“You bought me for 1 night , you don’t own me.”

“Then why did you scream my name like I was yours?”

And like the devil predicted, the apple of temptation was too much for Eve to deny without taking one. simple . bite.

Eric Valence, an aspiring writer who is given the opportunity of working under the well-known Draven H. Malcom, an icon within his country. However, being editor for the new author turns out not to be so easy; it may have something to do with showing up late to work on the first day with no shoes. As their partnership begins to unravel, and people notice the special treatment Eric gains, a few are obviously jealous. Eric Valence is determined to prove his potential amongst his workers, but he never thought that a pair of bed sheets would be the thing changing his entire life. 

***

Eric started at his face distorted with hurt, and tightened his lips close. His decision was meant to save each other, since at the moment, he believed that he was toxic, and would only break Draven, not lift him.
Draven noticed that Eric had paused, and continued, "We can move somewhere together."

Eric bit his bottom lip, "I need to become the person I want to be Draven—"

"That can't be done with me?" Draven screeched.

"No, because I'll just be in your shadow, and that doesn't solve anything," Eric breathed rapidly. When he noticed the conversation slowly becoming intense, he reached for Draven's jaw, "Listen to me, I'm doing this for us."

"No, you're doing this for you."

"Is that so bad?"

"It's not, but I thought after all this time, I'd at least have meant something to you," he sighed.

Eric furrowed his brows, "You do." He did not seem convinced, but Eric added, "Draven I love you." Draven simply shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, but Eric tightened his grip on his jaw, "Listen to me, I love you."

"Stop saying that—"

"I love you," he breathed.

"No you don't."

"I love you so much."

Eventually, Draven opened his eyes, and when he observed the honesty behind Eric's features, his eyes lowered to Eric's lips, back to his eyes, and then all of a sudden, he crashed his lips on Eric's.

Entering the dining hall was quite overwhelming at first but Uteu was more interested in listening to his siblings talk about their days. There was a huge painting of Grello attached to one of the walls and Uteu had to pause to look at it.

"Oh its big bro Grello!" Uteu reeled back in shock to look at Ulo who had sparkles in his eyes as he looked at the painting.

"He was taking care of you when you were sick!" Uti piped in.

"He's so nice! He gave us lots of coloring books and snacks. Oh! And told us every day how you were doing!" Ulo said, the sparkles in his eyes intensifying.

"Shouldn't you call him uncle?" Uteu asked in amusement.

"He told us not to call him uncle. Cause uncles are unreliable." They said at the same time.

Uteu quirked his head at their words but brushed it off as Grello wanting to sound younger.

They headed over to the long table and enjoyed many dishes cooked for children. Uteu felt nostalgic as he ate a bit of everything. He hasn't had food like this in a while.

He was normally the one that cooked for them. But back in the day it was their caretaker that used to make these childish dishes for them. Ulo and Uti ate happily and they continued to tell him about all the things they were able to enjoy in the mansion.

They mentioned their favorite maid, Minh and least favorite maid Lia. All the things they loved to eat and how great the food was. They always had their favorites every day but some things they didn't like would be added in sometimes.

They even mentioned how big bro Grello would ask them kindly to eat their veggies. They'd be shaped in fun shapes so they were fun to eat, even if they tasted a little icky. Their favorite maid would give them peanut butter or ranch for some of the veggies to make it taste better. Big bro Grello even mentioned how proud Uteu would be of them.

They even told him what they would usually do during the day and which maids they interacted with the most.

Uteu smiled as they rambled on and on. The familiar chatter during dinner was exactly as he remembered it. It was also just what he needed for his nerves.

Finally, a bit of normalcy without having to worry about strangers or near death experiences.

He felt grateful for his siblings and frankly, he was also grateful that they didn't remember him being stabbed. He wanted them to retain their innocence a little longer.

When they finished eating, two maids Uteu didn't know the names of, cleaned up without a word and disappeared as soon as they were done.

Uteu's face turned solemn as he looked at the twins.

"Ulo. Uti."

Catching onto his mood, they quieted down and turned to fully face him.

"What rules did big bro Grello give you?"

Uti had a finger on her chin in thought as Ulo tried to recall, "Big brother Uteu needed his rest so we couldn't go find him on our own. We had to wait for him to find us... Not to go outside the house without a maid by our side and..."

"Oh! And to let a maid know if we ever needed anything! To use this whistle if we ever need one." Continued Uti as she pulled out a white whistle from under her clothes..

"Don't open the door for anyone. Don't go with any strangers ok?  You two know about stranger danger, so I'm counting on you two to remember."

Ulo and Uti gave him a look as if to say, "Duh!"

But Uteu wouldn't let them go until they agreed.

They got up and he followed them to their room. It was a spacious and warm room with small windows that no one could climb in and out of.

Two identical beds with cartoon character themed sheets and blankets were pushed together against the wall. Small drawers on either sides of the bed were opened and clothes were messily stuffed in.

Uteu gave the twins a look and they sheepishly inched away to deal with their mess.

"I don't remember you having these before..." Uteu said as he looked at the designs of the clothing they were folding. They looked new, with a lot of their favorite characters on them.

"Big bro Grello got them for us!" The sparkles came back into Ulo's eyes as he folded quickly.

Uteu was surprised. He guessed Grello thought of everything. Now that he thought back on it. The twins didn't have that many sets of clothes when they stayed over at his place.

It wouldn't have been enough for however long they needed to stay here.

When the twins finished tidying up, he ushered them off to go brush their teeth. He honestly didn't know where their bathroom was and hoped it was nearby. The twins pulled open a door on the opposite side of the room, past a low round table with crayons and coloring books out.

He entered their bathroom with them and saw cartoon stools for them to step up to the sink to brush their teeth. Uteu heard buzzing as they used their cartoon themed cups and electrical toothbrushes and dried their faces with their cartoon themed towels. Uteu felt helpless. Their big bro Grello was spoiling them.

The two pulled their stools over for a quick shower. Uteu asked how they normally got showers. He looked at the open shower and drain and cute shower curtain. He turned the knobs and quickly got the water at a nice warm temperature.

"Minh would give us a shower. She was really gentle with our hair." Uti said as Uteu pulled out a cartoon themed tears free kid shampoo and conditioner.

Uteu hummed and had them wash their bodies as he worked a lather for their hair. He rinsed them off and they quickly grabbed their big fluffy cartoon towels and dried off. Uteu found a small hair dryer in one of the drawers by the sink and dried their hair.

"We missed you so much big brother." Uti said as she hugged him.

Uteu almost melted into the hug. He patted her hair and as he tucked them both in, they yawned.

The door creaked open and Uteu almost flinched. He quickly turned to to door, stiff. A maid with short wavy brown hair nodded politely at Uteu and pulled out a a children's book. Uteu visibly relaxed.

"Good evening, I am here to read the twins a story, unless sir would prefer to?"

Uteu almost agreed, but the twins decided for him.

"We like Minh's voice! Please read to us?"

Minh smiled and replied, "Of course little ones, I would love to read to you."

Uteu didn't have the heart to stop her and nodded in approval when she turned to him. If he didn't know enough about her from all of the twin's retelling of these past few days, he would have felt weary leaving the twins with her.

He watched as she pulled out two stuffed toys from the closet and handed them to the twins before pulling a chair over and dimming the lights. She left one bright light for herself to read.

When she softly told them a story he didn't recognize with emotions and different tones for all the characters, he suddenly had a thought.

This was similar to what a mother was like, wasn't it? He could see why they wanted Minh to stay and read them a story instead of himself.

A Chain is all that kept the Earth intact.

From a Chain to it's Links. The many connections helped to stabilize the Earth.

Uteu Drelden one day finds himself plunged head first into the many conflicts that arises when the Forging of the Chain is activated prematurely.

Now, rather than stabilizing the Earth, all the Chains were now draining the Earth of it's vitality.

Uteu must remove the many Chains to keep his family and friends safe.

However, he will slowly realize that all the connections in the world are much more complicated than he first believed.

The hell, who knew that his father was hiding so much from him... and that magic was real?!

Chapter 12: To Be Home

Cozy seats with built-in heaters made Riks bottom immensely comfortable. As cold as it was outside, the interior was built for the occasion. 

Rik deeply appreciated the free ride they got by the inspectors despite it being so late. It was quite thoughtful of them to book a Gouqe 54 for them. Sure, they were actually being escorted by the team to prevent any incidents but it did feel rather good. 

Doll was fast asleep on one of the couches. He tightly hugged a small jar with his head resting on Rik's arm.  

Fer was conversing with her collegues and replying to messages. 

The Gouqe came to a stop. 
 "Mr. Aadam, we have reached your destination." 


Doll was very light. As his cheek rested on his shoulder still deep asleep, Rik thought he needed to put on some more weight. The elevator door opened and Fer dragged the tiny bag of clothes. 

The corridor lighted up as they walked. Fer opened the door with the card key she fished out of her brother's pocket and entered the medium sized apartment. 

There was an extra room for guests which Fer hogged saying ," This room smells much nicer." 

"She just wants the big bed," thought Rik. 

Doll's new room was a bit closer to his. Although it wasn't completely decorated it had the basic necessities like a bed and a wardrobe. 

He removed the boy's shoes and tucked him in. The jar was still in his hands. Slowly, he nudged it out of the tight hold and kept it on the side table.

.....

There was no court hearing. Since Doll was judged as an invalid, they were directly passed. Before the sun fully rose, Doll was officially entered into the Aadams family roster. 

Blurry eyes took in an unfamiliar view. Musky vanilla sheets were wrapped around his legs. A small table atop which sat a retro digital clock showed it was past dawn and well into morning. 

Easily sliding off the low bed, Doll checked the new environment.

 Jar, bedsheets, window, curtains, wardrobe, bag, door. 

Door. 
He pushed it. 
Nothing. 
Pull? 

It opened. 

Sizzling sounds came from the left. Also some out-of-tune humming. A nice smell. 

Dining table, chairs taller than him, cutlery, pancake and two adults. One cooking, one half awake.

"Good morning, Doll. Have a seat."
More toneless humming. Strong arms lifting him up. A full spread. "Did you sleep well?"

Nod.
"You haven't cleaned your teeth, but you can do it later."  

Clack. Click. 

Pancakes. 

"Doll Aadam, from today onwards you are my child. You are my son." 

Fork. Syrup. 

"Let's celebrate today."

Cream.

"So I became an aunt? Huehehee." Dazed mumbling on the side. 

Strawberry.

"Have a bite."

Tasty.

"When everything is extraordinary, everything becomes ordinary."

What would happen in a world where everyone has a system?

And what if you became lesser than ordinary by not having one?


...

System: an AI or supercomputer capable of helping humans accelerate their development either spiritually, mentally, physically or psychologically. Usually lives as a parasite within a host body. Provides services based on tasks carried out by said host.

"Not quite so." Qi Chengzhi smiled at her. "My prior verbal warning was to no avail, obviously, as Mu Sisi was still impudent. She was becoming bolder and bolder due to his brother's position. I shouldn't wait for her to create more serious trouble, it'd be too late for her to regret. She had framed Ruan Dancheng this time, and she might do the same on others next time. When will she stop doing this? She would become bolder and commit more harm if we don't take any action."
"How about Mu Huaisheng?" asked Song Yu.
"I've fulfilled my duty as a friend by letting his sister off so many times. We should stop being passive. If he did blame me because of this, then I may have to reconsider whether he's a worthy friend." Qi Chengzhi pouted slightly.
Song Yu knew that he did not want her to feel wronged after all.
Today she could talk so bluntly towards Mu Huaisheng in front of him because she knew he would not blame her. She also wanted Mu Huaisheng to realize that they would not tolerate invariably.
Song Yu walked towards Qi Chengzi and stopped beside him. He was still sitting at the side of the sofa. She stood beside the sofa and gently touched his arm, her soft and slender fingers caressing it.
Qi Chengzhi looked up at her coolly, his graceful expression decorated with elegance.
"Sorry for troubling you," said Song Yu softly.
"No trouble at all." Qi Chengzhi did not feel he was burdened. Quite the contrary, he felt that she was wronged because of him.
Smiling at him, Song Yu suddenly bent forward and nimbly pecked on his lips. When she straightened her body and looked at him, the elegance he displayed moments ago was gone. He was blushing—even his ears turned red.
He was extremely cute with a startled expression. It was rare to see this kind of expression on him.
Qi Chengzhi's eyes were shining brightly. He stared at her intensely like he was itching to pull her into his arms and make out with her. It was Song Yu 's turn to flush due to his passionate stare. She could not help but touch him one more time before turning around and walked to the kitchen with her head down timidly.
Looking at her back, he could not stop smiling.
…
…
Ruan Danchen sniffed a few times, then she wet a piece of tissue and wiped her eyes.
She was looking into the mirror, her eyes were still reddish, but it was not very apparent. She could not hide in here for too long because Song Yu would be worried about her. She took a deep breath and opened the restroom's door. She stepped outside with her head bowed and her forehead bumped into something.
Ruan Danchen astonishingly raised her head and saw Qi Chenglin was standing right outside the restroom.
He was tall and had a broad chest. He was obstructing the way out, forcing Ruan Danchen to be blocked inside the restroom, but she could not walk back inside.
"Young Master Lin, please excuse me." Ruan Danchen hastily bowed as she dare not let him saw her reddened eyes.
"I want to use the restroom." Qi Chenglin's frosty voice sounded at the top of her head.
"…" Ruan Danchen was speechless—of course she knew that he came to use the restroom. "Shouldn't you let me out first before coming in?"
Unexpectedly, Qi Chenglin snorted and answered, "Don't speak like you've never seen me pee."
"…" Ruan Danchen's face turned red, he was implying that she should enter the restroom with him and stood beside him to watch him pee?
Bah!
She already stepped aside to let him in. It was very rude of him to talk like this.
"It's not attractive at all." Ruan Danchen looked down and mumbled.
However, Qi Chenglin was able to listen clearly to what she said. He put his hands into his pockets, raised his eyebrows and asked, "This means that you had seen quite a few? Why don't you tell me whose is the most good-looking?
"I never saw other's before, only saw yours, but it was ugly enough, okay? Are you going to let me through?" said Ruan Danchen furiously as she raised her head. She had lost her patience.
She was blocked by him without any reason and now they were discussing whether his penis was good-looking, was this appropriate?
"Why are your eyes so red? You cried?" Qi Chenglin teased her.
"No!" Ruan Danchen was annoyed. She lifted her arms and tried to push him away.
However, the moment she touched his chest, her wrists were grasped by his roasting hot hands.
His palms were huge because he had long fingers. In contrast, her wrist was so thin and delicate.
He moved into the restroom forcefully, causing Ruan Danchen to retreat into the restroom weakly without much resistance. In a split second, she was flung towards the opposite side. Before she could react, the door was closed with a bang and she was pressed against the restroom's door.
Their bodies were within touching distance. His face seemed enlarged because he was so near to her. He looked much more attractive in close distance and she could taste his rich odor with her trembling lips.
"Qi Chenglin, what are you doing?" Ruan Danchen's wrists were clutched by him and she was unable to free them, she crossly said, "Stop behaving like a hooligan, go and find other women. This is your brother's house, what do you want to do?"
Qi Chenglin stared at her derisively and laughed. Then he questioned her coolly, "Did you asked for Youxuan's birthday just now?"
He looked malicious and stern, Ruan Danchen was frightened by his gaze. Her heart was beating very fast, why did he ask her about this? Did he find out something?
Ruan Danchen appeared to be nervous and not knowing what to do. "Youxuan told me you cried. Why did you cry when you were only asking about his birthday?" Qi Chenglin sneered.
Ruan Danchen's face turned pale and she turned her head away. "Nothing, I was reminded of one of my relative's kids."
Qi Chenglin snorted with disdain and threw her hands away. "You should prepare a draft next time if you want to lie. Youxuan is still a small kid, don't involve him in your plot."
"What do you mean, Qi Chenglin? What could I have plotted on him?" Ruan Danchen was fuming, she could feel the blood surging into her head and her face flushed to the color of scarlet. Her eyes turned red again after being accused by him. "Do you think I had done that because of you? If you thought it was because of you, I can tell you straight, stop flattering yourself. Youxuan said it right, he had to try to complement your undesirable character."
Ruan Danchen used her elbow to push him away. She opened the door and ran out.
…
…
When they were having dinner, Ruan Danchen sat obliquely opposite to Qi Chenglin. She was feeling uneasy as she could see him whenever she looked up.
Furthermore, she could feel that Qi Chengling was looking at her now and then. This caused her to eat with her head down all the time. She only took the dishes in front of her without uttering a word.
Even the others sensed that there was something unusual going on between them, and they exchanged puzzled looks.
"Danchen, why are you so quiet tonight? You're not behaving like your usual self." Song Yu smiled and exchanged the dishes in front of her with the dishes in front of Ruan Danchen. "Don't just pick the dishes in front of you. There's no need to feel embarrassed since there's no outsider here."
Although Ruan Danchen was not as outgoing as the incredibly lively Lu Nanxi, she was not an introvert either. Therefore, Song Yu felt awkward that she was so quiet tonight.
Ruan Danchen replied to her with a smile, but she accidentally caught Qi Chenglin's eyes. She immediately turned her head and pouted in contempt.
After they had their dinner, they sat for a while before taking their leave.
Ruan Danchen knew Song Yu very well, so she started to talk when Song Yu was just about to ask Qi Chenglin to send her back. "Mr. Cheng, Miss Qi, could you give me a lift? Just drop me off at a nearby subway station."
It was obvious to Cheng Dongge there was something unusual going on between Ruan Danchen and Qi Dongge. He took a glance at Qi Chenglin who did not say anything and nodded. "It's my pleasure, it would be inconsiderate to drop you off at the subway station. I'll send you back home."
Ruan Danchen sincerely thanked him and left with Cheng Dongge and Qi Chengyue.
Qi Youxuan was pouting unhappily as he followed Qi Chenglin to the car. He climbed into his child safety seat and let Qi Chenglin fastened his seatbelt.
After Qi Chenglin started the engine, he asked with his lips still pouted, "Dad, did you make Aunt Ruan angry?"
Qi Chenglin glimpsed at him from the rearview mirror and did not answer him.
Qi Youxuan stuck out his fair and chubby little finger and pointed it at Qi Chenglin. He was furious at his passiveness and said, "Oh, Dad, what do you want me to tell you! When will you find a wife with this kind of temper? You're a grown man, yet you still need your son who's going to kindergarten to worry about you. Can you be more reliable?"
"…" Qi Chenglin speechlessly took a glance at him and said, "Since you know that you're still a small kid attending kindergarten, you should do what kindergarten kids do. Don't concern yourself with adults' matters."
"What if this kindergarten kid wanted the latest Gundam model. Would you buy for him?" asked the smart child with his eyes wide open in anticipation after he sensed an opportunity.
Qi Chenglin was at a loss for words. "…"
This naughty brat. Did he purposely trap him?
Is his IQ so high?
"You see, you refused to buy one for me again. I wanted to do what kindergarten kids should be doing, but you didn't give me the chance!" Qi Youxuan distressfully slapped his chubby thigh and gave him a helpless look. "Dad, I'll marry Muran in the future. Nowadays, girls don't like staying with their in-laws. Of course, if you don't marry anyone, then Muran would only have father-in-law, and this would make things more inconvenient. What should I do if you fall for your daughter-in-law? I can't stop worrying!"
"Not only that, my father-in-law surely won't allow Muran to stay with you. At that time, you'll be all alone—such a pity! What I did was for your good, so how could you be so stubborn!"
"…" Qi Chenglin could not bear it anymore, he said with his mouth twitched and his teeth gritted, "Qi Youxuan, enough is enough. Where did you learn all this nonsense?!"
…
…
"New Year's Eve Special Edition"
This was the first time Song Yu celebrated Chinese New Year's Eve with Qi Chengzhi at the Qi family's old manor. Glittering snowflakes were falling outside. The ground, lawn, holly trees, and all the other various plants were covered by a blanket of white, just as how it was described in paintings and fairy tales. The joyous New Year's atmosphere in the Qi family's manor was lively and palpable.
Song Donglin and Yu Qianying went to celebrate New Year with the Song family, so Song Yu was not worried that her parents would feel lonely.
The Qi family also experienced some changes compared to before as Qi Chengyue had followed Cheng Dongge back to Li City for New Year's celebration. This was the first time she was not together with her family on New Year's Eve.
Aunt Liu also returned to her hometown and would be back on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year.
Song Yu, Xia Wenna, and Guan Liya were wrapping dumplings together. Guan Liya smiled and said, "I wasn't used to not having her around on New Year's Eve. She wasn't very helpful in the chores but she loves wrapping dumplings, although her dumplings were not good-looking. The filling was too few and the skin was too thick—just a glance and we could identify which dumplings she had made after cooking."
Qi Chengzhi smiled at her. He was sitting beside Song Yu, fiddling with his phone with his arms around her waist. There was a large cot beside the sofa with an infant was lying inside. The skin of his face was still wrinkled with a tinge of yellow.
Qi Youjin was just one month and a half old. Song Yu had completed her confinement half a month ago and she had not completely slimmed down. There was still some flabby flesh around her waistline.
Qi Chengzhi enjoyed it when he held her flabby tissue in his palm intermittently and pinched it.
He opened the WeChat app and saw a photo sent into the Qi Family's group which showed two hands holding a dumpling each, one of the dumplings was larger than the other.
The dumpling on the smaller hand had visibly much fewer filling and thicker skin whereas the one on the larger hand was well-made.
Needless to say, Qi Chengzhi already knew which dumpling was wrapped by Qi Chengyue. She passed the phone to Guan Liya.
Guan Liya grinned when she saw the photo. "This girl, no improvement at all after wrapping for so many years. Her mother-in-law would surely laugh at her!"
After he said that, Qi Chengzhi's phone received a request for WeChat video call, "Gee!" said Guan Liya. "Chengzhi, quick, a video call from Chengyue."
Qi Chengzhi accepted the video call while finding a perfect angle to fit all of them into the camera.
Grandfather Qi and Grandmother Qi moved closer to them. All of them were trying to squeeze to fit into the camera.
Qi Chengyue cheerfully called the names of people who were present one after another. Guan Liya asked with a grin, "Hopefully you're not causing inconvenience to your husband's family!"
"Mum, what are you talking about?" Qi Chengyue asked with her face flushed.
"No, absolutely not!" Sun Shaoyun and Cheng Zhaohui appeared on the screen together. Sun Shaoyun was waving her hand. "Grandfather Qi, Grandmother Qi, and Mrs. Qi, Chengyue was really great. When she came back with Dongge yesterday, all of our neighbors who met her praised her because she was pretty and well-mannered. They envied us a lot!"
"Big Brother, let me see my little nephew!" Qi Chengyue urged.
Qi Chengzhi passed his cellphone to Qi Chenglin and he lifted it. He went to the cot beside the sofa and carried the baby in his arms for Qi Chengyue to see.
"Yahoo, little Youjin, your aunt missed you the most when I'm here!" Qi Chengyue looked like she truly wished she could extend her arm out of the screen to stroke his head.
Her voice had startled Qi Youjin. He blinked her eyes a few times and suddenly burst out crying.
Qi Chengzhi tried to calm him down. "Maybe he peed. I'm changing his diaper now."
After quite a while, Qi Chengzhi carried little Youjin back and confirmed, saying, "Yes, he did pee."
Qi Chengyue had hung up the video call. Qi Chengzhi put the baby back into the cot and lulled her to sleep.
Meanwhile, Qi Youxuan was staring at the dumplings while holding a pair of chopsticks. He was holding some edible red coloring on the other hand. That was given to him by Aunt Liu, and it was used for coloring the eggs when they were cooked after the birth of Youxuan. Qi Youxuan asked for it when he saw there were leftovers.
He seized the opportunity to draw a red dot on one of the dumplings with the chopsticks and the coloring when Xia Wenna and Guanliya were picking up them.
He had skillfully drawn a red dot on five of the dumplings before Grandmother Qi noticed his misdoing. "What are you doing?"
Qi Youxuan looked at her with his grape-like big black eyes and innocently said, "It would become better-looking after drawing the dots. We stamped the steamed buns during New Year, so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same on the dumplings."
"…" Grandmother Qi studied the dumplings suspiciously for a long time and sensed something was wrong in it. Then, she took one of the dumplings and finally discovered the truth. "You're marking the dumplings with money wrapped inside!"
"…" Qi Youxuan twisted his round tummy and said in an embarrassed manner, "People say the coming year would be more prosperous if we ate more dumplings with money wrapped inside them during New Year! I don't believe in luck, so I decided to work for it!"
Previously, Qi Chengxuan was responsible for wrapping the money into the dumplings, thus he could effortlessly identify those dumplings. However, she was not around this year, so he had to find another way.
"…" Grandmother Qi made no reply. Everyone else fell into a mutual silence as well.
Grandmother Qi confiscated the chopsticks and the red colorings from Qi Chengxuan. "Stop fooling around—you already drew 5 dots, and there are only eight in total. You should be satisfied!"
Surprisingly, Qi Youxuan did not disagree. He ran towards Song Yu instead, twisting his buttocks and sticking out his little belly. He beckoned to her with his finger crooked, Song Yu lowered her head and heard him whispered, "Aunt, when you cook the dumplings at night, please cook the other three dumplings with money inside separately, and put them together with the red-dotted ones in my bowl!"
"…" Song Yu looked at this greedy little boy who wanted her to include all eight dumplings with money among the ten dumplings he would get. She nodded with a smile. "Sure."
…
…
After having their reunion dinner, they sat down in front of the television to watch the Chinese New Year Gala. The Chinese New Year Gala was different this year—the channel had collaborated with various platforms to send out digital red packets, and the audience could follow the instructions given to fight for them.
Although the members of the Qi Family were wealthy, and most of the time there were only a few dollars or a few cents in the packets, they still participated in it for fun. It was quite interesting and fun—even Grandfather Qi and Grandmother Qi were holding their cell phones.
Grandmother Qi did not understand how these things work, hence she asked almost everyone she met about it before the New Year. She had asked all the Qi's siblings about it, and they had had a difficult time explaining it until she eventually understood.
Song Yu was tapping for digital red packets on Alipay right after she finished shaking for the red packets on WeChat. She was delighted because she managed to win 17.78 Yuan, and the amount was the most in the family.
Qi Changzhi was smiling while combing her hair using his long and bony fingers. Her hair became less tidy after she bowed her head for so long to tap for the red packets. He did not have the heart to ridicule her when he saw her excitement.
Song Yu's cell phone vibrated. She checked her phone and found out that Qi Chengzhi had just sent her a digital red packet via WeChat.
"Wow, you're so in, even know how to send this!" Song Yu smiled. She thought Qi Chengzhi was just having fun with her.
She created a WeChat group with Wei Ran, Qi Chengyue, Ruan Danchen, Lu Nanxi, Fang Jiaran and Ning Wan before. They would send red packets into the chat group whenever they were free and see who got them first.
Song Yu tapped on the digital packet that was sent by Qi Chengzhi, and she was astonished by the number displayed.
5201314!
"Keep it for fun." Qi Chengzhi was smiling. "This is for tonight. I'll give you another one as the New Year's lucky money[1] tomorrow morning."
"…" Song Yu's face turned red and she beamed at him. She felt that he was very romantic and sneakily kissed him. "Thanks, hubby."
---
Author's note:
Did you see the easter egg? Yes, it was Song Yu's child. In the main text, Song Yu was pregnant for less than three months, but I had let her baby feature in this special edition. Please do not demand a twin, Orange Juice is still young, let them come one by one.
[1] In Chinese tradition, adults give coins or notes wrapped in red paper to children or the younger generation as a lunar new year gift to protect them from evil. Money in red envelopes was believed to bring good luck, as red is China's lucky color.


Song Yu, an up and coming architect was supposed to be the fiancée to the second son of the Qi Family... until her family went bankrupt. The engagement was called off and she finally has the freedom to love whoever she wants to! Years later, a twist of fate made her cross paths with the Qi family again. In order to land a prestigious architect role in an upcoming hotel construction project, she had to impress the director of Qilin. Follow Song Yu as she navigates through life and love!

Lance woke up, and for a fleeting moment, he was at peace.

Then he realized he was not in his room, not in his home. Memories crashed against the surface of his consciousness, forcing him to quickly sit upright, the bed sheets falling off his upper body and crumpling onto his lap. He tried to block out every thought that came to him.

But he couldn't run from his life; what it had been, what it was now...

Even still, Lance didn't want to think. He didn't want to revisit the past, so he looked to the other side of the room, catching sight of his reflection in the mirror. For a single moment, he wanted to laugh. His hair was incredibly messed up.

A memory played.

"Nice bed head. Didn't know you liked me enough to copy my style."

Lance hunched himself forward, bowing as his hands found his face. He sighed, trying to block out the memories. Trying to think of something that wasn't so painful.

How did his life get like this? How did he end up so alone?

Music caught his ears. An instrument; something with strings being plucked. Sounded like more than one... Like there was a bass instrument being played as well.

He stood, remembering Zidane was here, too. The present moment caught up with him, and he swallowed back the fear. He had to get on friendly terms with this guy, if they were going to continue on like this.

'If there's even these cells in me in the first place. I still don't really have much proof.'

But the way his eyes brightened when he saw that picture. That feeling in his chest...What was that, then, if not those cells?

He shook his head, dismissing the question. He couldn't figure it out, wouldn't be able to. He could only walk forward, pad his way into the hall, and follow the music guiding him into the main room.

Whatever instrument Zidane was playing, it wasn't something Lance had heard before. The feeling it brought him was strange, too. Almost a state of elevation, of bliss. This emotion steadily increased the closer he got to the living room, and upon reaching the very end of the hall, Lance stopped in the entrance way.

Zidane was sitting on the couch, one socked foot resting against the edge of the coffee table, something like a guitar in his lap. Quickly, Lance figured out it wasn't anything he had seen before; even double-necked guitars had their fretboards parallel to each other. This instrument's upper neck was tilted, and the crossbreed's tail was wrapped around it almost like a third hand.

Lance found himself moving closer, completely transfixed by the instrument. That blissful feeling was getting much stronger, too, each note rippling the emotion into him all over again.

He stopped off to the side of the armchair, hands in the pockets of his hoodie and eyes continuing to sweep along the instrument's body. It was scythe-like, a narrow triangle allowing a place for the ridiculous amount of strings and then sweeping downwards, the curve passing under Zidane's bent leg and then tapering off into a nasty looking point near the opposite side, almost creating a full circle. Definitely scythe-like. The inner curve was jagged with teeth of varying lengths. Lance suppressed a shudder, unable to be truly freaked out with the serene atmosphere the instrument was creating.

Lance flicked his stare to the crossbreed's face, noticing his eyes were still closed and his hands were still continuing to move. His right hand shifting into chords Lance hadn't seen before—the fingers were so spread out it nearly looked painful. There were a hell of a lot of strings on this instrument; Lance quickly estimated there had to be at least twenty—ten on each fretboard. The strings were fairly close together, too, and there had to be a meticulous amount of precision in placing the fingertips of the fretting hand solely on the strings that needed to be played. Lance figured that out quickly, judging from the clawed position Zidane's hand went into when closer chords were formed.

The upper fretboard seemed to act like some kind of bass; that must've been the sound he heard before. With how flat and straight the crossbreed's tail was pressing against the strings, only barre chords could be played. Lance found himself both fascinated and a tad freaked out by the way the tail slid along to different sections, creating different pitches triggered by a flick of the thumb. Lance held down a grimace; he'd probably never get used to that tail...

The notes began to slow, continuing to ring out with that emotion hovering inside of Lance's chest. When they'd stopped completely, a silence echoing out, Zidane's eyes opened. The brightness of the instrument faded as well, nearly matching the shade of Zidane's irises.

The crossbreed's stare suddenly flicked up, and his eyes lightened slightly. The instrument, however, turned a medium shade of yellow.

"Hey! I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Yeah, morning," Lance replied absently. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Oh, this?" Zidane looked down at the instrument, then shot Lance a grin. "This is something called an Ekelno. Basically the Spiro version of a guitar." As he spoke, the instrument's color became a light green.

Lance stared, eyes wide. "The... It just changed..."

Zidane nodded a few times, looking over at the upper fretboard as his tail unwrapped from it. "That's part of what makes Ekelnos so unique," he began. "They pick up on the user's emotions and transfer it to whoever's listening."

"Transfer it?"

A short hum confirmed the question, and with the Ekelno's body a deeper shade of green, Zidane's fingers moved again, plucking a few notes. The sound was much different than before; nearly that of a harp. The low, beautiful sounds faded and Lance was left with the emotions they shot into him. A deeper sense of peace. More grounded, in a way; like he was deep inside the middle of a forest.

"That's weird," he breathed, trying to force back a grin because he still didn't trust this guy. "That thing's really weird..."

Zidane nodded a little bit. "Yeah, probably is." His stare went to Lance again, and with a grin, he asked, "You wanna try playing it?"

"Playing it?" Lance repeated, but the instrument was already being held out to him, the coloring now a light purple. He reached forward, wrapping one hand around the bottom neck. Much thicker than he was used to, but what surprised him more was the shade of royal purple that spread a few inches away from his palm.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Lance brought the instrument onto his lap, having to step one leg through the large scythe-like curve in order to comfortably hold the Ekelno. He brought his mind away from the sheer weapon-like aspect of the instrument, paying more attention to the technicalities from a different, more up close angle. Taking note how the strings disappeared into the body of the Ekelno, and when they reached the knife-like headboard that had no tuning pegs, the strings disappeared into the colored material of the headstock.

"How do you tune this thing?" Lance asked, looking to Zidane.

The crossbreed kept his stare on the instrument, eyes sweeping along the bottom neck like he was studying it. "Emotions sort out the right tuning," he replied after a moment. A change in the instrument's color caught Lance's eye, and he looked back down to the Ekelno. The shade of purple lightened a little bit more.

"So it changes based on mood?" he asked, and at Zidane's nod, continued on. "What's purple mean then?"

"You tell me."

Lance tried to keep his own smile down. "Fascination, I guess." He flattened his hand against the strings, running his fingers along them and finding a strange comfort in the motion. The Ekelno turned a soft green.

Lance tried to nod like that was perfectly normal. "Comfort," he commented.

"Do you play?" Zidane asked, and Lance knew what he was referring to.

Raising one hand to casually scratch at his hair, Lance replied. "Yeah, I... Um, used to play guitar. For a little while. Was in a band, too, but..."

Memories broke free, and Lance tried to distract himself by staring at the near-black coloring of the Ekelno.

"What's black mean?" he asked, his voice weak and incredibly distant.

"Loss," Zidane answered, matching the solemnness. "Deep grey in particular means fear and loneliness." He brought Lance's focus to the front of the instrument, where a small line of white streaked along one corner. The mark was jagged, almost like the body had been cracked. "There's something of hope, though."

Lance nodded, bringing his hand to his hair. "Right. The memories can come back..."

"Let's see if we can focus on that emotion," Zidane said, and Lance remembered the whole reason he was holding this thing.

He shifted his hands, positioning the fingers of his right hand along the strings of the bottom fretboard. Just focusing on the bottom six. There was a home-like comfort in the way his hands moved into a basic chord. And with a smile he realized the song he wanted to perform.

It was... strange to play. Almost therapeutic, in a way. His own emotions echoed back to him with every note, and that white coloring came to mind. He watched that line of white began to spread, slowly overtaking a part of the Ekelno's body.

Memories came to him. Being in a garage with friends—some old, some brand new—laughing like idiots at messing up or just messing up on purpose. His mother peeking in on him while he practiced in his room, notes blaring from an amp he'd bought with his own allowance.

The line of white began to close, blackness overtaking it.

Lance tried to breathe right, tried to not focus on the shifting colors or the tightness in his chest.

'How did my life get this way? How... I thought that, maybe after I woke up...' 

'I thought everything would be normal again...' 

'I thought everything would go back when I woke up.' 

The horribly distorted sound left scars inside his mind. He immediately stopped playing, hands running through his hair as he tried to breathe right. Just breathe; don't have a panic attack. Just... Breathe...

He closed his eyes, pulling air in through his nose. Just focusing on that as he felt the Ekelno tip, body lightly hitting the hardwood floor beneath him. Lance wanted to apologize; wanted to say something because just sitting here wasn't doing anything. But he couldn't find the words to.

His stomach hurt, whether it was from the lack of food or the emotional train wreck he'd just created, Lance didn't know.

There was a way to get their memories back—he had to remember that.

"How can their memories be restored, again?" he asked, dropping his hands but keeping his eyes closed.

"I need to combine memories from you with the samples I took," Zidane replied calmly.

"And you need to break through those barriers before you do?"

"Yeah; that's right. I need to visit a friend of mine."

Lance was quiet, opening his eyes to see the Ekelno still balanced in his lap.

"Lance," Zidane began.

He looked up, meeting the crossbreed's eyes. Zidane was bowed forward, hands in front of his mouth.

"The only way Ekelnos work is if the user has at least a little bit of Spiro in their blood."

Lance froze.

"What?"

He instantly denied it. This... This couldn't be real. He just needed to wake up; that's all.

'I already did...' 

He swallowed, looking down at the black Ekelno. Watching it change to a deeper grey.

"There's a way to get the cells out, right?" His voice seemed distant, even to his own ears.

Aspiring musician Lance awakes one night to hear a voice. Someone warning him of danger to come. Someone telling him to start running, now. Lance has no choice but to shrug off the event as something of his own imagination, but upon falling unconscious, he is kidnapped and injected with deadly cells from a race kept hidden from humans, a race kept secret. Zidane is a crossbreed of Razalek and Spiro, a breathing hybrid that shouldn't exist. There's too much hatred between the races; there's too much bad blood in his veins. But he needs to save Lance's life. He has too much death on his hands already. However, Lance isn't so easy to trust him. So, with a question, he's teleported into Zidane's mind and introduced to a world of magic, racism, and everlasting love. Memory by memory plays, giving Lance answers to his question. Giving him every reason to trust. He has no choice, after all. ________PREVIEW_________ Lance only felt Zidane's pain, aches that added to his own. If only they'd tried harder... As the last few layers of his skin began to regrow, Lance knew the statement was empty. The words had lost every meaning, replaced with nothing but agonizing reality. They'd lost, plain and simple. It just wasn't an easy thing to face. _________________________ COMPLETE

"Princess..."
In a quiet and darkroom, there was a man and a woman.
The woman sat quietly looking out of the window, she back turned to the man, but just from her back. From her long and free silver free, that she was pretty.
Her figure was small and petite, and the free skin she allowed to be seen, was sparkling under the sunlight.

"What is it?" the woman spoke in a soft voice. Her voice was gentle and soft yet stern sounding. It sounded like a forced melody.
"His highness has passed away."
At the men's quiet words. Silence fell over the room, "Is that so..." the woman just silently agreed with his statement. Her voice didn't change in tone or pitch. It was as cold as it could be, but it still sounded like a special melody.
After a long silence once again, the woman let out a long sigh and turned to look at the man.
"So when is my execution?"
The eyes of the woman were as red as blood. But they neither looked scared, happy, or sad. They were empty of any emotion. 
The man jumped at her sudden question, only to calm himself after seeing her face.
He bent slightly bowing down, "I shall not let it happen."
The detailed pink-haired man, who seemed to be her butler spoke politely but loudly, rejecting her words.

"You shall." The woman answered back right away, her voice not rising in tone.
"That was the deal and promise I had made with that man after all..."
The woman slowly closed her eyes, and in the next moment smiled at the man.
Her eyes teared up.
"Ray."
The woman spoke gently, but her voice was wavering a little. Tears streaming down her eyes.

"Yes, your highness?"
"When will you kill me?"
"Never, your highness."
"The deal is a deal."
"You ending your precious life is not a result Ill stand by."
The man just kept on protesting her.

The woman stood up facing the man that just wouldn't listen and put out her hand with a smile.
Her red eyes, were even redder now because she cried. Her neat curly hair moved as she did, and even she stood up, it was still touching the floor.
Unlike the calm lady in front of him. Man's back shook. It trembled and shook...
"Why must her highness die?"
Man despite speaking politely spoke more loudly and aggressively, but the woman just kept on smiling her hand reaching out to him.
"Why must you listen to his every plea and wish your highness?"
At his words, the woman just closed her eyes. She made an expression as if she was looking back, to a time long, long ago.
After a short while, she changed her brave and wide smile, to a sad and longing smile.
She opened her eyes and looks at the man and simply said: "Because I love him. Because I want to be useful to the man I gave my heart and soul to."
"Even though he loves another? Even though he killed your beloved father?"
"Yes."
At the woman's answer, the men gritted his teeth and after a short while.
Out of his white uniform, he took out a bottle full of red liquid and put it in the woman's outstretched hand.

After a short while, the woman opened the bottle and--

Gasp!
In a hurry, I sat up from a familiar and scary dream that just made me remember how much I hated that novel.
My sudden action of sitting up made me kind of dizzy, so I slowly lowered my body again and closed my eyes so the dizziness settles down. As I did, I started to notice some, really unsettling things and sensations that I was not used to.
My sheets were so soft and warm it was scary, and my normally small bed felt way too large and soft to be truly mine.
"Hmmm..."
I slowly opened my eyes and sat upon the soft bed, pulling the sheets aside only to be met with a light pink room in my sight.
The walls were nice and white while the floor shined silver.
On the floor, there was a large carpet, more like it was only under my bed.
Not far from my bed thiugh, there was a big white coffee table with a nice vase full of flowers gently placed in the middle of it.
My bed was surrounded by a light pink, slightly see-through veil that was gently closed, only enough for me to see the room.
Seeing this room, unknown to me. I gently rubbed my eyes.
When the scenery didn't change I lied back down and closed my eyes for a short while, counting to 10.
When I reached number 10 and opened my eyes again, the scenery didn't change what so ever.

"What the? Where am I?" I thought to myself.
I tried getting out of bed, looking down to remove the sheets I noticed...
My hands were... eerily small.
Seeing this I could feel my face go cold and pale and I flew out of bed.
I flew for only a short while, my face kissing the floor as it seemed that my legs were shorter than I expected them to be.
"Ow..."
The sudden unbearable pain raised from my face all over my body, and I could feel my eyes starting to burn and get wet with tears.
Before I knew it, I was bawling on the floor because of the pain.

After a few minutes of crying, I sat myself up. My legs and arms were short and I had really fat and short fingers.
Holding my nose I could feel a warm fluid coming out, and sure enough, blood was dripping for my nose.
As if she was a late summon.
A lady in a maid cosplay outfit suddenly flew right into the room and ran to me in a worried expression.

"Goddess princess are you alright!?"
No, I am not.
"Your nose is bleeding and so is your forehead. God, dear."
The woman touched around my face and suddenly started wiping both my hands and nose with her apron.
Ah her cosplay--
I started pushing her away only to be met with much more worried eyes.

She suddenly picked me up and put me on my big bed again, removing the veil as she did.
Still holding her apron over my nose she rang a bell that was seated right next to my pillow and another but much younger maid suddenly rushed in with a bucket full of water.

"Ah."
After probably seeing how bloody I and the other maid were, she stopped in her tracks. She stood there looking at us, and only after the other maid yelled "Just put that down and bring the physician!" did she move and ran out of the room.

"Nothing is broken, it just bled a lot because of the shock."
After a short while, an older man ran into my room and had examined me.
...
I am truly confused.
I just waited the whole time for the woman that held my nose to break the act because my nose was actually ruining her clothes.
But nothing of the sort happened.
After carefully washing my nose and face, the man just stack a big gaze of my nose and soon left with a big bow.

I was now left alone im the same room with the worried 2 women dressed as maids.
I wanted to ask many questions. But just stared at the two curiously.
"Is something the matter Princess? Are you feeling uncomfortable in any way?"
Again.
This is one of my many questions. What Princess?
Seeing as I didn't respond to her she came over to me.
"Do you wish to ask me something?"

I opened my mouth to speak, I wished to speak but no sound came out of my mouth.
I can't speak? What? Why?
The maid gasped and tapped her face with an apologetic look on her face.
"Oh dear me I totally forgot."
The maid then opened one of the drawers on the bedside table that stood close to my bed and handed me a pen and paper.

Ahhhh.
Fuck.

I just shook my head for a negative answer and turned around warping myself in my sheets.
I soon heard the doors close and was left all alone in this new room alone.

I am an idiot but Im not stupid. I touched my nose again as if to confirm the pain.
This isn't a dream. If it were I would've woken up the moment my face kissed the floor good morning. But where am I then?
I was called "Princess" many times throughout the check-up and even though I'm a child all of the adults speak to me in a polite and respectful way.
My room is also quite big, and the bed... I kind of feel pressured...
My thoughts were just beginning to get all messed up and jumbled when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
After a short pause, I could hear a low ah, and the door opened.
It was a new maid that entered my room.
This one had short black hair tied tightly in a ponytail unlike the other 2 that were inside my room.
The ends of her dress also looked different, as there was no embroider what so ever.

"I have brought you your breakfast, your highness."
With a slight bow, the maid started setting up the coffee table that was in my room. And shortly after a warm and sweet smell of pancakes filled up the room.
Shortly after setting it up, she walked over to be, went on her knees with a and slowly lowered her head to the floor before gently standing up and picking me up.
I was more than shocked at her actions. I was baffled, scared even.
But this somehow seemed very familiar to me and I was not sure why.
After a very short walk, I was set in front of the coffee table and prepared to eat.

A silver but small fork was put in my small and fat hand, and the maid put a cup of steaming hot milk on my right side.

My nose didn't trick me, as steaming hot and sweet-smelling pancakes were in front of me.
The maid then kneeled little behind me and smiled at me waiting for me to start eating.

Uwah... the pressure.

After my fuffing and a sweet meal which I had trouble eating because I could not cut the pancakes the way I wanted, I was bathed and dressed in conformable clothes.
More like a 2 piece dress.
It might seem flat on the outside, but I wore a lot underneath. Some kind of fluffy pants accompanied by a white truculent t-shirt. On top of that goes another pure white and long one-piece dress which then gets followed up by a lot of fluff. It all gets finished and ready with an apron like a top in pink dress and macaron pattern.
While it was a cute outfit, I was sweating already.
For the ending part, the careful maid put my very long, white, curly hair into pigtails. Ending it all with a pretty bowtie matching the topcoat the dress. It had a macaron connected to it.

After she was done dolling me up, she put me in front of a mirror, and then I went even paler them my already place white skin was.

Beautiful and long curly white hair that looks as if it was colored in winter.
Porcelain face and rosy lips and big, round, ruby-like red eyes entered my sight.
My reflection in the mirror was that of a child as I suspected but...

I put my small and chubby palm on the mirror as if to see if that was really my reflection.
I touched my nose again, and there was splitting pain spreading over then the place I touched.
This was not a dream... I confirmed and confirmed it again and again.

I could feel my face go a shade whiter, and sure enough, when I looked up at my reflection I was whiter than ever.

No way...
I turned around and ran to the place where that maid but that small block and a pen.
The maid startled at my sudden movements walked behind me in panic and fear all over her face.
"Is something not to your liking, your highness?"
The maid asked behind me in a worried voice.
I turned around and showed her the note that looked like total scribbles.
"'What is your name' your highness?"
I gave her a deep nod and with a confused look, the woman said "Lillian. Your name is Lillian De Larry Pheonix, your highness"

As if she said a god's name she bowed to me gently closing her eyes.
No way...

WHY?!

---
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---
｢Rewards received. Please check your inventory for them.｣
｢New quest available. Quest: Capture 5 creatures. Would you like to accept the quest?｣
"Accept!" Lin Fang was once again overwhelmed with happiness. Suddenly, the door of his room opened and there was a gasp.
"B-Big Brother Fang! Why is there a dragon in your room?! Aaaaaaaaahhh! It-it's coming towards me! Save me!" His sister, whose name he still did not know, hid behind him as the curious dark red coloured dragon tried to sniff her.
"What's all the commotion in here? Why is there a dragon?" A stern-faced woman, presumably Lin Fang's mother, walked into the room.
Lin Fang was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to explain the sudden appearance of the dragon? "Uhm... it... appeared suddenly when my sister left the room." His face was flustered when he explained this. As he said that, the dragon had finally managed to sniff his sister, who shrieked once the dragon touched her. Then, seeming to realize that the dragon meant no harm and was just curious, she bent down and used a hand to pet it. Afraid of her, the dragon ran away from her hand.
Lin Fang's mother said, "Tell me the truth. Who did you murder to get this? We're a poor family and can't afford to repay whoever you got it from." 
Lin Fang tried to explain that it was really that way, and in return, after having realized that what Lin Fang said was true, she just gave him a piercing look and said, "Whatever then. Take good care of it, don't let it die, and don't let others see it for now. They will accuse us of thievery and try to take the dragon from us."
"Ok then, mom," said Lin Fang, after which his mother and sister left the room. He then noticed another prompt.
｢Quest: Capture 5 beasts.
Quest description: Every beast tamer has their roots. You are an insignificant figure, but you will become one of the mightiest. To start off your career, capture and tame 5 beasts within 30 days.
Quest time limit: 30 days
Quest Success Reward: 10x beast bondage contract (These contracts can only be used on system provided beasts), System shop unlock, 1x Golden beast orb, 3x Silver beast orb, 200 System points, 20 Skill Points, 300 EXP.
Quest Failure Penalty: This quest will be re-issued at the cost of 10 System Points per re-issue.｣
"There's a penalty? Well, I guess that makes sense since all the games I've played before have one," said Lin Fang, slightly disappointed.
Suddenly, another prompt popped up.
｢You have one skill draw and one item draw available.｣
Lin Fang said, "I'll claim the skill draw first."
A new interface appeared before him, where there were four categories. The Normal category took up the most space, the Rare category the second most, the Ultra-Rare only took up a little bit, and the Legendary category was just a sliver among the other sections. The wheel began spinning, and Lin Fang was chanting, "Legendary, legendary, legendary..."
Unfortunately for him, the wheel stopped just short of the legendary section and landed in the Ultra-Rare section.
｢Congratulations! You have won the Ultra-Rare skill "Instant Tame"!
Skill Description: This skill, at level 1, allows you to have a 100% chance of taming any beast up to level 5. Using this skill costs 50 MP. Skill "Tame beast" upgraded to "Instant Tame".｣
｢You have one item draw available.｣
"Claim," Liu Fang said.
The wheel once again appeared in front of him and started spinning. When it stopped, it stopped on "Legendary".
"Yeah! I knew that me chanting legendary earlier was useful!" Liu Fang said. "What's the item?"
｢Congratulations! You have won the Legendary item "Dot-matrix printer"!｣
"What? A printer is a legendary item? Bulls*it. I want a refund!" Lin Fang said, angrily.
｢Item description: This printer can print 1 scroll of any type (up to 5 levels above current level) for free every day, and every scroll printed after the free scroll will be bought with System Points, and the price will vary depending on what scroll is bought.
Current printable scrolls: Beast bondage scroll, Return scroll (10km radius from set location), Random teleportation scroll (10km from current location).｣
"I can refund the printer for you right now if you want," said the system.
Lin Fang quickly shook his head frantically and said, "No! No refund! I want this printer! Don't take it back!"
｢Would you like to summon the printer?｣
Suddenly, just after Lin Fang said "Yes," he heard a scratching noise coming from below. The small dragon had once again begun pawing at him in a desperate attempt to get noticed.
"What do you want, little guy? Hmm, I need to name him. I think I'll name you... Flame." At Lin Fang's mention of his new name, Flame seemed to be pleased. Then, as if in response to his question, Flame pointed towards his mouth.
"You want to eat?" Flame nodded.
"Ok, what about after we eat, we go hunting later?" To this suggestion, Flame quickly shook his head and hid under the bed. However, Lin Fang quickly bent under the bed and grabbed him. Flame waved his limbs around angrily as if trying to threaten Lin Fang for grabbing him. Lin Fang paid no mind to this, however, and just put Flame back on the bed.
To try to soothe him, Lin Fang said, "You can eat the meat that we hunt." Then, Lin Fang looked up to the ceiling and silently asked with a black face, "Why is the dragon a glutton?!?! I thought dragons were supposed to be fierce, but this one just decides to hide under the bed at the first mention of needing to do something!?!?"
"Come on, I'll put you back into the beast dimension. I'm also a little curious about what it looks like after you were bonded to me," Lin Fang said as he unsummoned the dragon and touched the gem.
He entered the beast storage dimension and was stunned to see the dragon's habitat. It was a 4 sq km plot of land, and he was more stunned to see that he was effectively the god of the world inside the dimension. He immediately pinpointed the location of Flame and found him frolicking in the grass and curiously exploring everything. Going back to the menu of the beast dimension, he found an "Upgrade dimension" button that displayed a price of 100 System Points to upgrade every habitat and all newly created habitats to 9 sq km in size. 
"This seems like a good deal, and I have plenty of system points left, so I'll just upgrade it," Lin Fang said as he clicked the upgrade button. He saw Flame's habitat expand suddenly to a way larger habitat, and exited from the menu. He used the printer to print a random teleport scroll for free and a return scroll with the location set in his room for 1 System Point. Armed with the scrolls, he tore the random teleport scroll and was immediately teleported with a flash of light.
---
Luckily for Liu Fang, he was teleported to a relevantly safe region of the Beast Mountains, just a bit higher than the foot of one of the mountains. There were beasts from Lvl 1 - Lvl 10. After arriving, he was disoriented and heard a growl coming from in front of him. Hearing the growl, he instinctively used "Subdue Beast" and was delighted to hear "Lvl. 5 Azure Clawed Tiger subdued" from the system.
Then, he used "Instant Tame" and tamed the beast. It appeared in his system space immediately. Lin Fang continued to tame beasts.
---
Half a day and several close calls later, Lin Fang said, "Finally, I've finished the quest!"
｢Quest complete: Capture 5 beasts. Rewards will be distributed.｣
Lin Fang summoned Flame. "Do you want food now?" he asked, to which Flame quickly nodded and pointed at his mouth with one of his claws.
"Ok then, let's go kill a beast," Lin Fang said.
After searching for another half hour, he found a Lvl. 3 beast which he subdued and then told to kill itself. After it killed itself, Lin Fang used Flame's exceptionally sharp claws to slice open the skin of the beast. Flame then happily cut out a portion of meat for itself, and then started eating.
Lin Fang, seeing Flame eating and not caring about him or what he would eat, said angrily, "Hey! What about me? Can't you help me cut some out and breathe some fire on it and cook it?"
Flame shook his head but eventually walked over after having been stared at angrily by Lin Fang for a minute, cut a section of meat out, and roasted the meat. He then handed the meat to Lin Fang and then, seeming to be sulking, sat down and resumed eating his own meat.
After eating, they were satiated and almost couldn't eat. Suddenly, Lin Fang felt a very strong and dangerous aura cover him.

Reincarnated into a new body after a fatal accident, Liu Fang is thrust into a new world full of magic and exotic mythical creatures. Starting off as a bottom-feeder, can he make it up into the ranks of high society?

"Are you insane?"

Liu Fang: "No. What I am, though, is a beast tamer."

Join Liu Fang in his adventures as he tames the many ferocious and almost untameable beasts of his new world.

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Daina was angry―no, furious. Furious at the fact that she had been unable to defend her parents under the onslaught of criticism. 

It had been a regular summer day―boring, scorchingly hot―and she had been tempted more than once to swim naked in the nearby river, but was certain that her mother would give her a whooping if she found out. 

As usual, she had begun to draw on the dirt, her imagination running wild. A hero here, a princess there, and the tale was almost complete. Now it only needed a background for her to complete the masterpiece. However, the process of creating one became so tedious and dull that she instead opted to look at the trail of ants scurrying by. The ground beneath her became shrouded by shadow strangely. So strange, in fact, that she began to see they resembled the silhouette of a tiny mob. 

Daina sighed. [If only I could hold up a fan to the sun so that it would cool down.]

"Loser! What're you doing all by yourself? Have no friends?" 

Children's guffaws sounded behind her. However, Daina only sighed once more, completely ignoring the jeers. Noting her attitude, one of the braver and reckless boys of the group stepped in front of her, stomping on her creation. She pouted, lithely getting up and dusting her clothes off.

 Roy had the reputation of being a bully, yet was still beloved and admired. Everyday, without fail, he mocked her. No other child stepped in or stood up for her. On the other hand, she deduced that they all felt a sense schadenfreude and relief, knowing that she was the target of his efforts and not they. The adults didn't intervene or reprimand them, either. Her parents would have sought justice for her, but she wasn't willing for them to be on even worser terms with the villagers. It was bad enough as it was. 

Although irritating, the village children's actions never got to the point of harassment. Furthermore, the children seemed to believe she was some sort of witch and thought approaching her was the best way to prove their courage. All she had to do to scare them off was to react to their taunts. Thus, she gave Roy a glare, believing it would suffice. However, what had occurred next was completely unexpected. 

In synchrony, the children stepped forward, surrounding her and standing intimidatingly. 

Unfazed, she indignantly exclaimed, "What insolence! Who are you to step in my path? My parents have protected and aided everyone in this village, yet only received shunning in return while their offspring harm their precious daughter. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you." 

Roy once again stepped forward, in an arrogant stance. "Useless descendant of pathetic parents, that's what you are!"

She glared at him once again. "Since when was this doofus your guys's spokesman?"

A blush crept up Roy's face, fury visible. Trembling, he pointed at her. "You―you daughter of a whore! That's what you are! I bet your mother got her position and wealth by seducing the king." 

Wide-eyed, she dramatically gasped and frantically glanced around. "Oh golly! Profanity and slandering the emperor? How courageous!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whose womb did you crawl out of five years too early? Oh, and be a dear and invite me to your execution. With your stupidity, you'll unknowingly pick up ten other offences along the way. Wonder what type of punishment that would be like." Patting his shoulder, she beamed and said, "Don't disappoint me, now. Remember, I'm not your father."

Many of the children began to chuckle. It was a well-known fact that Roy always peed his bed sheets. 

Routinely, his mother would wash the sheets in the early morning. Since it was a time-consuming task, all villagers had at one point or another stumbled upon the scene. There was no one in the village that did not know of the fact, but many chose not to speak of if out of respect for Roy's father, the head of the village. Otherwise, the villagers would have dethroned, and subsequently ostracized, Roy. 

Embarrassed, Roy fled, his followers chasing after him.

Peeing one's bed sheets wasn't a big deal, since everyone typically outgrowths that faze. If it were only that, Roy wouldn't have felt so ashamed. However, as head of the village, one has to uphold a certain image of perfection to seem dependable: Roy's habits became a black mark on his reputation. Nevertheless, he always doted on his son. Even so, Roy was aware of the expectations he failed to meet, which prompted him to find an outlet to vent his anger out on. While not an excuse, it did make one pity him.
   
Daina chuckled. He reminded her of a headless chicken, running around like a fool. Beheaded chickens were the best source of entertainment one could find in a tiny, isolated village such as this one.

Truthfully, it was not Roy who Daina should worry about.

This was a deeper issue than it seemed. Those children had never met her parents personally, probably being deterred by their own parents. Thus, the comments of those children were directly influenced by the villagers' true opinions. Despite suspecting that the villagers viewed her family unfavorably, Daina had never expected for their envy to reach that extent.

King Frederic―the current king―inherited his throne during an era of chaos. Merely turned thirteen, he had to restore the country his predecessor nearly destroyed due to his greed. The previous king cared not for his citizens, beginning wars and forcing the innocent to fight in his stead. Furthermore, he raised taxes to fund the wars, causing his kingdom to fall into a state of poverty and ruin. Any public opposition immediately led to beheadment. Ultimately, the consequences soon caught up with him, for only a coup d'etat―led by Frederic―placated the commoners' thirst for vengeance. In a turn of events, Frederic's most trusted aides betrayed him with the full support of the citizens. Everyone believed that, apart from his countenance, Frederic had also inherited his father's atrocious greed. Only by destroying the root of the problem would they restore peace. 

Traitors massacred all his family members, of who sacrificed themselves so that he could flee to another planet. Not in vain, for Frederic became famous for his talent as a cultivator, capable enough to lead to his acceptance into Emerald-Rose Academy, one of the most prestigious academies in the Aurora Planet, and thus the universe. There, he met and befriended Daina's parents, Delyth and Alfred.

Loyal the couple proved to be. Instead of returning to their respective planets after graduation, they decided to follow Frederic through all his endeavors until he regained his throne a decade later. By this time, the love blossomed between the couple and, wanting to settle down, they requested permission to resign. King Frederic wanted to reward them handsomely, but they did not accept. How could an honorable man such as Frederic not be grateful? The harmonious couple are currently under his good graces, and any reasonable request of theirs he would fulfilled. A privilege, but one that had only been used once, rendering it practically meaningless. King Frederic understood their personalities better than anyone else. Harmonious as the stars at night, all they needed to complete the image was a moon to dote on; a target for their affections. 

Sadly, despite their best efforts, the years had passed by without signs of pregnancy. The couple and their closest friends started to suspect one was barren, searching high and wide for a cure or explanation until they encountered the famous, yet mysterious, apothecary Salem. While everyone acknowledged and respected his skills, no one appreciated his fickleness and hard-to-please attitude that made bargaining difficult. Any opportunity, even with the attached challenges, would definitely be seized by the desperate couple.

Unexpectedly, Salem offered Delyth free treatment. In just minutes, Salem identified the situation, demonstrating that his reputation was not for naught. Delyth turned out to be a fertile female, but lacked the necessary amount of spirit energy to conceive. Salem foresaw that the child would have an enormous soul and monstrous potential that would remain unreached if the fetus lacked spiritual strength to withstand the power of its soul. Destiny mandated the couple to bear and nurture this future anomaly. 

Comprehending much from little that Salem spoke, Alfred fed Delyth all sorts of concoctions prescribed by Salem until finally she conceived. 

Joyous, the couple gave their farewells and retired to the countryside to live a peaceful life, currently residing on top of a cliff in the little Rockslide Village. Wealth and power typically corrupt the weak-willed to the point of finding it unbearable to part with it, but the couple never once complained about their newly-acquired humble lifestyles. Aware of their privileges, and empathetic to others' struggles, the robust couple protected the vulnerable village from rampaging beasts that emerge from the bordering Demonic Forest. Furthermore, they were magnanimous, sharing their belongings, carrying drinkable water from rivers miles away, and harvest during droughts. Nevertheless, those shameless leechers shunned and slandered the family, influencing  their children to do the same.

The more she remembered from her parent's lessons, the angrier she became. In the next moment, that facade of nonchalance cracked, her true emotions slowly leaking out until it completely broke. 

And even those stupid birds won't shut up! 

She screamed, flinging the rock towards the flock of crows circling overhead. They scattered to avoid it, infuriating her further. No doubt all the villagers could hear the commotion she was creating, sure that she had lost her sanity.

Impulse acted upon, the fire within her naturally extinguished itself, and all that remained was determination.

Survival of the fittest; only the powerful can survive. That has always been the law of the land, especially in one dependent upon magic.

A determined, young girl faces challenges throughout her path to the top. She must fight against prejudice due to her gender while keeping a balance between obsession and desire, cruelty and mercilessness. 

Throughout her journey she will meet many people that will shape her and will learn along the way that, sometimes, power doesn't equate to happiness.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hi guys! I'm an amateur writer so there's bound to be spelling errors and the like. Please feel free to point them out kindly. Hope you enjoy!

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