Ruler of Heat: One Man, A Thousand Thirsts - Chapter 2: The Village of Thirst [18+]

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

This novel is also known as Only I Level Up

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”.

However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of catacombs, the “World’s Weakest”.

Having no skills whatsoever to display, I barely earned the required money by fighting in low-leveled catacombs… at least until I found a hidden catacomb with the hardest difficulty within the D-rank catacombs!

In the end, as I was accepting death, I suddenly received a strange power, a quest log that only I could see, a secret to leveling up that only I know about! If I trained in accordance with my quests and hunted monsters, my level would rise.

Changing from the weakest Hunter to the strongest S-rank Hunter!

- Description from Novelupdates

My name is Qin Jue. At only 16 years of age, I'm already the youngest person to ever become an uncle-grandmaster in the Xuanyi Mountain Sect.Also, I'm the strongest being in this entire world!But unlike other transmigrators, I want nothing to do with the outside world and wish to live a leisurely life on a cliff behind the sect, sipping wine and singing songs.That is until one day, a mysterious girl appears in front of my yard…Join Qin Jue as he deals with sneaky sects and greedy, hostile clans, all while raising a "weed" to sentience and creating heaven-defying spirit-energy "guns".

Ian Night’s life was a joke—until it wasn’t.Betrayed, discarded, and left with nothing, he welcomed death when it came. But fate had other plans.Reborn in chains, Ian awakens as a slave in a world where power is dictated by bloodlines and magic.While others wield fire and lightning, he is given dominion over something far more absolute: Death.With every slain foe, every stolen soul, and every corpse bound to his will, Ian will carve his way from servitude to supremacy.He will rise from the dirt. He will shatter his chains. And those who once cast him aside will learn what it means to fear the dead.[Ability Unlocked: Soulbind – Bind the fallen to your will.][Absorb strength of fallen soul?][New Trait Acquired: Gravewalker – The dead whisper, and you listen.]Kingdoms will tremble.The weak will kneel.And Ian Night will never be a failure again.Or, like most in this cursed world, he’ll die trying.