Did the Guide Blow Their Cover Today?

Over the course of his career in the System for Saving the Shou Protagonists of Tragic Romance Novels, the Hosts usually treat the shou protagonist with kindness and care, then win the beauty's heart and end up with a sweet happy ending together.

But the new Host, Xie Jin, clearly doesn't play by the rules. From the start, he sleeps with the gong protagonist!

System: What the hell did you do? Give the gong protagonist back his innocence!

Xie Jin crunches on potato chips. "What else could I do? I followed the shou protagonist's storyline."

System: When he wakes up, he'll tear you to pieces. You believe that?

Xie Jin: ...Fine, I'll make a run for it.

So Xie Jin makes a snap decision and runs off before the gong protagonist wakes up.

The next day, the gong protagonist posts on his social media: "Huge reward for anyone who can find a Guide with an orange Maine Coon spirit and mint-scented pheromones."

Xie Jin quickly hides his secret identity, diligently disguises himself as a Sentinel, and then the gong protagonist gets into danger.

Xie Jin: What else can I do? Switch to my main account.

The mysterious cat Guide is like Cinderella, vanishing at midnight. Whenever the gong protagonist is in danger, he appears just in time, then disappears just as quickly, keeping a low profile and staying mysterious. Just when the gong protagonist thinks he and the cat Guide are destined never to meet again...

During a mission to capture the Black Spade, he opens the door to the legendary S-rank mercenary Guide's room and sees Xie Jin, an orange Maine Coon perched on his shoulder, giving off mint-scented Guide pheromones, and getting ready to flee.

Xie Jin freezes in place: ...

The gong protagonist grips his wrist. "You're the cat Guide? Xie Jin?"

Xie Jin expects the gong protagonist to take revenge on him for deceiving him as the cat Guide, but the other man simply lets the matter slide.

Just when Xie Jin is nervously expecting some grand scheme, he receives a love letter.

Here is the blurb for the new book, "I Open a Shopping Street in the Beast Apocalypse"

Fu Song transmigrates into a beast world and, as required by the System, runs a beastfolk service center in exchange for more time to live.

He looks at the man-eating monsters drifting everywhere, remembers he's just a pet shop owner with no combat skills, and breaks out in a cold sweat.

So he returns to his old line of work and opens a pet shop in a monster-infested danger zone, offering all kinds of services, including brushing fur, cooking, bathing, styling, and babysitting. He also livestreams to attract customers.

When the shop first opens, everyone thinks he's gone crazy. A beastfolk service center in a danger zone? This frail-looking human couldn't even survive a single swipe from a beastfolk, let alone one of the powerful monsters. If even one monster wandered in, he was done for.

But there are always curious people willing to give it a try.

[Ding-dong! Congratulations on attracting your first customer. You have earned the skill: Infinite Evasion.]

[Infinite Evasion: Evade all damage for 20 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

The System announces the reward amid a shower of confetti.

Just as everyone starts worrying for Fu Song, the first monster shows up in the shop, exactly as they predicted.

It leaps at Fu Song, but he suddenly moves with uncanny agility, and the monster can't even touch his clothes!

Then Fu Song chops it to death with the knife he uses to cut meat for cat food.

Everyone is stunned!

The number of viewers in the livestream shoots up. Just as everyone is hoping Fu Song will keep killing monsters, he throws the monster and the knife out of the shop together.

He smiles gently at the wolf cubs in the cradle. "Don't be scared."

The viewers feel their bodies melt.

Then they watch Fu Song cuddle the adorable fluffballs in his arms, petting them as his long fingers sink into the wolf cubs' warm, fluffy fur.

The livestream viewers, sharing the wolf cubs' sensations, feel the comfort too.

"You're such a cute baby." Fu Song kisses a wolf cub on the cheek.

The beastfolk feel as if they've returned to their mother's arms as children, surrounded by tenderness.

Aaaah! How can this be so unfairly adorable?!

Later, a legend spreads throughout the beast world: There's a little shop where they treat beastfolk exceptionally well, especially felines. The petting feels so good you'll roll over and show your belly. Best of all, no monsters dare come in and disturb you!

What's more, every meal and bath boosts your stats in a different way. Some people come out of a spa session able to punch straight through steel!

In this danger-filled zone, there's a safe house where you can upgrade yourself!

Beastfolk flock there in droves, lining up in long queues just to get a single treatment.

Fu Song's shop keeps growing, with a game room, a movie theater, a strawberry farm... until it becomes an entire shopping street.

Then one day, viewers spot the Federation chairman, a famous singer, the mercenary king, and more in the livestream...

Have they all fallen for him?!

Theme: What belongs to us will always find its way back to us, no matter how far it wanders.