In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming industry has seen an explosion in popularity. One of the most popular games ever released is Mystery Maker, a VR RPG where players can create baffling puzzles in a virtual space and challenge other players to solve them.... more>>

As a promotional stunt for the game's upcoming sequel, eight real life great detectives have been hand chosen by Kurata Chikage, executive director of MegalodonSoft, to challenge each other to a match in a demo of Mystery Maker 2. Among them are Kamo Touma, a magazine contributor well known for his investigative work overturning false convictions, and his wife's cousin Ryuuzen Yuki, a recently debuted mystery novelist.

However, on the day of the demo event, the detectives are all drugged. When they awaken, they find their smartwatches are locked to their wrists and they are shown videos of their families and loved ones being held hostage. They are contacted by a Gamemaster, who tells them that if they wish to save themselves and their families, they must play a death game called "Delicious Death for Detectives".

As scheduled, the eight of them will play Mystery Maker 2's demo, and the Detectives will challenge the mu*der puzzles created by the mu*derer. If the Detectives are not able to reveal the mu*derer and their tricks before the time limit, all players will be killed. However, if the mu*derer is exposed, both they and their hostages will be killed. And if a Detective makes an accusation but gets even the tiniest detail wrong, they will be mu*dered by the Gamemaster's secret accomplice, the Executioner.

Now the only way for the eight detectives to survive is to expose the mu*derer and Executioner lurking among them, even if they must risk their lives and those of their compatriots to do so.

Which is an especially big problem for Kamo, because he's the one who's been chosen as the mu*derer! <<less

"When I was young, whenever I wrote essays, my last line was frequently 'I am determined to become someone useful to society.' On average, I made this resolve twenty to thirty times per school term. I was very thoughtless."... more>>

"Only when I grew up did I realise that to become someone who brought no harm to society was already the biggest accomplishment I would have in my life."

Due to working through the night and putting in overtime until his liver was going bust, the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance was in a bad mood. He refused to organise the yearly Martial Arts General Assembly.

The descendant of the previous Sect Leader of the Beggars' Sect was someone addicted to swiping the phone and online shopping; Tang Qian Yan who left no marks when stepping on snow produced a wretched shut-in with severe social anxiety disorder…

Like the water in the rivers flowing away, the state of the world became worse day by day. Only the followers of the demonic cults preserved their original aspirations. As ever, they shouted their slogans every day and worked hard to sell health supplements made by black market suppliers, carefully and seriously disturbing the public peace.

And, among the jianghu people mentioned above, whether they belonged to the righteous or the evil, not a single one of them could fight.

Kindness repaid with kindness, evil repaid with evil? White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind? Such things did not exist. Everyone still had to pay their credit card bills and house loans.

There were four ways to write "anise" in "anise beans," and five levels of "grief." <<less

A newlywed couple are mu*dered in their bridal chamber on their wedding night leads to open fighting between Ouyang and Sima Manors. Amazing Constable Shen Ying personally takes on the case.... more>>

A gold hairpin holds the key to finally exposing the truth of this mu*der case…

The Bloody Bridal Chamber is Book #4 of Hong Kong author Ximen Ding’s Amazing Hawk Constables wuxia mystery series. <<less

The top alpha, Major General Ji Cheying, disguises himself as a down-on-his-luck beta in order to carry out a secret mission. One day, when he goes out to take out the garbage, while wearing a pair of torn socks, he comes across the poor nephew of his landlord, Xie Quan, a good-looking beta who was staying in the dirty and terrible bas**ent.... more>>

The two look at each other, each feeling a little sorry for the other.

No one expected that one of these two miserable people was the prestigious Major General Ji and the other was the most powerful mecha engineer in the Empire. And to Ji Cheying’s further surprise, this beautiful beta confessed his passionate love for him!

He was torn again and again under the prudent choice to refuse the other, after all, this is a mission, not the time to talk about love.

When the mission was over and it was time to talk about love, it was Xie Quan’s turn to become baffled, “Who do you think likes you? Who confessed? I didn’t, I’m not, don’t talk nonsense.”

Ji Cheying: ???!

It was only then that Xie Quan unexpectedly realized that the Imperial Major General seemed to have mistakenly thought that he was in love with him.

A few months later, Major General Ji, who had entered his susceptible period, was violent and fierce, not able to be approached by strangers. However, his eyes were red and he was tugging at Xie Quan, his voice hoarse, “You little liar, cheating on my feelings and not taking responsibility.”

Xie Quan sighed, lifted his hair, and tore off the invisible gland patch, finally revealing the omega gland at the back of his neck, “Bite it. I’ll give you a bite.”

Ji Cheying gritted his teeth, “You’re a f*cking omega?”

True love has nothing to do with identity and gender. <<less

Xu Beijin is an extra in the game ‘Escape.’ His usual role is to lie on the floor to be the corpse, while observing how the Missiontakers scratch their heads to figure out a way to survive.... more>>

All the other extras work extremely hard as if trying to win the next Oscar’s in order to leave this cruel, despairing world; while Xu Beijin has a simple, monotonous, tedious life.

Until one day, he picked up a streaming system…

Xu Beijin’s life has been entirely upended.

While lying on the floor as a corpse, the audience goes “AAAAAAAH Host what’s that behind you uwuwu…”

While he’s reading the script out loud, the audience goes “Hehehe Beibei’s so cute acting all serious! I want to lick!”

While he’s working hard to figure out the truth about this world, the audience goes “Today our Bei is also the hardworking Bei!”

While he’s… he’s working hard dating Lin Qin, the audience goes “?!?! This isn’t the horror game stream I signed up for!” <<less

virg*n Firefighter Adachi learns one day that his disagreeable co-worker Niimori is gay, and prefers the lowest type of guy. Thinking he's found something he... more>> can lord over Niimori, he ends up attacked himself, but quickly turns the situation on its head and ends up embracing Niimori himself...!? Special Electronic Edition short story, "In Love and Purehearted" is included, which tells the story of that night from Niimori's perspective. <<less

Legend had it there was a demon of nightmares, the enemy of mankind, who desired to dominate the universe.... more>>

On the first day, he left the human fleet broken and in disorder.

The next day, he wanted to eliminate the Galactic Federation.

The third day he said–unless the soldier who had wounded him was married to him, he would destroy everything.

The leaders of the Galactic Federation discussed and decided to send the soldier Wu Xingyun to become the male-wife of the devil.

Wu Xingyun embarked on his mission…For the peace of the universe and the happiness of mankind.

“Soldier, are you confident to complete this mission?!”

“Yes Sir, will resolutely complete this task!” <<less

The chaos caused by bullying reveals that ghosts are actually nearby.
Ouija boards, the Four Corners game, a dilapidated copper basin, and the ghostly shadows that follow at all times… Fear pushes Tong Xiaosong to the brink of collapse, but unexpectedly, it becomes his only redemption from the bullying.... more>>

————
CP: Zhi Xian X Tong Xiaosong
Content Advisory: Sweet pet, both are inexperienced, ghost as the dominant partner <<less

I became an extra in a detective novel where people are dying left and right. Moreover, I became a character with the lowest survival rate, a girl with no dreams or future!... more>>

"The culprit is that person!"

Unable to witness people dying in front of me, I subtly pointed out the culprit a few times.

"Become my daughter."
The protagonist of this novel, who catches criminals, and also the most powerful figure in the Empire, the Duke, proposed adoption to me!

Is the life in the back alley with an empty stomach finally over?! Even rejoicing at being allowed to eat two fluffy breads, the hidden settings of the novel suddenly come to mind.

'...Wait a minute. Wasn't the protagonist in this novel supposed to be a psychopath?'

The Duke, colder than anyone to villains, but warm to his adopted daughter! <<less

Li Fenglan, the number one person in the world of cultivation and an immortalization stage immortal, fell into qi deviation. He was spurned by thousands of people for doing evil things, split the Underworld River with a single sword, and had the whole cultivation world unify to beat him until his soul scattered. Only after his death did he realize that he was the villain in the novel.... more>>

Li Fenglan: This immortal has a swear word he doesn’t know…..

He never thought that a thousand years later, Li Fenglan would be revived inexplicably, and become a disfigured cannon fodder with all his spiritual roots crippled.

Then he discovered that something was wrong with the plot—

The Soul Condensation Tower in the forbidden area of ​​the Immortal Gate was established for him;

His Master who has resided in the upper realms for a long time, stands guard at his tomb in the lower realms

The main character who once used one sword to shake his heart spirit unexpectedly stole his corpse;

The distinguished reckless music cultivator good friend changed to cultivate the ruthless dao just to guard a trace of a remnant soul;

The Demon Master who was both good and evil was at odds with the cultivation world;

The unruly disciple used dead branches as hairpins, and from then on he only thought of one person.

It turned out that the whole cultivation world wanted to revive him.

Li Fenglan: I’ve received your kind regards, now you can get lost. Smile.jpg <<less

In a world where others face the apocalypse with just a dog for company, Ning Xin faces it with a whole mental asylum under her care.... more>>

She had to look after about five or six patients, representing various mental disorders she knew of: schizophrenia, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression...

Determined to return to the real world, Ning Xin bravely faced the challenge, only to find that the situation was completely different from what she had expected.

Instead of being helpless patients, each of the inmates was a powerful figure, and she, the director, was the one who seemed pitiable.

One night, as she was preparing to sleep after locking the door, a tall man pushed open the door and said in a soft voice:

"Director, director, they're bullying me, stuffing zombies into my blanket."

Ning Xin looked outside to see bodies scattered all around. ...Who was bullying whom, after all? <<less

Going back in time so often you could no longer count it.... more>>

In an attempt to stop her next return, she decided to kidnap her master, the Crown Prince.

Because when Crown Prince Richard dies,

Ophelia will always return to the point of his death.

'No matter how many times it takes, he must survive!'

“I’ll return! Until Your Highness is not dead!”

“I know.”

“…Yes?”

“I am also going back in time like you.”

'Hey… you too?'

'Well, me too.'

Surprisingly, Richard was also repeatedly going back in time… except he didn’t seem to have much will to live.

“Why are you staying still!”

“I’m tired.”

What’s this damn prince talking about?!

'I don’t want to die!'

Ophelia grabbed Richard’s hand.

“It’ll be better if we’re on the same boat. Let’s end this bloody regression together.”

How will Ophelia, who wants to somehow survive, get out of this time loop with Richard? <<less

The stunning Chief of the Da Li Temple, Su Moyi, has always been the Sheng City women’s spring dream. Yet such a celestial beauty became a demon in the Sheng City officialdom, the No. 1 ruthless official. Every day in the trial, Su Moyi mostly heard was that ‘Lord, spare my life.’ But he never thought that one day, when it was deep at night without anyone, someone could bring this sound ‘Lord, spare my life’ to make his bones soften. ... more>>

*After twelve years of disguise and ten years of tedious study, Lin Wanqing finally became a government officer, bent on overturning the wrongful death of the Xiao family. But she met a very tricky man. One night during a thunderstorm, the drugged Lord Su, with the last shred of clarity, locked himself in the room of the Da Li Temple. However, that night, Lin Wanqing, who was searching for clues to the wrongful death of the Xiao family, happened to be there as well. <<less

I’ll come to your aid. I’m not going to give up no matter what―... more>>

In his dreams, Yukinari has been interacting and spending time with a mysterious girl. He experiences a sensation of déjà vu one day when he visits a place for the first time, and there he meets Yuuko, the girl from his dream.And, to her astonishment, she had met Yukinari in a dream as well. Then they start to go out together to confirm the phenomenon, and eventually fall in love. But one day, when everything appeared to be going well, Yuuko fainted and went into a coma….. A story about two people who have the same dream and are looking for a miracle―― <<less

During a dinner party at a secluded mountain villa, while the invited guests are engaged in a strange game over an ultra-luxury clock, the owner of the villa, a female writer named Mori Reiko, is met with an unnatural death in her study.... more>>

With this, the curtain rises on a deadly game of deduction!　

Embroiled in the game are Enomoto, a crime prevention consultant (whose main profession is a thief!?), and the lawyer Junko, who tries to solve the mystery of a perfectly locked room protected by the wall of time…

Note: "Wall of time" here means alibi. <<less

Qiu Yanzhi was a jaded university student who came across a popular virtual reality dating simulator. One capture target in particular, He Zhou, caught his eye immediately.... more>>

But why was this guy such an as*hole for no reason?? Game devs, WTF were you thinking???

But for some reason Qiu Yanzhi stuck around. He found that He Zhou wasn’t so bad after all. Qiu Yanzhi had fun in game, basking in the warmth and affection missing from his real life.

That was, until he couldn’t log out anymore.

Trapped inside the game, Qiu Yanzhi saw only one way out: seducing the capture target to complete the main storyline.

And if that meant he had to pretend, to lie, to scheme and deceive?

He would do it.

After all…

This was just a game, right? <<less

There exist in this world a set of six daggers that carry a terrible curse: the ability to inflict a death beyond time. Those under the daggers' curse shall reincarnate without end, never able to know happiness and always drawn to die once more by the dagger. This is the story of "Raine" and "Marie", two souls bound by the daggers' curse to kill one another, over and over again.... more>>

France, 1243. Lapis Lazuli Castle is the name of an insignificant relay fort nestled away in a forest east of Carcassonne. Its ruler, Count Geoffroy, and his only daughter, Marie, are both believed to be insane. The root cause of their shared madness is the mysterious disappearance of Geoffroy's wife three years ago, which caused Geoffroy to grow detached from humanity and cast Marie into a deep depression. After three years of wandering in a state halfway to nonexistence, Marie works up the nerve to ask her chief bodyguard, Sir Raine, to investigate her mother's death, confiding that on the night of her mother's disappearance, she had witnessed something impossible. However, her investigation only prompts a new tragedy.

The French-German border, 1916. As World War I rages on, Raine and Marie's latest reincarnations live the life of a sub-lieutenant in the French army and a medic with the Red Cross, respectively. The two lovers are reunited at the site of the Battle of Verdun, but no sooner have they met then Raine finds himself faced with a barrage of impossible circumstances. An enemy soldier's head suddenly vanishes, right before his eyes. One of his subordinates reports the same thing happening to an ally. Four more headless bodies vanish from a flooded bunker in the minute he looks away. These baffling events are a prelude to the return of their old tragedy.

Northern Hokkaido, 1989. Kimiyo, age eighteen, is already dying, an inoperable tumor in her hypothalamus leaving her with less than a year to live. Refusing to despair in the face of her tragic circumstances, she spends her remaining days with her friends at "The Library at the End of the World", a private library so called due to its isolated nature. One day, a man named Kito approaches her out of the blue, regaling her with a story about a set of cursed daggers, knights in the 13th century, and the two of them being cursed, fated lovers. Naturally, Kimiyo is intensely skeptical, but the events that come next don't require her to believe in them.

Arriving at the scene of these three tragedies is Snowy, an enigmatic figure of indeterminate gender who claims to be "a detective charged with managing the world's chaos". <<less

“– Just what kind of pretense is that. Is this some new form of torment?”... more>>

Yuna, a plain village girl, suddenly lost her plain day to day life. After being requested to by a mysterious light in a bright white world, Yuna finds herself in the body of a beautiful saint. However, what awaited her there was; the contemptuous gaze of the saint’s fiance, First Holy Knight Asyut; the cold detachment from her attendants; and the tense atmosphere of the entire palace. Yuna, alone in her crippling confusion, still tries to fulfill her duty as the saint’s substitute, until one night when she discovers the saint’s sins beyond the spiral staircase…?! <<less

Zhou Yanling, a suspect in the Tongzhou 9/27 major mu*der case, appeared on the K4133 train. When the train conductor, Wu Fengrong first received this news, he began making the rounds, investigating.... more>>

On this train, various forces secretly wrestled; the truth was confusing, and the suspect was ambiguously entangled with the conductor.

Zhou Yanling had never encountered such a splendid person as Wu Fengrong, with a lovable physique and graceful charm. Zhou Yanling was so affected that he solicited that refreshing presence (1). Wu Fengrong was secretly wary that Zhou Yanling was concealing something profound. Who is he going to trick? It could be that he just wants to indulge. And when he was finished doing so, Wu Fengrong would not be able to keep himself from making a scene. In this moment, the two waited silently, each harboring their own designs and intents.

Thirty hours from Tongzhou to Baihe, the road is long... <<less

The demon lord Yin Ci had lived for several hundred years and was thoroughly tired of life. He planned to go to the legendary ghost tomb to find the Vision Flesh and turn it into a deadly poison to kill himself. In order to act low-key, he captured a rookie master as a cover.... more>>

As a rare genius who only appeared once in a century, Shi Jingzhi’s life was not long. He also wanted to go to the ghost tomb to find the Vision Flesh and make a divine medicine to live a little longer. In order to smoothly enter the tomb, he took on an innocent disciple to go along as a smokescreen.

The two competitors faced each other, feeling very pleased in their hearts: not bad, they had successfully deceived the other person. <<less

The world always has those protagonist-like individuals—escaping from horror games, bearing the responsibility to save the world from monsters alongside their companions. Due to such and such reasons, they have no choice but to live in ordinary citizens’ homes, outwardly portraying themselves as typical high school students while secretly battling monsters and leveling up. ... more>>

And the ordinary citizens are ordinary but kind, always tolerant of the protagonist’s late returns, providing a gentle sanctuary.

Jiang Yujin, however, is the antithesis of that ordinary citizen. Running a struggling business, living an unkempt life, the protagonist attends school by day, fights monsters after school, and even returns home to do his laundry and cook for Jiang Yujin.

Yet even a laid-back person needs to turn things around. Despite financial deficits, Jiang Yujin briefly stands tall.

While the protagonist battles monsters, he helps someone find their lost cat. While the protagonist tirelessly protects the school from monsters, Jiang Yujin is involved in romantic escapades with the Special Investigation Unit for Strange Species (?!). While the protagonist hunts for clues behind the scenes, Jiang Yujin, with a small skirt in hand, pretends to be a rich lady in an online romance scam.

When the protagonist and allies face a major monster, Jiang Yujin… well, he stays up all night playing mahjong and ends up lying dead drunk at his doorstep.

When the protagonist finds themselves in a precarious situation…

The dead lying at the doorstep vanished.

——

Beside the massive monster’s corpse, in front of the protagonist’s group, a man with snow-white hair blowing backward, holding a blade stained with threads of blood.

Amidst the silence, Jiang Yujin, the ordinary citizen, lowers his eyes, bending slowly with the blade’s support:

“Urgh—”

Surely shouldn’t have had those two drinks after playing mahjong.

Protagonist’s group: “…”

— —

Xu Tonggui, captain of the Special Investigation Unit, known as the living Yama in everyone’s eyes, a workaholic whose life revolves only around his job. Everyone thought he would remain a lifelong bachelor. Even the members of the Special Investigation Unit believed so.

Until one day, they saw their captain pinning down someone whose hair was so disheveled it covered their face, gritting his teeth as he asked in a low voice, “Drinking again?”

The hair covering half the face was lifted by a large palm, and the person pinned down on the car glanced sideways—

That day, the members of the Special Investigation Unit understood two things:

Never underestimate someone who seems unkempt.

The captain has a damn good eye.

— —

#A chronicle of an unreliable adult suddenly becoming reliable, but not entirely#

#Your guardian is still your guardian#

#The man behind the high schooler saving the world# <<less

The cobbled roads of Enid where horse-drawn carriages travel ・Lavilio City... more>>

A hotblooded Raymond was assigned to a special bureau in the police department that was in charge of exterminating a blood-sucking monster known as ‘Genty.’ At a secret evening party where Genty are rumored to frequent, Raymond meets Oliver, a skilled hunter who specializes in hunting down those monsters. Raymond, for some reason, gets partnered with Oliver, the melancholic and beautiful young man, yet unfriendly and with a sharp tongue, and gradually finds himself getting enchanted by his green eyes. However, Oliver refuses to acknowledge Raymond.

One day, Oliver brings up the fact that ever since he was a young child, he’s been followed around by a Genty and that anyone that gets close to him is killed. <<less

Lu Hui is a genius, but he has an odd temperament. ... more>>

The director of Linhua City’s Bureau of Public Safety, Gao Zhengcheng, personally invited Lu Hui to head the serious crimes division, taking over to solve particularly tricky homicide cases.

And so opens Linhua City’s collection of cases. <<less

Liang Shu sent his people to Baihe Village and ordered them to discover what Liu Xian’an hated the most.... more>>

Several days later, his people returned with the information. Firstly, Second Young Master Liu hates copying books, and secondly, he hates you, my lord.

*
Liang Shu (gong) x Liu Xian’an (shou) <<less

“This world is actually an otome game.”... more>>

On a certain day, Shiori was told an outrageous fact by her cousin, Kazuto. It turns out he has memories of his past life and his little sister then had played this certain otome game. The heroine in the game would capture hot-looking guys one after another in the school Shiori’s attending. And it turns out Kazuto was one of the capture targets! He asks Shiori to stop the heroine from capturing him.

From then on, Shiori runs left and right in the academy since the very first day, searching for the heroine’s whereabouts and her next movement. However, it seems Shiori is also triggering events one after another just like the heroine…!? <<less