Stray Cat Strut - SCS Contest Winner: Isabelle’s Little Idea - By the WackyWombat!

Birth rates are decreasing. Hope is vanishing. The world has gone gray.Humanity, drifting in quiet collapse, receives an email.Every person on Earth. Simultaneously.The Aegis Mandate.Disguised as a cosmic aptitude test, it triggers The Incident of Separation—a global psychic cataclysm that erases identities, wipes memories, and divides all survivors into three factions: Law, Neutral, and Chaos. Overnight, cities become battlegrounds. Apartments become dungeons. Ordinary people become monsters—or the ones who hunt them.Ragnar Vhagar was just a loner university student. Now, thanks to a system he didn’t ask for, he’s a newly minted Demon King, locked in a crumbling apartment with goblins under his sofa and a glowing soul crystal next to his frozen peas. His new job? Build a deadly domain, defend it from invading “Heroes,” and somehow level up fast enough to not die.Alongside him is Isabelle Thorne, a razor-sharp warrior of few words and one very sharp sword. Their reluctant alliance, born in blood and snark, evolves into trust—and maybe something dangerously close to affection—as they rise together through the layers of the game-like world they’re trapped in.With each conquered domain and defeated boss, Ragnar realizes the truth: the dungeons aren’t meant to crown a winner. They’re meant to break the players. The Law faction wants control. The Chaos faction craves destruction. But Ragnar? He wants something they’re all too afraid to say out loud:Freedom.In the ruins of Kanta’s ogre stronghold, Ragnar and his misfit warband take their biggest step yet—claiming a kingdom, unifying a fractured system, and preparing for what comes next. The Heroes are watching. The gods are stirring. The world is watching a war.And somewhere deep beneath it all... Ragnar is rewriting the rules.

God gave me one more chance and finally came back after four hundred years.

As soon as I realized I returned, I decided that ‘no one should have pride.’

My goal was to destroy the country. So, I grew up with a genius prince who lived in hiding before returning.
He took up the empire for me and I left him for him to achieve his goal.

‘I came to pick you up Charlize Ronan.’ Dylan, who became a perfect tyrant after a few years, found me after searching all over the continent.

‘Why did you flee and run away?’

[Reading Notice]

“The whole story is set in an ideal world for fans chasing stars.”

“The main storyline is about a company’s growth and expansion through idol group management.”

“The protagonist of this story is only the female lead, **while the supporting roles’ storylines all serve the protagonist’s growth.**”

Jiang Juyou, who graduated from a second-tier university, was on the verge of giving up after having a breakdown from her internship. Suddenly she saw a job posting:

“Looking for interns, 9 to 5, weekends off, social insurances and housing fund provided after being converted to formal employee, internship certificate provided, monthly intern salary 8500, food and housing included, formal salary negotiable, requirement: strong stress resistance.”

It’s a perfect trap for college students.

Worried that it might be a scam but still went anyway. After arriving, she –

“Ding-”

“Welcome to the Entertainment Company Operations Manual!”

Got bound to a system.

“What the hell?”

Bound to the system, Jiang Juyou was forced to become an entertainment company boss, and so she became someone she hated but also wanted to be – the rich.

[I’m crying but I’m pretending I’m not.jpg]

Jiang Juyou’s company became a wind vane in the entertainment industry:

She introduced a new talent show format, and those shows followed suit.

She created new conceptual peripherals, and those companies followed suit.

She operated a new model boy group, and those companies also follo…can’t copy, because Jiang Juyou spent too much money.

The fan community shook daily, but Jiang Juyou dodged a bullet.

Fans:

“To the company: Made the petty Entertainment die. To Jiang Juyou: [wry smile] I’ll let you off this time.”

“Lol, Jiang Juyou got lightly let off because she’s too pretty!”

“Can scold the company but don’t scold Jiang Juyou!”

“Every time I see Jiang Juyou training trainees, I think why isn’t she training me (sorry)”

After Random Entertainment became the hottest company in the industry, Jiang Juyou was isolated by capital.

Capital didn’t play with her, so she became capital herself, becoming the main seat at the table, becoming the one everyone had to suck up to –

–

[Background setting: Jiang Juyou time traveled, lost her memories due to the impact of space-time, but her subconscious would drive her actions.] [The male lead is the background board system]

Yuka, reborn as the daughter of the universe's richest man, tries to live a simple life. She gets a big shock when she has to join Union University of the Alliance because of government rules.In university, Yuka picks an easy major, hoping to keep a low profile. But her plan doesn't work. She keeps facing tough situations that show off her smart mind and strong skills. Yuka tries hard to live normally but keeps getting pulled into extraordinary accidents.This is the story about how Yuka grows. It's about her trying to hide her real identity while dealing with a world that always challenges her.