The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire) - Chapter 250

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.

Hunter Cha Eui-jae, who was dispatched to seal a rift that appeared over the West Sea, was flung out as soon as he closed the rift. When he came to his senses, he was lying in a garbage dump.Starving, he was drawn like a zombie is to blood to a hangover soup restaurant, where he realized that he had fallen into South Korea, eight years in the future.In this era, disaster alerts notify people of rift openings in advance, ASMR videos of slimes gathered from dungeons were trending, and idle hunters livestream unboxings of A-rank longswords.Unlike the past, where people trembled in fear of an impending apocalypse, the future was surprisingly peaceful, leaving Cha Eui-jae feeling empty. Since things had turned out this way, why not start a second chapter of life as a part-timer at the hangover soup restaurant, rather than being a hunter?“That’s strange.”“…”“Have we met somewhere before?”Cha Eui-jae’s plan to quietly spend his remaining days as the only part-time worker at the decades-old hangover soup restaurant goes awry when he encounters a mysterious, gas-masked individual…DISCLAIMER: The story isn't mine

“P-please let me go..” I stammered and before I knew it, I was word vomiting while crying. “—I won’t return. You won’t ever see me again. I know you don’t want me as a mate. You hate me, so please let me go.” I cried out.Cain’s jaw tightened with each word that left my lips “What gave you the idea that you have the power to choose what you want?” His voice was low, “You don’t get to decide what, how, and when you leave. Only I get to do that. You don’t get to leave me, you don’t get to run! You only leave when I want you to.”“I didn’t ask for this,” I whispered, trembling. “I didn’t ask to be your mate.”Cain stepped back, “Neither did I,” he muttered under his breath. “But the bond doesn’t give us a choice, does it?”~~~~As the only child of her late Alpha father, Avery Jae was meant to inherit her family’s legacy. But on the day of her arranged marriage to Alpha Lucian, her world crumbles. Rejected, humiliated, and cast aside for her own cousin, Avery barely escapes with her life only to find out a much deeper secret. One that changes everything.When Avery awakens, she finds herself in a foreign land, caught by the ruthless guards of the Vehiron pack, led by the infamous Alpha Cain. Tall, broad and as dangerous as the army he commands.Alpha Cain has a reputation that sends chills down the spine of even the most dangerous warriors. Haunted by his dark past, he has vowed never to take a mate, yet the moment he lays eyes on Avery, everything changes.With a single word, Avery is bound to Cain—whether he wants it or not. In a world where betrayal runs deep, can Avery ever trust the alpha who might just be her worst enemy.

“It’s finally here,” said the man with the sword in an echoing whisper.

“The Tower of Choice, the last 100 floors!” the band of five exclaimed in unison.

Angelica came down from the altar with a dull look, seemingly annoying.

Then we looked around.

“I tell you once again, but you’ve had a lot of trouble in the meantime. I couldn’t have climbed to the 100th floor alone without you.”

Thud!

One by one, they fall to the floor.

Angelica’s dagger pierced my neck, and I felt a darkening in front of my eyes with a tumultuous rage. My awareness faded, from my senses, from everything else. After that, everything was eroded by profound darkness.