Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cat Strut ⁠- Book Three - A Young Lady’s Hopepunk Safari

A free spirit meets her match in all-around perfect bachelor whose humorlessness is his only flaw. When Xia Zhen reaches the unfortunate marriageable age, she is forced to go on a blind date where she meets Pei Cheng An. Her cunning plan is to pretend to be completely infatuated with her date in front of her mother, while sabotaging the actual relationship. Except Pei Cheng An isn’t the type to follow the script.

*

In Xia Zhen’s opinion, Pei Cheng An is a person whose way of thinking belongs in the last century and whose manner of speaking reminds her of her grandpa. But since he looks dreamy and has qualifications, she’ll just pretend that she has fallen for him at first sight.

Eh? Pei Cheng An also finds her good enough to start a relationship with.

Great. Now when he finds out that she’s not a suitable partner for marriage and dumps her, she can return home all heartbroken and request to temporarily go on a brief no-blind-dates period. This is excellent. However…

“I’m so unreasonable. Why aren’t you breaking up with me?”

“A man should be tolerant towards his girlfriend.”

“I’m so mean to you. Why are you being so kind to me?”

“Girlfriends are meant to be spoiled.”

“I’m not gentle or considerate. Why aren’t you breaking up with me?”

“Likely it’s because… I like you.”

- Description from Novelupdates

Kenji’s life was hard. During the day, he worked in a bookstore. At night, he served ramen. He did it all to take care of his family. His mom was sick and needed medicine, and his little sister needed money for school. His best-paying gig was working for a mysterious author, illustrating the manga for a popular web novel. There was just one problem: he hated the story.He was in the middle of drawing the academy arc when his frustration peaked. The story’s villain, a rich kid named Azrael Ashveil, was weak. He made dumb mistakes and died unfairly. Kenji thought the character deserved better. After finishing a panel showing Hero's Victory, Kenji collapsed from exhaustion.He wakes up not in his small apartment but in a fancy bed with silk sheets. Looking in the mirror he sees the handsome, violet-eyed face of Azrael Ashveil. He has entered the story he hated and is now the doomed villain.Worse, he's arrived late to the party. The original Azrael has already made a mess of things. The story's golden-boy hero, Kaelen, already despises him. His beautiful wife, the half-elf heroine Elvara, is terrified of him. And all of his death flags-the events that lead to his execution are right around the corner.Azrael must use his knowledge of the future just to stay alive. Can a minor villain with no power of his own really change his fate, or will he just find a new, even more tragic ending than the one he was trying to escape?

Cassian had lived his life in the most miserable way. He had scrubbed the floors and washed the clothes in the cold winter and done everything just to please his uncle’s family, but in return, they sold him to a merchant only for a pouch of coins.And the merchant decided to gift him to the king of Aetherlyn, a faraway kingdom from his small village to show his loyalty and curry favor from the king. And he was the lucky one from the group to be choosen by the king. Thus he got the position of palace servant.Cassian thought maybe his life in the palace would be different, but he was bound to be disappointed as the people in the palace were far more sinister and ruthless. Scheming ran in their blood.And can anyone tell him why his path always crossed with the notorious first prince of the kingdom? The seemingly cold prince had an unpredictable temper. And why was he always drawn to him like a moth to a light?Will Cassian be able to survive in the palace where the true faces are hidden behind masks, or will he become more entangled in their schemes and just become a mere pawn in their game?

It’s not always the Asians who get isekaied. Very rarely does an American get chosen, though the lords of isekai have reasons for that. It’s time for John to remind them of those reasons.This story started as a gag. It is no longer a gag.