MTL - A Smile from the Villain - ~ 14 selection

Long ago a great calamity struck the earth, destroying much of it and merging what remained with pieces of other worlds.

With these worlds came Aether, a new form of energy that can allow one to transcend the bounds of normal mortality and human limitations.

In a world where humans absorb the essence of aether beasts to gain power, Aiden Hawke joins the class of humans known as arcanists, people who defeat aether beasts and absorb their essence into cores they forge within themselves, and who infuse themselves with the aether that permeates the world around them to increase the power of their body and mind.

However, unlike most, Aiden will find that he holds a unique gift and that his journey as an arcanist will not be so simple.

In a distant future, the empires of mankind span the galaxy, and glorious Earth has devolved into a peripheral backwater.

In Shanjing city in the Asian region, Wang Zheng’s dreams of becoming a mech pilot are crushed when his college entrance exam genetic score turns out a pathetic twenty eight, barely above an animal.

To make things worse, people get the impression he attempted suicide after being rejected by the campus beauty.

Then the closest thing to a family he has, the old man in the book store across the road, goes missing, leaving him only a mysterious birthday present.

Freshman orientation season.As a third-year senior, Xiao Fei regularly comes to the school gate to welcome new students.Unexpectedly, he accidentally runs into the new goddess teacher, Tang Yuxin, and discovers that she is actually the girl with whom he spent a night in a hotel a year ago.What surprises Xiao Fei even more is that Tang Yuxin is pregnant with his child.And not just one child—three!Thus, the two begin a shameless cohabitation life right under the eyes of the students…

The night before her wedding, her world shattered.Betrayed by her own sister and abandoned by her fiancé, who demanded her kidney as the price for his love, she thought her life was over. But she refused to be a victim.At the altar, she made a bold move: she called off the wedding and declared she’d marry anyone willing to step up. To everyone’s shock, he—the richest and most powerful man in the city—stepped forward, claiming it was his “duty” to marry her.Overnight, she went from a betrayed bride to the wife of her ex-fiancé’s uncle, turning the tables on everyone who wronged her. From navigating family drama to outsmarting scheming rivals, she rose to become the undisputed queen of both families, building an empire of her own.Now, with a thriving career and a husband who adores her, she’s living her best life. But when her husband calls, begging her to come home because their twins are “starving for attention,” she knows her chaotic yet glorious life is just getting started.