After Teasing the Crown Prince, I Caught His Eye

This novel will be going premium on November 26. A 10,000-character chapter will be posted on launch day.

My upcoming novel, "Scavenging for Gear from the Start," will launch depending on how many people save it. If you enjoy sweet little stories about wilderness survival and farming, don't miss it! The blurb is at the end.

[Brash, sunny young general x gloomy, scheming, ghostlike crown prince]

Wu Songyan is reborn at seventeen. His family is still alive, and they have yet to be accused of treason by the emperor and executed to the last man for forming an alliance with the crown prince.

Wu Songyan secretly vows that this time, no matter what, he will stop his grandfather from tying the family to the crown prince.

But before he can get anywhere, he ends up being sent to the crown prince himself.

Wu Songyan: ...

Damn it! How did we end up even more entangled than before?!

As a notorious wastrel in the capital, famous for being at odds with the crown prince, he refuses to believe the other man can put up with him for a while and then keep putting up with him forever.

Wu Songyan starts gleefully pushing every one of Lu Zhixing's buttons. Whatever Lu Zhixing hates, that's exactly what he does.

Lu Zhixing doesn't like hearing something? He says it anyway!

Lu Zhixing hates a certain pastry? He eats it right in front of him!

Lu Zhixing can't stand people who do nothing all day? He lazes around under Lu Zhixing's nose!

He's so brazen that even his servants are terrified, all saying, "Young master, if you want to get yourself killed, could you at least leave us out of it?"

Wu Songyan just grins, keeping his contribution to the chaos to himself.

After months of this, Lu Zhixing still shows no reaction.

Wu Songyan: ?

What's going on? Didn't he supposedly hate me? Why hasn't he kicked me out yet?

Unexpectedly, not only does the other man refuse to send him away, he seems to have set his sights on him...

Wu Songyan is furious. "How did I manage to lose everything and get myself caught up in this too?!"

He hurriedly prepares to run. He makes it all the way to the border, eating sand, only to wake up injured in Lu Zhixing's bed.

Wu Songyan: ...You really won't leave me alone, will you?

Lu Zhixing says nothing, only smiles. Wu Songyan spots a gleaming silver chain around his ankle and lifts it to take a closer look. "What's this?"

Lu Zhixing: "An ankle shackle. To stop you from running off without a word again."

Wu Songyan (clenching his fist) (furious, truly furious this time) (this is going too far)

Little bonus scene:

Rumors have been spreading around the capital that the crown prince and his sworn enemy, Second Young Master Wu, are actually very close.

Wu Songyan himself: "Who?! Who's spreading rumors about me now?!"

Lu Zhixing (smiling): "I am."

Wu Songyan: ...

P.S. This is an alternate-history setting. Please don't take it as historical fact.

Being reborn is just part of the setup and doesn't get much focus.

Both the top and the bottom are reborn.

Upcoming novel blurb starts here!

"Above the Sea of Consciousness"

Jian Huai dies unexpectedly and finds himself in a wilderness where the trees are an eerie black, the flames are blue, the plants and animals are bizarre, and night and day each have strict time limits.

Just as despair sets in, he hears a ding in his mind. A mechanical voice says, "Welcome, player, to the Sea of Consciousness. The System has detected that you have been confirmed dead in your original world. If you fail to survive in the Sea of Consciousness, the world's will shall erase you. Good luck!"

"Hey, hey! What do you mean?!" Jian Huai is completely at a loss, but the electronic voice never responds again.

Just as despair sets in, a screen appears before his eyes, showing his current location, health, and available supplies: 0.

Jian Huai: ...

"Nightfall is approaching. Please seek shelter nearby."

"Do not wander through the Sea of Consciousness!"

"Do not wander through the Sea of Consciousness!"

The glaring red warnings are terrifying. Jian Huai has no time to think and hurries into a nearby hollow tree. Inside, he finds a backpack.

"Ding! Beginner backpack found. You have earned 10 points. The Exchange Shop is now unlocked!"

Jian Huai has no time to pay attention to the bizarre notification. Through a crack in the tree, he sees a black bear as big as a hill passing by his hiding place. And that bear has two heads!

*

Jian Huai accepts that he can't hunt and searches everywhere for edible plants, so hungry that his vision blurs.

Then one day, deep in the forest, he comes across a campfire with meat roasting over it, the fat sizzling and popping.

As Jian Huai wonders whether this is a dying hallucination or some elaborate trap designed just for him, someone jumps down from a nearby tree.

"Hungry? Go ahead and eat."

Jian Huai: "!! You're alive?"

Qi Nan flashes a wide, toothy grin. "No, I'm already dead. But I didn't know you could connect with other people in this Sea of Consciousness."

Jian Huai: "..."

From then on, they start hunting together. Jian Huai discovers that the so-called rules can't hold Qi Nan back at all. The guy can hunt two-headed bears and split bone crocodiles in half.

He's practically a superhero.

Life becomes surprisingly comfortable. By the time they realize it, they've reached the edge of the forest, built a little house and courtyard, and raised chickens, ducks, and sheep. They never have to worry about food and shelter again.

There's just one strange thing...

Jian Huai opens his eyes at night and, sure enough, feels a furnace of warmth at his back. He grits his teeth. The guy has his own bed, so why does he insist on sleeping right next to him?

Message: Take the initiative and challenge fate. No matter who you are, may you strive for peace and prosperity.