Please dont expect much I will try to get better

I was laying on my bed while reading the new chapter of a novel that I followed since two years ago.

It was a story about a destroyed world full of undeads walking, there and here.

A sudden sleepiness attack me and I fell asleep.

And when I woke up, I was in a classroom full of students reviewing their textbooks.

I'm one of those students sitting in their specific sit, reading their textbooks.

Then one day, I know that this is fucked up.

It's been ten years since we met and she still looks the same.

Maybe, she really is a ghost.

I stood in front of my bedroom mirror and adjusted my tie.

"Is this some sort of fancy private school?"

"Yup." I answered.

"And you're going to be gone the whole day, everyday?"

I buttoned up my shirt's collar and pulled up my tie until it was a snug fit. 

"I'll be free on weekends."

I fished my shoes from under my bed and looked up to see that her supple lips were pursed and her mesmerizing eyes were filled with apprehension.

Hamu was lying on top of my bed. She had already put on my high school uniform, as if to  encourage me. 

Her pants looked really baggy and the shirt she wore was so big it was downright comical.

"What's the point? You might move away tomorrow. Might as well study on the internet. If you ever need to know something just Moogle it."

"I can't live off the internet."

"Tell that to your mom. Isn't she doing online spamming now?"

"It's Marketing. Online marketing. C'mon don't make fun of her. She's doing this for us."

Hamu batted her pretty eyelids mischievously and said, "You mean she's doing this for you. According to her I'm just an imaginary friend that you won't get over!"

I ignored her provocative words and packed some exercise books, a couple textbooks and my laptop into my backpack.

"Why are you carrying all that junk? Are you aiming for a retro vibe? Can't you just download the textbooks and record the lessons with your smartphone?"

I sucked in a few nervous gulps of air and tried to steady my thunderous heartbeat.

"I'm really nervous." I confessed. "This is the first time I've gone to school."

Hamu knitted her brow. "But didn't you register just last week? Or did you go to city hall to do that?"

"Ha." I laughed lightly. "I'm going either way, you can't stop me."

"Why would I want to stop you? If you want to become a cog in the machine and allow private industry to turn you into a mindless wage slave, have at it."

I sighed, deeply.

Last week, when I received my admission letter, I had nervously begun to fill out the registration papers when Hamu floated behind me and started chattering non-stop.

I gave her the book, 'Capital' by Karl Marx, hoping that it would keep her busy. Having little to do in the lead up to my new semester, she practically swallowed it in two days and I've been regretting it ever since.

I went into the bathroom and picked up my comb, but Hamu plucked it out of my hand.

She expertly styled my hair until it was not as ruffled as it was usually. She then straightened my tie and properly zipped up my bag.

"Thanks mom." I said with a silly smile. 

"Your welcome sweety." She crooned and shot back an impish smile of her own.

I laughed quietly, and then hesitantly asked, "I thought you didn't want me to go?"

"Who says I don't want you to go? You're so annoying! You know what? I think I'll take a vacation. I've been babysitting you for ten years. If you add up all my off days I should get at least half a year of downtime."

Tomoya was only five years old when he learned that his father had died in a freak car accident.

Torn by a mixture of grief and confusion, he ran away from home only to return late in the night, to the relief of his teary-eyed mother.

But he was not alone.

The ghost of a teenage girl had somehow drifted into his life and over the course of ten years the unlikely duo had grown to be inseparable.

Together, they stumble across a series of clues that shed light on the truth of his father's disappearance, only to have their desperate search overshadowed by another, more dangerous conspiracy.

Tomoya couldn't help but ask himself, 'If she is a ghost, then how did she die? And why has she never left my side?'

"Hello, is this Riverwood? I called earlier about getting advertisements for my app, I would like to know how long it would take?" 

"Depending on the size of your app, and the size of the ads you want they could take anywhere from 1-4 hours, it's very simple to complete so you won't really have to do anything apart from install some simple code into your app and then we will upload the advertisements and watch them based on the feedback we receive on the computers at our end, we will also create an account for you so you can view the stats as well." Replied on the lady on the other side of the phone.

"Do you have any upfront fees that I am required to pay?" Ronan asked.

"$100 for the first month, then its 15% for the 2 years after that and 10% after the 2 years until you decide to close your app."

"Okay, so how does this happen?"

"Go to the Riverwood website, click register I'll give you a passcode you can use to create an account, after you will link your app to our website, then you will be able to download the code to add into your app then we will test the connection between the code and the website then we'll be able to track the statistics and its done, should take about 1 hour, but it's just some simple steps and then waiting for periods of time." Replied the receptionist.

About 50 minutes later and Ronan had finished doing everything that had been asked of him and he could see the statistics for his app and some of the advertisements that are being advertised.

"Thanks for the help." Ronan paid the advertisement agency and hung up the phone.

'Time to lay out a plan for my app. First is to create various accounts and groups on various social media platforms, then I need to pay for advertisements, nothing big though, I doubt I can afford most of it, contact people like Jake see if he can advertise it to his friends since he at least should know more people than me.' After Ronan stopped thinking about his plan, he put it into action.

Ronan spent more than 15 hours over 2 days contacting various people, creating various accounts and groups etc.

He had managed to get over 5k downloads within the first day and a bit, it was clearly shown on his account and the various app stores how many downloads he had gotten, he wasn't making much, although he had 5k downloads it didn't mean he had 5k people using his app, but his various groups and accounts he had made were able to show him roughly how many people we using his app, they had approximately 1k each.

It was 17:00, he was going to sleep in roughly 4 hours, he had to get up and meet Jake then receive several textbooks to make some more money, then the day after that he had an appointment with several companies which he could buy advertising space from.

Ronan spent the next few hours going through various reviews about glitches, crashes, making it easier to use, etc.

Before he knew it, it was around 22:00, 1 hour after he should've gone to sleep, he saved his code, put down his computer and checked his skills before going to sleep.

[Ronan Atkins]
[Prosperity: 1]
[Net Worth: $1154]

[Accounting - Level: 1]
[Stock Trade - Level: 1]
[Mathematics - Level: 1]
[Foreign Languages - Level: 1]
[Coding - Level: 1]

The next day Ronan woke up at 10 AM.

'Damn, shouldn't work so hard, I didn't even do any coursework yesterday, so I'll' have to do some tonight, I need to complete some spreadsheets for a project in 5 days.'

After getting a shower, brushing his teeth and getting dressed, the usual stuff, he prepared for meeting Jake at noon.

Everything was done, he made sure to download the latest version of his app to show Jake and prepared various speeches to convince Jake even more, after all, Jake must know a boatload of people if he doesn't even want to tell Ronan his last name.

...

Soon it was 11:45, Ronan made his way into the Lecture hall to find Jake once again sat in the back of the hall with a pile of roughly 10 textbooks in front of him.

"So those are for me?" Ronan said while looking at the textbooks.

"Yep, you need a hand with carrying them?" Jake replied.

"No, But I do have some business to discuss with you."

"Ok, what do you have?" Jake was a bit eager to know what exactly Ronan wanted from him, it wasn't often that a person of his calibre was asked for business favours.

"Take a look at my app, I want your opinion and I want you to market it to your friends, I want to know how to make it better and make it popular, also do you know any reputable businesses that I can contact for getting advertisement space, I want to advertise my app but nothing anything on the large scale, and these days you can't really trust reviews online, anyone can purchase them." Ronan asked, straight to the point.

"Sure, I can contact various people, maybe only around 50, but I might be able to convince them to contact their friends about it and maybe it will take off, also you should advertise it on the campus forum under the business section, people are always looking for new things to try out and you might get some great feedback, but just remember to complete these textbooks, I've already been paid in full as the middleman, I can only hand this money over to you once you complete the textbooks and hand them over to me." Jake replied.

Ronan wasn't particularly interested in this lecture and he didn't need the extra credit so he picked up the textbooks and said goodbye to Jake before heading back to his dorm.

Ronan Atkins is a 20-year-old student, he studies Business Administration at Trinity College, it is considered as one of the best colleges to learn Business Administration in the world and in order to obtain a scholarship Ronan had to pass many tests, most of which have nothing to do with the actual course he was studying in, after passing all those tests he was finally given the scholarship he dreamed off, but even after getting the scholarship his life was hard, he had to work several jobs in order to pay for food and accommodation.
Until one day, when he is working part-time at a convenience shop something happens...

----------------------
Power Stones (Chapters released on the Monday)

Top 500 - 1 chapter
Top 250 - 2 chapters
Top 100 - 3 chapters

One time only bonus chapters (Chapters released day after) 
25 Power Stones - 1 chapter
50 Power Stones - 1 chapter
100 Power Stones - 2 Chapters. 
200 Power Stones - 2 Chapters. 
250 Power Stones - 3 Chapters.

'The first sense a person inspects the quality of an ingredient with is sight. The shade of colour or the texture of an ingredient can be used as a general indicator of the freshness and quality' I think whilst looking at the vegetables sold by the market stall.

'With some ingredients  it's important to go off of senses related to touching and smelling the ingredients. Certain smells can indicate the freshness of a food, whilst if the texture of an ingredient differs from a top-quality ingredient, then it can be assumed that the freshness and quality is lower'

[Rin just pick up the ingredients you need already. You've been here for 10 minutes now] My thoughts are interrupted by Amara's complaints.

'10 minutes? it's an improvement on the 20 minutes I spent last week. Seems like my efforts in training are paying off'

I pick up several ingredients and walk to the cashier to pay for them.

"Ayato, straight to my apartment please" After buying the ingredients I needed I head straight to the condo to test my cooking skill.

After arriving at the condo, I get changed and place the ingredients on the table countertop. 'Okay, I've tried the restaurants version of this. Today I'll make my own'

I first prepare the vegetables and then use a knife to gentle slice the sea bass.

'Okay so I'll use thyme and lemon to accompany the sea bass' flavour' 'Then stuff it with Marjoram, olives, and fennel'

I cover the fish and its accompaniments in foil and then place it in the oven to roast, only taking it out when the fish is tender.

After taking it out I place the fish delicately on a plate.

'Analyze'
___________________________
> Dish -  Branzino ai ferri

> Dish quality -  8/10

~ Ingredients - (Sea bass)(Florence Fennel)(Thyme)(Olives)....

~ Method - Download function unavailable as the method is already known.
___________________________
'Finally!! Seems like working in an Italian restaurant really has improved my skill relating to Italian food'

*gulp* I pick up a fork and pick up a piece of the fish and place it in my mouth.

"Awh so tender"

*Woosh*

[3rd person POV of Rin]
A silver haired man can be seen in a meditative posture inside of a tee pee, he opens his eyes and gazes outside of the tent.

The man walks out of the tent and is greeted by the sight of a grand festival. Lively music filled the site, whilst fish like creatures danced around a large fire in a tribal-like fashion.

The creatures had arms and legs yet their torso and head resembled a fish, the pace of the music alongside the dancing made the man's presence almost non-existent.

"Awh the acidity of the lemon" the man's clothes dissolve showing a bare muscly figure.

"The flavours feel like they're dancing around in my mouth" The dancing figures surrounding the man sped up, wafting a strong aroma towards the centre.

"Awh so wildddd" The dancing figures whip up a tornado of flavour making the man rise in the air

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhh"

[Rin POV]

I close my eyes as I savour the flavour from the dish, only opening them when I hear a notification-like noise. I open my eyes and see the system interface with a series of messages.

[Cooking skill increased to Level 6]

[Gastronomy increased to level 6]

[System alert! New expansion available]

[Download is required. would you like to download now?]

I stare at the interface for a few seconds

'Amara, how come it increased all of a sudden?' baffled by the sudden increased in skills, I ask Amara hoping for an explanation

[Hmm]

[It could be related to your creation of a level 8 dish. You were only level 5 so creating a dish 3 levels above your own is quite an achievement]

'But Amara, we both know that was only because I used a reference for the dish, I highly doubt I could have created a level 8 dish without using Sofia's dish as a reference'

'My dish was hardly original'

[It seems the system didn't see it like that]

[To be fair with how hard you've been working of late, it wouldn't have been too long until your skills went up a level]

[Your understanding of ingredients has jumped leaps and bounds recently so that definitely contributed to your increase in gastronomy]

[Anyways congratulations Rin] Amara's soft voice rings through my ears.

'Thanks Amara. So, you already mentioned that there would be a gift when I reached level 6 in both skills, is this a new function?' I ask Amara politely.

[*cough* did I?]

[*cough* Ah yes, this is the gift I have prepared for you]

'So can you tell me what it is?' I ask as i squint my eyes, not convinced by the tone of the otaku Goddess.

[That would ruin the surprise, download it and find out] her voice regains some composure to it


Although not convinced, I telepathically notify the system of my choice

'System download'

[System download in process…]

[Expansion download complete]

The interface disappeared after the download, leaving me with only the sight of the kitchen that I was in.

'Amara, what is the new function then?' I ask the goddess after seeing no clear indicators of the new function.

[Ah yes…]

[Rin I may have stretched the truth…] Slight guilt can be heard from her usually bubbly voice.

[Remember how I said that my grandmother helped me with making the system]

'Yes?'

[Actually... grandmother made most of the functions in the system.]

'So, you don't know what the function is?'

*Sigh* 'Well do you have any ideas of what it could be?'

[If I was to guess then I would say that it is something to do with the analyse function. Try it out again]

I nod at her guess and then look at the remains of my meal.

'Analyze'

___________________________

> Dish -  Branzino ai ferri

> Dish quality -  8/10 < Expansion available >

~ Ingredients - (Sea bass)(Florence Fennel)(Thyme)(Olives)....

~ Method - Download function unavailable as the method is already known.

___________________________

'Expansion huh'

[Rin do the same as when you download a recipe and telepathically say 'expand']
I nod at her advice

'System expand'

___________________________

> Dish -  Branzino ai ferri

> Dish quality -  8/10
            ~ Umami – 8/10
            ~  Ingredient quality – 9/10
            ~  Concept – 9/10
            ~  Technique – 6/10

~ Ingredients - (Sea bass)(Florence Fennel)(Thyme)(Olives)....

~ Method - Download function unavailable as the method is already known.

___________________________

*sigh* I look at the expanded statistics, in specific the concept rating and sigh.

'My technique was only level 6'

'All the other statistics I can't really take credit for as It was heavily inspired by Sofia's food and methods'

[Rin, clearly the system acknowledged it as your creation so try to take some credit]

"Okay. Next time I create a level 8 dish it'll definitely be my own creation" I swear to myself.

'Thinking about it, the ingredient quality had a major impact on the rating of the dish'

'If it was just left to my technique then the dish wouldn't even reach anywhere near level 8, so what do I do if I don't have access to high quality ingredients' the systems ratings served as a reminder to work on my technique.

'Maybe all of my prior meals were being dragged up by the other ratings' whilst washing up I start to think back on my prior experinces with the rating system.

'Amara what are your thoughts?'


[It's fair to assume that it will be more difficult to level up from now. There's a limit when it comes to your current methods]

'…' I stay silent whilst listening to Amara

[You can owe your rapid increase in stats due to your inhuman capabilities regarding reading through textbooks. Seriously you're a freak when it comes to studying]

[Although I think you should still continue with studying, I have a feeling that increasing the level of your skills any further will take more than just reading textbooks]

[The tournament that you're going to be participating is really a blessing for you, make sure you make the most of the experience]

'I shouldn't rush things too much. For now, I'll focus on things I'll need for the tournament'

'I'll continue with learning more herbs and indicators of food quality. I'm sure that these skills will be essential for the competition'

'I'll try to learn as much as possible off of Roberto and Sofia for the last week' I hype myself up for my final week in Japan.



(WARNING: THIS NOVEL CONTAINS R-18 SCENES)

After Kai quit university in order to chase the woman of his life, he moved to Britain only to find out later in the relationship that she had been cheating on him. Distraught and stupified by this, Kai stubbornly stays in Britain seeking comfort by drinking and going to clubs with no job after being fired. However, this all changes after he comes across 3 thugs assaulting a young woman...

This is a story about Kai's betrayal, redemption, success and love.


This is my first time writing something so I hope you enjoy :)

Although I do a grammar check before I release a chapter please bare with me if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes that I've missed.

I would also appreciate feedback so that I can make this fanfic better.

The chick stood on Zhou Wen's shoulder and looked around curiously.
However, the antelope looked listless; it didn't seem to like walking.
Zhou Wen wasn't in a rush. This trip was also a form of training. He planned on taking a look at all the dimensional zones along the way. He planned on taking a picture of all the dimensional zones with the tiny palm symbol to prepare for a full-scale break-out of dimensional zones in the future.
Ancient Sword Tomb was in Imperial Capital. Zhou Wen could also take this chance to visit Wang Lu and repay his debt.
Imperial Capital was also known as Capital. Unlike the Holy City that was jointly controlled by the six families, Imperial Capital was basically controlled by the Xia family. However, to everyone's surprise, the Special Inspector Bureau's headquarters was also in Imperial Capital, not Holy City.
Zhou Wen had plans of making a trip to the bureau's headquarters on his visit to the Imperial Capital.
As many roads were blocked by dimensional zones, all he could do was circle around them. He had to travel further. Even with Zhou Wen's present strength, he didn't dare barge into unexplored dimensional zones to prevent any accidents.
The route Zhou Wen chose was the one An Sheng had planned for him. Although it was a little further, it was safe and reliable.
After carefully studying the information, the first relatively famous dimensional zone he encountered was called Five Dragons Mouth.
It was originally a scenic spot. After the dimensional storms, the Five Dragons Mouth turned into a complicated, stacked dimensional zone that had multiple dimensional zones within.
One of the most famous dimensional zones of the Five Dragons Mouth was called Mount Confucius. There was a Teacher Square in the western Mount Confucius, and Mount Laojun was in the east. Legend had it that the Confucian and Daoist families had competed here, leaving behind many moving tales.
After the dimensional storms, Mount Confucius became even stranger. One could often hear the sound of reading from Teacher Square, but when one really looked over, there wasn't a single soul.
There was also Arrow Atop. It was the highest peak of Five Dragons Mouth. It had many legends related to Hou Yi.
There were also other dimensional zones that had their own specialties. Zhou Wen planned on heading to the Five Dragons Mouth to take a look. If he could download the dimensional zones, it wouldn't be bad to keep them for future research.
…
Worm Dugu didn't know that Zhou Wen had left Luoyang, so he went to look for him early in the morning.
"Master, are you awake? I'm here to pay my respects to you. When are you free? Teach me, your disciple, how to raise a phoenix." In order to learn the way to raise a phoenix, Worm Dugu didn't care about his reputation at all. He kept using the words, "master" and "disciple," without any hesitation.
"Why are you making such a din so early in the morning?" Li Xuan walked out of Zhou Wen's dorm.
Before Zhou Wen left, he got Li Xuan to take all the food in the fridge to prevent it from spoiling.
"Who are you? Where's my master?" Worm Dugu glared at Li Xuan.
"How would I know who your master is?" Li Xuan sized up Worm Dugu and saw that the old man was already in his seventies or eighties. To think he still had a master.
"You walked out of my master's dorm, and you still say that you don't know who my master is?" said Worm Dugu.
"Zhou Wen is your master?" Li Xuan widened his mouth as he sized up Worm Dugu in disbelief.
Zhou Wen was only seventeen or eighteen years old. How could he have such an old disciple?
"That's right. Zhou Wen is my master. Has he woken up?" Worm Dugu said matter-of-factly.
"If Zhou Wen is your master, then wouldn't I, Zhou Wen's classmate, be your martial uncle? Disciple-Nephew, there's no need to continue shouting. Zhou Wen has gone out and isn't on campus," Li Xuan joked.
Worm Dugu narrowed his eyes. He recognized Zhou Wen as his master because he wanted to learn how to rear a phoenix from Zhou Wen. It didn't mean that others could use him as a joke.
"Sure. That depends on whether you have the fortune to be my martial uncle." Worm Dugu remained unperturbed as he secretly released a Black Blood Gu, hoping to teach Li Xuan a lesson.
However, when the Black Blood Gu crawled to Li Xuan's side, it suddenly stopped moving. It sprawled on the ground and trembled. No matter how the Worm Dugu urged it, the Black Blood Gu didn't dare approach Li Xuan.
"Eh?" Worm Dugu was slightly taken aback. He had never encountered such a situation.
He summoned a few more Gu, but the moment they approached Li Xuan, they immediately curled up in horror, not daring to touch him.
Worm Dugu wore a look of surprise. What's going on? Why are my Gu worms afraid of him? Does he have a phoenix too?
…
Zhou Wen continued forward and didn't encounter any danger. Along the way, he saw a Companion Beast caravan that transported goods.
As motor transportation became increasingly difficult, many transportation companies had chosen to use Companion Beasts to transport goods.
He successfully arrived at Five Dragons Mouth. Zhou Wen walked along the mountain path, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol. After searching for a long time, he didn't find it.
Instead, he saw many people fighting a monkey-type dimensional creature. The monkey was muscular and had a short tail. It looked rather ferocious.
Zhou Wen took a look at the information and knew that this dimensional creature was called a macaque. It was a relatively common dimensional creature at Five Dragons Mouth. There were many of them, and they were typically at the Mortal stage. Occasionally, one could see a Legendary Monkey King. Legend had it that the macaque here had the bloodline of the Handsome Monkey King. He didn't know if it was true.
The Macaque King's combat strength was considered quite powerful among Legendaries. Furthermore, the Macaque King Companion Beast's companion form was very special, giving it a rather high value. The nearby Legendaries would often come here to hunt the Macaque King, hoping to gain something.
Zhou Wen wasn't interested in hunting the Macaque King. He just searched for the tiny palm symbol.
Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard a strange sound coming from a nearby mountain. It sounded like children reading textbooks. The sound was drawn out, making it sound odd.
However, those voices were clearly not children's voices. They were the voices of adults.
Zhou Wen looked at the source of the sound and then at the map. He immediately knew that it was the legendary Teacher Square.
The legends are true. There's actually the sound of reading in broad daylight at Teacher Square. Zhou Wen's interest was piqued as he walked towards Teacher Square to see what was so magical about it.
However, Zhou Wen couldn't help but be taken aback when he reached Teacher Square and saw the scene in front of him.
There were many people sitting on Teacher Square. They were all twirling their heads as they read. The voice Zhou Wen had heard wasn't a phenomenon, but a result of actual people reading.
These people were engrossed in their reading. They twirled their heads and read loudly, as though they were primary school students who were seriously reciting their textbooks. They also resembled scholars from ancient times. Their voices were especially charming as they dragged out their last words.
Could this be a reading activity that's hosted here? Zhou Wen thought as he climbed onto Teacher Square.
However, just as he stepped onto Teacher Square, he couldn't help but open his mouth and emit the same voices as the others. He began reading with them, but he had never heard the content that he was reading.
There's something odd about this place! Zhou Wen was alarmed.



1 drop of blood = 1-Up
Other people game overnight, I game overnight and bleed.
Ever since the dimensional storms descended upon Earth, numerous dimensional zones have appeared, bringing with them all kinds of dimensional creatures—Immortals, Buddhas, Devils, Angels, Elves, etc.
Yet, all these strange dimensional zones can turn into dungeon instances on my phone. Other people risk their lives adventuring, I spend all my time gaming.
Monsters drop dimensional crystals that boost stats, imbue new skills, and join me as Companion Beasts. These Companion Beasts fight alongside me or alone, augmenting me with their skills and strength. Rare monsters in real life? I'll just restart the game with a drop of blood to grind it.
I really need a blood transfusion.

Gu Jingming's eyes were locked. Anger clouded his dark pupils as he looked down at Amy. She immediately felt scared and her eyes darted around. She seemed to be looking for an excuse, but it had already been revealed that this matter was linked to her.
Gu Jingming strided out. Although he looked calm, his steps were extremely quick and he already disappeared within moments.
Amy heaved a sigh of relief.
Just before this, she specially had Yu Minmin locked up to prevent her from spoiling her plan.
Little did she expect the presidential guards to find her so quickly.
—
Amy naturally did not know that ever since Yu Minmin was nearly sabotaged, her phone and earrings all had trackers installed in them. If she suddenly went missing, they would be able to locate and find her.
Thus, when the guards discovered that Yu Minmin was missing, they swiftly found her position.
Yu Minmin was still struggling when she saw the guards come in.
Gu Jingming walked in and a huge commotion with many people followed behind.
Yu Minmin's mouth was covered. The president from A Nation was stunned.
"Take Madam to the hospital for a check up."
After that, they made Yu Minmin's safety the priority and brought her to the hospital. Then, they took her back to the presidential suite to rest. The security guards were doubled and they also began to investigate the cause of her being tied up.
As they were worried that there would be too much involvement, this matter was sealed and was not leaked to outsiders.
However in C Nation, a majority of the people in high society still came to know about this.
Yin Suya did not expect this Amy to be so brazen. She began to feel uneasy in her own home.
She could only hope that Amy would not be so foolish as to reveal that it was her.
However, Yu Minmin was the nation's mother. Now that she was receiving the best treatment, this made Yin Suya feel unjust.
These damned presidential guards actually protected her so strictly. Wasn't she just a commoner?
This matter was not over in A Nation.
Gu Jingming already had his people investigating. The incense he smelled came from Yin Suya's gift. It indeed had an aphrodisiacal effect that was not major, but it was enough to arouse a person's desires.
Linda looked at Gu Jingming, waiting for an answer.
Gu Jingming stood there for a long time. Finally, he said, "We'll decide back in C Nation."
"Yes, Sir."
—
Lin Che had a good rest. It was already the second day in Los Angeles.
She met the relevant personnel here and discussed the role setting and filming problems.
The filming duration was not fixed. Usually, these things took three months and Lin Che would definitely have to stay in Los Angeles during the entire filming period.
The other party was very happy to work with Lin Che. That blond foreigner who previously was at the audition in C Nation was of Dutch descent and born in Los Angeles. His name was George. Lin Che knew that these foreign names were very normal and common as grass and flowers. Many people had this name and she already got to know two people with the name George on the first day with the crew.
George showed her around. Director Stephen was internationally known and greatly appreciative of Lin Che.
"But here, we require you to converse in English. It's best if you can speak it yourself but if your accent is too strong, we will have a voice actress to dub over you. However, you should already be mouthing your lines in English."
Lin Che instantly felt pressured but she still agreed. "Then I'm afraid… I'll have to start learning now."
Because of this, the director was not very friendly towards Lin Che. He thought that since she didn't know English, it looked like they still needed to see how this female lead would progress in the future. Would she be able to continue acting? They would still need to consider this.
After Lin Che parted ways with the director, she obviously felt the director's attitude.
George said beside her, "It's okay. You don't have to worry too much. Stephen's demands are high, but he never saw your acting. You can use your acting to convince him."
Lin Che thanked him.
"I will do my best to learn English."
"Alright. I believe you. If you need a teacher, I can help you find one."
"I'll look for one myself first. I'll definitely ask you if I need help."
Lin Che returned to her hotel room and searched for English textbooks online. She realized that she had really forgotten all these English words. She would barely read them out loud.
She sighed depressingly as she leaned in her seat and sent a message to Gu Jingze.
"I need to learn English. This is bad."
"Do it. I'll teach you," Gu Jingze replied.
Lin Che said, "No. I want to find a teacher myself. Your temper is so bad that you'll definitely scold me."
"Are you sure a normal teacher can teach you given your limited intelligence?"
"Get lost!"
It was Lin Che's first time being so far away from him.
She was no longer in the same country where even if she was outside of town for filming, he would only need a two-hour flight to reach her.
Here, they were separated by the vast ocean. She felt that he was so, so far away.
Lin Che rested there and actually started to miss him.
Thinking about this, Lin Che suddenly said, "Oh right, do you have QQ or the likes installed in your phone?"
"No."
"Can you install one?"
"No."
Seeing that he simply rejected her, she changed her tone. "Install it. Install it, please. Install one so you can send me videos."
"Videos?" Gu Jingze asked.
Lin Che said, "Yes yes. It's just like how you often have those video conferences. That's strange. Since you don't have QQ, how do you guys conduct your meetings?"
"Using 'Turboconferencing'."
"Huh? What is that?"
"It's an app for the sole purpose of holding video conferences."
"Okay…" The big CEO would definitely use such high-end professional things. She was really silly to think that entrepreneurs would conduct meetings over something like QQ.
Lin Che said, "Download it. Please download it for me?"
After a while, Gu Jingze finally replied, "Done."
Lin Che saw this and immediately jumped up. "That's great!"
She gave him a number so that he could add her as a friend.
Then, they started a video call.
Gu Jingze was very used to this kind of video call, but he frowned and looked rather unhappy. "It's not clear."
Lin Che said, "Oh my, you're pretty smart. You learn fast. How did you know where to download the QQ from?"
"My secretary downloaded it."
"…"
Lin Che thought that the secretary must have been surprised that the CEO actually wanted to download QQ. Lin Che could almost visualize the puzzlement on the secretary's face.
Lin Che looked at Gu Jingze who was scrutinizing the screen. The soft light hit his face, making his originally handsome face flawless on the screen.
Then she looked back at herself…
In the video, her face was so big and ugly.
Lin Che cursed and thought that the heavens was not fair. Why did they make Gu Jingze so perfect…


Wealthy, powerful and handsome; Gu Jingze is the cream of the crop in the entire country. Every guy wants to be him and every girl wants to be with him. His life is perfect... except that he has one tiny secret that keeps him from getting close to any woman—apparent impotency.

That is, until he wakes up in bed with a total stranger one day. The next thing he knows, he is forced to marry this stranger; a feisty and boisterous woman by the name of Lin Che. 

Lin Che is an average girl whose only aim is to become a successful actress. Ostracized by her family and forced to become independent, she cooks up a scheme to attain her goal. But her plan fails and she ends up marrying this cold and seemingly heartless Gu Jingze. Not only that, she must now find her place in high society, where jealous women and devious plots lay abound - all while juggling her new career.  

Two strangers under one roof: From the outset, they agree to stay out of each other’s lives, but he somehow always manages to appear during her moments of crisis. Slowly and unwittingly, Lin Che begins to find it difficult to imagine a future without him. Will their relationship grow, or is their marriage destined to remain just a contract?

Class ended. Homework was simple: practice what was taught today and come up with a few examples of your own using vocabulary you learned from Netflicks.

But there was one thing.

Teachers aren't miracle workers. To make wine, we need grapes and not just water. Not that I was going to make wine, but you get the point.

I needed access to textbooks and worksheets if I was going to teach these kids, I mean elves, properly.

Although usually students aspired to become more than Netflicks addicted NEETs.

After class, all the elves left. Other than Elisa. She stayed behind. Because I asked her to.

She sat on my desk, leaning back, her hands supporting her.

I said, "Elisa, it's extremely rude for a student to sit on a teacher's desk."

She said, "But there is just something so inviting about a large open desk."

She stretched. Her skirt rode up her legs.

…

I'll tell her about uniform standards later. In fact I should tell all the elves about proper student attire. But right now there was something else I needed to ask her.

"Elisa, how did you get the laptop for Netflicks access?"

"I told you before, right? We opened a portal to your world and took it as an artifact."

"Do you think you can open that portal again?"

"Why?"

"I need to go back to my world."

Elisa looked at me. Her expression changed.

"Why?" she asked.

I pointed at the blackboard.

I said, "There's only so much I can teach you elves without any teaching materials. I need to go back to my world to get textbooks and study guides."

Elisa looked at me like she didn't believe me. "Are you trying to run away?"

"Should I be?"

"Hnghh..." She pouted and averted her eyes. A moment of silence. She sighed. "For now, I've exhausted my magic. It'll take some time before I can open a portal large enough for you to step through."

Damn it. I guess there was no way of getting access to anything. I'll have to create all the worksheets on my own. That is going to be so much work. I'd file a complaint at the Ministry of Education, but in this world, I am the Ministry of Education.

Elisa said, "There is another way for you to access information from your world."

"How?"

She opened her knapsack and pulled out a laptop.

She said, "This is the laptop we extracted from your world."

By 'extracted' she means stole. But I didn't correct her.

She said, "I've managed to maintain a tiny portal for Wi-Fi access. You could use that to get books?"

My mouth was wide open. Of course! How could I forget? With the Internet, I would have access to all the teaching materials in the world!

I took the laptop. But something felt odd. Not with the laptop. But with the elves.

A laptop in this world was an alien object. A keyboard with around 100 keys, each of them marked with strange symbols. A complicated layout. No obvious universal indicator for a power button.

"Elisa, how did you elves figure out how to use a laptop?"

I placed it on the table so that she could show me.

She said, "We pressed every button until the screen turned on. After some trial and error, we opened something called Internet Explorer."

"And then what did you do?"

"Download Google Chrome."

I guess even elves didn't want to use IE.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a laptop, must be in want of downloading Google Chrome.

Elisa opened Chrome and showed me how they accessed Netflicks.

I took the laptop from her.

First I wanted to find out whom this laptop originally belonged to. A man or a woman?

Only one way to find out.

I opened the Frequently Visited tab.

Elisa said, "Ehh~~ Kurata-sensei~~ What is this?"

She pointed at a bookmark of a website with an orange logo that had some big fat black letters on it. A website every man in my world knows all too well.

She said, "Can we click on that? It looks interesting."

"We most certainly cannot click on that."

I looked through the other Frequently Visited pages. This laptop definitely belonged to a guy.

I said, "Thank you Elisa for showing me this. I can use this to prepare future lessons."

There was another matter to attend to.

"Elisa, where will I be staying? I don't have a home in your world."

Elisa smiled. "Don't worry! I've thought of that."

She took my hand and led me into the forest. Moments later we were back at her tree house.

"Kurata-sensei! You'll be staying with me!"

Xue Jing only wanted to sell to someone that gave him good vibes. Good vibes were hard to define, but somehow, he felt that he wouldn't be upset if he sold his flat to Fang Zhao and the apartment was completely renovated.
Just as Fang Zhao put it, different arrangers would handle the same song differently. Different styles would come out. Everyone was equally entitled to leave their mark. Any buyer was simply a temporary custodian of the property.
Property prices in Qi'an were quite high, especially in this neighborhood. Flats that were located on the 100th floor or higher usually cost at least 10,000 dollars per square meter. There was only one penthouse apartment in the building. The entire property took up some 200 square meters, but the flat only accounted for half of it. A garden and a parking space took up the other half.
The price tag was 10 million, which was cheap compared to similar properties in the area. The market value was no less than 20 million.
One of the reasons why real estate in that neighborhood was expensive was the presence of security guards and regular patrols. Quite a few Yanzhou celebrities bought homes in the area to avoid media attention. Xue Jing had bought this place back then because he'd wanted the peace and quiet. He was no celebrity, but he was quite influential in the music industry. Many people sought him out for favors, hoping a word from Xue Jing would translate into shortcuts. Xue Jing got so fed up he moved here. "There's another reason I invited you here, besides selling you my apartment. It's entirely up to you. No pressure," Xue Jing said.
Fang Zhao had thought a favor might be attached when Xue Jing had announced his asking price. Given Xue Jing was so generous with his pricing, Fang Zhao would comply as long as it wasn't too big of a favor.
"Please continue," Fang Zhao said.
"As you know, I'm not teaching these days, focusing instead on editing and writing textbooks." Xue Jing looked at Fang Zhao. "I'm working on a book about symphonic works. I'd like to use your songs as an example."
Xue Jing was writing a textbook that analyzed symphonies and served as a how-to primer. Symphonies were an offbeat genre. Music students tended to avoid the specialty. Even though symphonies enjoyed greater prestige within the industry, they weren't too popular.
Xue Jing wasn't only concerned with turning a profit. The elders in the industry didn't bother with symphonies, but the genre had to be preserved. Xue Jing didn't want to cut and paste like previous authors. He wanted to present contemporary examples. This would require Fang Zhao to discuss his creative vision, his sources of inspiration, and some memorable moments from the creative process. In short, Xue Jing wanted Fang Zhao to pass on his knowledge and expose more students to the genre of symphonies. It would be the equivalent of a master class in written form. Of course, it was up to Fang Zhao to decide how much to reveal.
"As you know, this isn't a hit single. There won't be much money in it." Xue Jing was frank.
Fang Zhao's emergence gave Xue Jing hope. The "100-Year Period of Destruction" series probably made for the most memorable symphonic pop songs in the past century. More importantly, the series was not condescending. It took the accessible form of pop music and reached a broad audience.
Many young composers were reluctant to share their creative insight, so Xue Jing thought Fang Zhao would take his time to consider the request. Little did he expect Fang Zhao to agree immediately.
"No problem."
But Fang Zhao wasn't actually that young. He was happy to share his knowledge and pass on the lessons he'd learned from the end of days. Human life was finite, but there were no bounds to shared experience and knowledge.
Xue Jing was delighted. "Terrific. Terrific. I'll add your name to the list of consulting editors."
Textbooks in the New Era—whether in print or electronic form—identified their authors clearly. University regulations also required them to identify their editors and consulting editors.
Normally, protocol dictated that if the length of your contribution was brief and the content wasn't essential to the book, you weren't listed as a contributing editor. Xue Jing was thinking Fang Zhao probably wouldn't share at length, but the fact that he was willing to open up and share was worth applauding. Xue Jing was glad to give him credit.
"My assistant will brief you on the mechanics of contributing to the book. You could also organize your thoughts ahead of time. As for the apartment, I'll send for packers right away. I'll have all the paperwork completed and the flat vacated in three days. There's no rush in paying me. If you can't pay the full amount in one go, you can pay in installments over a few years. No hurry."
"It's OK. I can pay in full now," Fang Zhao said.
Fang Zhao left the apartment after the conversation ended. Xue Jing had him chauffeured back to Silver Wing. Fang Zhao got a call from Zhu Zhen, Duan Qianji's assistant, while en route.
"Fang Zhao, someone from Leizhou wants to use the third movement in a movie soundtrack. They don't want to buy the song outright—just license it for 30 days." In other words, there would be a moratorium on the song's release in other formats for 30 days after the film began screening in theaters.
Orders like this from another continent were rare and often translated into new opportunities.
"We haven't discussed the price yet. Chairman Duan wants to get your OK first," Zhu Zhen said.
"To use on a soundtrack? It's a production company from Leizhou?"
"Yes. The deal will help promote the song, but the production company doesn't have a great reputation."
Every continent had protectionist measures in place to shore up their own music and film industries. "Cocoon Breach" was a good example that illustrated this trend. After the song was proven to have an impact on Hull virus patients, the publicity on other continents glossed over the title of the song or made brief mention of it. The focus was on its effect on Hull virus carriers and related topics. The medical discussion took precedence, obscuring any talk of Polar Light or details about the first and second movements.
It was one thing if the two songs were merely released as songs. But the two movements were inextricably linked to a virtual idol, so they were heavily censored in Leizhou.
Media coverage of the songs in Leizhou not only buried the title of the songs and the names of the composer and production company—Polar Light wasn't mentioned at all. Few people who read the news reports searched for the songs. The first two movements also weren't available for download outside of Yanzhou.
So what Duan Qianji had in mind was using the Leizhou film as an alternative platform, even though it might be a crappy production. Given the fact that the two songs were not available for download outside of Yanzhou, they could license them for placement in films. This didn't affect their marketing plan in Yanzhou.
But Duan Qianji was worried that Fang Zhao would find the placement degrading if the film was a mediocre production just judging from appearances. He might be turned off. That was why she had asked Zhu Zhen to run the plan by Fang Zhao first before entering into negotiations.
After being briefed by Zhu Zhen, Fang Zhao thought for about two seconds. "I'd like to get a sense of the plot of the film and where exactly the song will be placed."
"I'm not entirely clear on either. Let me get back to you."
Half an hour later, Zhu Zhen sent Fang Zhao an encrypted file that outlined the plot and where the third movement would be placed.
The document also listed the names of the production company and key investors as well as the main actors.
The credits would have meant nothing to someone outside the entertainment industry in Yanzhou. But anyone from Leizhou could tell from the names of the production company and investors that the film was a shameless ploy to promote a certain star. What wass funny was that, despite their corny story lines and shitty acting, films like this did OK at the box office. People usually bitched as they watched these movies online. They knew they were crap but they couldn't resist watching. Maybe it was a form of venting.
Fang Zhao spent an afternoon watching previous releases backed by the same production company and investors. He had his answer by sundown.
"I'll sign off on this. My only request is that the third movement only be used for the scene specified. There is no leeway on this. It can only be played then."


"Every time background music plays in my head, I feel like there is nothing to be afraid of." —Fang Zhao
Toward the end of the apocalyptic period, Fang Zhao lost his life. However, instead of dying, he found himself 500 years later in the body of a young and aspiring composer who shared the same name. Having received a second chance at life, Fang Zhao sets out to achieve the previous owner's dreams.
Armed with the experience of living through an apocalyptic age and his profession as a composer before that period, Fang Zhao uses his talent, wits, and knowledge to make his mark in the entertainment industry of the future.

Zhang Zian decided to continue the pet store until he couldn’t support it anymore. His parents had loved pets very much. If they were looking down from heaven, they would be sad to see the store go.

Although it was a good wish, he knew nothing about running a pet store. There was a first time for everything, though; he believed he would find a way, one step at a time. 

His first goal would be relatively small—to establish a solid footing in the city. 

He had a big breakfast at a street vendor and felt energized. He returned to the store, moved the cages and display cases out, dusted with a broom, soaked the mop in disinfected water, and mopped the floor until it was nice and shiny. He moved the cages and display cases back after the floor had dried.

He also wanted to renovate the store, but he gave up on that thought after realizing the shortage in cash flow.

When he was cleaning the store, some neighbors walked by and expressed their sympathies for his loss. Some neighbors didn’t know him and just looked at the cages and display cases with curiosity.

When the sun started to rise, he finished cleaning. All the dust and odors were completely gone, leaving only the fresh scent from the disinfecting water. It smelled just like before.

His parents had always taught him to keep a clean mind and live a clean life. 

He had gotten all sweaty from cleaning the store. He moved the reclining chair to the door and rested for a few minutes. 

Now that he had decided to take over the pet store, there had to be some paperwork to handle. First, he needed to change the owner’s name from his parents to his name on the business license. He was not familiar with the procedure, so he started researching online using his cell phone.  

"I have to go to the notary’s office. So much work!"

In order to inherit and transfer the pet store to his name, he needed to get an inheritance notarization using his ID card, the deed for the pet store, and his parents’ death certificates.

Zhang Zian always tried to avoid dealing with troublesome matters like that because he hated them. He was not even sure how he made such an irrational decision like inheriting the pet store.

He wanted to have a fresh mind and pull himself together. No matter how sad he was, he should not show his tears to the customers.

He opened the app store in his cell phone and started a search with "pet" as a keyword. He wanted to see if there was an app which would teach people how to run a pet store, although deep in his mind he didn’t think he would be able to find it.

Umm, what was that?

A game with a "limited time download" sign showed up in the search results.

Some apps and software were free for a limited time, but this was the first time he ran into something tagged "limited time download."

"<Pet Hunter>?"

[Game Description]: This is a magical game! You can capture real or virtual pets in this game. You can even capture mythical creatures and turn them into your faithful friends or partners! Download now and run towards the sunset, young man!

Ha!

He laughed. He achieved his goal to freshen up his mood. 

Exaggerating! This was way over the line!

It might be possible to capture virtual pets, but how was it possible to capture a real pet with a cell phone? It even mentioned capturing mythical creatures... Unbelievable!

There was a countdown next to the game, showing that there were only 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 49 seconds left to download.

"Let’s see if this really is a ‘limited time download’!"

He hit the "download" button, and the download shortly reached full speed. 

This game was pretty large. Hopefully it wasn’t a virus!

He hesitated. When he was about to cancel the download, it showed "download completed!" on his cell phone.

Almost at the same time, the downloading page disappeared. The app store went back to the home page automatically. 

He put the keyword "pet" in the search bar again.

"Oh really?! Nothing?!"

The result showed nothing was matching his keyword. 

He didn’t want to give up yet. He added "hunter" after "pet" as keywords, but still nothing came up.

"This game is really a limited time download… What does the developer want?" he murmured to himself, confused.

Developers made games for marketing. The more players there were, the broader the influence. The broader the influence, the more money the game would make. Even free games earned reputation for the developer. Limiting the time to download meant limiting traffic. Who would do something like that? 

A dialogue popped up on his cell phone: Install? 

He chose "Yes."

Installing…

Installation completed. "Confirmed" or "Open"?

He chose "Open."

Initiating game…

The logo of "Pet Hunter" showed up on the screen.

[Game Hint]: This is an augmented reality game. It requires you to turn on your mobile camera and needs your location information. 

[Game Hint]: This is your first time entering the game. Please register an account. 

[Game Hint]: "Register for free" or "Have an account? Log in immediately."

He chose "Register for free."

[Game Hint]: To ensure user uniqueness and login safety, we need to record your fingerprint. Please place your finger in the fingerprint recognition area and record from different angles as per the instructions. 

"Record fingerprints?! What if it’s a scam…" He frowned.

He used the fingerprints on his right hands for online banking. Just in case it was a scam, he used his left hand to record the fingerprints. 

[Game Hint]: Fingerprint recorded successfully. Logging in automatically…  

The background looked like the deep dark night. A shining white light was jumping lightly.

[Navigation Elf]: Hello! Welcome to Pet Hunter’s World. I am your navigation elf.

[Navigation Elf]: I will try my best to assist you throughout the game. I hope that we can experience an extraordinary adventure together. 

The sudden voice caught him off guard. He almost threw away his cell phone. 

[Navigation Elf]: If you encounter any problems during the game, feel free to contact me!

"Ugh, is it the customer service representative? How do I contact her…I don’t see where to input words…" Zhang Zian was speaking to himself, feeling confused. 

[Navigation Elf]: You may speak to me!

"Really?! You can hear me?!" he asked, once again surprised. 

[Navigation Elf]: Yes! I can hear you nice and clear!

"OMG! This is a 24-hour one-on-one customer service representative! No wonder the download was limited…" He shrugged his shoulders and thought, "This game must be high in costs. How come I didn’t see the developer’s name… What is it? Hiding from fame?"

[Navigation Elf]: This is your first login. Before launching the game, would you like to go through the beginner tutorial? Alternatively, you may skip the tutorial and start immediately.

"What’s your recommendation? Is this game difficult?" he asked.

[Navigation Elf]: You are unable to save your state during the game. For a better experience, I recommend you take the beginner tutorial. 

"Okay, whatever you say. Let’s start the beginner tutorial," he said. 

[Navigation Elf]: Beginner tutorial starting, retrieving data…


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

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