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mystery

The Paradox of a Thousandth Likes

In a world built on modern technology, where every moment can be recorded, filtered, and shared, we like to believe that nothing remains hidden. Every answer is a search away. Every face can be traced. Every truth can be fact-checked, slowed down, replayed. And yet, there are still mysteries that refuse to be solved. They exist quietly between notifications. In the spaces between refreshes. In the seconds it takes for a number to change. Most people are chasing the same things like money, fame, relevance. They trade privacy for attention, turning their lives into content, their pain into engagement, their joy into something measurable. A like. A view. A share. Numbers become validation. Numbers become worth. No one questions them. No one wonders who decides when enough is enough. Because while creators are busy climbing algorithms and curating perfection, something else is watching overly patient, invisible, learning. It does not care about talent or intention. It does not reward effort or punish cruelty. It only counts. And when the number is reached, it doesn’t celebrate. It collects. But hidden beneath the noise, beneath the analytics and rising numbers, is something quieter and far more fragile, connection. Unspoken tension. A closeness that was never named. People, bound not just by content and coincidence, but by glances held too long, words left unsent, and feelings buried under humor and denial. Affection becomes complicated when survival is uncertain. Loyalty fractures when fear enters the room. And love, when left unresolved, becomes its own kind of haunting. By the time anyone notices the pattern, it is already too late. By the time the mystery demands answers, the silence has grown too loud to ignore. This is not a story about fame. It’s a story about what happens when the screen goes dark… When the numbers stop climbing… And the things we never said become the most dangerous truths of all. And the count stops moving.
Paradox_Master · 1.9k Views

Phantom Wayfarers

Sebastian’s life is turned upside down when he is unexpectedly thrust into the dangerous and unpredictable world of the Realm Walkers. As he navigates this new reality, he must face deadly challenges, forge uneasy alliances, and confront secrets that could change everything he knows about himself and the realms around him. With every choice carrying high stakes, Sebastian discovers that surviving this world means more than just strength—it requires courage, wit, and the resilience to overcome the darkest twists of fate. Note that the build up of the first few chapters may seem slow. ......... Sebastian pushed himself upright, though it felt as if the air itself had turned to tar around him. His thoughts drifted through a dense, suffocating fog that weighed more than his own limbs. Every breath was an effort. Every movement felt resisted by something unseen—something that clung to him without leaving a single bruise or mark to prove it existed. There was no chain. No wound. No logical reason for the heaviness sinking into his bones. And yet it was there. Relentless. He staggered toward the mirror standing quietly before him—too quietly, as if it had been waiting. A shard of memory flickered at the back of his mind, but every attempt to grasp it made the fog thicken, swallowing the thought before it could form. When he finally faced the glass, he froze. His reflection was… wrong. The face was his, yet the expression wasn’t. A smile threatened at the corners of his mouth—not his smile, but something using it. The eyes blinked half a second too late. And the longer he stared, the more the reflection seemed to grow aware of him, as though it had just woken up. A crawling cold travelled up his spine. “What… are you?” he whispered. His reflection tilted its head first. A smile still played across its lips—thin, deliberate, and wrong. There was no warmth in it. No flicker of anything human. It was a cold curve of the mouth, carved with the kind of precision that suggested practice rather than emotion. The eyes above it didn’t match the expression; they remained distant, unfocused, as though gazing at something beyond him trying but also failing to recall. Then its gaze focused on him It then spoke: “The scavenger of the Sovereign’s lost soul, A legacy bound to us… for the world to behold.”
ShamelessDreamer · 13.4k Views

Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign

Raizen should have died. But someone - or something - had greater plans. When shadows devour everything he ever knew, Raizen is left with nothing but grief - and a vow to hunt down and kill every Nyx: seemingly mindless dark creatures with an even darker past. Now, he walks in a world on the edge of collapse: From the depths of the Underworks to the halls of Lotus Academy and the ranks of the Vanguards, he's surrounded by ruthless rivals, living nightmares, corrupted authority, evolving monsters, and secrets powerful enough to kill. If he just wants to survive, he must grow stronger. But if he wants to win, he may have to burn everything in his way. A story with battles of unimaginable scale. A world that still echoes from disaster. Awakened powers that break every known limit. Mysteries that cut deeper every second. Will Raizen's spark ignite a new dawn... Or vanish beneath eternal darkness? ━━━━━⋅•⋅ ⊰∙∘ ☽ ✧ ☾ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅━━━━━ And a few words from the author: Hey there! Thanks for checking out Gilded Ashes! I'm not gonna keep you much, most things I'd love to tell you are explained in the pinned review (make sure to check it out!) Dive into the free chapters, at least. You have nothing to lose. Gilded Ashes is a dream coming to life, and we're just getting started. Don't worry, I won't drop it 'till the very end. Speaking of the very end... We're still far, far from it. The journey has only just begun.
Sqair · 551k Views