penguin knife

She wakes beneath the fluorescent lights, broken but alive. Machines hum beside her, but the real wound isn’t her fractured body—it’s her fiancé’s calm confession. They broke up weeks ago, he says. He only came out of duty. And he’s already moved on—with his boss’s daughter. The doctor believes him. The nurses pity her. His best friend nods along, though she catches the hesitation in his eyes—the silent bargain in his glance. Orphaned and alone, she cannot outshout their voices. So she doesn’t. She smiles. She thanks them. She pretends her mind is fogged. But at night, when silence sharpens her loneliness into a blade, she begins to plan. Her revenge will not only cut, but carve: to peel back her fiancé’s lies until his glittering new love sees the truth beneath his ambition, to bend the best friend’s loyalty, and to turn pity into power. Revenge isn’t always cold. Sometimes it’s seductive. And soon, she’ll be the one holding the knife.

-NOTE- This novel is unedited; expect typographical, grammatical, format, and plot errors. -SYPNOSIS- Jousuke Daikuhara is a kind-hearted high schooler known for his quiet strength, musical talent, and calming presence. A top student and skilled musician, he prefers peaceful days and finds joy in the little things. Though he doesn’t see himself as special, his genuine care and subtle attentiveness draw others in, slowly turning his once-simple life into a web of emotions and silent confessions. Leah Boutsuki is shy, soft-spoken, and quietly artistic. She and Jousuke first met after accidentally bumping into each other outside their classroom. Despite her reserved nature, her gentle warmth leaves a quiet mark on Jousuke—though expressing her feelings remains her greatest challenge. Kaede Miyazaki, the tsundere student council vice president, is sharp-tongued and fiercely driven. Known as the most beautiful girl at Bungaku High, she frequently clashes with Jousuke through council duties, calling him an idiot to mask her flustered reactions to his smile. Underneath her tough front, she’s drawn to his sincerity—much to her own frustration. Rika Sakurai, soft-spoken and quietly strong, has harbored feelings for Jousuke since middle school. A small moment of kindness from him long ago stayed with her, even as she tried moving on with others. Her loyalty and quiet longing add to the emotional storm slowly surrounding Jousuke. As days pass, fleeting moments blur the line between friendship and love. In this gentle harem, the question of who will win Jousuke’s heart remains unanswered—because love, in its quietest form, is never so easily defined.

"For him, I was nothing more than the daughter of his mentor, someone he needed to protect." "For me, she was more precious than my life itself." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nariya Patel sought a modest life after losing her mother and witnessing her father's downfall. Independence became her sole desire, avoiding reliance on others and shunning the idea of seeking help. Yet, she found herself without a foothold in this unforgiving world. Alexie Ivanov, a maverick of free will, was adept at obtaining what he desired and taking what eluded him. Commanding others had become second nature, and he soared to the pinnacle of power, wealth, and connections. His life had emerged from the depths of hell when his former mentor, the man who extended a helping hand in his darkest times, appointed him as the protector of his only daughter. In a world where he could bend everyone to his will, there was one exception - her. Amidst trusts and betrayals, hidden rooms and secrets, the seemingly impossible happened - akin to tasting the forbidden fruit of paradise. Their initial animosity toward each other transformed into an enduring love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m… just trying to get home,” Jiang stammered, his voice feeling weak, the words foreign on his tongue. Her lips curved into a smile—one that sent both heat and cold coursing through him. She stepped forward, her heels clicking softly on the pavement. “Home? What if I told you that home is not where you think it is? That you’re destined for more than this?” Her hand reached out, cold fingers brushing his cheek, sending a shock through his body. Before he could pull away, his vision blurred, and the world around him began to spin. His heart pounded in his chest, his limbs felt heavy, and something unnatural gripped him from within. The city lights, the woman, the very air around him twisted and bent until everything went black.

Author: Corey McCullough is an independent copy editor, proofreader, ghostwriter, and author. He lives in western Pennsylvania with his amazing wife Vanessa and their two beautiful daughters. His favorite pastimes are reading, writing, playing video games, spending time with his best friend (Vanessa), and, most of all, being a dad. Night lasts for days on the planet Jannix, and when the sun goes down over a city brimming with corruption and organized crime, no one can be certain they will see another dawn. Retired police detective Jack Tarelli has turned to the bottle to cope with these long nights ever since the unsolved murder of his wife, but when he's called to the home of an enigmatic starship tycoon just hours after a high-profile homicide, he knows his longest night yet has just begun. Led on a chase deep into the shadows of a city that never wakes, the hard-nosed and uncompromising Jack finds himself on the trail of a killer whose true motives shrouded. Was it revenge for an interplanetary business deal gone wrong? Or something more personal? As connections to Jack's own bloody past rise to the surface, it becomes clear that this is more than a search for answers. It's a race against time. And the body count is going to rise long before the sun. A Knife in the Dark is a gritty tech noir story combining elements of "used future" science fiction and film noir in a fast-paced, futuristic thriller.

He become great and gained the tittle " Prince of Combat" through his excellent upbringing and family background... She was an orphaned taken in reluctantly and achieve top ranks through her sheer perseverance only to be dragged down by her bias Master... The first time they meet, they dueled. He was fascinated by her cold and merciless fighting techniques... She scorned him for his excellent techniques that can only learned from the elites which cost millions of dollars to even glimpse... The moment her knife left a cut on his face sealed their fate to be together.

Zhao Feng transmigrated into a parallel world and became a product livestreamer. For a whole week, he promoted kitchen knives, but for six days, no one showed any interest. Not only that, the viewers in his livestream room mocked him, claiming that everything he sold was garbage. Unable to tolerate this, Zhao Feng couldn't hold back his anger anymore. In front of hundreds of viewers in the livestream room, he pulled out a military shovel and said, "You all said my stuff is garbage, right? Well, now I'm going to show you whether it's garbage or not." "Clang! Clang! Clang..." The kitchen knife struck against the military shovel and created countless sparks, silencing the whole livestream room. After a while, the screen was bombarded with numerous bullet comments. "What the hell? Who taught you to test a kitchen knife like that?" "This is insane! Such a good kitchen knife might end up ruined!" "They asked you to test the kitchen knife, and you used it to strike a military shovel? That's just crazy!" Gradually, news of Zhao Feng's eccentric testing method spread online, causing a huge sensation. Suddenly, he went viral and became incredibly popular. Not only that, but people also discovered that this livestreamer not only had a ruthless way of testing products but also exposed the behind-the-scenes secrets of the entire product-livestreaming industry.

Nu-7 "Hammer Down" is supposed to be the Foundation's blunt instrument - send in the squad, put the monster back in the box, salt the ground, go home. For FULCRUM, breach-lead and combat medic, it's just another night walking the edge of the knife. Memetic scores that make people bleed themselves dry. Stairwells that loop forever. Warehouses where crystal spreads like a disease and turns men into glass. While Nu-7's TEAM 1 fights their way through SCP-class anomalies, someone in ALPHA-1 is watching Fulcrum a little too closely. A hidden operative moves in his shadow. Command files keep using one word: familiar. Between missions, there are secrets: - a jealous containment engineer and the medic he'd burn the world for - a forbidden relationship buried inside ALPHA-1 - quiet crushes, slow-burn tension, and off-duty moments that make the next breach bearable. This is a story about soldiers who walk into the dark on purpose, the things that try to break them, and the people they hold onto so they don't fall.

Lucian is a small Demon born with big aspirations of becoming a thief. That is until the one job ended in disaster abandoning him in a different plane with no way home. Join Lucian in his journey across the magical land of Archanella to collect the five gems of power. He will meet friends and encounter great evil. This adventure will reshape his world.

In a city ruled by blood and betrayal, loyalty is the deadliest weapon of all. Kael is the devil’s shadow—sharp-tongued, seductive, and ruthless. Dario is the heir to a mafia empire, torn between duty and a dark curse that threatens his legacy. When a witch marks them for vengeance, a chain of violence, seduction, and war is set into motion. As enemies close in and secrets rise from the dead, Kael and Dario are drawn into a dance of desire, deception, and destruction. But in a world where love is dangerous and loyalty is a curse, will they survive each other? Dark. Queer. Supernatural. Violent. This is not your average mafia love story.