How Do Manga Protagonists Show 'I Know My Worth'?

Ruby grew up sad for most of her life. Born into a society where beauty standards were seen as slender and tall, she felt low self esteem her entire life. Her family even made matters worse by ridiculing her each day, and comparing her with her younger sister. Her wolf despised her, accusing Ruby of trapping her in a fat body. She always tried to comfort herself that she wasn't fat but chubby, but no one saw her that way. After being rejected and betrayed by her boyfriend, her family, instead of comforting her, blamed her that it was her fault that he left. “You are too fat and ugly.” Her mother spat at Ruby with a look of disdain. “No man would ever want you.” Ruby wiped her tears, making a decision to transform her shape into what would be accepted. However, while she is on the journey of body transformation, she comes across a stranger who looks at her in a way that no one ever did. He didn't think she was worthless and everything about her seemed perfect in his eyes. Would Ruby give this man a chance to love her, or is she too broken to see her worth?

I'm the only son of my parents, who are the richest people in the country. Yet, they decide to raise me while giving me as little money as possible. In order to toughen me up, they decide to only give me five thousand dollars per year. "Two thousand dollars is for college tuition, and the remaining three thousand dollars is for your living costs and accommodation. If you want to stay at home, you'll need to pay rent—500 dollars a day. If you don't have the money, you can write an IOU." But I end up getting robbed that night, leaving me penniless. In order to be able to continue my college studies, I can only ask my parents for money. Of course, they turn me down immediately. "You actually learned how to lie just to swindle more money from us, eh? Since you refuse to learn your lesson, your allowance for next year will be cut in half." My parents refuse to listen to my explanation and insist on kicking me out. So, I can only work three jobs per day, allowing me to save up two thousand dollars. But the moment I save the money in my account, it gets frozen instantly. That's when my parents begin mocking me. "And here you are, claiming that you didn't lie to us! Where did you get the tuition fees from, then? We shall confiscate the money as a form of punishment. You can use the rest of your money for your studies." Amid my despair, I see the live comments streaking before my eyes. "The male lead's parents want him to realize that it isn't easy living out there. When they hired the thugs to rob him blind, their hearts ached so much for him that they cried." "I hope that the male lead can grow up as soon as possible. That way, the misunderstanding will get resolved, and the family of three can continue living happily ever after." But this time, the comments can no longer console me. I place the house keys on the porch quietly before turning on my heel and walking away. I don't want these parents of mine anymore.

When the half-mile sprint test is about to begin, Quiana Sullivan, the class president, and I have applied to be exempted from it. My own mother, who's the homeroom teacher of my class, approves Quiana's application with a smile. But she then throws mine to the floor. "You're having a chest pain, you say? I can't believe you're able to come up with such lies just to avoid the half-mile sprint! I'd have known if you had a heart condition! "Quiana is weak by nature, not to mention she's on her period right now, so she can't handle the agony. What about you, hmm? You've always been perfectly healthy, yet now you're telling me that you're suffering from heart pain? "Don't go around embarrassing me just because you want to slack off! I don't want others claiming that I'm being biased toward my own child! As long as you're still alive and kicking, you must finish the half-mile course no matter what!" Left without a choice, I can only return to the field. The cold wind makes me feel even dizzier now. My heart keeps contracting uncontrollably against my will. Suddenly, it just stops pumping. The next thing I know, I collapse onto the grassy field heavily. When my consciousness is about to flicker to darkness, my mom finally walks over to me. But she merely kicks my arm with a frown on her face, and her tone remains glacial. "Stop playing dead. Get up right now." She doesn't realize that I can never open my eyes ever again. Isn't this great, Mom? No one will ever claim that you're biased toward your own child. I've used my life to prove how fair and just you are. You must be happy now, right?

I transmigrated into the role of a gorgeous villainess, tasked with tormenting my childhood buddies. I forced Maddox, Mr. Tough Guy, into putting on a sexy dress, essentially killing his chances of a social life. I grabbed the bottom of the ever-aloof Zane and made him red in the face. I kicked Damian, the crybaby, into the ground, and all he could do was glare at me through his tearful eyes. My aggressive antics only fueled their resentment. “One of these days, I’ll get you.” I winked at them without a care. “I’ll be waiting.” The day they crossed paths with the female lead would be the day I left this world. Their revenge didn’t scare me one bit. Little did I know, the time would come when I would be proven wrong. While I scrambled to get away in tears, he said softly, “Save your strength. The night is still young.”

Wayne Anderson is a highly successful man. A billionaire. A business tycoon. But there was one stain in his story - he was once married and his wife cheated on him. They divorced and it was a messy affair. It has been a few years since that happened and Wayne has been putting all his focus on his empire. That is, until he meets Andrea Payne. She seems ordinarily clumsy but she has this air of confidence about her as she kept proposing business ventures one after another to him.

Princess Valery of Vesperia is a cheerful hardworking woman with a massive saviour complex that strikes at the most inconvenient times. So when she has a chance encounter with a potentially dangerous masked stranger with a bad sense of direction, her first instinct is to be unnecessarily helpful. Then her life takes a completely unexpected detour when she finds out that someone had nominated her for the Prince of Astanza's upcoming Courtship. A broadcasted event where the last girl remaining gets to become the Queen of an empire. The most beautiful, talented and accomplished girls from all over the world apply, but only 50 will be chosen as Nominees. Valery considers herself none of those and does not understand why her name was even on the list. Unfortunately the whole world seems to be conspiring against her, because despite the suspicious circumstances surrounding her nomination, her uncle actually insists that she participate in the occasion. So, she resigns herself once more to the King's whims and tries not to be too resentful about it. Fortunately she has her masked stranger, who she strikes and unexpected friendship with, to anonymously confide her injustices to. As fate would have it, the masked stranger is the very prince she will be competing for in a few months, but what she doesn't know can't hurt her right? Right?