Calamity

[An unsuccessful attempt at a tale of love and hate. I'm temporarily out of inspiration, so updates will be irregular.] Ruthless, treacherous, and manipulative official bottom × Patient, obsessive, highly controlling fake playboy top 1. Jiang Jisheng, the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Yuyang, has a terrible reputation. He is the dissolute wastrel everyone in Shengjing despises. At the same time, he is the envy of every powerful family's young master in Shengjing. After all, while they struggle through their studies and get their palms smacked by their tutors, Jiang Ji is out racing horses and parading through the streets, hunting dogs and hawks; while they pinch every last coin of their allowance and scrimp to get by, Jiang Ji spends every day in pleasure houses and taverns, throwing money around like water; while their families force them to befriend those stuffy little bookworms, Jiang Ji is out causing trouble with his pack of useless friends... And all of this is because Jiang Ji has a wonderful older brother who dotes on him endlessly. Jiang Jianning, heir to the Marquis of Yuyang, is a rising star at court. Gentle, courteous, modest, and refined, he may have only one blemish in his life: his good-for-nothing little brother. When faced with the subtle, sympathetic looks of his friends at court, Jiang Jianning only shakes his head with a wry smile. In his heart, however, he thinks coldly: This is exactly the state I deliberately indulged him into. Why would I be sad? I couldn't be happier. No one knows that Jiang Jianning, the kind and gentle heir to the Marquis of Yuyang, is actually a madman. Just as no one knows that the much-mocked Jiang Ji was supposed to be the dazzling protagonist of a wish-fulfillment story. Jiang Jianning was the insignificant cannon-fodder character to begin with. 2. Jiang Ji seems to be getting more and more clingy with him. Jiang Jianning keeps his malice hidden beneath his affection, coldly watching the young man's restrained longing as he lets him struggle in the mire of a debauched life. That is, until Jiang Jianning loses power in a political struggle, is stripped of his title and dismissed from office, and the newly favored commander is ordered to confiscate the marquis's estate. The imperial watchdogs all bow and scrape before the wastrel. Jiang Ji no longer needs to hide his brilliance. He watches his once lofty elder brother with brazen delight, like a wolf cornering its prey. Jiang Jianning retreats without betraying his feelings. "You ungrateful wretch. I wasted all these years caring for you." Jiang Ji watches his every move, smiling faintly. "Elder Brother, if you really cared about me, why not put down your knife and come over here to say that?" * Jiang Ji knows Jiang Jianning has a secret he cannot reveal, but that doesn't matter. He has one too. His whole life, he has been entangled in power and schemes. His nights are cold, his bedding colder, and loneliness is all he has left. But when he opens his eyes again, he has returned to his youth. * You play me and I play you. Play the pig to eat the tiger, lay the bait, and set the trap. * I love you, but I love power and influence more. Reader's Guide: 1. Two equally matched leads, both reborn. A love-and-hate tale of lovers who fight each other, with a touch of a crematorium trope. The bottom transmigrates into a book and is reborn repeatedly; the top is reborn. 2. As is customary, this is a 1v1 happy ending. Both leads are ruthless, hard on others and even harder on themselves. Neither is perfect, and each has their own troubles and difficulties. 3. The top and bottom are fake brothers, with no blood relation. Please add my upcoming story, Retiring from Infinite Games and Joining the Civil Service, to your collection! Devilishly charismatic B-king bottom × Unflappable, elegant, and cunning monster top Shen Xiaojun is the protagonist of the hit infinite-flow novel Nightmare Performance. His author gave him golden fingers galore and constantly tweaked the power levels. After dragging the story out for nearly ten million words, the author finally brought it to a tearful end. But for Shen Xiaojun, his story was far from over. The moment the author typed the words "Escape successful," he arrived in a strange world. This was an incredible world. There were no endless death-defying missions, no games of human deception and intrigue, and no indescribable monsters. He could sleep soundly, accept kindness from strangers without worry, and happily lie flat, living like a lazy fish. But surviving here required money and all kinds of identification, not points and items. So even though Shen Xiaojun had a fortune in points and high-level items, he was still an undocumented person. And he had no money. In other words, Shen Xiaojun was unemployed. So the former number one on the infinite-game leaderboard by a massive margin was now delivering takeout for X-Tuan. He also had to be careful not to accidentally bend the stainless-steel workbench out of shape or break the arm of an innocent coworker who tapped him on the shoulder from behind. But to make ends meet, Shen Xiaojun still had to go out and work this lousy job... Until one day, he received a phone call: "Hello, Mr. Shen Xiaojun. Would you be willing to join the national civil service and dedicate your life to protecting the lives and property of the people?" Shen Xiaojun: "...Huh?" * In the year 2025, the higher-dimensional entity Nightmare Performance descended upon Earth with unstoppable force. Governments around the world took the situation very seriously and began recruiting people with supernatural abilities. The Huaguo government managed to find Shen Xiaojun because it had detected the energy fluctuations on the night he returned to the real world. Shen Xiaojun: . Shen Xiaojun: Now that's what I call a perfect fit for the job! The former number one in escape-game performance reviews is here to carry the team! * Some people are unlucky enough to be swept into an infinite horror escape game with a survival rate of just 1%, whether they have just woken up or are simply walking down the street. * But if you are a citizen of Huaguo, you can choose to carry your identification with you. When the time comes, professional government employees will protect your life and property. Premise: Your fate is in your own hands. Never give up.