New York, 1931. The manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by law, but behind this prohibition, organized crime flourishes—so, too, do bank robbers, bootleggers, assassins, and homunculi. Some want money, some are chasing the secret to immortality, and others just want to have a really good time. You know what they say, though: You can't always get what you want.

The immortal Elmer C. Albatross is a Smile Junkie who'll do whatever it takes for his happy ending--despite not knowing the first thing about happiness. Three hundred years after the passengers of the Advena Avis parted ways, four of them have finally tracked Elmer to a village in Northern Europe where the inhabitants seem to be stuck in their old ways, fearing the visitors as "demons." During their stay, the immortals encounter a strange girl, and their past catches up with them.

Man…whoever thought being a god would make life easy needs a serious reality check. I mean, I offed humanity’s champion, then I hacked into the world’s System to literally erase the pesky Hero title once and for all, but I still can’t catch a break. Now Yamada’s inherited his brother’s title, and it looks like he and the other reincarnations are on their way to the elf village juuust when the demon army is looking to conquer it. Ugh, this is becoming way too big a headache...Time for plan B. I think I’ll have a little “chat” with Sariel.

Half a year has passed since the battle with Master Flare. In the time since, Menou has become the most wanted person on the continent, evading the Lord’s Executioners at every turn while hunting for a way to restore Akari. Her search brings her to the north and the Starhusk floating above. The bizarre creation could make for a powerful weapon against Hakua, but Menou will have to reach it first. And to do so, she’ll need to get past the Inquisitor Michele, whose overwhelming power is strikingly similar to that of Archbishop Elcami.

An urgent council meeting has been convened at the royal capital, and the archbishop of the Supreme God, Sword Maiden, requests that Goblin Slayer and his party escort her there. Rumor has it that packs of wolf-mounted goblin riders prowl the route, and no other adventurer is better suited for such a job than Goblin Slayer himself. Little do they realize there have bene dark whispers at their destination of a fiery stone that has fallen from the heavens upon the holy mount...

Summer vacation has arrived, so Masachika and Alya get to spend some time together away from the hubbub of school. However…studying at Masachika’s place is the only thing they’ve been doing! Alya takes it upon herself to teach Masachika how to treat a woman, but once those two get into it, neither is willing to back down. Summer break also means they’re going on the student council’s trip to the beach! Swimsuits baring skin, dips in the hot spring, and a game of King really heat things up! But what will happen when certain secrets slip?

This collection of short stories captures special moments during the student council’s summer vacation, and it may even answer some important questions: How will Sayaka react to the truth about Masachika and Yuki’s relationship? What devious activities is Nonoa up to behind the scenes? Will Masachika pretend his intimate moment with Alya never happened? Why is it so easy for this group to get hypnotized? And is it really possible to punch a ghost?! To find out, follow along as they make summer memories!

The alchemist Begg believes the drugs he created will guide people to the highest plane of existence. Drugs that the junkie Roy can't break free from. Drugs that the Runorata Family executive loses to a thief. And where were those packets of white powder manufactured? The young girl Eve is about to find out--and discover her family's true colors. Trouble stirs in the city that never sleeps as fate links these individuals together like a chain of falling dominos...

The duel with Master Flare in the land of salt continues. Menou should have the upper hand now that she’s linked with Akari and her immense supply of Guiding Force, yet reality suggests otherwise. Master Flare still has a few secrets up her sleeve, and she’ll do anything to win.

Junior high schooler Marii Yukari sees all humans, aside from herself, as robots through her vivid, purple eyes. Yet even with such a strange perspective on the world, her classmates treat her like an unassuming, strange girl, including Manabu "Gaku" Hatou, her sole friend. Yet strange things start occurring around Yukari, and when she is recruited into an underground organization due to her unique talents, Manabu finds herself tangled up in a realm of dangerous experiments and quantum physics unlike anything she could have ever imagined!

The Rakian Kingdom is on the march, a thirty-thousand-strong army headed by Ares, God of War. The target of their sudden invasion is none other than the world's greatest metropolis, Labyrinth City Orario. As the armed menace approaches in thunderous lockstep, the city's inhabitants can do nothing but...continue about their completely peaceful lives??? A prum proposes marriage, one sweet boy becomes a bodyguard, the city girl's secret comes to light, while mortals and gods alike are swept up in romance.

Now that Rimuru's monster-centric town has blossomed into a bona fide independent nation, it's time for his next step: build and maintain diplomatic relations with nearby countries! With a group of his trusty monster pals, Rimuru travels to the Beast Kingdom of Eurazania and the Dwarven Kingdom to meet with their respective heads of state and represent his domain as best as a slime possibly can. As if there wasn't already enough on Rimuru's mind, the otherworlder Shizu has been visiting him in his dreams, begging him to save her former students.

The Eastern front has become a living hell. The enemy army is approaching and the Empire’s allies are being wiped out. There isn’t enough to eat or drink, and no time to sleep—yet the war rages on. Hoping for nothing more than to delay the end, Tanya races to the battlefield with her mages in tow, while Zettour lives up to his reputation as an enemy of the world.

Thanks to the silversmith Fran, Lawrence now has a map of the North. But Lawrence's gladness at the thought of finally being able to take Holo back to her home is short-lived, as upon revisiting Lenos he is embroiled in the strife surrounding a forbidden text. It is said that this mysterious book contains details of methods that threaten the land of Yoitsu itself. But in trying to get his hands on the book, Lawrence, who must return to the marketplace, finds himself running out of time to head for Yoitsu with Holo.

Ordinary office worker Ohashi Rei wakes up in the body of the protagonist of her favorite otome game, Revolution. To her delight, the first person to greet her is also her favorite character, Claire Francois—the main antagonist of the story! Now, Rei is determined to romance Claire, instead of the game's male leads. But how will her villainous ladylove react to this new courtship?!

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.

New York, 1931. The manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by law, but behind this prohibition, organized crime flourishes—so, too, do bank robbers, bootleggers, assassins, and homunculi. Some want money, some are chasing the secret to immortality, and others just want to have a really good time. You know what they say, though: You can't always get what you want.

A young priestess has formed her first adventuring party, but almost immediately they find themselves in distress. It's the Goblin Slayer who comes to their rescue—a man who's dedicated his life to the extermination of all goblins, by any means necessary. And when rumors of his feats begin to circulate, there's no telling who might come calling next...

Springtime at Kimberly Magic Academy brings a new batch of first-year students, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they begin their journey to become full-fledged mages. Among these newcomers are Oliver Horn, a studious boy equally skilled with the wand and the blade, and Nanao Hibiya, a strong-willed samurai girl from the distant nation of Yamatsu. The wheels of fate bring these two souls together at Kimberly, where they become both comrades and rivals in equal measure.

I used to be a normal high school girl but in the blink of an eye, I woke up in a place I've never seen before and-and I was reborn as a spider?! How could something that's nothing more than a tiny spider (that's me) possibly survive in literally the worst dungeon ever? Are there no rules? There should be some rules! Who the hell is responsible for this? SHOW YOUR FACE!

In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online - a VRMMORPG (virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game) like no other - debuts, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in a wholly realistic gaming experience. But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG - a logout button.

In Orario, fearless adventurers band together in search of fame and fortune within the monstrous underground labyrinth known as Dungeon. But while riches and renown are incentive enough for most, Bell Cranel, would-be hero extraordinaire, has bigger plans. He wants to pick up girls. Is it wrong to face the perils of Dungeon alone, in a single-member guild blessed by a failed goddess? Maybe. Is it wrong to dream of playing hero to hapless maidens in Dungeon? Maybe not.

Born talentless to a noble family famous for their supernatural abilities, Miyo Saimori is forced into an existence of servitude by her abusive stepmother. When Miyo finally comes of marriageable age, though, her hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after she discovers her fiancé’s identity: Kiyoka Kudou, a commander apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be brides all fled within three days of their engagements.

Kousuke suddenly wakes up alone in a vast forest that clearly isn't anywhere on Earth. Now he has to find some way to eat, drink, and survive! Luckily, Kousuke also has the power to craft using a special video game menu that allows him to harvest resources and build whatever he can imagine. However, every time he goes to sleep, he's attacked by one of the many non-human races of this world, all of whom despise humankind. Enter Silphy, the beautiful dark elf who lays claim to Kousuke and vows to protect him--after all, she's taken him as her property!

A woman reborn, Crown Princess Luxeria is derided as a doll, beautiful and docile. But that's merely the mask she wears. Powerful magic courses through her veins--magic that can corrupt hearts, erase memories, and pluck one's innermost thoughts from the air. After years of being confined to a tower, she is finally set free...only to become embroiled in a grand conspiracy that kicks off with her parents' murder. Thrust onto a tragic stage of love and betrayal, she will play her part to perfection.

Sagara Sousuke isn't your typical high school student. He reads military enthusiast magazines; he responds to questions with "affirmative;" he brings grenades to school in his bag. Though everyone at school takes him for a hopeless military geek, Chidori Kaname thinks there might be something more to him. When their plane is hijacked in the middle of a field trip, Kaname's instincts will prove correct: Sousuke is an elite, mech-piloting mercenary... and he's here to protect her!

In Ivy's world, stars are everything. She's a Tamer, born to subdue monsters and animals, but she was also born starless! With her life in danger, Ivy flees into the forest where she befriends a weak little slime named Sora--the one creature she can tame. Together, the unlikely pair set off on a journey, salvaging rubbish to survive. Along the way they'll win hearts, evade danger, and discover there's more to starless Ivy than meets the eye!

'Jesus Christ. I found one.' These words are blurted over the phone to Constable Snowy Lane, who is preoccupied with no more than a ham sandwich and getting a game with the East Fremantle league side on Saturday. They signal the beginning of a series of events that are to shake Perth to its foundations. It is 1979, and Perth is jumping with pub bands and overnight millionaires. 'Mr Gruesome' has just taken another victim. Snowy's life and career are to be forever changed by the grim deeds of a serial killer and the dark bloom spreading across the City of Light.

These 12 stories - published over the last five years in Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, Playboy, and other publications - veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive conmen, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

It’s really hard to pretend like life is normal when you’re staring a monster in the eyes, though he’s both tempting and irritating in his human form. I put my days as a hunter behind me, unable to cope with the death and pain anymore, to become an upstanding citizen and for what? To assist Lake, a man who claims he’s not a monster but keeps talking about me like I’m edible and–even worse–wants to woo me?

Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is Seiren Private Academy’s “solitary princess.” She’s a half-Russian beauty with silver hair, at the top of her class, student council accountant, and…completely unapproachable. For some reason, she’s also taken on the responsibility of reprimanding the slacker who sits next to her in class. Masachika Kuze is constantly frustrating her by falling asleep, forgetting his textbooks, and just being an overall unexemplary student. Or at least, that’s how it looks from the outside. She may put on a tough act, but she doesn’t mind Masachika as much as others would think.