Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~ - Chapter 402.2: Trap

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

I never imagined this would happen to me. Reincarnation? A second chance? Into a fictional world, no less? It was the stuff of wild stories, impossible dreams, and late-night “what ifs.” But life has a funny way of playing with your expectations.When the choice was offered—life as I knew it or a chance to die and be reborn somewhere else—how could I say no? The catch? I wouldn’t return to just any world. No peaceful afterlife, no utopia waiting for me. Instead, I landed in the heart of chaos.Here I am, standing in the shadows of giants—of gods, heroes, and monsters. Welcome to the Marvel universe, where cities are playgrounds for battles that could shake the world, and everyday people like me are nothing but collateral damage.But I’m not just another face in the crowd anymore. Somehow, I’ve got a role to play. My name in this world is Dave Garcia, and this is the story of how an ordinary guy from another life navigates a place where the impossible is an everyday reality.What would you do if you woke up in a world where the fate of everything could be changed with a snap of the fingers? Because that’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out.

Jiang Xun was transmigrated as a cannon fodder. Her mother died when she was young, her stepmother schemes against her, and her father abandoned her in a village. But Jiang Xun didn’t panic, and she was a person who always won by virtue.

Thieves would say, “Stop hitting me, I’ll change careers!”

Thugs would say, “Stop hitting me, I’ll return the money!”

At the Jiang family banquet, guests were watching her every move, waiting for her to make a fool of herself. “I heard that she’s been living in the village for eleven years and has a country bumpkin-like feel to her. If I were the Jiang family, I wouldn’t risk her embarrassing me by letting her attend.”

Mr. Jiang said to her, “Stay behind your mother and don’t speak lest you embarrass yourself.”

Her stepmother nodded. “The Qin family’s patriarch, Qin Mufeng is noble, benevolent, and abstinent. Don’t even think about someone like him; he’s completely out of your league.”

Sure. She didn’t intend to marry into a rich family anyway. She just wanted to beat up the man in the rumors. But why was this man following her around all day every day?

Bai Xunyin was inadvertently traumatized by stress during the year she graduated from Middle School. She became a “little mute” who couldn’t speak. In her first year of high school, she spent her days listening to the cynicism and discriminatory bullying of people around her until her second year of high school. Bai Xunyin met Yu Luoyin. He was clear, elegant, with straight eyebrows and star like eyes. He was the most handsome boy in school, and was the dream boyfriend of all girls in school. But for Bai Xunyin, Yu Luoyin was the first to protect her, smile at her, discuss topics with her, and the person who had lunch with her. The onset of her crush was turbulent and confusing in her teenage years.