The Catastrophic Gardener of Zohal
By @john1208
Jalil is publicly cast out of the Sun-Forged Vanguard in the Grand Bazaar of Qadira, mocked by arrogant S-Rank hunters for possessing a useless 'Dirt-Molding' ability. Exhausted by the sheer stupidity of this new fantasy world, the world-weary transmigrator wanders into the lethal Crimson Wastes just to get some peace and quiet. He slaps together a simple mud hut and starts a garden. He has no idea his infinite stats have caused the hut to radiate staggering divine energy. When Virog, a catastrophic world-eating dragon, descends to devour him, Jalil angrily swats the beast with a fishing rod. Terrified, the colossal monster shrinks into a fluffy desert cat just to survive. Meanwhile, the Vanguard's elites are tracking apocalyptic energy spikes, convinced a Primordial God is amassing a monster army to destroy civilization. As they launch a frantic, action-packed crusade against this unknown threat, Jalil is simply trying to crossbreed spicy radishes. The two wildly different realities are on a collision course. With an elite army marching on his garden and his former comrade Farnaz leading the charge while silently grieving her unspoken love for him, how long until the Vanguard realizes the apocalypse is just a sarcastic farmer holding a watering can?
5
Vengeance and the Penniless Puppet
By @john1208
Kirit Shen's ordinary morning immediately goes wrong when a burnt espresso and a pounding hangover remind her of last night's mistake: a drunken sign-up on a sketchy underground dating app. Needing a disposable husband to bypass a hostile syndicate blockade and exact cold, calculated revenge on the elites who ruined her, Kirit attends the blind date. She meets Jago Fenn, a disheveled man nursing a free glass of tap water. Her pride demanding control, she pays the bill, assuming he is entirely broke. Thus begins a bizarre partnership. Jago eagerly plays the doting husband, moving Kirit into a sprawling cliffside mansion he casually dismisses as an 'unbooked Airbnb.' Told through alternating third-person perspectives, the story is utterly devoid of romance; it is a cutthroat chess match. Kirit ruthlessly plots her enemies' downfall, while Jago - secretly a bored billionaire - hilariously scrambles to hide his vast wealth while anonymously bankrolling her vendetta. But when Jago’s 'buddy' calls on speakerphone to confirm the delivery of a sports car and addresses him as 'Boss,' the facade shatters. Kirit realizes she misunderstood the rules all along: the app wasn't a matchmaking service, but a shadow-economy assassination roulette. Who is the real target?
4