The year is 2212. Humankind brushed their fingertips upon divinity. Capable of being programmed to remove cancer, heal Alzheimer's, and even cure old age, nanomachines are the heralds of a new age for mankind. But in their eagerness to improve beyond what was necessary, they made a tragic mistake. Now the "Rust" sweeps over the land, changing anything and everything in its path into hellish landscapes of flesh, spare parts, and human organs. A young girl wanders the empty streets of what used to be a bustling metropolis. At night, her dreams take her beyond: To an icy settlement trying to brave the colds of Antarctica amidst dwindling supplies. To an offshore rig colony tossed by the seas while trying to fend off pirates. To an underground dictatorship trying to maintain control over a panicking populace. The girl tries to survive, find meaning and hope in the face of a slowly encroaching wave of terror.

"The pain of freedom is better than the pain of slavery." - Saladin *** For almost a century, a part of humanity has lived underground, in a bunker designated to shelter the vulnerable from the unending war. The people in the bunker, known as the Division Two people, had no knowledge of the outside world except from the reports of the news reporters. Amna, a typical twenty-year-old girl from Division Two, never questioned the absurdity of the rules until a series of strange events began to occur in her life. One by one, her friends were taken out-a punishment for those who defy the law. And when her supposedly dead brother appeared after her wedding day, she realised that everything was a lie. Together with all the 'fallen' people, they strive to overcome the upper class' control over the vulnerable people. Would they be able to bring about a revolution and save the people from being trapped in the bunker forever? ** Based on Prompt 67 from Open Novella Contest 2023. The war had been going on for over 100 years now. Not that you'd ever seen it, living in a bunker your entire life. But one day, a news war reporter suddenly says, "I can't do this anymore. Everything is fine! They're lying! Th-" And the signal cuts out. * Thank you for giving my story a chance. I hope you like it and I would appreciate your feedback. :) The cover is made by @bookloving_pearl

❝ DEATH IS COMING. BUT SHE DOESN'T FEAR HIM. ❞ For the people of Khaya's little village living amidst the woods is quiet, and even more, so it became since the creatures lurking in its shadows turned into mere fairytales. Little does Khaya know that the stories she loves to tell are true. But then on a cold winter night, an odd priest and his young soldier appear in Lasow and bring with them the message of death. For Karachun, the God of Death is to revisit them. While they are worshipped like saviors by the villagers Khaya cannot shake the feeling of mistrust in those mysterious strangers. However, if their prophecy turns out correct she might get the chance to meet the one who took her most beloved years ago. And Khaya is not afraid to face him. Yet, she does not know what battling the god of death himself means - nor what secrets can be revealed only in the deepest dark. _____ Entry for the Open Novella Contest 2023 under prompts 50 & 62

Qualified for Round -3 What if the moon was never ours to begin with? Or the Earth even? Now, it is upto a trio of compassionate loser, a blind badass and a wicked hundred-year-old-teenager to save the world from completely disappearing from the face of our universe. It is 2223 in the future, the moon has lost its orbit and is spiralling down the way to collide with earth. A century of pain and death due to riptides, draughts, thunderstorm and crazy eclipses has changed the world. What remains of the continents has merged into one land called Penumbra due to continental drift, ruled by a single united inter-continental government. Humanity lives under the ground, salvaging what's left for food and water. Living like termites inside a mound, they come out only to forage dead and decaying. And they are tired, they are done and want to 'live'. But there is one tiny problem. Resistance, from a community nicknamed sinukian savages, who live above the ground, who have adapted and evolved to live with the frost, thunderstorm and scorching draughts even. They believe in the oracle of Sinukhi, the one and only almighty. His judgement day will come and he is the only one who can save the humanity from extinction.

| 𝟏𝟐𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 | An ex-gamer enters a virtual reality ruled by a rebel AI in order to rescue her younger sister and shut down the death game. * * * Eight years ago, Mori Fukutomi held the rank of number two player in the tactical hero shooter game SniperX. But fate and her parents had other plans and Mori now works as an accountant with her dreams of being a pro gamer long since buried. Games like SniperX are old relics in the face of virtual reality tech and their latest gem, Facing Fear--a simulation designed to analyze the psyche of its players and adapt itself accordingly, creating a safe terrain for players to take risks and discover themselves. Until FEAR, the AI governing the virtual world of Valor, decides the thing humanity fears most is death. Despite the rising death toll and Facing Fear closing its doors, when Mori discovers her sister Shiori is trapped in the game, she does the unthinkable. She goes in after her. But she'll soon discover they're not the only ones desperate to make it out alive and there are worse things in Valor than the monsters. There's more to FEAR than fear itself. ✧ 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 ✧ 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 ✧ 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 ✧ ─────────────────────────────────── Completed: 4-23-2023 Word Count: 35,000 - 40,000

What if having superpowers was not a gift but a curse? Would you still choose to use it? Aleksandra Leszczyńska works as an agent for a secret government organisation training people with superpowers - the Gifted - to work as a police support force. Working as a public servant to keep peace and order was always her dream, but she struggles as her gift is not as valuable for the field. Still, she refuses to be turned into back-office support. The situation changes when she rescues a cute Gifted from kidnapping and stumbles upon a deviant who dies in excruciating pain, consumed by his own power. After confirming that it's a fate awaiting most of the Gifted, every agent must question if they still want to remain in the organisation and keep using their powers. However, as deviants scheme to kidnap more innocent people and use them for their repulsive experiments, only the Gifted can stop them.

Growing up, Casey was accused of fearing everything. In an effort to prove her peers wrong, she entered the supposedly haunted house at the end of the road with her best friend Jack. Then she touched a swirling mirror and fell through into a magical world where her missing brother rules as the goblin king. Will she be able to make it home? Or will she too become stuck forever in this fantasy world until forgotten?

[8X FEATURED] Merlin is the greatest-eleven-year-old nerd the world doesn't know because his name has cursed him--he's all parts nerd and zero parts magic and all he wants is to be cool. When Merlin hacks a new encryption code designed to protect online banks, he receives a full scholarship to Code-X Academy and wins a new enemy who trolls him online as @WizardSlayer666, ruining all his plans for coolness. Merlin discovers new powers and deadly secrets at the academy--but can he figure out how to control his abilities in time to unravel the clues before someone else dies? To do so, he may need to learn that the best kind of cool is to just be yourself. 1st Place in the Hallow's Eve Astania Awards 10/31/2023 Featured by @SpeculativeFiction 9/13/2023 3rd Place in The Book Awards 9/6/2023 Featured by @lowfantasy 7/2/2023 WINNER ONC 2023 Spirit Awards: Against All Odds 6/30/2023 Featured by @WattpadWitches on 6/15/2023 Featured by @WattpaddDisney on 6/12/2023 Hit 2,000 reads! 5/31/2023 ONC 2023 Shortlister!! 5/31/2023 ONC 2023 Longlister!! 5/19/2023 No.8 Rank on "lowfantasy" tag 5/10/2023 No.1 Rank on "fittingin" tag 5/8/2023 No.1 Rank on "nerdy" tag 5/4/2023 No.24 Rank on "middleschool" tag 5/4/2023 Completed!!! 4/26/2023 ONC 2023 Round 3 Qualifier!! 4/19/2023 No.1 Rank on "middlegrade" tag 4/5/2023 ONC 2023 Round 2 Qualifier!! 3/21/2023 No.1 Rank on "speculative" tag 3/20/2023 No.4 Rank on "witty" tag 2/27/2023 No.3 Rank "ONC2023" tag 2/23/2023 Started 2/5/2023 WARNING: This middlegrade book touches on topics of cyber bullying, death, murder, identity, and has LGBTQ characters. PG Rating. The story is based on ONC 2023 contest prompt No. 47: You had a dispute with a cyberbully/keyboard warrior on social media. So you decided to step up and track down the account to confront. But you were shocked when you discovered who the person(s) is/are. BOOK COVER: I created the cover using Canva + staryai to create image of Merlin

Jessi Albright needs a vacation. With few clients for her life makeover business, it's hard to justify getting away, even for a weekend. But when she finally gets away to a much-needed retreat in Saltport, her vacation is undermined by a misplaced credit card. Desperate for some cash, she makes an emergency stop at the local ATM. It was supposed to be a short detour, five minutes max. She got far more than she swiped her bank card for. Prince Tewen, a merman, kidnaps her and the $70 million dollars the ATM mysteriously gave her. The only way out is for Jessi to transform the prince into a human in twenty-four hours and get him into a gala in thirty-six. Even if such a makeover is feasible, it's certain to cost a fortune, a $70 million dollar fortune. From yachts to New York to sea urchin extract, this part-comedy part-absurd tail is sure to make you question your life choices as much as Jessi. #ONC2023 74. You have an ATM that gives you the exact amount of money you need to survive for the day. How you spend it is your choice. Today you are given $70,000,000. ONC 2023 Shortlister Open Door Awards 2024 - Best Blurb The NaNo Watt 2024 - Novella Grand Winner ONC Milestone Road Map: Chapter One: 2,321 words (2k) Chapter Four: 9,184 (8k) Chapter Nine: 20,241 (20k) Word Count: 25,310

After waking with no memory of her true identity, Aira must team up with a detective to solve a murder before she's arrested for the crime. 32. Your character awakens to discover a dead body in the bed next to them and a duffel bag stuffed full of cash on the floor... But the scariest thing is, they have no memory of what happened, or even who they are. 82. In a future where humans have the ability to upload their consciousness into virtual reality at the time of their death, a detective must solve a murder case in both the virtual and physical world as the victim's consciousness may still exist in the virtual world and hold the key to solving the crime.