The Gentle Assassin's Borrowed Time
By @john1208
Rafi Nassar spent his past life hoarding gold, believing wealth could shield his beloved Soraya from the coming apocalypse. He was completely wrong. Regressing to the sunlit afternoon of their engagement, Rafi vows to cultivate true strength instead. Endowed with the terrifyingly lethal 'Eclipse Stalker' class, he masquerades as a cheerful, weak-kneed scout to attend the prestigious Mirqab Conservatoire by Soraya's side. He bakes her sweet pastries, adopts a mischievous shadow-fennec fox named Qamar, and smiles kindly when the academy's arrogant 'Chosen One', Jalil, mocks his low status. But playing the weakling is hard for a battle-hardened veteran. When Rafi tries to perform a basic strike and accidentally shatters the Conservatoire's unbreakable star-metal testing monolith into dust, keeping his lethal skills hidden becomes a lot more complicated. Even worse, an ominous, fading hourglass mark on his wrist reveals a cruel catch to his regression: he only has one year of borrowed time to avert the end of the world. Can Rafi quietly protect the woman he loves and expose the cowardly Chosen One before his time runs out completely?
3
His Gilded Clockwork Snare
By @john1208
I didn't expect my Tuesday to begin by throwing a heavy brass wrench at a thug's head in a tavern brawl, but nobody messes with my cowardly buddy Gidgen, and nobody looks twice at a scruffy male machinist named Brez. Three years ago, I was Brezala, a doomed side-character in the novel *The Heiress of Brass and Glass*. When I realized I was pregnant with the ruthless industrial tycoon Rhovis Caldani’s child, I ran. Rhovis’s love is a suffocating, terrifying devotion, and my prickly pride refused to let my son Miro become a pawn in his dark, monopolistic empire. We were safe in the smog-choked lower city, relying entirely on my confidante Sarya to smuggle us supplies. Until Rhovis announced the Grand Caldani Exhibition - a high-stakes engineering contest with a prize I desperately need to cure Miro’s unique magical fever. Rhovis knows I can't resist the bait. Now I’m working right under his nose as a 'male' scholar. Every day is a heart-pounding game of cat-and-mouse. He stares too long at my hands. His dark side leaks out when he interrogates me about 'the runaway bride he lost'. But as his traps close in, will my trusted friend Sarya be the one to stab me in the back first?
2
The Grandmaster's Guide to Pet Cafes
By @john1208
Grandmaster Feng Jiu of the Azure Cloud Peaks was the greatest Spirit Beast Tamer in his realm. His talismans could calm raging dragons and his voice could command armies of celestial creatures. After a cataclysmic battle against a world-devouring entity, he wakes up, powerless and bleeding, in a noisy, metal-and-glass world: Seoul. He's taken in by Han Sora, a kind-hearted but overworked veterinarian who mistakes him for an amnesiac. To earn his keep, Feng Jiu applies his ancient wisdom to modern problems, becoming an unusually effective (and shamelessly flirty) assistant at her animal clinic. But as he rediscovers his powers using the faint spiritual energy from deep Earth veins, he realizes this world isn't safe. The planet's spiritual decay has spawned 'Graveblight', monstrous manifestations of pollution that prey on the living. To protect the woman who gave him a home, Feng Jiu must rebuild his strength from scratch. Can a master of ancient spirits learn to tame the ghosts of a modern world?
2
Our Last Woven Verse
By @john1208
Ibai Ezkerro has always preferred the company of ancient texts to people. As a junior ritualist for the Lumin Cordis order, he is tasked with cleansing restless spirits, a duty he performs with quiet diligence. His latest assignment takes him to the isolated Aizkorri Cottage, a place now silent save for the whispers of a lingering ghost. His orders are simple: perform the Rite of Severance and banish the spirit. But when his initial ritual reveals not a vengeful phantom but the gentle, sad soul of Lide, a weaver sacrificed and bound to her loom, Ibai’s stubborn heart rebels. Defying his order, he uses the intricate, forbidden rituals of communion to perceive her, sharing stories and slowly uncovering the mystery of her death. Together, they delve into Lide’s fragmented memories, only to discover her sacrifice was part of a larger, desperate ritual. With a zealous rival from his order closing in and Lide’s spiritual essence fraying with every revelation, can Ibai unravel the truth and fulfill her last regret before he loses her forever?
1
A Wooden Stick Against the Galaxy
By @john1208
Ruzbeh, once the deadliest shadow-assassin of a forgotten ancient era, has finally found the peace he always craved. Reborn into a high-tech galactic society where physical combat is a laughable relic replaced by laser-pulsing mechas, his only goal is to nap in the sun and bake pastries for his sweet new little brother, Omid. But groceries cost credits. Logging into the Avesta Star Network to farm low-level bounties, Ruzbeh immediately finds himself in a desperate chase, hunted by a squad of elite player mechas for accidentally trespassing in a high-tier zone. Too lazy to keep running, he picks up a glitchy environmental wooden stick, channels his ancient qi, and effortlessly dismantles his pursuers - accidentally swatting the galaxy's reigning virtual champion, Soraya Vance, out of the sky in the process. Furious and obsessed, Soraya tracks down this mysterious prodigy in the real world, only to find a gentle, sleepy slacker who immediately melts her heart. As a heartwarming romance blossoms between the intense champion and the lazy assassin, a silent timer ticks in the background. Ruzbeh's ancient soul is burning through his futuristic body, giving him only six months to reach the network's Zenith Tier to solidify his existence. Can the slacker conquer the galaxy before he fades away?
1