diff --git a/scraper/cmd/scraper/main.go b/scraper/cmd/scraper/main.go
index 953025b..7839ebd 100644
--- a/scraper/cmd/scraper/main.go
+++ b/scraper/cmd/scraper/main.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 //
 //	BROWSERLESS_URL             Browserless base URL           (default: http://localhost:3030)
 //	BROWSERLESS_TOKEN           Browserless API token          (default: "")
-//	BROWSERLESS_STRATEGY        content | scrape | cdp         (default: content)
+//	BROWSERLESS_STRATEGY        content | scrape | cdp | direct (default: direct; chapters always use direct HTTP)
 //	BROWSERLESS_MAX_CONCURRENT  Max simultaneous browser sessions  (default: 5)
 //	SCRAPER_WORKERS             Chapter goroutine count        (default: NumCPU)
 //	SCRAPER_HTTP_ADDR           HTTP listen address            (default: :8080)
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ func run(log *slog.Logger) error {
 	urlStrategy := browser.Strategy(strings.ToLower(envOr("BROWSERLESS_URL_STRATEGY", string(browser.StrategyContent))))
 	bc := newBrowserClient(strategy, browserCfg)
 	urlClient := newBrowserClient(urlStrategy, browserCfg)
+	// Chapter text is server-rendered on novelfire.net — direct HTTP is faster and avoids Browserless.
+	chapterClient := browser.NewDirectHTTPClient(browserCfg)
 
 	// ── Storage backends ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 	minioCfg := storage.MinioConfig{
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ func run(log *slog.Logger) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("storage init failed: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	nf := novelfire.New(bc, log, urlClient, store)
+	nf := novelfire.New(bc, log, urlClient, chapterClient, store)
 
 	workers := 0
 	if s := os.Getenv("SCRAPER_WORKERS"); s != "" {
diff --git a/scraper/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go b/scraper/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go
index b4df064..1210ed9 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func newE2EFixture(t *testing.T) *e2eFixture {
 		MaxConcurrent: 2,
 	})
 	log := slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(os.Stderr, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelWarn}))
-	sc := novelfire.New(directClient, log, urlClient, nil)
+	sc := novelfire.New(directClient, log, urlClient, directClient, nil)
 
 	return &e2eFixture{
 		sc:         sc,
diff --git a/scraper/internal/novelfire/integration_test.go b/scraper/internal/novelfire/integration_test.go
index d4dace4..39f821a 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/novelfire/integration_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/novelfire/integration_test.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func newIntegrationScraper(t *testing.T) *Scraper {
 		MaxConcurrent: 1,
 	})
 	log := slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(os.Stderr, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelWarn}))
-	return New(client, log, client, nil)
+	return New(client, log, client, nil, nil)
 }
 
 // ── Metadata ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/scraper/internal/novelfire/ranking_test.go b/scraper/internal/novelfire/ranking_test.go
index 2127ae9..1f6c13b 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/novelfire/ranking_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/novelfire/ranking_test.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestScrapeRanking_MultiPage(t *testing.T) {
 	// Use pagedStubClient for s.client so each GetContent call returns the
 	// next page. ScrapeRanking now calls s.client directly.
 	urlClient := &pagedStubClient{pages: []string{rankingPage1HTML(), rankingPage2HTML()}}
-	s := New(urlClient, nil, nil, nil) // nil cache — no disk I/O in tests
+	s := New(urlClient, nil, nil, nil, nil) // nil cache — no disk I/O in tests
 
 	entryCh, errCh := s.ScrapeRanking(context.Background(), 0) // 0 = all pages
 	entries := drainRanking(t, entryCh, errCh)
diff --git a/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper.go b/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper.go
index ca80732..5ed356a 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper.go
@@ -58,24 +58,29 @@ type RankingStore interface {
 // Scraper is the novelfire.net implementation of scraper.NovelScraper.
 // It uses the /content strategy by default (rendered HTML via Browserless).
 type Scraper struct {
-	client       browser.BrowserClient
-	urlClient    browser.BrowserClient // separate client for URL retrieval (uses browserless content strategy)
-	rankingStore RankingStore
-	log          *slog.Logger
+	client        browser.BrowserClient
+	urlClient     browser.BrowserClient // separate client for URL retrieval (uses browserless content strategy)
+	chapterClient browser.BrowserClient // direct HTTP client for chapter text (no JS rendering needed)
+	rankingStore  RankingStore
+	log           *slog.Logger
 }
 
 // New returns a new novelfire Scraper.
-// client is used for content fetching, urlClient is used for URL retrieval (chapter list).
-// If urlClient is nil, client will be used for both.
+// client is used for catalogue/metadata/ranking fetching (Browserless).
+// urlClient is used for chapter list pagination; falls back to client if nil.
+// chapterClient is used for chapter text fetching (plain HTTP); falls back to client if nil.
 // rankingStore is optional; pass nil to disable freshness checks and per-item persistence.
-func New(client browser.BrowserClient, log *slog.Logger, urlClient browser.BrowserClient, rankingStore RankingStore) *Scraper {
+func New(client browser.BrowserClient, log *slog.Logger, urlClient browser.BrowserClient, chapterClient browser.BrowserClient, rankingStore RankingStore) *Scraper {
 	if log == nil {
 		log = slog.Default()
 	}
 	if urlClient == nil {
 		urlClient = client
 	}
-	return &Scraper{client: client, urlClient: urlClient, rankingStore: rankingStore, log: log}
+	if chapterClient == nil {
+		chapterClient = client
+	}
+	return &Scraper{client: client, urlClient: urlClient, chapterClient: chapterClient, rankingStore: rankingStore, log: log}
 }
 
 // SourceName implements NovelScraper.
@@ -651,12 +656,8 @@ func (s *Scraper) ScrapeChapterText(ctx context.Context, ref scraper.ChapterRef)
 		"payload_wait_selector_timeout_ms", 5000,
 	)
 
-	raw, err := retryGetContent(ctx, s.log, s.client, browser.ContentRequest{
-		URL:                 ref.URL,
-		WaitFor:             &browser.WaitForSelector{Selector: "#content", Timeout: 5000},
-		RejectResourceTypes: rejectResourceTypes,
-		GotoOptions:         &browser.GotoOptions{Timeout: 60000},
-		BestAttempt:         true,
+	raw, err := retryGetContent(ctx, s.log, s.chapterClient, browser.ContentRequest{
+		URL: ref.URL,
 	}, 9, 6*time.Second)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.log.Debug("chapter text fetch failed",
diff --git a/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper_test.go b/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper_test.go
index 1422586..e629d38 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/novelfire/scraper_test.go
@@ -62,12 +62,12 @@ func (c *pagedStubClient) CDPSession(_ context.Context, _ string, _ browser.CDPS
 // ── helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func newScraper(html string) *Scraper {
-	return New(&stubClient{html: html}, nil, &stubClient{html: html}, nil)
+	return New(&stubClient{html: html}, nil, &stubClient{html: html}, nil, nil)
 }
 
 func newPagedScraper(pages ...string) *Scraper {
 	urlClient := &pagedStubClient{pages: pages}
-	return New(&stubClient{}, nil, urlClient, nil)
+	return New(&stubClient{}, nil, urlClient, nil, nil)
 }
 
 // ── ScrapeChapterText ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/scraper/internal/storage/scrape_integration_test.go b/scraper/internal/storage/scrape_integration_test.go
index 95db0c6..515875a 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/storage/scrape_integration_test.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/storage/scrape_integration_test.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func newScrapeAndStoreFixture(t *testing.T) (*novelfire.Scraper, *HybridStore) {
 		MaxConcurrent: 1,
 	})
 	log := slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(os.Stderr, &slog.HandlerOptions{Level: slog.LevelWarn}))
-	sc := novelfire.New(client, log, client, nil)
+	sc := novelfire.New(client, log, client, nil, nil)
 	hs := newTestHybridStore(t)
 	return sc, hs
 }