Cross' Library (1)

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Cross' Library (1)

A list of novels I've read and loved. Genres include one or more of the following:

- Strong/Clever/OP Protagonist
- Morally Grey Character(s)
- Transmigration/Reincarnation/Rebirth/Time Travel
- Game Elements/Game World
- Survival Game/Unlimited Flow
- Other/Fantasy World
- Apocalypse
- Plot + No Romance
- Plot + Power Couple/Healthy Relationship
- Slice of Life
- Historical Setting/Interstellar
- Horror/Supernatural

*I won't include every novel I read here, just the ones I really think are worth at least a try. There are also a few I dropped but I felt like it was more personal bias or a pet peeve that made me drop it/give it a low score, and objectively, other people might like it.

*List has reached max amount so I'll start another one.

*Continued here: www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/55531/

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53 Followers

cywscross

Created: Jul 10th, 2020, Updated: Feb 5th, 2023

Created Jul 10th, 2020

Updated Feb 5th, 2023

CN (4)

#76Why Fall in Love if You Can Attend Tsinghua University

549 Chapters Every 33.3 Day(s) 7051 Readers 153 Reviews 01-25-2023

Completed Comedy Drama Fantasy Josei Psychological Romance School Life

8/10, On Hold @ch309... more>>

CN (4.5)

#77Greetings, Ninth Uncle

408 Chapters Every 28.1 Day(s) 11251 Readers 187 Reviews 05-04-2023

Completed Drama Fantasy Josei Romance

8/10, On Hold @ch90pt3... more>>

CN (4.4)

#78Entertainment Industry Acting Emperor

101 Chapters Every 36.5 Day(s) 4902 Readers 82 Reviews 11-14-2022

Completed Drama Romance Shounen Ai Slice of Life

9.5/10, Finished... more>>

CN (3.7)

#79Retired Villainess Transmigrates into a Cannon Fodder

834 Chapters Every 6.7 Day(s) 4516 Readers 55 Reviews 04-28-2024

Comedy Drama Romance Xuanhuan

7.5/10, On Hold @ch218... more>>

CN (4.6)

#80The Job of an Imperial Concubine

0 Chapters Every 1763 Day(s) 4606 Readers 149 Reviews N/A

Completed Drama Fantasy Historical Josei Mature Mystery

9/10, Finished... more>>

By the same author as To Be A Virtuous Wife and Eight Treasures Trousseau, this one's pretty good too but significantly different in dynamics. First of all, the ML is already the Emperor so he has a harem, and FMC is transmigrated directly into the body of an unfavoured concubine. This novel focuses on the drama inside the harem, where literally everyone is scheming against each other all the time, there are no true friends/sisters, and everybody's trying to one-up each other. The author highlights how restricted women are in these times, and how their lives might look glamorous on the surface but really they're all constantly fighting for survival. It's a more realistic approach than TBAVW and ETT, which were great but admittedly just a best-case and even idealized scenario for a woman.

I still like those other two novels more but this one's a refreshing change of pace. FMC is very practical, and she approaches this life like it's her job, which it kind of is lmao. She has to put up a front in front of the other concubines and the Empress and even the Emperor, it's a twenty-four-hour job, so she can only roast them on the inside, which makes for comedic moments too.

For the romance, I personally think there isn't really any even though the whole premise is the FMC trying to make the ML fall in love with her (and very much succeeding lolol). But she does that so she can at least secure a decent life because it's not like she can divorce him and leave, and falling out of favour can literally mean death or at the very least being suppressed and bullied by the other concubines. ML is very much a man of his time. FMC literally calls him scum several times because by modern standards, this guy is scum. But for someone of that era, having multiple women, regarding them as playthings and tools for childbirth, and favouring them when he likes them and abandoning them when he doesn't are all perfectly normal, doubly so when he's the Emperor. As I said though, FMC goes at it like it's a job, the Emperor is the last boss she has to defeat, and the s*x is a perk for her, so while adultery and this kind of scum man is not usually my cup of tea, I'm fine with it here. The ML is being slowly lured step by step into the palm of FMC's hand anyway.

FMC considers herself a normal person (she was a PR manager for a company that produced several defective goods in her past life and considers this life karmic retribution lmaooo but she comforts herself by reasoning that her boss must have it worse than she does).

All in all, definitely give it a try if you like this genre or you've read the other two novels. Don't go in expecting true love and happily ever after. Read it for the resourceful FMC as she fights her way to the top.

Done! What a ride. So many schemes. And like I said, don't read this if you're into true love and happily ever afters. This is a happy ending, but you can tell by the end that the FMC is maybe fond of the ML to a certain degree but def isn't in love, while I think the Emperor is in love (or at least cares about her a lot) and he'll go significantly further for her than pretty much anyone else but I don't know if she ranks at the very top of his priorities if push really ever comes to shove. Also, the woman he believes loves him with all her heart with no ulterior motives, which is the main reason he fell for her, doesn't actually exist. But FMC will do everything she can to keep him happy because that guarantees herself and her child a long life, and ML will probably only cherish her for the rest of his life, or at the very least she'll always have a place in his heart, and honestly in this situation, it's probably the best they can hope for. It's somewhat bittersweet, and you can't help sympathizing with some of the other women in the harem (I actually really like the Empress and she deserves way better but at least she doesn't have a horrible ending), but that just makes this whole novel more realistic. FMC in particular never changes her view of her position from beginning to end, being an imperial concubine is a job, one that if she doesn't do well in will mean a miserable end and probably an early death. She's very clear about what she wants and what she has to do to protect herself, and while she doesn't go out of her way to face-slap/attack anyone, she also won't let herself be stepped on, so anyone who messes with her is fair game.

On a side note, you can also see in the extras four years down the road that the harem seems to have grown more peaceful once FMC's position in ML's heart (and second highest in the harem after the Empress, but FMC has no interest in usurping her, and the Empress has also accepted the situation so they're basically in a stable low-key alliance) is secured. The other women aren't ever going to be best friends with each other or FMC, but those still in a position of relative power also seem to have more or less resigned themselves to the status quo, and those too low in the food chain keep their heads down. It's a little funny that they all silently ridicule the new girls coming into the harem all thinking they can seduce the Emperor away from FMC (yeah, ML still picks a couple every few rounds, which is significantly less than before but he still does sometimes visit another concubine's residence for the night to sleep with them, so take that how you will ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯). I think the most genuine love both FMC and ML have is for their son. <<less

CN (4.7)

#81All-Round Mid Laner

166 Chapters Every 31 Day(s) 6392 Readers 110 Reviews 04-21-2024

Comedy Romance Shounen Ai Sports

10/10, Finished... more>>

CN (4.1)

#82Full Level Bigshot Only Takes the Career Path

123 Chapters Every 9.9 Day(s) 2805 Readers 17 Reviews 01-27-2024

Fantasy Romance Slice of Life Yaoi

8.5/10, On Hold @ch98... more>>

CN (4.5)

#83After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

134 Chapters Every 37.1 Day(s) 4738 Readers 55 Reviews 11-02-2022

Completed Action Adventure Comedy Horror Mystery Shounen Ai Supernatural

7.5/10, On Hold @ch20

CN (4.3)

#84Master of Trading Star Card Game

108 Chapters Every 105.3 Day(s) 4118 Readers 40 Reviews 06-27-2023

Adventure Comedy Romance Sci-fi Sports Yaoi

10/10, Finished... more>>

This is so f*cking good wtf. It’s hilarious and educational, if you like history, you’ll prob find this one pretty interesting. MC is aces at art and gaming, I love the card designs he comes up with, and the reactions to them are always a riot. CP is very nice too, friends to lovers slow burn, with side characters who are decently fleshed out. The whole cast is very good. I love the friendships between them.

Finished! Oh my god this was so good. The MTL was mental torture but the novel was worth it. I loved the MC's development as he goes from a freshly transmigrated newbie in the Star Card Game to a master designer and player. Also one of my favourite things is the friendship dynamics between him and the side characters. MC is someone with a lot of charisma, and he believes in speaking with his strength, something a lot of the people around him admire. It's hilarious how the other pros all want to mu*der him for the crazy cards he designs, but when he needs help, he doesn't even need to ask before they come out to give him a hand.

Anyway, everything about this was good. You can tell that the main focus from beginning to end was always the MC's journey to making cards and become a master in this game. The ending was satisfying, with extras expanding on the ships (Nie Yuandao x Shan Lan, Chen Qianlin x Chen Xiao, and then Tang Muzhou x Xie Mingzhe's road trip/relationship reveal/wedding). The first side ship could be seen coming from a mile away lol, the second one is the longest and could be its own dog blood drama but I couldn't stop reading it and the author actually put a lot of thought into Chen Qianlin's character. Though I do feel a bit sorry for Xie Mingzhe, like the focus is on those the Chen brothers for this extra arc so we don't get pov for him, but just imagining MC having to deal with his master/coach and his partner going through ten times more relationship drama than he ever had to with Tang Muzhou, in a way that literally affected the club because Chen Xiao retired because he wanted to get away from Chen Qianlin, and then came back once Chen Qianlin chased after him and they figured their sh*t out, and it was a whole thing, and yeah it gives even me a headache, let alone MC. And on the surface, MC was like "I don't know what's going on with you two but it must be difficult and if this is your choice then I'll respect it and continue to carry the club", cuz that's just how he is even if it upsets him on the inside. In contrast, for once, ML wasn't so calm, and like Tang Muzhou basically never gets angry outwardly but this time, when he accidentally saw the retirement application form Chen Xiao submitted, he straight-up called him out on his bullshit. Wait let me quote the whole thing cuz ML ripping him a new was giving me a way to vent:

["No matter what problems happen between you and Master, the choice to retire really sucks, you are escaping reality. Nirvana was created by you and A-Zhe, now you just walk out, have you ever thought about him? You know exactly how much he gave for Nirvana. In the eleventh season, for the team competition, he abstained in the individual competition and was scolded by netizens for how long? But he never minded his losses. Because he is responsible for his teammates Yu Ke and Qin Xuan, and responsible for you, a good friend. But what about you? Is there still a little sense of responsibility to the Nirvana Club? You are not only the founder of Nirvana, but also the largest shareholder. Other clubs will frantically target Nirvana, and next season, Nirvana may not even be able to make the playoffs, which will be the heaviest blow to clubs in the rising period. Have you thought about it?" Tang Muzhou usually speaks and does things gracefully, it is rare to see him talking so much at once to reason with people, and this time he is obviously angry.]

Honestly those were my feelings on the matter. LIke yeah, pining sucks, unrequited love sucks, but when you have a responsibility to other people, especially over something that you helped create (and at the beginning, it was pretty obviously implied that Chen Xiao was dropping hints about wanting Xie Mingzhe to learn more about star cards and compete so that Chen Xiao has an excuse to contact Chen Qianlin again), you can't just run away because of personal problems. So this arc left me with mixed feelings, it was good, very dramatic, and both characters, esp Chen Qianlin, were fleshed out well, but I just wanted to shake the both of them. Anyway, everything worked out in the end, happy endings all around, and Chen Xiao even apologizes to Xie Mingzhe later. This was just me venting some more lmao. And most people would prob just think it was all very romantic.

The main ship is done really well, MC is a shameless cutie, was a bit emotionally dense before getting together with ML but also was 100% committed as soon as he realized ML's feelings for him, and the ML is excellent. Here's a quote from him: "Just as he has always pursued the concept - liking you and being good to you, that's my business, whether you will respond or not, is your freedom. I only do what I have to do, and the choice is yours." If only all MLs had enough braincells to understand this. This couple is just really chill and really devoted to each other. A quote from MC: [Xie Mingzhe looked up at Tang Muzhou and said seriously, "How can it be boring? The trip is secondary, being with you is the point. With senior brother here, it's the same everywhere."]

On a second reread. Since the translations on NU stop at ch54, it's best to read it here www.zhenhunxiaoshuo.com/xingkadashi/ and use the google translate function instead of going to one of those mtl sites. There are still some pretty glaring mistakes at times but it is much more readable in comparison. The mtl websites are an exercise in torture, esp with all the history/lore in this novel. <<less