Arcane Era - Chapter 36: True Fear

Meili is a once-in-a-generation beauty raised in secrecy in the inner courtyards. To keep her safe from the palace concubine selections, her family conspires to make everyone, including her, believe that she's ugly. The secret's revealed when 3 peeping Tom’s get more than they bargained for spying on the 'ugly sister' bathing.The perverts are best friends, a young commander, the second prince, and an admired poet, and the 3 young men compete fiercely for her affections. As Meili emerges from 16 years in seclusion, her deeply rooted body dysmorphia has hilarious consequences as she misreads her interactions with men and proves to be a far more complex puzzle to woo than any of them are equipped for.A cdrama romcom where a young girl is a glittering prize trying her hardest not to be won.[#teen #lovequadrangle #historicalromance #romcom #chinesedrama #sweetromance]EXTRACT: Meili slipped out of her robe and sat on a ledge in the warm pool. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, tiny silver bells tinkled as she moved.It felt wonderful to be free of her chest binding. It was starting to get quite painful. She didn't dare stop wearing it in case it encouraged her already disconcertingly large breasts to keep expanding.It was onto this scene that the Commander, the Prince and the poet happened, as they soundlessly raised their heads above the peaked roofline. For a full minute not one of them moved or breathed.Her long hair covered her generous curves, allowing tantalising glimpses. She reached behind her neck to push back her hair.Commander Bai, realising what was about to happen, clamped each of his hands firmly over the eyes of the Prince and Tan Bowen. A fight broke out on the ridge-line as the men clawed and scratched in a panicked attempt to see what came next.Meili looked up in fright, just as the commander forcefully pushed his two friends, sliding them down the steep rooftop.For just a split second, the eyes of Commander Bai and Meili met.

How would you react to waking up in a completely new body—one pulled straight from a game you used to play?That’s the unexpected reality our protagonist, Licht, now faces.Trapped in the body of a character he once defeated and killed, Licht inherits not just the appearance, but the karma of the original. Branded a villain, he’s burdened with the consequences of sins he never committed.As a first-act antagonist in the eyes of the world, his fate is already written: to be exposed, condemned, and destroyed.But Licht refuses to accept that. He chooses to fight. To survive.Karma of the past be damned.Yet the deeper he falls into this world, the clearer it becomes—this is no game. It's darker, more twisted, and far less forgiving than anything he’s ever known.This isn’t a hero’s journey.This isn’t a warrior’s rise.This is a villain’s survival.

“Wang Cheng, we need to practice more!”

“No, I want to guarantee eight hours of sleep every day.”

…

“Wang Cheng, it’s almost nine o’clock, and you’re late.”

“Didn’t you go to work at nine o’clock? It’s still a minute away. Where’s the punch card machine?”

…

“Wang Cheng, what variety show do you want to be on?”

“Is there a fishing variety show?”

- Description from novelbuddy

A pair of young girls that appear to be the same age act like a mother and a daughter. They are on a journey for one reason: to obtain a medicine that will stave off the daughter’s disease. Killing demons, deceiving people, and giving her everything in hope that there’s a way of rescuing her daughter. This is the story of their fragile hope and overwhelming despair.