In the city of Graheel, a small antique shop sits quietly mixed in with all the other shops. Its unassuming appearance is easily overlooked by many. However, this store and its owner has a terrible secret. A devil lives in that building. The owner of the store, John Li, an enigmatic figure whose origins and intentions are unknown. The desperate from around the world, often unknowingly, come to him in search of salvation.A red witch thinks the owner is an ancient creature, a white fox calls him a wizard of eld, a warrior believes him to be a spirit, and a holy woman declares him a god. This mysterious individual and his customers would stand at the center of a strange series of events. From the store owner John\'s perspective, he has no idea what\'s going on. He really was just an unlucky dude that got caught up in some crazy stuff.***“Volume 1: Strange Beginnings” Chapter 1-46“What does a depressed student, investigator, a wanted witch, refugee, priest, and a man from another world have in common… nothing actually. Just that where they started was a little special, but where they are all headed is somewhere truly strange. For eventually they will cross paths with each other both directly and indirectly. In the meantime, there\'s a whole bunch of strange deaths and murders going on in the city of Graheel.”"Volume 2: A Gathering Of The Fateless” Chapter 47-?"The mysterious murders in the university have been resolved, or has it? There might have been more involved in that matter that is still brewing, drawing both Alan and Cid back in as well as a certain investigator. The priest Crowley will have to make a tough choice that will test his convictions and involve him in things he never thought he be doing as a priest. All while Joe is still far from solving who murdered Rob, and is about to make a desperate move to get the information he needs. The red witch prepares to take action against the Graheel University to protect her new disciple while being forced to work with other patrons of John. All different people taking different paths in their lives, but are about to meet at a crossroads, forming new groups and alliances."And finally John discovers his reason for him being transported to this world, or maybe not. Trying to get a simple-to-understand answer from an eldritch being is not so easy."***This story is a slow burn and has many lead characters and points of views, so don\'t expect too much in the first many chapters. I\'m a very, and I mean very, slow writer so I\'ll only be updating this once a week on Saturdays. I also release mini intermission chapters in between my regulars updates sporadically.This story is also written in a weird experimental playwright style to allow quick and easy conversation between multiple people to occur at once. This style might not might not appeal to some.Also, if it wasn\'t obvious, most of the artwork you see in this series is AI generated. Antihero Protagonist Beast Companions Conspiracies Divination Elderly Protagonist Elemental Magic Evil Gods Evil Religions Fanaticism Grimdark Hiding True Identity High Fantasy Isekai Magic Male Protagonist Misunderstandings Modern Fantasy Multiple POV Multiple Protagonists Murders Mutations Mysterious Past Mystery Solving Mythology Nobles Police Politics Portal Fantasy Religions Secret Organizations Secrets Slow Cultivation Teachers Transmigration Transported into Another World Wars Weak to Strong
- Glossary
- Prologue - The Beginning of the End (Rewrite)
- Chapter 1: Down on One’s Luck (Rewrite)
- Chapter 2: Divergence of Fate
- Chapter 3: Dreams of the Past
- Chapter 4: The Scarlett Witch
- Chapter 5: More Dreams of the Past
- Chapter 6: The end of old grief and beginning of new
- Chapter 7: Strange Coincidences
- Chapter 8: Meeting under Cait
- Chapter 9: Where Things Begin
- Chapter 10: A humid Day in Forsaken Lands
- Chapter 11: Disciples and Theories
- Chapter 12: What was gained
- Chapter 13: What was lost
- Chapter 14: What Remains
- Chapter 15: A Day In John’s New Life
- Chapter 16: Cornered Researcher
- Chapter 17: Seeing Things
- Chapter 18: A Moment of Hopelessness
- Chapter 19: Death and Rebirth
- Chapter 20: The Pawn and the Bishop
- Chapter 21: Welcoming the Newbie
- Chapter 22: Cult Seeker
- Chapter 23: Late Night Eavesdropping
- Chapter 24: Expanding Conspiracy
- Chapter 25: Preparation Before Engagement
- Chapter 26: Finding the Unexpected
- Chapter 27: Talks With A Cultist
- Chapter 28: Continued Talks With A Cultist
- Side Story 1 - The Baker Next Door
- Chapter 29: Counseling
- Chapter 30: His name is…
- Chapter 31: Set for Success
- Chapter 32: Bad Start
- Chapter 33: In And Out
- First Intermission
- Chapter 34: Confirm and Prepare
- Chapter 35: Past Mistakes of an Officer
- Chapter 36: Haunted places
- Chapter 37: A Knife In The Dark
- Chapter 38: An Unexpected Meeting
- Chapter 39: Unfortunate “Accident”
- Chapter 40: Prediction and a Date
- Intermission II
- Chapter 41: Out For A Drink
- Chapter 42: Prelude To a Revelation
- Chapter 43: Moths to a Flame
- Chapter 44: Into the Fire
- Chapter 45: The Source Of The “Pests”
- Chapter 46: Cid’s Design
- Intermission III
- Chapter 47: Fateless
- Side story 2 - The Whispers In The Wall
- Chapter 48: Talks With Disciple And His Teacher
- Chapter 49: Seeking Advice For A Broken Soul
- Chapter 50: Uncertainty
- Intermission IV
- Chapter 51: “The Mechanic”
- Chapter 52: Live By Your Conviction
- Chapter 53: Regret And A Bad Idea
- Intermission V
- Chapter 54: Divination
- Chapter 55: The Mutt Of The Group
- Intermission VI
- Chapter 56: An Offer You Could Refuse
- Chapter 57: Hell Training
- Chapter 58: New Investigation
- Chapter 59: Sleuth-Hawks
- Chapter 60: Look From The Right Angle
- Intermission VIII
- Chapter 61: A Poor Discussion
- Chapter 62: From The Fire Into The Pan
- Intermission IX
- Chapter 63: Second In Command
- Chapter 64: Dead Rat
- Chapter 65: The Nightqueen
- Chapter 66: Relationships
- Intermission X
- Chapter 67: Lesson: Divination Magic
- Chapter 68: Sleuth-Hawks First Job
- Chapter 69: A Slimy Mystery
- Intermission XI
- Chapter 70: Dinner Date
- Chapter 71: Business Meal
- Chapter 72: Drinking Acquaintances
- Intermission XII
- Chapter 73: Carefully Asking Advice
- Chapter 74: Discount Yaren
- Chapter 75: Checking Off The List
- Intermission XIII
- Chapter 76: Arcanium Archives
- Chapter 77: Rell’s Involvement
- Chapter 78: Smoke and Tea
- Intermission XIV
- Chapter 79: Old Tunnels
- Side Story 3 - Robert’s Grayland Expedition Journal
- Chapter 80: Reading Session
- Chapter 82: One-Sided Rivalry