I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe - Chapter 176: Demon in the Bottle – 15

“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.

Jiang Li takes a meal and gains the status [Satiety].

[Satiety: Restores 1 Stamina per minute. Duration: ∞]

He no longer has to eat.

He sticks a talisman on himself and gains the status [Armored Horse Divine Travel].

[Armored Horse Divine Travel: Increase movement speed by 1000%. Duration: ∞]

Taking pills, gaining spiritual qi, refining the body, nurturing the soul, and increasing life expectancy…

He only needs one pill for the status to take effect for the rest of his life.

Those crippling secret techniques that boost power for three seconds but result in three-year feebleness? They are now the most powerful and most amazing techniques!

Waiting for a thousand years to comprehend the Dao after using one enlightenment pill? No, he is comprehending the Dao every day!

He is Jiang Li, a Prince Charming who can turn an instant into eternity →_→…

In 2177, the world changed forever. The first full-dive VRMMORPG, 'Eclipse Online', was released.With its breathtaking graphics and adventures, countless players and already established guilds flocked to the game, which stunned the entire world and forced the largest conglomerates to act immediately after gold could be bought with money.It was supposed to be the future of gaming.For Yone, it was the cause of his destruction.Starting over once more, he has entered this “living game” again to control his own fate.This time, he will not be controlled by others and will instead walk his own path.“Kill them till they are allies”This was Yone's infamous phrase as he will rise from just an assassin expert to an unprecedented peak in this life.

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.