"Oh, nice. Prosciutto with melon."
Marco speared a slice and popped it into his mouth. The salty richness of the cured ham cut perfectly against the sweetness of the fruit, and for a moment, all the bullshit socializing felt worth it. This was good food.
At the front of the banquet hall, the stage lights gradually focused as the emce...
2026-01-22 00:34:30 +0000 UTC View Post"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"An elite individual with an international perspective."
Marco stared at the invitation in his hand, then looked up at the hotel manager standing in his doorway with the kind of smile that could sell ice to penguins.
International perspective? The only thing he'd done internationally lately w...
2026-01-22 00:32:46 +0000 UTC View Post---Third POV---
Viktor fell silent for two seconds.
"I think I've figured out what's going on."
The players were thinking way too far ahead. No need to worry about that right now. He chose to change the subject.
"The school can be built slowly over winter. How are the literacy classes I asked you to set up?"
Before ...
2026-01-22 00:30:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe two raced and chased, and with what could be called their respective last-ditch modes bolstering them, their speeds had already skyrocketed to an unimaginable level. In less than just a few minutes, they came to a halt in the vast, boundless open sea.
Above the wave-tossed azure surface, Jigen and Ryouma's figures turned into two blurr...
2026-01-22 00:28:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe news that the Fire Daimyō would be coming to Konoha to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Fifth Hokage stirred up a whirlwind throughout the village.
Without exaggeration, in a world where clan politics run from top to bottom, the daimyō families are first-rate aristocratic houses. Konoha is the odd one out for having come up wi...
2026-01-22 00:27:25 +0000 UTC View Post"Piltover's been quite lively lately," Emystan said, her voice breaking the silence in the council chamber. "Nobody wants to tell me what's going on?"
She'd called another meeting of Piltover's elite. Every major family was represented, crammed into the space. Her intelligence network had confirmed that today was the day, the citizens of P...
2026-01-22 00:25:52 +0000 UTC View Post"Daiki, hurry up! You're going to be late!"
Honoka stood in the doorway, arms crossed, staring at her son's bedroom door. She'd been waiting for five minutes already and her patience was wearing thin.
"Coming! I'm coming! Don't rush me!"
Daiki's voice came from inside, followed by the sound of frantic movement. A moment later t...
2026-01-21 01:26:31 +0000 UTC View PostAt the Hokage Building, Minato and Shikaku sat across from each other reviewing the latest intelligence reports. The document detailed troop movements from both Iwa and Suna, coordinated deployments heading toward the Land of Lightning's borders.
Minato set down the report and leaned back in his chair.
"I honestly didn't expect thing...
2026-01-21 01:25:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe rooftop was quiet except for the wind whistling between the tiles. Robin stood across from Scarlet. She wore a serious expression as she sized up the massive gorilla. Sanji had warned her before the fight, this thing's body was tough as hell. Even his strongest kick had only managed to injure it. It couldn't even break a bone.
With tha...
2026-01-21 01:23:51 +0000 UTC View Post"Looks like we've got no choice. Time for the ultimate move!"
Goliath watched the goatmen descend into complete frenzy, then turned toward Usopp with a look that said everything. Usopp's eyes lit up immediately. He spun around to do a headcount and figure out the formation, but stopped short when he realized how few of them were left stand...
2026-01-21 01:22:43 +0000 UTC View Post"An experiment? Oscorp?"
When those words connected in Mario's mind, alarm bells started ringing. If he'd had anime-style hair, a single strand would've stood straight up in warning.
Is the plot starting already?
Peter jumped to his feet, panic written all over his face as he tried to leave, but Mario grabbed his arm.<...
2026-01-21 01:21:05 +0000 UTC View PostAfter seeing Max and Caroline off, Mario continued wandering through New York with Skye, hitting spots they hadn't explored yet. Maybe it was because of the daylight, but Spider-Man's distinctive red-and-blue figure never made another appearance. Hours ticked by, and the sky gradually darkened into evening. Dark clouds rolled in from the ocean, ...
2026-01-21 01:19:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe air in the alley seemed to freeze.
The figure in dark green crouched on the fire escape, those sharp eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, and for a moment he just stopped. He'd prepared himself for a lot of things: begging, excuses, maybe even a desperate counterattack from some street thug hopped up on adrenaline. What he hadn'...
2026-01-21 01:18:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe Apex Hotel was exactly what Marco had expected from a four-star establishment: spacious rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of downtown Star City, a bed large enough to fit three people comfortably.
He dropped his duffel on the luggage rack, kicked off his boots, and collapsed face-first onto the mattress. It was soft. Too soft...
2026-01-21 01:17:47 +0000 UTC View PostCountry music crackled through the radio in broken fragments, lyrics about heartbreak and pickup trucks that somehow matched the scenery rolling past outside the window. Vast fields stretched to the horizon, dense forests climbed distant mountains, and the occasional small town flashed by in a blur of gas stations and diners. Even the air felt d...
2026-01-21 01:16:54 +0000 UTC View PostBarry felt like he'd been stuffed into an industrial centrifuge and spun for hours before being violently ejected. The world snapped from a dizzying blur of color and light back into familiar reality. He didn't stick the landing, his feet hit the pavement wrong, and he stumbled forward several steps. The soles of his shoes scraped against asphal...
2026-01-21 01:15:59 +0000 UTC View PostHonestly, Marco couldn't quite wrap his head around how these people's brains worked. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud right there at the table.
In Gotham, gangsters showing up with bags of cash to bribe cops? Normal.
Spraying down a police cruiser with an AK during a breakout? Monday.
But s...
2026-01-21 01:15:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe grey loop of Metropolis' ring highway disappeared in the rearview mirror as the Cherokee headed west on I-76. Outside the window, the scenery shifted gradually from Metropolis' forest of glass and steel to the rolling hills and farmland of Pennsylvania. Country music came through the radio in broken snippets, and Marco felt like he was drivi...
2026-01-21 01:13:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe restaurant's head waiter led the procession personally, followed by four burly servers. Working in pairs, they carried platters bearing tomahawk steaks of astonishing size. Every diner in the restaurant stopped eating. Conversations died mid-sentence. Silverware was set down with soft clinks. All eyes followed the servers as they moved.
<... 2026-01-21 01:12:43 +0000 UTC View PostDusk settled over Metropolis. The city lights flickered on one by one, draping the steel and glass skyline in a shimmering coat. Following the directions Clark had texted him, Marco pulled the Cherokee up in front of a restaurant called Morton's Steakhouse.
The dark wood exterior gleamed under warm lighting, giving off that classic, upscal...
2026-01-21 01:11:56 +0000 UTC View PostAfter promising Clark he'd keep his mouth shut about the whole Superman thing, Marco stood up and headed out. It was still work hours, after all. He couldn't exactly expect someone to babysit him on company time. He walked out of the Daily Planet building with his hands in his pockets, taking his time on the sidewalk. The crowds around him moved...
2026-01-21 01:10:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe ring road along the bay ran straight through the landscape, and ended abruptly here. Marco pulled the Cherokee onto the roadside, killed the engine, and stepped out. The moment his boots hit the pavement, it felt as though he had crossed into a different world.
Bright sunlight poured down without restraint, so intense it made him squin...
2026-01-21 01:09:36 +0000 UTC View PostBehind the thick glass of the ICU, Barnes lay motionless on the hospital bed. Tubes ran from his arms, chest, and throat. The ventilator breathed for him. His face, which had always been set in that hard, uncompromising expression, was slack now.
He wasn't a threat anymore. Just a body, slowly withering, trapped in a shell that refused to ...
2026-01-21 01:08:06 +0000 UTC View PostRain had been falling for three days straight, turning Gotham into a cold, grey mess. The kind of weather that seeped into your clothes and stayed there, no matter how many layers you wore.
Three black Cadillacs moved in a slow convoy along the road leading out of the city. The route took them past warehouses and loading docks that had onc...
2026-01-21 01:07:17 +0000 UTC View Post---Third POV---
Creak.
Cobb opened the doors of the town hall, exhausted in both body and mind. Gazing at the orange glow of the evening clouds on the horizon, he let out a long sigh.
"Another night already."
After watching Abel spend his days eating, drinking, and enjoying himself, Cobb had only now truly unders...
2026-01-21 01:03:14 +0000 UTC View Post---Third POV---
Hedgehog chimed in from the side.
"Even if the game map really is that big, wouldn't you spend several months just traveling on the road?"
"More than that," Lux said as she sat on the steps of the Magicians Guild. "There are vast wastelands along the way, monster territories where hardly anyone ever goes. A year...
2026-01-21 01:02:05 +0000 UTC View PostJigen was extremely confident in his own power. Faced with Ryouma descending from the sky, he reacted instantly, releasing a row of black rods in front of himself, intending to forcibly withstand the impact and then counterkill.
Unfortunately for him, he made a classic mistake born of experience.
In their previous exchanges, Ryouma's...
2026-01-21 01:00:36 +0000 UTC View PostBlack spikes closed in on Ryouma from all directions. In the blink of an eye, the space around him was transformed into a thorn-filled death zone.
Earlier, while Jigen was speaking, he had taken advantage of the upwind position to silently scatter these extremely tiny spikes around Ryouma. All he needed to do afterward was use Sukunahikona...
2026-01-21 00:59:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe election for the Fifth Hokage of Konoha finally kicked off in a lively fashion. The one in the best mood about this was Minato, who greeted everyone he met.
Fugaku was also in quite good spirits. The smell of ink on him was even stronger than usual, to the point that there were signs that "Fugaku scripts" were about to circulate on the...
2026-01-21 00:58:35 +0000 UTC View Post"Masashi, everything is already prepared. Tomorrow, when the villagers vote, even by the most conservative estimate, about sixty percent will vote for you."
The one who said this was Shikaku. He said it with confidence, and for good reason.
Konoha is not an agricultural village. In essence, it is a commercial village, and the vast ma...
2026-01-21 00:57:49 +0000 UTC View Post