MTL - Little Life on An American Ranch - Chapter 97 Goblin

A 21st-century tech manager, accidentally thrust into the body of Emperor Commodus—yes, the infamous villain played by Joaquin Phoenix—has one goal: not to die like him.Armed with his wits and a hyper-intelligent AI on a solar-powered laptop, he must navigate the treacherous politics of ancient Rome. Everyone, including his own sister, expects the arrogant, decadent tyrant. Instead, they find a calculating reformer. But as he tries to avert the fall of the empire, he discovers that being a “good” emperor might be even more dangerous than being the monster everyone is waiting for.

Arthur Grail, a hardcore player of the VRMMO Trinity Star Online, woke up one day in the body of Gerard Astoria—a petty villain fated to die before the main story even began. To make matters worse, Gerard's death was a crucial event in the game's narrative. If he didn’t meet his predetermined end, it could disrupt the story entirely, leading the universe toward one of the countless “bad end” routes!Unwilling to leave his fate to chance, Arthur decided to take matters into his own hands—recruiting the “player” as his partner to help him clear the game and rewrite his destiny.But wait—“Why is the player not a dude but a sharp-tongued beauty instead?!”Follow Arthur's odyssey, filled with trouble at every turn, as he works to uncover the mystery behind his awakening in a universe eerily similar to Trinity Star Online's setting, all while trying to save the entire universe… without forgetting to enjoy himself!

The story is about a boy entering high school, who answers a strange call from a public phone one night. The caller challenges him to a bet: She’ll remove the birthmark which he sees as the cause of so many problems, and he’ll have fifty days to win the heart of a girl he’d considered far beyond his reach. And with this, a very strange summer begins.

Once upon a time, there was a makeup artist who possessed outstanding skills and top-notch aesthetic judgement. When he did makeup for various stars, he could embellish sharpness onto the smooth vases that lacked edges, and he could make models who exceeded the boundaries of aesthetics to appear delicate and soft, more approachable to people.

Male stars loved to request him, for he had a thorough understanding of masculine charm in particular, and the makeup he did was never garishly slathered in oils or powders, instead exuding a natural, dashing air of elegance.

Female stars loved to request him, because not only was he excellent in his skills, he was also everyone’s closest confidant; when they chatted, he could easily hold any conversation, and his mouth would be tightly sealed, never allowing anyone’s privacy to slip out.

Although this person was quite young, after getting by in the makeup industry the past few years, he was virtually considered as a distinguished personality in his profession, and would be referred to as a ‘master’ wherever he went.

But he had a terrifying secret. He needed to carefully tread on thin ice and couldn’t expose even the slightest traces; otherwise, nobody would invite him to work ever again, and nobody would apply to the classes he led anymore.

—He was a straight man.

- Description from Novelupdates