Hard Enough - Chapter 10: The gauntlet thrown down

Markus spent his life piecing together fragments of his past life on Earth, flickers of faces, half-remembered streets, the ghost of a world that no longer existed.Slowly, gradually, he’d finally found his footing in this new world of monstrous beings. He felt grounded, as if his fractured memories could finally settle into something resembling a family.But it all went downhill from there.A lingering touch, a promise, an obsession. As if fate itself was playing a cruel joke, his life begins to spiral down. Gradually tumbling down like a crescendo of madness, dragging him deeper into something inescapable.Every attempt to claw his way back only pulls him further down, like a bottomless pit with no end in sight.How much can a person endure before they break? And when they do, can they ever truly piece themselves back together?

When Fang Jin learned that he was in a cultivation novel where the protagonist was a lady and that he had become cannon fodder, he quickly racked his brain to think of a way to save himself.

Everything seemed wrong until he saw it.

[First day as a pet owner.]

[Attractiveness +1]

…

[A day of cultivation with zero gain.]

[Understanding +1]

Yan Yuling was born into a wealthy family and was an abandoned daughter since childhood. Her stepsister took her place as the pampered daughter of the Yan family and used her as a sacrificial lamb. She only wishes to have a boring, normal life.Unfortunately, she was destined to meet a handsome and talented businessman, who is also known as a 'cut-sleeve'. Their meeting is as cliche as a dog-blood drama, signaling the intertwining of their destinies. But, under the gentleman's facade, he is someone who carries dark secrets and thirsts for revenge.As they get to know each other better, they discover each other's hidden stories that could destroy their fragile relationship and kill their budding love.Faced with so many secrets, can they truly find love from each other?

Keita Sumeragi was a man of dreams—once a hopeful mangaka who poured his soul into heartfelt tales of romance, comedy, and friendship. But the world never smiled back. Readers ignored him. Publishers laughed. And when the only offer he got was to draw the one thing he hated—NTR (Netorare)—he refused.Until life left him no choice.His wife walked out. His daughter starved. And when his first NTR manuscript was complete, the publisher gave the job to someone else.Broken, guilty, and hollow, Keita leapt from the rooftop with a bitter smile—Only to awaken in the world of his own rejected NTR manga.In this twisted realm, he’s reborn as the main protagonist—handsome, popular, and surrounded by women with all-too-familiar faces. His sweet and kind “motherly” wife resembles the wife who left him. His seductive stepsister has the same eyes as his daughter once did.In this warped erotic hell, where anyone can be seduced—teachers, aunts, even grandmothers—Keita must face his deepest guilt, his darkest fantasies, and the genre he once despised.Because in this world, NTR is fate.And the story must go on.