The Boy Who Was Mediocre

----

There was once a boy who thought he was mediocre.

He liked mediocre things, had mediocre looks, and had a mediocre personality.

But the boy who thought he was mediocre, wasn't mediocre.

He performed well above mediocre, actually.

Most called him extraordinary.

And because of that, the boy who thought he was mediocre worked hard to meet their expectations. He won trophies, got prizes, studied from dusk until dawn.

When he entered high school, he met a girl who wanted to be extraordinary.

A girl who dreamed of becoming famous, and a boy who had no dreams.

But the boy saw passion in the girl's eyes. Dreams of a future, of flights of fancy beyond the limits of his own reality, and he was drawn to her bold promises.

They met, fell in love, in one thing led to another. They became lovers.

The boy grew up, and got into an elite university.

But the girl's passion never seeped into the boy's.

He despaired, drowned in his own sorrows as he realized just how damned he was, just how wretched the burden of expectations really were.

And just how heavy the weight that chained him down to the world was.

The boy dropped out, choosing a small office worker job in a small company.

The boy broke up with the girl, because he didn't want to weigh her down.

And the boy who thought he was mediocre, became mediocre.

He lived a mediocre life, still had no dreams, and had a mediocre personality.

Until he got sucked into the whirlpool of another world.

His favorite novel.

"Xuehua's Resilia."

An excerpt from "REBUILD," by ShiningScales124 (Prologue) [BONUS]

----

Ye Zhao frowned.

He had hired a good enough transporter, a funny chap by the name of Charon, to transport him to Elevyar. It had only taken three weeks, and now he was sitting in a cafe near Vya Academy, contemplating his transmigration, in the body of a ten-year-old.

The novel wasn't going the way it was supposed to.

And it was his fault.

Xuehua was supposed to grow up, find Sir Antony Archibald, become a natural prodigy, and get 'Claimed' by Excalibur. After she joined Cavalierre and became its youngest member at the age of seventeen, she would make her way up the guild and become its guildmaster, slowly swallowing up all the other guilds until she reunited the former kingdom.

Then, she would be crowned Queen of Resilia.

At least, that was before.

Now, a twenty-year-old transmigrated into a commoner baby's body, and now was basically her brother. Which made him feel predatory, because of her similarity to Yingying, but she was basically like a daughter to him.

Ye Zhao had opted to find the other swords that were revealed at the end of the story, to continue where Xuehua had left off.

He had forgotten that currently, Xuehua hadn't even started; and that him stealing her Claim to Excalibur was basically the work of a thief that came from the future.

"A ten-year-old thief," Ye Zhao lamented in Mandarin as he continued sawing away at the food.

The main language in Anisa was the same in all four kingdoms, but all four kingdoms had ancient languages reserved for rituals and ceremonies; usually only nobles could speak them.

If Ye Zhao was speaking a strange language, people would usually assume it was ancient Resilian.

So he could swear all he wanted.

"Erm, young lad," the waiter began hesitantly, as he approached, "where are your parents? Are you waiting for anyone?"

Ye Zhao sighed internally.

He hated this body.

"My parents are dead," Ye Zhao lied blankly.

The waiter blinked awkwardly. "Oh, dear Souveraine, my condolences."

Ye Zhao gave him a polite nod, and continued thinking after he muttered in annoyance, "Damn this body."

The icy blade of Excalibur was in a large bag - a ten-year-old with a sword would undoubtedly attract attention. But Ye Zhao could feel the cooling sensation of the sharp blade he had forcefully pulled from the Stone.

Strangely, it didn't feel his own.

It was as if he had ripped off someone else's limb and had attached it to his. Although he could use Excalibur to its full extent, it still didn't feel like it was his. Even after he had gained the sword, it was as if the ice from Excalibur had made its way into his system - numbing his emotions, almost, consuming his empathy.

Was it a side effect from stealing a Claim?

"Damn you, too, cursed sword," he cursed. "You aren't even worth the trial I had to go through. I spent five fucking years in that space."

When withdrawing the sword from the stone, he even had to overcome a Holy Trial. It sucked. It sucked even more that he was trapped for five imaginary years, rolling a stone up a hill like fucking Sisyphus.

Ye Zhao wanted to punch things, just reminded of it, but he sighed, calming himself down.

The main reason he came to Vya was to get better at air magic, find the other transmigrators, and get Durendal.

Maybe even figure out if there was a side-effect to 'stealing' other people's Claims to Holy Swords?

Ye Zhao caught the eye of a newspaper boy, outside of the cafe, through a window. The boy was handsome, dressed in plaid, with nice-looking eyes. The boy smiled at him, his eyes crinkling as his lips quirked.

It was a familiar smile.

It was like his biological sister's smile.

Ye Zhao returned the smile, as he set down his plate and fork, picked up the bag, and exited the cafe.

Approaching the plaid-dressed newsboy, Ye Zhao handed him a copper. Elevyarian summers were both cold and warm, and Ye Zhao could feel Excalibur in his bag, reacting to the weather. Gesturing towards a paper, Ye Zhao started a conversation.

"My mother really likes this issue. Could you give me a summary of what happened? With the - er -" Ye Zhao glanced at the title of the paper "-baron's son's murder?"

"Oh, yer mean the rundown." The newsboy's bright accent seemed vaguely Irish, or Scottish, Ye Zhao wasn't very sure.

He was somewhat disappointed their voices weren't the same.

"The son was attending Vya Academy, but one day he was seen, gutted in an alley, almost like a fish. The Order sniffed around and saw a 'kerchief in his jacket, belonging to a teaching assistant, and there the case was solved. Not ver' newsworthy, compared to other dirt, but it's the Academy, so the papers take everything they can get."

The last bit was said in a whisper, as the newsboy leaned in.

"To be honest with yer, I don't think the assistant did it. Until the end,they kept saying that some other assistant framed them, but they were executed for killing a noble before they spilled the name."

Ye Zhao was now invested.

"Who do you think did it?" Ye Zhao asked, curious.

The newsboy shrugged. "The Academy's staff register isn't open to us common folk, so I'm not sure. But it's just an illegitimate scion, so I don't think the Baron will take further action. Especially since they're part of the Ilya family."

Upon looking at Ye Zhao's confused face, the newsboy laughed.

"I thought yer were an out-of-towner," he chortled, "but yer really don't know the names of the nobles here? The Ilyas? The one with too many scions to count? I recommend checking out the noble register, but it'll cost yer another two copper."

After proceeding with the exchange, Ye Zhao murmured to himself.

"I'll have to make a mental note to find them as quickly as possible...The border rebels are also a threat…"

With the register in hand, Ye Zhao walked towards the looming presence of Vya Academy.

----