come?

I was the most powerful healer in my world—the best, having devoted my entire life to mastering the art of healing. And yet, for whatever reason, my brother feared that I sought to claim his throne, and he marshaled his forces against me.

I used to be the greatest Earth Mage in my world. The head of the entire Order of Architects. But the older you get, the more you come to realize that at some point, you need to retire, so that you can have the chance to enjoy a peaceful life and to cede your place to the young, some of whom have already turned two thousand years old . . .So that's what I did. But I failed to account for one thing: during the course of my long life, I'd accumulated too many enemies, and they had decided to spoil my retirement. So they died along with me. And I hope their deaths were final. But mine was not!

Have you ever come across those stories with heroes who knew just how to get things done? The ones who were masters in five different martial arts, and knew ten ways to skin a bear after killing it with their bare hands? Yeah, that wasn’t me. Hell, I had trouble asking a girl out on a date. But someone in clerical must have made an error. Because I got ripped from an airplane on my way home after my last day in the Coast Guard. I mean, come on, I wasn’t even in one of the hardcore branches of the military or anything!

Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he's spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman. His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself in possession of 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses.

Otto Shenk is the youngest son of a minor baron. He's also a wizard. Abused by his family and considered less than human by his kingdom, Otto does his best to survive. But everything changes when Otto stumbles across a tower hidden deep in a dark part of the forest near his home. A tower that was once the home of an Arcane Lord, the immortal wizards that long ago ruled the world. Otto’s life will be changed forever. And so will the world.

I was a Hunter, and I honored the Code. For my services to humanity and for leading a "proper" life, I was to be rewarded. A new life after death, and a new world to give me some well-deserved rest. But something went wrong. Once again, I must fight. The Monsters that face me here are far more terrifying than those of my past life. They are cleverer, crueler, more unpredictable. And their name is.

It was supposed to be another boring day at the insurance office for Rico Kline, but powerful forces had other plans for him. Finding himself repeatedly summoned to other worlds as a disposable minion, Rico must face deadly foes, disarm insidious traps, become a test subject, and run the occasional errand for his various summoners. At least when each summoning is over, he’s rewarded and sent back home. But being back home has its own set of problems, and he'll need to grow stronger to face it all.

I expected aging out of the foster care system to be hard. I wasn't expecting it to include finding out I was a Warlock, destined to be hunted by the most powerful Witch Families so they could bind me to a coven of thirteen witches and spend the rest of my life "harvesting mana". Add to that a set of magical resonants that made me an even bigger target to some of those Witch Families, some of which would rather kill me than let a rival get me.

So you died a horrific death in your own world? No problem! Maybe you are exactly what an dying old mage needs to resurrect the princely line of the Morozov family. An old maniac sliced a couple of people to bits right before your eyes? Relax! Now he's your teacher, and he's going to guide you along through life. What? You've actually seen real demons? Huge, ten-foot-tall monsters wielding axes? Take a chill pill! They appear pretty frequently in unexpected places all over the world and wreak destruction.

Max was murdered, but now he is mostly over it. Living on earth as a recent college graduate, he can still perfectly recall his past life on the fantasy world of Albion before that. He'd been hailed as the "Hero of the World" after crawling his way up from poverty, eventually enjoying great fame and luxury. But on mana-starved Earth, he's just a guy.

Me? I was an innocent bystander in a shootout between mobsters and spawned monsters. Thankfully, the System granted me the power to bring forth monsters from the void. With this ability to command magical beasts, I might just live out the apocalypse. Together with a ragtag group of survivors, we're wading through the mayhem while searching for somewhere safe. Somewhere that monsters aren't desperately trying to kill us, where the opportunistic among humanity aren't looking for easy XP.

Compiled by intrepid journalist Neve Pride, this archive of recordings spans the months after dragons emerged on earth, chronicling the communities that sprang up amid the destruction, the scientists, military leaders, and experts searching for a defense, and those steadfastly seeking the missing. Neve and her young daughter Bex travel among the wreckage speaking to those left behind and surviving, against all odds. Neve records everything for history, and in the hopes of locating a clue as to where the dragons came from and how one might stop them.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?

For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

It’s Drop Night, the one night every decade when the gods hand out cards to a lucky few. If you get a deck, you’re a deckbearer capable of wondrous feats within the Great Game system. You can control powerful monsters and summon mantles that let you fight alongside your beasts. Ethan Wolfe, top enforcer for the Grimm family mob, has already been overlooked on two previous Drop Nights. People of his ilk seldom receive cards, as the gods tend to favor people who follow their divine mandates, but that doesn’t mean Wolfe can’t hope.

Sam Smith, the biggest superhero fanboy ever, was excited to get super powers...until his first evening as a crime fighter meant dealing with the villain Exosuit. Then Sam died. It was a heroic death, but still not how Sam imagined things going. To his surprise, Sam wakes as a "Villain Core” - the AI behind superhero training centers. He’s quickly informed that an equal number of superheroes and supervillains will be created for an intergalactic competition over the control of Earth, and Sam must prepare his side - the superheroes - for this grand war.

Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother. So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything. Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.

Will is the newest in a long line of dungeons born into the world — and he’s a rank higher than any dungeon that preceded. He’s born along with seven other dungeons in a small area, but so many dungeons were born in one place because of a magical disaster...a disaster brought about by the Voidbringers who sought to conquer the world.

Born to a Magical Fantasy Princess and a nine-to-five Supervillain in the most superhero riddled city in the world, Perry's never felt...adequate. He's got no talent for magic, and not a scrap of superpowers to his name. When The System boots and unlocks his powers, it forces him to follow in his father's footsteps, but he'd rather take after his mother... Maybe there's a way he can do both...

D.E.D. Exorcists is the latest Augmented Reality mobile game focused on capturing, collecting, and training teams of Digitally Energized Demons. For an ordinary college student like Henry, who has always loved monster-taming RPGs, it looks like the perfect game. At least, until he downloads it. Now, the monsters are real. Henry finds himself forcibly recruited into the very real D.E.D. Exorcists: a shadow organization capable of capturing, training, and subduing the real-life demons that are invading Earth.

Tilda Quickthatch gave up adventuring years ago and retired to small-town Briarhaven as the local tavern wench. But now the past she's worked so hard to keep hidden has come calling for her. Its messengers? A group of misfit teens who insist she train them to pick up her mantle... or else. But what starts as simple "roll" play soon turns deadly when their antics attract the attention of a fearsome necromancer who never gave up searching for Tilda. He swoops in with a sinister offer: exchange the powerful artifact she stole nearly a decade ago for her former partner's life.

When an accident claims his life, Gareth finds himself reborn on Acamida. Dropped into a world where sorcerers draw magical power from a deck of cards, summoning monsters and flinging spells, Gareth must adapt to having arcane power at his fingertips. It’s just a shame he’s found himself with the weakest cards around - goblins!

Saved by Duke Kinson, Morgan found a new life in the world of Dunnishire. Orphaned as a young teenager, he found himself in a new world where making friends was easy. That all came crashing down the day he turned sixteen and found out he not only had a death affinity, but was also a necromancer. For a time, all necromancers were put down before they could gain levels or power.

The Wish Curse Palace, the largest criminal organization in the multiverse, seeks its new successor. On Shane's eighteenth birthday, his dormant Wishmaster bloodline awakens, making him a potential heir to the organization's legacy. In Unity territory, power and public perception go hand-in-hand, empowering an elite class of superheroes and supervillains. Shane must progress through the ranks of heroes to harness his wish-granting abilities. With the help of newfound allies, Shane must showcase acts of heroism to climb the hierarchy, all while concealing the true source of his powers.

It’s just another Thanksgiving for the Sullivans - until the walls disappear and they discover they are being transported to Arenia, a place where game rules are real and their Earthen ability to reincarnate grants them unlimited potential. Or it would, if the celestial administrator in charge of their case hadn’t mixed up longitude and latitude and sent the wrong family. Now scattered throughout the Arenian wilderness and armed only with their Tomes, the family members must discover a strength they didn’t know they had if they are going to survive.

After the death of his beloved mother, Swain is left at the mercy of his drunken father. His only respite from all the beatings and abuse lies in the words he scribbles down, seeking beauty in an ugly world through poetry. He has no friends until one day he meets a girl near his mother's grave. A restless spirit who calls herself Goose, over the years she encourages Swain's creativity, eventually helping him tap into a magical ability he never knew he possessed: a dark energy entwined with his despair, fueled by his anger, and controlled by his poetic verse.

Ah, Nyil, with its magic, its monsters, and its petty gods. A divine spat leaves French medic Viv stranded in the middle of an arcane disaster zone crawling with undead horrors. Thankfully, there are strange allies to be found, not least the mysterious interface that helps humans survive in this merciless world. Viv will have to progress fast to survive this calamity and find civilisation. She will also need a bit of luck. Unless, of course, she becomes the calamity herself. After all, luck is such a fickle thing.

For all his twenty-one years, Zephyr has been a cultivator of the Carefree Path and a martial artist. He always assumed he would take the vows and become a monk, but his plans are thrown to the wind when he receives a letter from the Grand Sage to attend the Schools of Elemental Magic. Gifted with the system known as the Codex of Ascension, Zephyr intends to master the various elements in record-breaking time. Alongside two other students who bear mysteriously similar origins, his school year promises to be more than he could have ever imagined.

In Underland, hope has nearly been extinguished. All things living and undead exist under the dominion of the Dark Lords, whose power is all but unlimited and whose evil is all but eternal. Sorcerer Valdemar Verney is not one of them. The last of his line, Valdemar has devoted himself to locating his grandfather’s realm, a legendary place called Earth, where there is air and vibrant life. His latest attempt to uncover the way to Earth is thwarted, however, when the cunning Dark Lord Och captures him—not to imprison him, but to nurture Valdemar’s talents for his own ends.