8 'Good' morning

Brrr

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-What are the possible ways an author can end his novel without actually making it look rushed?

"Huh? What kind of question is this?"

The man looked at his phone screen as he put the meat on the fork into his mouth. He was reading the comments on his novel while having a meal.

-Light of Dragonaria

-Chapters: 260

-Total views: 2.3 M

-Comments: 12.5 K

Chewing and gulping down the meat, the man thought about what to say for a while.

"Maybe I should say this."

He was typing with his left hand. His finger moved fast over the screen. After a while, it came to a halt.

"This feels wrong and petty for some reason."

He laughed lightly.

-Just make the root cause of everything disappear and say it was because of some mysterious reasons. No one will doubt, lol.

As the reply was sent, he continued to scroll down the screen.

-Who is the most lacking character in your novel?

"This question isn't easy either."

He put down his fork and began moving his thumbs over the screen.

-No idea who that might be. But it must be some character that only appeared for one or two chapters, and then I never bothered mentioning them ever again.

The screen went black. And the face of man was reflected on it. His face wasn't being seen properly.

-"Right. This did happen."

Jaden said while watching over the scene. Surrounding him was a pitch-black darkness.

-"Anyway, what is this? A dream?"

He was floating in the air. He tried to wake himself up by slapping his face and whatever else he could. But nothing worked.

He thought that maybe he should try going around. He didn't feel any pain, so it should've been fine.

As he was floating, he moved a bit further from the area he was in. He couldn't see the face of himself in the previous world.

-"Is this related to that water incident?"

His assumption was based on the words he read at that time.

-You won't remember either way.

A new scene was in front of him now.

"Eh? The story is good? I thought it would be boring."

The man said as he scrolled down on the screen of his phone. He felt silent for a bit and then looked at the screen again.

"Let's end this novel. I'm bored."

Jaden watched over that scene while floating and putting his arms behind his head. He was simply lying down in the air, as if he were resting on a sofa.

-"I remember after that. I made the root cause of everything disappear mysteriously."

Jaden chuckled to himself and tried to roll around.

Thud

The sound made Jaden lose his consciousness once again.

"Ugh... That hurt..."

Jaden slowly opened his eyes. His study table came into his field of vision. But there was an issue.

"Why is it upside-down...?"

Jaden stared at it while being dazed.

Tweet tweet

The chirping of birds spread in the air, and the sunlight passed through the window pane.

"That's because it's you who are lying upside-down, young master."

A familiar voice spoke in response.

"Good morning..."

Jaden said as he looked at the person.

"Rudia."

His right eye was twitching as he continued to be in that position. His legs were on the bed, but his upper body wasn't. His head touched the floor as he spoke to Rudia.

"Good morning. This morning seems too 'good' for you, indeed."

Rudia said this while having a blank expression. It wasn't that she wanted to tease Jaden or something. She said what she really thought at that moment.

"Hah!"

Jaden quickly got up. Something covered his eyes partially.

"Young master. May I ask, What's up with your appearance?"

Rudia asked Jaden while pointing her index finger towards the mirror.

"What do you mean by-"

Jaden wanted to continue what he was saying, but he was too shocked for that. His jaw dropped.

"Who...?"

He looked at Rudia while pointing towards the mirror.

"... You."

Rudia was as surprised as Jaden was.

"Me? Like me? Jaden?"

Jaden couldn't believe it.

'Wait. Now that I think...'

Jaden usually wouldn't be able to get up like he did just a while ago. He would have to put his legs down to get up. But this time, he climbed up the bed while using only his upper body.

"Yes. I suppose that's you. At least from your hair and voice."

Rudia was trying to maintain her composure.

'Just how much can a person change within a day-?!'

She was more than confused by what she was witnessing. Jaden and Rudia both fell silent for a while.

"Bring me the scissors."

Jaden wanted to cut his hair that covered his eyes. Rudia looked at him for a while and went to fetch him the scissors.

"How did I end up like this?"

Jaden looked at his own reflection. His hair had grown overnight. Not only his hair, but also his body.

The jacket he was wearing wasn't still too tight on him or something. But how was it just fitting fine on his body?

The jacket was still in the form of sleepwear. It seemed to have adjusted according to Jaden's body.

'Is this one of the 'effects' she mentioned in the note?'

He had an idea about the current condition of his body. The enhanced version of the memorization potion had a hand in it.

"Young master. Here..."

Rudia had come back and handed out the scissors to Jaden. Grabbing the scissors, Jaden held them near his forehead and cut off the hair covering his eyes.

"Wait outside for a while."

Jaden spoke in a commanding tone. He didn't intend to. 

Tap tap

Rudia walked out quietly. She shut the door without making any sounds. As soon as she went out, Jaden's jacket went back to normal. He tried to take it off.

"Huh?"

He pulled a bit more. But it felt like some force made it stick to his body.

"I'm already short on time. Today is an important day-!"

Jaden kept on pulling the jacket.

"It won't come off..."

He fell silent for a while and began thinking of a solution. A jacket that won't come off was more troublesome than enough.

'This will do for now...'

He made it change into a shirt and unbuttoned it. One problem was solved, and another began.

-See you tomorrow, Jaden.

Jaden could hear Aliana's words ringing in his mind. His face had no expression on it aside from the frown on his eyebrows.

'This looks okay for now.'

He trimmed his hair and made it look normal. But they looked a bit different now. The blue ends on the side of his head were barely visible now.

The disheveled hair covering his forehead was a slight shade of blue. If someone saw him from afar, they would probably only see black hair.

Sigh

Jaden sighed while looking at his body's reflection. He examined it carefully. The muscles on his arms and abdomen seemed toned without any excessive bulk.

"I won't be getting used to this any time soon."

He couldn't feel the fatigue he was feeling the previous night anymore.

Tink tink

Some sound came from the direction of the window. Jaden turned and looked out through it. Nothing was to be seen.

"What is it? Another bird?"

Jaden walked towards the window. Opening it, he put out his head.

"Was it just my imagination?"

There was nothing outside the window. The only thing he could see was a tree in front of his window. So he turned around and went back to where he was standing.

Knock knock

As he was about to reach in front of the mirror, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Jaden responded without thinking much.

"Young master."

Rudia had a pale face as she walked in. She closed the door lightly.

"You have a guest..."

Jaden could feel energy draining out of him right after hearing Rudia's words.

'Ah hahaha. Not again.'

What he didn't want to happen had happened.

"Who is it now...?"

His eyebrows were trying their best not to frown.

"It's... Lady Rosenstein again."

Rudia closed her eyes.

'Not again!!!!!!'

Jaden was screaming and crying from within. His very worst nightmare had arrived.

----------------

Tap tap tap

Along with the footsteps approaching and getting louder, he could feel his heart beating faster and faster. For some reason, Jaden was expecting this to happen.

Thud

Aliana had barged into Jaden's room while swinging the door open with a loud sound.

"Oh~ Jaden~"

With a bright smile on her face, she called out Jaden's name.

"Good~ Mornin-"

Her smile stiffened up, and she didn't continue her words. She looked at Jaden and the maid, who was standing beside him.

"Hmm?"

She spoke with a calm voice. Surprisingly, she was too calm. And she had a conflicting smile on her face.

"What exactly is going on here?"

Jaden could feel chills run down his spine as he heard Aliana's cold voice along with a cold smile.

'What is it now...?'

He looked at Rudia's face. Then towards Aliana. And in the end, his gaze fell on the mirror. His face went pale very soon.

"Oh."

He didn't realise it before, but he was still wearing an unbuttoned shirt. There was a maid in front of him. It was early in the morning. Maybe she came to wake him up. Or maybe... This certainly didn't look good.

'If I don't clear up this misunderstanding...'

That situation might've been what might make Jaden come off as a weird person.

He was worried that it would affect his image Aliana held in her mind. Not that he was completely aware of what she thought of him.

Offending Aliana might prove to be bad for him to dig out information. That was the reason he was certain about one thing.

He had to clear up the misunderstanding, and so he was about to speak loudly.

"This is a-"

He was never able to end his words, thanks to Aliana's interruption.

"Yeah, I know. Don't explain. Hurry up and just get changed."

Aliana already knew it was a misunderstanding. She smiled and giggled a bit while going outside the room.

"Eh? You know?"

There's no way someone could read minds. Jaden was surprised.

"Of course."

Aliana looked at Jaden silently for a while before continuing her words. With a gaze that was witnessing some entertaining stuff, she smiled.

"You have no guts to do something like that, after all."

As those words fell on his ears along with Aliana's laughter, Jaden's expression went blank, and a sound fell on his ears.

Pff-

Jaden turned around as he smiled at Rudia. She was keeping up a poker face.

'I'll get you fired. Leave right now.'

That's what he would've said to her if not for his circumstances. Sadly, he had no option other than to hide his anger.

"Can you leave me alone now? I need to get ready."

Jaden managed to keep himself calm. If it were him in the previous world, he would've definitely cussed out loud and made a fuss over it.

Sigh

He sighed as both Aliana and Rudia went out of his room. He felt like he was better off having the weird dream he had earlier.

"The day has just begun. Get yourself together."

All he could do was mumble that to himself to make himself feel better.

'I wonder how long I can survive here. It wasn't easy even back on earth.'

Jaden had lived an average life. That's how everyone who knew him saw it. In reality, he had no skills whatsoever. The only way he could keep moving forward was with pure effort and hard work.

'Ah. There's no point in dwelling on the past.'

Jaden had his jacket take the form of a three-piece suit. He buttoned up the formal jacket and began walking to the door.

He was wearing a formal pant now. The jacket was taking care of it too. It changed to fit the kind of outfit he wanted to wear.

'It's going to be a long day. I hope I survive.'

That was his only thought as he grabbed open the door.

Clank

His face grew pale for a moment. As he saw Aliana standing in front, he had a blank expression.

'She looks good in any clothes?'

Jaden hadn't noticed Aliana's outfit because of how he was panicking a while ago. Now that he had taken a look, he could see that she looked stunning.

"What is it?"

Aliana asked Jaden, who was staring blankly at her without saying a word.

"N-nothing."

Jaden flinched and walked past Aliana.

-You have no guts to do something like that, after all.

He could remember what she had said to him a while ago. But he wasn't able to deny it. In his 20 years on earth, he had never been in a relationship.

It wasn't because of his looks. He simply had no time for it. When others were busy playing around, he was studying with everything he had.

'What a waste of time.'

But without talent, efforts are of no use. And the same goes for talent without effort. It is pretty much useless. Jaden had successfully wasted 20 years of his life on something he had no talent for

'What am I going to do now?'

Jaden glanced at Aliana with one eye. She was following his footsteps quietly. She wore a blue off-the-shoulder prom dress. It was glittery.

'Where are we even going for her to dress up this good?'

The day had not even started properly yet. It was too early for the birthday banquet. Jaden's face slowly went pale as certain words flashed back in his mind

-Shopping date, of course.

Jaden could feel the weight on his shoulders getting heavier while remembering her words.

'What a 'good' morning, indeed.'