MTL - The Book of Troubled Times - Chapter 53 Cui Yuanyong

Office worker Leon is reincarnated into a particularly punishing dating sim video game, where women reign supreme and only beautiful men have a seat at the table. But Leon has a secret weapon: he remembers everything from his past life, which includes a complete playthrough of the very game in which he is now trapped. Watch Leon spark a revolution to change this new world in order to fulfill his ultimate desire…of living a quiet, easy life in the countryside!

“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.

After a night, surprisingly I acquired a husband!

Well, the fact is that after a one-night stand, I unwittingly signed a marriage agreement.

There isn’t a bad in-law relationship but instead a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law alliance.

The purpose of our alliance: Make my husband interested in women!

Frankly speaking, a man who isn’t interested in a woman … is he gay? Having a husband who is suspected to be a gay, I will fight for him and not let him go astray.

So I raise my eyebrows and with a wicked smile: My dear husband, wait and see how I am going to teach you to be a real man!

- Description from Novelupdates

Time is an illusion, and reality is a fragile thread in Kael's fractured world.Kael's life is defined by darkness, memories that flicker in and out like glitching shadows. Struggling with haunting nightmares and terrifying hallucinations, he finds himself trapped in a reality that doesn’t make sense—a reality where time is breaking, and nothing is as it seems.When a mysterious red notebook, filled with cryptic symbols, falls into his hands, it opens a gateway to a world where the laws of time no longer apply. Every hour, every minute, every second twists and warps, and Kael begins to realize that something—or someone—is manipulating time itself, pushing him to the edge of his sanity.But he's not alone. A girl, whose existence is as twisted as the world around them, seems to be connected to his suffering. Kael's bond with her grows as they both search for the truth behind their disturbing experiences, yet the more they uncover, the deeper they fall into an abyss of despair and madness.The Pulse, an unfathomable force that distorts time and reality, pulses through their very existence. As Kael inches closer to the truth, he faces a devastating choice—one that could either save them or shatter everything they hold dear.Time is collapsing, the Pulse is awakening, and Kael must confront the horrors lurking in the fractured timeline before it consumes them all.