The Empress's Gigolo - Chapter 16: The Big Purchase

At the heart of a wish lies an attempt at completion, a human desire to become our true and final selves. Wishes are fuelled by regrets and are bound eternally to the past, serving as approximations of what once was. We all experience regret and nostalgia, leading us to make wishes and find despair, but can we become our true selves despite this all?That's where the story of a girl who struggles to control her desires begins...Two souls sharing the same body and memory are living in Kyoto 2031. Tang-Ji Shizukesa, a girl who's grown up in her previous life with a hardcore passion for gaming, is now a bookworm in her new life who has no interest in video games. Along with her, Kazami and Hoyeon, the three childhood friends who separated 7 years ago due to an accident, have now been reunited again in a VRMMORPG game known as Dusk Protocol. The game has a unique combat system known as “Leere,” a physical manifestation of an individual soul that can be conjured into deadly weapons.As Tang-Ji navigates this virtual world, she confronts the echoes of her past and the dissonance between her former self and her present identity. How will she cope with the rediscovery of a life she thought she left behind? How will Kazami and Hoyeon react to the new Tang-Ji? In a world where reality is malleable and death is just a click of a button away, the boundaries between past and present blur, forcing everyone to grapple with the truth of who they truly are.Disclaimer: This novel contains explicit language, violence, racism, and sexual scenes. There are also scenes that deal with various traumas, from physical to emotional to mental.(THE CHARACTERS’ CIRCUMSTANCES , TRAITS, AND BELIEFS IN THIS NOVEL ARE ALL BASED ON A TRUE STORY.)

Damien Castro, the God of Lust in the Thousand Starry Domain, was known for his unparalleled mastery of pleasure.His deeds you asked?The Immortal Lotus of the Heavenly Peak Sect, known for her beauty and swordsmanship, fell for his charm.The Frozen Lotus of the Silver Moon Clan, who's cold as ice, was turned into a soft woman.The Empress of the Phoenix Clan submitted to him both in body and spirit.The leader of the Heavenly Shadow Sect, once untouchable to all men, was claimed in just one day.Lastly, the Princess of the Spirit Blossom Sect had her heart stolen while he was just casually traveling.After failing to ascend the Heaven Breaker Tribulation, he died. But when all hope seemed lost, he suddenly awoke in the body of a young man who looked exactly like him, though malnourished.In his return, however, he found himself with a 10 times boost in everything he does. Read as how Damien challenges the heavens once again.

Zorian is a teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, attending his third year of education at Cyoria’s magical academy.

He is a driven and irritable young man, consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, whom he resents for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, he has no time for pointless distractions or paying attention to other people’s problems.

As it happens, time is something he is about to get plenty of. On the eve of the Cyoria’s annual summer festival, he is killed and brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take a train to Cyoria.

Suddenly trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, Zorian will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery before him. And he does have to unravel it, for the time loop hadn’t been made for his sake and dangers lurk everywhere…

Repetition is the mother of learning, but Zorian will have to first make sure he survives to try again — in a world of magic, even a time traveler isn’t safe from those who wish him ill.

The world had changed when the System arrived, alongside the Cataclysm that filled the world with monsters. The technology was gone, replaced by classes and skills that allowed the people to fight back. When Devon ended up as a Blacksmith, a class that didn’t grant Intelligence, he had to face the reality, that his old career that he loved - mathematical sociologist - was over. Instead, he had ended up as yet another discarded member of the production class, overshadowed by the existence of the System Shops to the point of total marginalization. But, what if all he needed was to reapply his scientific thinking to the System...