Showing results by author "Tao Wong" in All Categories

Caleb Hanson assumed the most exciting part of his field trip scouting in Northern Minnesota would be a rare bird sighting. Instead, he was abducted by hive-minded hexapods and forced to be their children's teacher. Not the worst way to ride out the end of the world. Two years later, the apocalypse has finally come for Caleb. His savior-captors are murdered, leaving him as the last line of defense for the alien kids he's grown to know and love. Now, he'll have to bend his values or watch his students die.

Finding his way back to Earth through a portal, John returns to a very changed world. The shackles of galactic control have bound Earth and humanity ever tighter to the system. Now, John has to find a way to free Earth from galactic control while battling stronger, more powerful enemies. And worst of all, he will need to indulge in politics. Good thing he's got a new class and new allies.

Long Wu Ying has been banished from the Verdant Green Waters Sect for defying the orders of the Elders. Forced to prove himself in the outer world before he is allowed to return, Wu Ying begins a journey that will have him visiting old haunts and a new kingdom. Amidst new cultivators, new politics, and new challenges, Wu Ying must find the center of his dao and rise to the challenge. Or be forgotten on the steps to immortality.

Dying the first time sucked. Matt's trying to avoid a repeat performance. Having to save the world after being reincarnated is rather enjoyable. In a soul-crushing responsibility kind of way. For Matt, joining Earth's last line of defense in a magical realm might just be what he was re-born for.

Dying the first time sucked. Matt's trying to avoid a repeat performance. For Matt, joining Earth's last line of defense was exactly the purpose he needed. Saving the world could be fun—if you don’t mind a little soul-crushing responsibility. But being killed and reincarnated into the battlefield chaos of a 4x game world wasn't what he had in mind. The world map is made out of hexagrams, the units are semi-sentient and his opponents have a head start. As if that wasn't enough, there's no instruction manual for this nightmare.

Daniel Chai only ever wanted to be an Adventurer. Born with a Gift of Healing that steals his memories and past experiences as its fuel source, Daniel must weigh his heart's desire with his gift as he attempts to clear his first ever dungeon. Along the way, he'll meet true friends like the Catkin Asin and the Northerner Omrak as he learns what it truly takes to be a professional Adventurer in Brad.

When John sets out for a weekend camping trip in the Yukon, he never could have imagined the world would be plunged into chaos by the System–a mystical energy wave that destroys electronics and grants game-like powers to humanity. Suddenly, animals are evolving, monsters are spawning, and John finds himself equipped with a character sheet and incredible, physics-defying skills.

Two weeks into the System Apocalypse, and the transformations are just beginning. Mutated insects, carnivorous toads, and angry drop bears were not on the school curriculum, but when the apocalypse hits, you roll with it. Parenting a teenager has prepared Kira for the worst; she just didn’t expect that to include the end of the world. A menacing conglomerate of alien hunters is breathing down their necks, and new threats lurk just over the hills. Kira and the rest of the Australian survivors of Brisbane must level up, bolster defenses, and prepare for an incoming invasion.

His life a wasteland post-System integration, John Lee struggles to deal with the weight of a world irrevocably changed. Given great power by chance, his Levels a by-product of a rage that he finds unable to quench, John struggles to find the balance between a hatred for the System that destroyed his world and the benefits it gives him, allowing him to save even more. Yet, as he draws survivors across the Yukon to Whitehorse, dangers grow in the deep wilderness, out of sight. It’s a race between Leveling and safety, for John and his friends. One that they might be losing.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

One faithful day, Henry Tsien finds a briefcase and a ring within it. Within hours, his world has changed, as a helpful jinn introduces him to a hidden world. What can an old-school gamer given magic do in a world filled with age-old, hidden, supernatural creatures? The Hidden Wishes series is an urban fantasy take on the gamlit genre. It is much lighter in terms of "statistics" and its game system.

After revealing the deception spread by the Galactic Council and the hidden aspects of the System, John Lee and his friends flee the council building on Irvina. Just escaping the capital planet will tax them to their utmost. Evading the full force of the Galactic Council and their minions might be more than they can handle. While old allies deal with the new truths, friends fracture under the increasing pressure, and all the while, the System Quest hangs over John's head, unfinished. Their only hope - their only clue - lies in the Forbidden Zone.

Bounty hunter Hal Mason is doing well for himself, a year after the System converted Earth into a lawless, apocalyptic Dungeon World. Now, though, old friends have come calling with a new opportunity and with it, the murky politics of Galactic interests and overlapping contracts. Hal must protect the first train to cross the new wildlands of the American Midwest.

How much will you sacrifice to survive in a world turned game? When friends and family fall to monsters and aliens everyday, will you choose safety over freedom? These are the questions the survivors in the Yukon must ask themselves. New alien masters arrive, offering safety from ever stronger monsters in return for their freedom and future potential. Thrust into a position of power and influence by dint of his Levels, John must choose—not just for himself but Whitehorse itself. The price, however, might be more than he is willing to pay.

With multiple enemy lords on each front, Matt has quite the challenge before him. Even with the multiple cities he's conquered, balancing the need for more units, future updates and traitorous lords is straining his patience and knowledge. Now, the enemy armies are coming, on all sides. And the only question is whether he can hold them off and push forward, before they overwhelm his defences.

What do Gods and demons have in common? Perhaps nothing, perhaps a lot. A glimpse into a world where an immortal and a demon partake in a meal while plotting moves that will shake the Middle Kingdom and share gossip of other, more contentious issues.

These were the words Protector Chan’s master had left him. Now, the greedy eye of a king has landed on their sect once more. In the search to reach the Divine Peak, all too many will fall by the wayside, ground up in the bitter dust of desire. Between craving and enlightenment, between the heavens and earth, lies a single man making a choice over what, in the end, is most important in the search for immortality.

Born an Imperial Prince, Qu Yuan always knew his options were to strive for the throne or escape. When he’s forced to put his escape plan into action too early, he’s forced out of the imperial palace into the countryside where the war for the throne rages. Walking blood-soaked fields and burnt out villages, Qu Yuan will be forced to ask a simple question.

For the Nameless Restaurant, once a discreet hole-in-the-wall meant for a cast of supernatural regulars, the increasing levels of background magic has brought with it that most dreadful of locusts—new customers. The staff of the Nameless Restaurant are finding the influx of new customers—both mortal and magical—to be a challenge. They're reaching a breaking point, and something has to give. The only question is, will it be Mo Meng's rules on magic or the restaurant itself?

A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with classes, magic, and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.