ikigai by hector gracia

Grace Harper siempre ha sido una forastera—criada en una manada de lobos que nunca la aceptó realmente, adoptada por un alfa con demasiados secretos. Cuando su ex-novio la deja por su pareja destinada y la verdad sobre su adopción sale a la luz, Grace sabe que tiene que irse... o morir intentándolo. Pero su camino hacia la libertad choca con el Rey Licántropo. Frío, poderoso y agobiado por los fantasmas de un pasado que se niega a compartir, Caine no quiere a Grace en su mundo. Él no cree que ella pertenezca a ningún mundo excepto el suyo propio. Y sin embargo, con el destino atando sus almas, su control comienza a agrietarse. Grace nunca pidió su protección. Tampoco pidió desearlo. Pero algo antiguo está despertando, y cuanto más se sumerge en la verdad de su pasado, más se da cuenta: tal vez nunca estuvo destinada a ser libre. Tal vez estaba destinada a cambiarlo todo. Empezando por él. ---- *Grace of a Wolf* es el romance ligeramente perturbado entre una chica humana con inconvenientes valores morales humanos y su pareja destinada levemente sociópata—que además resulta ser el Rey Licántropo y tiene la inteligencia emocional de una roca. Afortunadamente, su peligrosamente magnética conexión está (apenas) equilibrada por el caos de una familia encontrada, un montón de magia, y una conexión de pareja destinada que podría matarla si se tocan. Ups. Justo cuando piensas que estás leyendo *otra historia de hombres lobo*, la trama y la construcción del mundo te sorprenden por detrás con garras, dientes y apuestas reales. Es de combustión lenta, emocionalmente desordenado y entrelazado con el tipo de tensión que podría matarte—o besarte. --- **ADVERTENCIAS:** R18: Escenas explícitas. Además, temas oscuros, incluyendo pero no limitado a: Asesinato, intento de asesinato, una pila de cadáveres, traición, sociopatía leve, un protagonista masculino que parece bañarse en señales de alerta a pesar de que su color favorito es el verde, un odio injustificado hacia los muffins de arándano y robo de almohadas. Un romance de fantasía urbana de cambiaformas lobos **de combustión lenta** y picante con mucha trama aleatoria tratando de bloquear todo. Cuando llegue lo picante, por favor lea responsablemente. Gracias~ [Participación en el Concurso WSA 2025]

"Candles by design burn, and life by design ends. In the meantime doesn't it smell nice?" - Lola Viktor "Me personally, I never bust…” - Tyde Viktor "I have watched the heavens fall as a child. All of its splendor rained down on us and blessed us with its fertility. The demigods frequented my mothers tent, she was our village whore. I had too many siblings to count and none of us knew of our father. The village elders didn't know what to do with us so he made us follow the shepherds hunt, hoping we would die off on our own." - Dior Vain ************************************** [R18+] (For violence and profanity. I don't write lewd content unless it's for comedy)

Matapos ang pitong taong pagdurusa dulot nang pagkamatay ni Hector ay natutunan ni Clarang bumangon at muling lumigaya. Sa kanyang puso at isipan batid niyang hindi na mibabalik pa ang lahat sa dati. Nagising siya mula sa bangungot at muling nagpatuloy sa buhay. Ngunit sadyang mapagbiro ang tadhana, sa isang iglap ang nakaraan ay muling nagbalik. Hindi siya makapaniwalang nagbalik ito sa paraang unti-unting dinudurog and kanyang puso.

Living in a chaotic family means that Hector must inevitably become a small man, mature beyond his years, but even though it is difficult, he can finally grow into a powerful man and survive as a respected Mafia boss. Joy, sorrow and love are finally realized, although of course he still has to learn to survive and fight for them. From his childhood to the day he finally earns his Mafia title, what are the twists and turns in the life of Hector the Mafioso?

Rei Satou is a young ex-carter and skilled con artist who will enter the Ikigai private academy as a scholarship holder. At this academy, students are ranked based on their "merit points". A system that determines who will enjoy certain benefits during their student life, and great opportunities after graduation. Rei, being assigned to the lowest ranked group in the school, has set out to ascend in order to achieve these benefits, while planning revenge against the leader of the Saionji family, the most influential and powerful family in Japan, using the daughter who studies at the same school. With the help of different tricks and traps in gambling games and school tests, Rei will climb to the top of the power hierarchy among the students.

In ancient Japan, one’s purpose in life could be defined by a single word – Ikigai. For a human girl raised to worship magic, Ikigai meant to honor the spirits from afar; but as the divide between the realms grows larger, the word takes on a new meaning in a mystic quest to save the world from itself.

Nacido en la ciudad cibernética de Neon Reach, Shade era un joven oficinista más, atrapado en la rutina de un mundo sin alma. Un salto desde un rascacielos parecía su única salida… hasta que despertó en el cuerpo de un cadáver, en un mundo desconocido y podrido por la corrupción. Perdido en una tierra hostil, Shade descubre el último bastión de la humanidad y una verdad inquietante: ahora forma parte de los Niños Benditos, individuos marcados por poderes extraordinarios y un destino impuesto. Enfrentar a las calamidades que azotan este mundo moribundo. Con su nueva “vida” colgando de un hilo y una habilidad que desafía a la muerte, Shade se embarcará en un viaje tan hostil como revelador, e indeciso sobre su destino impuesto. A acabar con los verdaderos causantes del fin… aunque tenga que morir una y otra vez para lograrlo.

Mizuno Koharu, A high school girl who lived alone in an apartment, doesn't have any interest to have any romantic relationship with any guy, love being kind to everybody, has an IQ of 140 but still called herself an average human being. One day, she never knew what is coming for her. Everything change, completely. But sometimes life can be harsh too, not every of her daily life that she went through was easy for her.

Shen Lu opens her eyes to find she has transmigrated into a wasteland world, becoming the fake young lady who was kicked out of her home. With her is her equally miserable fiancé, the future major villain. Fortunately, her golden finger activates, and in this wasteland world where the average person can't even get a single hot meal, she embarks on the path to riches through food. Egg waffles, spicy hotpot, and crawfish. Braised pork belly, crock-pot soup, and egg fried rice. ... From a small stall to a small shop. Then from a restaurant to a holiday resort, in less than two years, Shen Lu's name became known throughout the world. Countless celebrities and dignitaries hold out Star Coins, begging for just one bite of Shen Lu's cooking. The Shen Family, who had used her up and ruthlessly abandoned her, regret their past actions, crying and shouting as they beg for her forgiveness. Shen Lu crosses her arms: "Sure. Why don't you slit your throats first to show me your sincerity?"

Yunyun is reincarnated into a post-apocalyptic novel with a powerful female protagonist. Unfortunately, she isn’t the heroine. She’s just a minor cannon fodder character… destined to die early. But after awakening memories of the novel, Yunyun accidentally reveals the future through her thoughts— [Mommy, boohoo… your scumbag husband has been cheating on you for years and even has a child with another woman. In the end, they’ll join forces to cripple and torture you to death!] [Uncle, you’ll be betrayed by an ungrateful subordinate and driven out of your own luxurious home, left to freeze to death in the snow!] [Grandpa… Grandma…] In the original story, only her young aunt—the novel’s female lead—survives to the very end, killing her enemies with her own hands… only to live on as something neither fully human nor a ghost. Before they can recover from learning their fates, another thought leaks out— [Sigh, the apocalypse is coming soon. As a three-year-old cannon fodder, can I go offline early? I don't want to suffer through the end of the world…] Looking at the little milk dumpling in their arms, pretending to be silly just so she can laze around… What else can the Bai family do but spoil her? They hoard supplies, renovate and fortify their home, and prepare in advance for the coming apocalypse. Meanwhile, little Yunyun follows her protagonist aunt, accidentally kicking off the base-building plot and helping create a super base where food and clothing are abundant, even in the apocalypse. Step by step, the Bai family rises to power. In the end, Yunyun is dumbfounded: [Wait… wasn't I supposed to be cannon fodder?! Why does this feel like a "pampered lucky baby" story?!] The Bai family: Their little Yunyun is, indeed, their precious lucky baby.