"Looks like we have another corpse to clean up."... more>>

"W-Who are you?"

A man wearing a flashy shirt unbuttoned to his chest, reeking of cigarette smoke.

Kwak Chi-gyeom suddenly appears at Han Seul-ah's mother’s funeral, mentioning a deal he had with her deceased mother and bringing up a suspicious vault called "Ephphatha."

And the condition to open that vault is…

"Why… Why do I have to marry this man?"

"Why? You don’t like a guy with a great family background and a solid job?"

"It’s not about liking or disliking…."

The requirement to unlock the vault is a marriage certificate between Seul-ah and a man she has never met, Seo Han-seong.

Determined to open Ephphatha and reclaim what is his, Chi-gyeom begins to linger around her. Amid the chaos, Seul-ah realizes that there is something hidden behind her mother’s death and resolves to uncover the truth.

If everyone is using her, why shouldn’t she use them in return?

She has to survive, after all.

"D-Don’t be so scary."

"Why do you keep trying to seduce me?" <<less

I thought I was lucky to have found a new tutoring job.... more>>

At least, until I met the student’s guardian. <<less

“Your brother’s on the verge of death. What do you say? Should I save him?”... more>>

Irok didn’t know if ten years old was such a young age. By the time his and his brother’s lives were held hostage by Sarira, he had already booked a life of s*avery. In a world where “hello,” “good night,” “good morning,” and “good evening” had vanished, Irok faced a horrific eighteenth year.

“Right. You’re a spy now. Exciting, isn’t it? You get to leave this place.”

His life, which felt like hell, always had a twist. The targeted girl, the pretty one in the photo, held a branch with yellow flowers. Her chubby cheeks and old-fashioned striped hanbok, at four or five years old, were striking. His life, which felt like hell, always had a twist. A woman tied to him through someone’s scheme or malice showed Irok a different kind of hell.

“Irok!”

“Irok! Have you eaten?”

In a world where “hello,” “good night,” “good morning,” and “good evening” returned, what choice would Irok make?

If you die, I live; if I die, you live. Irok didn’t know if eighteen was an age worth dying for. <<less

[Obituary] … passed away on X, X, 20XX. We respectfully inform you.... more>>

When I first saw the message, I couldn’t believe it.

I rubbed my eyes and checked again, thinking I’d misread it.

Did you really make that choice?

It felt like just yesterday we were drinking and talking.

“Hey… Boss. About today’s work…” <<less

How long can a good person stay good?... more>>

My mother's hope, my aunt's dream. Women whose bridges of life are broken, using the lives of others as crutches. I don't want to say it coldly, but looking back on my life, I was just someone's crutch. Because I loved, because I was good, because we were family.

Days when beautiful words didn't feel beautiful at all. And in the winter before entering my senior year of high school, my only neighborhood friend, Kang Eui-joo, also left my side.

On the day of that child's funeral,

"Here to pay your respects?"

I met his older brother. A voice, ground out, low and sinister, echoed in the unlit space.

"You're Yang Ji-eon."

It was shocking that the man knew my name.

"Want to grab a bite?"

That's why I entered that funeral hall as if possessed by something.

After the funeral, I continued a strange form of mourning with him, and then,

"Yang Ji-eon."

"Yes."

"Take it easy. I'm already embarrassed enough."

The moment my life stopped being someone's crutch, I ran away from him as if fleeing.

But unlike before, even though my life was able to stand on its own, I felt like the past connection was chasing after me with wide, staring eyes.

Even on the day I entered university, when walking down unlit alleys, when talking with a new friend on the bus, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me.

"If you're unnecessarily good, you become the perpetrator even when you're the victim. Funny, isn't it? Just like you did to me, even things that are only good can turn out that way."

And then, Kang Eui-joo's older brother, Kang Eui-tae, whom I met again as if by chance.

I can't guarantee that my life, standing entirely on its own, is truly better than when it was a crutch. <<less

Rosena liked people who were easy to understand.... more>>

Someone whose inside and outside were transparently the same.

“…What did he say was the reason for his proposal?”

“He said it was love at first sight.”

But who would’ve guessed she'd end up discussing marriage with a man who shamelessly lied from the very beginning!

A calculating noble never does anything that results in a loss.

And yet the one who proposed to her, a humble baron’s daughter from the countryside, was none other than the famous Grand Duke of Baltinart?

“Suspicious. There’s no doubt the Grand Duke has an ulterior motive.”

A proposal that was anything but clean.

Despite the chill in her body, Rosena’s lips curled up.

‘This actually works out.’

She needed to destroy a magical tracking tool secretly stored within the Grand Duke’s household, a place even most nobles wouldn’t dare step into.

So she’d use this proposal to her advantage.

She planned to divorce the Duke without hesitation once her goal was achieved…

“I sincerely hope you grow fond of staying in the House of Baltinart for a very, very long time.”

Why are you acting like this all of a sudden, Grand Duke? <<less

A woman whose bucket list item is eating a hamburger alone in a park.... more>>

And a man who is clearly someone's cast-off, like an abandoned purebred cat.

Dajeong, who lived thoroughly trapped in her own framework and manual, happens to meet Kim Haeda at a coffee expo in Singapore.

A space where dirty deeds are commonplace behind the glamour. There, a woman named Jeong Dajeong appeared before Haeda, who was about to get caught up in some kind of incident.

*

"Should I help too, like you?"

He asked, taking a step forward. The way she stared up at him made the inside of his throat hot.

Not sure what he was offering to help with, she spat out the hot thing caught in her throat.

"How?"

A gleam slowly entered her dry eyes. It looked like a transparent film was filling them.

"That's for you to decide. Didn't you need me?"

He leaned his upper body forward, resting on his elbow, and the difference in their physiques became clear.

Wrinkles formed on the woman's forehead as she furrowed her brow, lost in deep thought. He unconsciously rubbed her round forehead with his thumb.

Her eyes widened, and she slyly wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Then... shall we start with dating, for now? Us."

According to the manual I set. <<less

I hate you to death, but we can’t let go of each other,... more>>

Even if we fight to the death, we never leave and always come back,

You are my salvation, and I am your breath,

I love you, my one and only fantasy.

Lecan Tenekvan is the leader of an up-and-coming noble faction, considered a rebel due to his overwhelming charisma. Lecan, who eventually becomes the country’s first emperor, is an unparalleled genius on the continent.

Winter Rotea is betrothed to Lecan from a young age but hides her identity under the alias Leyesha after her household is unjustly accused of rebellion. A genius in magical theory, she must kill the stoic Lecan to prove her loyalty. <<less

He just dared to think that he needed to get back his first love that had been taken away from him.
It was all that.
However, in her eyes, he was nothing more than a person who could help her feel less lonely.... more>>

"You must be lonely."

As the pot returned to the induction and its level increased, a subtle vibration permeated between the silence of the two.
Lee Jaehyun rose from his seat, his gaze fixed on her with an enigmatic look.

“Me?”
“You know what kind of guy I am.”
"So what?"
“Why do you treat me well when you know that I’m a different person on the outside and the inside? Maybe that day... Did you see it?"

Lee Jaehyun's voice and eyes changed. He closed in on her, ensnaring her within his arms. Eungyo's body, which was turned away from him, stiffened up, giving her chilling goosebumps on the back of her neck.

"I have a liking for you, Senior. It was love at first sight."

A languid voice sank into her ear. It was also a voice that was contrived, mischievously twisted, and did not express any sincerity.

"We would have already been sleeping together if you had gone on a blind date with me.” <<less

Judith had once seen a living dragon.... more>>

His name was Serpion. A legendary archmage who, despite being born with ominous red eyes, had clawed his way to the top of Lumentia’s magical world through sheer ability. He stood as the shining master of the Ivory Tower, ranked No.1 among all magi. People praised him as though a mythical dragon had returned to life.

Just like that pristine tower that never lost its brilliance, everyone believed his name would shine forever. And oh, how that made her stomach twist with envy.

[Serpion Mirnoia. Dismissed by unanimous vote.]

But at last, the myth came to an end. Not just ended, completely and utterly collapsed.

[The criminal Serpion is hereby classified as a Tier 1 Threat. He is permanently expelled from all Lumentia institutions.]

The man who had once been Lumentia’s brightest star became a disgraced criminal overnight. Despite all his achievements, despite once being hailed a hero, Judith didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry for him.

If only he hadn’t cast forbidden magic. Or if, after doing it, he had shown even a shred of remorse. Or at the very least, if he hadn’t treated people like dirt his whole life. Then maybe people wouldn’t have been so eager to cut him off the moment he fell.

If not for all that, someone like Serpion, a man of such immense power, might never have fallen this far.

He had it coming. And he got what he deserved.

Judith, who knew better than anyone how insufferable he had been, laughed out loud at the news of his downfall.

“Hey there, Judith. Long time no see.”

She never imagined he would come looking for her himself. After eight years, he appeared, still brazen, still unashamed, and made her an outrageous offer.

“I’ll make you an archmage.”

He, a man who had lost everything, promised to turn her, a woman born without magical power and thus never even considered a mage, into a master of the arcane.

“But… you’re broke now, aren’t you?”

He had nothing left. And yet, he dared to make that promise. <<less