Prologue
“Why that look, Shin-ah?”
“Shut up, don’t call my name.”
“……Sad. Our time together seems to be preserved only in my memory.”
He laughed. His eyes, black as graphite, stared straight at me. What thoughts lay beyond those abyssal depths, I could not fathom.
“You should be happy, thanks to me you’ve awakened.”
“I’ve never been happy! I don’t know this ‘our time’ you speak of.”
His laughter filled the air, suppressed between my gritted teeth.
Blood from Cheon Shinwoo was still staining the floor, a clear side effect of his reverse skill.
As if death was the only necessity on this frozen earth, amidst despair’s shattered pieces.
The catastrophe caused by the first Dark Lord, the first fragment of destruction, was dreadful.
It was only this severe because Cheon Shinwoo had intervened. Realizing this, my blood turned cold.
I didn’t have time to argue with him; I needed to finish this quickly.
If it wasn’t for me, Cheon Shinwoo wouldn’t have been so injured while easily disposing of the first fragment.
He was that powerful.
My mind was emptying, but he seemed to find everything amusing, just laughing.
“How sad. Is this what it feels like to be left alone in the world? But it’s okay. As long as you kindly call my name, like you used to.”
“I have no such memory!”
His indistinguishable expression between a smile and something else, he reached out to me. I brushed his hand away. His expression emotionless, he blinked once and reached out again.
The touch on my cheek was painfully tender.
“You’ll come to understand me. Even now, you say you don’t remember, but you don’t push me away.”
“…….”
I wanted to retort, but my mouth wouldn’t open. If what I saw in those nightmares was true…
But this was wrong. This approach was flawed.
I’m here now, isn’t that enough? I wanted to say that, but when I met his black eyes, I choked.
A groan was heard. The sound of survivors in this hellish scene.
He glanced at the survivors, then his hand lowered to touch my lifeless necklace.
“Well, I guess that’s enough for a greeting. Until next time we meet…”
Ting. The necklace chain broke. The ‘Blue Melancholy’ given for my safety was now in his hand.
“When the world is on the brink of destruction?”
With that farewell, he left, leaving only a soft breeze fluttering behind.
#Chapter 1. Turns out I’m the younger sister of the number one ranker.
The sky was unusually blue. A few clouds drifted gently. The weight in my hand was light. Did I finish a whole can already? A sigh escaped me involuntarily.
There’s a saying about life being unpredictable.
When there are good times, bad times follow, and vice versa. Yes, then shouldn’t some light be shining in my life by now?
“Damn that Director Kim! Let’s see how well he lives after firing me!”
But sadly, my life had no such twists.
Some might say it’s too early to complain at only 23 years old. That I have a future to work towards and make better.
To them, I’d say: try living my life.
No parents. No siblings. A life without a single blood-related kin. A life where I must fend for myself has been exhausting.
Being an orphan in a post-apocalyptic world isn’t unusual, but add unfair dismissal to that, and it’s a different story.
I’ve just been fired from the company I’ve been with for two years.
Not even a month’s notice, but just now! They kicked me out, damn it.
I’ll report this. Grinding my teeth, I cracked open another can of beer. It tasted bitter.
“Mommy, I think that person’s crazy.”
“Shh, let’s just walk by quietly.”
A caring mother and child passed by me. Tears welled up in my eyes.
I know I’m too young to be discussing the ups and downs of life. I know, but it still hurt.
Why am I in this state when everyone else who returns from another dimension seems to awaken and live well?
The clear, blue sky seemed to contrast with my mood, making me feel even more depressed.
Do you know about the Awakened or the Returnees?
To explain them, I first have to talk about the world’s apocalypse.
The world underwent a destruction and a great upheaval.
One day, gates appeared, and from these gates, monsters poured out, bringing despair. In the midst of this, some individuals gained special powers and saved the world – a typical, novel-like event.
The Awakened possess special powers. Additionally, the Returnees, who fell into other dimensions through ripped spaces and returned, are all Awakened.
By the way, I’m a Returnee too.
So naturally, I thought I would awaken as well. But I didn’t.
For some reason, despite being a Returnee, my life wasn’t a fantasy action epic but a life documentary.
Still, I persevered.
I don’t know why I kept going, but I did. I worked various part-time jobs and scraped together a meager resume to land a job at a small company.
And I just got fired.
“Firing me just to slot in his nephew, how does that make sense!”
The beer can in my hand crumpled. But my anger didn’t subside.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]