MTL - Nine Cents Refining - Chapter 105 Refining and burning

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

When Lu Huang woke up as Lidia—the villainess of a cringe-worthy romance novel—she was determined not to let the story play out like the dumpster fire it was written to be. Nope. Dying at the hands of the Alpha King after being falsely accused, publicly humiliated, and manipulated into madness? Yeah, that’s not on her to-do list.Armed with a sharp tongue that could flay egos, the street smarts of a broke college grad, and the petty audacity of someone with nothing left to lose, Lidia decides she was ripping up the script. Holier-than-thou saintesses? Screw ’em. Self-righteous alphas? They can eat dirt. If this world insists on casting her as the villain, she’s going to own it—on her terms.One chaotic scheme at a time, Lidia’s ready to rewrite her fate—and if she has to break a few rules (and maybe some noses) to do it, so be it. Villainesses don’t play nice, and Lidia is just getting started.

“Stop following me!” Asher yelled, his patience running thin. He had let it slide for too long because she had done a lot for him. But now she was everywhere, suffocating him.“I’m only trying to protect you,” she responded.Asher sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I need some space, alright? I can take care of myself.”She didn’t budge, and just kept staring at him with that same obsessive look, like she had no intention of leaving.“Is it because you’re strong now? Are you going to leave me because I'm no use to you anymore?” Her voice had turned cold, sharp enough to cut through the silence.“Of course not, you know that’s not the reason…”“Then why do you want me to stop following you?”“I’m just going to the restroom, for God’s sake!” He massaged his temple, clearly at his wit’s end.“Oh, you should have said that earlier.” She giggled, the earlier tension melting away.“I did,” he sighed in defeat.

The person whom the world revolves around.