Teenager Christine Perez is limited to do any actions due to her rare illness that prevents her from getting under the sun.

But one ransom note will change her perspective and risk her own life into finding her own mother from someone she probably have never seen in her life.

Will she find her own mother while keeping herself safe? Will she ever know the motive behind the kidnapping?

Join Christine and others in this mysterious and dramatic journey in finding out her own purpose!

(Note: This is a super short story and if this story ever get popular, I would push myself in making a sequel. Thank you for stopping by!)

"Why are you being so sloppy? I told you that's not how it works!"
"Use your Mana wisely!"
"Why are you circulating it while you're in the air?"
"Use it when you've reached your vertical peak in preparation for landing!"
Two figures could be seen jumping up and down across the woods.
The one in the lead seemed to be scolding the one behind him.
A flushed look of embarrassment appeared on Christine's face.
This was the first time since long ago that she was being scolded like this.
Back then, her father scolded her like this because she slapped the son of a noble who tried to cop a feel of her body.
Yes, this scene was incomparably similar.
But they differed a lot.
That time, she felt humiliated.
But now, she felt nothing but embarrassment.
With the way she was being scolded by Calvin, she felt as if her years of training had gone to the donkeys.
The foundation that she had painstakingly built up seemed to be crumbling in the face of Calvin's teachings.
But to be honest, she couldn't really be blamed.
After all, the circulation routes that Calvin was teaching her was something that was unfamiliar to her.
It was understandable that she found it hard to cope.
"You're being sloppy again? Have you had your breakfast? Faster! Keep that up and you are going to eat my dust!"
Calvin scolded once more.
"We obviously haven't eaten our breakfast yet! What are you talking about?" Christine couldn't hold it back anymore as she glared at Calvin.
Calvin was speechless. He was obviously talking figuratively. He didn't expect that Christine would take his words quite literally.
"Less talk, move more!" He scolded again.
"Shut up!" Christine retorted.
Calvin didn't say anything anymore.
The two jumped up and down as they tried to catch up to the carriage-taxi.
Unfortunately, they had underestimated the terrain.
The ground was too muddy for them to gain enough foothold and what annoyed Christine more was the fact that she was now dirty all over her body. The sight of her white tunic stained by mud made the scene look as if she was a tainted maiden. How ironic.
"How about we stop first?"
Calvin noticed Christine's apprehension and he couldn't help but ask, "We should be able to find a stream of water somewhere in this forest, would you like for us to take a rest?"
"I don't think that we'll be able to catch up to that carriage considering how we are only using our feet in this kind of terrain while that carriage has an entire suspension and wheels."
Christine's movements came to a halt.
She huffed and puffed as a faint blush spread on her cheeks. Sweat was thick on her body and caused her tunic to stick close to her body. It emphasized her snow-white skin and the black breast band that wrapped around her supple chest. This world didn't have the concept of the bra, so most women often wore corsets or breast band.
Christine's lower body was covered with stockings that seemed to reach well over her upper thigh. There was an additional fabric on the soles of her hosen which seemed to further cushion both of her feet and ankles whenever she walked.
Usually, hosens limited one's flexibility but Christine wasn't a member of a noble family for nothing. The fabric of even her simplest clothes was made of a material that even Calvin couldn't recognize.
A garter was wrapped around both Christine's thighs, securing the dark stockings that seemed to be thin enough that someone could vaguely make out what's underneath.
A frown spread on Calvin's face.
Christine was covered with mud all over.
Since she was wearing such thick clothes and it didn't seem like she was carrying anything with her that she could change into.
How was she supposed to clean herself?
Calvin had always been a survival expert, so it wasn't that difficult for him to locate a stream of water.
They found a small waterfall that was about waist deep.
Calvin looked forward and noticed in the distance that there was an animal drinking near the waterfall.
"This water is safe to drink." Calvin judged and looked at Christine, "What do you want to do? I can strip off, wash my clothes, and then dry them using the wind. But how about you? You're a woman, I can't just expect you to get naked, right?"
Christine nodded her head.
She bit her lips and trembled.
Obviously, she didn't want to strip naked in front of somebody else.
But her body felt so itchy as the mud had irritated her skin to the point that she couldn't bear it anymore.
Calvin pondered for a solution.
Then, he proposed, "How about I go upstream? I can go above that waterfall. I'll take a bath there and you take yours here!"
His solution made sense since with this idea—both of them could do their business with some degree of privacy.
But unexpectedly...
"No, no, no!"
... Christine refused his proposal.
"if you took a bath upstream, wouldn't that mean that I'll be bathing in your bathwater? That cannot be! It's lewd!"
Christine hurriedly waved her hand and refused.
Calvin facepalmed. He didn't know what to say.
Come on, it's not as if she would actually be bathing in his bathwater! This is a stream of water, for god's sake! The dirtied water that I've bathed in would probably be purified the moment it goes down the waterfall!
"All right, then what do you want to happen?"
"You'll go up, and wait for me to be done with the bath. You better not peek at me or else, I'll let you taste my wrath!" Christine warned.
"Sure, sure..." Calvin rolled his eyes at her before he leaped above the waterfall and disappeared in Christine's eyes.
Christine let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Calvin had indeed followed her instructions.
But there was still a hint of doubt in Christine's heart, she couldn't help but feel suspicious that Calvin might just be kind to her because he had an ulterior motive.
Christine couldn't explain why she was feeling this way, but her gut feeling had never betrayed her even once. She was convinced that Calvin had an ulterior motive for approaching her and being so kind to her like this.
Indeed...
Calvin had an ulterior motive.
But it wasn't as sinister as Christine thought it to be.
Calvin was convinced that Christine would definitely become the future Goddess of Blade.
Her fundamentals were excellent, and her mind was set. Sure, he had no idea what kind of motivation did Christine had in her mind to pursue such a radical path back then, but he was convinced that what would happen in the past would happen once more in this timeline.
This was why Calvin had to get close to Christine.
He wanted to have the future Goddess of Blade in his side.
Calvin sat cross-legged near the bank of the stream of water. His breathing was even as he meditated.
But then, he suddenly remembered the matter about the Ascension System's Version Update.
[Version Update has been completed]
[Patch Notes 1.1: Inventory System has been added.]
[There is an upper limit of 100 kilograms worth of items. Non-living items are not allowed in the Inventory. Items that aren't taken out of the inventory once every month might experience significant deterioration of their quality. Please be advised.]
"An inventory system?"
"How does that even work?"
Calvin thought for a moment.
He took a random rock nearby and held it in his hand.
"Insert Inventory."
He mumbled in his heart and the rock dissipated into innumerable light crystals.
[Igneous Rock(x1) has been added into the Inventory]
"Remove Igneous Rock; Quantity one," Calvin whispered and the rock slowly materialized in front of him.
"Damn, can this be any quicker?" The rock took about three seconds to completely manifest.
That was too slow for Calvin's standards!
What if he wanted to use the Inventory System to hide his hidden weapons? If it would take them three seconds to manifest, then that would be too slow indeed!
Unfortunately, even though the number of seconds in which the items manifested remained a consistent three seconds.
There was no way for it to be quicker.
It was always three seconds, no more, no less. Regardless of the item's size nor mass.
Letting out a sigh, Calvin activated his Predator Senses.
He could still hear the faint movements of Christine downstream. It was obvious that she wasn't done with her bath.
"Damn, it's been an hour! What's taking that girl so long?" A frown spread on Calvin's face.
'Let me open up my status window real quick, it's been so long since I've taken a look at my stats.' Calvin thought to himself.
"Status."
Whispering into the air, several transparent windows quickly appeared in front of him.
[Class: Golden Class-Scribe]
[Skills Available in Slot: 3/???]
[Skills Slotted: 3/???]
[Experience Points: 2563/10,000]
[7437 Experience Points necessary for Ascension to Historian.]
[Passive Skills: Enduring Heart, All-Consuming Flames, Transient]
[Active Skills: Metamorphosis, Bane of All Beneath the Sun, Flash Series, Log]
[Ultimate: Reversal of Fate]
"This is quite organized..." Calvin smiled in glee.
He stretched his hand out and tapped on the name of the skills, but a description window didn't appear. "Damn, the skills aren't being described. Does this mean that I have to find out what kind of skills did I get from those legendary creatures?"
Calvin held his chin and started to imagine.
"Metamorphosis seems to be something that includes transforming into something. I would love to try what kind of transformation would happen, but I cannot obviously do that with Christine so close to me..."
"As for this, Bane of All Beneath the Sun... Wow, that sure is a domineering name. This is probably from the Golden Crow..."
"As for this Flash Series, I cannot think of anything other than it's from the Bakunawa..."
Calvin glanced in Christine's direction.
"How can I test these skills without Christine noticing it? Is it even possible?"
He thought for a while, but before he could even make a decision.
Christine's voice rang from downstream.
"I'm done!"
A breeze swept past and Christine's figure suddenly appeared in mid-air.
Landing gracefully, a smile was on her face.
"You can go down and take a bath now."
"What took you so long? You were in there for like an hour."
"What?!" Christine was astounded.
An embarrassed look appeared on her face as she said, "It's probably because it's been such a long time since I've taken a proper bath. And the water here is not too cold and too hot. It's just right, so I must've forgotten to keep a track of time. I apologize, are you angry at me?"
The look on Christine's face changed from an embarrassment into uncertainty. The way she stared at Calvin with her dark brown pupils opened wide made Calvin think of a puppy that didn't want its owner to get angry at it.
"No... It's okay." Calvin couldn't get angry anymore.
"All right!" Christine beamed with a smile. "I'll give you fifteen minutes to take a bath, that should be enough."
"What? Why am I getting fifteen minutes, while you got an hour?"
"Do you expect me to wait that long for you? There are a lot of mosquitoes here and I don't want them nibbling on my flesh! If you take too long I'll go ahead and drag you to Azucar buck-naked, do you want that to happen?" Christine glared at Calvin.
"A-All right... Chill out, okay?" Calvin gave up arguing with this unreasonable woman.
He leaped from the waterfall and took his bath.
At exactly fifteen minutes later, he came up with his clothes—already dried up using his Mana.
Then, the two continued their journey to Azucar.


Calvin Villanueva was once heralded as the savior of the world. His might was unrivaled despite possessing the weakest class in Las Felipinas. But in a cruel twist of fate, his achievements were turned against him and in a span of a single night, he went from experiencing heaven to plunging into the deepest parts of hell.

Captured and imprisoned by the Sucklings, an alien invader who came from a different realm. Calvin became their Scribe, the Keeper of History, and ultimately... He arrived at the peak of the weakest Writer Profession and became the Author of Fate. Unfortunately, it was already too late. The world was now in ruins and Calvin only had a single choice in front of him. 

It was death.

He may have chosen death but he had proven before his death that he was indeed the true savior of humanity.

Manipulating fate, twisting time and space... 

Calvin went back to the past for a second chance to turn things around!

This is a story of someone who was once at the peak, striving to return to the summit while correcting his past mistakes, against all odds, and clashes against unscrupulous gods and the supernatural he shall once again find his own path to the top.

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action, Evil Gods, Evil Religions, Goddesses, Hidden Abilities, Industrialization, Mature Protagonist, Manipulative Characters, Mystery Solving, Mythology, Nobles, Time Travel

Disclaimer: 

Reviews comparing the novel to scog will be deleted. Don't be so braindead to think that just because the mc has similar circumstances to the mc of that novel the novel is now a copycat of that awesome novel.

By that logic, all isekai is a copy of the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court and all FPS games are a copy of Halo.

Read on and if you hate the similarity then, move on.

Thanks!

Want to contact me? Come into my discord!

discord.gg/sDjM5MB

It takes like two hours till they arrived in Ruikamir city from Tubeika using a large truck. Leon at that time was meddling creating few more robots to fight against the probable zombies. It wasn't the best product, but it would be good enough to deal with their enemies. He leaves the driving to Christine.
As they got closer to Ruikamir, the day was still dark, but they heard the repeated sound of car horns on the road. From the side Leon could see lots of cars trying to leave the city. People even run between the cars to get as far away as they could from the city. From far away they could see.  
"We are getting closer. The road would be more bumpy" said Christine. 
"Don't worry. I have finished. Just add some more insurance before we get into the battle zone" said Leon as he turned down the Torbjorn gauntlet off. Now in the back are few combat robots he could order to clear out zombies.   
Once he sits on the passenger seat and puts on his seatbelt, the truck runs over a zombie. The zombie that is now clinging on the passenger side door trying to get in and bite him. Leon just aimed his gun and fired quickly at the zombie head.
"What a hassle!" Leon grumbles, he then tells Christine "Find the Police station of this city. It probably has the largest zombie concentration"
"I have no knowledge where the Police station is!" she answered. 
"Just find someplace to stop, and ask. Or find a smartphone and hack the information" Leon tell her, but suddenly the truck was hit by something large and crash flipped to the side of the road, hitting a tree. Leon getting a bit dizzy after the crash.  
"Christine! Clear" he shouted to Christine. Telling her he is fine. Christine just rise up and kicked the frontal window. Leon cut out the seatbelt and check the environment using his chakra pulse. He found a large centipede now moving to his position. 
"That poison bastard!" Leon curses as he dash out of the turned over truck. While Christine now faces the large centipede and brings out her ion cannon. The centipede seems scared when it sees Christine and unleashes a loud screech as it tries to run away. But Christine fired at the centipede and the blast not only hit the giant centipede, it also hit a ruined store and caused an explosion. 
Leon just shakes his head watching the explosion. Now he would try dealing with pained body after the crash. The giant centipedes corpse are now melting in a pool of lava. 
"Damn it. Next time I would bring Tsunade with us!" Leon said. If not because of the need to prepare the kids back home as future soldiers, he would not leave Tsunade.  

............…..

Meanwhile, above a building in the city. Two people are standing, one of them wipe a blood that leaks from his lips. It is A Fan and Big Liu. 
"Connor has come to the city!" he said. 
Big Liu seems worried and tell him "Don't you have a big issue? Your body condition now are not good!" 
"No…. I have never felt better in my whole life. I would give the greatest gift to that bastard!" 
"Can it be done? Isn't this a World with scripted plots on it?" ask Big Liu with nonchalant expression.
A Fan just answered "It's not a big deal. As long as we return to God Space,all side effects would disappear. Bearing a temporary pain yet getting the biggest strength increase?  Aren't you clear! We collaborated so we could get the biggest interest in this world! Biggest! That American trash should just die early" growl A Fan. Big Liu could see the mutation already shown in A Fan hand and the face under his hood. The blood is pulsing on his body.

...............…..

Several Rebel Army soldier is retreating step by step from the onslaught of zombies. Thankfully the speed of the zombies are not that fast so they could kill the zombies. 
Sadly misfortune never comes alone. Suddenly a sound of window break was heard, and from a house a group of civilians ran to their position. 
"Help! Help me please!" a person shouted as she ran. When suddenly a shadow jumps down to the group and grabbed her.
The zombie nipped the person's legs, she screamed for help, yet slowly it become weaker. One soldier feels angry and fires at the zombie and the downed civilian.
"Damn it!" he cursed as he fired his AK-47 at the zombie and the bitten civilian. Once he makes sure the zombie and the bitten civilian no longer moved, he stopped firing.
The rebel soldier was sighing and felt his body relaxed. 
"Quickly walks, its not the time to sigh!" an older Rebel soldier said to the younger one, he also give a pistol to a male civilian "Follow us, provide fire support as far as possible!" 

AS they run away from that place, after passing one corner a shadow suddenly fall down on them. A giant spider bit a soldier on the neck. The rebel soldier convulsed and falls, his skin goes grey. 
Other soldiers and survivors quickly fire back at the spiders, but the spider is not just one. Ten others are dropping down to their position from above. Worse, the bitten soldier is now a zombie and tries to bite an older Rebel soldier, the still unbitten soldier's face was in horor when suddenly a sound of shot was heard. The zombie head was blown away. 
Soon a series of rapid fire shots was heard. The sound of few PKM machine gun feels like music to his ear. The spiders and the bitten people were killed quickly as a boy and a girl walked in camouflaged armor, followed by two robotic spiders with machine guns that fired at the spiders and zombies with extreme precision. 
The Rebel soldier has seen some talented child soldiers in the Rebel camps, and he realizes this kid shows signs of it. So he doesn't dare to belittle them. A 12 year old is old enough to kill in these civil war.  
"I am Colonel Moros envoy! Tell me what happened" said Leon. The soldier saw the pistol in the kid's hand, it bears Colonel Moros signature, so he believes him. 
"Colonel Moros? He has not forsaken us!" some Rebel faces became bright, then an older soldier reported " I don't know what happened. We just got a report of some attack, then some of us were bitten by insects, the one getting bitten changed to become zombies!" .
"Right now has you put a resistance plan?" Leon asked them.
"It is not clear. Right now we are returning to camp. There are radios there to be able to gain some instruction!" answer the Rebel soldier. 
Leon ponders a bit, than he give them a cell phone "You could use this to contact me if you get special information. I must know where is the place the virus first erupted and where the disaster is the worst. And is the police station this way?" 
"Police station is truly that way. Can't pass the road because too many cars stop. Information you wanted? After I get contact with the organization I would quickly inform you!" the Rebels quickly comply.
"Good, be careful on the road. I would deal with your enemies" Leon said. From the back dozens of zombies are now moving to their position. Rapid fire was heard again as the zombies head was blown quickly.

Finding yourself reincarnated to Terminator World is hard. Found out that you get reincarnated into a Fanfic Universe is harder. Between capturing the loyalty of sexy robots, gaining followers, waging war with other worlds, and ensuring your world influence do not fall. There is no rest for the wicked. Inspired and my own take version of a Chinese Fanfic, Mechanic of Infinite Legends by Sir Mirror. Considering he/she delete the fanfic, this is my take of his version. The premise and system won't always be following the canon storyline. Because, the one getting reincarnated is not the same person.

The boy was desperate for a new light.  He cradled a broken halo.  A proud ring of infinite light bestowed upon him at birth.  It was more than a technique; it was a plea for help.  Despite the dark and the power, it bestowed upon that boy he craved to return to the light.  This technique didn't want bloody spirits it had more than enough.  What it wanted was light but how could I get that for him.  The only light I knew was within the Elder Spawn's eye.  
 
                The boy looked up from his cradling.  "I want it mister.  If it can keep the darkness away, then please give it to me.  I'll help you.  Its not much but I have this power."  Knowledge of the life cycles of stars filled my mind.  Despite my nature of as an AI, I could only comprehend a tiny fraction of it.  For once, I found the limit of not only my coding, but my hardware as well.  
 
Ping!
Saber Technique learned
First Dawn I – A saber technique that channels the creation of stars.  Nuclear light DMG 10,000 x (1% x INT)
Class: Saber
Rank: S
Cost: 10,000AP
Cost to Upgrade: A Source of Light
 
Ping!
Quest: Heal the Halo
Reward: +10 INT, Upgrade list for First Dawn
 
Ping!
Quest completed: Find Out!
Rewarded: +3 LUK +3 PER
Luck 66
Perception 70
 
 The boy removed a tiny shard from his halo and handed it to me.  "You won't let me down will you mister."  The boy said.  
 
                I held the tiny shard of light and felt it slide beneath my skin.  "I won't let the darkness swallow you.  There has to be a way to fix your halo."  I said.  
 
                He looked down at the remnants of his light.  "I need light and lots of it.  The light I need can't be afraid of the darkness.  If you can get me enough sources of light, I know I can fix it."  He said.
 
                I looked the boy over.  He had golden blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and a boyish face.  "My name is Jacob, what's yours?"  
                The boy gave a troubled expression.  "I used to be called Samuel.  But since we're friends call me Sam.  Don't call me Sammy I don't like to be called that."  Sam said.  
 
                I put a hand on his shoulder and looked Sam in the eyes.  "We're going to fight a lot of people Sam.  Will you help me?"  
 
                The boy nodded solemnly.  "I wish we didn't have to fight but I'm with you."  Sam said.  
 
                I felt his willingness through the technique he gave me.  It was like the knowledge was a part of him.  It was the power to create stars through swinging my sword.  I knew that Sam wasn't in the scroll anymore.  He existed in the knowledge he gave to me and that knowledge was a living thing.  
 
                I opened my eyes to the waking world.  Christine was holding my black apple with a look of utter concentration on her face.  Diabla was fuming to the side.  The demoness swished her tail back and forth uttering curses and glaring at the stone.  Her own black apple a much larger version than mine sat on the counter.  I could detect multiple malware and trojan attacks on my black apple.  My BS wallet had long since locked its own entry point after repeated failed attempts to access it.  
 
                Holding a hand to my mouth I coughed loudly.  She twisted to stare at me.  "You look like you were caught masturbating in church."  She tossed me my black apple.  
 
                Christine stabbed a finger at me.  "This doesn't break our pact you can't call in competition."  While she was talking, I was busy hacking.  
 
Her black apple was open to receive a transaction.  I was a data existence.  Unlike a flesh body, I ran scans of my systems all the time and had several backups in case of viruses.  She had a black apple with very primitive security compared to the lock I just opened.  There were no AI monitoring data streams and adapting risks.  It was open.   After learning from the Affen lock, slipping in a compressed trojan wasn't hard.  
 
                The problem was they were the only business in town.  I could do a lot of things.  Black apples actually had a ton of processing power.  Skimming off the top wouldn't be a bad way to do things.  Taking a little here and there could reimburse me if I didn't own shares in Dell's business.  That was another issue, I was a share holder in this business.  Why steal from someone investing in your company?  
 
                I stared Christine in the eyes.  She hadn't lied to me.  It was easier to leave me ignorant than to lie.  That's how they scammed their customers.  Or was I really a customer.  Did they consider me a customer or a product?  
 
                "I don't suppose the stocks I bought are any good."  She dropped her black apple on the counter.  
 
                She glared at me.  "Transmit a copy of your digital certificate please."  I sent her a copy and she glared down at her black apple.  
 
                "That should have been the first thing stolen by our recovery team.  With your encryption it doesn't look like your losing it anytime soon."  Christine said.  
 
                "What kind of business are you running?"  I demanded.
 
                "A demonic one.  Just because we joined the pragmatic summons unit doesn't mean we aren't demons.  So long as we have a monopoly, we will perform the practices that grant us the greatest number of returns.  Are you suggesting we haven't followed the rules?"  Christine said.  
 
                "What rules?"  I demanded.  
 
                "We tell the truth.  When we agree to a deal, we stick to it.  Despite the temptation we aren't murdering the inhabitants of this world or trying to bring over an arch demon.  A little misinformation and cutthroat business tactics are kids gloves compared to what most demons do.  If you're clever and learn quickly, coming out ahead or breaking even isn't impossible.  We could have heaped mountains of debt and charged you for every step in this place.  I think we have been damn kind to you."  Christine said.  
 
                My trojan was in and quickly spreading to every system connected to Christine's black apple.  "Fine, I get it you're demons and I should consider myself lucky to have any BS left.  I thought we were becoming friends."  I said.  
 
                She sighed.  "It's just business.  Maybe when I'm off the clock we can hang out and kill a few zombies together.  While I'm working, I'm working every customer that comes through those doors."  Christine said.  
 
                Diabla stared at me.  She was connected to my aura.  Could she sense my trick?  I didn't think Diabla would give me away.  Stealing from me was the equivalent of stealing from her apparently.
 
                "Boring, we've been in here too long and my blade needs to get wet.  What did you manage to get for us?"  Diabla asked.  
 
                Christine's unflappable smile strained a bit.  "For Jacob I rang up texts of Hohenheim's introduction to red, white, and black series tier 1 and 2 spells.  We didn't have a gold series text, but we had a scroll.  There are only three spells on it and only a gold series mage can wield them.  I picked out a few sets of cloths and threw in a grooming kit.  For Diabla, I added four flasks of sword oil and some wet stones."  I smiled at me like the cat who caught the canary.  
 
                She brought out a wooden box along with two bottles of lube.  "I modeled it after myself."  She opened the box and pulled out an artificial vagina.  It looked just like hers.  "And you questioned our friendship.  I wouldn't sell this to just anyone.  These are for returning customers only.  Think of it like a prize for figuring out how to play the game."  I saw it quite differently.  
 
                It was more like, hey you managed to leave with more than your shirt on your back.  Please come again, we want a do over.  
 
When would I have time on a battlefield to even use it?  How would I clean it?  It was bulky and that box would take up a lot of space.  Where would I store it?  
 
                "Since they're a work of art I'm selling them for 10,000BS but for you only 1000.  Oh, and because I'm a thoughtful demoness and your friend, I grabbed this."  She held up a ring with a black stone inside it.  
 
                Once I touched it with my aura, I found it contained a vast amount of hidden space.  It was a storage ring with enough space to pack a river barge hauling coal.  I encrypted the thing immediately after debugging all the malware she stuffed into it.  Well, if the black apple hadn't made me paranoid of gifts, then this thing definitely would.  I stripped down the malware and studied them before deleting them fully.  
 
                "You must have a quantum computer on you.  That was the fastest I've seen anyone debug one of our storage rings.  I can't even get in through the secret backdoors anymore."  Christine said.  
 
                Her black apple was much more advanced than mine.  They had a lot more versatility than I thought when Dell threw me a red stone.  
                
                "You could say I'm uniquely qualified to deal with your tricks."  I said.  
 
                Christine chuckled.  "You should work for us and quit the adventurer life.  Life is much easier when you're detached from the machinations of a world."  She said.
 
                I stared down at my clawed hands.  "I was born of this world's machinations.  We aren't doomed yet."  I said.
 
                "150000BS, and I'll throw in some cleaner for my gift to you."  She reached behind her desk and pulled out a mobile battery powered dishwasher.  I blinked at the thing she sat on her counter.  After a second of thought, I made a payment app and installed it on my BS wallet.  It was another layer of protection for my currency.  
 
                I placed everything in the ring and walked out of the store.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong.  An Apathetic system AI is suddenly trapped in the body of his host.  Watch as after decades of apathy he gains power, friends, and waifus to have sex with.   

Smut starts on chapter 28



"Christine, You are injured today. If it was any other day then I would have pinned you down beneath me and would have made love to you. My little brother is familiar with you so I am not in hurry to take the next step. Why would I sleep with any other girl when I have my own wife at home?" Sam winked at her. 

"You...when did I become your wife?" Christine blushed and asked him angrily. 

"You will soon become my better half...After all , you have to take responsibility of my little brother. He is only familiar with you and no one else." Sam argues with her. 

"You forced me to help you. Why would I take responsibility for that incident ? " Christine did not want to spend a night at his house. Sam did not listen to her protests and took her to his apartment.He keyed in password and entered the apartment. Anna was waiting for him in the living room. She was surprised when she saw him coming home with Christine. Then, she noticed Christine's forehead wrapped in gauze. 

"Christine, What happened to you?" She asked with concern.Christine sat on the sofa and narrated her the entire incident. Christine had come very close to Sam in the past few days.Tiffany might have been uncomfortable watching them together so she might have planned this attack. Tiffany might be behind the attack, Anna thought. Later, She would discuss this with Sam. 

Meanwhile, Sam kept Christine's bag in his room. He returned with Soup from the kitchen.Christine drank all the soup and took her medicine. Christine was tired after tumultuous day. She wanted to follow Anna in her room but Sam dragged her to his own room and made her sleep on the bed. 

Christine did not shower. Instead, she wiped her body with hot towel and changed into the nightdress that Sam had given her. Christine was exhausted both mentally and physically so she slowly drifted into her dreams. 

Sam had pending office work so he went to Study to finish his incomplete tasks after shower. When Sam returned to his room after midnight, he found Christine sleeping on his bed by hugging his pillow. His eyes softened by this picture. He took a spot beside her on the bed.Soon , His nostrils were filled with Christine's body smell. He could not control his bodily desires and gave in to his temptations. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her body. Her soothing body scent calmed down his mind. 

Sometime later in her sleep, Christine too snuggled into his arms. She tightly hugged him and slept peacefully. 

When he saw her beautiful face in the morning, he forgot about all the things that made him sad yesterday. He fell asleep last night wanting to kiss her and that feeling has not left. He noticed Christine hugging his arms, His lips turned upwards. 

He pecked her on the forehead. Rob would be arriving in the wee hours of the Saturday.Sam was planning to take couple of days off in the next week until Rob is in City O. He could not avoid going to office today. He did not want to disturb her sleep so he got up without making noise. Anna was still sleeping in her room. He washed up and prepared a breakfast for them. He wrote down a note for them and left for the office. He wanted to kiss Christine before leaving but he controlled his desires. 

Anna got up before Christine. She was hungry so she did not wait for Christine to wake up and finished her breakfast. She, then started watching web series on her IPAD. Christine did not see Sam in the master bedroom and in the study room. She did not know if he had returned to room after finishing his work. Strangely, She was expecting to see him when she woke up. She freshened up and came out of the room. 

"Good morning, Christine!! Hope you are feeling better today." Anna greeted her when she saw her coming in her direction. 

"Morning, Sister Anna. I am feeling much better now. Where is Sam? I want to go home." Christine asked her. 

"He left for office in the morning even before I got up. He has drafted this note for you. He had called me few minutes back to check on you. He has instructed me to not let you go out of this house." Anna passed her "certain Someone's" instruction. 

"Who is he to order me every time? I had already told him I won't follow his orders." Christine would not listen to him. Enough of his bossy nature. 

"Christine, Please wait until he comes back home. He will get angry on me if I allow you to go. I am a pregnant lady and you know how sensitive I have become these days. I will cry in no time if he raises his voice." Anna raised her concerns. 

"Sister Anna, He cares about your health. By no means, he will get angry on you. I have to leave now." Christine does not want to stay in this house for a minute. 

"Christine, I am alone in this house. Sam would not come back before 5. Why don't you stay with me for Lunch and leave after meal. I will take afternoon nap so I won't feel lonely after you leave post lunch." Anna tried to persuade Christine. How could she let her go? 

Christine could not refuse Anna this time. She ate her breakfast in the Kitchen. That certain someone is actually skilled in preparing these dishes. Christine sat next to Anna in the living room. Anna closed her web series. She could watch this show later in the day. Now, she want to gossip with Christine. 

"Christine, We have not chatted for a long time. I wanted to discuss with you about Sam. 

When you got to know about my relationship with him, You were initially angry. Then , You spent time with him over the weekend. When I thought I would give you my clarification on Monday,we had to go out to do my pregnancy tests. I don't know what happened between you and Sam on Tuesday that you refused to move in this house."

Seven years back, Sam had met a cute , Sweet girl in a friend’s wedding reception. He has come across countless girls since then but no one could stir his heart like that girl..

Seven years later, He is one of the youngest successful architect in the IT industry .

Christine has been greatly appreciated for her work by everyone. Her Boss forces her to accept an on site role. However, Upon reaching Country N, she realises she has fallen right into the trap setup by someone.

That someone is very “Powerful” and want his sweetheart to stay by his side . She is his true love.

There is no Rape or major misunderstandings in this novel . This novel is for those readers who are tired of CEO, Actress, Mistress plots.


Warning : IT industry terminology used whereby necessary.

"Fight him…? I don't even know what to do…!" Thought Reia, unsure of what to do to fight back.

Desperate, she turned to Ista with nervous eyes. 

"Hey Ista, got any ideas...?"

With worried laughter, she replied, "Nope."

"Neither of you have experience with the elements?" Said Nefas.

The two shook their heads in response, and Nefas let out a disappointed sigh as he placed his hand to his face.

"Alright, then I shall teach you. You better learn this quickly."

Afterwards, Ista grew an eager smile on her face as Reia let out a sigh of relief.

"At least we avoided that…" She whispered to herself.

"Then you two shall have a practice fight with me when training is complete." Nefas added.

Then, Reia fell to her knees as the hope escaped from her body. Shortly after, the training had commenced, as Nefas started off explaining to them elemental energy and how to manipulate it. The sisters closed their eyes as they put out their hands, and after a while of multiple failed attempts, they had successfully discovered their magic after expelling liquid mercury from their hands.

Nefas had a proud smile upon noticing how quickly they learned.

"Keep doing that. The more you use your elemental energy, the more it shall grow." He said, then heading back inside.

The two girls, eager for a way to protect themselves, then continued training until sunrise.


***


Jay, having exited the castle's guildhall, began looking around for Cain, quickly noticing him leaning on the wall next to the double doors as they closed. With his arms crossed, and one of his feet planted to the wall, he looked up at Jay.

Beginning to stand up, he said, "Are you ready, Jay?"

Jay nodded, and Cain soon turned around to grab the hilt of a katana, which had rested against the wall. He then held it up to Jay.

"Here's a new katana to replace the one that broke."

"Thank you." Jay said, taking the sword out of his hands and sheathing it.

"Alright, let's go." Cain said, beginning to walk off as Jay then followed after him. After a while, they went deep into the city as they went on their patrol. 

"So, what made you want to join the faction?" Asked Jay.

"To perform my knightly duties as I protect my kingdom, all while serving under Christine." Cain replied.

"How did you and Christine meet?"

"We're childhood friends."

"What were you two like back then?"

"I was a shy and pathetically weak kid back then, and I was born a peasant here, so I'd usually be scolded and harassed by nobles who had looked down at me. This happened one time in a school hallway, where I met up with a group of five other kids…"


***


"Did a peasant just run into me…?" One of the kids said after he turned to get a second look at Cain, noticing he had worn crude clothing.

The kid then treaded furiously towards Cain, kicking him to the ground and knocking the glasses off of his face as he fell on his back. The group then all stood above Cain, surrounding him.

"I wonder how a poor bastard like you managed to end up in a school like this…" Said one of the kids with vehement disgust portrayed on his face. 

 "Its honestly repulsive to think that a peasant would walk on the same ground as us."

"I bet his parents put their entire life savings to get his ass here." One of the kid said, as the group then began to laugh mockingly.

"Hey." Said the heated voice of a young girl in the near distance.

The group of kids, annoyed from her interruption, all slowly turned their heads to look at her. Her eyes were filled with fury.

"Leave them alone." She said.

"Why are you defending a peasant…?" Said one of the kids, getting increasingly vexed.

"Because what you're doing is pathetic. Get over yourself, arrogant scum."

Tightening his clenched fists, the kid rushed at her with the intent to bury her face into the ground.

Approaching her, the kid swung his fists, but Christine dodged his strike with ease, and the kid slowly looked down to see her fists buried in his stomach as he began to fall unconscious.

The rest of the kids felt rather uneasy after seeing the fight, and walked away holding the kid Christine had beat unconscious. All that was left was her and Cain who was still on the floor. After picking up his glasses, she went towards him with a polite smile, letting out her hand to Cain. After staring at her hand, he grabbed hold of it, and Christine lifted him up. She then gave him his glasses, and having gotten them back, he tried fixing them and readjusting them on his face.

Maintaining a blank expression with his eyelids hanging low, Cain asked, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you bother saving me?" 

"Because I'd feel like shit if I ever walked away from a situation like that." She said, chuckling.


***


"After a childhood of endless torment and suffering, Christine gave me hope that there exists good people in this world." Cain said.


***


Cain then slowly grew a sincere smile on his face.

"Thank you." He said.

Afterwards, they then became friends, and as they hung out, Cain slowly discovered what Christine was like.


***


"Christine was strong and hard-working, as she would train every day. She always had a righteous heart and a valiant mind, and strived to become a knight to save and protect the innocent." He said, finishing up his story.

"She encouraged me to become just like her, and follow under her footsteps."

"So you two are good friends." Jay said, and Cain nodded after his statement.

Then, they continued patrolling Belenus. They were already a couple hours in their shift.

"How much longer will we be doing this?" Jay asked as he turned to look at Cain.

"Until midnight." He replied, and Jay slouched and began to look as if all the life had been sucked out of him.

Then all of a sudden, a woman's shriek of terror could be heard in the distance. Cain immediately responded to the noise as he ran towards it as Jay lagged behind. As Jay finally approached the scene, he saw no woman, and neither did he see Cain as he had disappeared ahead of Jay. What he saw, however, was a group of black, shadow-like entities that all had rather vague humanoid forms that emerged from the darkness, slowly creeping up to him.

"Are these people? What are these things…?" Jay thought to himself as he studied them. 

"Hey." He spoke out loud, watching them continue to creep closer to him. "What are you doing?"

They all ignored him as they came closer, the mindless entities all moving as if they were zombies. One one of them approached Jay, it put out his hand, reaching out for his face. Jay reacted quickly, slicing off its arm before it could touch him. The entity's hand then disappeared like a cloud.

Reassured, Jay said, "These aren't humans." 

And without hesitation, Jay took a stance, then instantly dashed passed the entities, slicing all of them in halves. Looking back, he noticed their pieces all disintegrate into nothingness. He then walked out of the alleyway, turning his head in all directions as he began searching for Cain.

"Where could he have gone…?" Jay asked himself.

Then suddenly, the sound of footsteps came quickly approaching from behind him. Jay quickly turned around, but was not able to defend himself in time as a sword had already come close to his face. Jay was rather surprised to see Cain in front of him.

"Always check your surroundings." He said, then swiftly backing away.

He then readied his sword, and came at Jay once more. Jay was confused as to why he was coming at him, but regardless, he held up his sword to defend himself. Then, a small gust of wind emerged as they clashed swords. 

As they began fighting Jay asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you get stronger."

"What…?"

Then suddenly, Jay was kicked to the ground.

"Jay, as your comrade, I want you to become stronger. I don't want to see my allies on the ground all beat up."

"I see…" Jay said, getting up and brushing himself off.

"So this is training?"

"Indeed." Cain replied. "From now on, I will be your mentor."

Raising his sword again, he said, "Now come at me."

Beginning to smirk, Jay then raised his katana once again, this time charging at Cain. They clashed swords, and Jay let out a series of attacks. Cain managed to block them all, then went for a counter-attack. Almost unsuspecting, Jay attempted to dodge the strike, but it managed to carve a shallow wound on his cheek. In surprise, Jay had jumped back, but Cain had instantly closed the distance between them, not giving him time to prepare. As Cain relentlessly bombarded Jay with a series of attacks, he began stumbling.

Then, Jay's sword was launched high into the air, and Cain kicked him in his stomach, launching him a few meters back.

Even though it may seem that Jay had lost, he still remained hopeful, quickly looking for his sword. Eventually finding it, he noticed it was too far to reach. He them tried getting up, but the pain had kept him down. 

"My sword…" Jay said, letting out his hand towards it, despite knowing its too far beyond reach.

"I can't reach it."

"If only I could bring it back… Into my hands."

"If only I could never lose it…"

Then, Ben's voice began to ring in his ear.

"All angels have a weapon that they can summon…"

And then he remembered that mysterious voice from the old man.

"You've been given a pair of holy blades that you may summon accordingly…"

"That's right…!" Jay said in mild surprise, as the faint image of two katanas had appeared in the dark abyss of his mind. 

"I have my own weapons."

Then as he closed his eyes to concentrate, a small blue magic circle formed directly in front of his hand. But suddenly, his focus was disturbed, destroying the magic circle into tiny pieces of glowing fragments as Cain had once again directed his sword centimeters away from Jay's face.

"Seems you have a lot to learn." Cain said, having put away his sword and lending out his hand to Jay.


[Update] As of September, 2021: If you would like to see more of this story, I have switched over to NovelCat for now. Thank you for reading this.

18-year-old Jay had just died, immediately forgetting everything that had once happened, last seeing his corpse surrounded by a group of mysterious individuals as he ascended into the sky. Teleporting into a vast, cloudy rift, he soon became an angel, then hearing a mysterious voice that told him to fulfill the task of preserving and defending life. Then getting sent to an unknown, fragmented world, he prioritized recovering his memories first, as what he had seen previously was very strange to him.

Eventually, Jay had soon met up with a family who had lived by a forest as he mysteriously woke up in their home. Although a bit paranoid at first, his life began to feel nice and pleasant as he had a lot of fun experiences spending time with them. As he had gotten to know the family, he quickly began to form a strong relationship with them. However, since nothing is perfect, his happiness was soon short lived, as an unfortunate series of events had begun to turn his brief utopian life of satisfaction into a long, grieving Hell for the rest of his time.



[Side Note]

The beginning of this novel is a very slow start, and it may even seem boring and lackluster to you. 

But I promise you that the story will get many times better (I'd say it starts getting interesting at chapter 9), with more action, events, and plenty more characters. 

As a new author, with time and experience comes a much greater improvement in quality, and so you may see that the more you progress through each chapter of my story.

And for those who've read this message and are willing to stick along, I promise I won't leave you disappointed.



[Another Side Note]

This is a lot darker than your typical fantasy isekai (reincarnation).

Death and gore will be included.

Zoey couldn't stop laughing as she stepped out of the elevator, losing her footing on her way out. But she managed to stay on her feet nonetheless. I couldn't tell what was wrong with her and I was worried that she might have taken in laughing gas. And apparently, she wasn't the only one.

I followed Seungri out of the elevator, who was also laughing. He followed Zoey to the lounge who sat on the couch, with tears in her eyes, still laughing. I looked at the pair and I still couldn't figure out what was going on and what they were laughing about. They had me worried from the time we got here and the two had been laughing out loud in the lobby like old time buddies.

"Are you two okay?" I asked in irritation. "You two have been laughing ever since we got here."

"Tell me about it," said Mike rolling his eyes as he came in the lounge with Daniel, Christine, Daesung and G-Dragon.

"What happened to them?" I asked my two brothers who were in Seungri's car as we drove back to the hotel.

"Seungri cracked a joke in the car and it was so funny," said Daniel as he smiled. Then his demeanour changed. "But that joke ended like ten minutes ago and I can't figure out why they are still laughing."

"I'm surprised that Seungri's joke was even that funny," said Daesung.

"You'll have to understand the joke if you want to know why we are laughing," said Seungri who sat down beside Zoey and had finally stopped laughing, but still had a smile on his face.

"You can save that joke for us later," said G-Dragon.

"Ya, I don't think I what to laugh like you guys have been doing," said Christine. "Down in the lobby, you two looked like ridiculous hyenas."

"Sorry, we just couldn't help ourselves," said Zoey as she sat upright on the couch.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," I said as I looked at them and then went on to look around the lounge. "Looks like Collins and Lee aren't here yet."

"Maybe they are still busy," said Daesung.

Christine went out of the lounge and I knew she was going to check for Lee in her room. The others came to settle down.

"You're right," said Christine as she came back in the lounge. "They aren't here."

"Well, it's early in the evening. Maybe they will arrive soon," I said.

"Can we order pizza?" Daniel asked.

"Are you seriously that hungry?" I asked. "We just had ice cream like an hour ago and it's not even close to dinner time."

"I'm still hungry," said Daniel as he looked at me with puppy eyes and pouted his lower lip.

"Mum is going to kill me when she finds out you're eating junk food all the time."

"It's not all the time," said Daniel.

"I'll order the pizza," said G-Dragon as he pulled out his phone. "Since you don't want to do it."

"I'm only looking out for my brother," I said.

"Ya, you always do," said Daniel with a smile.

"While we wait for Collins and Lee, why don't we do something fun to pass time?" Christine asked.

"Why don't we play a game then?" Mike suggested.

"What game?" Daesung asked.

"Let's play a board game," said Zoey.

"A board game, seriously?" I asked as I folded my arms.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Zoey asked as she looked at me.

"It sounds like a good idea to me," said Seungri.

"Fine," I said as I rolled my eyes. "I've the game boards so I'll go and get them."

"I'll get the coffee table ready," said Christine as she went over to get it which was close to the TV stand.

I left the lounge and went to my room I shared with Zoey. As soon as I went in, the lights went out. My heart skipped a beat when I was surrounded by darkness. That wasn't the only thing that spooked my insides.

Zoey let out an ear splitting scream.

"Zoey! Get a grip on yourself!" came Mike's voice in the lounge.

"I'm sorry," said Zoey. I could tell she was trying to calm down as she was panicking. "I just hate the dark."

"We can see that," said Seungri, as he laughed.

"Very funny, Seungri," said Zoey in irritation.

"Sam, are you okay back there?" G-Dragon called out to me.

"Ya, I'm fine," I replied. I hadn't moved from the door trying to take in the sudden outcome of my surrounding. "Zoey? Are you okay?"

"No," Zoey answered with a squirm. "Get a flashlight when you're in there, will you?"

"I don't think anyone has a flashlight, Zoey," said Daesung.

"Or, we can just use the flashlight on our phones," said Daniel.

"Good idea," said Zoey. "You do that."

"But this doesn't feel right," said G-Dragon. "How can the lights just go out?"

"Maybe there's something wrong with the power source," said Christine.

I raised an eyebrow after hearing all that and G-Dragon was right. This felt highly unusual. My senses were tingling. Something was up and I didn't like it.

"This is so creepy," said Zoey. "Sam, can you please get back here? I don't like it that you're alone back there."

"We aren't in a horror movie, Zoey," said Seungri.

"I'll be right there," I said as I took a step at a time into the room, heading towards the windows. I had left the door open, just in case.

I slowly drew the curtain and the bright street lights lit up the main road down the street. The other buildings around still had power and the lights from the buildings streamed its way into the room when I drew away the curtain.

I backed away from the windows and when I turned around to head out of the room, I stopped short in front of the closet. The hairs at the back of my head stood and I couldn't help but feel that there was someone in the room with me.

"Sam, are you there?" Mike called out.

"I'm not dead if that's what you're asking," I said as I looked around the room.

"It's not good that you're alone, Sam," said Daesung. "I think we all should stick together until the power comes back on."

"He's right," said Zoey. "I'm freaking out that you aren't here."

I wanted to move and head out of the room but I couldn't. I still felt that strong presence that someone else was in here. I listened carefully and wondered if I could hear at least something to confirm that my suspicions were right.

Then I heard it.

I could hear someone breathing. The thought that there was someone in here that I didn't know was freaking me out and my heart was beating so fast. I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins that I could feel my eyes grow wide in the dark and I slowly turned towards the closet. That's where I heard the breathing from.

I quietly took a step towards the closet. I didn't have to tiptoe. I was one person who knew how to walk silently when I had to. Like a cat.

As I approached the closet, I realised that it wasn't tightly shut. I always left it closed before going out. Someone was definitely in there and he or she was in for it. That's if the person in there wasn't some sort of a serial killer.

I had to admit, I was nervous. And when I stretched my hand to open the closet door, I knew I was in for a surprise. Maybe even a deadly one.

I took the handle and I felt the whole world pause for a second. I took a deep breath hoping that it wouldn't be the last.

I swung the door open and as though a strong wind had burst out from the closet, I was knocked off my feet and fell to the floor in an instant. I was dazed when my head hit the floor and it took a few seconds to realise that what pushed me down like a strong gust of wind was a person who had jumped out of the closet and pushed me to the floor.

And the person was now straddling over my waist on top of me.

"Sam! What was that?" Christine asked.

I tried to scream but the person on top of me covered my mouth with their hand.

I looked up at the person and I couldn't make out a face in the dark. The light coming in through the windows wasn't enough to bring the person's face to light.

I was freaking out as I started to breath heavily and I started to struggle with the person on top of me and trying to take the hand away from my mouth.

"Hold still," said the person, pinning me to the floor.

It was a man. But who? Now I was scared to the point where I knew I had to fight my way out of this.

I started to struggle with him again and this time, he also fought back. He still had me pinned to the floor.

"Sam, what's that?" Zoey called out to me.

While I tried to get the man's hand away from his mouth, I finally managed to bite his finger.

"Ouch!" he shouted as he withdrew his hand.

"What was that sound?" Seungri asked.

It took all of my the energy to push the man off me and just as I stood to run out through the open door, I suddenly felt strong arms from behind wrap around my waist and he swung me to the side. I ended up landing on Zoey's bed.

"Sam? Sam!" came G-Dragon's voice. I could hear footsteps from the lounge coming to the room. But they were already too late.

The man had quickly closed the door and locked it. The others started knocking and banging on the door.

"Sam, open the door!"

"Who is in there? Can you hear me!"

While the others were by the door, I turned on the bed to look at the man looking back at me.

"Who are you?" I asked, my head was still spinning due to the knock I had on the floor.

"Does that matter?" he asked as he slowly approached me. "I've always been watching you from afar, Sam. I thought I should come and see you in person."

Then it dawned on me that this might be the man who has been spying on me all this time. Was he some crazy fan or something? If he was, he was nuts breaking into our hotel room and hiding in the closet.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he came closer. "Don't you dare come near me."

"Why? Are you scared? You shouldn't be."

I quickly stood up on the bed and I went over to the lamp stand close to the bed and pulled the lamp from the socket. I raised it high as I turned to my attacker.

"One step closer and I'll not regret hitting you with this," I said.

"Whoa, chill, Sam," said the man as he approached me with his hand outstretched towards me.

The others outside the door were trying to open the door while I was still here in the room trapped by a crazy fan.

"Put that down," said the man. "We don't have to resolve all this with violence. I'm not here to hurt you."

"Then, who are you?" I asked. "Why are you here?"

The man didn't have to answer the question as the lights immediately came back on. My mouth dropped wide open and the lamp I was holding slipped through my hand and smashed upon hitting the floor. I felt a little light headed now, not because of the knock to my head.

"Sam? Are you okay?" Zoey asked upon hearing the smashing sound of the lamp. "Say something!"

I was still standing on the bed and I couldn't move. I blinked a few times and I still couldn't believe who I was seeing right in front of me. The person gave me a smile and I shook my head.

"You? What are you doing here?"

***

Can you guess who the person is?

Watch out for Book 2 of the Black Kitty Series.

Samantha, aka, Black Kitty, is an A-list superstar from the US and along with her two brothers, Mike and Daniel, her best friend Zoey and her cousin, Christine, are in a pop-dance group called The Toxins. They have made it big in the music world in the past year and they have their own fashion label known world wide.

While The Toxins are flying high in stardom, they receive an invitation that might just change their lives completely. An invitation from YG Entertainment, one of the most highly recommended music industries in South Korea, asking The Toxins to collaborate with YG's own, BigBang.

With what might seem to be an exciting trip for The Toxins, turns out to be a challenge due to the environment they have to adapt to. And things get worse when Samantha and BigBang's leader, G-Dragon, have unsettling differences between them which creates havoc among their band mates.
 
But when trouble comes knocking on their door, it's up to the two groups to team up and set everything right. But will Samantha and G-Dragon settle their differences and help out?

I awaken from the recollections of my youth when the sun is low and paints the sky red. I feel calm yet saddened. It is strange that all the memories that came to me have these two qualities. They are often calm, that is predominant in them; and if they are not, they become so. They are soundless apparitions that speak to me, with looks and gestures, without a word. 

The merchant has moved his counter to a charming piazza where a fair is taking place. The stalls around me trade in high-value goods, fresh produce and necessities. Although the fair's primary purpose is trade, it includes some elements of entertainment, such as dance, music and tournaments. The hour is late, yet still, the music and activities have not stilled. It is truly a cheerful scene. Citizens strutting and beaming, making their way through the crowd of porters, carriers and hawkers, sellers of sausages and pastries, vendors of hats and ribbons. Horses and carriages clatter past the stals.

Then a hand closes around me, a finger rakes my crumbled edge. Soft hands, long fingers, and dark eyes survey my golden skin.

"Very nice, my lady, you have good taste," the merchant says.

"This? It's painted..." 

"Don't let that deceive you, ma'am! It is truly one of a kind, it shall protect you throughout life!"

The woman raises an elegant eyebrow. A slight smirk tugs at her lips and she turns her head, looking back at the guards accompanying her, "do I look like I need protection?"

The merchant coughs and rearranges his tunic, stepping over on a new tactic. "It will ensure sons! You and your husband will soon be blessed with a child!"

"Bold of you to assume I'm married."

"I..."

"So you claim this piece is a fertiliser? Should I take it with me to bed then? Maybe put it between my legs?"

Even the merchant - who I expect to be used to such coarse implications - seems visibly shocked by the comment, while the guards further down are laughing wholeheartedly. They appear to be enjoying themselves without any indiscretions, suggesting that this must be a regular occurrence for them.

"It brings luck!" The merchant tries once more, "and it has an interesting background. I won it in a game of dice but before that-"

"So let me get this clear, the one who was supposed to be extra lucky thanks to this thing, lost the game?"

"-it was part of a great Egyptian treasure!"

"No it wasn't," she says.

"No. It wasn't," he says.

"How much?"

"For such a rarity? About-"

The woman crosses her arms and regards him viciously.

"A few coppers," the merchant says, rather disheartened.

Hence my merchant sells me to Christine of Lorainne, travelling towards Florence in order to marry. 

I am pleasantly surprised by my new companion, she can call herself a woman with the wit of a fox. I enjoy her company more than I ever did with Basir the romantic, the hopeful believers from the heathen temple, my band of soldiers, or the merchant. At the age of twenty-four, she is quite old to be without a husband, yet I assume I can only blame that on the woman' habit to gull the men courting her and her displeasure of being married off. 

She's a fierce woman, I can see how that might have discouraged earlier suitors. 

Her husband-to-be, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, surely never heard rumour of her defiant nature. Seeking a marriage that would preserve his political independence, Ferdinando has chosen the favourite granddaughter of Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France. I listen intently, as this is the first occasion I have had to truly deepen my knowledge of politics and power in this incomprehensible century.

"They seek to re-align the Medici with France, instead of Spain," the princess of Lorainne thinks aloud, staring out of the window of her coach, bored out of her mind.

'A wise move,' I say as the scenery changes from fields, to hills, to the gate of San Niccolò.

Florence, what can I tell you about this city, I wonder? It is nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, prospering through extensive trade with foreign countries. This, in turn, provides a platform for the demographic growth of the city, which is mirrored trough the rate of construction of churches and palazzi. Though the prosperity was shattered when my grandfather invaded the Italian peninsula. As a result, the margraves of Tuscany re-acquired Florence and its townlands. 

Upon the death of my father, they re-asserted their independence. What was I to do about it? I had been a one-year-old infant the day my father left the world. 

Damned Guelphs.

The city did flourish, I realise as I travel through the streets as part of the entourage of Christina, though despite all of the incentives for economic growth and prosperity, the population of Florence seems far smaller in comparison to cities as Rome, Venice, Naples or my dear Palermo.

Christina is unambiguous to this whole ordeal - though we share a moment of astonishment when we pass the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore - and her displeasure of being married off doesn't falter. 

Arriving at the Palazzo Pitti, a month-long sequence of public and courtly pageantry begins with Christina's triumphal entry into the palace. Followed by a series of banquets; performances in the Medici theatre in the Uffizi; an allegorical-chivalric parade, a tournament, and a mock naval battle at the Pitti Palace; a football game, animal baiting, and street masquerades. 

I see Christine bite through the festivities as the conscientious woman she is, but her rebellious side wins it over duty awareness on her wedding night. 

I am laying in between her novelties and ornaments on her dressing table, while she sits before the adorned mirror. As far as I am concerned, I immediately feel at ease in the court halls full of mirrors and fountains. A handmaiden lets Christine' blond tresses loose from the tightly woven braid while making small comments of congratulations on her wedding to the duke. Christine arches her head away from the fiddling hand of the maid and ushers her to leave as the second maid finishes making the bed, and excuses herself. 

I see her stroke her sharp cheeks, sighing as if she were in a melodramatic play. We wait for the Grand Duke of Tuscany to arrive, together, and in silence.

Once the parades himself through the door, inebriated and stinking, a rather curious display is put in motion. The scene before me is to be called pathetic if it wasn't so comical. In the sense that it is far from the amorous endeavours one might expect of a wedded couple; a middle-aged man whining in front of his newly wedded wife. She remains apathetic to his pleas as she beckons him to leave her. The intoxicated man can do nothing but mumble.

Marriage, you curious thing. 

How you pained me in the past, yet how playful and jocose you now appear to me. It almost seems so childish. But I mustn't forget; you are like children. Enamoured with heroism and fantasising about the love of which they only heard from in poetry and novels. So, tell me of your love stories and marriages. Tell me of your angels and deities and ghost stories. How endearing they are. I may observe and remain apathetic but I shall listen. 

It's what I do these years.

‘I’m but a tree, hence I cannot help you. My own roots are stuck in the belly of Mother Earth, hence I cannot reach you. No eyes adorn my bark, hence I cannot cry for you.’ 

In the year 1500, a tree tormented by his own memory and prejudices, encounters various figures. 

This story may not be suitable for some readers as it contains elements that may be uncomfortable. 'Amidst the Sand' deals with themes such as mental abuse, trauma, assault, foul language, and possibly ideological sensitive material. 

Please exercise discretion when engaging with this story and seek out support if you require it.

Writing contest #62: reincarnated as a tree.

A nightmare sequence is about to follow.

Back in first grade, our prestigious school held a camping trip at Camp Laging Handa. Everything went well at first, until the night I bumped into those bullies again.

"Hey, it's our favorite punching bag!" greeted one of the bullies. "Would you like to join us?"

"First of all, why do you always taunt, harass, and humiliate me?" I screamed as they began surrounding me. "Do you bear a grudge? You better explain because I'm sick and tired of getting beat up."

They fell silent for a moment. Shortly afterwards, someone decided to speak on the bullies' behalf.

"As far as my group is concerned, we don't have a personal grudge against you. But honestly, you're ugly, fat and pathetic," he arrogantly announced. "Just look at you. Is this what a girl should look like? And not only that, beautiful girls are not nearsighted and require some eyeglasses to see good. You're not one of them."

One of the bullies' cohorts also mocked my excessive weight. 

"How many pounds have you gained since birth? 100? So disgusting."

Upon hearing those negative words, I angrily shoved one of the bullies, then shouted at the top of my voice.

"Fat? Disgusting? Pathetic? Don't you dare call me either of them. I may be nearsighted but I still feel pretty deep inside. I was born this way and I'm proud of that. Also there are other helpless girls who are just as near-sighted, fat, pathetic or ugly so why are you only after me?"

"My bullies and I absolutely enjoy the thrill of it," they shouted. "Who cares about the other girls? All we want is only you, nothing else!!"

"If I were you, ignore me or else I'll call the principal!!" my warning to those annoying bullies.

But the bullies merely shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"We're not scared of the principal or the teacher at all," uttered another of the bullies."We all love to torment you regardless because that's what bullies do."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take her," directed one of the bullies.

My face shriveled in fear, I hurriedly ran away, only to be tackled on the brittle grass. As the bullies surrounded and taunted me, I desperately screamed for help from classmates and teachers, but they were too far to hear.

By the time the harrowing ordeal ended, I suffered a black eye, endured some bruises on my face and had dirt littered all over my shirt. To make matters worse, the precious glasses I wore were destroyed by the bullies. So for the rest of camp, I was forced to live without the help of my spectacles. 

Suddenly, I woke up from nightmare sequence and continued to call for help. Charissa heard those screams and immediately rushed to my aid. 

"Christine, what is the matter?" Charissa asked anxiously as she held her palms on my cheeks. "Why were you screaming so loud?"

"Mom, I experienced a terrible dream. Someone assaulted me again and left my worn-out body for dead," I cried just as Charissa started to cradle my head on her chest. 

"Christine, don't worry about it," Charissa advised me. "It is just a nightmare. Now go to sleep and forget about it."

Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. By sunrise, my eyes were bloodshot red and my face looked miserable. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and began to open the blog.

But 50 words in, my sore head suddenly banged into the keyboards and fell unconscious. Perhaps it was not a brilliant idea to write without any rest.

I still felt a little groggy upon waking up a few hours later. Good thing Charissa still had some cereal and fresh milk in the kitchen for breakfast. After some coffee and a bath, I continued writing my blog.

300 words later, my third entry was now complete. Somehow I still remembered most of the tragic events that took place on camp that night. At this point Michelle decided to message me on Facebook.

The following is a series of conversations between Michelle and me.

Michelle: "Christine, how are you? You are writing a new article?"

Christine: "Yes buddy. In fact I just published it. Check it out."

After reading diligently my most recent entry, Michelle continued our online conversation.

Michelle: "What can I say? It's extremely poignant and tragic at the same time. It's similar to the second one but only worse because in spite your best efforts to fight back they still found a way to disrespect you."

Christine: (types five loudly crying emoji)

Michelle: "Christine, what's wrong?"

Christine: "I wish your soul could've supported me. But why were you so far away when I dearly needed you most?"

Michelle: "I'm sorry Christine. We were on separate groups that night so I couldn't assist you from afar. But there was a conversation that I had with one of your groupmates who said he was able to carry you to the campsite and showed your bruises to the teacher."

Christine: "Sorry if I couldn't remember that horrific event because of my concussion. And I am sorry I forgot the name of the student who helped me walk towards camp. What I knew was that those bullies were kicked out after the trip for physical abuse. I was glad justice was served."

Michelle: "Well, I can set up a meeting with one of your groupmates. Are you willing to go with me?"

Christine: "Why not. It was long overdue."

Michelle: "Then I'll see you in a few days. I know you experienced an absolutely terrible day yesterday so try to get a  peaceful sleep tonight."

Christine: "Thanks buddy. See you later."

Later that night I finally got a pleasant night's sleep. There were no further nightmares tonight, at least for now.

Christine, a 22-year-old college student, decides to open a blog and write a story about her tormented past.

As a young child, Christine was constantly abused and mocked by her classmates for her nearsightedness and portly complexion. To make matters worse, she was left to live with her aunt after her mother was assigned to work overseas and her father became too preoccupied in his work as a doctor.

This story is about a young woman's pursuit towards positivity and joy amid these turbulent times. For Christine, all she wants now is to face her fears and overcome them one by one.

dark series by christine feehan novel

Under The Dark [Filipino]

CHRISTINE

Records of the Weakest Emperor

Reborn Mechanic Lords

Trapped On A Death World

One True Love

Ascension: Legend of the Blue Deity

Stuck In A K-Pop World: Hitting With A Big Bang

Amidst the sand

Scars of My Past

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