balloon heads junji ito

Young Master Lu says, "My wife knows nothing at all and has a bad temper. You'd better not bully her." Gu Mang watches silently as this man warns everyone who comes his way. Young Master Lu says, "Read properly. How can you remember anything if you flip the pages so quickly?" Gu Mang takes up another book and reads it speedily. Young Master Lu complains, "What should I do when my babe hates studying?" What else can he do other than dote on her? Until one day... "Young Master, numerous universities in the capital and even top universities overseas are fighting to get Madam to enroll!" "Young Master, many TCM research centers are getting into deadly squabbles over hiring Madam." "Young Master, a legion of huge international law firms want to employ Madam." "Young Master, several eminent hacking organisations are here too..." "Young Master, multiple financial groups have come..." "Young Master..." To all these, Young Master Lu says, "What the f**k! Get out of here!" Yes, his wife is a genius.

After living ten years in a living hell. Ten years of fighting against the Machinas. Ten years of watching her comrades die in front of her eyes. Ito Ai finally met her own end at the hands of the Machinas. But to her surprise, instead of dying, she woke up in a familiar place. With a second chance at life and knowledge of the events of the future. Will Ito Ai be able to change her fate? Will she be able to put a stop the Machinas? Or will she be forced to hide and struggle as she did in her past life? The wheels of fate are always turning. ---- **** Cover Art, not mine!*** Only the text is! I will update it once I get a new cover made! Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/79yyJSD Show your support and buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/invayne Follow on twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorInvayne Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/invayne/

**The Trinity of Death: The Swordsman of Rolling Heads—by Jhunzkie Rakabuba.*** Ayronee died by his own choice — a rooftop, a fall, a desperate bid for silence after years of mockery ground him to nothing. Death did not deliver peace. An angel delivered an ultimatum instead: live again, or burn forever. He chose life not because he wanted it, but because the alternative was worse. Reborn as Hexia in a medieval fantasy world, gifted with power he never asked for, and bound by one condition that cannot be broken — he cannot die by his own hand. Ever. **Eighteen years of training. Three years of emptiness. A legend built entirely in blood.** By eighteen, Hexia is the Swordsman of Rolling Heads — a protector whose signature technique, the Guillotine, is a perfectly horizontal strike that ends threats with surgical finality. Crimson-eyed and emotionally hollow, he kills fifty bandits in five minutes and walks away feeling nothing. He is not living. He is enduring — waiting for a death that will never come, having reduced his entire world to one pursuit: peace at any cost. **Then Sirenia arrives, and refuses to look away.** Silver-haired, stubborn, and perceptive in the way only the fearless can be, Sirenia sees past the blade and the emptiness to the man being slowly destroyed beneath both. Hexia saves her from an ambush. He heals her. Neither is prepared for what that exchange costs them. Over six months, patient and persistent, she begins dismantling what he spent years constructing — not through force, but through sheer presence. Slowly, painfully, Hexia begins to understand that survival and living are not the same thing. **Then the past returns, and shatters everything.** Lhoralaine — the childhood love Hexia buried in silence — reappears alongside Fred, the man who took her, who has spent years wearing friendship like a mask over something far colder. One confrontation in a tavern. One rolling head. And the world learns what happens when the Swordsman's carefully maintained restraint finally breaks. **What follows is larger than murder.** Fred's death was not merely a killing — it was a key. Ancient seals crack open. Six god-like entities called Ancients stir from imprisonment beneath the world. Angels and demons descend to deliver a verdict no one in that tavern was prepared for: Hexia did not commit a crime. He triggered a countdown. In six years, Ignarok — the Eternal Flame — rises to reduce continents to ash. Every six years after, another Ancient wakes. If all six are freed, the Primal Ancient returns, and existence ends without ceremony. **Six marks. Six heroes. Six years.** A divine hexagram burns into Hexia's palm. Five others bear the same mark scattered across four continents — each wielding an element, each carrying damage the world has not yet seen. Hexia, Sirenia, and Lhoralaine must find them, from Nerissa the void-wielding dwarven princess to strangers whose names and wounds remain unknown, and forge something resembling an army from people who barely know how to survive themselves. This is not a story about heroes who rose to the occasion. It is about a man who wanted to die being forced to save everyone. About two women fighting for the heart of someone who has forgotten it exists. About whether people shattered at the foundations can hold the weight of the world — or whether the weight simply finishes what the breaking began. The Ancients are waking. The mark burns. The clock has started. And Hexia — who asked only for silence — must now decide whether existence, for all its agony, is worth the fight.

What image comes to mind when you hear the word "Hero"? Perhaps the real question is, what is your ideal hero? Strong, glorious, and fearless even in the face of perilous foes? A magnificent warrior of peace and justice to whom everyone can look up? If you answered yes. Then Gideon may fall short of your expectations. He was summoned to another world against his will and forced to survive the dangers of the new world while pursuing the grand mission imposed on him. Gideon, who has no faith in his own abilities and believes he is unworthy of the title of powerful warrior, let alone hero. A damaged soul with a deeply flawed personality. However, a hero would be incomplete without his dependable aides. Because he is not fighting alone in this battle. Within him, he has unexpected, unwelcome, and obligatory allies. Yes, inside him. Being one-of-a-kind does not automatically make someone special. But being special does not necessitate being unique... or alone. Not everyone is chosen to be a hero, and not everyone chooses to become one. Not all heroes wear capes and shining armor, and not all heroes are perfect. Some of them are messed up, severely flawed, and ridiculously chaotic. This is a story about a group of not-so-heroic people who share a single body. Join Gideon Brangwen and his less-than-ideal companions on their long, arduous, and colorful journey to the world of Eteria, and watch them grow from zero to almost heroes. Not quite a hero, but not far off. *** [Posting Schedule: 1k words every chapter on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays] I can only write 1k words per day and cannot write every day.

The zither and lute sing in harmony with white heads.

In a city that never sleeps, beneath the veneer of neon lights and the hum of everyday life, lies a hidden world where nightmares are born and pain is eternal. Test Subject 0202, a boy stripped of his name and humanity, has endured years of unspeakable torment within the cold, sterile confines of a clandestine lab. His body, cursed with immortality through grotesque experimentation, has been shattered and rebuilt more times than he can remember—his every death a new symphony of agony. But as the experiments grow ever more brutal, a sinister figure emerges from the shadows. The Cheshire Cat, a being of twisted power and malevolence, offers 0202 a perverse form of freedom: servitude in exchange for release. In a world where death is a luxury and suffering is eternal, 0202 is faced with an impossible choice. The Cheshire Cat, with his smile as wide as his cruelty, promises revenge on those who have inflicted such horrors—but at what cost? As the line between salvation and damnation blurs, 0202 must confront the true price of freedom in a world where even the end of life is not enough to escape the darkness. In this twisted tale of pain, power, and the thirst for escape, *Test Subject 0202* delves into the darkest corners of the human soul, where the true terror lies not in death, but in the endless, inescapable suffering that comes before it. (This Is a submission to enter the Spirity awards 2024)

A myth woven with dreams, sacrifice, and a love that defies even the gods. Long ago, in the divine realm where spirits dance among stars and the breath of gods shapes worlds, two ancient beings found each other—not through power or purpose, but through love. Zenko, the majestic nine-tailed fox, was no ordinary kitsune. Feared and revered, he was a guardian spirit with eyes like silver storms and a heart hidden beneath layers of cold mystery. Only one soul could see through his mask—Shirayume, the Baku, a gentle and pure dream-eater whose presence was as serene as moonlight over snow. She was the whisper of peace in a chaotic world, and he was her eternal flame. Together, they were complete. But even in the heavens, love can become a curse. Zenko’s love, deep and wild, turned desperate. He sought to protect Shirayume from every danger, even those not yet written by fate. His possessiveness clouded judgment, and in his reckless defiance of celestial law, the gods passed judgment. Stripped of power and memory, Zenko was cast down to the mortal world—reborn as a human, unaware of the spirit he once was, but burdened by an aching emptiness he couldn’t explain. Shirayume, devastated by the cruel separation, made her own sacrifice. Forsaking her divinity, she too chose reincarnation—her only wish: to find him again, even if neither remembered who they once were. Centuries passed. In modern-day Japan, two strangers brush past one another on a busy road. He is haunted by fragments of forgotten dreams—faces in the mist, a name that slips away each time he wakes. She feels an echo in her soul every time he is near. Something ancient stirs. Something inevitable. As dreams begin to bleed into waking life, they are drawn together by an invisible thread. And as they begin to uncover the mystery of who they are and what they once meant to each other, forces beyond their control begin to move. Not all spirits want their love to return. Some secrets are better left buried. Yet destiny does not forget. In a world where past lives clash with present choices, Eternal Threads: Shirayume and the Kitsune is a haunting tale of reincarnation, divine punishment, pure devotion, and a love that spans eternity. Would you like a teaser or quote-style trailer version, like those you’d see at the start of a light novel volume or anime episode? Will fate bring their souls back together? Can a forgotten love endure across time, punishment, and rebirth? Or will the weight of their past lives keep them forever apart? A story of love’s purity and madness, of sacrifice and longing, Eternal Threads: Shirayume and the Kitsune is a heart-wrenching mythological romance where destiny patiently waits for love to awaken again.

Cirus, a child from a wealthy family, lived alone with his mother and their servants in a grand mansion, isolated from the outside world. Longing for companionship, he one day asked his mother if he could accompany her to visit an old friend, hoping to find a friend of his own. During their visit, they were warmly welcomed by his mother's friend, who introduced them to her son, Neal. The two boys quickly bonded, sharing everything and becoming the best of friends. However, fate was cruel-Neal's father had to move abroad for work, forcing Neal to leave. Cirus was devastated but eventually moved on with his life. Years passed, and on his 18th birthday, Cirus was reunited with Neal. Their friendship rekindled as if no time had passed, and they spent their days together, strengthening their bond. But one day, tragedy struck. As they were walking, the earth trembled, and a massive crack opened beneath them. Neal, without hesitation, pushed Cirus to safety-at the cost of his own life. Shattered by grief, Cirus refused to accept what had happened. Consumed by loss and desperation, he set out on a relentless search for Neal, unable to believe that his dearest friend was truly gone.

A young boy named Arthur and his sister Athena fight in a holy war in order to obtain the wish of the divine deity. Throughout the cruel and obsessive journey they find allies and enemies who all have an obsessive desire to change their current circumstances.

Good news: You've awakened. Bad news: You're the villainess. Renee Jennings accidentally obtains a system, allowing her to break free from the plot's control by completing missions. Renee Jennings: "Wait a minute, what's with all the animal dictionaries as a reward?" System: [They can give you an affinity with animals.] Renee Jennings: "Why?" System: [Because a villainess has no affinity with people.] Renee Jennings: "…" This joke is not that funny... * After unlocking animal languages, Renee Jennings embarks on a path of no return— Leading dogs to save a blind woman being stalked by a pervert. Reporting an evil old man who murdered his wife and hid her body, thanks to rats. Helping a kitten catch the murderer who killed its owner and buried the body. Finding tens of millions in stolen goods based on intel from birds. * While others are petting cats, Renee Jennings is riding a tiger. While others are falling in love, Renee Jennings is solving crimes. While others are getting married, Renee Jennings is rescuing endangered animals. While others are having kids, Renee Jennings is serving her country.