Return of the Swallow - Chapter 30: Trump Card in Hand

Winner of the 2017 Joara Novel of The Year Contest-

In a world plagued by Morgellons, a deadly disease that turns humans into non-human creatures, people have chosen to abandon their humanity in order to fight against the bloodthirsty corpses. In the end, there will be no humans left on Earth.

But that harsh world is, in fact, a world fabricated merely for entertainment. A world for humans to live in exists neither inside nor outside.

This is the story of a boy who, while living a miserable life, stares at the stars as he desperately tries to keep his humanity.

Odelia Grace, a beautiful and smart woman, a secretary of a big company, had to give up the career she had at a young age for a marriage with the CEO of another company, Vincent Percy.The marriage was filled with love and support for each other for 4 years. However, they did not have a child.Vincent's family became furious, and continued to demand and pressure Odelia. A beautiful marriage turned into a nightmare because of their abuse.“You barren woman! My son is jinxed because of you, he shouldn't have married you in the first place!” snapped her mother-in-law.Until one day, Odelia was kicked out of her own house and went to a hotel for the night. She accidentally met a man who was drunk.Unintentionally, there was a hot night between the two of them.And after that night, Odelia finally realized that she was not barren and that she was carrying a baby.The baby of her ex-husband's enemy, Sean Osbert.

From classmates to brother and sister, living under the same roof.

After his father's remarriage, Asamura Yuuta ends up getting a new stepsister, coincidentally the number one beauty of the school year, Ayase Saki. Having learned important values when it comes to man-woman relationships through the previous ones of their parents, they promise each other not to be too close, not to be too opposing, and to merely keep a vague and comfortable distance.

On one hand, Saki, who has worked in solitude for the sake of her family, doesn't know how to properly rely on others, whereas Yuta is unsure of how to really treat her. Standing on fairly equal ground, these two slowly learn the comfortable sensation of living together.

Their relationship slowly evolves from being strangers the more the days pass. Eventually, this could end up in a story about love for all we know.

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Ten years after her parents’ divorce, the grandmother who raised Chu Tingwu passed away, leaving her to be shuttled back and forth between relatives.At this moment, an entity claiming to be a “Cub Rearing System” suddenly appeared, wanting to bind itself to her and cultivate her into an outstanding graduate of its program.Just as Chu Tingwu was about to refuse, she saw her personal attributes on the system interface—[Name: Chu Tingwu][Species: Cat]Chu Tingwu: Something’s not right here…Due to a bug, the system had identified her as a kitten.Her stats were those of a cat, but her appearance remained human.How should an exemplary human-cat be raised? Sleeping, causing mischief, eating until she became as round as a pig?However, the reality turned out to be quite different: extreme sports, expert bird-catcher, master mouse-hunter, catching invasive fish barehanded with dynamic vision, using camouflage and tracking skills to film documentaries of rare birds, nearly making the social news as a suspected retired special police officer.For the first lesson in cultivation, the system said gravely:“A cub cannot live alone. We need to find you a cat mother… I’ve already detected a suitable candidate nearby. Go to the target location quickly, little one, and let the cat mother adopt you.”Chu Tingwu looked up as an advertisement fluttered into her hand:[Sunshine Pet Hospital: Limited-time half-price pet neutering, one month of free food with every pet adoption]Chu Tingwu: Who exactly is adopting whom here?