I believed that love was just a sure way to get burned, and yet—... more>>

A pure and mature youth romantic comedy.

In the small drinking circle "Sake Tomo Kai," Kirishima Asato spends his days aimlessly until he encounters the most beautiful girl in the university, Hamasaki Mai.

Due to being too popular and thus getting involved in various troubles, she takes a liking to the carefree environment of the "Sake Tomo Kai" and decides to join.

As Asato, who ends up looking after Mai as she enjoys the drinking parties with her innocent and cheerful nature, slowly starts to interact more with her, whom he mysteriously finds himself in sync with.

However, both of them, carrying traumas from their past, find themselves unable to take the next step in love—

A pure and mature love story where two wounded souls come to recognize each other. <<less

I was reincarnated in a Rated-19 horror novel. As the roommate who was horribly mu*dered by the crossdresser who commits a massacre from blackening due to his terrible childhood.... more>>

Wouldn’t the massacre be prevented if the man’s lack of affection was resolved?!

So I confessed to him.

“I-I like you!”
“….I’m a girl.”

Huh? Oh, oops!
But, I still like you!

The milk has already been spilt. I worked hard to prevent the massacre in the original novel by sticking close to the crossdressing protagonist. Now, all I have to do is reveal that this person was a man….Won’t he ever get caught dressing up as a woman?!

“Hey, you’re a man!”

“….N-no. Don’t abandon me, Bree.”

He even burst into tears.
Why are you crying!? <<less

Chen Hui had traveled through the passage of time, but – when she woke up, there wasn’t even a single female servant surrounding her who exclaimed her return to consciousness.... more>>

Instead, the only person standing in front of her was an exasperating eunuch who pinned her with a malicious glare whilst remarking sarcastically, “Since Lady Chen despises and shuns lowly eunuchs such as myself, I won’t force myself upon you.

But, if you’re hoping for me to release and return you back to your family, then my only advice is for you to give up all such hopes! You will never be able to leave my household for the rest of your life, so you have little choice but to stay here till you die!”

Chen Hui: …

It turns out, that Chen Hui had time travelled, and awoken in the body of a lady who had attempted to commit su*cide (by ramming her head against the pillar) to display her staunch refusal to marry an exasperating eunuch.

However, in order to fill her belly full and keep her body warm, Chen Hui had no choice but to continuously think of different ways and means to approach the exasperating eunuch, to get to know more about the exasperating eunuch, to please and bootlick the exasperating eunuch, and to seduce… No, wait, forget about seducing that exasperating eunuch.

The eunuch Li Youde had spent his entire life being a callous, deceitful, and sly person. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that all he could think about during his most desperate hour was – how the mischievous, pampered, trouble-making enchantress at home would be able to continue living a worry-free and comfortable life without him by her side. <<less

The third year spiritual energy was revived, humanity got swept into a real-life game of oddities, 《Folklore》.
The game randomly extracted from strange stories for its quests: If won, the quest's boss would turn into a guardian deity, holding back all sorts of evils; If failed, the oddities would completely revive, and the area implicated in the quest would completely fall to enemy occupation! ... more>>

As it had impact,
The players participating in the quest and the stream audience hated idiots who were burdens the most.

Unfortunately, when a disaster-level quest got unlocked, matched into the quest, was this,
Silver-grey long-haired, pessimistic, sickly, when others fought he slept, when others ran he showered
No matter how much more good-looking they were, it could not conceal that "I don't want to live, everyone die with me" kind of anti-social air

When his data was pulled up:
24k pure newbie.

Everyone's eyes went dark, GDI, this isn't even enough for a bite for the boss!

Yet no one knew, Wei E once was drawn into a different, much higher-dimension UF world
Over there, there would be a small quest every three days, and one big quest every five. Each quest would be stifled with a manic hopelessness, driving people to their deaths. No player was able to hang on for three years, and Wei E was the first who had a chance to live past three years—— after he bombed the Creator.

When the Creator's space was collapsing
Wei E reminisced these three years of endless fighting for his life, and strongly vowed: If there was a next life, he would definitely not get mixed in it again!

Once Wei E opened his eyes, he returned to the familiar blue planet
But before he could get excited, he discovered…… the Creator followed him out too : )
----

That day the hunting grounds got destroyed, the Creator vowed there would be one day he would kill that insolent ant
When Wei E occasionally brushed his teeth and looked up, he could see the mirror written with: "After one hundred days, I will definitely kill you."

By the fiftieth day [left], a player confessed to Wei E.
By the thirtieth day, Wei E made it to first place in 《Folklore's》most charming guy.
By the tenth day, the quest boss threw themselves on him.
By the fifth day, third day, each day, there would be people on the forums calling themselves Wei E's dog.

On the final day, the Creator really grabbed Wei E's throat, with his voice dark and frenzied: "I said, I would kill you sooner or later."

However, seeing Wei E's wearily curled lips, He thought, I perhaps should change the method.
For example, beneath his body.
————

When Wei E solved the first disaster-level quest, there were still people who felt it was a mere coincidence.
But when each and every one of the disaster-level continuously got cracked, life got brought back from death, they then shockingly discovered, that was not a coincidence, but hope that would make even spent clay revivify.

And in this absurd, despairing world, he was the walking——
#1 boss! <<less

Yuan Ye and film emperor Fang Shaoyi were married for ten years. After a stamp from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, they got divorced and their red booklets became green booklets. Back when they had gotten married, they had proudly announced the news to the whole world. After their divorce, though, neither dared to speak up, determined to hide this development.... more>>

Film emperor gong vs writer shou. Regarding accompaniment, regarding companionship. Regarding those things inseparable and difficult to speak of about affection.

Summarized in one phrase: We were in love for thirteen years, and then we got divorced. <<less

Lee Seongjin, the strongest hunter who defeated the demon king.
He possessed the body of the pig tr*sh Third Prince, the Holy Imperial Family’s shame.... more>>

But the members of this family… there’s something strange about them?

‘Overpowered’ Holy Emperor.
‘Regressor’ First Princess.
‘Player’ First Prince.

Lots of trouble and lots of words
The story of the Holy Emperor and his children. <<less

There was no light in the dark of night, only war drums sounded and war cries shouted. A young man listened carefully, it was his heart beating and blood flowing. ... more>>

What lies hidden in the darkness ahead? Is it a man, a god, or…a monster?

No path could be the best, for infinite are the journeys possible underfoot! <<less

The dull lonely man and the cultured sparkling woman.... more>>

Where will the mismatched pair’s youthful campus life lead to—?!

Souhei Sagara, a university student who champions the solitary lifestyle, lives next to the sparkling and fashionable beauty, Haruko, in his run-down apartment.

Haruko seemed like a creature from a different world compared to the drab Sagara. However, she actually was… a plain girl with no makeup who had successfully made her dazzling university debut!

Upon learning her secret, Sagara decides to help the defenseless Haruko to maintain his solo living.

“If you can become a sparkling girl, you won’t need to involve me anymore, right?”

“Sagara-kun, you’re so stubborn…”

If her true face is revealed, will her rosy campus life crumble for sure?!

The fate of the dull lonely man and the cultured sparkling girl’s unaligned youthful days—?! <<less

[Tower Defense & Dungeon Attack RPG]
I saw the ending to the game no one was able to clear.... more>>

But, when I came to my senses, I was inside of the game.
In fact, I was in the tutorial stage, a place where strategy was impossible.

"I'll clear this bullsh*t game no matter what...!" <<less

When Shen Zhifan awoke, he had become the nation’s male god.... more>>

The type of male god that everyone in the world, crying and shouting, wants to marry.

However, because the General (who lives next door) has a fiancee who fell in love with Shen Zhifan, the General absolutely hates him.

Shen Zhifan, who has always thought of the General as his male god, was crushed.

*My Male God has become my rival in love. Every day his ice-cube face looks like he desperately wants to hack me to death.*

*Esteemed General, I don’t even have a sliver of affection for your fiancee. I’ve long given up any hope of love – right now, I just want to get rich.*

Luckily, the General’s cat really likes him, and always wants to……climb into his bed. <<less

On the way to a company workshop, we fell into a world of immortal cultivators while still in the car.... more>>

Those with spiritual roots and unique abilities were all called to join cultivation sects, living prosperously.

But I, having neither spiritual roots nor special abilities, lived as an ordinary mortal for 50 years, complying with fate until my death.

That’s what I thought.

Until I regressed. <<less

Shi An is the last Abyss Dragon in the world. Since he was bored, he decided to go into a deep sleep while hugging his treasures. After fifty thousand years of satisfying slumber, Shi An opened his eyes only to discover that he had become a weak human with short hands and legs.... more>>

He glanced down at his mysteriously downsized body and then lifted his head to look around his empty cave. “……” Where is my powerful and majestic body? My big tail? Most importantly, where are my treasures?!

After thousands of years of hard work, sleeping just once has sent me to square one.

***

In the year 2202, the conflicts between humans and monsters are becoming more and more intense. Although the monsters are strong, the fantastical species that used to rule the continent have all but disappeared.

Shi An, the Shi family’s youngest son, is Mage Academy’s infamous mage who has no magic power. Each student’s magic power is measured at the beginning of the school year. Shi An looked at the three destroyed magic detection equipment and innocently asked, “Eh? Are these equipment’s quality not very good?”

During actual combat training, low-ranked monsters fled before Shi An could get close. Shi An looked at their fleeing figures and innocently exclaimed, “Yay, lucky!”

Everyone else was speechless. “……?” I believe I am dreaming.

***

Mu Heng——human species’ strongest mage——is the only remaining human who bears the noble dragon slayer bloodline.

He coldly and arrogantly said, “Dragons? Extinction is their best outcome.”

A long time later, Mu Heng turned his head back to look at the dragon cub reclining on the piles of treasure. Mu Heng withdrew his gaze and leisurely asked, “Are there any other jobs? I want a well-paid one.”

Extinction is out of the question now. As a matter of fact, I can only earn more money so that I won’t get kicked out of bed at night. <<less

In elementary school, Xue Youka had an urological surgery, leading to him being forced to wear his cousin sister’s dress all summer as a boy… ... more>>

A young master who lived in his maternal grandpa’s residence in the countryside, and led a pampered life saw him in his girly attire…

For the sake of cheating him out of spicy sticks and ice creams, Xue Youka used his cousin sister’s name and played house with him, becoming his little girlfriend. The other party even promised to marry him in the future.

Xue Youka bit the ice cream and nodded happily: “Brother, this is delicious! Buy me another one?”

When they parted, they were extremely reluctant. Xue Youka thought that his spicy sticks were gone. The eldest young master was also sad because he wanted to see his lovely girlfriend next winter vacation.

Years later, the eldest young master, who still missed his little girlfriend, met a junior who looked like his little girlfriend who had moved back then, on the university campus.

Eldest Young Master: Huh? ? ? <<less

In the winter of three years ago, the first locked room mu*der in Japanese history was committed.... more>>

All of the evidence pointed to the defendant. It was certain they were guilty. And yet, they were found innocent and released. Why? Because the crime scene was a perfect locked room no one from the police or the prosecutor's office could solve.

"Since the room was locked, it was impossible for the defendant to have committed the mu*der. It's no different than if they had a perfect alibi." That was the argument of the defense, and that was the argument the judge sided with.

The ruling sent a ripple throughout Japanese society. No matter how suspicious you were or how much evidence you left behind, as long as you managed to create a locked room that no one could solve, you were immune from prosecution. With the common anti-mystery fiction talking point "there's no reason anyone would ever actually commit a locked room mu*der" completely overturned, the rate of locked room mu*ders in Japan skyrocketed.

When the police proved unable to deal with the surge of locked room crime, the Ministry of Justice published an official categorization of all known locked room tricks as an investigative aid. When that proved insufficient, Division Zero of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, a police division dedicated solely to solving locked rooms, was created. When that still proved insufficient, locked room detectives, private investigators specializing in locked rooms, were officially licensed by the state and authorized to participate in police investigations. Calling a locked room appraiser, someone specializing in searching buildings for secret passages, is now a common first step in criminal investigations.

On the other side of the spectrum, locked room agents, assassins and crime planners specializing in locked room mu*ders, have become some of the most notorious criminals in Japanese history, and even a cult worshiping the scenes of locked rooms as a way to purify the souls of the deceased has made rapid inroads into Japan.

The protagonist, Kasumi Kuzushiro, is an introverted, somewhat cynical high school student who loves mysteries. Kasumi often finds himself dragged along on bizarre journeys by his flighty childhood friend, Yozuki Asahina. Due to their staggeringly bad luck, these trips often leave them in the wrong place at the wrong time to be caught up in locked room mysteries. Fortunately, another of Kasumi's childhood friends, Shitsuri Mitsumura, is the greatest locked room expert in the world, and can always discover the truth.

Hm? How did a high school girl become the greatest locked room expert in the world?

It's simple.

She's...

Volume 1 was the grand prize winner of the 2022 This Mystery Is Amazing! awards. <<less