The Founders were the first marked, and they used those powers to build kingdoms, subjugate the land, and enrich themselves. They will not suffer another to join their ranks. Lost in a world with levels, stats, and monsters, Hal fights to survive in an unforgiving land, and to escape execution from its rulers. Ingenuity and courage won’t be enough. With marked powers he doesn’t understand, he’s easy prey for all the goblins, bandits, aberrations, and foul monsters that plague the realm. He’ll need to abandon his humanity by embracing the beast within.

Michael finds himself in the realm of the Forever Kingdom, with no memory of how he got there and who he is. Even so, he must participate in the Grand Game and forge a new destiny for himself. Dropped into a dungeon of monsters and strange magics, would you survive in a game where to lose means death? Alone, and with little more than his wits to aid him, Michael must advance as a player, slay his foes, and gain experience. All while navigating the intrigues around him and discovering his purpose.

It was a day like any other when suddenly the world changed. The universe reached a threshold humanity didn’t even know existed, and it was time to finally be integrated into the vast multiverse. A place where power is the only thing anyone can truly rely on.

To claim his powers as Founder and secure their freedom, Hal and his cohort must fight to build a Sanctum where no other living kingdom dares to tread. The search for a Manaseed to serve as the Sanctum’s heart will take Hal and his caravan to distant, strange lands, and force them to weather vicious beasts and Manastorms alike. To survive the trials ahead, Hal crafts weapons enchanted with rare loot and sates his appetite for monster essences...all while struggling to balance the price of his corrupting, otherworldly powers and securing a foothold in an unforgiving land.

Silas is inducted into the System, becoming the last in a long line of Earth's "forerunners." The rewards are great, but the danger is greater. We are not alone in the universe. The fate of five worlds hangs on how their forerunners perform. Will Silas have what it takes to win Earth a place in the multiverse? Or will Earth become another mining world stripped of all resources and left a barren husk floating in the cosmos?

Xavier Collins was sitting in class when the System integrated Earth into the Greater Universe, where countless vast kingdoms, empires, and collectives battle for domination. He didn't know what choosing to be a Champion would entail. He just liked the sound of it. But when he's teleported to the aptly-named Tower of Champions, he must face challenges against those who have known about the System since birth.

Sen never dreamed of ascension. Such were the aspirations of the rich young nobles, not orphans like him, scraping together a meager living on the streets of Orchard’s Reach. However, when destiny takes an unexpected turn, Sen finds himself thrust into the role of a cultivator’s disciple. Chosen over the nobles who once looked down on him, he is adopted into a makeshift family of three ancient cultivators, each with a lifetime of knowledge and insights. These old monsters will teach Sen everything they can, from the art of the jian and spear to the mysteries of arcane alchemy.

Sam was surfing with his cat when the world ended. Suddenly enlisted into a battle to fend off annihilation, Sam seizes the strength of the void to survive. In the aftermath, Sam is thrown into a new world shattered into floating islands with survivors from Earth. Training and fighting with his giant sword and apocalyptic mana alongside his magical healer cat, Sam's unusually quick to adapt to this deadly realm of monsters and magic. With endless threats to face and countless powers to attain, Sam's journey of ascension climbing has only just begun.

It's Ruwen’s Ascension Day, and he finally dies for the first time. His newly revived body can learn spells and abilities for the class given him by the Goddess Uru, and dying is no longer permanent. Ruwen’s high intelligence makes becoming a Mage inevitable. With his new powers, he will locate his parents and clear their family name. But nothing goes as Ruwen imagined, and when a rival God tries to kill Ruwen shortly after his disastrous Ascension, his focus turns from his future to just surviving.

The car crash was the last thing I remembered...then I woke up here. Where "here" was felt like an impossible nightmare. I died, but this wasn't what I'd expected to find when they said I'd meet my maker. The afterlife is just like a video game, except I didn't start in a noob world like everybody else. I started out on one of the most challenging dungeon worlds meant only for ancient souls who've been dead much longer than I have.... Welcome to Epoc.

Dave has been wandering through life for a long time. His day job bores him, and he never seems to be able to meet his family's expectations. The only escape he's ever had is his love of MMORPGs. But when he becomes the subject of a test without even knowing it, he's transported into a game-world called Eloria with no escape.

Nathan's life was defined by labs and lectures until an Archmage yanked him into Davrar and made him a tantalizing offer: master magic in exchange for Earth's scientific secrets. Yet, Nathan can't shake off the feeling that darker truths lurk beneath such promises. The world of Davrar is a dangerous place teeming with dungeons and monsters–ruled by levels, Talents, and a near-infinite progression of power. Nathan will need to rely on himself to survive, forging alliances and taking every advantage he can get against those that seek to control him.

Jiran is just a child when he receives shattered, imperfect memories of a past life. Nestled inside these emotionless visions is a magic very different to the density and mana he knows, the magic of science. The empire stands alone against the relentless beasts of Madra. Their only means of survival is harnessing the density that saturates her surface, a magic they cannot possibly understand. Will Jiran realize he holds the key to unlocking humanity's infinite potential before they are all wiped out?

Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see. Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare.

Dhane kicked the bucket in spectacular fashion, every bone crushed, every organ popped against the full force of a 40-ton garbage truck speeding through a red light. The only part of him intact—whole—entirely unaffected by the grisly affair was his soul. Souls are durable things, you see, like kids: they bounce. And bounce he did, into the abyss between worlds, drifting until one excited soul watcher fished him out and found him a new home, a heaven for gamers and nerds and everything in between.

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.

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.

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?

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

The Founders were the first marked, and they used those powers to build kingdoms, subjugate the land, and enrich themselves. They will not suffer another to join their ranks. Lost in a world with levels, stats, and monsters, Hal fights to survive in an unforgiving land, and to escape execution from its rulers. Ingenuity and courage won’t be enough. With marked powers he doesn’t understand, he’s easy prey for all the goblins, bandits, aberrations, and foul monsters that plague the realm. He’ll need to abandon his humanity by embracing the beast within.

To claim his powers as Founder and secure their freedom, Hal and his cohort must fight to build a Sanctum where no other living kingdom dares to tread. The search for a Manaseed to serve as the Sanctum’s heart will take Hal and his caravan to distant, strange lands, and force them to weather vicious beasts and Manastorms alike. To survive the trials ahead, Hal crafts weapons enchanted with rare loot and sates his appetite for monster essences...all while struggling to balance the price of his corrupting, otherworldly powers and securing a foothold in an unforgiving land.

As an out of shape nerd, Gabriel Rivera had more pressing issues than outlandish things like godhood: Evacuating the city, joining the military, and protecting his family. Simple right? Everything changed when the PAC invaded. When the grim fate of his world is revealed, Gabriel joins the Reclaimer Project to save his family. A lowly F ranker, he's weaker than even the worst recruits. Good thing he's too stubborn for his own good.

Randidly Ghosthound has liberated his body and regained access to all of his Skills, with the help of Lady Iellaya. No longer will the officials of High Command be able to use threats to push him constantly into the worst of the fighting. Yet the war against the Nether Beasts rumbles forward, his emancipation beneath its notice.

Silas is inducted into the System, becoming the last in a long line of Earth's "forerunners." The rewards are great, but the danger is greater. We are not alone in the universe. The fate of five worlds hangs on how their forerunners perform. Will Silas have what it takes to win Earth a place in the multiverse? Or will Earth become another mining world stripped of all resources and left a barren husk floating in the cosmos?

Weak in a world full of strength, all he and his friends have is their grit and determination to survive as they navigate this brutal, war-torn land of magic in search of a way home. There’s a problem, though. Clive’s been cursed. A little stabby, stabby from a demonic knife catapults them into a race against time to find a cure. Fighting their way across Falritas, they need friends and levels like there’s no tomorrow. Because there might not be…

Larek Holsten is different from most people living in the Kingdom of Androthe, where his seven-foot-tall frame is looked at with suspicion and anger from its shorter residents; but as long as it helps him become the best Logger he can be, he doesn’t let it bother him all that much. He and his best friend, an axe with a powerful Fusion that causes it to become sharper and stronger than a normal tool, are feared by the trees in the magical forest north of his home, as he can fell the quickly growing monoliths faster than anyone else in the community.

It's Ruwen’s Ascension Day, and he finally dies for the first time. His newly revived body can learn spells and abilities for the class given him by the Goddess Uru, and dying is no longer permanent. Ruwen’s high intelligence makes becoming a Mage inevitable. With his new powers, he will locate his parents and clear their family name. But nothing goes as Ruwen imagined, and when a rival God tries to kill Ruwen shortly after his disastrous Ascension, his focus turns from his future to just surviving.

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.

Multiverse Z came knocking, snatching all the humans from Earth to integrate with their game-like realms of magic. No warning. No tutorial. It's an instant transition where eighteen-year-old Joey Eclipse is thrust from his relaxing night playing video games to a stone room with two doors. There's nobody but him. The system messages asking some cryptic questions: [Adventurer or Commoner?] [Greatness or Steadiness?] And more. Joey made his choices, choosing the path of a Great Adventurer, a limited and special category. A unique profile is designed for him.

Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see. Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare.

Rob didn't think of himself as anyone special, but when a pitch-black portal tried to wrap his best friend in chains, he stepped up without thinking and found himself ensnared instead. His moment of heroism results in being torn away from everyone he knew and loved, kidnapped by an unknown force that leaves him with a note in his pocket stating: "Good luck." After being thrown into the wilderness of Elatra, a hostile fantasy world ruled by levels, stats, progression, and bizarre video game logic, he finds himself entirely out of his depth.

After six years at Saint Balthazar's Academy of Magic, Wil McKenzie has returned to his hometown a bewitching but humble Mr. Fix-It. The farming community of Harper Valley has its fair share of problems, and it's counting on Wil's sigils—and dazzling flicks of the wrist—to solve them. After all, the whole of Harper Valley funded his education. Now, Wil's back in the family fold and working to fill the needs of his neighbors, who all seem to want a fast return on their investment. But whether it's mending fences, ridding a house of vermin, boosting crops, or finding lost children, Wil is ready.

Ashlock wakes in the courtyard of a demonic sect... as a tree. A tree that eats people. An odd start to a new life. Almost as strange as the humans flying through the skies on flaming swords and challenging the heavens. After all, this is a world where humans could chase the goal of immortality through the art of cultivation. But Ashlock is merely a sapling in a desolate courtyard, left alone with his thoughts and unable to speak to those passing him by. Unless he does something about it.

When Pyresouls released, it was a brutal new virtual reality game with a twist: The first to beat the game would win billions of dollars. But after the Burgon Beast couldn’t be defeated, Pyresouls turned very real and unleashed an apocalypse of undead, monsters, and a system of levels and stats onto the world. For many years since, Jacob Windsor has fought with sword and shield to survive Post-Collapse Earth where only ancient, guilt-soaked weaponry can harm the monsters from Pyresouls.