Once he got back downstairs, he put away his Chemistry work and pulled out his Algebra. He remember Ms. Blackice's instructions and separated the required questions from the rest. It was a little distracting to do so, but he ultimately decided to just do everything on one set, and then copy out the required ones. This simplified the work significantly. He then grabbed a ruler and drew a border around the the required sections, so that it was more clear. He felt that this looked a bit fancier and was quite pleased with himself, though he wasn't quite sure why. 

After he finished delineating everything, he stretched and brought his coffee mug back upstairs, thinking he might get lucky and there'd be more in the pot. His luck was good, as his parents had made another pot. By this point, his sisters were up and he could hear Saturday morning cartoons blaring in the living room. Resisting the urge to go and join them, poured himself another cup, chatted briefly with his parents who seemed to be doing some paperwork at the table, and went back down to get started on his last novel.

When he got back downstairs, he was ready to use his Enhanced Focus ability on the last novel. That would give him a 25% boost to his reading speed, turning 60 minutes worth of reading into 75 minutes. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost 11. If he used his Enhanced Focus now, he'd probably be asleep by the end of the cooldown period. 

"So, System, just to make sure I understand this properly - if I used my Enhanced Focus now, I can use it for an hour and it will cooldown in 12 hours. But I can also use it for two hours now and it won't cool down til this time tomorrow?"

<<Correct. In reality, the cooldown period is a safety limiter put in place by the System so that the Subject doesn't overtax their mental capabilities. An apt metaphor for the Subject would be the concept of 'Overclocking'.>>

"Got it. So that means that hypothetically it would be possible to use the Enhanced Focus for an even longer period."

<<Hypothetically, this is accurate, but the subsequent mental trauma prevents the System from being able to enable this feature until the user's capabilities improve, other than under extreme circumstances. This limiter is put in place by the Author.>>

"Got it... so there are ways to improve my mental capabilities so that I can sustain the focus for longer periods?"

<<Correct.>>

"...How do I do that?"

<<Is Subject asking for yet another Mission?>>

"Ah. No. Not at the moment. Enable Enhanced Focus, please."

<<Enabling.>>

---

Shortly before 1pm, Michael's Enhanced Focus session ended. Other than a bit of a fuzzy feeling, he was feeling okay. He could vaguely sense what might happen if it had continued, though, and understood why the limiters the System had mentioned were in place. Deciding that he needed a bit of a break, he made his way upstairs to see if there was anything to snack on for lunch. Soon he'd prepared himself a plate of cold-cuts, cheese, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, and some salad.

"Now that I think of it, shouldn't I get ready for the nutrition plan? I can afford it with the money from the cafe project... System, is that ready?"

<<Confirmed. When would Subject like the plan to begin?>>

"Let's make it for tomorrow. I'll let my parents know."

<<Confirmed. Transmitting.>>

"Woah... that's a lot of meat... and eggs... and vegetables."

<<Correct. System estimates Subject is currently under consuming protein by a factor of->>

"Never mind. Guess I'll go shopping."

After discussing his plans with his parents and assuring them that everything would work according to proper nutrition guidelines, Michael grabbed his empty backpack and walked over to the nearby grocery store. In inordinate amount of eggs, multiple cuts of multiple types of meat, and green vegetables later, he started making the trek home with a much heavier backpack and a much lighter wallet.

"Eating healthy is really expensive..." he grumbled.

---

He made space in the fridge and loaded all of his groceries in. He took no small amount of pride in handling the matter himself and not burdening his parents with it. While they said that they'd support him, this was a decision he'd made, for pretty selfish reasons. He already felt bad taking up their fridge space. He decided that after the bathroom was done, the kitchenette was probably the next project he wanted to undertake in the basement.

Everything settled, and refreshed in mind if not in body, he went back downstairs to continue reading the novel. With the improved reading speed from the Enhanced Focus, his two hours had turned into two and a half, and he had found that his overall reading speed had been improving regardless recently. He was already half through the final novel, and wanted to get it done before dinner. Then, he could work on his outline after dinner and spend tomorrow putting together his first draft. 

Confident in his plan for the rest of the day, he got back to his desk and opened up his book again. His fuzziness from earlier was completely gone. It seemed like alternating some physical activity with academics was a good way to keep his momentum. He started ruminating on his plans for the outline, keeping in mind the structure requirements his teacher had listed, as he made his way upstairs to check on his family. 

Since it was only around 6pm, most of the family was either reading or watching TV. Flavius was currently in the process of making dinner. Since Michael had previously made the deal to swap out his dinner rotations, he was responsible for both setting the table and clearing it after dinner. As he had a bit of extra time, he offered to help in the kitchen, using the opportunity to practice his kitchen skills. His father welcomed the assistance, and Michael was soon chopping along grid-lines that only he could see.

Dinner passed quickly, and luckily there weren't too many pots to scrub. Soon, he was back in the basement drafting his outline. Since he'd been giving it a lot of thought already, it came together pretty quickly. The preliminary sections needed to cover the novel assigned, and he would follow up with his "extra" components afterwards. This meant that while he was paging through the novel tomorrow, he'd make notes for where he could reference it later. He was planning on using the momentum from the first section to drive through the additional content. He wasn't sure why he had decided to push through the entire first draft tomorrow, but now that he'd set his mind on the challenge he was trying to push for it as much as possible.

He refrained from actually starting the essay, though, and once he was done with the outline he put his pencil down. He was feeling pretty mentally drained after the day of hard work - at the same time, his body was also pretty tired from the morning's exercises, the hour-long run, and then the trip to and from the grocery store. However, he was still feeling a restless energy he couldn't put his finger on. It was too early to go to sleep, as it was only around 9 pm. He didn't want another 3am wake-up call.

He went upstairs to see what was going on - his sisters were watching a movie, and his parents were working on the preliminary aspects of the project. After a brief conversation, they confirmed that they'd have the initial requirements he needed to get started on his part of the work ready for Monday. At a bit of a loss for what else to do, Michael decided to just go downstairs and play a video game. However, after feeling all of the benefits of the System, the games seemed to lose their appeal. When your life is practically an RPG, what's the benefit of playing one?

At a loss, Michael decided to ask the System.

"Hey, System?"

<<Awaiting Subject's query.>>

"Any suggestions for what to do? It's too early for sleep, my body's tired, my brain's fried, but I'm still restless."

<<...if Subject desires, System has an option available.>>

"Ok, but I don't really want to read anything."

<<...System has other options available.>>

"Good."

<<Generating mission...

[Mission: Breathe]
Description: Not every minute of every day needs to be filled with activity. Look for the essential in calmness by breathing according to the system's instructions. 

Reward: Appropriate attribute increases.>>

"...Breathe?"

<<Correct.>>

"All right. What do I do?"

The system instructed Michael to sit down at the edge of his bed, with his hands on his thighs. Then, it simply had him breathe in for a period of time, and then breathe out. It made recommendations on adjusting his posture, and pointed out areas of his body where he could relax. Initially, he couldn't stop thinking about his English assignment, or getting faster, or his proposal for the cafe, but every time his mind wandered, the System would remind him to simply focus on breathing. Soon, he found himself lulled into an almost semi-conscious state. He was still both body- and brain-tired, but in the face of the simple flow of breathing in, and breathing out, the restless energy melted away. After what seemed like only a moment and also an extended period of time, the System told him it was 10pm, and Michael yawned, leaned back, and went to sleep.

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!


Zhang Zian was busy the whole day and now it was almost time for him to go to bed. 
Zhang Zian had been exhausted throughout the day, but now that he knew the elves' lives could be extended, his tiredness vanished completely. However, he hadn't told the news to Old Time Tea or the other elves yet. As Pi had said, it wasn't the right time. If he hastily told the news to everyone, they would be too expectful. The reality might be too disappointing. For that reason, they might as well not know about it in the first place. 
Even if the lifetime of the elves really could be extended infinitely, the elves had to go through an extremely difficult process to do so. Judging from Pi's stern expression as it read the untitled book, Zhang Zian figured that this may be his biggest challenge and trial since he downloaded the Pet Hunter game.
Although he couldn't understand the untitled book, whether it was the Hyperwebster Dictionary, The Book of Sand, or a fantasy book from another civilization in the universe, he was still very grateful for it. Without it, he wouldn't have found out about such reassuring and hopeful news.
The elves had fallen asleep, one after the other. Before going to sleep, Richard had been very active that night, as if everything put him in a good mood. Zhang Zian had to hang it upside down to calm it down. 
When everyone was in bed, Pi was still sitting in front of the computer, typing away.
"Pi, did the noise bother you?" Zhang Zian came over and asked. He knew how annoying Richard and Snowy Lionet were.
Pi shook its head no.
"Well, we're all going to bed now. Please go to sleep as soon as you finish writing." Zhang Zian brought over a small desk lamp. The lamp light was turned away from the bedroom, so it wouldn't affect anyone's sleeping.
He didn't plan on telling Pi what he was doing later, because he wasn't sure whether he would be successful or not. He didn't want Pi to be disappointed after giving it so much hope. 
Pi grinned and nodded.
Zhang Zian glanced at the elves again. After confirming that each elfin was in its correct place, he turned off the ceiling light. 
With the light from the desk lamp and his own nightlight, he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to Pi type. He thought about the elves' lives for a while, and then thought about the situation of Uncle Li's diner. He tried to allow all of his thoughts to occupy his mind and keep himself from falling asleep.
About an hour later he heard a click, and the fan noise from the laptop disappeared. Pi turned off the desk lamp and the room grew darker. It climbed into the basket hammock chair to go to sleep.
Zhang Zian kept his eyes open for a while, and almost fell asleep. He pinched his thighs to keep himself awake. 
He looked up and guessed that Pi had already fallen asleep. Then, he grabbed his cell phone by his pillow and opened the Qidian app.
That day, as he watched Pi write, he had secretly browsed the Internet on his cell phone, trying to find out what the amazing reading lists were.
After he finished researching, he knew that reading lists were an important supplement to the Official Recommendation Spots from the Qidian website. A reading list was created by an individual, who would list his or her favorite books and the reasons why they would recommended those books on their list. If other readers agreed with the owner's suggestions, they would start following the creator of the list. The reading list owners were similar to bloggers who reviewed digital products on video websites, and the digital products recommended by bloggers tended to receive more attention. Some reading list owners even had tens of thousands of followers. 
After careful searching, Zhang Zian discovered that the reading list owners were roughly divided into two categories. One type introduced and reviewed each book in great length, while the other kind of reading list owners introduced each book with only one sentence. The former type attracted much more followers than the latter. After all, through the detailed evaluations and introductions, the readers could tell that the reading list owners had put in a lot of work into every book. 
That day, he had mentally noted the reading list owners' IDs who wrote long book reviews and then went to the comment sections of their lists. He first ruled out the most popular reading list owners, because in their comment sections, numerous authors or authors who pretended to be readers were promoting their own books. Those reading list owners wouldn't be able to read all the books being recommended to them, even if they tried to read 24 hours a day.
As for the reading list owners that attracted fewer followers, their comment sections were basically empty. It wouldn't be helpful for Zhang Zian to advertise Pi's novel in those lists. 
After more research, he targeted a reading list owner who had the tenth most followers. The ID name of the reading list owner was Morning Gorilla Star, who was mentioned by the author of Diplomats of the Underworld. 
Morning Gorilla Star had written down his requirements about posting advertisements in his comment: Do not copy and paste your ads. I will promote urban novels that have no or only one female protagonist.
Zhang Zian felt relieved when he read these requirements. He was extremely popular with women, and many cute girls were desperately hoping to be his girlfriend. Pi had just hidden this fact while writing the novel based on the life in Zhang Zian's pet shop. Therefore, Pi's novel had managed to meet Morning Gorilla Star's requirements.
Advertising was like sending resumes to hiring managers. The key points of the novel must be written as concisely as possible. What was the highlight of Pi's novel? It certainly wasn't that the protagonist didn't have a girlfriend! 
He typed on his phone: Can I promote my own book? The title of the book is Pet King. The protagonist, who is the owner of a pet shop, downloads a game that can capture elves. Together with the elves, he witnesses the growth of the pet shop. There is no female protagonist in this book. 
He thought it over and added "Currently" in front of the sentence, "There is no female protagonist in this book." Then, he satisfyingly clicked the "Send" button.
After sending the message, Zhang Zian repeatedly refreshed the comment section and anxiously waited for a reply from the reading list owner, just like a job seeker who was constantly refreshing emails and nervously waiting for replies after sending out his resume. Zhang Zian had read the books recommended by Morning Gorilla Star, and all the books were well-written. Perhaps Morning Gorilla Star wouldn't think Pi's novel was good enough. However, Zhang Zian hoped that Morning Gorilla Star, who had read countless books, could at least tell him why Pi's novel failed to be recommended by him. In that case, Zhang Zian could help Pi revise the novel. Zhang Zian was acting like a job seeker who was close to starving to death and desperately needed a job, whatever the job was, to feed himself.
Since it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, the owner had probably gone to bed already. Watching his comment drowning in other comments from authors promoting their own books, Zhang Zian couldn't help but sigh in dismay.
Perhaps he sighed too loud, because Zhang Zian heard a squeaking sound come from the hammock chair. It sounded like Pi had turned over.
He locked his phone screen and waited a little longer. He didn't unlock his phone until there wasn't any more sounds coming from the chair.
What should he do?
He was very sleepy. Should he wait till the reading list owner woke up and try advertising again? 
No, he shouldn't wait. Tomorrow, Pi would receive its first Minor Recommendation Spot. If its novel failed to be ranked in the top three or top four spots, it might never have a chance to receive a recommendation again.
With that thought, he decided to advertise on another reading list. Advertising was just like begging, and as long as he could swallow his pride now, he would gradually become thick-skinned. 
This time, he lowered his expectations by moving his attention from the reading list owners with tens of thousands of followers to ones with hundreds of followers, hoping that some of them hadn't fallen asleep yet.
Zhang Zian noticed that there was one whose ID was Yang Chenkong. In his reading list, Yang Chenkong wrote reviews with thousands of words for each book and offered many thoughtful insights. However, Yang Chenkong only had a mere 3,000 followers. Would it really be useful to advertise in this list?
Zhang Zian desperately went to the comment section. To his surprise, he saw that this reading list owner was still online, discussing his opinions with his friends about a certain book. 
Zhang Zian hadn't read the book that they were talking about. However, from reading their conversation, Zhang Zian felt as if he had read it and learned about its successes and failures. From observing, Zhang Zian could tell that Yang Chenkong was very professional. 
For some reason, the comment section of his reading list was blank and had no advertisements. Zhang Zian chuckled to himself. He could take advantage of this rare opportunity to advertise. 
There were some basic rules of advertising for all reading lists. Unlike like people who put advertisements in bathrooms,  book-promoting advertisements couldn't be randomly posted. Each reading list owner had different requirements for advertisements. For example, Morning Gorilla Star had explicitly stated that he would only recommend novels with no or one female protagonist. Yang Chenkong, however, had a wide range of book choices. Except for supernatural novels, Yang Chenkong basically read every genre. 
However, the most difficult thing was that the list owner didn't specify which book genres he would recommend, and Zhang Zian didn't know how to cater to his preferences. After thinking about it for a while, Zhang Zian rewrote the message that he had sent to Morning Gorilla Star. He deleted the sentence "Currently, there is no female protagonist in this book." He added, "Feel free to read the sample chapters, but don't blame me if you're poisoned (Translator's Note: Read and Poison sound the same in Chinese)," hoping that his self-deprecating tone would draw Yang Chenkong's attention. 
After clicking "Send", he was too tired to repeatedly refresh the comment section as he did before. It was almost half past one in the morning, and he would need to get up early that day.
Putting down his cell phone, Zhang Zian lay down flat on the bed. Soon, he was half-awake and half-asleep, and he would completely fall asleep at any moment. 
In the darkness, Pi had been watching him the whole time. It had barely moved, except to slightly change its posture after its legs started to get numb.
Pi had always known about Zhang Zian's actions. It could tell from Zhang Zian's exhaustion. 
Since Zhang Zian was so tired, it wouldn't matter if he did these things later, right?
Pi opened its mouth and silently imitated the shape of someone saying "thank you."
What?
Zhang Zian thought he heard something. It seemed like someone was talking to him. He barely could open his eyes. His drowsiness was as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on his eyelids.
He looked around and found nothing out of the ordinary. He unlocked his phone screen and saw that it was past two in the morning. 
Since he hadn't logged out from the Qidian app yet, he clicked open Yang Chenkong's comment section, the second reading list owner he advertised on that night, hoping to find Yang Chenkong's review on Pi's novel. However, he found no review, and saw that the advertisement he had posted was gone.
No wonder the comment section was so empty. As it turned out, Yang Chenkong deleted all of the advertisements in his comment section. Zhang Zian's efforts were again all in vain. 
He couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He shoved his cell phone under his pillow and fell asleep.


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

On the way home, Jim began scanning nearby buildings for any new books, the thousands upon thousands stored within his mind may seem like too much, but Jim had always believed there was no limit to knowledge, his learning ability was just too low before, being able to memorize everything perfectly on the first time reading even detailed technical guides re-ignited his lust for learning.

[Fear Resistance Level Up]
[Fear Resistance Has Reached Level 6]

Of course, his anxiety hadn't vanished, he became paranoid that people were looking at him funny on the way back, it was all in his head as they weren't even sparing a glance towards him, an overweight man in his mid-40s with a plain face wasn't hard to find in America, after all.

The oppressive weight on his mind only served to fuel his desire to grow, his insides were like a roaring flame by now, he felt unstoppable and all-powerful after gaining this system, all thoughts of this being a hallucination had vanished after tangible benefits kept showing themselves.

After heading in, he collapsed on his bed, exhausted, it was a good feeling to have applied himself to something after so long, with a slight smile on his face he drifted to sleep.

Waking up the next morning, Jim decided to sort out which skills to purchase, He decided on Reiki first, it had a low cost and would be his first real supernatural power, he couldn't wait.

[Congratulations Host, To Commemorate Host's First Purchase In The System Shop Random Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Reiki Healing Technique Obtained]

Hmm, he had stocked up a few Gift Packs by now, might as well open them.

[Random Gift Pack Opened]
[PVC Pipe x 10 Obtained]
[Copper Wire Spool x 20 Obtained]
[5 Points Obtained]

"...Are you messing with me!?" 'Just what am I supposed to do with this?' 'No, no, calm down, I've gotten so many good things already, having a miss isn't a big setback, just take it and move on.' His hopes for the other packs were rather low now, but decided to open them anyway.

[Skill Seeker Gift Pack Opened]
[Congratulations Host, Skill Ticket x 5 Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, System Upgrade Module x 1 Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, 1000 Points Obtained]

'That's more like it!' It seems some of the packs have set rewards, on to the next.

[Skill Max Gift Pack Opened]
[Congratulations Host, System Upgrade Module x 2 Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, 10,000 Points Obtained]

Jim's heart started pounding fast at the large number of points it showed, he quickly opened the other two Skill Max Gift Packs, they gave the same rewards, opening the shop he checked his resources.

[10, 11, 32,905]

The 5 at the end ticked Jim off for a second, but he still had a wide smile on his face at reaching five digits in points, he figured he had a good number of Skill Tickets and Upgrade Modules, time to figure out what they do.

[Skills Can Be Obtained Via Skill Shop With Skill Tickets In Place Of Points, Number Of Tickets Required Scales With Skill Value]
[System Upgrade Modules Unlock Various Functions Of Revolution System 12.4, Number Of Modules Required Scales With Function Complexity]

"Whoa!" This was the first time the system had responded to his thoughts, no, wait, he told it to shut up before and it stopped giving notifications of the relevant type. Oh, he guessed the status and shop displays were a response too. "Um, System, what are the functions I can unlock?"

The Shop Window appeared with a different category, it had a list of names, he began browsing.

[Level Up]
[Reforms Host's Body, Allows Experience Point Aquisition, Levels Gained Cause Substantial Growth]
[Price - 5 System Upgrade Modules]

[Auxillary Status Display]
[Allows Visualization Of Host's Condition]
[Price - 1 System Upgrade Module]

[Job System]
[Allows Aquisition Of 'Jobs', Equipping A Job Improves Relevant Status and Skills]
[Price - 5 System Upgrade Modules]

[Improved Rest]
[Host's Sleep Ensures Recovery From Injuries, Loss Of Energy, Cures Various Conditions]
[Price - 2 System Upgrade Modules]

[Crosshairs]
[Allows Visualization Of Action Trajectory]

As a huge fan of RPGs, Jim didn't even think about it and purchased the upgrade [Level Up]

[Level Up System Upgrade Unlocked]

Jim quickly said "Status!"

[Name: Jim Garrett]
[Species: Human]
[Level: 0]
[Experience: 0/10]
[Stats]
[Skills: Cooking Lv. 2, Appraisal Lv. 2, Focus Lv. Max, Reading Lv. Max, Fear Resistance Lv. 6, Willpower Lv. Max, Mental Corruption Resistance Lv. 6, Nausea Resistance Lv. 9, Distant Reading Lv. Max, Parallel Processing Lv. 3, Reiki Healing Technique Lv. 1]
[System Functions Unlocked: Log, Status, Shop, Skill Assist, Cooking Assist, Level Up]

"Hm...?" The portion of the display saying [Stats] was slightly lit up, after a second of pondering he tried touching it, the window display changed.

[Strength: 2]
[Dexterity: 3]
[Vitality: 1]
[Agility: 2]
[Magic: 0]

"This status is not very impressive...", Jim looked down at himself, his scrawny arms and somewhat rotund abdomen was the exact opposite of what a legendary hero should look like, he never put much effort into training his body so this was entirely his own fault. "I guess I should try?" After a moment of thinking Jim decided to purchase the [Improved Rest] Function, then began working out.

"Ugh..." he was having trouble after only two Push-Ups, his arms trembling as he tried to keep the correct posture, after 10, he collapsed, despite having the drive to continue his terrible muscle strength and stamina wouldn't allow him to. Standing up, Jim attempted Squats, it seemed easy at first, but after three minutes his legs started burning and it grew harder and harder to move them, he kept it up for a full fifteen minutes until his legs felt like jelly, using what strength he had to head into bed, he slowly dozed off.

"Urg!" Waking hours later, his body felt like it was broken apart, the muscles sore like someone just rammed a truck into him, he gathered the strength to get up and head to the kitchen, his stomach was pleading for even a morsel of food. Pulling a tv dinner out of the freezer, he stopped for a second, recalling that food quality is vital for working out, he put it back, then opened the Shop.

Entering the Grocery Category, he began browsing.

[Buflan Steak - Quality: Good]
[Nutritious Meat, Easy To Digest]
[Price - 2]

[Dragon Haunch - Quality: Legendary]
[Even The Most Starved Predator Will Feel Full From One Bite, Enormous Power Contained Within, Huge Benefits To Strength And Vitality]
[Price - 100]

[Magic Carrot - Quality: Great]
[Mutated Vegetable Grown In Magically Rich Soil, Increases Organ Function And Eyesight]
[Price - 10]

His mouth started salivating at the thought of eating the listed ingredients, quickly making a decision he bought a Buflan Steak, Magic Carrot, and God Of Cooking's Soup Stock, total price of only 15 points, the items appeared on the counter in front of him and he quickly summoned the mental Cooking Assistance, he wasn't really sure how to use it, so he just placed the ingredients in, luckily it did the rest.

The Steak and Carrot were chopped into bite-sized pieces and placed within a Crock Pot, Soup Stock was added along with water that suddenly appeared, he stared at the kitchen utensils moving on their own with drool coming from the side of his lips, after a few agonizingly long minutes a message appeared.

[Cooking Level Up]
[Cooking Has Reached Level 3]
[Simple Meat And Vegetable Soup - Quality: High Has Been Completed]

He grabbed a bowl from his cabinet and willed the soup to come out of the mental image, grabbing a spoon he dug in, the flavor exploded in his mouth, the tender meat and carrot slices were perfect, beyond anything he had tasted before in his life, the broth itself was heavenly and he felt it would suffice even without the other ingredients. The bowl was quickly finished off, more remained in the crock pot and he continued eating until his stomach was completely stuffed, after ambling over to his computer chair he sat back and just enjoyed the taste still on his tongue.

A middle aged man stumbles across an artifact which changes his life in ways he could not imagine.

Author's Note: I'm sure you guys have noticed the lack of updates. I don't have writer's block nor are there any events preventing me from writing. I honestly just don't have to motivation to keep going for now. Thus, I'm putting the novel on Hiatus, I hope everyone has enjoyed what I've written, thank you.

<Gzz... Gzz...>On a dark room, with a small wooden desk, lies a small table lamp, which served as the only source of luminosity in the room. Axis, the boss of the Masked Revelations sat down on a small chair with three wheels on the legs of the chair. She carefully groomed her Persian while waiting for Arville to answer her call. In front of her and the desk, was a big screen, which would be the source of communication between the Chaos Regime and the Masked Revelations.

"Axis, what do you want?" Elanor answered the call instead of the fallen king. Her silhouette displayed on Axis's screen.

"I saw the kid you were talking about. He ruined our heist alongside with an A-class connoisseur. Arville is correct, the boy is strong indeed."

"You do know that Arville wants the kid right? He'll be mad to hear that your mission failed."

"Why do we need to find the boy in order to reach Mewtwo? We can find the Pokemon ourselves right?"

"Through the boy's mind we can pinpoint Mewtwo's location since we believe that the boy has come in contact with the Pokemon. I'll be reporting your failure to the king."

"Wait! I have another plan, and it will surely work if your goal is to reach the boy."

"Go on... I'm interested."

"Arville told me that his daughter is traveling with the boy right?"

"Yes, why?"

"If we use the daughter, to lead the boy to us, the boy would surely trust the girl right? Since they're friends after all."

"You do know that the boss hates it when his daughter gets involved with our missions. How will you persuade the daughter to return to us? The boss on the other hand wouldn't agree with the plan since he doesn't want his daughter in trouble, or else the queen would scold him again."

"We don't need the daughter. I only need her image."

"Advanced Holographic Imaging(Technology)?"

"Through her image, we can recreate a clone. Same voice, look, and posture. The kid will surely believe the clone."

"The plan seems interesting to me. The boy will surely trust the cloned daughter. I will ask the king to approve your plan, don't worry about today's failure, your secret's safe with me." Elanor smiled and declined the network.

"Hehe, our plan is working perfectly Persian. Soon, we'll be the richest organization that ever existed. Mom and dad will be proud of me." Axis smiled arrogantly.

<Per...>Persian licked his paw, and purred unto her trainer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<Knock knock knock!>Elanor knocked softly unto to Arville's royal doors. Two Elite grunts opened the doors, Arville was sitting on a chair while reading a book.

"Your majesty, the Masked Revelations has proposed a plan." Elanor knelt down and reported.

"A plan? What kind of... plan?" Arville closed the book he was reading and placed it beside the small circular table. He grabbed his helmet and wore it.

"Advanced Holographic Imaging. We can use your daughter-"

"Dismiss. I don't want my daughter to bother our goals."

"No your majesty, we won't use your daughter, only her image."

"Go on..."

"Through her image, the Masked Revelations could create a clone of your daughter sire. Same voice, same posture, same look. She'll drag the boy to us. Since the boy and your daughter are friends, the boy will surely believe the daughter."

"I disagree with the plan." Xeryll, the wife of the king interrupted from the bed she was lying on. She listened to their conversation while taking a sip from her coffee.

"I on the other hand agree with the plan." Arville neglected her wife's statement.

"Arville, our daughter's reputation will be destroyed, even if it's not our real daughter." Xeryll warned.

"Let it be. Reputation serves no purpose. I do not care if the boy thinks he has been betrayed again. I don't want them to be friends in the first place, that's why we left the town remember?"

"Arville, this is too much. I told you not to include our daughter, may it be an image of her or our real daughter. Her life will be at stake when a police spot the clone. I support your ambitions, but keep our daughter out of this."

"Eight years... For Eight years I have been searching for those two-generation Pokemons just to become a God and prove those who wronged me that they made a wrong decision! For eight years, I've been chasing my dream!" Arville infuriated.

"Arville, for eight years I followed your footsteps, all I ask is for the safety of our daughter to prevail. She wants a great future ahead of her, and I want her to achieve that too. If our daughter will be listed on the police records due to the actions of her clone, then her future, her dream, will all disappear. I support not only your future, but also her future because we are a family."

"Fine. Forgive my arrogance and my stubborn attitude. I have been blinded by my ambitions again. Elanor, meet me outside the room. We'll think of a better plan." Arville stood up from the chair and walked outside his room alongside with the executive. After stepping out of his room, he closed the doors of his room in order for the queen not to be distracted from her coffee drink.

"Elanor, you have been one of my most loyal members of this regime. Continue the plan proposed by the Masked Revelations."

"But sir, I thought you disagreed."

"I won't let anyone become a hurdle to my dream. Even if it means my daughter or my wife. This plan shall remain a secret, meaning only you, me and the commanders will know about this. Not even the queen should know about the secret mission."

"Your majesty, if the queen realizes that you did this plan without her knowing, wouldn't you end up with a big argument or even a conflict with your wife?"

"Then so be it, she'll thank me once I become a God. Go now, and tell the commanders about the plan. I shall send the image later." Arville instructed.

"Of course your majesty. Leave it to me and the commanders."

"Oh, and also continue operations on searching for Hemera. She's a disadvantage against this plan since she was a former member of the Chaos Regime." 

"As you wish sire."

"I do not believe in wishes anymore. You know that."

"Of course your majesty. Oh and by the way, the Kanto and Johto have been news blackout. Commotions have commenced between the two regions, one of our spies reported.

"Perfect, everything is going according to plan. The people will soon repent once they realize their mistake! Where will they lead themselves? To me!" 

Elanor ordered all the commanders to gather at the conference room in order to discuss the Masked Revelation's plan. A plan secretly done behind the back of the queen.

"Good Afternoon commanders. The boss has accepted a plan from the Masked Revelations. Through Advanced Holographic Imaging, we could clone the king's daughter and use her to lead the boy to us. Once the boy is captured, we will gather his information about Mewtwo through a Necro cable. Once Mewtwo is captured, operation Omega shall commence, the last operation wherein our names will be scattered throughout the entire world, The Chaos Regime will be known everywhere, and the ones who betrayed and wronged us shall suffer the consequences of the new God, Arville." 

"Using the king's daughter? I never knew that the queen approved that plan." Nyx uttered softly.

"The queen didn't approve the plan. The king has ordered the mission to be a secret, meaning only the king, me, and the four of you will be the ones to know about this mission."

"Working behind his wife's back, the king truly wants to achieve his ambitions." Lunar giggled.

"Oh by the way, the boy is about to challenge you, Gym Leader Lunar." Zylon interrupted while the king burst into the room.

"Say that again." The king instructed.

"Sire... um, the boy, is heading to Glacevelt city next. He's obviously going to challenge the gym leader." Zylon's voice trembled with fear while explaining.

"Perfect timing. I guess the plan can commence once the boy reaches the city." Arville beamed with joy and pleasure.

"Lunar, you know what to do. As for the rest of you, here is my daughter's image. Send it to the Masked Revelations so that the plan could commence once the boy reaches the Regime's secret city." Arville instructed.

"Yes sire!" The commanders alongside with the executive saluted and agreed to the king's plan...

I am Kalem, I had a common dream, a dream to become a Pokemon master, a dream to travel and adventure out through different regions. But that dream was crushed and destroyed... After hearing the news about the death of my parents, I started to lose interest on becoming a Pokemon Master.

I was adopted by an orphanage, there I met two persons who would soon become my best friend. Them, together with the headmaster helped restored my dream to become a Pokemon Master, and that was when I knew that my Parents were alive.

So me, together with my two friends travelled across the land finding clues and mysteries about my parents. As I travelled to seek for my parents, me and my friends saw something we would never forget...

A prophecy, a prophecy that was about to be full filled, that prophecy had something to do with my parents.

Ding!
Life Lesson: Too much of something is never good.
System Rule: Chests- Only a single type of chest can be held by the user at any given time. Since the user already possessed the initial chest from reaching the foundation establishment stage, the second chest for reaching the core formation stage was skipped.
Reading the System's notification, Zhen Shi despaired at having missed a chance for growing stronger. But after a while, he fell into deep thought, 'While the system did mention a so-called 'System Rule' and even went so far as to quote a 'life lesson', the kind that one might find in fortune cookies, it was strange to hold back a chest and break a rule for such a stupid reason...
Could there be some other reason that the System is holding back the chest? But then again, I have no proper idea about how systems work in reality... So maybe I'm overthinking?"
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Zhen Shi quickly gave up on that strain of thought. He knew too little to make any useful conclusions. As such, spending time on this matter right now will be a waste of time.
Deciding to first solve the matter of his injuries, Zhen Shi thought clearly, "System, learn the skill <Vermillion Dragonification>!"
Ding!
Is the user sure about this choice?
"Yes! Sheesh! Didn't I say it already? Why are you so slow--?"
But before he could think any further, a terrifying searing pain ran throughout his body. It was as if his flesh and blood were being boiled at one second, and then cooled down to freezing temperatures in the next. And this back and forth process continued repeatedly...
As the pain surpassed the level he could handle, Zhen Shi almost let out a scream. But as a person with memories of spending four years being tortured, he could still think fairly clearly. As such, he hurriedly turned around on the bed and bit into the pillow.
As he struggled to handle the pain, his skin began to glow, a searing orange vermillion and a cooling azure blue.
And finally unable to hold on any longer, Zhen Shi lost consciousness.
Just as well, because the moment he did, under the guidance of the opposing energies his flesh and bones started writhing like worms in muddy soil. Thick black turbid blood seeped out of his pores as his skeleton gradually rearranged into a more powerful form.
Azure Blue scales slowly and painfully gnawed out of his skin, as two curving horns horns emerged out of the head and a writhing whipping draconic spiked tail emerged out of his back. His hands curved into terrifying claws, still humanoid enough to wield a weapon, but much more bestial...
At the same instant, a searing light red flame splurged out his skin and spread out to cover his entire body. While it looked like the flame was extremely hot, not a single bit of heat was emanated out. Even the bed he was lying on was completely unaffected and did not burn...
Instead, the flame converged on the areas of his injuries and began to rapidly heal him. As the turbid blood on his body was evaporated away, his cultivation was slowly healing...
The flames spread out and began to burn through everything, causing Zhen Shi to struggle in even more pain.
But as the flames continued to linger, almost mystically, the dantian became larger and more robust, his meridians were widened and strengthened, and even his bones grew stronger. A turbid black vapor was released from his body as the light red flames finished purifying his constitution...
It could be said that his body was now extremely suited for cultivation! This was the power of the Undying Flame of the Vermillion Bird!
As the fire continued to burn on, his physical cultivation slowly rose up as well. Within an hour, his body had reached the maximum level possible for his current cultivation level.
He was now a core formation expert by the physical body alone. Meaning that he could punch foundation establishment experts to death with his body alone and could easily take the full-powered attack of an ordinary core formation stage cultivator head-on.
As if he was a phoenix reborn of flames, his body had undergone a complete change!
Soon after, the flames retreated into his body. His horns, tail, and claws also reverted back to normal along with the retreat of the dragon scales.
---------------------
A few moments later, Zhen Shi woke up groggily and calmly checked over the condition of his body. A satisfied smile broke out, as he realized that the pain had been worth it and his cultivation had returned to normal now.
But checking the internal condition of his dantian, he could sense two objects that had not been there before had settled upon his skeletal planet. A single azure dragon scale that hat settled deep within the vast shimmering blue lake, and a single vermillion bird feather that was settled at the heart of the largest active volcano.
There was also the speck of the Hel-fire that had disappeared during his cultivation to the core formation stage. It seems to have settled down in the region of flames and volcanos. But, for some reason, it has retreated to the very edge, bordering the region of mountains and valleys, almost as if it was fearful of something...
Zhen Shi only paid a cursory glance at that and focused on the vermillion bird feather and the dragon scale. As his mind passed over them, the two objects radiated an aura of kinship as if they were now one with him.
And the assimilation with the azure scale and the vermilion feather seems to have improved his control over fire and water as well!
With a satisfied nod, Zhen Shi returned back outside and slowly stood up from the bed.
Zhen Shi's body had already been at a fairly high level of strength. But now with the undying flames, his body seems to has been purged of all impurities and he had also made great progress in physical cultivation!
As such, his power muscles could be seen clearly from outside. He looked and felt like a leopard that was on the poise of shooting off to hunt!
Zhen Shi happily walked over to a mirror placed at a corner of the room and started to admire himself. 'Holy Shit! I look like a professional model!' He even started to pose to show off his muscles better. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ
Jiya!
But suddenly the door opened and a young maid with brown hair tied up in a bun walked in! She was dressed in a western black and white maid dress and was holding onto a set of clothes.
Zhen Shi froze in his pose in embarrassment, as he looked at her through the mirror...
But seeing Zhen Shi in a strange pose, her face gawked in surprise as she bowed saying, "I-I'm sorry young master. I thought you were still recovering and asleep."
She raised her head and continued with a slightly red face, "Butler Alec sent me over to leave a fresh pair of clothes and also... to return something of sentimental value...?"
Zhen Shi's face froze for a moment, 'THAT OLD MAN? Well, isn't he quite crafty... He must be having the time of his life, with that kind smile plastered on his face and imagining what's happening here! And something of sentimental value? Old man, don't you think some jokes get old after a while?'
*Cough*
But with a light cough, Zhen Shi calmly returned to an ordinary posture, as if posing in front of the mirror and checking himself out was completely normal...
He lightly smiled in a way that he felt was charming and spoke, "It's fine. You can leave it by the side." The maid nodded with an even redder face and proceeded to place the clothes on the bed.
Finishing her job, she raised her head to look at Zhen Shi. And with a blushing face, she bowed once more and proceeded to leave in a hurry.
As the door closed behind her hurriedly retreating figure, Zhen Shi couldn't help but grin, 'That was exhilarating! Did you see that cute blush?'
Dropping back on to the bed in satisfaction, Zhen Shi calmly looked around the room.
Suddenly his eyes fell on a shelf full of dusty old books. Unable to hold back his inner bookworm, Zhen Shi grabbed a handful of books and began to read them. But the first couple he read through was basically useless and rather uninteresting for him. As such, he simply flipped through the bring books ranging from, "Making the perfect Bean Curd" to "Textures of the Soil. What does it mean?"
But he finally happened upon a book that grabbed his interest, "Mysteries of the Berthelien Forest. By: Armedius Hawthorne."
Reading through the book properly this time, Zhen Shi was greatly intrigued. There were quite a bit of local legends and stories mentioned in the book. While some of them caused Zhen Shi to raise an eyebrow in surprise, most of it felt like hearsay and not entirely true.
Either way, to his surprise, he was able to finish the book of a few hundred pages in a little less than two hours! As a cultivator, his mind seemed to work much faster than an ordinary mortal. So it was to be expected.
But, suddenly, Zhen Shi felt a thrum of aether within his mind causing a stifling headache.
📚📚📚
As the headache cleared up, Zhen Shi blinked in pain for a moment.
But as he opened his eyes, he was no longer within that room. He could sense that he was within his mind, but he was at the entrance to a grand one-storied building that stretched as far as his eye could see. And at the top of the building, there was a name plaque written with shimmering caligraphy, "The Scholarly Library!"
At the same time, a system notification rang out.
Ding!
Conditions for complete activation of Status effect: Scholarly Bookworm has been met. As promised, the user will never forget anything ever again!
Status effect: Scholarly Bookworm has evolved into Scholarly Librarian! Welcome to the Scholarly Library!
Zhen Shi gawked as he stared at the building and those words, 'What the hell? I've heard of many people who have Systems! Even one fellow with a library in his head... But both? Is this even fair to other people?'
But with great excitement, he stepped into the library.
His eyes widened as he stared at the shelves full of books stretching out as far as his eyes could see. While some bookshelves were stacked with books, some others were almost completely empty...
And at the top of random areas, there were plaques with titles referring to each and every subject he had barely even glanced through. There were subjects ranging from [Jokes and Riddles] to [Physics]!
But, Zhen Shi's attention was caught by an area named [The Central Plains].
Whoosh!
Before he knew it, he was within that area close to a mostly empty bookshelf.
Out of the six books placed on that bookshelf, only one book that looked strangely familiar had a title. Grabbing on to that book, Zhen Shi realized that it was the book he had read just a few moments ago, "The Mysteries of Berthelien Forest. By-Armedius Hawthorne"!
Flipping through those other books, he soon realized that they contained the little bit of information he had gained about the Central Plains through the former Zhen Shi's memories. As such, most of the information was centered around the Zhen Clan and the Divine Church and were things he already knew.
And to his great regret, he soon realized that "The Mysteries of Berthelien Forest" book was an exact copy of what he had read before. He had felt that certain aspects of that book were simply fictional local stories, and had been hoping that only the correct information would be stored in this "Scholarly Library"...
But exactly like the Status Effect promised, 'he will never forget anything ever again!' Whether the information was correct or false was irrelevant. Everything will be stored here.
While Zhen Shi was feeling unhappy that this "Scholarly Library" wasn't as good as 'that library', he had to admit that this wasn't exactly useless. And just to make sure, he decided to test it out.
Whoosh!
Focusing his mind on one of the books he had simply flicked through, Zhen Shi suddenly appeared at the [Cooking] area of the Library.
Not even looking at the books that contained information on cooking from his previous life, Zhen Shi grabbed that familiar book, "Making the perfect Bean Curd."
Flipping through the book, his mouth slowly curved into a satisfied grin as he realized that the entire book was available here!
In other words, as long as he saw something, whether he read it or not was unimportant, it would simply be stored in his "Scholarly Library!"
Zhen Shi who had been unsatisfied before began to grow excited again, as he began to imagine how he'd steal the techniques of other poor fellows...
'Even if my library isn't as strong as that fellow's, it still has some useful capabilities!'
At that moment, Zhen Shi was reminded of all the strange experiences he had experienced on the last day and decided it was time he analyzed what all of it meant...
Whoosh!
Focusing his mind on his knowledge of Mythology, he suddenly appeared in the relevant area. Looking through the bookshelves he saw various familiar books he had read before, ranging from "Influence of Mythology on Regional Culture" to "How much of Mythology can we actually believe?"
But he paid no attention to them because he was distracted by a simply huge book, placed on a table instead of the bookshelves.
It was titled "The Mythologue." The strangest part was, he had never read such a book...
As Zhen Shi read through it, he realized that this book contained complete information on almost every god and aspect of mythology he knew about! This was exactly what he needed!
While he did remember quite a bit, he couldn't be completely sure whether he had missed or forgotten something. As such, this book will undoubtedly be useful.
He quickly found the necessary information and cross-referenced it with all that he had experienced so far. As time passed, he was able to arrive at a set of pretty interesting conclusions...
📚📚📚
Zhen Shi heaved a satisfied sigh as he returned back from the "Scholarly Library." Looking at the Sun outside, he could see that a few hours had passed...
Zhen Shi stared at the remaining books in the bookshelf with greedy eyes. As a completionist, he couldn't help but spend another hour as he flipped through them and added them to his collection as well.
Having gained an ability that spoke to his true nature, Zhen Shi couldn't help but smile in satisfaction... but suddenly his smile turned into a frown, as he sensed something strange within his body.
'Has someone cursed this handsome and scholarly self?'
With the baptism of the vermillion flames, his body had become extremely pure. As such, he was extremely sensitive to anything that trespassed within his body...
Instantly looking inside, he carefully analyzed the area where he had sensed the movement until he finally found the culprit.
It was a globe of white transparent energy that seemed to have settled within a corner of his body. The globe was being burned by a strand of vermillion flames and looked like it would disappear in a while...
Even if the danger will be solved soon, Zhen Shi grew worried as he realized that this globe was next to indiscernible! If it hadn't moved before he would never have sensed it!
And strangely enough, the transparent globe seemed to be at home within his body, and even felt familiar to himself...
Zhen Shi's eyes finally glowed in understanding as he realized the truth of the matter. As such he asked from his thoughts, "System, could this be what is left of the soul of the original Zhen Shi?"
Ding!
The user has finally realized it! Even though the former Zhen Shi passed away, his determination is strong. As such, he has survived in this weakened soul form. The Undying flames awakened the soul... but if the user does nothing, the soul will be automatically destroyed by the flames in a few hours.
However, the user can also assimilate with this soul. Will you?
Reading the notification, Zhen Shi fell into thought for a moment. Although he had already experienced some memories of the other Zhen Shi since it was only a few, the effect on him had been little.
But if he assimilated this soul, it was bound to give him the complete memories of another life and maybe even change his personality a bit.
But... he also couldn't steal the life of another person with a clear conscience. If he did, it would definitely leave a bad taste in his mouth. Besides, this should also be helpful to him.
As such, he thought decisively, "Yes! I'll assimilate with the soul."
Ding!
Soul Assimilation started. Since the user will be gaining the memories of an entire other lifetime, the user will pass out for one day.
'Wait, what? Passing out for one whole day? SYSTEM, YOU SHOULD'VE WARNED ME FIRS--'
And he collapsed on to the bed passing out...
System: "..."

G.O.D.S.
_________________________________________________________
The Otaku Zhen Shi died and reincarnated in another world. Cliche much? Yup!
Then he got a system! Cliche again? Yup!
But, this system steals stuff from Gods and kindly gifts them to the less fortunate... namely to himself!  Huh... That's sort of new...
He also has a magical library in his mind! Wait... isn't that strangely familiar? Flaws!
Also, his best bro is the Legendary Great Merlin with a plus one! Now is that cliche...?
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zhen Shi was a nerd and an otaku that had traveled all over the world with his absent parents until... he was pushed off a cliff? 

But fortunately, he reincarnated in another world with a system!

This new world seems to have unexplained connections to the Gods and Deities of almost every mythology back on Earth, and their influences are seen everywhere, from every kingdom to every clan...

Thankfully, Zhen Shi isn't an ordinary person. He is a bookworm easily entranced by the workings of the world and very familiar with world history and mythology. So he has an advantage over everyone with his knowledge! 

Moving on, did I mention he's a shameless bastard at the forefront of ridiculous situations? With even more shameless Merlin and Co. to keep him company?

With his beloved but mischievous system *cough* scapegoat *cough*, Zhen Shi embarks on a journey facing happiness and sorrow alike as he attempts to reach the heavens!
________________________________________________________________________________________________

AUTHOR NOTE
 This is my first novel. But I intend to finish it!
Release rate: 5 chapters/week [DEFINITELY! Sticks and stones may break my bones, but this will happen!]

The story will bring in some references from popular Chinese novels, games, and anime. But it will mainly include real-world mythology.

Also the cover is original. 

Also, you can hop into a fun community and learn much more on discord, https://discord.gg/NWW2AGy

The next night, Tatsumi had the same dream again.

And upon waking up, Tatsumi stared at the ceiling and recalled the dream once again .

Yes, it was a surreal dream. In fact, it was realistic enough that he could even remember it in detail. And somehow, it was growing more and more realistic as days went by.

In a dim, basement-like room, the holy maiden was dedicated intently in her prayers as always.

But in today's dream, he saw how desperately she has been praying.

Floating on that snow white virginal skin were beads of sweat. Before long, they began to drip from her face and hit the stone floor below with a dripping sound.

Yes, Tatsumi could remember even those tiny details clearly.

"…Why…. Why do I keep having this dream…."  Tatsumi muttered while looking up at the ceiling.

To keep experiencing the same dream so frequently, there must be a reason.

It was a  very common pattern, as if someone was calling him, Tatsumi thought —It's the so-called pre- summoning pattern.

But unlike light novels and comics, something so illogical can't possibly be true.

To begin with, he had no reason to be summoned. Tatsumi had no advantages anywhere, as he was just a normal 16 year old boy.

Certainly, in many lights novels, a Princess from a different world will call upon a random hero to save her world. It was a common setting. But for it to happen to himself wasn't something Tatsumi thought was possible.

Rather than that, Tatsumi himself knew that he could not continue grieving like this. He has to face forward and move on with his life.

While telling himself that, Tatsumi sluggishly got out of bed.

Since he'd dropped out of school, he thought it'd be best if he went out and tried to find a part-time job. While thinking about this, he washed his face and changed his clothes.

He thought that he should buy a magazine or something from the convenient store and start his search for a part-time job.

But as he thought of that, at the corner of his eye, he saw the now empty birdcage that Chiiko no longer dwelled in. As he did, the sadness and despair from when he lost her once again started to rise up in him.

The many pleasant times Tatsumi had enjoyed with Chiiko kept on playing in his mind repeatedly.

And then, he realized that Chiiko was gone forever.

Once this happened, it became useless for him to do anything. The sorrow from her loss overwhelmed him again, and it was now impossible for him to do anything.

Since Chiiko had passed away, he no longer had any appetite and did not cook any meals. Instead, all he ate the were instant food that he had stocked up from the convenient store.

So once again, without doing anything else, Tatsumi had spent all of his time holed up in his apartment today.

He stared at the screen of his phone, looking at the photos of his family and of Chiiko that he took. While doing this, he had picked up the guitar that had been leaning against the side of his bed, for some reason, and began to play it subconsciously.

This guitar was an acoustic guitar1  and it was a memento of his late father. When he was younger, his father had played it for Tatsumi, and then gave it to him as a gift.

In his youth, Tatsumi's father had put together a band and had earnestly aimed at being a professional guitarist. In the end, he abandoned his dreams. 'I was doing well at it', had been a phrase his father liked to say.

His father also taught him how to play the guitar, and was able to do it to some extent. But of course, he didn't have the ability to be a professional.

He began to strum it without any thought.

"…Now that I think about it, Chiiko used to accompany me with her chirps…" Recalling this, a dark mood washed over Tatsumi once again.

In the past, when Chiiko was still alive and healthy, whenever he played the guitar like he was now, Chiiko matched his tune with her chirping, as if to sing along with it.

While reminiscing those lost days, Tatsumi began to play calmly.

Suddenly, at that moment, a bright light began to emit from the surroundings of his bed. But bed only had pillows and the bedsheet on top of it. There was no source of light on it that could emit such a strong light.

Despite this, there was a sudden and mysterious luminescence that was coming from his bed.

The reason for this was unknown. but none the less, Tatsumi had to squint his eyes at the sudden surge of radiance. Rather, he had no choice but to do that at the sudden appearance of this phenomenon.

As Tatsumi did that, the  light continued to dance wildly and began to turn silver. But, he felt no heat from the light. Rather than heat, the somewhat dazzling light gave of a soft feeling of holiness.

And when all of his surroundings had turned completely dyed silver,  Tatsumi noticed something below him.

It appeared to be composed of geometric patters, with strange writing and symbols surrounding the patterns.

The patterns of light shone even brighter than the dazzling light around him. With Tatsumi's limited knowledge, he thought that it was strangely similar to magic circles.

But at that moment, the brightness overwhelmed him, and contrary to the radiance around him, Tatsumi's mind fell into darkness.

 

Slowly, Tatsumi tried to open his closed eyes.

His surroundings appeared to be very dim. Could it still be early in the morning, perhaps before daybreak? This was the thought that ran through Tasumi's mind.

He attempted to look out of the window that was on the top end of his bed. But instead of a window, he was greeted by a imposingly solemn stone-made wall. Also, an expensive looking ornate sconce was set in that wall, and had a lit candle atop it.

Wait, what? Since when did I have stone walls and wall sconces in my apartment?

Still groggy from sleep, Tatsumi tried to think.

After the loss of his family, he had moved into a small 2K apartment with Chiiko. Stilll– when Chiiko was with him – despite being otherwise alone, it was satisfactory enough for him. He had been happy enough there.

But in this room, there should not be a stone wall.  No, rather it was not just limited to Tatsumi's room, as there were only a few number of houses in Japan that still had stone walls.

If this place was not his room, then where was it?  While thinking that, Tatsumi sat up and checked his surroundings.

Checking around his bed, he discovered that not only were the walls made of stone, but all of the others including the floor and ceiling were as well.

At this this point, he began to wonder where he'd seen such a place before. He had seen something like this recently, hadn't he?
Moreover, he'd seen it on a fairly regular basis.

Scratching the back of his head, Tatsumi began to look around the room again.

Suddenly something entered his line of sight.

Kneeling on the floor with open eyes, was a young woman who was staring at him.

She had long silvery platinum hair,  with eyes as beautiful as rubies, and atop her head was a single lock of hair  standing up. It was the so-called 'ahoge'.2

With a look of complete and utter shock, the young woman looked at Tatsumi. While being stared at so intensely, Tatsumi also subconsciously returned the gaze and stared at her.

And then, he realized.

He knew this woman.

"… The holy maiden… In my dreams?"

Yes. As it was in the dream he had every night,  there before him was a girl that looked exactly like the holy maiden who had prayed every night with feverish intent in his dreams.

Taking a moment to reflect on things, he realized that the room he was in right now was similar to the one in the dream. Rather, it looked exactly like the basement room from his dream.

Then, was this girl the same holy maiden he saw in his dream?

As he was looking back at her… his body was suddenly attacked by a strong impact.

Tatsumi, who was sitting, collapsed on the bed face up as he couldn't withstand the sudden impact.

Huh! What!? He lightly panicked. But then he saw strands platinum blonde hair dancing in front of his face.

A sweet smell filled his nose, and he realized that he had been embraced without warning.

It was at this moment that Tatsumi realized that he was being hugged by the girl who looked like the holy maiden.

 

The girl had pounced on him suddenly and gave him a hug.

She clung tightly to him with her slender arms for awhile, and  then separated only a little and peered at his face.

Her red eyes and Tatsumi's black eyes— they met at point blank range.

Sparkling tears filled her crimson ruby eyes. And yet, despite this, she smiled happily at Tatsumi.

"Finally… finally I get to meet… I was… I was reunited with with…  you today… for oh so many years… I waited… Master."

"What? Ha!? Now,  how… eh? Ma—master? Have we met before?"

"Oh yes… oh… it really is you…your appearance…your voice…. and this smell… no doubt…I never forgot… not even once…"

What he felt then was, the feeling of the girl's tears dripping on his cheeks from her gem like eyes .

Feeling the tears on his cheek, Tatsumi finally realized the sort of situation he was in and the position they were in and he began to blush.

The two of them were hugging on top of his bed.

Due to her additional weight, they had fallen down and he felt the softness of her body against his own.

But she wasn't heavy at all. Her height was close to that of Tatsumi's, but she apparently weighed much less than he did.

And as expected, the thing he noticed the most were the two amazingly soft and huge mounds pushing into his chest. It was of course 'that' part that symbolized all women.

Every time she moved, her bosom softly tickled Tatsumi.

Now he began to notice some details that he had not seen in his dreams before, such as her clothing.  It appeared to be of a single sheet of very thin cloth, wrapped around her body loosely.

At first it was dark and he didn't notice, but now that their distance has shrunk a lot, he could faintly see her skin through the transparent clothes.

Involuntarily, Tatsumi was completely drawn into the valleys of her bosom, and his line of sight was soon filled with this new sight. Although he could not see the soft, pink cherries at the top of her breasts, he could tell that the destructive power of her bust was definitely very high. In a scale of 100, it was at least an 85, if not 90.

Why he was thinking of such things was most likely due to the fact that he was a healthy young man, and healthy young men were sad creatures. Of course the fact that he, Tatsumi, was thinking that in his current situation was a form of escaping from reality.

Looking down him, the young woman began to laugh softly. Whether she noticed Tatsumi's line of sight was of course, another different matter.

"…To be able to meet with you again in this manner…I am very happy… Master!"

"Wait, what!? I'm what? What, where… What? You—your master? Me? Are you talking about me?"

"Yes, are you not my master?" she said while smiling and laughing from the bottom of her heart.

As he asked her before, it seems like this girl had met Tatsumi in the past.

But Tatsumi was nonplussed3. He had no memories of meeting such a girl before.

In the first place, he had close to no previous experience with foreigners. He hadn't even spoken to many on the street before, once or maybe twice, when they asked for directions or something.

And, not to mention, a ruby-eyed platinum haired beauty such as her?  With such distinctive features, it was highly unlikely that he would have forgotten someone like her.

As if reading his mind, she continued to speak.

"Master may not remember me, because I am in a different form from when Master knew me before."

"What? What does that even mean? You're different from when I knew you before?"

Involuntarily after seeing Tatsumi's blank stare, she began to giggle. She released him from her embrace and sat on him instead, as if to correct her posture.

"Sorry for my late introduction. My name is Calcedonia Chrysoprase. I'm a priestess of the Savaiv Church of the Largofiely kingdom."

She said then, and retaining her seiza-like posture, bowed quietly.

"Huh..? Err.. My name's Yamagata Tatsumi."

"Yes, I know."

The girl who had identified herself as Calcedonia smiled. Looking at her smile, it could be believed that most men in this world or any other worlds would be totally captivated by it. It was such a smile of the finest quality to behold.

But with such a smile directed at him, Tasumi's confusion grew even deeper.

Of course it was because she knew his name, but even more so because she spoke of some really strange words now.

At this point a thought began to form in Tatsumi's mind. But before he could voice it, Calcedonia continued to speak.

"Master, you may not know the current me, but I know you…no, I remember you better than anyone else in the world…"

She began to stare at him with a sincere gaze. It was in this gaze that Tatsumi had a sense of Déjà vu.

In the past, he had been looked at by this gaze. And it was from a point blank position like this too

For example, on the palm of his hand, or on his shoulder, or sometimes sitting on his knees.

For some reason, her stare was very similar to that of his beloved family member…

"…Chiiko…"

Involuntarily, the name spilled from his lips. And the moment that she heard it, Calcedonia floated the most beautiful and grand smile that she has ever shown.

Anyone could see the feelings behind that beatific smile were those of great happiness, devoid of the tiniest bit of malice and hesitation.

"Yes! Yes, that's right!!  I'm… I'm Chiiko!!! Master… I'm your pet! Your pet Chiiko!!"

Yamagata Tatsumi and his family were traveling in their car when a wild truck smashed into their car. But wait! The MC wasn’t dead yet, his entire family was though. With his entire family dead and relatives abandoning him, the only one remaining by his side was his pet cockatiel. For a year he lived only with his pet, who had been with him since childhood. But finally, her lifespan reached its end and she died in his arms.

After his pet died, he lost his will to live and spent everyday meaninglessly. But since her death, every night he dreamed about a girl praying inside a room made of stone. 10 days passed and he reminiscences about the bird while playing with his acoustic guitar the song they used to sing together. Then suddenly the area around his bed began to shine, and the scenery around him changed.

He was still on his bed, but the room turned into the one from his dreams, and the girl was there. The girl was teary eyed and then jumped upon and embraced him. The girl, Holy Woman Calzedonia, smiled brightly and said “Finally… finally we meet again, master… I am your pet…. Chiiko!”

I woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm on my phone. I grabbed my phone and opened one eye to check the time and turn off the alarm. Then, I closed my eyes due to the fact that I still felt awfully fatigued, probably because I had fallen asleep only at 4:00 AM and that it was currently 7:30 AM.

After rolling around on my bed for a few more minutes, I slowly forced myself up right to a seated position on my bed and I opened my eyes. I thought I saw someone standing before me, so I rubbed my eyes and looked over again. Sure enough, someone was standing there, and this person was a stranger to me. I closed my eyes and shook my head to try and rid myself of the drowsiness before I opened my eyes once again to confirm whether or not someone was truly standing there. Sure enough, someone is.

"Good morning," she smiled.

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling oddly calm. Maybe it was because I was too tired to react at all.

"My name is Emilia Gabrielle Zartlich," the woman standing before me introduced herself. "God has assigned you to be under my care."

"God?" I asked, still seated on my bed. "What do you mean?"

"Ralus...he's been suspended from his duties for the time being," Emilia explained, "and is now...running errands for God."

"So he's punished?"

"That is correct," Emilia nodded. "Therefore, it is now my job to assign you missions and reconstruct you."

"Reconstruct me?" I muttered. "So would it be like before? You guys just assign me some random missions and I complete them?"

"Mr. Edel," Emilia suddenly said in a serious voice. "What do you think is the purpose of these missions?"

"Purpose? God told me it's because he is bored..."

"Is that your answer?" Emilia closed her eyes. "If So then very well...This might be a game to you, but trust me it has a higher purpose than simply entertainment for boredom."

"Then what is it?"

"I cannot tell you at the time being," Emilia responded.

A moment of silence ensued, bringing with it an awkward atmosphere as I sat there on my bed, still in my sleep clothes that consisted of a comfortable T-shirt and shorts. Well...it felt kind of weird that I sat there with all these casual clothing on while she stood there, formally and elegantly as an angel should be.

"So um...is that all?" I asked after glancing over at the clock on my phone and discovering that time was ticking and I still have school.

"That is correct," Emilia nodded.

"So are you going to like go back to Heaven or something?" I asked. "Like suddenly disappear or teleport?"

Emilia shook her head. "My assignment was to closely monitor you while also assigning you tasks for rehabilitation."

"Monitor me?"

I observed her in order to acquire more information. There exists a shocking amount of information contained within body posture alone that people often ignore. This is because our brain takes in body posture when we talk to someone and analyzes it almost unconsciously so that when one is presented with only body posture, thy could only grasp the vaguest of emotions. However, since I don't often talk to others, my senses are still sharp. Therefore, I pride myself in being able to read others based off of their body posture alone.

I observed her, from that mysterious smile of hers to the way she stood. Nothing was able to even provide me a hint of what her intent was. Instead, her mysterious smile seemed to draw me in, absorbing every part of my focus. The way her purple eyes seemed to conceal her inner thoughts captivated me, like a moth drawn to a flame, it makes me want to get closer, makes me want to know more about her. Why is it that even when you try so hard to conceal it, why is it that the pain still spills through that smile of yours?

"But what about my daily life?" I tried to gather more information.

"I will make my presence as least invasive as possible," she responded, smiling faintly. "However, in the mortal realms, my powers are severely limited, so a hint of disturbance should be expected."

I sighed as I finally come to terms with the fact that this will be my reality for the time being. I got up from my bed and hid a smile.

I have my ways to test to see the extent of the monitoring.

I started taking off my T-shirt, allowing my naked heat to come into contact with the air. I glanced over from the corner of my eye at her, and was surprised that instead of any flustering, what I saw was a calm and mature smile on her face.

What the hell? Is this what maturity does to people?

Unwilling to give up, I proceeded to bring my hands to my shorts. I sneaked a glance over at her, and allowed a concealed grin to show on my face. There's no way that one can maintain a straight face after this.

I then took off my shorts until I was left with nothing but my briefs on, and with a look of content, I glanced over at her.

What the hell?

She still appeared as calm as ever, almost as if nothing had happened.

"You should get dressed," Emilia said inconspicuously. "Even though it's still summer, you still run the risk of catching a cold."

Not only is she so calm about things, she even reminded me to put on clothes...I don't understand. Why?

After I finished changing into my school uniform, I grabbed my school bag and walked over to the door. With one hand on the door handle, I glanced over to Emilia.

"So um..." I reluctantly said, "what're you going to do when I go to school?"

"I'll go with you," she responded.

"I don't know if you understand but if you're not associated with the school, you're not allowed to enter campus without a good reason."

"Is that so," she frowned.

"Don't try anything weird you know," I said. "So where're you going to be staying?"

"Here," Emilia looked around.

"That's not happening," I immediately responded. "This isn't my house. My aunt—"

I paused and looked down towards the floor. With a look of sorrow, I sighed and turned to face Emilia once again.

This morning has been...so weird. With what happened last night, I already expect myself to not be in my normal mental state the next morning, but now with Emilia? That is just out of my mental capacity.

I gazed at her.

She's a total stranger to me. The only connection I have with her is God, and I don't even know much about God himself. So...basically we are total strangers. Who is she? What is she like? These questions plagued my mind.

"If you want to stay here then go ahead," I agreed as I was not in the mood to object any further. "But don't leave the room unless your alone in the house or only I'm home."

"I understand," Emilia nodded. "You live with your aunt Loriana correct?"

I nodded.

"Did something happen?" Emilia asked, she walked closer to me and brought her hand up to my face, sweeping up my bangs so that she could look into my eyes without any obstruction.

"N-nothing," I said, leaning back so that I can distance my face from hers out of nervousness.

"It's Ralus isn't it?" Emilia sighed. "I don't understand. When did he become like this?"

"You know Ralus?"

"Yeah..." Emilia frowned. "We have a history..."

I maintained silence as I observed her. She appeared to be deep in thought, which was a fresh side of her that I had yet to seen, well...this is only the first few minutes I've met her. This troubled expression of hers however made me quite relaxed in her presence, however, due to the fact that it makes this goddess-like angel appear more down to earth, while also maintaining her ethereal elegance.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to," I said as I opened the door slightly. "I'll be home at around 4:00 PM. In the time being, do what you want once we all leave the house. You don't have any restrictions."

Once outside my room, I proceeded straight to the washroom to brush my teeth. Afterwards, I entered the living room area of the house. There were no signs of Loriana in the kitchen nor the living room, which led to me speculating that she's still asleep because I did close her curtains all the way. But...I'm reluctant to go knock on her door and wake her up.

However, this was something that must be done. Therefore, with nervous footsteps, I walked back into the hallway and stood in front of her door. I took a deep breath and quelled the rapid beating of my heart. I slowly brought my knuckles to the dark wood door, and that was when I heard the sound of running water from the washroom in her room.

"Loriana?" I called out with a trembling voice.

"I'm awake," her voice responded from the other side of the door.

"I'll get breakfast ready then," I said, slowly retreating my hand back to my side and walked back into the kitchen.

Once there, I blanked my mind and pressed the on screen button on our electric stove to start it up. I then adjusted the flame with the slider on the smart screen before placing a pan on top of the circular area outlined by a white line.

I then proceeded to prepare breakfast. First, I wet the pan with some oil. After that, I cracked open two eggs into the pan and watch as it sizzled and cooked. As the eggs cooked, I took out some slices of bread, set them on two plates, and took out the jar of jam from the refrigerator.

I then checked back on the eggs, and seeing that they were almost fully cooked, I stood by the stove waiting for it to finish cooking. Once they were done, I took two plates out of the kitchen cupboards and poured the eggs from the pan into the plates.

Then, I placed the pan back onto the stove, letting it heat up once again. As it heated, I walked to the refrigerator, took out some bacon, and placed the slices of bacon onto the pan. As the bacon cooked, I took out some fresh vegetables and began preparing a simple salad which I then placed into two separate bowls.

As I went to check on the bacon, Loriana exited her room and sat down on the dining table. I glanced over from the corner of my eye and discovered that she appeared to have no knowledge of what happened last night and merely sat there and yawned. She might not have any knowledge but I do. Because of this, I could not bring myself to look into her eyes when I brought the food over to the dining table and set it down on the table before her.

"What's wrong?" Loriana asked as she observed me with the apathetic look on her face.

"Nothing," I said, recalling that this was the second time of the day that someone asked me that question. Is it so easy to tell if something is bothering me?

"..." She stared at me as I sat down to eat as well. "If something's bothering you, make sure to tell me alright?"

"Got it," I nodded.

Then, I toyed with the piece of bacon my plate as I allowed my face to rest on my left hand. My heart ached as I recalled what happened last night, and how I had betrayed her by doing those things to her.

"Lori..." I gathered up the courage to speak to her.

"Yes?"

"If I ugh...did something wrong," my voice was weak and lacked confidence as I spoke. "Would you forgive me?"

"Of course," Loriana responded. "Did you do something?"

"N-nothing," I said. I then sighed as I realized that I still lacked the courage to admit what I had done.

"Hmm?" Loriana continued to observe me for the next few minutes. "Since school has started for quite some time now," Loriana began speaking once again. "It's time that the university put out projects that I will have to take part in."

"So like last year?" I asked.

"Right," Loriana nodded. "So I'll be home late from now on until the project is finished."

"Got it," I said with a lowered head.

"So...you'll have to eat dinner alone again..." she looked apologetically at me.

"It's fine," I responded. "You should get going soon," I said to change the subject. "Or else you'll be late for work."

Loriana looked at her phone and checked the time.

"You're right."

"Leave the plates for me," I said. "I'll clean them. I still have a few minutes to spare."

"Thank you." Loriana got up from her seat, grabbed her purse, and after saying bye to me, she left the house.

As the door closed behind her, I let out a sigh of relief and slipped down my seat. I was relieved from the overwhelming amount of guilt, and this feeling of relaxation was as if a huge burden was temporarily lifted off of my shoulders.

"I should get going," I whispered to myself as I forced myself up from my seat.

After washing the dishes, I walked back over to my room and knocked on the door.

"I'm leaving now," I said to Emilia. "There's food in the refrigerator if you want anything."

After notifying Emilia, I walked over to the front door of my house and exited.

I'm just me. An ordinary high school boy with no girlfriend, not too many friends, and no talent.  What I enjoy doing after school is roaming around the halls, hoping that like in the cliche anime and manga, I'll bump into someone that'll change my life. Of course, nothing is going to happen. What do you expect? 

But, this APP on my phone is kind of weird. I don't remember installing it. If I click on it, it asks me to complete missions. But how the hell am I supposed to do these embarrassing tasks?


Update Schedule:
I will post new chapters usually once a day, but that is subjected to change depending on my schedule as I am a student in my final year of high school. During breaks, I will usually post multiple chapters per day.

Collage: a piece of art made by sticking various materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric on to a backing.
*
Over the next few days, Mia had become obsessed with the camera. She took pictures of Robyn baking, action shots of Estelle throwing popcorn in outrage at a twist in one of her soaps, a handful of times she had found me napping, and a particularly nice one of when Alexis had fallen asleep on my lap in the lounge room while I was reading comics. 
I had started collecting a small pile of loose photographs she had left around the house, eventually compiling a nice little heap of them I held together with a paper clip. 
I started leafing through them as I searched for her, smirking at some of the Bonnie/Mia selfies that reoccurred. 
As I descended the stairs, I saw Amia sitting on the bottom step, staring at the ground in deep thought as she tossed a tennis ball between her hands. "What's happening?" I asked, plonking next to her as I neatened up the photographs. She was dressed in a cutesy sports outfit; deep pink skirt, white knee-high socks, a white tennis sports shirt and a matching white brimmed hat. On the ground a few meters away was a black framed tennis racket. I looked out the nearest window, noticing the twilight, "A little late for tennis, isn't it?"
"It wasn't an hour ago when we were supposed to get picked up…" Amia mumbled, throwing the ball across the room against the wall; it bounced back to her feet. "My friend bailed on me fifteen minutes ago," she stated, plucking the ball off the ground. 
I frowned, "Why?"
"Just some girl crud," she answered pegging the ball back at the wall; it returned with greater power. 
"Girl crud?" I tried not to laugh.
"Amada was supposed to come with me," she added, catching the ball, "When they found out earlier, they said they weren't comfortable with him coming." 
"Why?"
"People have started suspecting Amada isn't a girl," Amia informed, "And… no one is exactly comfortable with that." She sighed, pressing her hands against her face and running her fingers through her hair. "Amada has been friends with my friends since we got here, but that was when they all thought he was my sister. With these stupid rumours going around, none were willing to blatantly just come out and ask me about him, and none were comfortable with Amada being a cross-dresser, because he's been in the girls' shower rooms and stuff." 
She threw the ball, her aim misguided this time as it impacted a steel vase and knocked it over, the vibrating sound so loud it bounced off my skin. The ball tumbled weakly into the corner of the front room, but Amia didn't make an effort to get it. 
I bit the inside of my cheek, placing the photos on the step beside me and shuffling closer. She rubbed at the inside of her eye as she added, "They didn't say it directly to me, and I honestly don't expect them to, but I've heard them talk about him. Heard them laugh at him, say horrible things about him, mock him and I've just…" she shook her head, "I've been saying nothing. I don't know… I don't know what to say to them, what I can say to him. I mean, what do I say to that?"
My cheek started to ache from how tightly I bit down on it, but I didn't utter a word. 
Amia growled, picking up the racket and rolling it between her fingers. "I wouldn't have cared if they bailed on me for a reason," she stood up, gripping the racket tightly, "But if they're going to lie to me about why maybe they shouldn't post pictures of their tennis session online. Bit of a giveaway…" She did some tricks with the racket, tossing it in the air and catching it. Everything about her tensed up, her jaw to her arms to her shoulders, causing her usual slumped posture to slouch even further. 
"Do you want advice or someone to vent at?" I tried, leaning forwards on my knee. 
"There isn't much advice you can give me," she mumbled, shuffling over to the tennis ball and picking it up with the help of the racket. "There's no-" Amia paused, trying to figure out the right words, "-way for this to not be weird. But like everything else in our lives, our family, my friends, it always has to be about-" Her tensed expression suddenly relaxed, as if she didn't like what she was about to say. She sighed, "I'm gonna go to bed. Night." 
I offered a quick smile. "Night, kid." She nudged me with her foot on the way past as she disappeared up the stairs. I stayed at the bottom step until I the faint sound of a door open and close. 
I wondered what the correct way to think about this was. It had occurred to me that if Amada stopped advertising himself as a girl, people might react negatively to it, but I hadn't considered how much it would affect Amia as well. It was strange seeing her appear so conflicted between her brother and what they had managed to make over the last few months. 
I could taste blood. I was surprised as I loosened the tension on my cheek, it started to ache. 
I rose from the stairwell and started for the kitchen in search of Mia. I noticed it was darker when I walked down the hallway, and almost pitch black when I stood in the kitchen doorway. I could barely see the outlines of the countertop and the dining table from the starlight coming through the windows. "Anyone in here?" I chimed, feeling around blindly for the light switch. 
Before I could find it, I heard the patter of footsteps run up to me, sending an instinctive jolt of panic rushing through me, and was blinded by a bright white light. I yelled in surprise and stumbled back, my shoulder clipping the doorframe and spinning me off balance. I fell to my knees in the hallway, photos scattered from me as one hand pressed against my eyes. I gasped in pain as the sting caused a temporary light-burn in my eyes. 
My heartbeat made my skin throb, the nerves on the edge of my fingertips tingling painfully, as my chest started to ache involuntarily. 
In my clouded moment of fright, that man's threat came to mind, the kidnapper from earlier last term. Had he broken into the house? Was this an attack? Was Mia safe?
Muscle memory had me reach out for a small table by the doorway, a small glass vase on display fitting in my hand, as I got to my feet, turned to the darkness and raised the jar ready to strike the intruder. In another bout of blindness, the dining room light flooded the room and enabled me to see for a moment. 
Mia gasped in surprise by my stance as she dropped her camera, taking a few steps back from me. I fell with the camera, leaning heavily on the door frame as the heated tingling turned to cold waves of adrenaline. The camera made a hollow sound, something cracked upon impact, or maybe it was the vase when I let it slip from my fingers and topple over. 
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to calm down, sick to my stomach as I waited for the panic attack to subside. 
The pins and needles in my arm intensified when Mia nudged me, silently asking me if I was okay. 
I wanted to swear at her, scold her for scaring me like that, remind her that only a few months ago someone threatened the dorm with abduction. But when I looked at her, while frighteningly expressionless, her eyes portrayed some sense of worry as she kneeled to the ground beside me, reaching her hands out to touch me but retracting whenever she got close. 
I had startled her too. 
"I'm fine…" I wheezed, waving away her hand, "You just really scared me is all." 
While I sat on the floor, waiting for my heartbeat to calm, Mia aided the camera, examining it like one would a Rubix-Cube. Likely scanning the film camera for the crack sound it made. 
I managed to steady my breathing and my heart, but I didn't trust myself to get to my feet. I sat upright and looked to Mia, "What're you doing taking pictures in the dark?" I asked.
Mia blinked at my question, answering by raising it to her eye and taking my picture, the same white light flashing me, this time not in an incapacitating way. I rubbed my eyes as the whirr of the camera spat out the square picture, and Mia started airing it. "You were checking the flash?" I guessed, blinking away the spot in my eyelids. 
Mia didn't clarify, offering only a yawn as she waited for the photo to form. I dropped my arm, my hands brushing against the pictures I had dropped when she scared me. "Umm, these are yours," I informed, grabbing a small handful of them and pushing the others towards her, "I don't know if you're collecting them, but here." I could feel a headache forming behind my eyes as I rubbed them, I heard Mia yawn again. I caught a glimpse at the clock; 8:00pm. "You're tired already?" I asked. 
Mia shrugged, widening her eyes as she tried to suppress another yawn. I sighed, gathering up the photos into a small pile and managing to get to my feet. I leant on the wall to maintain balance and held a hand out to her, "Come on. It's bedtime."
Mia considered my hand a moment before taking it, holding the camera under her arm. As we made our way to the stairway, I said, "How about you go get ready for bed, and when you're ready I'll come up and read something to you. Sound like a plan?" 
Mia smiled and nodded, taking the stack of pictures from me to continue upstairs.
I was weirdly happy that Mia let me read bedtime stories to her. Whenever my sisters and I were under the same roof, especially the youngest one, we would tell stories to each other way past their bedtime, and I would read them fairy-tales until they fell asleep. It was a bit different with Mia, as her taste in books wasn't so much princesses and fairies, but rather Shakespeare, Celtic folktales, and paranormal mysteries. Strange sentiments for bedtime stories, but there had been many times where once she had fallen asleep I would keep reading the books in my room out of intrigue. 
"You're taking my older sibling duties," someone announced. 
I looked to the hallway and saw Bonnie emerging from her room. She was already dressed for bed with a grey nightgown, as she approached I noticed Fritz in her lap, sound asleep. "You're more than welcome to go up the stairs and read to her yourself," I countered with a smile. Ever since I had entered the house, I had no clue how Bonnie got up the stairs by herself. Ava had told me about a secret elevator somewhere, but I couldn't find it and couldn't tell if she was joking with me. 
Bonnie stuck her tongue out, "There needs to be some mystery in my life." 
We shared a small chuckle. "I'm just getting a drink," Bonnie informed, "I heard a crash before. Did something happen?"
I shook my head, "No, Mia and I just scared each other, and she dropped that camera she's been carrying around." I looked in the direction of the kitchen, "Will you need a hand or anything?" I asked. 
She smiled, "No, I'll be fine. Just take care of my sister." There was a saltiness to her words, but barely. That grin she was making was just unnatural enough to seem forced as she said goodnight and rolled past me. 

*
Mia had the right idea going to bed early, as it turned out. I woke up tired and spent most of the day exhausted. 
I sat in class and zoned out more times than usual, once tempted to close my eyes and sleep, only to be awoken when I was called upon to answer a question. My lack of attention was the centre of comedy for my first two periods. 
When it threatened to happen again in the third period, I asked to go to the bathroom to splash my face with water. 
The water was a blistering cold against my face, jarring me awake for a fraction of a moment as I looked at myself in the mirror. My skin was cold to the touch when I exited the bathroom, absently using it to cool my hands as I pressed my palms against my cheeks. 
I was surprised when I turned the corner to see Mia, squatting by one of the maintenance worker storage rooms. Her ear was pressed against a cup which was pressed against the door as if she was listening for something. Soon after, she was maneuvering around the door, bracing her hands against it as she stood up straight and tucked some hair behind her ear. Mia seemed to hesitate with whatever she was about to do, rocking on her heels in a way I knew she did when she was nervous. 
The camera hung from her neck, resting against her stomach as her fingers fiddled with some knobs and switches. I watched her sigh, her whole body visibly relaxing as she grabbed the door handle, swung the door open and snapped a photo of whatever was inside the closet. The flash was bright even in the lit hallway as she jumped away from the door and slammed it closed, immediately sprinting in the opposite direction and around the corner. 
Taking a hint, I rushed back to the hall I came from and peered around the corner, curious as to what, or who, Mia had taken a photo of.
The door opened again, that girl from the other day, Rachel I believe, emerged from the closet, everything about her appearance impeccable, but her expression angered as she glared down the hallway, likely in search of Mia. At first, I didn't understand what there was to take a picture of, until a guy I recognised from my year emerged from the same closet. Unlike Rachel, he was a bit more disorganised, his shirt not buttoned properly, tie hanging from his neck and his hair untidied in a way that suggested someone else's hand. 
It was all the features of an interrupted make-out session. 
Rachel's words were indistinct, but she said something to the guy, who had started to fix up his appearance, before they parted ways, Rachel going the same way as Mia and the guy, having hidden his horrendous button work under his jacket, marched towards me. 
I was trying to suppress a laugh as I ducked back around the corner, trying to compose myself by the time he almost ran into me. "What're you doing outside of class?" he asked in his designated Hall Monitor authority voice. 
"Could ask you the same thing," I countered holding up the bathroom ticket the teachers handed out, "Let me ask you, Walden, does the Head of the Year Eleven School Council have to give himself detention for a bad uniform job?" I gestured to my own uniform and tie, which I knew was immaculate since Ava had tied it for me. 
Walden looked down at himself, obviously thinking his jacket covered everything, but up close, half his shirt was untucked, his tie was awkwardly hanging loose, and I could see that his belt was undone. At the mention of his uniform, he tried to counter with something, but a blush formed, and he stuttered his words. Eventually, smartly, opting to just walk past me. 
When Walden went out of earshot, I allowed myself to snicker at what just happened, momentarily pondering if lewd activities were a suspend-able offence for this prestigious school. As I walked back down the hallway, my smile slowly dropped as I considered what just happened. 
Oh God, I mused, stopping in my tracks, Why did Mia take a photo of that? 
*
Later that day, I saw a small Mia walking across the courtyard holding a large rolled up piece of paperboard. I was sitting next to Alexis having lunch at one of the tables. She sensed my sudden distraction, "What's up?" she asked. 
"Mia's walking around with a rolled up poster," I described, her walking gaining the attention of others students, some even interested enough to follow her. 
"That can't be good," Alexis stated, fitting the last of her grapes in her mouth. "Is there something on the poster?"
"I don't know, I can't see it," I answered, getting up from the table. "I'm gonna go make sure she isn't doing something stupid."
"This is Mia we're talking about," Alexis said. 
I nodded, "Yeah. What could she possibly do?"
Alexis snorted, "Mia's smarter than all of us, but has the emotional maturity of an eleven-year-old. What she could possibly do could cripple us all. Be worried." 
I sighed, "I'll be right back." 
Alexis waved me away as she took something from my lunchbox. I rolled my eyes, and half jogged, half walked to follow Mia. By the time I caught up, she had made it inside one of the main hubs, standing on a step ladder to hang her poster from one of the students-led notice boards. 
Other kids had started gathering around Mia as she struggled to hang the first corner of her posture. She braced it with her fingers before producing a stapler and stabbing it into the cork. When it fastened, she repeated it with the other three corners until the whole picture could be seen.
A large purple poster was covered in a collage of Rachel in several parts of the school kissing or being kissed by different guys in different places, written in large red letters in the centre was 'HYPOCRITE.' As I scanned the photos, I got worried that there would be images of Rachel being partially undressed, but everyone was dressed in all the pictures on the poster. 
As people started to realise what the poster was about they started laughing, some pulling out their phones to take pictures of it, but there was a lot of snickering and low whispers. Mia hopped down from the step and took a step back to look at her work, hands on hips, the camera still in hand. I got to the front of the crowd and grabbed Mia's arm, "Mia, what the hell are you doing?"
The laughter started to get louder, more students coming to the board to see what the commotion was about. 
Mia started pulling against me, her feet slipping from under her with how hard she was trying to run away from me. My grip tightened but transferred from her arm to the back of her shirt. I tugged her back, making her face me, "Mia, what did you do?" I repeated. 
Mia's eyes started to turn glassy, I could see that sense of panic rising in her otherwise mild-mannered expression, as she stood straight as a board in front of me, slowly becoming petrified. I couldn't tell if she could even hear me. 
But she heard something, her eyes ripping away from me to scan the crowd. Mia whacked me in the nose, not a painful experience, but it stunned me, and I stumbled on my backside. When I opened my eyes, Mia had run off, leaving behind the camera. I picked it up and got to my feet, scanning the crowd for Mia, but instead, I found Rachel shoving her way to the front to see what had been said about her. 
She stared wide-eyed at the posture, in a matter of seconds her breathing becoming laboured as her phone slipped from her hand and clattered on the ground. In a bout of anger, she squealed, grabbing fistfuls of the posture and tearing it off the wall in chunks. Those watching started laughing at her reaction, some shouting rude comments that earned a chuckle or two, but many pulled out their phones and started taking videos and photos. With each tear, Rachel began to crying, a mixture of photo and poster paper confetti at her feet, as she looked to the crowd and demanded to know who had done this. 
Before anyone could incriminate Mia, she locked eyes with me and saw me holding the camera. "You…" she hissed stomping over to me, her eyes a bright red and her speech tainted by shrills and broken sentences, as she slapped the camera from my hands, causing it to shatter on impact with the floor, and started punching my chest. I backed away, not wanting to cop a beating for something I hadn't done, but her hits were weak with each she delivered as her state of distraught took over. She stumbled when she tried to follow me and fell into my arms in a fit of tears. 
I slowly guided her to the floor, where she clutched onto me, still thinking this was my doing, but between sobs was unable to voice her hatred. Teachers suddenly appeared, shooing away the crowd and demanding me to tell them what happened. 
I was too stunned to answer, as even I was confused about how I ended up simultaneously getting blamed for this and consoling the apparent victim.

Dorm Guard: the man or woman dedicated to the protection/guardship within a dorm. 
*
Landon Becks is a sports scholarship student at White Winter Prep, with only one duty: guard the students in his dorm. 
This duty is more easily said than done, because High School is not always kind to disabled students, and none of the students in his dorm fit the criteria of ordinary. With a blind artist, a deaf dancer and her translator, a self-proclaimed Princess of Pastries, a stubborn paraplegic girl, a mute prodigy and son and daughter of a potential mobster, it's not long before he realises it's not just inside the school he must protect his dormmates from. 


A story of High School drama, suspense, romance and family. 

Am aware the grammar isn't brilliant, would just love an opinion on the story and characters.



*clank**clank*

 

The metallic sound of a plate hitting the floor drew Sarah out of her thoughts. She looked down and realized that it was the plate she had been drying until a few moments ago and that it had unknowingly slipped from her hands. It seemed that she was too lost in her worries to care about the fallen plate, so, she just stared at it for a moment before snapping out of her daze and quickly picking it up to put it back on its place.

 

She was grateful for the fact that the other two people in the kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, didn't notice her state of mind and dismissed the falling of the plate as a careless mistake. She didn't want them to worry too.

 

They were already quite old in their early sixties, had retired from their occupations of a doctor and a nurse respectively, and were living in the suburbs, away from their children in London to spend some time away from the cacophony of the city. Just because they volunteered to help at the orphanage out of the kindness of their hearts didn't mean that she could add worries to their retired, peaceful life.

 

Returning to her task of wiping dishes that Mrs. Anderson, not for the first time since their acquaintance just after the inauguration of the orphanage, had kindly volunteered to wash, she thought back to the origin of her concerns.

 

All of her worries had started after that accursed, damned, infernal trip last weekend. That trip was quickly proving itself to be the greatest mistake of her life, something she had come to regret. If she could, she would have gone back in time to keep her past self from committing that mistake. Alas! There was no remedy for regret. 

 

At the center of all that was Alex, her son. 

 

He had been behaving weirdly lately. And by weird, she meant Alex had been setting new records for himself this past week. He'd unexpectedly started eating eggs and meat six days ago. It would've been a welcome change if he didn't seem like he was just gulping down the food, that it was not a change he approved of, just a necessity to be fulfilled. He'd begun confining himself more in the library, stopped showing physical affection to other children when earlier it seemed like he was a cuddle addict, hugging children left and right, carrying them, and patting their heads as an elder would. He had started to have this stiffness to his posture like he would fall to the ground if he didn't walk that way.

 

All these things were not the most worrying change she'd witnessed in him. The most worrying thing was…

 

"Sarah, is everything fine with Alex?"

 

Mrs. Anderson, Marie, asked with concern after all dishes were rinsed. Sarah, once again lost in her thoughts, was startled by the sudden question, but didn't seem surprised by the content of the question; after all, a five-year-old child developing dark circles under eyes would be quite an unusual and disconcerting sight. Even a person meeting Alex for the first time would have noticed them, not to mention Marie, who had quite an experience due to the nature of her occupation before her retirement.

 

"I don't know… He is behaving oddly since last weekend."

 

Sarah replied hesitantly, unsure if she should tell them about her guesses of Alex hiding something or not.

 

"Since the time he fainted due to shock? Have there been more such blackouts?"

 

Mr. Anderson, Thomas, joined the conversation and questioned Sarah about Alex, still leaning against the wall near the door to the kitchen where he had been waiting for Marie to finish. His furrowed eyebrows indicated his pensive mood as he waited for Sarah to respond. After all, he was the one to diagnose Alex when the later fainted a week ago.

 

"No, that was the only time he fainted."

 

Sarah responded quickly, hoping to at least get some kind of explanation so that the situation could make some sense to her.

 

"Did he tell you about his reason for fainting?"

 

Thomas queried.

 

"No, he just kept on insisting that he was tired when I asked him the next day."

 

Sarah answered.

 

"Are there any changes in his behavior since then?"

 

Thomas asked once again. He required that information to give a proper diagnosis of Alex's health.

 

"Yes. He has had a change in his eating habits, his body posture has become stiff, he has begun isolating himself in the library, he has started to distance himself from any show of physical affection by other children, and you must have already noticed the developing dark circles under his eyes."

 

Sarah immediately listed every little detail she had noticed over the last week.

 

Thomas looked down at the floor and contemplated the details given to him, processing them in his mind, hoping to arrive at some conclusion. He was a general practitioner; all he could offer was a suggestion to prevent the situation from worsening. If the situation stabilizes, then that was all well and good, otherwise, he would have to suggest a specialist for Alex. After a few minutes, he gradually lifted his head and looked at the concerned face of his wife and the anxious and hopeful face of Sarah before speaking his mind.

 

"I can't say anything about the eating habits; some children do change them on a whim upon reading something from a fairy tale, or hearing someone talk about some dishes."

 

Even though Sarah knew that wasn't the case with Alex, she didn't interrupt Thomas on his explanation.

 

"The reason for a stiff body can vary greatly from something as serious as some infections to simply pest bites, poor diet, highly strenuous exercise or lack thereof, and even lack of sleep. From him isolating himself, which could be due to stress, and his developing dark circles, keeping in mind his recent blacking out due to shock, we can safely assume that he is suffering from insomnia, most probably due to nightmares he may be having, featuring whatever it was that had caused him to faint. As odd as it might sound, this is the only conclusion I can reach for now."

 

He paused to take a breath and then continued.

 

"Children have quite a low threshold of what they may consider scary. Something that will not even faze an adult can possibly scare them deeply. In my career, I've often seen parents that undermine their fears instead of sympathizing with them. Even if Alex is smart for his age, at the end of the day he is still a child, so that may be the reason for his hesitance in confiding in you, he may be afraid of you undermining his fear and forcing him can make it worse. Therefore, for now, you can only wait until he confides in you, but make sure to prevent him from isolating himself further. If he really is afraid of something, isolating himself, instead of facing it, will only harm him in the long run."

 

After this discussion, they all had some small talks for a few minutes until the Anderson couple took their leave, not without offering help in case of emergencies. Sarah then locked the doors of the Orphanage building and thought of everything she had heard from Thomas.

 

Even though she was sure that they were still missing something, that they didn't know Alex as well as she did, it was still a logical conclusion, and therefore, a possibility. Everything had returned to where it started; to make Alex confide in her.

 

After her talk with Alex, the day just after he fainted, she'd hoped that he would tell her everything and revert to his usual self. But, the situation only went downhill after that. If what Thomas had theorized was true, then Alex had been having nightmares since days ago and she had only realized it now, six days later, when he'd begun developing dark circle.

 

She was having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, she was furious. Alex had been unable to sleep, and he didn't even consider telling anyone about it. Didn't he know how much everyone cares about him? Why did he have to hide everything from her? Did he just see her as a caretaker, someone he could leave any time he wanted, even after her telling him how much he meant to her? Even though she knew that the last one was baseless, she couldn't help but think that way in her wrath.

 

On the other hand, she just wanted to blame herself for not noticing it for so long. Her son had been suffering and she didn't even know about it. Her logical side wanted her to believe that it wasn't her fault, that she wasn't omniscient to know everything, but her emotional side rendered all her logic useless. She couldn't stop herself from wondering if it wasn't her taking care of Alex, but his birth mother instead, would she have noticed?

 

She would have surely noticed, right? After all, even though she never had a mother or even a mother figure, she'd often heard people say that a 'mother knows everything', especially when it comes to her children. Would she ever be able to reach that level with Alex?

 

She didn't know, but she would do her best to revert Alex to the way he was before that thrice-damned trip to London. She didn't even know for sure if Alex really was having nightmares, thus she decided to stay by his side the whole night, even if she had to spend it sitting on a chair.

 

Having her course of action decided, she made her way to Alex's room and gently opened the door. Entering the room, she observed the sleeping children within, looked at their innocent faces; two of them even had a little drool slipping from their slightly opened mouth.

 

Even after all these years of taking care of children, she never did get enough of innocence, their purity, their naivety they seemed to lose as they grow older. Every child that she had the fortune of raising, however short that duration maybe, left some good memories for her to remember. Remembering those memories, their sweet, bright smile was enough for her to ascertain that the path she had chosen had been the correct one for her.

 

But, it wasn't time to get lost in those fond memories. She was a woman on a mission and her target was currently sleeping in the opposite corner of the room. 

 

She made it to Alex's bed and sat down at the chair that hadn't been removed since last week. The said boy was completely covered with his blanket, in fact, it could have been a pillow and she wouldn't have noticed from afar in a dimly lit room.

 

The said boy was also freaking out. Not that Sarah knew it.

Alex was getting more worried by the second. He wasn't prepared for this situation. Sarah was not supposed to come here. Even if she did come here, she didn't need to sit by his bed. Something was wrong. He knew he'd f*cked up somewhere. But, not knowing where was making him anxious. So anxious that he was even thinking in small sentences instead of his usual paragraph sized thoughts, and this being the longest sentence he'd thought of since Sarah entered the room.

 

He then felt Sarah gently pulling his blanket from above his face. He immediately set his face into the mask of innocence personified. He didn't want to break his act of sleeping.

 

Sarah looked fondly and somewhat guiltily at the sleeping face of her son. He had such an innocent sleeping face that made her fond of him, made her want to protect him. She felt guilty about the dark circles below his eyes and the fact that she had unknowingly played a part in it due to her inaction over the last week.

 

"Have sweet dreams, Alex. I'm here for you."

 

She whispered and began to lightly comb through his hair.

 

Alex did feel warmth in his heart on feeling her concern, but his mind had a single thought repeating itself again and again.

 

'Oh F*ck'

 

“Too late to regret.” 

I never did understand what it meant. After all, life is too long; you can make up for your mistakes any time in the future. Why rush? And I was proven wrong. It was on my deathbed, at the age of twenty, that I realized that life can be really short too. As a result, I died with regrets.

Never did I expect to open my eyes again…

Live again…

SI-OC, Strong OC.

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