Leonie is a student writer and the vice- president of their school’s literary club where she already published diverse creative fiction and nonfiction output. That summer, their school opened a competition about writing a story- blog where it will be followed by the school’s students and others who find the story very powerful. The student who will win the competition shall be given full scholar for the coming school year. With the power of the quill, she will write a story where she could change her life.

August 1, 2013 – Thursday 10 AM – Vagner Studios
"That concludes the report for the first month of 'Miss Sellers'." Anthony finishes his words on the podium.
"…" Despite his calm exterior, Anthony is very very nervous looking around the people in the conference room. The people he just addressed are the board members of Vagner Studios and the investors in 'Miss Sellers'.
"…" The board members can only mull over sullenly the poor ticket sales of 'Miss Sellers that Anthony reported.  
"I've heard from people that you had something to do with this?" One investor asks in hidden anger.
"Yes. Even though we lost 20 screens from Centurion, we managed to work something out with our distribution branch. We were able to offset our losses from Centurion by grabbing more screens from smaller theaters and independent ones. I also got last minute product integrations which saved us millions." Anthony reports wanting to neutralize his faults.  
"Everyone." Vagner Studio's CEO, seeing the unfriendly gazes of the people in the room towards him and Anthony, takes the attention.
"Let's just admit it, we were outdone. Anthony here at least did something that made us break even despite his… unconventional methods. We just can't dictate what the people want to see, and the people wanted to see Isaac's film more than ours. It's as simple as that." The CEO defends Anthony.
'What the FUCK?! That's what I said yesterday! You f*ckin dressed me down and now you're parroting me?! FUCK YOU!' Anthony curses the CEO with a glare.  
"I know you could have done better, but you're not wrong either." The chairman of the board speaks up. "What I'm more worried about is the future." This makes everyone in the room perk up.
The Chairman continues. "At least we broke even. The films of the smaller studios can't even sell tickets; they are f*cked. And if we don't get our sh*t together, even though we're big, we're f*cked too."  
"What do you mean?" An investor asks on behalf of those who are not in the know. Those who are in the know like the CEO and Anthony on the other hand, have an inkling of what the chairman is talking about.  
"The rumors about the sequel for that gangster film, I've confirmed it's true." The chairman reports to everyone.
*murmur* *murmur* The people look at him skeptically.
"A handful of the people who have a history with the Coniglio Family already saw it. There are even rumors that there's still a sequel after the sequel because the first sequel did not wrap up the story." The chairman erases the skepticism.
*MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room descends to subdued panic.
"So it's not just 'Miss Sellers' we should be concerned with, but the sequels 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus' too." The chairman says as he looks at the CEO and Anthony.
"And if Isaac is not the forgiving type, and he found out what you did, Anthony, what do you think he'll do?" The chairman concludes with a rhetorical question. Anthony's face crumples at this.  
"That's right. He'll do what we've been doing. Release his sequels alongside our films'." The chairman says to make the others understand.  
"… Why don't we uh… sue him?" A young board member suddenly proposes, saving Anthony.
"What?!" The others are dumbfounded.
"On what grounds?" The CEO asks.
"Let's just get some random guys, have them claim that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' is their work and that Isaac stole the idea from them. Rinse and repeat." The board member says.
"Intimidation suits? Are you fuckin stupid?" The chairman yells.
"What? We do it all the time against journalists." The board member says.
"You're not talking about libel or defamation, but copyright infringement! We're gonna get sued back for fraud if a judge doesn't slap us with it first." The CEO shoots down the suggestion.
"What's more stupid is that you're not just suing Isaac. You're offending Coniglio family too. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if someone in this room is connected to them and the Coniglio will find out about your stupidity before you even leave the building." The chairman says.
The board member swallows his spit but recovers his guts immediately.
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do? Wait it out? Wait until Isaac does not have a film on theaters?" The board member counters.  
"…" The CEO and the chairman are stunned by the unintended suggestion.
"Huh… Aside from making films that can match Isaac's film, which right now is hard to do? … Waiting it out… might just be the best thing we can do." The CEO says.
"Usually, we make others not want to compete with us but this time, that might just be the right move." The chairman shakes his head.  
"Really? That will just end up with more losses." The board member grumbles.
"We might save ourselves from losses…" Anthony butts in.
"Ah! Excuse me. May I talk to you for a moment?" The CEO however immediately grabs Anthony's arm with a warning glare.
Anthony ignores the warning and returns a look of defiance while brushing the CEO's hand aside. 'F*ck you. You approved of my plans. You also tried something, so you're going down with me if this don't work out.' Anthony thinks as he takes the center of the podium again.
The CEO can only give up and retreat to the side of the room as to not get caught in what he thinks an incoming crossfire.  
"?" The attention of the room goes back to Anthony, their curiosity intensified from the interaction they just witnessed.
"Without Isaac's film, 'Miss Sellers' could have been the best-selling film this year. To be quite honest? 'Miss Sellers' is just as good as September Ninth. It might even be better than September Ninth considering the details we put in it.
"That means that we've done great in applying Isaac's style and enough people liked it. If we can re-write 'Love Campus' and 'Yard Blues' into a better story, while making their quality the same with 'Miss Sellers', we will catch up with Isaac. We make money while we learn." Anthony concludes.  
"How confident are you?" The chairman asks.
"50%, tops that we can compete, 75% chance that we can break even every film until we catch up. But I'm 100% confident that our people are competent. They are learning on the job every day. Let's look for new talents too. There are many young and obscure indie film makers competing right now in different film festivals, and they have adapted Isaac's style well. Even though we can't compete with Isaac for now, we'll do well enough to survive." Anthony says. Anthony's confidence somehow calms the room down.  
"Another thing. Last year, there was a total of 100 million or so ticket sales in America and 40 million of those are by 'September Ninth' in only four months. The first seven months of this year, we saw 62 million tickets sold and of those, 35 million tickets are sold by 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' in only six weeks." The board members are shocked at this report.
"We… can't keep Isaac do this to us…" An investor chimes in.
"We can't. However, we have a take away from this. In the previous years, before Isaac's debut, the highest we've seen in ticket sales in the country is around 90 million and that was in 2007, 10% less than last year.
"Looking at Isaac's 'September Ninth', he earned way more in ticket sales than DVD sales. That isn't normal in the industry. It's either 50% tickets, or 50% DVDs/Blu Rays. This means that Isaac actually  made movie viewers go to the theaters instead of them just waiting to buy or rent DVDs or Blu Rays." Anthony concludes.
"So you're saying, Isaac is changing how films are seen..." A random board member says.
"Yes. Without 'September Ninth', and 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer', we never would have known that the American film market is bigger than we thought. If we can offer the market quality, stand-out films like Isaac's, then we have the potential to capitalize in the biggest film market we've seen in history." Anthony explains.
*MURMUR* *MURMUR* All sorts of exclaims and discussions fills the room.
"…" Watching the people he cannot get through to previously now listen to him, Anthony is feeling proud inside but maintains his calm. He then looks at the CEO and the CEO simply looks away.
'Not only incompetent, a f*ckin coward too.' Anthony feels smug looking at the CEO looking small.  
"How do we do that?" The chairman asks after the round of discussion.
"… I have a suggestion, a summary really of the opinions of our creative teams… And you won't like it." Anthony begins with hesitation.
"We should stop making films of the romance or sports genre." Anthony says.
*MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room immediately react negatively and they share the same sentiment; "Those are our money-makers…"  
"Everyone… I get your knee-jerk reactions but here's the thing. Isaac proved that people are hungry for something new. He made films that we thought are against the market but he ended up setting a new trend. I hate to admit it but, it's a start of a new era for the industry." Anthony drops.  
"Then what are we supposed to make films about?" A random board member asks.
"It's best if you get the details from our creative teams themselves, but I can say something. I've seen various films that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' competed against in Sorrento and I think we can grab some ideas from them.
"First of all, we can stop making sports films. I can say with confidence that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' gobbled up the slice of the sports genre. Hell, I think 'September Ninth' even made sports films boring last year, making the sports films flop. Tell me, everyone. If you go to a theater that shows 'September Ninth' and 'Hard Ice', which one would you have seen?" Anthony asks.  
"... September Ninth..." is the split decision winner.  
"Exactly. September Ninth was more exciting to watch than 'Hard Ice'. That's why 'Hard Ice' flopped despite being nominated and winning awards. I myself would rather watch a real hockey match or behind the scenes footage of real athletes than watch 'Hard Ice'." Anthony says.  
"Now, would you folks rather watch 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' or 'Yard Blues'?" Anthony asks again.  
"..." Tayaw's film again is the winner.
"Right. And it's for the same reason. While we can't make a gangster film like Isaac's, we can borrow some ideas. We can make films that talk about searching for family." Anthony suggests, receiving nods of approval.  
"When it comes to romance films on the other hand, we can still make them." Aiden says. This gets a more positive response.
"But we can't make them the way we used to. I've seen some of this year's best films in festivals. I've noticed that they still have flavors of romance in them but just like 'September Ninth', they are more about the growth of the characters as people, not just fighting for deserving it. Don't worry though. Our people right now are splitting their hairs to make that happen." Anthony reports.
Seeing the approval in the room, Anthony is now more confident. However, he does not want to appear dictatorial to his superiors.  
"If you're all not ready to give up on romance and sports, maybe we should make films that are not fairy tales but actually talk about the reality of love and athletes' lives. Those are just suggestions, but any topic really that is unique and will be interesting to people, we should make films about those." Anthony concludes.
That makes the room enter a lively discussion. Anthony can finally smile, having gotten through the skulls of the board members.  


A/N : Alt Title - Jack of Entertainment 

Title : Jack of Arts

Synopsis:
Tayaw is a talented musician who never got to fulfill his potential. After losing his purpose in an unfulfilled life full of regrets; he is given the chance to go back in time and do everything over again.Along with a mysterious gift and an unclear mission, Tayaw starts a new life, this time making his mark to the world.
"Tayaw is a once in a hundred years musical artist! I just wish he was born in my generation"
- Buddy Rich, two-time Gramophone Award winner
"I admit he's a good musician, but he's an author first and foremost. He is changing the world of literature for the better."
- Helena Paddington, Outcault Prize for Fiction winner, Sohlman Prize for Literature winner.
"Despite being a musician and an author, he is to me, the greatest blessing to the film industry. This is his era."
- Heo Dong-jun, two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director and three-time nominee.

"I don't like him. Why does he use actors who didn't train and grind on the stage? He says he doesn't like my acting? What the hell does the kid know about acting? I've won awards for f*cks sake!"
- Merrell Street, five-time Academy Award winner for Best Actor, three-time Toby Award winner for Best Actor.




---------------
A ground work for a novel idea in the future.
---------------
English is not my first language so excuse my limited vocabulary and bad grammar. thanks

Articles about sex scenes in books usually fail in one of 3 ways. They often:

Give such a short love scene that you're begging for more but can't find a longer excerpt online
Feature Romantic or Erotica novels with busty men or bodice-rippers on the cover
Offer sex passages from the classics (D.H. Lawrence, anyone?) that everyone knows and has already read (what's wrong with modern sex writing?)
The sex scenes below are literary fiction. But don't run away! They're really good sex and really good writing, and yes, those things can be combined. I'll prove it to you.

Just read the first couple of excerpts below and you'll find steamy, romantic, arousing sex writing. Writing that doesn't make you cringe from bad prose. Writing that offers a number of pleasures to be had — psychological, word-play, beautiful descriptions. These are some damn fine love scenes in books.

Before we get there, a quick quiz: What is the difference between erotica and sex in literary novels?

In erotica, the sex is never bad.

It's always vagina-blowing, cock-swelling fantastic. 

But in the excerpts below, sometimes the sex scenes don't go as planned, or one of the partners wants something he is not getting. It's not all roses and multiple orgasms. In short, it's more like the complexity of real life, which sometimes arouses you and sometimes depresses you.

Writers, read these sex scenes in books and learn! Don't fall into the trap of writing terrible sex scenes and earn yourself a nomination for the Bad Sex in Fiction award. Glean from this wisdom. Study and prove yourself approved. As Steve Almond has recommended, if you want more insight into how to write sex, there's no better text than the Song of Solomon.

I also have to make a pitch for a nonfiction work that features some of the sex scenes in books below: The Joy of Writing Sex. (For those of you who are old enough, that's a clever play on the famous 1972 book, The Joy of Sex).

And for those champions of diversity who are going to try to VIDA count these excerpts according to the diversity of sexual acts, please know that I tried my best to choose racy novel excerpts that illustrated a wide range of human sexuality. If I did not happen to hit upon your specific form of sexual entertainment, I humbly apologize in advance (but seriously — there must be something here that entertains you)

report this, please. I'm 12 and this is all porn

I panicked. Here I was. Purposeless. No reason to live. Nothing to give, nothing to do. My life was pointless. I lived through hell to gain freedom. Now I had gained it, I had no purpose.

A deep realization dig into me. I had nothing to live for. I started contemplating life, looking for a meaning to myself. An answer to what I could do. I did not know.

I was shackled by nothing, yet that trapped me in another prison. I was born with no ties to the world. No reason to do anything. I thought, 'CALM DOWN! YOU ARE OVERREACTING!! THINK DAMNIT THINK!!!'

Then, I truly understood something. I was free. Truly free. Nothing to hold me down. I could do whatever I want with my life. Anything was better than that hell. I could legitimately truly live from now on.

So I decided, since I had so much time. I decided to do what the man who's memories I had wanted to do with his life. He wanted to lead people out of misfortune. So I went to the local library and read every book on philosophy. Surprisingly, I remembered each word of each page of each book. I decided to just read all the nonfiction in the library, except for history, because after reading nearly the full library, I thought to stop, so I decided to fuck history, and left.

I learned a bunch of shit I did not need to know. I read a bunch of dictionaries. Filled with words that I may never use in a fucking lifetime as all I like to do is swear like a dumbass.

There were too many books about qi. I read them ALL. I started thinking of more and more ways to make stronger effects with less qi. Thought of some that blew me up later and thought of some that saved my ass later.

There were also basic sword books. That day, I became the most mediocre man at literally everything except history and learning. I was best at learning things to do with studies of the world and shit, not emotions and common sense. Luckily, my memories were of a pretty good person. Named As Hol. He gave me a sense of emotions, otherwise I would've been a fucking robot for probably months later until I learned science and stuff, where by then, I would probably make something to implant memories of how shit works

Also, since I had memories of emotion, I was able to pick up philosophy, though it was still kinda hard.

I walked out of the library feeling more ready for the world. Then I collapsed because poison is a bitch. That spider poison may have left me alive, but it still fucked me over at the time.

█̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̢͍̺͚̰͇̙̱̼̥̝̫̞̗̣̺͖͉̠͇͓̰͈͔̙̮̘̳̭͙̘̣̗̖̫͍́̊͑͗̈́̽͜ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ█̸̡̛̫͙̼͍̙̹͉̬͚̟̻̣̻͙͎̣͍͍̺̼̖̿̈͆̏̀̉̌͂̂͂̓͒̀́͗̅͝͝█̷̢̨̢̧̧̧̛̟̫͚͓̩̳̗̙̺̘̱̩̜̝̲͓͖̮͎̫̞̲̭̯͍̜͖̥̦͖͚͈̝̳͓͔̺̘̩̘̪̳̓̿̐̑̐͋̑̔̈́̅̄͒̾̋̈́̀̒͊̉̈̀͂̎̈́̍̓̾̃̇̐̚͠͝ͅ█̵̢͖̟̗̜̟̣̝̼̮̰̤̆́̌̽̉̑̈́̊̒͋̐̀̍̏́͌̚͝ █̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̢͍̺͚̰͇̙̱̼̥̝̫̞̗̣̺͖͉̠͇͓̰͈͔̙̮̘̳̭͙̘̣̗̖̫͍́̊͑͗̈́̽͜ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ█̸̡̛̫͙̼͍̙̹͉̬͚̟̻̣̻͙͎̣͍͍̺̼̖̿̈͆̏̀̉̌͂̂͂̓͒̀́͗̅͝͝█̷̢̨̢̧̧̧̛̟̫͚͓̩̳̗̙̺̘̱̩̜̝̲͓͖̮͎̫̞̲̭̯͍̜͖̥̦͖͚͈̝̳͓͔̺̘̩̘̪̳̓̿̐̑̐͋̑̔̈́̅̄͒̾̋̈́̀̒͊̉̈̀͂̎̈́̍̓̾̃̇̐̚͠͝ͅ█̵̢͖̟̗̜̟̣̝̼̮̰̤̆́̌̽̉̑̈́̊̒͋̐̀̍̏́͌̚͝ █̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̢͍̺͚̰͇̙̱̼̥̝̫̞̗̣̺͖͉̠͇͓̰͈͔̙̮̘̳̭͙̘̣̗̖̫͍́̊͑͗̈́̽͜ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ






Within this black void. I exist. Why am I here? I don’t know. What is my name? I don’t know. Where am I? I don’t know. 


Why do I exist to bother asking?

Why do I exist to bother?

Why do I exist to?

Why do I exist?

Do I exist?

Do I?

———

Within an endless abyss, a spirit wondered. 

———



God was an endlessly far away concept in a place like this. After all, it didn’t seem likely god exists if this place did.



[ █̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ█̸̡̛̫͙̼͍̙̹͉̬͚̟̻̣̻͙͎̣͍͍̺̼̖̿̈͆̏̀̉̌͂̂͂̓͒̀́͗̅͝͝█̵̢͖̟̗̜̟̣̝̼̮̰̤̆́̌̽̉̑̈́̊̒͋̐̀̍̏́͌̚͝ █̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̢͍̺͚̰͇̙̱̼̥̝̫̞̗̣̺͖͉̠͇͓̰͈͔̙̮̘̳̭͙̘̣̗̖̫͍́̊͑͗̈́̽͜ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ█̸̡̛̫͙̼͍̙̹͉̬͚̟̻̣̻͙͎̣͍͍̺̼̖̿̈͆̏̀̉̌͂̂͂̓͒̀́͗̅͝͝█̷̢̨̢̧̧̧̛̟̫͚͓̩̳̗̙̺̘̱̩̜̝̲͓͖̮͎̫̞̲̭̯͍̜͖̥̦͖͚͈̝̳͓͔̺̘̩̘̪̳̓̿̐̑̐͋̑̔̈́̅̄͒̾̋̈́̀̒͊̉̈̀͂̎̈́̍̓̾̃̇̐̚͠͝ͅ█̵̢͖̟̗̜̟̣̝̼̮̰̤̆́̌̽̉̑̈́̊̒͋̐̀̍̏́͌̚͝ █̸̢̢̢̧͖̮̯̤̫̯̘̗̱̳̻̠̬̣̯̲́͛̈́̒̉̐̓̚ͅ█̷̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̢͍̺͚̰͇̙̱̼̥̝̫̞̗̣̺͖͉̠͇͓̰͈͔̙̮̘̳̭͙̘̣̗̖̫͍́̊͑͗̈́̽͜ͅ█̷̛̙͉̮͚̱̬͔̺̭̯̼͚̹̬͍̜̝̖̣͉̣̮̩̖̠͕̙̘̗̉̊̅̈́̌̌̂̄̅̆͒̈͑̈́̈́̉̔̓̋̉̏͑͒̌͑̏͂͘̚̕͘͠͝ͅ█̸̡̛̫͙̼͍̙̹͉̬͚̟̻̣̻͙͎̣͍͍̺̼̖̿̈͆̏̀̉̌͂̂͂̓͒̀́͗̅͝͝█̷̢̨̢̧̧̧̛̟̫͚͓̩̳̗̙̺̘̱̩̜̝̲͓͖̮͎̫̞̲̭̯͍̜͖̥̦͖͚͈̝̳͓͔̺̘̩̘̪̳̓̿̐̑̐͋̑̔̈́̅̄͒̾̋̈́̀̒͊̉̈̀͂̎̈́̍̓̾̃̇̐̚͠͝ͅ█̵̢͖̟̗̜̟̣̝̼̮̰̤̆́̌̽̉̑̈́̊̒͋̐̀̍̏́͌̚͝

"After my trip, I will get back to work and my everyday life. In Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to cooperate with three beautiful celebrities."
The locals were enlightened. Cooperate with three celebrities? This explains all the rumors. He sure is handsome enough to be liked by three celebrities. 
"Will you release a music album? Are you good at singing?"
Qin Guan smiled like a gentle breeze in the restless summer. His smile comforted the audience.
"That’s not my goal. I like my job, but no one is perfect!"
His fans felt sad, but they cheered up again soon. Our idol is too busy anyway.
"In the following days, I will be attending another film audition. Today, I had a rare day off, so I came here with my girlfriend to have fun on the beach and watch the outdoor Shakespeare play."
"Did you like the play?"
"Of course!" everyone echoed. That was the power of a free play.
"It was my honor to participate in this play today. Only personal engagement can make people realize an actor’s hard work. Look at my T-shirt. It’s soaked in sweat. These great, unknown actors play here every day, trying to show you the greatest plays in the world."
"Tell me, were you moved? Shall we give them our best regards?"
"Of course!"
"Of course!"
"I hope the whole audience, my fans included, will ignore my presence. Please show your appreciation to these lovely people and their splendid performance!"
"As for me, I’ll go look for some food with my beloved."
There was laughter and sighs all around. Before returning the microphone to the director, Qin Guan suddenly recalled something.
"By the way, in order to thank my fans, anyone who watched this play will get a poster with my signature from my fan club’s website by showing their postcard. The offer will be valid for one month."
The depressed girls cheered up again.
"Ha ha! I got three postcards! Keep your cards, dad and mum!"
"It’s unfair. I’m not a tourist!"
"Silly girl! There are some geeks on that website. We can flirt with them!"
"Good idea!"
The director took the microphone and embraced Qin Guan warmly. He got a postcard with the number eight and a 100-dollar bill pinned at the back.
Best wishes to artists all over the world...
...
The trip back to their hotel was uneventful. Qin Guan was driving as fast as he could. Thanks to him, the drama group had received their biggest donation that year.
Besides, those plain postcards had suddenly started increasing in value. Local fans tried their best to get some extra cards from the tourists.
After dining and wining to satiety, Qin Guan fell asleep. Actually, he would be happy performing anywhere.
He woke up the next morning with a satisfied smile.
Cong Nianwei would pack and return to New York alone, while Qin Guan would attend the audition in Los Angeles. This was his most important job before returning to New York.
If fortune favored him, he would get some good roles in Los Angeles and start his journey in commercial films. Gold and silver were not afraid of fire, but they needed to melt on the stove first.
"Mean Girls" was a teen comedy with a small budget. No special effects or famous stars were involved in the film. The actors had been selected from inexperienced candidates. The female leads had already been decided.
The director had failed to find the hero from the actor resumes though. This was because the film had been adapted from a nonfiction book called "Queen Bees and Wannabes". The writer, Rosalind Wiseman, the scriptwriter, Tina Fey, and the director, Mark Waters, were all looking for a handsome actor.
As soon as Qin Guan arrived for the audition, he got a reality check.
The audition had been deliberately decided to be held at the school where the film would be shot. There were children playing sports on the grounds.
The female actresses were getting acquainted with the environment as Qin Guan and Qu approached Mark.
"Hello, director. This is Qin Guan. He is here to audition for the role of Aaron."


Qin Guan was reborn and sent back to his final semester in High School 18 years ago. Getting a second chance at life, he works hard to turn things around and eventually become a Prince Charming. What will his life be like the second time around? What will he have to go through? How will he succeed in turning from a loser into a Prince Charming? Read this story carefully and find out!

Within two hours, close to 40 million Divine Stones worth of items that Lin Huang was selling in Royal's market were almost sold. In reality, over 90% of them were purchased by Money Boss.
Lin Huang was finally relieved to have gathered enough money to buy god rule relics during his trip to the God Territory this time.
"I've got you a bargain. It will be a 22% discount for Night. The original price was 25 million and now it's 19.5 million. You get 25% off for Shadow, which was originally priced at 21 million and is 15.75 million now. In other words, you're only paying 35.25 million for something that was 46 million. The difference is 10.75 million. I'll be taking 30%, which is 3.22 million. Let me round it up for you. Just transfer me 3.2 million after you've paid the buyers."
"So, how do I trade with the sellers?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"You'll have to send the sellers a personal message. Tell them that you're the buyer Money Boss mentioned. After that, just follow the steps they teach you."
"Sure, I'll transfer you the commission after the deal is done." 
Just when Lin Huang was done messaging Money Boss, he contacted both sellers immediately. The sellers changed the price of the items without hesitation as they changed their privacy to be visible to Lin Huang's account.
The Royal trading system was very unique. Product logistics on the page did not matter, whereby the products would be transferred to the storage equipment the buyers set up directly as long as the purchase was successful.
The next official trade was completed smoothly within a minute. Lin Huang was finally relieved to see two extra god rule relics in his storage space.
He scanned through his storage equipment with his Divine Telekinesis and checked properly, confirming that both god rule relics were fine. Lin Huang then clicked Money Boss's account and transferred the 3.2 million Divine Stones in commission over.
"I've transferred the Divine Stones to you. Please check."
"Got it. It's a pleasure working with you! Please get me to bargain for you again if you're getting more god rule relics or business that's more than 10 million Divine Stones in the future," Money Boss replied almost instantly.
Lin Huang could not help but smirk when he saw the message. "I'll definitely look for you next time." 
"Is it done?" Bloody had been sparing a portion of her attention to Lin Huang's progress.
"I've gotten both of the god rule relics. I've checked them and all are good." Lin Huang nodded.
"I'm basically done on my side too, but it's a little inconvenient to finish the master plan now." Bloody was also cautious. After all, they were in someone else's territory now. "Let me give you a rough idea. We'll discuss the details after I'm done with the master plan and I'll send it to you tomorrow.
"First of all, you'll have to summon Kylie after leaving this Shelter. The three of us will head to the Start Shelter to pick up our identity rings. Later on, Kylie and I will head to the core zone of the God Territory. You'll disguise yourself and head to the next grade-3 Shelter.
"I've given a good thought about your identity. It's best that you aren't a lone ranger. The great world is different from the gravel world, and you'll encounter plenty of trouble since you have no organization background. Although Royal is a huge organization, its headquarters is in a human territory that's too far away from the God Territory. Distant water cannot quench the present thirst, thus it's best that you join an organization in the God Territory.
"There are a couple of major organizations in the God Territory, but currently there are only two that are recruiting and are suitable for you. One would be the Combat God Temple while the other would be the Death Sickle.
"The Combat God Temple is the best choice for your need to kill a great number of virtual god-level monsters alone. The Combat God Temple is the biggest mercenary troop in the God Territory, whereby they take on all sorts of group hunting missions all year long. If you join them, not only can you hunt all sorts of monsters, but you'll be given mission rewards from the Combat God Temple too.
"However, the biggest disadvantage of joining the Combat God Temple would be the lack of freedom. The reason being, all members will be put into a small troop and they'll have to move as one unit. Although the troop can choose their own missions most of the time, sometimes there are some compulsory requisitions that you can't say no to."
Lin Huang frowned a little upon hearing this point. "Tell me about the Death Sickle then."
"The Death Sickle is the biggest assassin organization and its main business is all sorts of assassination missions.
"The Death Sickle is very lax on their member recruitment. Almost all tribes can register as their reserve members regardless of their ability. The reserve members have all the freedom they want, and they can even reject all the missions. Of course, that would mean not having benefits at all.
"As long as the reserve members complete three assassination missions within a year or accept three specific missions within ten years, they'll become an official Black Sickle Assassin."
"So, there are ranks among Death Sickle members?" Lin Huang could not help but interrupt to ask.
"Yes, the ascending order of ranking in the Death Sickle would be the reserve, Black Sickle, White Sickle, Golden Sickle, and Blood Sickle. There are only seven Blood Sickle Assassins, all of whom are on heavenly god-level. The seven of them control all of Death Sickle's decision-making."
"So, what're the benefits of the higher ranks?" Lin Huang asked again.
"The higher the ranking, the higher the grade of mission one gets and the better the reward. Reserve, Black Sickle, White Sickle, Golden Sickle, and Blood Sickle correspond with the grade of the mission. Reserve members can only take missions below virtual god-level, Black Sickles can only take missions below true god-level, White Sickles can only take missions below heavenly god-level missions, and so on and so forth…
"Not only are there mission rewards for completed missions, but there're also accumulated points. One will earn a place on the Death Leaderboard when they have sufficient points. There are three leaderboards for the Death Sickle, which are the Black Sickle Leaderboard, the White Sickle Leaderboard, and the Golden Sickle Leaderboard. There are only 100 names on each leaderboard which will be renewed every day at 00:00. Throughout the month, those who manage to rank the top ten will receive a handsome reward.
"Those who are usually on the Black Sickle Leaderboard are top virtual god-level powerhouses. Those who rank the top three will receive a reward that is at least comparable to a god rule relic each month. The rewards for the White Sickle Leaderboard and the Golden Sickle Leaderboard are even better."
"One per month would mean that one will get 12 god rule relics in a year. I've only gotten two god rule relics after my hard work in the gravel world and spending most of what I had. Meanwhile, the few of them on the leaderboard can earn that within two months! So, what's the disadvantage of joining the Death Sickle?" Lin Huang turned his head to ask Bloody immediately.
"You must complete at least three missions each year if you become a Black Sickle. You can pick the missions within your own level. If you fail to complete a few of them in a year, you'll be given a few specific missions in the next year. The specific missions are usually those that basically nobody is willing to do because they're very risky."
"Secondly, the number of hunts will definitely be lesser than those in the Combat God Temple if you join the Death Sickle. After all, the killing in the Combat God Temple is done in battles with many enemies. It's more suitable for you to elevate your combat strength."
"I'll join the Death Sickle. I can go to battles on my own when there's no mission. I just won't get the reward that the Combat God Temple will be giving," Lin Huang shared his thoughts, "To me, the Combat God Temple's restriction is too much. Besides that, I'll have to fight in a team, so there'll be many techniques that I can't use. I think the Death Sickle is better for me since I can fight on my own."
"I figured you'd choose that." Bloody shrugged helplessly.


Lin Huang was a 15-year old boy from Earth, on a path to live his life in a world full of monsters. With his younger sister in his care, and given only 91 days to live, the odds were not in his favor at all... That is until, he killed a vicious vampire, purely by accident. With a twist in his tale, his life was changed completely. As he fought his way through this world with the help of his troops made of men and monsters, the boy sets his sights on a much larger ambition of becoming the greatest monster hunter in the world!

It was different from now. The person who accompanied her was now standing by her side - Di Fuyi. She felt inexplicably excited as if she owned the world. 

Di Fuyi was particular with cleanliness. Apparently, this guy did not always come to the night market, so when Gu Xijiu brought him to the night market he somewhat resisted… 

Gu Xijiu explained to him, the food culture of a city was not shark's fin or bird's nest boasted by luxurious restaurants, but the street food in the night market.

After the detailed explanation by Gu Xijiu, Di Fuyi finally sat down with her in front of a food stall…
Of course, when he sat down, he applied the cleaning spell so the chair they sat on became as clean as freshly washed. Some of the tables and chairs had been very smokey and the original color could not be seen. However, after being used by Celestial Master Zuo, the table and chairs became new as if a layer of skin had been peeled off and revealed the original color.

Di Fuyi was actually not interested in these street foods. He was a very picky eater. Sometimes he was not even interested in the meal prepared by the famous chef.

But when he saw Gu Xijiu enjoying her street food, he could not help but followed suit…
When Gu Xijiu was eating, she felt that he always watching her. He looked at her with almost every bite whenever he ate the food in his hand…

This man had always been the superior. Regardless where he went, he was always elegant and clean. Now, he had to sit by the roadside and eat poorly. Gu Xijiu felt a certain sense of pity towards him but was also a bit excited. She purposely asked him, "How does it taste?"

At this moment Di Fuyi was trying to bite the fish ball from a stick. When she asked, he looked up at her and thought for a moment. He honestly asked her, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Gu Xijiu was speechless. She could not help laughing and pulled him up, "Alright, I don't want to make your stomach suffer. Let's go."

Di Fuyi was relieved and he threw the fishball stick that made his stomach churn. He held her hand continued walking.

He was rich. He would buy everything that Gu Xijiu liked. After a few times, all the sellers on the street had known that the both of them were rich. When the sellers saw them, they served them very politely and attentively.

It was a rewarding trip after they walked for one round.

Fortunately, she had a super spacious storage bag. No matter how big the thing was, she could store them in the storage bag without it being cumbersome.

In fact, the things sold in this stall were special but not rare nor precious. Gu Xijiu bought them just for fun and also to give away to her friends.   

Both of them just casually shopped and Di Fuyi just followed Gu Xijiu.

He never thought that he would have the free time to casually shop. He used to travel to different and nice places with beautiful scenery. However, it was his first time shopping with a woman. 

Surprisingly, he did not feel bored but was still very happy. Especially when he saw her sparkling eyes, he was even happier. 

Although they had changed and made up, they were a man and a woman who looked handsome and pretty.

Those sellers were also very good at selling. They always praised them as the perfect couple and greeted them with best wishes.

Whenever they talked about this, Di Fuyi was even happier and became exceptionally generous. Sometimes the money he paid was even more than the price of the product.
 


In a modern world, a professional assassin was murdered by her beloved and found herself revived in an ancient world as a general's daughter with a weak physique. She was engaged to a prince, but because she did not have a nice appearance, her fiancé and sister attempted to kill her. Although she had to struggle to survive, there were also those who unconditionally loves her that supported her in her time of need. 

How does she intend to adapt and survive in such a foreign and hostile world? Follow Gu Xijiu on her journey to discover her one true love!

That was news to Nathan. Scarlett had teased Sierra rather pointedly when he brought over that Christmas present but that was months after they first met and they had been hanging out regularly by then.  
"Seriously?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. She's the worst but I guess she wasn't wrong about you liking me. I was convinced you didn't," she said matter-of-factly. "When did that change anyway?"
He wasn't sure he could pinpoint an exact moment. Obviously that was a lost cause even if he hadn't realized it at the time.  
"I'm not sure exactly. Sometime between rock climbing and meeting May and Adrian. I knew pretty early on that I could easily end up liking you, which is why I tried backing away before that could happen. Which clearly didn't work. What about you?"
Sierra poked him on the cheek. "Well, I'm glad it didn't. That's a lot sooner than I expected though. I didn't realize my feelings until you ditched me the second time and I missed you more than I would have if I thought of you as a friend."
That wasn't terribly surprising. These things could creep up on you. What mattered was the end result. She returned his feelings and he needed to learn to live with the consequences.  
"I never expected you to like me back," Nathan admitted. "Since you kept calling me weird and all."
Her cheeks pinked. "My bad. You were weird though. I had never met anyone else who carries emergency supplies in their pockets before. I totally get it now but I didn't have all of the facts then."
"That's fair."
"Now that I know you better you aren't that weird. You're just you."  
He smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. That was reassuring considering how many times she had called him weird in the past. Nobody wanted the person they were interested in thinking that about them.  
Nathan knew he was different though. Even among people with superpowers he had a rare one. He might even be the only one with Precognition. That automatically made him an outlier.  
An outlier who now had to try and live normally for the sake of the people he loved. He truly didn't know how he was going to pull that off. His visions were a part of him, albeit a part he hated. Who would he be without them?  
===  
Nathan got his answer a few months later after he had recovered sufficiently to go outside enough to have more visions and continue testing frequencies. After much trial and error he and Matthew figured out the right one but that didn't change how on edge he was every time he went outside, expecting the worst.  
It was strange seeing small every day accidents happen around him without having them repeat so he could stop them. Strange and unsettling.  
On top of that, he had to watch his rather accident-prone girlfriend hurt herself half the time when he wasn't able to stop her on reflexes alone. He ended up using the pocket first aid kit he carried around on a regularly basis.  
The first time it happened he totally panicked and Sierra had to talk him down and tell him it was okay and the cut wasn't serious enough to warrant stitches. His heart hadn't stopped racing for quite some time after that. Not getting a do-over felt wrong.  
Nathan knew what he was without his power. Useless.  
At the same time, his girlfriend seemed much happier even with the little injuries. She was relieved he wasn't able to see bad things happen and jump into the fray anymore.  
They went out and did things like they did back when they were at the height of their old friendship, doubled with Scarlett and Ryan, and occasionally hung out with her friends as well. He even met her parents and older brother's family.  
They all seemed to like him and he did his best to relax and not be awkward around them. Suddenly having to be more social was uncomfortable for him but he was slowly getting used to it.  
What Nathan couldn't get used to was seeing people around him get hurt without being able to do anything about it. He was antsy every time he was out and about.  
How long would it take for that feeling to go away? Would it ever? Or would he spend the rest of his life being anxious and full of guilt towards total strangers that people kept trying to convince him he didn't owe anything to?  
He was trying to be better about that. To convince himself that he didn't owe anyone anything and that his debt to the universe had already been repaid. Unfortunately, old habits die hard.  
Part of Nathan loved his life now since half of his responsibilities had suddenly vanished. The other part felt even emptier and more anxious than before.  
He was simultaneously happy because being loved by Sierra was a wonderful thing and miserable because he felt like it was all too good to be true and that he didn't deserve it. His emotions were a tangled mess.  
When Halloween rolled around and everyone was suddenly talking about Crossbones again since it was a year since the Amazing Skeleton Man video went viral that made things worse. There was no escaping it.  
He heard it from his editor first when he called to set up another book signing event. Jordan was a businessman first and foremost so he only talked about things he thought would profit him.  
"You know what I'm worried about? That someone is going to write a book on the phenomenon of the world's first vanished superhero and it's going to make a killing before we get a chance. The first book about these sorts of things always does the best. Everything else is just a copycat," Jordan lamented.  
Nathan couldn't believe someone would do such a thing. "…wouldn't someone need a lot more information about who Crossbones actually is to make that happen?"  
"You'd think so but people have written books on unidentified people before. Think about the Zodiac Killer. There are tons of books on him and he never got caught. Someone could totally round up enough eyewitness reports and whatnot to write a book about Crossbones without knowing who he is. Actually, I have one of my nonfiction guys doing research already. I would have asked you but it isn't your genre."  
The irony of almost being asked to write an autobiography without anyone else knowing it was an autobiography wasn't lost on him. It was still ridiculous that one of his sort-of coworkers was doing it.  
"Yeah I don't do nonfiction. Or superheroes," Nathan said flatly.  
Jordan sighed. "I figured you wouldn't. Honestly, the whole thing is kind of morbid since there's a good chance the poor sucker is dead. That part is right up your alley since you're the king of morbidity."
"Gee, thanks."
"Hey, I'm not knocking it. People love dark fiction and you're amazing at it. You're probably the most successful author licensed under our publisher but don't tell anyone I said that."
That was quite high praise but it didn't make Nathan feel any better after his alter ego got brought up. The conversation got back on track then about the signing event and he was relieved when he was able to hang up the phone.  
He had hoped that would be the end of it but as luck would have it Scarlett and Ryan wanted to talk about it too when he and Sierra doubled with them a week and a half later. And then Lisa and Jake brought it up when he was hanging out at their house while his girlfriend was off with her friends.  
At least they all seemed to think that Crossbones was dead. That would mean that anyone potentially looking into his identity might think the same.  
Nathan didn't hear any opinions to the contrary until Thanksgiving when he was once again back at the kiddie table with the Carlin cousins. It had been nearly a whole month and he was still a hot topic.  
"I don't think he's dead," Logan insisted. "I think he got too badly hurt to be a hero anymore."
"Either that or he retired simply because it was a close call. Think about that woman people say was at the scene that insisted on going in the ambulance with him. He might have quit for her," Lindsay said thoughtfully.  
He was concerned by how close her guess was. If a teenage girl could come up with it who was to say an adult couldn't?  
No footage of that day emerged—thank goodness—but what if someone remembered Sierra's face if people went poking around looking for eyewitnesses to interview? Her power would really come in handy at a time like this but she wasn't using it anymore.  
Why couldn't he be more like her anyway? Turning her power off had done nothing but benefit her while he continued to struggle and was beginning to believe he always would.  
"I think he's dead," Amber lied. "Otherwise someone somewhere would have heard of his whereabouts by now."
Nathan nearly smiled. She was trying to cover him.  
"What do you think Nate?" Logan asked, which startled him. He hadn't expected to be dragged into this conversation about himself. It was easiest to go along with what Amber said to deflect suspicion.  
"I think he's dead too. Amber's right: someone would have said something by now if he showed up anywhere."
He was incredibly grateful for hospital privacy laws. There wasn't a trail to follow after he got taken away in that ambulance because of them. It wasn't as if ambulances advertised which hospitals they serviced so no one had known where to look even if patient confidentiality wasn't in play.  
"How hard is it to find a seriously injured guy covered in burns? If he was alive someone would have noticed after he got out of the hospital," Amber added. She was a rather convincing liar.  
"I guess you have a point…" Lindsay acknowledged reluctantly. "Unless he had help. That woman might have snuck him out of the hospital then kept him hidden away until he healed up."
"What about his job? His family? Somebody would have noticed something was up."  
His sharp-as-a-tack little sister continued with her argument until all of her cousins agreed that Crossbones had to be dead. It was incredibly strange sitting there throughout this discussion since only one other person knew the man in question was at the table. Everyone else was discussing him as if he was a stranger.  
This sort of thing had been happening to him too often lately. It felt wrong and on top of that it brought back his guilt about abandoning the public that needed him.  
'Amber and Sierra need me more,' Nathan reminded himself multiple times a day.  
It wasn't quite enough to assuage his guilt. He sincerely hope the hype surrounding his alter ego died down soon. He wanted things to get back to his new version of normal even though that had its own host of problems.  


Superpowers are not all they are cracked up to be! Nathan Grant wanted nothing more than to live quietly after the tragedy his power caused when he was younger but fate has other plans for him, including meeting a mysterious woman named Sierra that no one can seem to remember...

*Set in the same universe as The Sound of Silence*

*Cover art by polkadottedscrunchie*

nonfiction best sellers novel

tentang hidup •|| nonfiction

best best

teenah

Jack of Arts

Killmeplease

The Man of an Infinite Wonders

Rebirth: How A Loser Became A Prince Charming

Monster Paradise

The Evil Consort Above An Evil King

I'm Not A Hero!

People search nonfiction best sellers also like: