The Demon King Returns (Esports)

[Pre-release: The Reborn Man Who Couldn't Possibly Not Love Me. Blurb at the end. Please add it to your favorites.]

Younger, cold-faced, doting top × older, tsundere, sharp-tongued bottom

After a two-year absence, esports superstar Tian Ye transfers back to the competitive scene, setting off a wave of discussion across the community.

Alongside the fans' excitement, plenty of mockery appears:

[You're too old to compete. Don't come back and embarrass yourself.]

[You ruined one team. Now you're planning to ruin another?]

In his second season back, Tian Ye and his JCG teammates win the championship. Grinning on the podium, Tian Ye calls out across the room, "Keep talking, haters."

Some people also predict that after Tian Ye's transfer, he'll clash with JCG captain Li Fei.

After all, everyone in the scene knows one has a short temper and the other is a block of ice. But later, people notice that the two seem to get along... pretty well?

During an official livestream event not long afterward, Tian Ye has just finished catching up with his former teammates when netizens see Li Fei coldly tell him, "Stay away from him."

Fans: So they really don't get along. Li Fei must be trying to isolate our baby. Their earlier harmony was definitely an act!

In a corner no one can see, Li Fei pins Tian Ye against the wall and looks down at him. "Ye-ge, having fun chatting just now?"

The usually cocky mid-lane mage looks awkward at being caught and denies it with righteous indignation: "I've never had more fun with anyone than I do with you!"

At last, that icy face softens.

One day, Tian Ye suddenly asks what the only post on Li Fei's social media feed means.

Li Fei pauses. "My ID is ReturnDate. The numbers after it are the date you returned to the competitive scene. From the moment I stepped onto the stage, I was waiting for the day you'd come back."

Your return date is the whole meaning of my ID.

Here's a preview of my new novel. Give it a look, please~

[Both reborn: Cocky, roguish bottom VS reserved, scheming top]

On the day Chi Cheng turns twenty, he learns that his father's company has gone bankrupt and that both his parents have killed themselves.

Overnight, Chi Cheng goes from an untouchable rich kid to an orphan with no father or mother, and now debt collectors threaten him every day.

Under the crushing pressure of life, his relationship is in trouble too.

His boyfriend of many years cheats on him, and Chi Cheng feels that life is hopeless.

Then Chen Siming, a former classmate, offers to help him pay off his debts.

They barely knew each other in high school, and have even less to do with each other now. One is a down-and-out young man; the other is a rising business tycoon who already controls half of Tongcheng.

Chi Cheng: "What do you want in return?"

Chen Siming: "You."

Chi Cheng swallows his pride and accepts Chen Siming's help.

Not long after his debts are paid off, before Chi Cheng can start enjoying a life free of debt, an accident happens.

He thinks that if he dies, so be it. There's no one in the world who would miss him anyway.

But then he sees Chen Siming holding his corpse, so disfigured it's unrecognizable, and sobbing until he loses his voice.

Chi Cheng suddenly realizes that someone really has loved him for years, even when he couldn't see it.

-

Reborn in high school, Chi Cheng resolves to study hard, stop his father from repeating the mistakes of his previous life, and change the fates of himself and his family.

He'll also make sure to confess his feelings to Chen Siming early, so he won't have to wait so long.

But Chi Cheng is wrong. At this point in time, Chen Siming doesn't like him at all!

Not only does he brush off Chi Cheng's advances, sometimes he even sneers at him.

Chi Cheng wears a miserable expression. Where did the Chen Siming who used to look at him so tenderly go?

One day, Chi Cheng goes to see Chen Siming as usual, only to find an emotion in Chen Siming's eyes that he can't quite understand.

-

Chi Cheng's friends think he's acting like he's been possessed. He's not only started paying attention in class, but also broke up with the new boyfriend he'd just started dating and turned around to pursue the top student in their grade.

That bookworm always has the same expression, like someone owes him money. Apart from his face, he's got nothing going for him. And they're obviously both bottoms!

Everyone starts betting on how long it will take before Chi Cheng gets fed up.

Then one day, they see Chi Cheng, covered in dirt after a fight with someone, trailing behind Chen Siming without a hint of his usual arrogance. That's when they realize Chi Cheng is serious.

When they're alone, Chen Siming applies medicine to Chi Cheng's wounds and pins him down.

"If you get hurt like this from fighting again, I won't let you get out of bed the next day. Got it?"

Chi Cheng covers his waist. "I wouldn't dare doubt you~"

Theme: The old guard never dies; the torch is passed on.