I Refused to Be a Substitute, and Shot to Fame on a Variety Show With My Mother-In-Law - Chapter 23

Born to a mother on death row and subsequently raised in the prison, Gu Tianyou did not have what most people would consider a ‘normal’ childhood. Instead of the usual math and history one might learn at a public school, he had criminals for tutors. He received regular lessons from notorious serial killer, Dr. Miao, and earned protection from the respected Master Long.

With such a unique background, Gu Tianyou graduated from the Police Academy with little difficulty, and was assigned as an undercover cop. But will the skills he learned from a lifetime of being cared for by criminals be enough to help him take criminals down?

Summoning ceremonies can freely call forth even “those which lurk in the depths beyond the gods”. One boy has top-level abilities even among the cutting-edge summoners who can use those ceremonies. He is Alice (with) Rabbit aka Shiroyama Kyousuke. But this strongest boy summoner has a single fatal weakness. Certain “cursed words” spoken by girls: “Help me.”

When Kyousuke hears those words from Meinokawa Higan, a girl brought to the verge of death, he throws himself into a city where three great summoner forces clash!

She was originally an assassin. After rebirth, she was reduced to another world’s Di family’s most inferior concubine-born daughter. With an extremely hideous appearance and no way to cultivate, she was the object of everyone’s humiliation and bullying.

From quiet grind to legacy brew.Jun had nothing—no café, no followers, not even a bed. Just a secondhand kettle and a broken dream.Then came the Barista System.No shortcuts. No instant success. Just slow, intentional tasks... and a promise:Brew. Grow. Endure.Every pour sharpens his skill. Every cup deepens his path.From street corners to pop-ups, from whispered praise to a space of his own—Jun’s grind is just beginning.This is a story of stillness, patience, and the quiet pursuit of mastery.Because greatness isn’t given.It’s brewed—one cup at a time.