Yuusha no Segare - Volume 4, Interlude – 2

The legendary tale of the Xyrin Empire is not about its struggles... or the tempest of another world or some cultivation myth. This is a super-serious, super-hard sci-fi novel about saving the world.Take what I’m saying seriously...Not.Okay, this is just a funny story about a deceptive human emperor, bringing his bunch of slippery alien leaders to have fun saving the world every day.Chen Jun is an unmotivated otaku who turns into the Emperor of an ancient intergalactic magic sci-fi empire. With the aura of a stay-at-home dad, he is nothing but a middle-aged man who adopts a group of lolis... and an army of freeloading aliens that came out of nowhere. Er, what?Ahem. Really though, this is a super-serious story... a super-mega-ultra-serious sci-fi story.For the Empire!

(Isekai, Fantasy, Non-transmigration, Unconventional, Ensemble cast, Meticulously crafted setting, Multiple identities, Light novel, Succubus)I have many masks, and each has its own story.I am the unremarkable little artist of the Church of Dawn; the strongest apprentice in the gladiator arena; the killing machine in the eyes of goblins... The holy nun beneath the sunlight is me, and so is the old gentleman on the train... I have hurried through underground tunnels in escape, and I have left behind beautiful legends on the frontier...Beneath the mask, there is an even more beautiful mask; within the lie, there often lies a hidden truth...My name is Ogre. A child raised by ogre since birth. It's a pleasure to meet you.

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

Yeri was once a succubus, a powerful and irresistible seductress who fed on desire. Now reborn as a stunning young woman in the modern world, she must navigate the confusing collision of her human innocence and her demonic memories.One night, fate leads her into the path of Shin Keir, a dangerously magnetic and notorious CEO known for getting everything he wants—except peace. Their accidental encounter sparks an intense, uncontrollable passion, and a single night together changes everything.***Excerpt:The dream had returned.Same eerie forest. Same surreal woman in the crimson dress. But this time, the setting had changed slightly. She now stood at the edge of a cliff made of jagged, glowing red rocks that resembled oversized rubies.Scarlet butterflies floated around her like living embers.A thick fog blanketed the area like some forbidden realm between worlds.She turned to him, her smile soft, sweet—and somehow tragic.She was heartbreakingly beautiful, ethereal yet forlorn, like a love story written in fading ink.Shin had tried to call out, but the wind swallowed his voice. As he stepped forward, the woman mouthed something. He couldn't hear her.Then, in a horrifying instant, her body tilted, and she plummeted off the cliff.The despair that followed wasn't just a feeling—it was a full-body, soul-tearing scream that never made it past his throat.Without hesitation, Shin leapt after her.He awoke convulsing, drenched in cold sweat. His eyes gleamed with a strange madness, a devil struggling behind the polished CEO exterior.***Disclaimer- Places and characters are all works of fiction.