Chapter 4. Essay competition (2)

On Friday, everyone in the school was more excited than usual. It wasn't just one class but the whole school was excited about the idea to leave early.

There were many students who had already made plans to go to karaoke or a movie with their friends. Several couples had also made plans to go on dates.

It was like nobody cared about the essay competition. It was just a trivial matter for them.

"It looks like winning would be easy."

Kei said to Ren while standing besides him.

"It looks like you have prepared hard for the contest."

"Yeah, I am reading and writing different types of essays for a week now."

Kei said looking a little proud of himself.

"Why are even giving this much value to a essay competition?"

"I told you right, I just wanted to give writing a chance."

"Do you really think you can win this competition?"

"I don't know. I will only know after the competition."

"Yeah, well good luck for the competition."

"Good luck to you too."

Kei said as he indulged himself in a book. It was a light novel to be exact.

Various people will think that Kei was being carefree, reading a light novel before the competition but only Ren knew that Kei had a habit of reading light novels whenever he is nervous.

Ren also didn't disturb him and started glancing around the classroom.

He noticed that most of the students had already decided what to write and some were discussing what to write with their friends.

They all had excited expressions not because of the essay competition but because they will be able to leave early today.

At that moment, the door opened and the teacher entered with a stack of papers.

The entire class fell silent seeing Shiki sensei entering the classroom. The essay competition was basically a test, requiring every homeroom teacher to oversee their respective classes.

"Take one and pass it to the person behind you. You may begin as soon as you receive your paper." 

Shiki sensei said as he passed the papers. Ren received the paper from the person in his front.

The paper was white and there were topics to choose between for the essay. There were various topics like friends, family, teachers, love, school, animals etc.

'What do I choose?'

Ren wasn't able to choose between the topics. He wasn't taking the essay competition seriously in the first place but he didn't knew what you write.

He glanced around at the classroom only to notice that excluding him, all the classmates were writing. Even Kei was writing something.

Some students were also whispering among themselves asking each other what they are going to write about. Shiki sensei didn't say anything to their behaviour.

He wasn't known for being strict in the first place, so he just let them do it.

Ren glanced around at his paper trying to find a topic he wanted to write about. As he was searching for a topic, he vision got struck on a topic at the very corner of the paper.

'Genius.'

It was a topic that didn't stand out much and Ren knew that many people will not write about this topic.

But Ren felt a connection to this word. It was a word that was stuck closely to his previous life.

Thinking about that word, Ren had a sudden impulse to write. It was a entirely different feeling. At first, he didn't take the competition seriously but now he just wanted to write.

It was a impulsive feeling to write but Ren didn't do anything about it. Before he knew it, he had a pen in his hand and his hands were writing something.

It's been quite a few days since he had came to this world but Ren hadn't write about anything. 

He knew that he had said that he will start his second life as a author if he got the chance but after coming to this world, Ren didn't have a impulse to write.

He didn't wanted to write anything half-assed only to fail again. He also wanted to take sometime to adjust to his new life.

Another reason was that he wanted to relax for sometime. In his previous life, he was continuously working, so he wanted to relax for a bit.

He also needed time to adjust to his new life. Due to these reasons, he hadn't wrote anything after coming to this world.

You could even say he hadn't found anything to write about yet but as soon as he saw the word 'Genius', the words immediately started coming out and before he knew it, he had already written on most of the paper.

"Time is up. Submit your paper quickly."

As he was writing, he heard Shiki sensei voice which woke him up from his writing trance. 

Ren glanced around the classroom and noticed that most of the students had already left the classroom. The classroom was empty and there were only four people including Shiki sensei.

First one was Ren, second was Kei and the third was a student sitting in the first bench of the first row.

Ren wasn't able to see his face as he was still writing.

"Didn't you three hear me? I said that time was finished."

Shiki sensei shouted again and this time finally everyone stopped writing.

Kei and the student sitting in the front row hastily gave their papers to Shiki sensei and after taking their paper, Shiki sensei looked towards Ren.

"Amano, your paper."

"Ha….here."

Ren stood up as he hastily gave his paper to Shiki sensei. He didn't wanted to submit his paper as he had not completed it but he had no choice as the time was finished.

As soon as Ren submitted his paper, Shiki sensei left the classroom with the same stack of papers he had entered the classroom with, the only difference was that this time the papers were filled with words.

"Did your essay went well?"

Kei asked him as he came close to him.

"I don't know how it went but I wrote with my heart."

"My essay also went well. I am just worried about it's ending. I don't have enough time to complete it."

"What did you write about?"

"Oh, I wrote about dreams."

Ren didn't remember about that topic but there were a lot of topics and he didn't remember all of them.

"You unexpectedly stayed till the end, huh."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked confusingly.

"I mean, I thought you will just write something half-assed and left like the other students and I will be the only one left till the end."

"Well, I just wrote what came to my mind and you know, there is another person who stayed till the end."

Ren said as he glanced at the other boy who stayed till the end.

"Ah, that's Minami Ryuu."

"You know about him."

Kei looked at Ren with a confused expression as he said.

"How can you not know about him when you are in the same class and he is also very popular."

"Popular? Is he famous."

"Famous? That word isn't enough to describe him. He is super famous. He is handsome, his grades are one of the top and he always excels at sports. He is one of the most famous student in the school."

"Really?"

Ren again glanced at Minami who was packing his bag and preparing to leave.

'I admit he's handsome.'

He was indeed handsome. With brown hair and a sharp and handsome face, he indeed looked fairly handsome. 

"I wonder why that person stayed till the end."

"Maybe, he's interesting in writing."

When Ren said that, Kei had a weird expression as he said.

"It could be that but he is always with his group of friends and there are also rumours about him dating various girls. That type of person would rather spend his time going to karaoke with his friends than writing."

"I wonder but it isn't our place to pay attention to. Let's go home."

"Yeah, do you want to come to my house to play the new dating sim."

"No, I have something to do today."

Fame, wealth, prestige, genius, destruction, despair, loss and failure.

Those are the eight words which describes Ren's life completely.

He was hailed as a genius but his arrogance led him to despair. From a genius, he became a failure.

He was just struggling with his life when fate gave him a second chance.

Now, what will he do after he found himself waking up in another world.

"Is there a problem?" Qiao Nan blinked her eyes. "Sister, why are you suddenly so concerned about my studies?"
"I am your sister, is it wrong to be concerned about you?" Qiao Zijin smiled embarrassedly. "Tell me honestly, what did you write for today's essay?"
"I didn't write much. If you really care about me, I can tell you. I feel that I did quite well, you don't need to worry about me. Sister, you need to work hard too." Qiao Nan smiled. The more Qiao Zijin asked, the more Qiao Nan refused to answer.
"I don't need you to worry about it." Qiao Zijin said unappreciatively. "I just wanted to know what you wrote. You can just tell me directly. Won't that do?"
"Then, Sister, why don't you tell me what you wrote today? We were given the same question. Shall we discuss?"
Qiao Zijin said a sentence, and Qiao Nan said another. After haggling for a long time, Qiao Zijin did not gather anything useful. Instead, she nearly let the cat out of the bag.
Qiao Zijin did not know what to say. "You are really too much. Just be straight to the point and answer me. Why are you talking crap?"
"When I asked you, you didn't reply either."
"Qiao Nan, did you do this on purpose?" Qiao Zijin's heart was in a flurry. 
"Do what on purpose?" Qiao Nan raised her eyebrows and asked Qiao Zijin to make herself clear.
"No, nothing. Forget it if you don't want to say." Qiao Zijin could not continue with the conversation any longer. She could not possibly tell Qiao Nan that she had stolen one of her essays and plagiarized it for today's competition, then asked Qiao Nan if she had written something else or regurgitated that old piece of work.
With nothing in return after trying for a long time, Qiao Zijin was burning with anger inside, yet she could not vent it at Qiao Nan. She could only stamp her feet and left with a pale face.
Qiao Zijin had just left Qiao Nan's bedroom when Ding Jiayi came looking for Qiao Nan in a fearsome manner. "Did you bully your sister just now?"
"How could I bully Sister? During today's essay competition, I bumped into her. Coincidentally, we were at the same place. Furthermore, the test question for both junior and senior high school were the same, so Sister came and asked me how I fared. It's that simple." Qiao Nan was happy. She bullied Qiao Zijin? 
She would be lucky if Qiao Zijin bullied her less.
"It's really so simple?" She clearly saw Qiao Zijin looking unhappy when she came out of Qiao Nan's room.
"Yes, it's that simple. Mom, you can ask Sister if you do not believe what I said. You will surely believe whatever Sister said? If I bullied her, would she not let you know?" It would not be Qiao Zijin if she did not complain.
"That better be. If not, I'll not let you off." Ding Jiayi was so protective of Qiao Zijin, like a cow shielding her calf, she scolded Qiao Nan even before anything happened.
Although Ding Jiayi got a reply from Qiao Nan, she still felt uncomfortable. As such, she specially looked for Qiao Zijin to find out more. 
Qiao Zijin did not look good when she glanced at Ding Jiayi. "That's what it is, Mom. I just finished the competition and feel really tired, I would like to take a break." 
"Sure, Mom will not disturb you. Rest well. I'll call you after preparing the meal." Seeing that the elder daughter seemed troubled, Ding Jiayi dared not disturb, so she quietly left Qiao Zijin's room, closing the bedroom door along the way.
Alone in the room, Qiao Nan took out her essay book and opened it.
Qiao Nan touched the page that was missing, her eyes revealing that she was deep in thought.
Yesterday, she suddenly found that she was missing a page in this essay book, as if the page had been torn off.
To prevent from being discovered, the person had torn away the other side of that page as well.
Qiao Nan was not sure who had torn the page. Until today, all her pens were broken, Qiao Nan could not help suspecting that this was the doing of one of her classmates.
After all, during the times when she was in school, her schoolbag was not by her side at all times. There would be opportunity for someone to tear the book.
However, a while ago, Qiao Nan had finally confirmed the person who tore the page of her essay book.
It was not someone else, it was Qiao Zijin.
During today's competition, Qiao Nan had a great shock when she saw the question. For a while, she hesitated and wondered if the person who tore her book would simply copy her work.
This idea flashed briefly in Qiao Nan's head, but she decided to use it eventually as she did not see any reason not to, and it was her own essay.
As for the person who would copy her essay, she was too daring!
After putting the essay book away, Qiao Nan sneered. Qiao Zijin always thought that she could continue to bully Qiao Nan. Now, starting from this essay book, Qiao Nan would show Qiao Zijin that this was not so.
During mealtime, Ding Jiayi dared not ask a word. On the contrary, Qiao Dongliang asked his two daughters how they fared in today's essay writing. 
Qiao Nan laughed nonchalantly, "As usual."
"How about Zijin?"
"Not, not sure." Qiao Zijin nearly choked on her rice.
Initially, in such a situation, Qiao Zijin wanted to proudly proclaim that she had done very well. However, Qiao Zijin was no longer in the mood now. "Not very sure, it will depend on the Teacher's views." 
"No anxiety, it is extremely good that you can join the competition this time. It will be great if you receive a prize. If you did not, take it as a learning experience." Qiao Zijin did not sound confident. Hence, Qiao Dongliang dared not harbor high hopes.
In comparison to the past where the elder daughter did not have any involvement with such activities, he had obviously seen significant improvements. 
"Both of you have worked hard, eat more." Qiao Dongliang lovingly filled the two daughters' bowls with lots of protein dishes. 
Ding Jiayi opened her mouth but did not say a word. She then quickly filled Zijin's bowls with a few more servings of vegetables with her chopsticks.
While Qiao Zijin felt extremely uneasy, the teacher reading the test essays was in a good mood. The teacher of the high school's language team held an essay in his hand: "This essay is really good, you all have a look too." 
"Oh, let me take a look. Yes, it's really quite good."
"So good?" After reading it once, all the teachers in the Chinese Language team gave a score to the essay based on their criteria. As expected, the final score was good. 
"Why don't we do this?" Set one for the first place, two for the second place, and three for the third place. After picking out six essays, the teacher submitted the list of winners and the respective essays.
After the high school department had finalized this, the junior high school team had almost done so too.
During the last review, something was wrong.
"Why, you see, this essay is for the first place in junior high school, and this is for the second place in senior high school. The similarity of the two is more than 90 percent, but…" When the two essays were placed together to compare, someone immediately saw the problem.


Qiao Nan: Crap! I am your biological daughter, yet I am treated as if I was picked up from the streets. In fact, you treat me worse than that!

Mother Qiao: Qiao Nan, you are not as pretty or smart as your elder sister. You are not as blessed as her. You have no right to study, marry, or to have your happiness!

Qiao Nan: Why am I not allowed to study, marry, or to seek my happiness? I will find a man right now and marry him!

Qiao Nan is dumbstruck upon discovering that the man right beside her is a powerful figure in the quad—the person who has the most promising prospects to be the future Chief.

Qiao Nan stares at the well-built man in front of her. He has firm abs and cold, chilling eyes. She swallows the lump in her throat as she says her greetings, "Good Morning, Chief!"

"If it's anything like the entrance exam they will write beside the question how much it's worth. So let's say the cloud question is worth 6 marks. Two mark for getting the order right, one mark for making it a short response and three marks for getting the correct spelling of said fancy words. If you don't use the fancy words maybe at most you get half a mark for having each lame term." Ariana replied. "No way!" Lucius shouted as he pounded the table. 
Anger students turned their gazes at him and he silently apologized in their direction as he quickly settled down. "Why not? Can you prove other wise? Let me ask you, when you wrote the entrance exam did you answer every question?" Ariana asked. All four of them shook their heads no. "Exactly! You spent too much time trying to sound super smart in your answers but it just wasted your time." Ariana replied. "Alright what did you do Miss Smartie dress!" Halina snorted.
"Read through the whole exam and managed my time." Ariana answered. "You didn't start writing right away?" Talisha asked. "No." Ariana replied. "Why?" Edlyn asked. "Why would I waste my time in starting right away? You read through an exam then make mental notes of a couple of things. One, what answers do you already know? Two, what's worth the most marks? Three, save multiple guess for the end and four answer what you know first." Ariana said as she raised her fingers. 
"Multiple guess you said this twice now. What is that?" Lucius asked. "It's multiple choice but teachers put these in test papers to play a psychological game with you." Ariana said. The group looked lost and Ariana chuckled. "Sorry let me explain further. Say you're give a question, Edlyn if you could please cover your eyes?" Ariana asked and Edlyn covered her eyes with both her hands. "Thank you. So say they give you a simple question, what colour are Edlyn's eyes?" Ariana continued.
"Simple! Blue!" Halina said excitedly. "Yes but you answered too early. You're list of answers are ice blue, sea blue, sky blue or pale blue." Ariana stated. Halina thought about for a second. "Sky blue." She answered firmly. "Are you sure?" Ariana asked. Halina pursed her lips and nodded. "Really, really sure?" Ariana probed as she leaned forward. Halina didn't respond. "What if I told you the next question is what is her favourite colour? Sky blue, pale blue, steel blue or green?"
"Uhm pale blue?" Halina answered. "Are you sure you didn't mix up the answers?" Ariana asked. Halina started to sweat. "I, I don't know maybe? Can I go back and answer again?" Halina asked. "Sure but what if your wrong again?" Ariana asked. "I...." Halina said with a exasperated look. "Edlyn." Ariana called out and Edlyn lowered her hands and looked at Halina. "I was right the first time!" Halina groaned. "Of course you were! You knew the answer but the moment you heard the second question you second guessed yourself. You wasted time trying to make sure your answers for a single question was correct but in fact that question is worth only one mark. So who cares. Leave it alone. Your first answer is usually the right one but the teachers start messing with your head." Ariana explained.
"That's mean." Halina pouted. "It's underhanded." Talisha mumbled. "No, it's genius." Lucius said in awe. "It's another reason why you should read through the exam. What if the answer is actually in a question somewhere else? Answer it last, don't second guess yourself. It's not worth the stress." Ariana said firmly. 
"So the essay part and opinionated piece?" Lucius asked as he quickly wrote down Ariana's tips. "It's the same thing." Ariana said with conviction. "No. Now I know you're wrong. An opinion is based on your beliefs while an essay is facts." Halina said as her brows furrowed. "Is it really?" Ariana asked. "No. She's right. An essay is your opinion based on facts while opinionated piece is still your opinion with facts to back it up." Edlyn said with a shocked face. 
"Right. No matter how a teacher words it, pick out the key words and form the core question. Here's an example." Ariana said before she recited the story of the giving tree.
The group looked at her in confusion as mixed feelings arose. "Now was the giving tree self sacrificing or self gratifying?" Ariana asked. "Self sacrificing." Edlyn and Lucius answered. "Self gratifying." Halina and Talisha responded. "Why? But before you answer make you first paragraph your theory, add three examples as your topics which will then be expanded into your three paragraphs then your conclusion. Remember to repeat your three points as proof to your theory." Ariana said. 
"Do we write it down?" Lucius asked. "No, let's debate but I won't get involved I will referee. To make sure you stay on topic. It's very easy to flip back and forth, you must remember to stick with your theory." Ariana explained.
The group started to debate peacefully but after some time they realized that they switched sides easily. 
"She gave up everything in the end so her boy could have a place to sit." Edlyn said.
"But the boy didn't care. The only one who cared was the tree! There was no thank you or anything from him! He just placed his a** down and she died happy." Talisha sneered. 
"Then what about the apples? She gave them all to him so he could get money? How is that not a sacrifice?" Lucius asked. 
"They're apples they grow back. She was doing it to feel useful." Halina replied. 
"What about cutting off her branches? She gave her branches to him so he could build a house." Edlyn pointed out. 
"So he could be in that house with his family. Not build it next to her." Talisha said.
"So how is that not a sacrifice if she feels lonely in the end?" Lucius asked. 
"How could she not feel happy? She gave up parts of herself to help out her son? It seems like bragging too me." Halina huffed.
"To who? She's alone." Edlyn pointed out. "This is frustrating! What's the answer?!" Talisha roared at Ariana.
Ariana looked around and saw that the surrounding students were actively listening and debating along side with the group. They didn't care that they were being disruptive they wanted to know they answer too. "Doesn't matter." Ariana replied, making everyone erupt in fury. 


First Arc:

"Don't leave me! Just look at me and stay awake!" Words that haunted Ariana's dreams for as long as she remembered. Dying in the arms of her lover as they both are surrounded and engulfed in flames. 

However Ariana's quirks never stopped her from living her life. Her journey starts from when her adoptive mother sells her at the tender age of 12, afraid that she was stealing her adoptive father's love. A blow to her head unlocks her past life's memories and life skills. 

Any object she touches relating to her past life unlocks her past skills and education. Using her memories she changes the brothel she's sold to into a maid cafe, and slowly changes her community. 

While creatures called Lumas are born from her powers to protect Ariana but who are the Lumas really protecting? Especially when she gets her period on her 13th birthday and it morphs her into a humanoid garnet dragon.

Second Arc:

In a world full of magic, beast men, warriors, adventurers and elementals could there really be something more frightening then a girl with mixed blood? Garnet dragon, child of the jewel eyed priestess and the soul of someone who was summoned from Earth.

Ariana is fully awoken to who she is and has started her life in St. Verusha Academy as their perfect score student. She will have to grow into the young lady she wants to be while trying to unravel the mysteries of her life. 

With the help of Cayden, her childhood friend and the the Lumas, Ariana will discover the roads she can walk down. The only problem is will she choose destruction or human evolution? Love or world dominance? Revenge or forgiveness? Or will she allow her human mind and heart to be devoured by the darkness inside of her because of a massive betrayal from the one person she thought meant the most to her?

An ominous odor of death pervaded the air around the courier station, as more and more people heard rumors - through various communication channels - that the Dragon King was about to slaughter the other competitors. At the same time, absurd news had begun spreading as well: There were unknown people planning to get rid of the Dragon King.
These conflicting yet potentially bloody rumors had kept those people who were not aware of the situation awake at night due to fear. A few suitors who came from wealthy merchant families were the first to crack under the pressure and consecutively announced their withdrawal from the royal consort selection process - even before it begun.
They came here with the purpose of enjoying the atmosphere and did not wish to die for no reason in a bid to win the Princess's hand in marriage.
The other suitors were adamant about staying, especially the sons of the five tribal chiefs. They knew little about the Dragon King and did not care much about the possibility of bloodshed.
Because of the rumors, Gu Shenwei realized that he had become a harbinger of doom and he received special attention wherever he went. Many residents of the capital of Stone Kingdom especially traveled to the entrance of the courier station just to catch a glimpse of him from afar. Audible gasps from the crowd could be heard whenever his hand went to the hilt of his saber.
However, less than two days later, the latest update was that Dragon King had become good friends with the two young masters of Golden Roc Fort. The previously sworn enemies were even hosting banquets for each other, and many people had also witnessed it firsthand. There were no signs of each side wanting to start a fight against the other at all.
This perplexed everyone.
As such, the Special Envoy from the Central Plain, Lin Tao, summoned the Dragon King for a meeting to discover the reason behind his actions.
"I need to understand the motives of Golden Roc Fort," Gu Shenwei explained. "I do not wish to start a massacre in Stone Kingdom, nor do I really wish to make peace with them."
At least on the surface, Lin Tao expressed full confidence in Dragon King and very quickly, he introduced the latter to the Prince of Loulan Kingdom.
Being a youth of about 19 years of age, the Prince of Loulan Kingdom was handsome and spoke in a refined manner. During the meeting, he also showed just the right amount of respect to Dragon King.
The two of them did not talk about the Princess of Stone Kingdom but merely chatted idly and became acquainted with each other. After their initial meeting, Gu Shenwei felt that the candidate chosen by the Central Plain was quite an ideal choice as well - if he were the King of Stone Kingdom and there was no pressure from outside forces, he would definitely pick the Prince of Loulan Kingdom as the prince consort.
Finally, the consort selection process had officially begun.
The first round was family background. Each suitor had to submit his family tree for inspection to prove that he was of a noble bloodline from many generations ago.
Gu Shenwei had always claimed publicly that he was of the Yang clan, and even though the Yang clan had some bearing amongst the martial arts community of the Central Plain, its reputation in the Western Region was close to nothing. Luckily, Fang Wenshi had already prepared for this and compiled an acceptable family lineage for Dragon King.
Fang Wenshi did not state Dragon King's origins of the Yang clan, rather, he listed down the history of the Great Snowmountain instead. The lineage started from generations mentioned in the legends up until Dragon King took over from the chiefs. His flamboyant writing proved that the people of the Great Snowmountain were descendants from the Emperor of the Central Plain from three dynasties before and they had made the long migration to the Great Snowmountain and took refuge there. He claimed that the title of "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks" was bestowed upon Dragon King by the gods.
This description of the Dragon King's genealogy caused many problems for Prime Minister Yang Dou. He dared not proclaim the contents as false, as it would be akin to challenging the Dragon King. Yet, he could not certify its authenticity as well since it would mean that Dragon King was of a more noble lineage than even the King of the Stone Kingdom himself.
In the end, Yang Dou came up with a solution. He would only pick the best out of all the family trees submitted and would not comment or rank the others.
Therefore, the Prince of the Kang Kingdom got what he wished for as his lineage was proclaimed the noblest out of all the suitors. The reason that Yang Dou gave the win to him, was that there were numerous intermarriages between both the Stone and Kang Kingdoms, therefore it was only natural for the prince to have more points in this aspect.
Along with that, the Stone Kingdom had to give some face to the Prince of the Kang Kingdom as they were part of the five kingdoms in Xiaoyao Lake as well.
Next up was a competition of literary talent. Each suitor had to submit an essay praising the beauty of the Princess.
The sons of the tribal chiefs were flummoxed by this and caused a huge commotion as they went looking for the Prime Minister. "I want to see the Princess. How can I write anything without even meeting her?" "It wouldn't be a problem to write a few hundred words about her if I can see her just once."
Yang Dou spent a lot of effort explaining to them what a competition of literary talent entailed. "Imagine how the Princess looked like, and if you really can't, you may make it up. It's not a competition about the accuracy of the description of her looks, but rather whose writing is more elegant," he said.
"Elegant writing? Writings are all about the same, do you mean to say that characters from the language of the Central Plains would look better than ours?"
Thankfully, Gu Shenwei's essay did not rank the last, nor did it become a laughing joke with the help of these people.
The Prince of Loulan Kingdom won first place in this round and everyone was convinced by the results except for, not surprisingly, the sons of the tribal chiefs.
The third round was about kung fu. Most of the candidates knew their place and forfeited the competition except for three sons of the tribal chiefs, who openly challenged the Dragon King to battle.
More than half of the city's population came to watch the competition on the day itself. The first contestant wielded a huge saber, about tens of catties heavy, and just as he swung it over his head, four of his fingers were already sliced off by the Dragon King. He withdrew from the competition, howling loudly from the pain of defeat. Upon seeing this, the other two contestants immediately forfeited the competition.
It was supposed to be a duel that would go down in history for Stone Kingdom, yet it concluded in less than 15 minutes from start to end.
The fourth round of the competition was about wealth.
Prime Minister Yang Dou had prepared many huge wooden dippers at the entrance of the palace, and all the suitors had to do was to pour gold into them. The one who poured the most would be declared the winner of this round.
Unfortunately, the Dragon King was ranked last for this round. The gold that he brought was not enough to even cover the bottom of the dipper fully, and his results were even shabbier than the sons of the tribal chiefs.
The wealth competition had overtaken the kung fu competition as the most closely watched round in the consort selection process.
The few sons of the tribal chiefs soon conceded defeat after the Dragon King had done so; even the richest of them could only fill half a dipper.
The competition waged most intensely amongst three people: Shangguan Fei, as well as the princes from the Kang and Loulan Kingdoms.
Carriage after carriage carrying gold was shipped from Golden Roc Fort, and as the competition continued into the evening of the second day, the amount of gold from Shangguan Fei had already filled up five dippers and weighed tens of thousands of catties heavy. He had finally defeated the other two worthy opponents and won a unanimous victory, gaining an important point for himself.
All of the gold was kept sealed. If the contestant became the prince consort, the gold that he presented during the competition would serve as a betrothal gift while everybody else's gold would be returned as it was.
It was an arrangement that everyone agreed to readily, simply because it was common knowledge that the consort of the princess would become King of the Stone Kingdom sooner or later, therefore the 'betrothal gift' would eventually fall back into his hands.
There were four winners from the previous rounds of the competition: Prince of the Kang Kingdom with the best lineage, Prince of the Loulan Kingdom who possessed good literary talent, Dragon King who won in kungfu, and Shangguan Fei, who had the most wealth overall.
They were now left with the last segment of the competition - Character. This was also the hardest to judge out of the rest. Yang Dou came up with a splendid idea: All of the 11 suitors, along with the King of the Stone Kingdom himself, would have to cast a vote each for the person they deemed to have the best character amongst all the contestants. The person with the most votes would be declared the winner of the character contest.
His reason was very simple - the person who could win the approval from his competitors would definitely have the best character amongst them.
If the winner of this round was also one of the winners from the previous four rounds, then he would be declared the prince consort. If not, Yang Dou would have to come up with another competition until a suitor won two rounds of the event.
The brilliant part about the plan was that in the quest to become the prince consort, the four previous winners who had the best hope of becoming the prince consort would be forced to use all sorts of means to bribe the other seven competitors. In this way, almost everyone had something to gain from and Stone Kingdom would not have to spend a single tael of silver at all.
Yang Dou gave everyone three days to think about who they should vote for. As such, the open competition had turned into people pitting against each other in secret. The special envoys from Norland and the Central Plain no longer concealed their motives and personally visited each suitor as they attempted to entice or force the voters into voting for the candidate that they supported.
As an onlooker, Gu Shenwei gained the trust of both parties on the surface. As a result, he already knew about the vote count for each candidate after the end of the first day.
Surprisingly, both Shangguan Fei and the Prince of Loulan Kingdom each claimed to be equal with eight votes each; however, this didn't add up because that would mean the total votes were more than the highest possible count of 12 votes if this was true.
Gu Shenwei knew that if this were the case, that means there were three other people, aside from himself, who double promised their votes to both Norland and the Central Plain.
The conflicting counts were soon discovered by both parties and therefore a new round of alliance-making began. This time, the lobbying became even bolder.
The Special Envoy from the Central Plain summoned Dragon King for another meeting and made an exception as he did not beat around the bush this time. He went straight to the point and said, "I suppose you should know how important the support of the Central Plain means to the Great Snowmountain, Dragon King."
Gu Shenwei nodded.
"Does that mean I can place my complete faith in you, is it right to say that? You've been very close with Shangguan Fei lately, Dragon King. You wouldn't change your mind at the very last minute and vote for him, would you?"
"The Great Snowmountain knows its place and would never go against our promise to the Central Plain. Furthermore, Golden Roc Fort will always be our enemy. I will never help Shangguan Fei," lied Gu Shenwei, naturally because he knew that the Special Envoy from the Central Plains was lying as well.
Maid Lotus had been observing Lin Tao's guard troops in secret and noticed that they were all kung fu experts with extraordinary skills who were purposely dressed as normal guards. They completely matched the list provided by Zhong Heng and they rarely ventured out, neither did they try to start fights with anyone, but there were visible traces of their skills reflected in their behavior. It would be extremely hard for commoners to notice it - but not for Maid Lotus.
These 10 kung fu experts were the assassins sent by Wei Song to murder Dragon King and Zhong Heng. Gu Shenwei knew very well that they both kept secrets from each other, but he pretended that he knew nothing about the assassins.
"Someone is trying to double-cross me," said Lin Tao as he squinted and looked sullen, no longer as composed as before. "I will not show that person any mercy when I find out who he is," he continued.
"It's a crucial period for all of us and you shouldn't overreact about it, Mr. Lin. Focus on finding out who these double-crossers are and try to persuade them."
Lin Tao nodded in agreement; however, he was extremely cautious and still refused to give out the specific list of names.
In comparison, Shangguan Fei had much less trust in the Dragon King. He thought that he would be able to win the competition easily and did not expect to encounter such a huge obstacle in the process. He asked, "Be honest with me, Dragon King. You made a promise to both parties to vote for them, am I right?"
"No," Gu Shenwei continued to lie. "Why should I vote for the Central Plain after they had cast us away? Furthermore, if the Prince of Loulan Kingdom was to become the prince consort, he would definitely accept the throne of the Stone Kingdom and become a willing puppet of the Central Plain. This does not bode well for Great Snowmountain."
"Do you really have a way to prevent the King of the Stone Kingdom from abdicating his throne?" asked Shangguan Fei anxiously; he was confused by the Dragon King's standing as well.
"Yes, but I would need your cooperation. You will be the prince consort and I will help the Stone Kingdom to maintain its political independence - this is our deal."
"Yes, yes. Sigh, it's not easy to be the prince consort as well. The Lord apparently said that everything had already been arranged, so why is it still turning out this way?"
The first person to be revealed as a swing voter was the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. He had spent a considerable amount of effort to lobby for himself but was enraged when he realized no one was going to support him. Therefore, he decided to benefit at the expense of both parties at play; by getting a large enough monetary reward if he was going to lose. Even when he was exposed, he was not embarrassed about it and announced publicly that he would vote for the party who offered more money.
The entire second day was spent in open struggles and covert maneuvering to get the support of the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. First, threats were issued followed by the increased number of bribes. The servants who were responsible for passing messages between the involved parties were as busy as ants scurrying around different locations.
As it drew closer to midnight, Norland and Golden Roc Fort won the decisive victory. Shangguan Fei won the vote of the Prince of the Kang Kingdom with a promise of an unknown monetary reward. He was ahead of the Prince of Loulan Kingdom by seven to eight votes.
Gu Shenwei felt that this was an unwise move on the Prince of the Kang Kingdom's part as it would invite unrest to his kingdom, but his actions had also drawn everyone's attention and this, in turn, brought Dragon King some valuable time to prepare for the final battle.


Born into a wealthy family, Gu Shenwei was spoiled and carefree. However, at the age of 14, his entire family were brutally murdered, and he was caught by some bandits who sold him into slavery. As a slave boy, he entered Golden Roc Fort by chance and found the man who had slaughtered his family. He endured insults and worked hard to improve his kung fu while working as a slave boy. He learned from and plotted against his enemy under the enemy’s nose. He became increasingly ambitious as he became more and more powerful. He would only be satisfied if he completely destroyed his enemy—by fair means or foul. Gradually his bitter experience turned him into a totally different person. 
This is a kung fu fiction that is full of mysteries and surprises. This is a story dealing with love, betrayals and distances. This is the journey of an ordinary boy who, against all odds, fought against formidable foes. This is a tale regarding a person who felt abandoned by the world made unremitting efforts to create a new world of his own, in which he was alone.

Although the aristocratic families of Dongqing were becoming more and more outrageous, it was undeniable that the children of the aristocratic families indeed had some skills.
"Each age brings forth new genius in this noble land." The deputy examiner sighed. "The young generation has really replaced the old. These young people are really terrific. They're the pillars of the country." He was seated next to Liu She and spoke with emotion. What he said was confirmed by a few others.
"If not, why are they called the young talents? The world will be theirs very soon. It's good to be young. After a few years, old people like us may have to retire in favor of talent. The young people these days make other people jealous." A revered Confucius scholar spoke. The hair on his temples was snowy white and his face was covered with wrinkles, but his skin was ruddy and he looked quite sharp.
The assessment was held once every three years. It was a very important day for Dongqing.
Although Liu She was the head examiner, there were more than ten deputy examiners beside him. They were either senior ministers in the palace, famous figures, or revered Confucius scholars who were overflowing with knowledge. Their seniority was all higher than that of Liu She, but he hated it the most when they took advantage of their seniority.
A few of them sighed with emotion. He secretly snorted in his heart and sneered coldly. Even a pig would walk with its two hooves when it was given a lot of resources, let alone people.
The other assessments were about to end. The atmosphere at the assessment venue had livened up. With the urging of several deputy examiners, Liu She got up from the ta and pulled out a scroll from his sleeves. Two servants went forward and removed the scroll's seal. Then, it was displayed and hung on the shelf.
Upon seeing the scroll, all the scholars kept their spirits. The highlight of the assessment that day had arrived.
Seeing the vigorous touches and fine strokes of the word displayed on the scroll, they were all confused. They were either frowning and pondering or secretly reciting the word…
"People!" That was the only word on the scroll. It was also the question for the assessment.
To say it in common terms, it was a composition with an assigned topic. The examiner would give a question and the students would answer with their own creativity.
There was no limit to the number of words and there was no restriction on the format of the content and subject matter, as long as the theme––"people"––was discussed. The governance of people, farming, commodity trading, and education were all examples related to the theme… It seemed easy, but the theme was actually very difficult to tackle.
First of all, the topic was too broad and a lot could be written on it. Because of that, it was extremely difficult to write an excellent and incisive essay that could make people introspect and express their admiration, as well as be accepted by Liu She. Most of them went for moderation.
Secondly, most of them were the sons of the aristocratic families, which had very decent backgrounds. They did not visit brothels and did not have much contact with the people. Most of their knowledge came from books. They would easily engage in false and empty talk if they were careless. How were they going to start?
It was not difficult for them to submit to the task. What was difficult was how to be outstanding and beat the others!
Of course, Jiang Pengji saw the question. She frowned. Liu She's question could either be said as easy or very difficult. It was really a bit tricky.
The Chinese character for the word "people" originated from the Chinese characters for the words "corpse" and "family name."
The word "corpse" could be described as the inability of the body to move; it had the implicit meaning of not migrating and not moving. "Family name" referred to a country and its clans. The combination of the two was "people."
Using divergent thinking, not only could the word "people" be interpreted as people, but also the national economy and the people's livelihood.
Connecting those two points, the basic necessities of life, which were related to people, could be included in one's thinking as well. Topics related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, like education and prospering the country, could also be used as a starting point… More importantly, after giving the question, Liu She did not give any other hints, so the students were very confused.
If one knew Liu She's personal preference, it would help the students in pondering about the key points so they could cater to his taste.
Many scholars were in a difficult position. Upon seeing the situation, although the deputy examiners had objections, they did not say them out.
Liu She cared about the people and the people's livelihood. He was a pragmatic person. What more could they say?
Wei Ci slightly curled his lips upon seeing the question.
He was very sure that there was something wrong with Liu She. However, in general, he was not that annoyed.
The question had been given and it was not good for the scholars to exchange ideas and discuss it among each other. Many examiners were staring at them from above, so they could only rely on their own skills.
While others were still thinking about Liu She's preference, a few scholars rubbed the ink stick on an inkstone, laid out their paper, and started writing.
Liu She scanned the situation with his eyes. The students who had started writing were basically the choice of people he had expected. He could not help but heave a sigh of relief secretly.
There was a reason that people went down in history with their abilities. Their talents could not be admired, nor could they be envied.
He walked around a little and glanced at their writing desks. He could not help but nod.
The question he gave was indeed very broad, but as long as it was related to the word "people," they would not stray away from the topic. Instead of greedily wanting to present countless content in a few short pages, which would result in the essay not being sufficient, it was better to take a subject and emphasize on it. Using a subject to point out the essence of the topic was the principle.
Of course, understanding the principle was one thing; it was another thing if one could write the real thing.
Some people already understood Liu She's intentions, but they realized that they could not write something real once they started writing.
According to their analysis about Liu She, he was considered as a man of action. What was the use of flattering him in an exaggerated manner? He might care more about those who knew about agriculture and irrigation, as well as those who were hardworking.
Of course, those people had self-knowledge. Most people just shrugged it off. No one would not like to listen to flattering words. What was wrong with writing the essay in an ornamental way? It would be fine as long as the head examiner felt comfortable reading it… Therefore, there were still fools who liked to show off their intelligence and vocabulary.
Among the many scholars, Liu She cared most about a few of Master Yuan Jing's disciples. They were pretty much what he expected. Judging from the content of the essay alone, the temperament of the people could actually be explored as well.
The only one that surprised him was Wei Ci.
The fourth disciple of Master Yuan Jing… did not seem to be like what Amin said. He only had looks.
Cheng Jing was steady and pragmatic. He paid attention to agriculture and irrigation. Han Yu was upright and open-minded. His article related to criminal law. Lu Zheng seemed average, but as he elaborated further on his essay, he directly pointed out the corrupt practices in Dongqing and spoke out on behalf of the people… However, Wei Ci…
Looking at his appearance alone, he looked like a piece of jade. He was aloof, but he had the gentleness of a gentleman. They were oddly balanced.
However, his essay was… quite jarring. Even if Liu She appreciated his essay very much, he could not have given him a very high score. That was not the way to look for trouble!
He seemed to naively hope that everyone could get an education. He even gave a lot of real suggestions and plans.
Liu She twisted his lips. Wei Ci was not afraid of getting into trouble, so he provoked the authority of the gentries at this point of time.
Liu She secretly sighed. Wei Ci deliberately seeking trouble was the opposite of Amin's words!
However, the bad things were not over yet. In the pavilion, Jiang Pengji was watching the scholars write with their heads down. Her heart felt somewhat more at ease. That was how examinations were supposed to be.
However, she soon changed her mind.
Hiss… The sound of a fabric being torn was heard.
Wei Ci was about to use the sandalwood burner to dry the ink marks on the essay that he had completed. A scholar near him was still pondering and his face was flushed. He sometimes squinted his eyes and glared. He could not stop tearing his clothes. He was wearing some old clothes that were loosely worn. Of course, his clothes could not withstand the suffering and they were soon torn apart.
Wei Ci did not say a word.
Liu She turned his head upon hearing the sound. That Langjun had already taken off all his clothes and got up from his seat. His back was facing Liu She and his buttocks was revealed.
Liu She was speechless. I want to curse right now!


Jiang Pengji got something called the Court Intrigue Stream System.
System: "Your goal is to become the most prestigious woman in the kingdom (the Queen)!" 
Jiang Pengji: "Okay, System. No problem!"
Years later, she met the target by becoming the most prestigious woman (the Empress).
Jiang Pengji: "Well done, no?"
System: "Why the hack did you fight on horseback? I want court intrigue among the King's women!"

#how a future general wins the ancient throne
#Her man watches in silence, the System watches with tears

We finished our paragraphs in 10 minutes while over checking them and their language. Fitting the whole aural system into a hundred mere words is nothing to laugh at. It's hard! Then again when we looked up Mrs Zevary was finishing a drawing on the white board, she finally stepped away and let us take in what she just did. In 10 minutes, she drew, perfectly the aural system in the whiteboard. These people have too much skill for their own good. 
"Now too augment the aural system we need to know which part of the war to focus on the most, that means you have to know the parts of the ear and be aware of the jobs they do.
Most of the energy will be focused on the Cochlea and hair cells, minimal energy will be required for the outer ear and some will be on the eardrum to make it more sensitive to vibrations. After that a whole thin coat of energy will still be needed to balance out the ear. "
Well at least I understand this, by the way, when I said basic knowledge I meant that I had enough to become a decent doctor but no specialist in any way. Anyway, we have the whole lesson for you to explain and us to not write...
"Now that you've heard the summary we are going to focus on understanding the parts of the ear to the fullest in order for a safe practical lesson in the near future."
No writing, no writing. 
"I would like a thousand word essay of each part of the war I just mentioned by next week and hand in the ones you have so far finished at the end of the lesson."
She then stood up to hand out more sheets of lined paper for us to write on and with that my current dreams were crushed. Nice job Mrs Zevary.
By the end of the lesson I had completed the cochlea and the eardrum as they were the easier ones to write about since I have more information on them. I handed them in as well as the others and we took our extra sheets in misery of the work. Just need an essay for the hair cells and the outer ear then I'll be done, but when will I have the time to do it while still having my holiday sleeping schedule? Oh god, please help me. 
The shadow guards smiled at our miserable faces but were a bit confused when they reached Anastasia. I looked back to see the cause of the confusion to see that she looked fine and after a careful inspection she didn't have the lined paper. 
"Ummm, where are the rest of your lined sheets lioness?"
I asked her but in my head I already guessed the ridiculous outcome.
"I finished, didn't you?"
She said back to be nonchalantly. Not everyone is a world class doctor.
"Nope,"
"There is only one more lesson for the day so there is no need to worry."
One of the shadow guards said, seems like they are letting their guard down around us and allowed to talk now? When did their rules change? 
In their ear just as I was scanning them for an answer that was right in front of my eyes there was an ear piece hidden in the corner of their ears. Guess that's how the information gets across.
When we were going back the way we came I wondered if we were going to the other side of the castle. But that wouldn't make sense because the layout said that it would be closer to go from the back across. Did they make a mistake. Finally the staircases came into view, I thought we were going to go across but we turned into the corridor that lead to the throne room. Are we in one of the side rooms? We just kept walking and the guards showed no signs of stopping soon. Then they reached the big black and gold door. Seems we are in the throne room again. But who's our teacher? Would it be Althgar again? Or one of the other heads. 
We went in and I expected to see the same throne room we see every time but this time there was only one change, but that one change was all that was needed to shift the dynamic of the throne room.
It was a circle placed flat on the ground in the centre of the room and it had blue light emitting from it. Like sunlight being filtered through a window but only blue. Althgar wasn't sitting on his throne, instead he was standing to the side of the blue circle and looking at us expectantly with a slight smile on his face. Congratulations Mr Daemon, you are the first punctual teacher of the day! 
Fingers crossed there isn't any homework. 
"Welcome back my students, this is your last class of the day and it's all about potential. Potential, as in the skills you acquire through the noble gene pool. "
Skills? Now what skills are their to acquire? Is it again tied to spirit blood because he did mention the noble gene pool which is full of myths and magic. That doesn't sound logical at all and trying to sound serious while involving make believe topics really is hard. 
"First of all we will be finding out what you have acquired using this potential seeker. I would like you to decide the order of which you will step onto the potential seeker."
We then got into a kind of group huddle and rationally tried to figure out an order that was fair. I know it would've just been easier to call out if you want to have your turn and just accept it but he did tell us to figure out an order.
"I think Lioness should go first because she is the one who has spent the least amount of time here. I don't think she has any concerns either and her personality says that she would like to find some answers."
This came from fox who reasoned with the group like a leader finding his groups opinion. It was a speech but at the same time a question all together. 
"Are we all in agreement?"
She asked again while looking around at the nodding heads.
"Then I'll go second,"
This came from Keung who then looked at Kong who then automatically then said.
"I'll go third, we family have to stick together I guess,"
"That's fine, after that should be Fox then Jackal then I'll go last,"
We all nodded then turned out.
"Who's first?"

Micheal, a young genius and heir to the Coltus family. Follow this rebellious boy who strives to lead a normal life and escape his planned future of leading the Coltus family business. A path of friendship betrayal and bittersweet moments. Political and family issues arise throughout and he proves his young mind time and time again, only to be trapped back inside and still stuck as the heir. 
He succeeds in negotiations with his parents with a compromise, they will get off his back but he has to go to a school of their choice. Making new friends and experiencing life as a scholarship student . He plans to keep trying to lead a life without the chains of the family name.
Will he succeed and escape his fate?
Or will he succumb to the noble name of Coltus.
From his childhood he matured through the story. He realises his impossible and naive goal that he set. He goes out into the harsh world and searches for something to do with his useless life that will prolong his inevitable destiny.
Something lurks within, and a prophecy foretells a new era, or an old.
One that this journey of our maturing genius leads to................................................................
Hello people of the world, my name is Michael. Michael Malligane Coltus. And in this book you will be reading about the mess of things that is called my life, well the mess gets even more tangled and guess what! You’ll be reading about my mental pains about having such a terrible fate. And that fate is *drumroll* being the heir to one of the top three business names in the world. Might sound nice but trust me it’s a horrible life. First you have f*cked up parents and next you have to train for your whole life and finally you can’t have a normal life! Of course there are all the other things but those are the big three. It’s one hell of a life I have and then add all the make believe stuff in and there you have one messed up life. And it’s my life. The life of the unwilling heir. Sigh ........
Note from the author: I start with quite a slow plot and as the book goes on it overlaps into different genres. This book is also written by a complete beginner but I am trying my best and I hope you enjoy it!
-Silver

5:30am, September 7th, 2000 CE

<<[Mission: Road to a Healthy Body] updated. (6/7) complete.>>

Michael nodded in satisfaction as he walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water, mixed his supplement, and walked upstairs. When he drank the supplement before his run yesterday, the sensation of it sloshing around in his stomach had been a little unpleasant. He drank it down and stepped into the shower.

After that, he went downstairs and started preparing his breakfast. It was too early for the coffee maker at this point, so Michael poured himself another glass of cold water and started cooking. According to the meal plan outlined by the system, breakfast was a half-dozen eggs, chicken breasts, as well as various greens - a lot of them. In fact, that was most meals. If not for several comments from the system confidently stating that this plan would significantly help his growth, Michael would likely not be able to choke down this food. He suspected he might get very sick of it soon. Regardless, he pulled out a pan and started cooking.

By the time he'd finished cooking, eating, and washing up, the coffee's timer had gone off and there was now a fresh pot. He poured himself a cup and went downstairs to get started on his essay. There were still a few hours until he could use his Enhanced Focus ability again, but he intended to get started well beforehand.

He found it easier and easier to get into a focused state, even without using his Enhanced Focus ability. He found it hard to believe that this was simply a product of practice, and suspected that the System might have something to do with this. He decided to ask.

<<Subject's hypothesis is correct. Part of the System's mandate is to maximize the effectiveness of Subject's efforts. While the System is unable to generate effects without any effort, the System is able to guide and enhance recovery and repair functions. This requires a certain amount of energy - which the system is initially able to provide. The System is also able to convert other forms of energy and materials where possible, in order to maintain and improve it's functions. The System would like to congratulate the Subject on discovering this, as this information needs to be discerned and can not be volunteered.>>

"So, if I hadn't asked, I never would have known, huh? Interesting. Is that why I can run every day with just feeling a bit sore? I normally read that that's not good."

<<Correct. While not impossible, it does require strong recovery abilities. Normally this is only available to those with a particular 'talent'. Subject can interpret the System as providing these 'talents', as long as sufficient energy, materials, and efforts are available.>>

Michael nodded to himself. It was not uncommon to hear about people who were naturally gifted in one thing or another - someone who could run for longer than people normally could without being hurt, or had a better memory than others. Some of these things seemed to just 'happen', while others couldn't be reached without an insane amount of training. Hard work couldn't be discounted, of course, but there was also something to be said for 'talent'. He had always been a pretty clever kid, curious, and an avid reader. Maybe those could be considered 'talents', but they might also just be a byproduct of his habits. 

In a way, the System was his talent, now.

Michael shrugged his shoulders and got to work. He thumbed through the novel as he worked on the first section of his essay, making references to various sections and themes, flipping back and forth to the related topics based on his memory. Soon, it was around 10:30. He decided to take a bit of a break, go upstairs for a snack, and maybe try to snag another cup of coffee. His parents and sisters were at the table enjoying breakfast, so after he made himself a plate with a few slices of cheese, nuts, and berries, he went over and sat with them for a few minutes. 

His parents asked about how his project was going, and he talked to his sisters about their school, which would be starting back up tomorrow. He then asked his parents if they'd be willing to review his first draft after dinner, which they agreed to. This gave him another incentive to complete the draft before dinner. Shortly before 11 he made his way back downstairs and enabled his Enhanced Focus. Two hours flew by very quickly, and he had finished the portions of the essay related to the main novel and a large chunk of the supplementary sections. He decided to take a break at this point, though, since his brain had that foggy feeling once again. 

Since it had worked yesterday, he decided to clear his mind by going for a walk, and then having a late lunch when he got back. The new nutrition plan had him eating every 3-4 hours, which felt excessive but seemed to be required in order to "consume the appropriate amount of calories and macronutrients", according to the system. Since he didn't need to go to the grocery store, he decided to instead walk towards the nearby park and take a look around.

As his family had only moved to this area over the summer, and he was a bit of a home-body, he hadn't really explored the area much. The park was rather large, and only about 15 minutes away from his house. Part of the park backed on to the nearby river, which was large and deep enough for smaller cargo ships to navigate as they made their way to and from some of the larger lakes further inland in the territory. The furthest section of the park actually backed onto a large wooded area, which then led up into the hills outside of town. Michael walked a circle around some of the paths, seeing kids playing and couples enjoying the relaxing scenery as the colours changed and fall started to creep in. He found it quite soothing.

Refreshed and re-energized, he made his way home to grab lunch and tackle the rest of his draft. His cooking over the past day or so led to minor incremental improvements, as expected, but since they were so minuscule he didn't really pay attention to them. He was curious, however, about what changes might occur when any of these skills actually increased to the next level. As he made himself a plate of cured meat, fried wild greens, and a couple of hard boiled eggs, he asked the System.

"System?"

<<Awaiting Subject's query.>>

"How do I increase the speed of improving these skills, and what happens when they actually level up?"

<<Subject's question is slightly flawed. An increase in the whole number value of a skill indicates that Subject's proficiency has achieved the next degree of expertise. While certain additional abilities might be unlocked by these improvements as part of missions or other locked achievements, the whole number value itself indicates that the Subject's abilities have improved. In regards to Subject's skills - learning related techniques and proper practice and development of those techniques will lead to improved growth. Current incremental growth is related to subject implicitly practicing related techniques.>>

He understood. It wasn't that increasing the level of the skill would suddenly make him better, but that the skill would level when he got better at it. This made sense. It wasn't a game, after all.

"But just like the guidelines when chopping, or correcting my form when I'm exercising, you're able to make sure that I practice correctly, right?"

<<Affirmative. The System is able to provide objective and external feedback of Subject's performance. Monitoring Subject's growth and performance is one of the System's primary directives.>>

"...Well, not really external, right?"

<<...>>

"That was a joke, System."

<<...>>

---

Around 5pm, Michael had finished writing out his first draft. He took it over to his computer, opened up his word processor, and typed it out. Since he didn't need to think about it and could just copy his writing over directly, the process went pretty quickly, and by 6:15 he had a printed-out stack of double-spaced pages to hand over to his parents. He grabbed the three books as well and went upstairs to help out with dinner.

"That was surprisingly fast, Michael! You finished this in a day?" Flavius commented, noticeably impressed. 

"Yep. All the references are listed, and I brought up the books so you can check them. Thanks again, by the way. I'm not sure if I can ask the teacher to review the draft before I hand it in or not, but I'll find out tomorrow," Michael responded as he washed the lettuce for dinner. Since his father wasn't using the oven for dinner tonight, he also took out a container of chicken breasts he had previously cooked and set them in the oven at a low heat to warm up.

"Great. Your mother and I will look over it first thing after dinner," his father confirmed. Michael thanked him again and went to set the table.

After dinner, he washed up and silently rejoiced at the fact that his double-duty was now over. He then went back downstairs to work on his proposal for the cafe.

It's the turn of the 21st century in a world not unlike our own. 14 year-old Michael wakes up on the first day of high school with a nosebleed, a splitting headache, and the voice of someone claiming to be him from a number of years in the future in his head!

"We could have been, and we need to be, better... so, congratulations, I'm sorry, and good luck!"

Stuck with a somewhat overbearing voice in his head that seems hell-bent on ruining his life, Michael will have to survive such ordeals as... doing well in school, eating right, exercising and... learning demonic contract law? Stay tuned to find out!

"Then, I'll send the text to your emails."
Kimura Kazuki grinned at the sight of this. He did retain their contact information when he was their home tutor.
Soon, the four people received the mail.
Although Akino sounded unimpressed, being an amateur of Anime, Comic, and Games (ACG), although she hasn't written any of her own light novels yet, she read novels regularly. It was her spiritual food, her whole body would feel uncomfortable if she did not flip through a few pages in a single day.
However… her mouth twitched involuntarily when she saw the book titled Loading File Of Tokyo.
It was probably another light novel which utilized mind-reading ability to fall in love. By the time it was put on sale, they could include a few illustrations in the novel and sell the illustrations with a bunch of toilet paper.
Nowadays, toilet paper novels were increasing in number.
Since the novel named Re: An Alien Life Starting from Scratch became a hit, not only did light novels featuring another world increase, but this type of life resetting theme had increased as well, overwhelming and overloading the readers' aesthetic sense.
While teasing about it, Akino downloaded the novel and began reading raptly. Kimura Kazuki was just sitting right in front of her. If he could just find an excuse to bully her on the pretext of her reckless reading... 
The four sisters read quickly as there was only one chapter. If there was anyone else who wanted them to review a novel with only one chapter, they would probably refuse and despised it while they were at it. Especially Furuhashi Akino, she would even scold a few words.
Natsui was the first to finish the novel, she raised her head slightly and took a glance at the others, her eyes met Harunaka's in an instant.
"How was it? Good? "
"How do I know...I have never read a novel before. If I tell you that this is my first time reading a light novel, would you believe it?"
"Yes. This is my first time reading a novel, too, but I find it quite interesting."
"It is not bad, there is a lot of suspense. But… to know whether it is good enough, we still have to ask Akino and Fuyuno."
They communicated with their eyes for a moment then shifted their gaze toward Akino and Fuyuno.
Needless to say, Akino was an expert in ACG, she would definitely be able to provide a thoughtful analysis later on; they could only call for her help.
Of course, Fuyuno had always wanted to become a voice actor. She had also taken up light novels and animated shows. Speaking about the understanding of light novels and animated shows, she was much more professional than Akino.
Harunaka and Natsui made eye contact again, realizing that the eyesight of Kimura Kazuki was turning toward them, they were frightened and put an act on reading the novel.
Obviously, they were afraid that the other side would ask them questions, they really had no idea on how to answer questions regarding novels. They had a pretty good impression of this single chapter novel before them, but they were worried if this was an illusion coming from their first experience of light novel reading.
After all, Akino had mentioned that it was normal for a person to be immediately fascinated when they first read a novel. On the first read, no matter how bad the writing skill, plot, and storyline were, people would be able to tolerate and accept. Only when more novels were read, then one could differentiate the good and bad of a book. As such, both of them dared not comment.
Shortly after, Akino and Fuyuno finished their readings as well.
"Not bad, but it is too short."
"Great, but it is too short."
Akino and Fuyuno spoke one after another...
Kimura Kazuki was pleasantly surprised when he heard them spoke in unison.
He noticed that both Harunaka and Natsui had finished their readings just now, but they were dodging his eyes as if it was hard for them to speak out. He thought that the novel was dull… looking at how their eyes were shining with anticipation now that Akino and Fuyuno had spoken, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
One novel could not be in favor of everyone. He was very clear of this, moreover, now there was only one chapter completed for Loading File Of Tokyo.
Akino was no longer eating. A while ago, she thought that this novel was a life resetting love story. It was out of her expectation that this was crime fiction. Instead, something came up to her mind in a second, "Is this novel going to participate in the crime fiction section of 'Let's Be A Light Novelist'?"
"Yes," Kimura Kazuki nodded.
Akino and Fuyuno appeared to understand, they had obviously heard about this essay competition.
Upon hearing this, Harunaka seemed to think of something, she spoke with a strange look, "Senior… are you the author of this novel?"
Before they got in contact, Kimura Kazuki told her that he had found a job. His emotions were tense because of the comments on this novel. He even claimed that this was the work of his friend. She was quite sure that this was the work of Kimura Kazuki himself. 
"No… it really is my friend's work," Having spoken these words, he became speechless when he noticed that all of them seemed not to trust him.
"This novel shouldn't be the work of senior," Fuyuno continued to flip through the novel, she spoke with certainty, "The writing style is very similar to a novel which I have read, named Record Book of Matsuzawa Hospital."
Kimura Kazuki looked at Fuyuno in shock, he then nodded his head, "Yes, it was written by that person, you can see it just from the writing style?"
"I recently revised the Record Book of Matsuzawa Hospital again," Fuyuno grinned embarrassedly, "I just like the writing style of Gentera, the words under the tip of his or her pen could easily stir up the emotions of others."
Kimura Kazuki did not fully understand what she said, he was unsure what was the feeling of 'words under the tip of his or her pen could stir up the emotions of others.' But he was still happy since Fuyuno considered it to be good. 
After all, this light novel was going to participate in the essay competition, if it was written well… it would be adapted into comic books or animations, as long as these two were done, it would surely gain the acknowledgment from readers. By that time, Yuriko's obsession could naturally be fulfilled.
"In fact, there's usually nothing much to see from the first chapter of light novels," Akino spoke suddenly, her interest was aroused, "However in this novel… the suspicion and strength of the protagonist were tossed out in the air since the first chapter, that's why I am very interested. You can ask your friend to update it as soon as possible, by then, I can help you to publicize it on Twitter. Be informed that I actually have millions of fans…if anyone else requests me to advertise for them, they will have to pay me a lot of money."
"Really? Why do I not know that you have been earning money from advertisements?" Natsui spoke out of nowhere. "Do you still remember how much money you actually owe us?"
Akino snorted lightly and raised her chin, "My Twitter account is different from those marketing accounts, I have never posted any advertisement before, all of my posts are gaming strategies. Otherwise, how could I get so many fans!"
"Wait…senior, you actually knew teacher Gentera?" Akino was still arguing with Natsui, while Fuyuno suddenly came to a realization after having two spoons of rice. Fuyuno, who was always calm and cold, cried out softly, she laid her eyes on Kimura Kazuki with astonishment, "Both of you are friends in real life?"
Usually, after the beginning of a new novel was completed, it would be first handed to the editor. But there was only one chapter now, perhaps the editor would not bother to have a look.
"You're right."
"So, is teacher Gentera a male or female?"
Kimura Kazuki took a curious glance at Furuhashi Fuyuno, he answered honestly, "Female."
"Sure enough… I knew it." Fuyuno could barely hide her smile, she explained with slight awkwardness when she realized that Kimura Kazuki was giving her a weird stare. "I've been thinking of teacher Gentera as a female all along, but my friend kept telling me that only a man could write such meticulous words in this modern society. So we bet on this… now it seems like I have won."
"Fuyuno… since when did you make new friends? Your old friend, Komuro Jun, hasn't him been transferred to another school?"
The Furuhashi sisters stared at Fuyuno inquisitively. Fuyuno had no choice but to answer, "Although I said she was a friend, she is actually a senior from the voice actor sector. Her name is Yukito Hirata, you guys should be able to recall that I had registered for a voice actor school during my junior high summer holiday, right?"
"Oh..."Akino's mind clicked in an instant, "Isn't the Hirata Performer School founded by Hirata Performer Management Company? I heard that they closed down a few months ago."
Fuyuno coughed lightly, gave Akino a stern glare, and did not say another word.


Time travelling from the majestic era after the Recuperation of Reiki, he became Kimura Kazuki, a 16-year-old high school student in Japan, one year before the Reiki Recuperation.

Tentatively, he set out to hone himself to the bone, burning candles at both ends to stockpile resources in preparation for the imminent Recuperation of Reiki. His goal was to be many steps ahead of all humanity when the time comes.

However, it seemed like fate had decided to play a cruel trick on him.

One year later, the Recuperation of Reiki... did not happen as expected.


Zhang Zian thought New Year's would be more relaxing, but the kittens kept him busy. He spent most of his time around the kittens and the two mothers. 
The Crucian Carp that Snowy brought over was very helpful. After eating the Crucian Carp stew, the mothers had been lactating a lot more, almost enough for all the kittens.
Out of her fondness for the kittens, she did her best to come over to help every day. Even if she couldn't make it, she would still send the Crucian Carps over. She said that they were all caught by an older friend.　　 
With her help, Zhang Zian's burden was relieved a little. Now that the holidays were over, he expected Wang Qian and Li Kun, to come back to work.　　 
Feng Xuan was satisfied with the report and photos he had sent. He told him that the demo film of Dog Warrior had been officially submitted to the committee of Berlin Film Festival, and it had been approved by the screening committee to be a candidate for the competition. It was hard to tell whether the statement at the end of the film was useful or not. However, as Feng Xuan had said the committee greatly appreciated how they treated the animals in the crew.  　　 
Zhang Zian had seen some reports on the Dog Warrior movie in the entertainment news. However, since there weren't any superstars in the movie, it didn't gain much attention. There were more reports on another Chinese detective film, which was also participating in the competition. The director of that film was well-known, and it had famous actors.  　　 
Famous was more concerned with the film's progress, and asking Zhang Zian about it a few times a day.　　 
Zhang Zian always told it any updates as soon as he found out, but he also reminded it to lower its expectations. After all, the Berlin Film Festival was the first major film festival of the new year, and there were strong candidates. 　 
Pi's novel was progressing well and rising rapidly. It was second place on the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals, which was the same as getting a free recommendation. The author in first place was huge and had been famous for a long time ago.   　　 
In the morning, after Zhang Zian had tended to the mothers and the kittens, he sat next to Pi with a cup of hot tea, watching it write.　　 
After the second upgrade, Pi was typing faster and more accurately. Sometimes it still typed the string of numbers, but it no longer felt puzzled or ashamed. It just simply the deleted it with a grin on its face.　　 
Zhang Zian wasn't good at writing. Even so, he still noticed that after the upgrade, Pi wasn't just writing faster, it was getting better.　　 
As Pi had said in the past, its novel wasn't entirely based on Zhang Zian and the elfins, it was 70% real and 30% fiction. The real part was easy. The imaginary parts gave Pi a headache. 　　 
After the upgrade, Pi got better at writing the fiction plots. It no longer needed to wrack its brain all day. Now, it had free time to play and interact with the its fans.　　
Pi typed the last few words, then it scratched its head in satisfaction. It had been writing ever since it woke up and it had just finished one chapter.　　 
"Eek?" It looked at Zhang Zian expectantly, meaning, "Shall we play hide-and-seek with Galaxy and the others?"
Pi was gradually blending in with the other elfins. Sometimes, when it finished writing early, it would voluntarily ask to join the other elfins' games.　　 
Zhang Zian smiled, about to say yes,when his phone rang. He unlocked his phone and saw a message from the biggest reading list owner on Qidian, Feather of the Chief Specter.　　 
He raised his tea cup and said, "Pi, Galaxy and I are fine. However, hide-and-seek is less fun when there is less people. You can go downstairs and wake Famous up. Try to get it to join the game. I'll come down to look for you after my cup of tea."　　 
"Eek!" Pi nodded. It removed its glasses and placed it on its book, then ran downstairs.
There were no customers right now, so it didn't need to worry about being seen.　　 
After sending it away, Zhang Zian opened the message.　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Congratulations. You're high on the Monthly Power Ranking.　　
Zhang Zian: Thank you, it's all because of your support and the support of other reading list owners.　　 
He knew that this Internet celebrity was busy and had actual work to do. He must be busy contacting other reading list owners as well, he never would've sent such a personal message. He waited to hear back. 　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Have you thought about setting a higher goal?　　 
Zhang Zian paused. What higher goal?　　 
Zhang Zian: You mean trying to reach the top of the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals? 　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: No, I mean the New King of the Year, or The Best New Author of the Year.  　　 
It was the first time that Zhang Zian had heard about this. 
Zhang Zian: What is that?　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: It's a title for the author with the highest cumulative monthly ranking among new arrivals and new authors. There isn't a materialistic reward, but it's a great honor. The competition is fierce each year.　　 
Pi woke up Famous and tried to persuade it into joining hide-and-seek. Galaxy was at its side, helping. However, Famous wouldn't agree. 　　 
Zhang Zian was speechless, and imagined if Pi was selected. New King? Monkey King? The Best New Monkey of the Year?　　 
Zhang Zian: I'll pass. Leave a more qualified author win. It's just an empty title."　　 
As a novel-writing elfin, Pi should stay low and avoid too much publicity.　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Is that so? Fine. It may be an empty title, but it's helpful in promoting the novel.　　 
It was obvious that he was trying to persuade Zhang Zian, or Pi.　　
He was thinking of what was best for Pi's novel, but Zhang Zian knew how hard Pi worked to write the novel. If it fought for more awards, it would have to work even harder, and lose its free time. Between honor and health, he'd rather Pi have the latter. After all, Pi still had a long time to write the novel, it wasn't necessary to sacrifice the future for some temporary gain.　　 
Zhang Zian: Thank you for telling me, but I don't plan on competing for the award.　　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: I get it. I still want to let you know that even if you aren't interested, other people are. Many people want that honor. Those people will see you and your novel as their enemy.　　 
Zhang Zian frowned. He remembered the attacks in the comment section. The competition for the title would be greater than last time. It was hard to imagine that the others would stay calm. 　　 
Zhang Zian: What should I do?　 
[Feather of the Chief Specter]: I don't have many good suggestions. I'll quote Mao Zedong, try to "dig deep, gather your grain, and do not claim to be the king." Try to get as much support from your fans as possible.  　　 
Zhang Zian thought about it. 　　 
Famous and Pi were both about to be involved in fierce competition. The difference was, one was active and the other was passive.　　 


1. Download a suspicious game
2. Catch a few magical pets as partners
3. Go through interesting daily routines and lead the pet shop to a whole new level

list of topics for essay writing competition

Cancelled! (MLBB Writing Competition)

The author's dream

Rebirth to a Military Marriage: Good Morning Chief

My Way To You

Death Scripture

The Empress' Livestream

The Unwilling Heir

My Future Self is Ruining My Life!

The Sword Deity in Tokyo

Pet King

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