ASHES OF THE INNOCENT

Vansh lived quietly among coffee cups, photographs, and days that all felt the same. He never believed that anyone could quietly become part of his world—until he met her again. Aanya. She was a girl whose smile softened his silence and whose presence felt warm enough to be called home. Each moment spent with her felt strangely familiar, as though he had loved her long before they met again. Somewhere between quiet mornings, sunrises, and stolen glances, Vansh began to fall for a girl he felt he had already loved once before.

"Well… I'm fucked." … Imagine this: you escape your most mind-numbing college lecture… Professor Henderson droning on about the Agricultural Revolution of 14th Century Flanders, just to hide in a bathroom stall and pull your guaranteed legendary gacha in your favorite game. You've been saving for months. This is it. This is your moment. ...And you pull the worst fodder character in the entire game. Then, as if the universe hadn't humiliated you enough, you hear gunshots. That's how Klaus died… clutching his phone, staring at a trash-tier pull, bleeding out on grimy bathroom tiles while some psycho unloads a clip outside. Pathetic? Absolutely. But hey, at least it couldn't get worse. Except it did. Because now he's woken up inside [Artemis Online]... the very game that betrayed him moments before his death and not as the overpowered Protagonist with his bullshit angel bloodline and auto-heal cheat code and not even as one of the gorgeous gacha waifus everyone whales for or an extra with a decent backing. No. He's reincarnated as that exact same fodder character he pulled. The tutorial NPC. The guy with Metal Magic… the most common, bottom-tier trash magic in existence. The guy whose entire life savings (one measly gold coin) was already spent registering for the Divine Wizard Academy's Entrance Exams in two months. Oh, and did he mention the Protagonist is basically a nepo-baby demigod? Born with the King's bloodline, raised by an literal angel mother who peaced out to heaven, and adopted by the most prestigious noble clan in the kingdom because some rich lady thought his rags looked cute. The guy trips over plot armor everywhere he goes. Meanwhile, Klaus can't even afford a decent meal. How the hell is a no-name mob character with garbage-tier magic supposed to survive an entrance exam designed to kill 90% of applicants? How is he supposed to avoid getting trampled by protagonists, villains, and every overpowered side character in between? Just as despair sets in, a familiar notification appears: 「Ultimate Gacha System has been initialized」 「Roll the gacha wheel once daily for a chance at legendary rewards!」 「Good luck, player. You'll need it.」

This body was forged from swords, With blood of iron and a heart of glass... After the Great Hero Emiya single-handedly fought through the Holy Grail War in one night and saved his sister Illya, he believed he would meet his end. But when he opened his eyes again, he found himself transported into the world of Mushoku Tensei. And so, a new story begins. "Be it the Dragon God or the Human God, to protect my family, I will defeat every last one of you!" "Unlimited Blade Works!"

In a world where magic defines reality, one boy was born without it. The moment Null entered the world, magic itself vanished—if only for a few seconds. From that day forward, anything supernatural ceased to exist within two meters of him. Declared a devil and feared as a disaster, the prince was abandoned by his own kingdom and raised among society’s outcasts. For eighteen years, Null believed he was simply defective. Until the night everything changed. When royal knights attack and their enchanted weapons dissolve near him, the truth emerges: Null isn’t powerless — he is the denial of magic itself. His ability, AXIOM, rejects anything that defies real-world logic, creating an unavoidable two-meter domain where supernatural laws collapse. After tragedy destroys the only home he ever knew, Null leaves behind his past and encounters Leo, a mysterious boy who falls from the sky and claims not to belong to this world at all. But they are not alone. Unknown beings who call reality a system begin watching them. To these entities, Null is a “virus,” Leo an “unregistered file,” and their existence threatens the structure of the world itself. As kingdoms fall, reality fractures, and the boundary between logic and magic begins to break, Null must confront a terrifying truth: What if the world itself is wrong? And what happens when reality’s greatest rule… cannot be turned off? Because within two meters of Null— Only truth can exist.

Cursed at ten, Izana Grimshaw grew up feared by others and by himself. The night the curse awakened, destroyed his family and left him believing he was a monster, a belief he carries as a permanent mark of his grief. Now a ruthless mafia boss, he hides his light-sensitive green eyes behind a white blindfold while the curse slowly destroys his health. He distrusts physical contact, recoiling from any touch as if it could harm both him and others. At twenty-six, Izana is forced into an arranged marriage with Leah Gryphon, a woman with a past as dark as his own. She tries to help him survive the curse, but he pushes her away, convinced he deserves nothing but isolation. But as hatred turns to understanding, and understanding to something far more dangerous, Izana must face the truth. Love may be the one thing strong enough to challenge the monster he believes himself to be.

An alien race invaded the Earth on June 6, 2128. At the midst of this war, many nations allied with the alien threat and the war nearly wiped out the rebelling humans of the planet. At the edge of mankind's survival, the United Nations Army launched its forces to eliminate the immediate stellar threats that loomed over Earth. General Seeker Carlean, commander and leader of the mission, risked and gave his life to destroy the immediate stellar threat. The battle was won though Earth lay in ruins. Perhaps mankind will live to see a few years of peace before the alien threat returns to wipe out their existence. At the immediate aftermath of the stellar battle, the fallen Seeker Carlean awakens and finds himself at aged 17, living the peaceful life he lived 16 years before he died. So begins a new game in the battle for humanity's survival. ---- Cover art by Jayps. http://www.behance.net/Jayps

Doctor Su Yi, suffering from amnesia, originally planned to spend his whole life with Exusiai in Penguin Logistics. But ever since Ch’en Hui-chieh forcibly kissed him, everything changed. Amiya: “All that once was… have you forgotten it all?” Kal’tsit: “I fulfilled what you hoped for. I learned to love. I found myself—only to lose you.” Savage: “I want to give little Amiya a complete home.” Exusiai: “Texas, the kid’s hungry. Go feed it.”

When Izumi first transmigrated, he thought he had arrived in a normal, everyday world. But then... Megumi Kato: “I really want to become a magician.” Izumi: “No, you don’t. Your talent would cry if you did!!” Eris: “As a summoner who can summon what I draw myself, I…” Izumi: “Don’t you have any sense of what you’re drawing?!” Rias: “Izumi-kun, would you like to join my servants?” Izumi: “No way. Forget it. I’m the man you absolutely cannot have…” … A normal daily life is impossible. The only way to muddle through is by mixing in elements from other worlds. ____________________________ Raw: 说好的日常，你却灵气复苏了？ Read also on MTL: You promised to go about your daily life, but your spiritual energy has revived? I just want to read in peace...

Reincarnated into a world of magic and monsters, Victor didn't become a heroic knight or an all-powerful Archmage. Instead, he woke up as the Principal of the Abyssal Academy—a bankrupt, crumbling school for the continent's worst villains, dark mages, and assassins. The teachers are embezzling funds. The students are trying to assassinate him daily. And the "Heroes of Light" are planning to raid the school and execute everyone in thirty days. But Victor isn't sweating. In his past life, he was a ruthless corporate tycoon, and he just awakened the [Tycoon's Ledger] System. He doesn't need to fight with magic; he fights with capitalism. A student tries to stab him? Victor survives and charges them a 5,000 Gold "Practical Exam Fee." The Heroes of Light are invading the campus? Victor sells the broadcasting rights to the Demon Realm and opens a massive betting pool. Armed with his ledger, a cold heart, and a brilliant mind, Victor is about to show the magical world that the most terrifying power isn't a Tier-9 Fireball. It's compound interest. Welcome to the Abyssal Academy. Your tuition is due.