Eldritch Guidance

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 set off a strange series of events that slowly change the world.  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 47-139 "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." "Volume 3: The Nightmare Show" Chapter 140-? "In the uneasy aftermath of the Mount Gol incident, the city of Graheel remains a tinderbox. While officials publicly pretend control, the criminal underworld moves, convening to confront traitors and the rise of fanatical cults that threaten their illicit empire. "Amidst this turmoil, a secretive group made up from John patrons orchestrates global schemes from the shadows, dispatching agents on a critical mission to find certain individuals. Meanwhile, the Sleuth-Hawks detective unit is temporarily sidelined, giving Detective Joe a moment to use his newfound resources to pursue his personal investigation into Rob’s death, while Alan and his friends grapple with the consequences of their actions. "As these forces collide, a new threat rolls into town: a mysterious circus that leaves horrific tragedies in its wake, serving as a front for a powerful mage’s bold grab for power and relevance within the cultist world. At the center of it all is John, a man surrounded by strange, distorting powers—and their effect finally starts to force him to question what his presence on this world is really doing. "The stage is set. The players are in motion. And the show is about to begin!" 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.