Ashen Requiem - Chapter 38: The Sidekick and the Demon

He was supposed to be just a guardian.But love doesn’t follow rules.After losing his mother, 18-year-old Kai finds himself under the roof of his cold, powerful stepfather, Sebastian Vaughn. What begins as silence turns into lingering glances, late-night tension, and a love Kai can’t run from—even if he tries.But Bast isn’t just any man. He’s possessive, broken, and hiding dangerous secrets… including an ex-lover who wants to destroy everything. As feelings grow, so do the risks.How do you escape a man who says he’s your everything—your father, protector, friend… and lover?

In humanity’s final war against the Demon Lord, the strongest heroes fell—not by the enemy’s hand, but by their own, twisted into madness by a cruel illusion. Betrayal. Bloodshed. Despair… and then, silence.Only one person remained: Riley—the weakest warrior of them all. Powerless. Ignored. Forgotten.But he saw through the Demon Lord’s deception. The tyrant was on the brink of death—so weak even a fly could’ve finished him off.And Riley did just that, drawing every last ounce of strength to bite off the demon’s head.Victory? Not quite. A final, desperate strike from the Demon Lord pierced him from behind, killing him instantly.But fate wasn’t done with him yet.Riley awoke ten years in the past—when the online game [Apocalypse] was launched. Before demons descended. Before monsters overran the world.And this time, he wasn’t starting from nothing. He had a decade of experience—and a second chance.Even more shocking, he didn’t awaken his old D-rank Strength Boost talent. This time, he received something far more terrifying: an SSS-Rank Gluttony talent!He could now devour anything—monsters, items, talents, even traits—and gain their power.Ding![You have devoured: Iron Fang Wolf][Acquired: +4 Strength, +2 Agility, Skill: Bite (F-rank)][You have devoured: Goblin ShamanAcquired: +8 Intelligence, Skill: Mana Bolt (E-rank), Talent: Minor Spellcasting Efficiency][You have devoured: Flaming Salamander Drake][Acquired: +22 Endurance, Trait: Dragon’s Resilience, Skill: Flame Breath (C-rank)]Now, there is no demon, no god, no monster who will stand in his way. He will devour everything—and save the world.But the power of Gluttony was a double edged sword. If he wasn’t careful… he could be the one getting consumed.

Yeon-woo had a twin brother who disappeared five years ago. One day, a pocket watch left by his brother returned to his possession. Inside, he found a hidden diary in which was recorded “By the time you hear this, I guess I will be already dead….”

“Do You Believe In Magic?”Cha Jin-sung, a nineteen-year-old web novelist, is stuck in a rut after his popular story, Tales of Heroes and Demons, is abruptly cancelled. Battling with his failures, he receives a cryptic message from an unknown reader, offering him the chance to complete his unfinished story. But in a surreal twist, his response to the email leads him to an extraordinary situation—transmigration into the very world of his novel.In Meltonia, a fantastical world filled with mana and strange powers, Jin-sung now inhabits the body of a seemingly insignificant character, Kaiser Vanguard, who was written into the story out of pity.Jin-sung, now Kaiser Vanguard, uncovers a chilling realization: he must survive the events he wrote into his novel. With his soul merged with Kaiser Vanguard’s, Jin-sung must navigate the hostile landscape of Meltonia, where the stakes of his story have become all too real.As he struggles to survive and understand his transmigration, Jin-sung's main goal becomes clear: to finish the story he once cared for so deeply, now that it’s no longer just fiction—it's his reality. However, whether he'll be able to navigate the dangers of the world he created and reach a satisfying conclusion remains uncertain.This new journey will test his wit, survival instincts, and desire to complete the tale he left behind, all while facing the possibility of an ending far darker than anything he ever intended.