The Lazy Swordmaster - Chapter 16 - Hide and Seek (Part 1)

In the dawn of a new world, only six beings remained—witnesses of the cataclysmic war that reshaped existence.They were the Six Primordial Dragons, the architects of reality’s six fundamental forces, entrusted as guardians of this reborn world.But power breeds corruption.One of them—the Dragon of Chaos—succumbed to the madness of bloodlust and betrayal. His unrelenting thirst for conflict fractured the fragile peace, sparking a rift between dragons and humans. Distrust grew into enmity. War returned.And then, the Dragon of Chaos vanished.Among those who rose to resist the dragons was a young man named Hades—a prodigy among Dragon Slayers.Famed for his flawless record and unmatched resolve, Hades had never lost a single comrade on the battlefield. With the promise of becoming the youngest official Hunter, he was a symbol of hope.Until everything crumbled.A mission went horribly wrong.His closest friend perished.The world that once praised him turned its back. His comrades pointed fingers. His fiancée, once his anchor, returned his ring with silent condemnation.Abandoned. Shattered. Branded a failure.Standing at the edge of despair, with the world far below and nothing left to hold on to…He heard a voice:[I think it's about time you wake up.]°°°°°°°A/N:- Istg this was a cliche synopsis, but the novel isn't. Try a few chapters before you decide.Additional tags: Possessive characters, revenge, anti-hero protagonist, serious character development, broken engagement, betrayal, strong to overpowered.

“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.

Admist the turmoil of a blood-soaked battlefield, General Hua Ren was perched on a horse, his once-pristine uniform now a canvas of rebel bloodstains. Lifeless bodies, a macabre mosaic of soldiers and rebels, lay strewn across the ground—some severed, others trampled beneath the hooves of horses.In the distant backdrop, a bomb erupted, rattling the battlefield, and in that fleeting moment, the General detected the scent.His Alpha.His heart raced as his gaze locked onto the most frigid, intimidating eyes he had ever encountered, and a sinking feeling gripped his stomach.Sheng Fei, leader of the rebellion, stood tall amidst the chaos, a sinister smirk playing on his lips. In a chilling display of power, Sheng Fei swiftly ended the life of a soldier, his eyes never leaving Hua Ren.The stark reality unfolded before Hua Ren, solidifying the bitter truth that their connection was entwined in the threads of enmity.He could never be the Omega to a Rebel AlphaOr so he thought.

At the heart of a wish lies an attempt at completion, a human desire to become our true and final selves. Wishes are fuelled by regrets and are bound eternally to the past, serving as approximations of what once was. We all experience regret and nostalgia, leading us to make wishes and find despair, but can we become our true selves despite this all?That's where the story of a girl who struggles to control her desires begins...Two souls sharing the same body and memory are living in Kyoto 2031. Tang-Ji Shizukesa, a girl who's grown up in her previous life with a hardcore passion for gaming, is now a bookworm in her new life who has no interest in video games. Along with her, Kazami and Hoyeon, the three childhood friends who separated 7 years ago due to an accident, have now been reunited again in a VRMMORPG game known as Dusk Protocol. The game has a unique combat system known as “Leere,” a physical manifestation of an individual soul that can be conjured into deadly weapons.As Tang-Ji navigates this virtual world, she confronts the echoes of her past and the dissonance between her former self and her present identity. How will she cope with the rediscovery of a life she thought she left behind? How will Kazami and Hoyeon react to the new Tang-Ji? In a world where reality is malleable and death is just a click of a button away, the boundaries between past and present blur, forcing everyone to grapple with the truth of who they truly are.Disclaimer: This novel contains explicit language, violence, racism, and sexual scenes. There are also scenes that deal with various traumas, from physical to emotional to mental.(THE CHARACTERS’ CIRCUMSTANCES , TRAITS, AND BELIEFS IN THIS NOVEL ARE ALL BASED ON A TRUE STORY.)