Pada tahun 20XX, sebuah perusaha'an game terbesar berhasil membuat sebuah terobosan baru. Game yang selalu dinantikan oleh para gamers di seluruh dunia, yaitu Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online, atau biasa di sebut dengan VRMMO, akhirnya tercipta.
Free World Online, adalah game VRMMO pertama yang bertemakan dunia yang bebas tanpa hukum.

This Is My First Comic Distribution So I Hope You Guys Enjoy...And Feel Free to Tell Me If Something Is Wrong...The Cover Is Coming Soon

With the cash and watch in tow, the group drove off in their car.
Li Du kept the watch in little bug's black hole. He had the real deal, why would he wear
a fake? He could not bear to dump the imitation watch, but could not derive any
happiness from keeping it either.
They stayed another night in a hotel and the next day, they started their journey back to
Phoenix.　　
Amengda Mountain in South Africa had been purchased successfully, and Li Du was
free to go over to develop the area any time he wished.
However, Li Du wanted to let Carl arrange for the diamond inspection team to conduct
their checks first. He was not in a hurry to begin the development and was keener to get
an evaluation of Amengda first.
For now, he wanted to go and resolve the bet he had made at Harry Winston, Inc. He
had to obtain Carlston Fritz's shares!
Sophie had returned to the villa first, and the five little ones had set up their own base in
the spacious backyard. Each of them drew out their territory.
Little Flathead, Ah Meng, had the largest territory. The four little ones were unwilling to
provoke Ah Meng. The hounds were clever enough to notice the wariness of their four
bosses, and were even more cautious around the new family member.
The truck entered the villa's grounds, where Big Quinn's wife, Rosalind, was waiting for
him with their three children. Seeing their father, the children climbed onto Big Quinn
and hung onto him like monkeys.
It was a heart-warming moment: Godzilla brought his gifts over to Victoria, Brother Wolf
went to see his recovering daughter and Lu Guan was reunited with his Golden
Retriever.
Hans wanted to take the opportunity to leave as well, and said, "I miss my sister very
much. I want to visit her."
"No, the two of us have to organize these books," Li Du said firmly.
Hans instantly lost his enthusiasm and said lifelessly, "We have to do all that work?"
Li Du said, "What if there are valuables in this pile of books? We have to look carefully."
Big Ivan took the initiative to bring down the books from the car. Hearing Li Du's words,
he took out a comic book that had been preserved in pristine condition. He passed it
over to them and said, "That's right. Look, this book seems like it could be valuable."
With a smile, Hans took the book from Big Ivan. His eyes widened.
Hans held the book in one hand and his phone in another. Then, seeing that his mobile
connection was too slow, Hans yelled at Lu Guan, "Let go of your stupid dog and bring
me my laptop! Hurry!"
Li Du stepped over, took a look at the book and said, "Aren't you being too dramatic?"
The comic book looked like it had been around for some time. The red cover page had
turned dull. On the front cover, Spiderman carried a little boy and was about to swing off
a skyscraper. There were shadows of cars on the streets below him.
The top right corner of the comic book carried the numbers '1962', and the bottom left
corner was labelled '12 cents'. The word Marvel was neatly printed above Spiderman. It
was a Marvel book.
Hans said, "Dramatic? I am beside myself. This seems to be the first Spiderman comic
book from 1962. If it really is, this is very valuable."
"More than ten million dollars?" Li Du asked expectantly.
Hans rolled his eyes, "How can that be? But it might fetch a few hundred thousand or a
few million."
Once he laid his hands on his laptop, Hans quickly made an internet search. Then, a
piece of news flashed on his screen. There was a picture of their comic book on the
news website.
The headline was, 'Spiderman' Snapped Up At Paris Auction. Comics Connection Pays
1.2 Million.
The news article described the story of that comic book. At an auction in Paris last year,
that first issue of Marvel's Spiderman comic was brought out, and Comics Connection
bought it for 1.2 million. It was actually exhibited in its town hall!
After reading that piece of news, Hans carefully removed the packaging to examine the
comic book more closely.
Having read the publishing details, he could not help but pump his fist in the air. He
yelled, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! This is awesome! It's this book! One million and 200,000 !
One million and 200,000 US dollars!"
Shocked, Li Du asked, "Really? Someone would actually fork out over a million for a
comic book?"
The most expensive books that Li Du had come across were the set of National
Geographic magazines he kept. They were priced at more than ten million.
However, that was ten million for more than a thousand magazines. Besides, most of
those were the only existing copies in the world. Also, from his perspective, National
Geographic magazines represented parts of history. It belonged to the narrative of all
humankind, and was not something that comic books could compare to.
Now this comic book disrupted his understanding and knowledge of magazines and
their value. A comic book, one that was published only fifty odd years ago, could
actually be worth more than one million?
A million was not the most they could earn from the comic books, however. As they
continued to organize the stack of comic books, they found a few more that were as
precious or even more so.
One of those was the first issue of Superman. On the front cover, Superman was
wearing his iconic red cape, blue spandex top, and red pants. He was running away
from a storm, looking as cool as ever.
In the middle of the front cover were the words 'Action Comics #1'. This meant that it
was the first issue.
Hans caressed the dated comic book and said, looking punch-drunk, "This is history.
We are looking at history. Buddies, this was the start of it all, the birth of American
heroes! We are looking at a baby photo of an American hero!"
Li Du asked, "Is it very valuable? Run an online check, how much can it fetch?"
Hans said, "There are no trading records online. At most, there are only ten copies of
'Action Comics #1' in the entire world. Even DC Comics Company don't have it… oh,
they had it previously, but it was stolen!"
Li Du was optimistic, "Then it should be worth a lot, right?"
"Let's put it this way, don't talk about money, brother. This book is priceless!" Hans
exclaimed. "There are no trading records of the original copy of this comic. However,
the re-released copy was sold for 1.8 million US dollars!"
Li Du was shocked. "A re-release version can fetch such a high price? Are those comics
collectors crazy?"
Hands said, "The high price is due to the main character. Superman is iconic, it is the
first superhero in human history!"
Li Du shook his head, "At the time of the Ming dynasty, we already had a superhero
named Sun Wu Kong in China. This is the first superhero in our history."
Hans called out, "Who cares who came first? Anyway, this comic is very valuable. It is
very, very valuable!"
Li Du carefully took the book out of the wrapping paper.
There was a price indicated on the front page. The comic was published in June 1938,
and its selling price had been ten cents.
As Hans continued to call out, 'careful, careful', Li Du checked the information related to
that comic book. 　　
The first issue of Superman comics, 'Action Comics #1', was the holy grail in the comics
industry. It was said that there were fifty copies of it in the world, but there were less
than ten registered on the official records. They were sitting either in huge publishing
houses or in the hands of billionaires.
Besides, Li Du also found a hand-painted copy of the 'Fantastic Four' that had Stan
Lee's autograph on it. That comic book was also worth a lot. Comic books hand-painted
by Stan Lee were typically exhibited in the gallery of Marvel Comics. Few of them were
found in the possession of individuals.


They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies. 
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.  
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures. 
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?! 

She was Gong Li, a famous animator who would be called the Dawn of Chinese Animation in the future!
Some years later, she would launch a movement to reject making comics in a capital-run and studio-run environment. The campaign would return the copyright to the comic artists, and give aesthetics to comic lovers. The campaign was huge and won the support of comic lovers all over the world.
The movement was quite successful and influential.
The same year, countless excellent comic artists emerged in China, and the stagnant comic book industry ushered in a rebirth. That year was also called the first year of Chinese comics.
When Gong Li hung up the phone, she was still a little confused. Did Shen Xi just use reverse psychology on her?
However, even if it was reverse psychology, she was still happy.
The little beauty's art style simply ticked all the boxes. She was just too good!
After Shen Xi talked to Gong Li, she called Yuan Yu. "Brother, I found a comic artist called Gong Li. She'll report to the company tomorrow."
Then, she briefly talked to him about the requirements needed to be the largest online comic platform in China, and give comic artists a free and equal creative environment.
In the comic industry, there would be a lot on the plate once the comic started to take off. There was publishing, games, animation, film and television, and even spin-offs. The benefits were plenty of benefits.
Yuan Yu had a headache. "Are you planning to monopolize all the entertainment industries?"
Shen Xi said, "You can leave Gong Li to her own devices. Let her do whatever she wants, and give her anything she wants too. You don't have to worry about anything else."
Yuan Yu. "You just met her. Why do you trust her so much?"
Shen Xi smiled. "If you use a person, don't suspect them."
Yuan Yu treated her as a treasure. With his position as a major shareholder, he listened to her. What else could he do? "Okay, I'll take care of it. You can rest assured!"
"Brother, do you remember that I told you about this person called Yu Yuanxi in my school? I might bring him to the company in the near future. It's for that movie that I mentioned before."
"Don't rush. The audition for the film's lead role is next month!"
"Thank you."
"I'm your brother. Stop being so courteous with me."
Shen Xi hung up the phone, got off the bus, and returned home. The first thing she did was run and climb the wall.
A thick layer of snow had fallen in the big boss's yard. The plum blossoms were already about to bloom, and the smell had gotten stronger.
The door to the living room was closed and the gate was locked.
He was not at home.
Shen Xi ran down and put down her schoolbag, and began to roll snowballs in the yard.
The snow had not stopped and continued to fall all afternoon, but it did not reach her calf. She soon rolled a big, round snowball.
There were no professional snow carving tools at home, so she took her art knives and scrapers.
Even without looking at the drawing, she just had to close her eyes to see what he looked like in front of her.
Shen Xi's hands were deft and dexterous like the hands of God, flying and carving. In less than an hour, the work was completed.
The 'Li Yuan' in front of her did not have the cold and icy appearance of the past. Even if he smiled, it was fleeting and hard to capture.
The man's features were delicate and three-dimensional. When he smiled, it was devastatingly attractive, and whoever saw it was bound to feel happy.
Shen Xi squatted in front of 'him', holding her chin to admire her masterpiece and smiling like a little fool. No one knew what went in her mind, but her small hand patted 'his' head as she mumbled to herself, "See, I told you that you look much better when you smile."


In her past life, Shen Xi always longed for love and validation from her parents, members of the wealthy Su family. Unfortunately, the attention that she yearned for was stolen by the family’s fake heiress – her elder sister, Su Ruowan. 
As a result of Su Ruowan’s evil plans, Shen Xi was crippled, disfigured and eventually died of leukemia. However, in a surprising turn of events, Shen Xi was reborn. Returned to the time when she was a seventeen-year-old teenager, she’ll set things right and get her revenge against the Su family. 


　　When the popularity votes for Rurouni Kenshin Remembrance were counted this week, the cuttlefish, and even the entire Los Angeles comics industry, had no idea how to evaluate this work.
　　Although the news that Shui Xin is a male teenager hasn't fully spread, basically, people in the comics industry in Los Angeles have relatively well-informed news.
　　Newcomers, cartoonists, high school students... these elements are very eye-catching.
　　When everyone has recognized that the pen name Shui Xin, the boy whose real name is Chu Yu, is a rare genius in the comics industry in Los Angeles for decades.
　　Shui Xin once again taught the comic industry in Los Angeles a lesson.
　　The number of votes with more than 60,000 votes is not only a record of the number of popular votes for cuttlefish, but also a peak in the entire province of Los Angeles.
　　In the entire Los Angeles comics industry, faintly, more and more people have already used the title of Los Angeles's number one cartoonist to refer to Shui Xin...
　　...
　　This weekend, the entire Dragon Kingdom is immersed in joy. After all, the New Year's Eve is Sunday.
　　Compared with the lively city on Saturday, Mingcheng on Sunday is a bit deserted and lonely.
　　Basically everyone stays behind closed doors and stays at home with their families.
　　Even though he was only at home alone, Chu Yu still made a table of New Year's Eve dinner by himself, and after incense was given to his parents, Chu Yu was also quite content by himself.
　　On Weixin, Zhao Qinyin and Su Lu both sent him blessings.
　　The Cuttlefish New Year greeting messages were also sent, and even some comic writers who exchanged their mobile phone numbers at the Cuttlefish Annual Meeting also sent blessing messages.
　　It's almost as if I have really become a member of society.
　　Compared with the status of Chu Yu as a high school student, the current career of a cartoonist has undoubtedly a greater impact on his life.
　　At Zhao Qinyin's home, she and her grandma had a New Year's Eve dinner together and then turned on the TV, and watched the Spring Festival Gala with her grandma.
　　Although I feel that this show is getting boring year by year, and I haven't even drawn the comic manuscript in Chu Yu's house, but Zhao Qinyin still smiled, echoing her grandma all night and chatting with her.
　　...
　　It is different from Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin, a lonely and widowed person who lives with his grandmother. It is in Wangxian, another county more than 100 kilometers away from Mingcheng.
　　Su Lu and his family gathered together.
　　Her parents, uncle, second uncle, third aunt... all the way to the seventh uncle, and the aunts, their children, daughter-in-laws, son-in-laws, her nephews and nieces, and even grand nieces and nieces There were about forty people, with Su Lu's grandfather as the center, and a total of almost five people at the table were seated.
　　"Xiao Lu, it's another one to come back to celebrate the New Year this year!"
　　"What about boyfriend?" Su Lu's grandfather asked first.
　　"Where is her boyfriend! I said last year that I would bring it home this year. Look like this..."
　　"It's not that I said you, Xiao Lu. Three months ago, I called you to go home for a blind date at the Sun's house. The conditions in the house are good. After seeing your photo, they can't forget... How about you? I just don't want to come back. I think it's just in time for the Chinese New Year. I will ask someone out the day after tomorrow, and you will meet up... If it's done, you don't have to run to Mingcheng to be a comic editor in the future. They are all so old, and they are still inseparable from those little kids..."
　　it has started.
　　Su Lu's previously relaxed expression suddenly collapsed.
　　It's like this every year, can't you stop a little bit?
　　...
　　This year, everyone has their own feelings. At twelve o'clock in the evening, a new day and a new year have also arrived.
　　The Dragon Star Award selection official website was created by the Magic Capital Seven University to select the Dragon Star Award.
　　Quietly, one hundred and sixty-seven comics were put on the shelves.
　　On this New Year's Eve, even Chu Yu, Su Lu, and Zhao Qinyin were almost asleep at this time.
　　After all, the Dragon Star Awards, which lasted for a full six weeks, really don't have to watch the website if you really want to pay attention.
　　But there are always exceptions, just like most people like to watch the Spring Festival Gala with the whole family during the New Year, but there are also many people who like to stay alone in the room and play games.
　　For fans of the Dragon Kingdom, this evening, compared with the New Year, the start of the Dragon Star Award selection also made them excited.
　　The selection of such an award is not only a grand gathering for cartoonists, but also a grand gathering for their fans.
　　In the eyes of many comic fans, it has been "9012" and the Internet has become so popular, but the comics industry does not seem to be connected to the Internet.
　　Each province has its own comic company and its own sales channels.
　　Fans from neighboring provinces don't understand each other's popular comics. It's just too normal.
　　Logically speaking, under such circumstances, online publishing should be a channel for a comic company to expand the influence of its excellent comics.
　　However, the imagination is full and the reality is very skinny. The comic companies that try this way often not only fail to attract the attention of other provinces, but because of the online publication of the periodical buyers in their own provinces, they do not buy physical periodicals. Now, I went to watch the serialization on the Internet, which caused a huge decline in the sales of comic magazines, and the revenue of the comic agency plummeted.
　　With the failure of predecessors in the first place, the comic companies that followed were tacitly focused only on physical journals.
　　This has also led to the current situation in the Dragon Kingdom comics world.
　　It is also because of this that the comic recommendation section of Xinman.com has a certain popularity. Although the netizens above do not all want to read pirated posts on it, but you comic clubs have no promise in letting the original works be distributed to other provinces, so you can't blame people. Go to the Internet to see piracy at home.
　　Although those works are often sealed and posted when they look at it...
　　For the selection of the Dragon Star Award, UU Reading www.uukanshu. Com just satisfies the need of Dragon Manga fans who want to know what other province comics are like.
　　They are genuine, and they are basically the first-name comics of various provinces. The viewing experience is undoubtedly much better than the pirated posts of Xinman.com, and you can also complain and leave comments in the real-time comic reading on the website.
　　So every year, when the Dragon Star Award starts to be selected, the traffic on the official website of the selection will reach a terrifying value during the Chinese New Year.
　　....
　　At two o'clock in the morning, the Dragon Star Awards official website updated these comics two hours later.
　　One point into the Dragon Star Awards official website, Li Xing saw the ranking of that comic.
　　The ranking list of participating comics for the Dragon Star Award is calculated based on the number of paid readers of this comic.
　　The number one work is the popular masterpiece of Qin Province, Blazing Feather, which has only been logged into this website for two hours.
　　In the work information, after reading the first three free comics, the number of people who top-up and paid to read the subsequent comic chapters has exceeded 90,000. Even every time the interface is refreshed, Li Xing will find that the number of people paying for the work has increased rapidly.
　　The second-ranked work is still a popular comic book in Qin Province, Soul of War, and the number of paying people has just exceeded 80,000.
　　The third-ranked work is still a popular work of Qin Province, my teacher's secret, and more than 60,000 paid readers.
　　From the fourth to the seventh, they are all well-known cartoons in Qin Province.
　　Only the eighth-ranked work is the work of Jiangsu Province, Xia Zhimeng.
　　Although it is only a temporary situation, isn't Qin Sheng's work that actually ranks eighth?
　　Li Xing's eyes condensed, and he wrote down the name of this work. He will definitely come back to read this comic by then.

another work published by me {My Cartoonist Guide}

　Chu Yu, a senior two-dimensional fan, a dead house in the eyes of others, and a cheating comic book author in the eyes of readers!
On that day, he obtained the system that carries many excellent comic works on the parallel world earth... and
began his life as a comic artist who considered himself a legend, but was actually a silly comic artist!
Reader A, "Teacher, please, please finish drawing the full-time hunter first and then open a new hole? It's been three years, and three years later, three years have been opened for ten years. You want me Will my son burn me the full-time hunter's final chapter?"
Reader B, "Old thief Chuyu, you know what a fart cl. If you don't resurrect Furukawa, I will send you the blade tomorrow!"
Reader C, "Hehe, Xiangbei is down !" It's over in the top eight in the country? Chu Yu Lao Kengbi, do you want to pass by saying "the dream of youth is imperfect"? I swear, I will die for your works in the future, outside of death, from my house If I jump down, I won’t look at it again!"


if you would like to make a donation-----PayPal: lopesplayer2@gmail.com

Emma is a very smart, yet shy little girl. Although she has the freedom most kids dream of, she chooses to mostly stay inside. After her household chores, she enjoys watching all types of shows and movies, but most of all, anime. The characters and storylines are different than regular cartoons. Growing older she continued to grow her love for anime and even began learning Japanese as well as Spanish and French. The other two languages were just because they caught her attention and she had plenty of time to learn them.
Seeing how responsible and mature their daughter is, despite being just a young child they began to give her an allowance twice a month, showing her how to manage a budget. On Emma's  10th birthday, they decided to give her a laptop. Emma was super excited! She now not only didn't have to go to the library so often to check out linguistic books, but she could also look into Cosplaying. Her friends have told her about people of all ages dressing up as their favorite anime or cartoon character and going to different events such as comic cons. Now she had the opportunity to check them out herself while in the comfort of her own home.
Constantly online, downloading, uploading, watching, learning, Emma soaked in every bit of information she could regarding cosplaying and comic con events. She even found out about comic cons that are open to the public in her own town. When she came across her town name in the list of places that hold comic cons, she was in a daze. Thinking back on it her friends did try to bring her to one a while ago, but of course, she refused just like every other time to hang out. Honestly, it is amazing how Nancy and Brittany were able to befriend her and keep their friendship going.
Thinking of her only friends and how they have talked about going to these cosplaying events, as well as seeing videos where people dress as the opposite sex, was slowly stirring something inside of her. Soon after those thoughts, she began spending countless hours searching the best places to purchase cosplaying items, how to do make-up, and even…..even came across a few videos in regards to how to use a chest bind. Her friends were surprised but super excited that their introverted friend finally agreed to hang out with them outside of school. Nancy and Brittany would often be at Emma's house, mostly on weekends, searching and planning what to wear to the comic con events and which events to go to.
Despite her parents constantly working away from home, they still took time out to call her frequently and visit every few months. As Emma grew older her parents still called frequently, but visited less, at least once a year, allowing her more free time for cosplay. Being used to taking care of the house and herself at a young age, she had plenty of time for her studies as well as her hobbies. 
************************
By the time Emma and her friends began high school, they had been to multiple comic con events. Due to budgeting her allowance money and practicing with her friends, Emma was not only able to purchase high-end costumes and wigs but was able to learn how to act. When she put on her characters' costumes, she would become that character, leaving the shy introvert she is in the shadows of her characters. Even being fluent in different languages helped her since she was able to change her voice or accent when she spoke to match her character. Brittnay and Nancy were amazed though at how different Emma became when she put on her outfits. Each and every character she played came to life.
She had gotten down the tricks of the trade and became the belle of the ball or should I say prince in shining armor as she mostly took on male characters and nailed her character each time. She didn't mind dressing as a female character, but most times female characters' costumes would come with so much extra that needed to be done or nothing at all since the costume would be showing off the whole body, minus the private areas, barely. Plus not only being easier to manage, but dressing as a male would lessen the chance of someone recognizing her, so she thought.

A short romance story.      :-)

***Note from the Author:
Updated "Fox" & added "Fox2" hope Fox2 is worth it for those left in suspense from Fox.  :-)

Vanessa's pov

"Come on kova. Hurry up" I screamed on top of my lungs for the third time but still Kova didn't come down.

"Seriously Nessa, you scream a lot dude" Kova shouted while coming down.

"Not her mistake, it's you who are late," Gracia Kova's mom spoke. I gave her a high five which she returns.

"Haha, my mom is in your team woowow," Kova said in a mocking tone.

kova stepped towards the door grabbing his backpack and jacket opening the Front door. "Now my lady if you give allow. Can we move ahead?".

"Oh hoo yes my lord," I said while chuckling and bidding goodbye to Kova's mom. Me and kova just left his house. Now walking down the streets.

"Where are we going ness?" kova asked.

"To charlie's," I said. To which he gave me an 'are-you-kidding-me' look which I totally ignored.

.....

Me and kova stood in front of a store that says, 'comic-non' which owned by our great handsome friend that is in his twenty with jet black hair, blue Ocean eyes that girl get whoosh for with a great build body Charlie Gomez. We walked inside like we owned the store. It wasn't that rush here as it was still 11 in the morning. Then I saw charlie who was placing the comic on the shelves.

"Good morning chars " I greeted cheerfully and stepped towards him with open arms.

"GET out Vanessa," Charlie said without looking at me and still putting the comic on the shelves.

"What?" was all I asked, "are you talking to me chars?"

Charlie turned around and gave me a look that says 'its-you-im-talking-to', and started to walk towards the counter totally ignoring me and leaving me a shock. I recovered from the shock and walked behind charlie.

"Charl-"

"Vanessa hi" I was about to call charlie but rather someone called me. When I looked behind I saw a girl. A grin formed on my face. THERE GOES MY PLAN. 

"Marie heyyy " I marched towards the girl that has dirty blonde hair with hazel green eyes, the same age as me, with a little height. Marie was wearing a blueprint KILLUA t-shirt that was a character of hunter x hunter with the sleeves cut off that was tuck in with light blue jeans and black and white sneakers. That was my friend Marie Markin. I walked towards her and we embraced each other in a hug.

"Hey, WOW nice t-shirt MAR. you need to tell me where you got that from?" I asked her

"From online, but hey what are you doing here Nessa?" Maria asked.

"Actually I'm here to meet my friend who owned this store. What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Just comic too. This store is really good" she replied.

"Oh, tell this to charlie he will love to hear bout it, come let me introduce you to them". I hold her hand and pulled her towards where kova and charlie was.

"Marie meet my best friend kova and this is my friend charlie the owner of this store and guys this is Marie my friend" I introduced them to each other. I could see charlie was looking at Marie with dreamy eyes. OHH YEAH, MY PLANS GOING TO WORK.

"Kova Wilson nice to meet you" kova intro himself with a handshake to which Marie smile in return.

"Charlie Gomez, nice to meet you" Now it was charlie who introduces himself while bringing out a hand for a handshake with a shy smile. Me and kova walked a little back to let them talk to each other and see where the conversation goes.

"Hi, Marie Markin nice to meet you too," Marie said while shaking hands with a shy smile.

"I hope you like the at-this comic store," charlie asked with an awkward tone.

"Yeah it's pretty good" Marie replied with an awkward tone too. OH GOD, I CAN'T TAKE IT. 

"Do you think it will work?" kova who stood beside me murmured.

"It has too" I murmured back. OKAY NESSA DO SOMETHING.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them that I can't take any more. So Me and kova walked where were we stood before, "So Marie I was wondering, ug-h i mean, ugh are you somehow free tomorrow? " I asked Marie to which she gave me a confused look but responded in a yes.

"Yes, I'm but why? Marie asked but I didn't reply and looked at charlie.

"Charlie, are you free tomorrow?" I asked the same to charlie to which he just nodded while giving me a questioning look.

"Then if you both are free, why don't you go on a date tomorrow? rather than staring at each other everyday" I said while three of them were staring at me with big eyes. HA YOU BOTH NEED A DATE.

"What?" Marie and Charlie asked at the same time with a shocked tone.

"Oh come on stop pretending like you don't follow each other on every social media. Like each other post and even pass some flirty comments on each other's post ALL THE TIME"

"Wait wha- how?" Charlie was confused by now, but I wasn't backing off.

"Shhhhh Charlie, shut up," I said to him while putting my fingers on his lips and looked at Maria.

"Do you have any problems going out with Charlie tomorrow?" I asked Maria who had a light blush on her cheeks.

"Ah-like i- no-no, i- I would like too" Maria replied with smiling bashfully.

"Okay, so tomorrow in the evening at 6 he will pick you up," I said to which she nodded and left quickly. Then I realized my fingers were on Charlie's lips.

"Eww" I groaned while wiping the Saliva on his shirt. Charlie was stick struck.

"Charlie" Kova called him up while rocking him to which he looked at us.

"sooooo" I said

"Thank YOUUUU Nessa, oh my god-" Charlie was dancing joyfully, "like how- like what-?"

"Okay calm down Charlie, you have a date with Marie tomorrow in the evening at 6 pm. You are picking her up, so you're welcome," I said while looking at my nails.

"Oh, Nessa my-" Charlie was about to say something but I cut him off.

"Wait, don't thank me you know what I need," I Said and winked towards him.

"no"

"yes"

"Ahh, Nessa last time I gave you my car you almost broke the door, and don't forget about the nameplate" Charlie groaned.

"I won't this time please. I WILL return it the way you will give me or even better," I Said and begged him.

"Yeah, even better that means this time I won't even get the nameplate?" Charlie commented sarcastically.

"Heyyy rude okay, now gimme the keys, " I said while bringing my hand out.

Charlie was thinking hard about handing me the keys or not. But then he groaned and grabs out the keys from his pocket, placing it in my hand, "be careful this time Nessa, something happened next time you won't be allowed to enter in this store" to which I agreed.

"Yeahhhhhh," I said excitedly and hugged him, "thanks chars I won't hurt your car" and walked out of the store while spinning the car keys.

"I want my car here by 6 in the evening understand" Charlie low scream came from back as we opened the car door to settle in.

"Okayyyyy" I yelled back.

"Damnnnn it worked, Nessa" Kova said in a surprised tone, but at that moment my phone rang and when I saw the caller ID a grin played on my face.

"Hello mar, congratulation on your date," I said while laughing.

"Thank you soo much Nessa at last I'm going on a date with him. your plan did work," Maria said while chucking.

"Of course it was my plan, it has to work," I said and hanged up the call while driving the car out of the parking.

"Now let's goo" Me and Kova yelled while bringing the car on the road.
...

hello there

another chapter of 18 to 80...still a very long way to go....I hope you like the 2 chapters.

IP was flourishing in the entertainment industry now. Now that national comics had become popular, the entertainment companies had turned their focus to comics.
For instance, Qin Xiuchen participated in the casting call of The Realm of Gods.
Yiyi Zining was currently very popular on the Internet. As one of the screenwriters, she took the initiative to contact Qin Xiuchen's company. This was why Qin Xiuchen's company supported Yiyi Zining's new release.
This wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but Yiyi Zining obviously had a team behind her.
The team made Film Emperor Qin's support into a hot topic and bought views so it would appear on the hot searches.
Today, Yiyi Zining's new comic was on sale and the topic "Film Emperor Qin's support" was a hot topic again. It was the 6th most popular search topic, just below "Yiyi Zining's new comic."
Managers were already used to this kind of hype in the entertainment industry. It wasn't the first time Qin Xiuchen had been used to increase something or someone's popularity.
However, this time was different. Thinking about Cheng Mu's phone call, the manager almost wanted to cry.
"What's going on?" Qin Xiuchen sat up and asked someone to remove his makeup.
He glanced at his manager in the mirror.
The manager told him about what happened.
After hearing what happened, Qin Xiuchen didn't say anything. He only raised his hand and asked the makeup artist to stop. He took out his phone and downloaded the Pinnacle Studios app as per his manager's words.
As soon as he entered, he saw Magic Lamp's advertisement.
He clicked on it and looked directly at his phone.
The manager was paying attention to Qin Xiuchen's expression. Qin Xiuchen was a little dumbfounded at the end of the comic.
"Xiuchen?" The manager couldn't help but pause when he saw his expression.
Qin Xiuchen seemed to take a deep breath.
The manager saw his fingertips pause in WeChat for a few seconds before heading to Weibo in determination.
The two hot searches were still in Yiyi Zining's favor.
He directly searched for Magic Lamp, and what he found was Pinnacle Studios's Weibo. The discussion below had changed because someone commented that Magic Lamp couldn't be compared to Yiyi Zining.
[Magic Lamp's popularity is but a fraction of Yiyi Zining's.]
[They can only hope to fail. Any top certifications and promotions are useless. They will continue to remain below us.]
[This is the first time I've seen a promoted post not even get 100 comments!]
…
Qin Xiuchen scrolled down and refreshed Weibo. He immediately saw a new post by Yiyi Zining.
[Film Emperor Qin is a respected actor, and he always takes care of his own people. Thank you.]
Why didn't Qin Xiuchen realize that Yiyi Zining was the one creating the momentum?
"I honestly had a good impression of Yiyi Zining before, but the way she's trying to bring your niece down by using the power of your fans… You know that your fans are more aggressive than ordinary celebrities." The manager glanced at him and couldn't help but shake his head.
Qin Xiuchen raised his head and smiled sarcastically. "We can only solve this problem ourselves."
He closed Weibo and said faintly, "Do you know what to do?"
The manager hurriedly nodded.
No one was more professional at controlling public opinion than Film Emperor Qin's company.
…
Pinnacle Studios.
Yiyi Zining didn't relent. On Weibo, Magic Lamp's new publication was overshadowed by Yiyi Zining's popularity, and even Editor Shen felt that something was wrong.
"Yiyi Zining's big fan has given her a gift of 100,000 yuan for her new comic" was now a trending topic. After seeing the trends on Weibo, Assistant Cao came downstairs to look for Editor Shen. "Do you think that Magic Lamp has a dedicated fan like that?"
She refreshed her homepage and saw the news.
The Supreme level Cruise Ship was the most expensive gift on the platform. It cost 10,000 yuan.
Now, her notifications were filled with news on Celestial Wolf.
[Mu Chenglin gave Celestial Wolf a Supreme level Cruise Ship. Quickly come and take a look!]
[Mo gave Celestial Wolf a Supreme level Cruise Ship. Quickly come and take a look!]
[My niece's braindead fan gave Celestial Wolf a Supreme level Cruise Ship. Quickly come and take a look!]
[Swordsman Xiuchen gave Celestial Wolf ten Supreme level Cruise Ships. Quickly come and take a look!]
Just as Assistant Cao finished looking at them, her notifications were updated again.
[CJ gave Celestial Wolf ten Supreme level Cruise Ships. Quickly come and take a look!]
Assistant Cao was a little confused by the news. She looked at Editor Shen and rephrased her sentence. "Your… Magic Lamp is quite awesome. She has so many loyal fans after so many years?"
As soon as she spoke, she received another notification.
[Jinjin is also selling clothes today gave Celestial Wolf ten Supreme level Cruise Ships. Quickly come and take a look!]
Ten Supreme level Cruise Ships at once.
This momentum would definitely crush Yiyi Zining.
Editor Shen was now extremely troubled by Magic Lamp. He switched his account and liked the gifts given to Celestial Wolf. He didn't mind them and answered Assistant Cao perfunctorily.
Assistant Cao looked at his expression and sighed before changing the topic to something serious. "Weibo is being overwhelmed with public opinion. Have you experienced such an event before?"
Editor Shen pursed his lips and made a voice call to Magic Lamp.
Seeing the screen on his phone, Assistant Cao stood by his side and waited as he made a call.
"Editor Shen?" On the other end, Qin Ran's voice was calm as usual.
Editor Shen took a deep breath and pretended to be relaxed. "Have you checked out your new comic? Many fans are giving you rewards."
Cheng Mu had already shared this gossip with Qin Ran.
Qin Ran touched her chin and said, "Most of them are from my friends."
"Anyway, they are fans who are supporting you." Editor Shen smiled. "The response is very good. I'm hoping for the next volume soon."
After that, they chatted for a little before the call ended.
As soon as the call ended, Editor Shen started to smile. He called her because he wanted to know how she was.
"Was that Magic Lamp?" Assistant Cao was shocked. Although she heard that Magic Lamp was a female, she didn't expect her to sound so young. "She seems to be in a good mood. Has she checked Weibo?"
After recovering from her shock, Assistant Cao shook her head and sighed. "Now, I believe that she doesn't care about the performance of her new comic book."
Editor Shen held his phone tightly and raised his head. "Where's Young Master Mo?"
Yiyi Zining wasn't giving in, and the results of Magic Lamp's performance weren't good. Editor Shen's heart sank. He was afraid that Magic Lamp would be ruined in his hands.
The only way out was to look for Mo Zhihuai. Only Mo Zhihuai in the entire Pinnacle Studios was able to control what was happening now.
Editor Shen was betting that Mo Zhihuai would help Magic Lamp.
"Just as I thought, Yiyi Zining is still trending. Magic Lamp's survival will depend on Young Master Mo. I think that Young Master Mo thinks highly of Magic Lamp. I will take you up first."
Assistant Cao took Editor Shen to look for Mo Zhihuai.
…
In the office, Mo Zhihuai was on the phone with his father after reading Celestial Wolf.
"The Liu family has never been clean." Mo Zhihuai stood by the window and lowered his eyes. "They contacted the big figures in the capital. I'm still checking, and I will let you know once I find out more news. As for Film Emperor Qin, he's part of the Qin family. We can't talk to him for now."
After speaking to his father, he finally told the person knocking on the door to come in.
Mo Zhihuai was wearing a clean white shirt and black trousers as usual. He looked comfortable and elegant. "Sit."
He pointed at the sofa.
"Young Master Mo." Editor Shen didn't sit immediately and lowered his head. "It's about what's happening on the internet."
Mo Zhihuai asked his secretary to bring in three cups of coffee. He took one sip of his coffee before looking at Editor Shen. "On the internet?"
"Yes. Magic Lamp is being suppressed online." Editor Shen mentioned Magic Lamp in a firm tone. "Now, there's a group of people ridiculing her on the internet. Her opening was really shocking, and some netizens are trying to bring her down. If this continues, I'm afraid… this will be the end."
After reading the update, Mo Zhihuai had been busy with other things. The head of the corporation didn't have much time to follow the developments online.
He only found out about it after Editor Shen and Assistant Cao told him about it.
Editor Shen didn't mention Yiyi Zining. He knew that Yiyi Zining's identity wasn't simple, and he was afraid that if she was mentioned, Mo Zhihuai's impression of Magic Lamp would be ruined.
He only talked about Magic Lamp's haters.
Twenty minutes later.
"I missed out on it. Leave the public opinion to me." Mo Zhihuai's expression was serious. "You comfort Magic Lamp."
After that, Mo Zhihuai got up and walked to his desk. He picked up the landline and called the public relations department.
For a company as big as Pinnacle Studios, it was natural for it to have a public relations department.
The public relations department accepted the task.
Editor Shen let out a long sigh.
Mo Zhihuai hung up his phone and was just about to open Weibo.
The landline rang again.
It was the public relations department.
"Young Master Mo, do you really want us to manipulate the comments for Magic Lamp?"
Mo Zhihuai paused. He pressed the hands-free button. "Is it difficult?"
Editor Shen felt even more nervous.
"No…" On the other end, the public relations department paused before continuing, "Did you not read the latest hot search on Weibo?"
He honestly didn't.
The three people in the office were just discussing the next steps.
After hearing what the public relations department said, they all subconsciously opened Weibo and looked at the hot search.
In less than half an hour, the hot search topics on Weibo were all replaced.
The group was shocked by the first to the fourth hot topic.
[The Second volume of Celestial Wolf]
[Misu's recommendation and praise]
[Film Emperor Qin's promotion]
[Netizens group together to send death threats]
They clicked on the first hot search topic. It had 9000 comments on Weibo.
[The second part of Celestial Wolf was released. The content was praised by Misu, the famous comic book author of Continent M. Magic Lamp lived up to expectations since her last appearance in the Asian Science Fiction world!]


[Two-faced Languid Rich Male Lead vs. Deeply Hidden Beautiful Female Lead] 
Qin Ran had grown up in the countryside. She disappears in the third year of high school and ends up suspended for a year. One year later, she is brought to Yun Cheng by her mother to attend First Middle School. 
Her mother tells her: "Your stepfather is from a prestigious family, your brother is a genius, and your younger sister is a top student. Don't be an embarrassment to them." 
Anybody who is anybody in Beijing all receives a warning from Master Juan of the Cheng family: Master Juan's wife is from the countryside and doesn't know how to socialize nor make connections... her temper is also really bad, so please be tolerant of her. 
One day, when Master Juan is investigating a certain big shot, his subordinate stares at the sockpuppet—an online identity used for purposes of deception—he had accidentally revealed. It's from the wife that supposedly doesn't know anything... He falls into silence. 
The two bigshots has probably been hiding their sockpuppets from each other in order not to make the other party feel inferior.

Everything's a cycle, you know?
The first weeks that after they basically fired me from the hotel, I started to look for a new job. Again. I sent my resume to whatever job opportunity I could find. Again. I felt extremely stressed and anxious every time a company showed me they were interested in me, but I still manage somehow to get job interviews. Again.
But, when I had a job interview scheduled, I started to think for excuses that would make me believe having that job was a bad idea. Things like: "they'd pay you too little," "your workplace would be really far away, and I don't like this neighborhood. I don't want to leave my car here, unprotected, all day long," "your workplace would be one of the most depressing ones I've ever seen," "you don't really know or care about this place," "really? Sales? You, the most introverted person you know, think you'd be good at sales?"
And so on.
Also, I feel sometimes, during the job interviews, I was too honest, and sometimes too dishonest.
And sometimes I just simply forgot about the interview. Well, one time I remembered it… 5 minutes before. And when that happened I wasn't shocked or sad or had a mini heart attack, I was just like "well, it seems I'm not getting that job. Anyway…"
So, yeah…
But then, after I saw some starting publisher was looking for comics and manga artists, I decided to distract myself from my constant failures learning a new useless ability. Again. So I bought some how-to-draw-manga books, some mechanical pencils, a sketchbook and a couple specialized pens for the inking and started to watch some how-to-draw tutorials. 
As the time passed by I began to understand how precise drawing is—a line half a millimeter to the left or right, or a slightly sharper curve could make the different of a really neat drawing or a piece of garbage—and how complex is the world we live in: reality could broke down in infinite shapes that are combined in infinite ways—and it's really important to understand them well to get the light and shadows right—how incredibly complex is the human body, and how incredibly well artist understand it; how artist must understand extremely well what they're drawing, and how you need to practice anything you're drawing—not only any object but parts of the human body, like hands (they're so free and active and important there's an infinite amount of ways to draw them, and an infinite amount of ways to get them wrong, but I like to draw them, though,) legs (they're a little complex because the shape of both the thighs and the calves are a little asymmetrical and change depending on the perspective, and the knees are slightly tilted and pointing outwards,) body proportions (it's just hell to get everything right,) hair (there are an infinite amount of hair types and styles, and you need to make hair strands a little bit varied to make them look natural but I always end up making them exactly the same or extremely similar, so they end up looking weird,) eyes (there are a lot of shapes and sizes, so I always end up drawing the same ones, and I'm really avoiding drawing pupils because they end up looking like serial killers,) eyelashes (believe it or not, I have some problems when it comes to make them look right and not like ugly thorns coming out of someone's eyes,) arms (because they're not just cylinders, they change slightly in size and shape especially in the elbow area,) feet (I have problems to draw them in some specific angles and viewpoints;) and different other things relating to a character, like expressions (there are so many of them, and a lot are so similar it's really easy to draw the wrong one, and at the moment you're about to draw them, you realize you only have a vague idea of how they are, so you start making those expressions while looking at the mirror, or the front screen of your phone,) body language (same thing as the previous one,) and clothing (there are so many different types and styles, and I have a really hard time drawing folds that look natural and express how tight or loose the clothing is.)   
Also I began to understand inking is extremely precise and, for most of the time, a pain in the ass—even if you're the most careful you can be, the chances you'd draw a wrong line and screw everything up are really high, especially with hands. 
It doesn't matter how much time you spend making your drawings as best as you can, they'll immediately look like shit.
Also, I don't know why but, once you inked your whole drawings, you then realize the arms are too long, or the hair was placed too high, or the eyes aren't that aligned, or the eyebrows are too thick, or the nose is a little too big, or the torso was too thin, or too thick, or the legs were too long, or etcetera.
And also also, since I wanna draw comics, I have to choose the size and shape of each panel (and this is more important than you think because it can help your storytelling and the rhythm of it,) the scene, the viewpoint, the character's poses, the backgrounds and etcetera.
What I'm trying to say here is that there's A LOT of variables when it comes to drawing, and I have to master ALL of them.
Anyway, for the next month or so I spent most of my day reading—mostly manga and comic theory books by Will Eisner and Scott McCloud—writing, learning how to draw manga style, watching anime and taking screenshots of characters I wanted to draw—maybe because of their expression, their hairstyle, the light and shadow on their faces, their hands, the folds in their clothing, their body pose, and so on.
Nothing else happened, but at least I haven't felt that happy since ages—I never really thought I could survive as a comic/manga artist, to be honest, but it was nice to forget about everything else and draw.
But I still needed a job, especially when that starting publisher struggled to sell all the comics they started printing.
So I started to look for a job. Again.
Then, one day, I was buying some groceries and, in my way to the checkout, I stumbled with their Funko Pops on sale. Now, I'm not a really big fan of those figures, but I had more than a couple of them at home, so I decided to check them out.
There I found some Yu Yu Hakusho figures—Botan, Kurama, and Hiei. Now, this last one caught my eye because of that "Special Edition" sticker.
Just out of curiosity, I took my phone and checked how much it was selling online—they're normally cheaper there.
But there wasn't anyone selling them in my country—except for some really sketchy post of buy-it-now-and-we'll-order-it-from-China-and-in-a-month-or-two-you'll-receive-the-totally-legit-not-fake-funko-you-ordered.
For me it seemed like a really good business opportunity.
So I bought it and sold it online in two days.
I tripled its price.
But I could totally sell it at a higher price.
And considering taxes and commissions, I didn't get that much, but I still got a good deal, though.
So I had a bad business idea.
How about I started checking everywhere for opportunities like this. Or how about I started buying Funko Pops that were common now, but will definitely increase they value in a year or so—like that Spike Spiegel Funko I decided not to buy a couple years ago, and now it's worth like ten times its original value or something.
Think about it: a business specialized not in selling the same Funko Pops everyone's selling, but the rare ones, the discontinued ones; the kinda place collectors would get the figures they can't find anymore.
It could be a good business opportunity—even though the fact it could be doesn't mean it will be. 
Anyway, I was excited with the idea, so I started dedicating all my mornings to look for rare and cheap Funko Pops—and all my afternoons to read, write and learn how to draw. 
The first day I visited some convenience stores. Some of them had a few ones, but they weren't that interesting—all of them were sold even cheaper everywhere online.
I also visited a geek store near there. They had A LOT of Funkos. Walls and walls of them, so I spent a lot of time looking for the ones I didn't see everywhere/knew they were basically worthless, taking pictures of the interesting ones, looking for them online, asking the clerk about their prices, and getting disappointed because they were expensive. 
Except for one: a Guillermo del Toro Funko Pop!
I didn't know that existed, so I checked online, and they were some on sale, but at a really high price.
When I asked the clerk for the price on that one, he told me it was on clearance.
So I obviously bought it.
I sold it the same day—even though I was almost certain no one would want it.
Then I start buying more and more of those Funkos. At first I just bought the ones that were cheaper than other places and may increase their price in the future—like a SSJ Goku glow in the dark, a Darth Maul, a Jackie Chun Limited Edition.
I then realized I spent a considerable amount of money—but nothing to worry too much about; I just used a big part of my emergency savings, and not my life saving (which I'm not gonna touch for this.)
So I decided to start thinking a little bit more about my investments. I checked online for all the offers available for the franchises that seemed promising to me—you know, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Disney, Evangelion, Naruto, Star Wars, and so on. And when I say all, I mean all—we're talking the bottom of the barrel here.
I found a cheap Cowbow Bebop collection—everything except Spike and Ed with Ein—at a really cheap price—but when I bought it the seller backed down because he solved his financial problem that made him offer that part of his personal collection, and I was happy but sad about it.
I also found a cheap Evangelion collection—Summer Convention Asuka, regular Asuka, Shinji, Rei and a bloody Eva Unit 1. The limited Asuka had a little bump on the bottom, but considering the price it was worth it.
Except I already had a bloody Eva Unit 1.
At first I was like: "It's Evangelion, it's a safe investment. And those are exclusives. They're gonna increase their price in no time."
And then I was like: "Maybe, but I don't need two of them. Besides, the Eva I have right now has a free change or refund warranty from the site—the country's equivalent to eBay." 
So I bought that guy's collection.
Then I waited its arrival—all the figures were in really good conditions, even the Convention Asuka, whose bump wasn't that big of a deal—checked both Evas and returned the one in the least great condition—which was the one I had in the first place. 
The company that sold me the first one asked me why I wanted the refund, and I said I didn't need it anymore or something like that. Then they just texted me: "well, we'll losing money for the return shipment, but it's fine."
That same day, I received a couple Funkos I bought online from different sellers—a Rock Lee and an Itachi. The last one even came with a protector box—you know, the plastic and transparent ones that are supposed to keep your Funko in pristine conditions. 
But underneath the protector box I could see the Funko's box was kinda broken.
Irony, I know.
When I tried to return it, I realize this one didn't have the free change & refund warranty, so I had talk to the seller and convince him to change my product for free. 
And the seller was none other than the one of the passive-aggressive text.
So, I sent them the most apologetic message I could write.
They just told me to return the Funko and gave me a refund.
And that was that.
Then I came to the conclusion I still wasn't investing and managing my improvised store smartly enough, so I made an Excel file with all the items I considered interesting from all the stores and sites I visited: it had their price; the lowest price I could sell it in different sites—the eBay equivalent, Amazon (I'm currently working to be a seller there, but it's not that easy,) Facebook Marketplace, and maybe eBay (I still have to check out everything about that site, though, but it seems really worth it)—considering taxes, shipping and the site's commission; the suggested price to sell it in each site with a moderate profit margin; the profit margin I would be earning depending on the price I decided to sell it; the lowest prices from the competitors from each site; the profit margin I would be making if I sold it at those prices.
Also the file had my inventory and all the data about profit, competitor's prices, suggested price, etcetera.
It also has a simple calculator with all that data so I could check really quickly if an offer was worth my interest or not.
I know, I know, that's what Excel's for, and most people could do something way better in a blink of an eye.
But this is something I made with no job experience in that regard. 
I haven't used Excel since college.
And I think I did pretty well, so I'm proud of myself.
Anyway, when I finish preparing this improvised business maybe I'd need to get a job to get some money to invest—and to recover my previous investment, and to save a little... if I can.

So maybe I'll have to start the job-looking cycle once again.

Becoming a hikikomori has nothing to do with rejecting society or having trouble adapting. It’s about emptiness.



Frederic Commers, Mason Hillards, Grayson Hitch, Henric Coopers, Morals Mucks, Tobby Linderson, Cathy Coors—all notable names attending the Cassidy Wilfried Award Show. The Award Show was based on Cassidy Wilfried, author famous for her non-fiction novels where she elaborated on numerous obstacles she had to face such as mental health, suicidal preventions, physical and mental abuse, bullying and numerous other hardships that shaped her. It was an annual Award Show that many celebrity names attended, even from different industries, and it was always a success. 

Her palace was ginormous—her husband, Boris Wildfried, has been a national tennis player and known worldwide for being founder and CEO of a company named HeavyWays. It was an online merchandise similar to Amazon, and very successful around the entire world. Everyone that attended the palace was patted, and their invitation letters, which had an imprinted seal, were checked before they were allowed inside the home. The ceremony was in a gigantic magnificent hall, where chandeliers layered the ceiling, decorations covered the walls and hundreds of waiters travelled across the room with trays of wine and champagne for anyone to take. 

Draven H. Malcom had arrived at about eight o'clock. He was well-dressed; a navy suit with a bow tie around his neck, and brown pants that coloured nicely with his suit. His hair was gelled backwards with one strand over his eye, and he fixed his gold watch on his wrist. The moment he stepped down from his vehicle, he was ambushed by reporters. 

"Mr. Malcom, it is the first time you have shown yourself in public ever since the allegation of—" 

"How many times do we have to say, no questions!" 

Cassidy's security guards immediately came to the rescue, forming a pathway for Draven and the rest of his team to follow inside, and he thanked them. 

"Thank god there were security guards out there, I would've punched one of them in the face," Hector grumbled. 

Jason agreed, wrapping his arm around Rebecca's waist protectively, "No kidding. They were shoving too." 

"I'm excited to drink, that's all I care about," Draven admitted when they entered the hall. There was a stage at the front of the hall but it was barely visible from the back. It was humongous, and Draven was greeted by multiple people the moment he entered. 

Hela Monitt, author of The Exquisite Flames, a series of fantasy novels at its fourth book and ongoing. She changed the entire way people view the genre of fantasy, giving her own platform and creativity to the name. She was one of the firsts to greet Draven with such excitement in their tone, "You appear to be doing well!" 

"I am, thanks to my team. How have your writings been going?" 

"Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. I've had writer's block for the past month, which made me revise other novels instead, and now that my writer's block has miraculously faded, I feel as if my mind wanders continuously." 

Draven engaged in short conversations, grabbing glasses of wine from walking waiters and finishing them rapidly. He had been feeling tense every since the allegations, as if too many eyes were watching him for a mistake that may prove the correct, and Draven believed getting drunk at this party would make him feel free. The team headed their separate ways, all talking to different people, and Draven eventually finishing his seventh glass, finally feeling a bit of wooziness to his mind. 

That was when the award show started. Cassidy Wilfried was the host, and she was applauded before she began introducing each award. Draven was nominated for four awards, the Love Scandal Award, which was the best fiction romantic comic, the Restless Award, the comic or novel that kept readers on their toes, the Spontaneous Award, the comic or novel that was successive from the start, and the Elite Award, comic or novels that are selected as must-reads. 

It was only when the award show started, that Draven's eyes finally found Eric and Kyle near the front. He noticed something was weird, since Kyle attempted to reach for Eric's hand and he pulled away. Then, Kyle leaned in aggressively, and they seemed to be hissing at one another in low whispers before Eric turned around and walked away from him. 

He merely ignored it, and returned his eyes on Cassidy who finally began reading the nominees for the Love Scandal Award. One of the nominees was Kyle Merchi, and merely hearing his name made Draven feel disgust in his mouth. He had nothing but hatred for Kyle, and all he wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. But Draven kept his composure, and when the winner was announced, which was him, he headed onto the stage. 

He won all four awards, but since there were about twenty-five awards, he had to wait awhile. However, he noticed Eric returned during the readings of nominees, but Kyle was no longer at his previous spot. Eric seemed to be glancing around the room for him, and they made eye contact. Rapidly, Draven looked away and it was only a few seconds later that he looked again and Eric was gone. 

Eric had gone looked for Kyle; he had said some terrible things when Kyle was attempting to be friendly earlier, and he wanted to apologize instead of returning home hostile. That was why he returned from the bathroom, and when he couldn't find Kyle, he went on a search for him. There were doors that lead to the outside garden, and Eric, after roaming around the hall, decided to check outside. 

He followed the trail in between large cherry laurels, and the pathways separated into a few sections to continue along different parts of the garden. He heard voices in one direction, and followed that path. When the voices grew nearer, and he recognized Kyle, he quickened his pace. There was another separation of the trail, and he had to cut a corner this time. 

And when he did, he had not been predicting to witness such scene. 

Kyle had not heard him approaching, and his lips were still passionately placed on Rebecca's, who had her arms wrapped around his neck. She even tightened her grip, biting his bottom lip teasingly and Eric saw Kyle smile warmly against the kiss. It was only when Eric inhaled a sharp breath that he was heard, and both their heads turned to face him.

Eric Valence thought finding a job as an editor for a well-known author named Draven H. Malcolm was the beginning of his writing career. He had no idea that it would also be the beginning of his love story.

***

"You're so clueless, it bothers me."

He frowned, "What does that mean-"

"You never wondered why I gave you all the best things on my floor - the closest desk, drinks from my office, my newest project. I even went to your house and picked you up to make sure you weren't late."

"My portfoli-"

"There are twenty three others with the same experience as yours, that was an excuse," he admitted, peering into Eric's eyes and daring him to look away.

Eric didn't.

Draven sighed, "The reason I got mad that day..." he paused for a moment, hesitating again but deciding to let it all out, "the reason I got mad is because I heard you kissed Jason, which I wasn't too pleased about but then seeing you and Justin together..."

He never finished his sentence, and Eric raised an eyebrow, "What about Justin and I?"

"I feel like you're doing this on purpose," Draven chuckled, examining Eric's confused face.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about-"

"I like you," Draven said clearly with his entire diaphragm, expression it as loud as he could for Eric to understand.

Eric felt his throat squeeze itself shut, no oxygen coming in or out.

"I like you, a lot more than I thought, Eric," he breathed.

Eric was unable to believe it, shook his head and looked away for moment, before meeting his gaze again. 

"Why me?" he asked quietly.

Draven shrugged his shoulders, eyeing Eric with adoration and admiration, "I'm not sure either, but I want you to be mine."

free comic online novel

THIS NOVEL HAS BEE DELETED

Thirsty Romance

Treasure Hunt Tycoon

Rebirth from the Ashes

I just want to quietly draw comics

Shy Cosplayer

no more continue

Ma'am You Have Been Uncovered

The day I became a hikikomori

Bed Sheets

People search free comic online also like: