Chapter 10: Chapter-10: Entering Top 100
Gia and Jim returned home, finding their mom already cooking something for all of them to eat. Jim shared the story about the little kid, explaining how he was locked out of his house because his parents were late, and they invited him to wander with them. This habit was formed so that Gia could share things that bothered her or seemed unusual. Some kids might not have the habit of talking to their parents about their troubles because they don't know how to explain them. These discussions were usually about unusual cases from week to week, nothing too personal.
As Jim recounted the events, Gia jumped in with her fairy tale storytelling, portraying herself as a responsible 'Little' adult. According to her, she took Luke with them, and they were now in a competition to create the best chapter to be featured in the novel.
When their mom questioned Gia about making a bet with a kid, the little hamster got flustered and quickly escaped to her room, claiming she needed to search for things to create her part of the story for the novel.
Once Gia left, Jim opened his mobile to check the rankings and was surprised to see that he had jumped to the top 1000. Intrigued, he went to the comments and dashboard to understand why this happened. And, the answer, he found was numerous new bookmarks for his novel and nearly 70 new comments, some even inquiring about the option to gift the author.
He could have activated it from the start, but he wanted his novel to convey authenticity and enjoyment without any payment barriers, especially considering that many readers might be kids, job seekers, or individuals facing financial struggles. Jim aimed to bring smiles to his audience with his story, even though he had edited numerous parts, differentiating his version from the original author's work.
Upon discovering his novel's improved ranking, he couldn't contain his happiness and eagerly shared the news with his mother. "Mom, look!"
Turning around, she saw the mobile screen displaying the rank of 998 for his novel. Shocked but immensely proud, she hugged him tightly, expressing her support. "At first, when you asked me to do this, I thought you might leave it midway. But now I can see you going far if you choose this as a career. I love you, my son Jimmy, and I am really proud of you."
Even Jimmy, who didn't fully comprehend the reasons behind his strong emotions, felt warmth and tears welled up in his eyes. To conceal his tears from his mom, he quickly excused himself, expressing a desire to do something in his room.
His mother noticed the tears in his eyes but chose not to embarrass him. Instead, she remarked to herself, "Children getting flustered and trying to hide it," and chuckled, feeling somewhat relieved. She was glad that her son had found a path he could follow to pursue his dreams.
While this emotional moment unfolded, Gia was engrossed in searching for material to fulfill the promise she made to her brother. Determined to showcase her talent, she delved into her collection of fairy tales, even posing questions to her mom and aunts by calling them from her mom's cell.
"Mom, when did you and dad meet? Tell me some story," said Luke, attempting to find material. He had already scoured his house's basement and other rooms for any books related to romance, especially after hearing from Gia that books could provide good material.
Now, he was trying his luck with his parents' relationship.
"Well, honey, we met each other at KFC, so..." Luke's mom began to explain, but Phil interjected, saying, "No, honey, we met at a concert, you remember...". As they began arguing about where they met, Luke grew tired of listening. He went to his room to think of something else and decided to call his uncle Mitchell to ask how he met his uncle Cam.
He learned that they met at a charades party, and Cam was the only one able to guess that Mitchell was acting out 'Casablanca.' Mitchell shared how they bonded afterward and never looked back. He shared stories about girls liking him when he was with Cam, but he turned them down, and it made the girls pleasantly surprised. Learning something like they understood each other gave Luke an idea of adding this part too, and in excitement, he asked more, and Mitchell, happy to tell, shared his experiences.
After some chatting, Luke thought a bit more and talked to his grandfather, asking about his grandmother and how they met. However, his grandfather seemed reluctant to discuss it. They had some small talk, and the call ended with Jay wondering why Luke was so interested in this. Luke, feeling a little disappointed to not get any content from his grandfather, thought of Haley.
Later, at noon, he approached Haley when she came back and asked her as well, given her more experience. However, she couldn't give much of the content and was left with a question: why was Luke asking about these things? When Haley shared this with her mother, they began to suspect that Luke might be in a relationship or attempting to get a girlfriend. It seemed he wanted to know how to treat her or perhaps even propose to her.
While this misunderstanding continued at Luke's house, time was moving forward. Several days passed since the day Jim met Luke and learned more about this world. He had also climbed to the 126th rank, and after a night's sleep, he discovered that he had entered the 96th rank in the top novel rankings and nearly jumped with excitement seeing the number of bookmarks and reads on the novel. Given the rarity of his genre, with only a few being good or even readable, he gained considerable popularity.
Having earned a total of $479 from the gifts, and with the amount increasing, Jim immediately went downstairs with excitement and showed his earned money to his mom. He transferred it to her, explaining that, for his first pay, he wanted to give it to her. Despite her attempts to decline, Jim insisted, emphasizing that Ava, his mother, was one of the most important people in his life, making it significant for him to give his first salary to her.
She was also feeling really proud but empty seeing her baby getting independent and not able to express with her words, she just hugged him and, "I am proud of you my little rich guy". Jim feeling embarrassed went to his room after this.
With this, the day came to collect the drafts from the two kids, Luke and Gia. Jim contemplated the situation and decided to talk to them about it the next day. He believed that even if he didn't add their chapters immediately, giving them more time to learn and improve was beneficial, akin to assignments.
Jim's mom was supportive, encouraging him to proceed with the idea and suggesting that he could consider their chapters as a new novel after editing, ensuring it wouldn't disturb his work. Jim agreed with this approach, especially if they ended up creating something with a different genre or quality not aligned with the level he desired for his novel.
With that, he went to his room to sleep, eagerly awaiting the next day to check his novel ranking and see what kind of story content the kids would provide. It was the first time he felt like a teacher and a responsible big brother, imparting life lessons as a role model.
Even though Luke wasn't his brother, the kid's innocence had won Jim's heart. After that initial meeting, they encountered each other many times, with Luke often asking for feedback on his work during their walks around the community.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone