by BD Booker
Salvation comes with terms and conditions. When a bad salvaging job turns into a bloodbath, The System doesn't give Mayne time to grieve his fallen crew: It hands him the bill. Forced into an indentured contract, Mayne ends up trapped in a corporate hellscape engineered to squeeze him to his last cent, breath, and click. Life in the galactic "Wilds" is nasty, brutish, and short. This makes perfect high-octane streaming content for the trillions of lazy consumers watching safely from the so-called "Civiled" Worlds. After all, their clicks make the galaxy go round. Alongside an AI intern living in his headspace, an adorable alien battle-beast, and a budding crew, Mayne will learn to monetize and leverage the corporate dystopia that binds him. To survive, Mayne and his crew have to do battle not only on exotic, dangerous Wild planets, but also in boardrooms, nightmarish corpo labs, and eventually, across financial markets and shipping lanes. Every breath is a battle. Every decision, a possibility for victory or defeat. No shortcuts- Every dollar, level, and skill is earned the hard way. LitRPG- Phased leveling, classes, jobs, a nanite pool, magic-like technologies. Paywalled dystopia- A darkly funny, dystopian universe where everything is monetized and gated. Dynamic Duo- Mayne’s fully sentient AI intern often means well. You can judge the execution. High Stakes Satire- While there's a healthy dose of humor, the stakes are high, the dangers are real, and the consequences hard to bear. Companion- Mayne will have to raise and train an adorable alien battle beast. Chaotic Action- He may be a rogue sniper, but Mayne spends lots of time fighting close and personal. No harem. Ultimately, the universe is vast, but the rent is due. Cover art assembled and licensed from Shutterstock: Tithi Luadthong
