The lavish dinner began.
The meat was tender and succulent, the vegetables crisp and refreshing.
The hot soup was also exceptionally delicious.
In this magical world, people commonly use knives and forks, but Xu Xi was more accustomed to using chopsticks, so he carved a pair for himself.
Krisha, who originally used knives and forks, somehow felt the urge to learn how to use chopsticks after seeing Xu Xi wield them.
And so,
a peculiar scene unfolded in Xu Xi’s home.
While everyone else was happily celebrating New Year’s Eve with knives and forks, the little witch was locked in a battle with the chopsticks, repeatedly picking up and dropping food in an awkward struggle.
She blinked in confusion.
“So difficult…”
Krisha couldn’t understand why, after more than half a month of practice, she still hadn’t mastered these two small wooden sticks.
They were just ordinary sticks, yet they were harder to learn than magic.
“Krisha, take it slow.”
Xu Xi reassured her, demonstrating the motion in slow motion. After another ten minutes, the girl finally managed to pick up her first piece of meat with the chopsticks.
As if she had accomplished some ultimate goal, she let out a relieved sigh.
Chopsticks, the eternal nemesis!
To avoid letting the dinner go cold, the girl eventually gave up her battle with the chopsticks and switched back to her familiar knife and fork, starting to savor the meal Xu Xi had prepared.
“Is it good?” Xu Xi asked.
“Yes, Mentor, it’s delicious,” Krisha’s eyes widened slightly.
The clinking of knives and forks against plates.
The sound of teeth chewing food and tongues rolling.
All of this happened simultaneously in that moment.
Without a doubt, judging from her expression, the girl truly enjoyed Xu Xi’s cooking.
But after taking her first bite, she suddenly stopped and turned her hollow eyes toward Xu Xi, as if waiting for something.
“Alright, I’ll eat too.”
Xu Xi smiled and began to eat as well.
Under the glow of the light, the two figures cast long shadows—the bright white light and the deep black shadows were distinctly separate yet perfectly harmonious.
The New Year’s Eve dinner for just the two of them was quiet, far less lively than the celebrations in ordinary households in the city.
But Xu Xi felt it was enough.
Delicious food and the company of someone dear—wasn’t that more than enough?
“Whoosh—”
“Whoosh—”
The fierce wind beat against the windows.
Outside, the world was blanketed in snow.
The once beautiful garden, full of blooming flowers, was now buried under increasingly deep snow, and even the withered tree had its branches weighed down by heavy clumps of snow.
Sitting inside, Xu Xi took a sip of the hot soup and felt an inexplicable warmth.
Not just from the steam flowing through the room.
But also from the girl sitting beside him.
“It feels like home…” Xu Xi thought to himself as he gazed at the snow falling outside.
For this New Year’s Eve dinner, Xu Xi had put in a lot of effort to make it a memorable one for Krisha, but for just two people, four dishes and a soup were clearly a bit too much.
Even though the girl, with her demonic bloodline, had a slightly larger appetite than most.
After half an hour of feasting.
There was still plenty of food left on the table.
Krisha stood up and began to clear the dishes, intending to wash them, but Xu Xi stopped her.
“Wait, Krisha.”
“Mentor…?”
In the girl’s bewildered expression, Xu Xi’s finger brushed over his spatial ring, and from it, he retrieved a sapphire necklace and a gold coin that he had prepared earlier.
The sapphire necklace was placed in the girl’s left hand.
The gold coin was placed in her right hand.
Her expression grew even more confused.
Xu Xi explained, “In my hometown, there’s a tradition of giving children gifts and blessings when the New Year replaces the old.”
“So, I chose this necklace for you.”
“I thought it would look beautiful on Krisha, and the sapphire in the necklace also enhances your water magic.”
“As for this gold coin, it’s your New Year’s lucky money, symbolizing a wish for your safety and well-being.”
Xu Xi spoke softly,
waiting for Krisha to accept the gifts.
But the young witch neither accepted nor refused. She just stood there in a daze, her hollow, lifeless eyes fixed on Xu Xi.
The room was quiet, but Krisha’s eyes were even quieter.
Like a fragile mirror, shimmering yet easily broken.
This mirror had shattered many times before—time and time again, so many times that even Krisha herself had lost count.
And today.
This fragile mirror, these empty eyes.
Reflected only Xu Xi’s figure.
Filling her entire world.
For some reason, Krisha suddenly felt her throat go dry. After opening and closing her lips several times, she barely managed to utter a complete sentence.
“Why… why would you… give me…”
“Do I need a reason?”
Xu Xi reached out and gently ruffled the girl’s hair. After two months of rest and care, her once dry, straw-like hair had become soft and smooth.
“But… but…”
The girl’s eyes were filled with confusion.
But someone like me, a worthless creature, doesn’t deserve gifts.
I should have been discarded, a useless, unwanted piece of trash.
Yet I’ve been bathed in the warmth of the “sun,” living in the light.
This is already enough to make me happy, enough to make me feel fulfilled. Just being able to maintain this life, the witch truly feels content.
Yes.
A flawed failure like me shouldn’t ask for more.
“No ‘buts,’ Krisha.”
Xu Xi’s words interrupted the girl’s confusion and unease.
His words carried warmth, like the flickering flame of a candle, drawing in the person struggling in the darkness, making her want to get closer.
He said this:
“In life, you don’t need to overthink things. There aren’t so many ‘whys.’”
“If you like something, do it. If you don’t, then don’t.”
“Krisha is usually very obedient and well-behaved, so I like Krisha and want to give her gifts.”
“Similarly, if Krisha likes the gifts I’ve given, just accept them. Unless… Krisha doesn’t like them—”
Hearing this,
the girl quickly shook her head, tightly clutching the necklace and the gold coin.
Using her actions to express her fondness for the gifts.
“I like… Mentor’s gifts.”
“That’s great to hear.”
Hearing the witch’s response, Xu Xi smiled.
The frail and slender Krisha appeared quiet and well-behaved, but her expressionless face and hollow eyes still made one instinctively worry for her.
However.
Compared to two months ago, she was much better now, wasn’t she?
Xu Xi’s eyes softened as he recalled the first time he had seen the girl, two months ago, in her pitiful state.
A filthy alley filled with dirty water, a body covered in wounds, a young face smeared with blood, and trembling, powerless legs.
Back then, Krisha had tried to rob Xu Xi with a small knife.
But what Xu Xi saw and heard.
Was a clear cry for help.
“Save me…” It was a plea that even the witch herself hadn’t realized, hidden deep within her eyes, in every wound, in every ounce of pain.
A desire for someone to see her.
A plea for someone to pull her out of despair.
A silent cry for help to everyone she met.
Xu Xi saw it and heard it all, so he saved Krisha that day.
He couldn’t abandon a witch who was crying out in such anguish.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
