"why did you say goodnight when you meant to say was goodbye?"

in which a girl says her final last words.


lowercase intended.

Alynna's steps were heavy.  She looked at Stella who was happily skip-hopping beside her as she held her hand.  Stella let go of her mother's hand and ran all the way upstairs.  She waited at the top of the stairs with her hands on her waist, as if she had done something triumphant.  She couldn't wait for her mother to get there so she could try to beat her to the bedroom again.

Alynna looked back to where the kitchen was, where Josh was.  She half-heartedly wished he would be behind her, following them upstairs but she knew he wouldn't be.  She looked at Stella who was now wriggling her hips, waiting excitedly for her mother.  Alynna slowly climbed the stairs.

As soon as Alynna got to the top of the stairs, Stella ran again as she had planned, beating her mother to the bedroom.  She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower.  Alynna quickly followed Stella and turned off the shower.

"No, dear, not like that.  The water's too cold.  Here, let me do it."  Alynna adjusted the temperature from the water heater.  She tested the water and when she thought it was okay, she called Stella and bathed her.

Stella loved showering at night. It was her favorite bedtime routine.  Cleaning up and brushing her teeth meant a story would follow afterwards.  She giggled at the bubbles foaming at her hair.  And when Alynna turned on the shower, she excitedly watched the bubbles gather at her feet before going down the drain.

Alynna toweled Stella dry.  She then brushed Stella's hair. 

"How time flies." She thought.  "Has it been three years?"

Stella brushed her teeth while Alynna prepared to shower herself.  She went in the shower and turned it on.  The warm water touched her bare skin.  She imagined all the dirt flowing down the drain, off her skin.  She looked at her body.  She saw some bruises and inspected them.  She always tried to remember how many bruises were on her body every time she showered.

"Alynna," Josh called from outside the bedroom.

"Yeah?" Shouted Alynna from the bathroom. "Wait, I'm almost done." She quickly soaped her body and shampooed her hair without turning off the shower.  Then she dried herself and put a robe on.

Josh was standing outside the bedroom with Stella when Alynna got out of the shower.

Josh thought she looked beautiful, her cheeks flushed from the bathing. Embarrassed, he quickly looked away.

"I was just gonna say the dishes are in the washer, and I'm done with the rest.  Would you like me to do anything else?" Josh said as he stroked Stella's damp hair.

"No, it's okay.  You can rest now.  I know how tired you are from working all day." 

"I'll rest as soon as I'm done with the dishes." He glanced at her, ever so quickly and then went down back to the kitchen.

Alynna put on her night gown and began blow drying her hair.  After that, she tucked Stella in and read her a story.  

Stella loved bedtime stories.  She would choose three books for her mother to read to her but sometimes, when her mother is too tired, they would only read one story and then it's sleeping time.

"Just one story for tonight, okay?" Alynna said as she picked the shortest story from Stella's choices of books for the night.

"Can it be two books, Mommy?" Stella asked, hopeful her mom would agree.

"Sorry, honey, not tonight. Tomorrow, okay?" Alynna smiled. She hated declining Stella's requests but for tonight she had to.  She and Josh needed to talk.

Alynna opened the book and started reading to Stella. The book was about a girl waiting for her mother to pick her up from school.  Her mother was late in picking her up and the girl started imagining all sorts of things that happened to her mother, like she was taken by eagles or snatched by dinosaurs.  Or maybe her mom road a turtle on the way to school because their car broke down.  But in the end, the mom finally came and when the girl asked why she was late, her mom told her that the car ran out of gasoline and she had to take a cab.

Stella loved that story.  She can't wait to go to school. And she would always make Alynna promise that she would never be late in picking her up from school. And Alynna would always promise that she would be there before class is dismissed.  Stella would smile and then go to sleep peacefully.

Alynna kissed Stella's forehead and tucked her in.  She turned off the lights but Stella's scared of the dark so she left her unicorn nightlight on.  She slowly walked out of the room and softly closed the door.

Alynna walked down the stairs and saw Josh putting the clean dishes in the cabinet.  Josh looked tired.  He turned around when he heard Alynna walk in the kitchen.

"I thought you're already sleeping?" Josh asked as he wiped a plate dry and placed it in the cabinet.

"Can we talk?"

"Is Stella asleep?" Josh asked again, purposely ignoring what Alynna last said.

"Yes, she is.  Can we talk?"

Josh took a deep breath and let the air out through his nose. It looks like he won't be able to dodge Alynna tonight.

"What is it? What's on your mind?" Josh said as he turned towards Alynna.  He saw that she was already wearing her nightgown, her frail body silhouetted underneath the thin fabric.  Her long wavy hair gathered on one side of her shoulders. She lost a lot of weight since the accident but her beauty is still evident.

"I just want to talk about us, Josh."

"What about us?"

"I mean, where are we headed?"

"I don't think it's the right time to talk about that, Alynna."

"When is the right time, Josh? Tell me.  And I will wait until then."  Alynna pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down. Josh knelt in front of her, his hands on her knees.

"When you're okay. When the doctor says you've fully recovered, then we can talk about anything you want."

Alynna eyed Josh, studying him. She hurt so much she wanted to cry but Josh hated seeing her cry and would reprimand her saying she should be strong — not only for herself but for Stella.

She wanted to tell Josh how much she longed for him but Josh became emotionally distant since the accident.  He was physically with them but his soul is somewhere else.

"Do you love me, Josh?" Alynna boldly asked.

"Of course I do. I love you and Stella."

"I didn't ask you if you love me and Stella.  I asked you if you love me, Josh. ME."

"Frankly, I wish you would just stop asking me that constantly." Josh stood up. "I'm here with you and with Stella.  If that doesn't make you think that I love you, then I really don't think I can say or do anything that would convince you.  I'm here and that's what's important, right?"

"If you say so, Josh. If you say so, then I believe you." Alynna slowly stood from that chair.  She bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything she might regret later.  She was about to walk away but Josh hugged her. 

"Please stop worrying yourself.  It's not doing any good for you." Josh said as he let go of Alynna.

Alynna nodded, though deep inside her, she disagreed. 

"Goodnight, Josh." Alynna kissed Josh on the cheek.

"Have a restful sleep, Alynna." Josh said as he watched Alynna walk out of the kitchen, going back to the bedroom.  He then continued putting the dishes in the cabinet.  It was so late he thought he would fall asleep before he's finished with his chore.

.  .  .

Josh was laying down now, his arm over his forehead.  He had been so sleepy earlier but was now, lying wide awake as he remembered all the things that happened that day — Meeting Amanda, the confrontation with Lee, the lost documents that were later found, working late with Amanda, Alynna wanting an assurance that he loves her. 

"A lot happened today," Josh thought to himself, "but meeting Amanda was the best."  He smiled at the thought of Amanda.  He couldn't wait to see her at work next morning.  He resolved in going to work early, with the hopes of catching her walking on the street to the office building.  And since he knew where she parks her car, he thought of waiting up for her there.   He thought of what to wear for work.  He thought of a lot of things that are connected to Amanda.  He used to notice the bumps of the couch he slept on but tonight, the couch felt different — he felt different.  Something inside of him lights up every time he remembered Amanda and it made him feel different.  He turned to the side, folded one arm underneath his head and closed his eyes, wishing he would dream about Amanda that night.

Mandy's got it all. Being the lone heiress to a multinational  business, she could take life easy and just wait for her father to give her the key to the company when he retires.  But she doesn't want to take over their business.  She wants to pursue a different path.  But how could she say "no" to her dad?  He wants to prepare her for the work she will do in the future by working undercover in their own company as an Office Assistant.

Mandy tries everything to get out of the company, that is, until she meets two men - one is a fellow low-ranking employee and the other, a director.

Things get complicated when both men try to pursue her.

Will Mandy follow her dad's wishes to take over the business that he built from the ground, up? Will she ever be able to tell people who she really is?  Will Mandy be able to choose between the two men?

I hated my first day of kindergarten. I was wearing what my mom thought was the definition of kindergarten chic...a white dress with neon blue bows at the hemline, which only went to my knees. 

I wanted to wear my usual jeans and a t-shirt with a pun phrase on the cover which back then I only saw as colorful designs. But no, instead my mom got me a whole new wardrobe of frilly dresses and glitzy accessories.

Needless to say, I wasn't happy. I was even unhappier when my mom kissed me goodbye after dropping me off. I didn't care who saw...I wailed. The kindergarten teacher looked distraught as the tears kept on coming. I remember her saying things like, 'We're going to have so much fun!' or 'Do you want to color!' Nothing helped until my mom got down on one knee and pulled me in for a hug.

She whispered, "Don't cry, baby. You look beautiful and you're going to make some amazing friends here." After she broke from the hug, she held my hands in hers. "Who's my fierce firecracker?"

"Me?" I answered weakly. 

"That's right!" she answered enthusiastically before waving good-bye to me again.

Before I could start crying again, my kindergarten teacher placed a box of crayons in my hands and steered me to a table filled with other little girls. There was only one seat left. I sat down and said, "Hello!" 

"Hi cryer" said the most beautiful girl I ever saw. With grey blue eyes and sun kissed blonde hair. 

"My name is Kat," I replied. "I'm not gonna cry anymore."

Another girl at the table with frizzy Brown hair and a smattering of freckles said, "Good, but you should find another table to sit at." I was about to ask her why when she said, "My momma said I'm not supposed to talk with black people."

"I'm not black. I'm American," I answered with unwavering confidence. "My mom isn't from America. She's from Columbus." Back then I didn't know how to say Colombia. Or, my whole first name for that matter.

The girl with frizzy Brown hair said, "Well whatever your name is, get away from us."

I didn't know how to react. I was shocked but still in my seat. Till a boy that was playing with dinosaurs ran too close to our table and knocked me off of my chair. "Watch it!" he yelled at me as he picked up the plastic dinosaurs from the floor.

"I'm sorry," I replied as I handed him a dinosaur. He didn't grab the one I was holding.

"Hmm?" I asked as I waved the plastic dinosaur I was still holding in front of him. He took a step away from me in disgust. "You can keep it. I don't want to catch your cooties."

"What's that?"

"An illness girls can give to boys by touch. It's deadly." That's when I noticed the girls and boys sat separately from each other. So, I knew whatever this boy just told me must be true. 

Which is why I ran to my cubby to look for the thin gloves my mom got me. They were unnecessary in the state of Arizona but my mom still insisted on thin gloves and a sweater just in case. I slipped on my gloves and held the dinosaur once more as I ran to the boy who was so informed about the cooties. 

He was talking with another boy who asked him if he could play with the dinosaurs too. The boy with all of the plastic dinosaurs shook his head. "I don't need you. I'm fine on my own. Now git!"

"Um, hello," I said as I handed the dinosaur to the boy who claimed all of the plastic dinosaurs in our kindergarten class as his. "Here you go." I again, held out the plastic dinosaur with my gloved hands.

The boy looked at my hands cautiously. "You sure that will be enough not to spread the cooties?"

"I think so," I replied. It was good enough for him as he snatched the dinosaur away. 

I was going towards the table with the girls again, when I noticed another girl was in my seat, coloring from the book I was just coloring in. "Aren't you going to go back to your friends?" dinosaur boy asked me. 

"I don't know," I replied. Then, I had an amazing idea. I was going to ask dinosaur boy my question since he seemed more informed about the world than me. "I have a question."

"Shoot." he replied as he sat on the floor and started arranging the plastic dinosaurs in a certain way. Then, he looked up at me from his project. "That means go 'head and ask."

"Do I look black to you?"

He pondered this for a moment before doling out his professional opinion. "No. You look tan. Who said you looked black?"

I pointed at the table where I was sitting. "One of them said she could not talk with me because I'm black." 

"Really....remember who?" he asked me as he arranged his dinosaurs seemingly disinterested in our conversation. 

"That one with frizzy Brown hair," I replied as I gestured a hand to the table again.

"Follow me," he said as he stood up from his dinosaur project. Before he moved completely away he cupped his hands in front of his mouth as he hollered, "I still have dibs on the dinos!!!!!"

I followed him as he made a beeline towards the teacher...until he stopped. He turned to me to say, "Looks like our teacher is still busy. Let's go find the Prince." Our teacher was very busy trying to reassure some clingy-looking parents. He grabbed my hand that still had gloves on them and pulled open the classroom door. Our teacher didn't even notice our departure.

"Is it alright to leave?"

"Sure it is," he replied with a flippant wave of his free hand. "In pre-school I left the room all of the time! Now, where would the Prince's office be?"

"You don't know?" I asked with shock.

As another adult walked down the hall he whispered, "Just let me do the talking." 

I nodded in understanding as I let dinosaur boy handle this situation...whatever it was. He smiled as he asked a lady teacher (who turned out to be a sub) of another class, "Hello! We're looking for the Prince's office."

She raised her eyebrows for a moment until realization dawned on her face. "Oh. You mean the Principal's office? Let me show you, honey."


Without complaint or questions, we were led to the Principal's office. The sub teacher told the Principal he had some visitors and we both entered his office after that.

This principal with blue black skin and a wearer of cartoon neckties would come to know us both throughout our elementary education: for good and bad reasons. "Hello, how can I help you?" he asked us.

"This girl named..." he looked at me questioningly.

"Kat."

"This girl named Kat spoke with a girl who told her she can't speak with black people when Kat is clearly tan. Right?"

"Yes," I replied. 

The Principal raised both of his eyebrows as he looked at me and asked, "Do you remember who told you this?"

"I don't know her name, but..."

"She's the only girl in our class with sticky-outy Brown hair. I can point her out if you need me to!"

"I'm sure that won't be necessary, Mister...?"

"My name's Kit, sir."

"Well, let's go find your classroom." That day the girl with frizzy Brown hair left school earlier than the rest of us. Her parents weren't happy to see her. Even though there was an empty seat at the table I sat at before, I didn't take it. 

Instead, I sat down on the ground next to Kit as he was playing with his dinosaurs, and he even let me name a few of them. He had sun kissed blonde hair just like the girl with blue grey eyes. Except, his eyes were a piercing dark brown that looked into your soul.

He was the only friend I made that day. His turned out to be the only friendship that mattered.

About two friends who meet in a surprising way as well as dealing with societal boundaries in their own way. It's the first part of the story. There's currently 33 parts of 'Kit and Kat'.

 Gritting their teeth in jealousy, they could only swallow their anger for now and get into their business
On the other side, After finding a place to sit, the nine people started to look through the activities listed in the book. Initially, Sia was excited to see the list of activities but then after reading few pages, Sia lost her interest and was no longer willing to look at the book so she placed the book down with a dejected look.
Seeing Sia's action, Yang Jie asked "What's the matter sister Sia? why are you not reading the book anymore?"
Shaking her hands, Sia said "There's nothing interesting in it. Everything is only about books, projects, and other things. It's like the book was specially made for Great Li"
"Great Li?" Si Ming asked in confusion
"It's Xiao Li. She is the greatest fan of books among us all" Su Yan said thoughtfully
"Woah"
Looking at Sia's dejected face, Shen Yi could not help but ask curiously "Then what kind of activities do you like?"
As soon as Sia heard his question, her eyes immediately brightened. Looking very cheerful she started to list the activities she likes "I like Bungy Jumping, sky diving, hiking, camping, treasure hunt...Blah blah blah"
Hearing the list of activities that Sia said, Shen Yi and the others lost their smile and looked at Sia in disbelief.
Looking Sia weirdly, Yang Jie asked: "Are you...really a girl?"
Glaring at him, Sia retorted "What, can't girl's do such things?"
Yang Jie: "Of course they can but it's just that.....the girls in here are too sensitive"
Realization suddenly dawned on Sia. Nodding her head she said with some understanding "That's true. I sometimes doubt whether they were from the dinosaur family?"
"Huh? Dinosaur?" the four guys asked in unison while Mu Jun looked at Sia curiously
Seeing the boys confused gaze, Su Yan explained "Because she read somewhere that dinosaurs were unreasonable, stupid and are very scared of little animals like rats and cockroaches. So she refers them to as dinosaurs"
"huh? where did you read such things?" Shen Yi asked looking at Sia with some interest
"Comics"
"Comics? and did you just believe that it's true?" Si Ming asked
"Yeah...cause it was the only book from where I read about dinosaurs" Sia replied expressionlessly
"Everything written in comics is not true, they are all fiction. Why don't you read some encyclopedia if you want to know more?" Si Ming proposed
Shaking her hand, Sia said "Nah...I don't like to read about ugly things"
"....' 'Did this girl have an 'Ugly' syndrome?'
Feeling something amiss, Lu Jin asked: "Then why did you read about it in comics?"
Looking at Lu Jin as if he was stupid, Sia said in disdain "of course it's because the dinosaurs looked cute in the comic book"
"...." 
Thinking of something again Lu Jin asked: "Then do you think all those girls who are scared of rats and ants and those who are very sensitive are also dinosaurs?"
"Hmm..." Sia nodded not noticing the wicked glance that flashed across his eyes
"Then, what if An Ran is scared of those little animals? then is An Ran also dinosaur?"
Without even blinking her eyes, Sia spoke in disdain "Are you stupid? An Ran is a sweet gentle lady. How can she not be scared of little animals? and, every human will be scared of any or the other. What? Aren't you scared of any such animal? hmm?"
"...." 'I give up. How can she be reasonable to her friends but unreasonable to strangers?'
At the end of the day, the group decided to make Xiao Li the group leader the Shen Yi and assistant group leader since the two of them were very responsible people and the others decided to cooperate well with the leaders. 
Since they had enough time, the group decided to choose their first activity to complete it by the end of the day. 
After going through the list of activities, the group found one activity that could be completed before the end of the day.
Carrying a book and a pen in their hand, the group split themself up into two groups and headed in opposite directions. 
Since they had split up earlier they completed their work way earlier than they had expected. 
After completing the activity, Shen Yi and Xiao Li made a quick report and then went to the staff room to submit the record to their homeroom teacher, and meanwhile the remaining chose to sit in the canteen and wait for the other two. 
Just when the group made their way towards the canteen they happened to meet Lucy and Li Fie. 
As soon as Lu Jin saw the two girls his face suddenly turned ugly. Just when he was about to take a turn, the latter noticed him and yelled in a sweet voice "Brother Jin"
An Ran's face turned extremely ugly when she heard the later call her ex-boyfriend so sweetly but she could not show her discomfort anywhere and could only hide it to herself.
Not noticing others' ugly expressions, Lucy and Li Fie walked towards the boys elegantly with a smile. 
Standing in front of the boys, they twisted their hips and shyly and called out "Brother Lu Jin, what a coincidence! We met here again"
When Sia heard it she rose her eyebrows and thought sarcastically 'does she think she is in China and he in India and coincidentally met each other in Nepal?"
Not in the mood to meddle in their conversation, Sia leaned on Su Yan lazily and watched the drama silently.
"Master Mu, I heard that you were in the A-class. Too bad, even I wanted to be in the same class as you but I couldn't. Don't worry, since we are in the same school we will meet often. If we have time we can spend some time together" Lucy said with a polite smile but Mu Jun did not show her any expression but instead stood there like a pole showing no moments.
"Yeah, Lucy is right. Oh by the way brother Jin I saw your ex-girlfriend in the school. Did you meet her? Uhh….how nasty. Even after knowing that you would be attending the Emperors High, she still followed in here. I'm afraid that she is up with some ill intentions. Brother Jin, you need to be careful around"

No one knows who is she, how does she look and where does she live but they only know that she is the apple of the Rao family, born with beauty and a great mind.
After suffering from a cruel incident when she was five, she was chased by nightmares every night and then was forced to leave her country to protect herself. After staying abroad for twelve long years, she finally decided to return to her country and face the nightmare courageously but to her surprise, when she returned she found about her late grandmother's promise…and that was to marry her to the heir of Mu family….Mu Jun.
What kind of person he is? She has no idea.
Mu Jun, the only grandson of Elder Mu, lost his mother at the age of ten. Because of his cunning and greedy stepmother, he was forced to distance himself from his father and grandfather.
To the world, he was the heir of the Mu family but he had another identity in the underworld and that was one of the five pillars of the Garuda.
What kind of person he is?
Other than his identity, Sia was not aware of anything about him but as obedient as she was, she decided to disguise herself and enter his life to know more about to him and fulfill her late grandmothers wish.
From school life to love life, from being crime partners to investigators will they have a smooth road? Will Mu Jun and Sia be able to find out about the secret of their life and purpose of marriage? To know more about how the two love birds will end up, follow up the story…
After hesitating for a while, she asked: “Darling, don’t you like kids?”
“No I don’t” he replied without any hesitation
Humming, she asked in another way “Darling, do you like daughter?”
Closing the file, he looked at her and said “Okay…let’s make one”
After a few years, he frowned deeply and said “I won't give up. I want a daughter….let’s make one”
“.…” ‘are you sure? We already have three sons’

"It's true, I don't remember, but you do." Tang Yue said. "With you around, you can help."
Tomcat kept one eye open while the other remained close.
"You wish to get my help?"
Tang Yue nodded.
"Call me daddy." Tomcat hooked its paw.
Tang Yue frowned. "Call you what?"
"Daddy."
"Good son."
…
"What the two of you wish to do is an unprecedented endeavor that will never be matched even in the future. In ancient times, history offices needed decades just to chronicle the previous dynasty. And both of you wish to chronicle all of human civilization." Tomcat yawned as its ears twitched. "Civilization is an ill-defined concept. It covers history, culture, technology, art, and everything you created as well as everything that created you. If you write down the entirety of human civilization's development process into the book, I believe that book will be thick enough to circle Mars several times."
Tang Yue was somewhat alarmed. He knew that it would be a massive endeavor, but he never expected it to be that scale.
He didn't have much knowledge about history, to begin with. Most came from his history textbooks in high school, and in history textbooks, spanning centuries was covered in just a few pages. Even the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, appeared only a handful of times.
"The researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences spend their entire lives researching a tiny slice of history, and that's without any guarantees of them figuring out anything. What makes you think you can chronicle all of human civilization?" Tomcat scoffed. "Do you know the difference between Roosevelt and Roosevelt Jr.?" 
"Simplify it a little. We can simplify it a little." Tang Yue compromised. He did lack the capabilities needed to chronicle all of human civilization. If he made a mistake with Emperor Wu of Han's date of birth and death, he wondered if this particular Mr. Liu Che would travel hundreds of millions of kilometers to Mars to make a protest.
"We can start with a framework based on time, just like a chronicle. Then, we can slowly fill in the details, and develop as we go," Tang Yue said. "Peking Man, Yuanmou Man… We should start with the Neanderthals?"
"Why don't you just start from the Cambrian Period?" Tomcat scoffed. "Why not start from the hallucigenia?"
"Great idea!" Tang Yue clapped. "Earth is gone. We should biographize Earth's history."
"Biographize my ass… Do you know what it means to do things within your means?" Tomcat opened his eyes, waved his claws, and felt a little exasperated. "Are you going to start from the Cambrian period to the Ordovician period, to the Silurian period, to the Devonian period, to the Carboniferous period, to the Permian period, to the Triassic period, to the Jurassic period, to the Cretaceous period, to the Paleogene period, to the Neogene period, all the way to the Quaternary period? Do you have a lifespan longer than Peng Zu[1]?"
"We can simplify it a little. Simplify it a little," Tang Yue said with resent. "For example, we can describe the Jurassic period as a period when reptiles flourished. On the massive continent lived… lived…"
Tang Yue realized he had nearly zero knowledge about ancient creatures. He couldn't even remember the names of any dinosaurs.
"… lived the Plateosaurus!"
Tang Yue finally recalled a name.
Tomcat silently held its forehead.
"The Plateosaurus is a creature from the Triassic period."
"In the Jurassic period, the supercontinent began to break up. Gymnosperms reached their peak development, and there were plenty of reptiles. Among them, Ornithischia and Saurischia dinosaurs had the greatest development. Ornithischia dinosaurs included the Stegosaurus, while the Saurischia dinosaurs included the Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Brontosaurus." Mai Dong's voice sounded over the comms as she gave a lively laugh. "Would that be fine?"
"Bingo!" Tang Yue snapped his fingers. "Perfect, lady! That would do! That's it, we shall begin from the Cambrian period!"
Tomcat silently facepalmed.
It didn't dare make the sarcastic remark, "Why don't you start from the Big Bang?"
It was very likely that this clueless idiot would just smack his head and really begin from the Big Bang.
Clearly, just Tang Yue and Mai Dong were insufficient to complete this endeavor. Therefore, the one who would truly end up with all the troubles was Tomcat. It didn't wish to make things worse for itself.
"Alright, alright. You can start wherever you wish to start from." Tomcat sighed. "But what are you going to use to record? Paper? Hard disks? Or carving it on a rock?"
Kunlun Station had lots of paper which Max had brought to solve Goldbach's conjecture, but after Max got engrossed with The Elder Scrolls, this grand goal was thrown to the back of his mind.
"We can't use paper. The density of information it can contain is too little. It has too low a capacity." Tang Yue shook his head. "We don't have that much paper or pens, much less that much manpower."
Using paper to record Earth's history was unimaginable. The efficiency of handwriting records was just too low. In the era before the printing press was created, books and cultural transmission was done by professional scribes. Those people worked late-nights for months to write. Finally, that pitiful amount produced became the exclusive collections of the aristocracy.
Using the capacity of hard disks was viable as Kunlun Station didn't lack hard disks. There were hard disks with tens or hundreds of terabytes of storage. A Chinese character only took two bytes of space, and each letter in the alphabet took a byte of space. If it was all used to store text, the hard disk's storage would be enough to store all the books in human history.
With just Tang Yue and Mai Dong alone, there was no need to worry about having a lack of hard disk space.
"How long can the information on hard disks be preserved?" Mai Dong asked.
"It's hard to tell. The harsh environment on Mars will greatly degrade the lifespan of a hard disk. The particles in solid-state drives that are used to store data are prone to damage. Mechanical hard drives have slightly longer lifespans, but they won't last past a century." Tomcat shook its head. "Even if you were to record the information on a hard disk, where would you store them?"
"The best environment on Mars is here." Tomcat pointed down. "Kunlun Station's lifespan is longer than both of yours, but once you are dead, it won't survive long due to the lack of maintenance. It will last for at most fifty years, and by then it will be in complete ruins. And a century later, the information left on the hard disks would have been damaged and lost."
Tang Yue and Mai Dong fell into a thoughtful silence.
In a certain way, they were writing an epitaph for human civilization. An epitaph was engraved on tombstones for people from the future to see. It needed to be preserved, so even if the coffin and remains in the grave had rotted and reduced to soil, their names would still be known to others.
It was why Tang Yue wished to record something and store it for as long as possible.
Paper and hard disks weren't viable options.
As for engraving it on stone, that was indeed a romantic idea.
If he had the conditions, Tang Yue wished to use the entire Martian surface like paper, using an excavator and tractor convoy to engrave words on Mars, so that the entire Solar System could see it.
But Tang Yue only had a soup-spoon-like shovel on hand.
At best, he could engrave his name on the rock.
However, Lu Xun[2] once said, "The one who engraves his own name in rock, will see their name rot faster than a corpse."
Lu Xun: … I didn't say[3] that. It's by Zang Kejia[4].
[1] Peng Zu is a legendary long-lived figure in China. He supposedly lived over 800 years in the Shang dynasty.
[2] Lu Xun was a short story writer, editor, translator, literary critic, essayist, and poet, a leading figure of modern Chinese literature in the 1930s.
[3] It has become a meme that many quotes are misattributed to Lu Xun.
[4] Zang Kejia was a Chinese poet famous in the 1940s.


Payload specialist, Tang Yue, who is a mechanical and electrical engineer by training, is left stranded on Mars when he receives news from his AI robot assistant, Tomcat, that Earth has exploded. He believes himself to be the last human in the Universe.
Turns out, he is only the last man in the Universe. Botanist, Mai Dong, had been left on the United Space Station (USS) orbiting Mars, to await Tang Yue's ascent to the USS before they make their journey back to Earth. But now, it's impossible.
Join the trio's quest for survival as they attempt to unravel the mystery of Earth's disappearance.

Aella watched the nobles and Master Builders file out of the room, chatting to each other about things they needed and problems that might occur.
"Aella?" asked Frederick, stepping up next to her with a worried look on his face.  "You look troubled.  Is something wrong?"
"There's a ton of things wrong.  I have pressing business before this evening's meal.  Is there anything urgent that I need to deal with right this moment?"
The Advisors looked at each other, and then shook their heads.
"There is nothing that you need to deal with personally, Your Majesty," said Destov.
"Good.  Be sure Edgar knows the evening meal is to be finger foods so we can get up and move around.  I want the nobles to look at this map and discuss where they think things need to be in each section."
She looked at the table for a moment then teleported to the library.  Bridgette was hidden behind a mountain of books and Felix was reading a book.
"Aunt Aella!  How are you doing?" asked Felix.  "I read what I had said for the last prophecy and was wondering if you had heard it?  Bridgette thinks its nothing, but I'm worried.  If the moon is going to come back and the babies born are going to be safe, what about all the pregnant demonesses now?"
"I thought about that, but aren't prophecies kind of hit and miss?  Like, sometimes they are talking about past things, rather than future things?  So, couldn't the moon reference be the past moon?" she asked, not sure if it was true or not.
"I suppose.  But what if it's not?"
"Then we deal with it," she said with a shrug.
"Aella?" said Bridgette, her head popping up over the top of the books.  What are you doing here?"
"I had a question about a creature I saw at the new city site."
"Go ahead," said Bridgette.
"It had four legs, that were tall as trees, a long neck and a long tail."
"Oh!  I've heard of that before!  Let me see… ah!  Here!" she grabbed a book and started flipping through it.  "They're called dinosaurs.  The ones that you described are plant eaters, though because of their small heads, they're very stupid.  I would stay away from them, just on the safe side.  It says here that one is likely to step on you without even noticing."
"What other kinds of dinosaurs are there?" asked Aella, not liking that there were a lot of different kinds.  Would she find them when she went back and looked more?  She didn't remember seeing them.
"Here," said Bridgette, climbing out from behind the books and coming over to the desk to set the book down.  Aella leaned over her shoulder to look at the book with her.  Whoever had written this book had taken the time to draw pictures of the many different dinosaurs he had seen, along with a small written description of what he knew about each kind.
"There are so many," said Aella, wondering if she should just give up on her whole idea.  Some of these looked deadly.
"There's more plant eaters than meat eaters," said Bridgette, turning the pages slowly.  "Besides, anything that's dangerous here, isn't more dangerous than you are.  Don't you have an army of assassins?"
Nodding, Aella backed away.  "I have to find the Hero of Earth.  I have a source that said he's to the south, and I'm pretty sure I know where."
"The Hero of Earth?  I thought you already had him?" Bridgette said, confused.
"Brian is the child of the hero.  His father is still alive apparently."
"Then why did the portal claim he was the hero?" Bridgette asked.
"I don't know.  Maybe it recognized that he was the next hero in line.  Either way, finding his father is important for the future of the new city.  I need walls built far too quickly to have my workers do it."
"Good luck," said Bridgette, closing the book.  "I'll leave this here in case you want to look at it again."
Nodding, Aella teleported as far south as she remembered, appearing over the ruins of the town where she had found Jogug.  Looking down at the rubble, she wondered how Jogug was doing.  Were the city guards getting tired of him?  Was he even still alive?  Deciding to worry about it later, she looked towards the south, picking out a landmark, and proceeded to teleport further and further south.  Bypassing the many people, she saw making their way to the city, she finally came to the mountains.  The barricade her army had tried to make was still there, but abandoned.
The path into the mountains was very clearly marked.  Flying higher, so random arrows from hidden enemies wouldn't reach her, she continued south.  These mountains were much higher and craggy than the ones in the north.  There were more shadows and niches for things to hide in.  When she finally found the portal, she had assumed was here, she was surprised to see it was built into the roof of an ornamental gate.  The path continued south, to the elves and dwarves.
For a moment she was tempted to continue south, but she gave herself a shake.  If she was going to find this man and get back in time, she needed to stay focused.
Scouring the walls, she looked for the same signs of a tunnel as were in the north, and she soon found one.  It was partially closed, but nothing she couldn't force open with a well-placed kick.  The man who was just inside, shielded his face from the pelt of crumbled rock.  His grey beard was so long, it dragged on the ground.
"Are you Brian's father?" she asked, wondering if it would be safe to land on the ground.
"Who are you?" he asked in a raspy voice.
"I am the Hero of Air, sent for the Hero of Earth, since the portals have stopped working, you are to be relocated and used for a different project," she said, trying to make herself sound as if she came from the church.
"You are not from the church, they would never work with a half-demon," he said, not falling for her trick.
"How dare you insult the church by assuming to know what they would or would not do," she said, annoyed that he saw through her so quickly.
"If you are truly from the church, then tell me what happened to Father Sebastian," he said, narrowing his eyes.
She nodded.  "He was going to retreat to his personal estate, and wait for the plague along the coast to resolve itself, before enacting a new search for new hero-possibles.  He never made it, as he ran into a demon assassin from the Demon King."
"That can't be true," he whispered in horror, dropping his arms to his sides.
"I am sent to have you build walls for a new city that will house refugees.  Only the true Hero of Earth can erect the walls quickly enough to stave off future ruin.  With the winter bearing down on us, we don't have a lot of time."
"What has happened to my Brian?" he asked, stepping out of the hole he had been hiding in.
"He is awaiting future orders while the city is prepared.  I believe he is quite happy with the woman he has now.  He already has one son, but the woman who birthed the boy died while the child was very young.  Your grandson's name is Felix."
"I would very much like to meet him," said the man.  "This Felix.  Is Brian still…"
"Odd? Yes.  I am not sure you will be allowed to meet Felix.  He has been identified as a seer."
"Oh," said the man sadly, his shoulders slumping.  "If he has been identified as a seer, I don't imagine he will be allowed to be seen by anyone.  Do you even know where they have him at the moment?"
"I can inquire once our work on the wall is done," said Aella, holding out a hand to the man.
He hesitated, looking at her chocolate brown skin, then laid his wrinkled hand into hers.  Teleporting them to the new land, Aella looked around to make sure there weren't any dinosaurs around.  The fields were barren, if still wet from the recent storm.
"That's a fascinating ability, is it from your Hero of Air?" he asked, looking at her in surprise.
"No.  It is a magical item that was given to me in order to complete my duties quicker."
Nodding he pulled his sleeves up and looked around.  "How big do you want the walls?"
Aella paused.  She hadn't thought that far ahead.  "Thirty feet tall?" she asked, wondering if that would be too tall.
"For that tall of a wall, it would have to be very thick to keep from falling over in high winds."
"Then make it ten feet thick.  Will that work?" she asked.
"Do you want rooms and passages within the wall?"
"Yes, that would be best.  Troops can be positioned inside the walls, in case of any attacks."
He nodded again, and turned his back on her, stomping the ground and raising his arms slowly.  The ground began to shake and she watched in excitement as the wall rose before her.
Stopping when it hit 30 feet, he turned back and looked at her.  "How far do you want this wall?"
"The city will be round, and will encompass miles," she said, flying him to the top of the wall.  "There will need to be a castle built in the middle, surrounded by another wall."
He looked out over the land for a moment, then sighed.  "Alright.  Time to stretch some muscles."

The demons had been told they were evil for so long, that they believed it.  Aella vowed to change that.  She just needed a hero to help her make them realize it.  But first, she had to become their king...

Follow her as she fights to become the king of the demons, and then goes up against the evils of the human church.

Nooroo told the three that Hawkmoth has the translated copy of the Guardian book. Nooroo then explained how it was really hard for Hawkmoth to understand the original copy but somehow managed to get a very important passage decoded. It was not a shock to Mari that the translated version had been in Hawkmoth's hands. She knew she got careless that day she became the new master and forgot about the Guardian book. She got preoccupied with how things went down, especially with Master Fu and Chloe's frustration. That being said, Wayzz began to explain what he read in the book after Master Fu had it translated. He wasn't able to read everything, but because other than the power ups that Master Fu had developed, the table of contents were always open, and some pages were often read by the master himself, he had known what was in it.

"Ultimate miraculous power?" repeated Marinette.

Wayzz nodded, "I believe that was the only passage Hawkmoth had decoded on the original copy. Which explains why his primary goal was to grab your miraculous and Chat Noir's."

"And ever since master had the translated one from Master Fu's tablet, he has been studying it carefully since then." Nooroo added.

Marinette fell silent now understanding why Hawkmoth had been inactive for a month.

"Wayzz, you said the ultimate power is granted to whoever has the ladybug miraculous and black cat miraculous. Master Fu had the two miraculous to begin with and yet no ultimate power was granted unto him. Exactly what is this ultimate power?" Mari asks.

Wayzz nods, taking the lead in the explanation, "Ultimate Miraculous Power" his eyes glowed, "It is the ability obtained by whoever uses both Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses at the same time. The power is described as 「the one that shapes reality」or as one may say the power of granting any one wish."

Mari raises a bow, "So, when the miraculous of creation and destruction are used together, the user will be granted one ultimate wish. Isn't that dangerous? Two opposing forces. Plagg caused the extinction of the dinosaurs you know."

"Hey, that was one time!" Plagg yelled, pouting.

"I've warned master about the risks," Nooroo responded weakly, "I told him there was no assurance that his wish would be granted. We don't even know if the wish making would cause a greater destruction than the extinction of animal species."

"Again with the dinosaurs." Plagg folded his arms, rolling his eyes.

Mari then begins to worry. They've known for quite some time now of Hawkmoth's obsession towards the miraculous items. He even risked the citizens of Paris for his own goal. If Hawkmoth then obtains both Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, what will he wish for?

"Nooroo.." Mari spoke softly.

"Yes?" The kwami turned to her.

"If you don't mind, what does Hawkmoth want to wish for?" she asks.

Nooroo's expression turned from shock to depressed. He looked down, hesitating, "Master....he..... he wants to revive his wife."

Plagg, Mari and Wayzz exchanged alarmed glances at each other.

Wayzz taps Nooroo, "What happened to his wife?"

"His wife is currently preserved in his laboratory."

"Preserved? As in..." Mari tries to imagine and the idea was too disturbing.
 
"She was the original user of the peacock miraculous," Nooroo continues, "But then the peacock miraculous was broken. Instead of helping her with her work, the miraculous absorbed her energy leading her into a deep sleep. Even in a state of inconsciousness, master worries that her life is shortened the more she sleeps and wishes to wake her up."

"Why was she using the peacock miraculous for work? What was her occupation?" Mari asks curiously.

"She was a designer." Nooroo answers.

"It makes sense," Wayzz mumbles, "That miraculous is after all the miraculous of emotion. It amplifies the user's feelings and is reflected in the output."

"Then...Mayura.." Mari stutters.

Nooroo shakes his head, "Mayura knows of the peacock miraculous' defectiveness yet still continued to use it. She works as Hawkmoth's secretary after all."

"Is Duusuu fixed now?" added Plagg.

Nooroo nodded, "Yes. Master spent the whole month fixing the peacock miraculous. But there is still no assurance that the restoration process is a hundred percent successful. After all, the miraculous existed for as long as we kwamis remebered. Repairing such a thing equivalent to a god-like spirit's home is something difficult. But because master spent days analyzing the components of a miraculous with a few data coming from the book, he was able to develop a trapping material to contain the kwamis."

"That's really cruel." Mari said in a pained expression, "But if he has the book, then we're defenseless. He must have read all about the miraculous warriors and their abilities."

"Nooroo, has Hawkmoth finished the book?" Plagg said levitating towards him.

"Apparently not. I saw him going back and forth reading about the miraculous of the peacock, the butterfly, the black cat and the ladybug."

"Then he must be really studying of how to defeat Chat Noir and I." said Mari.

"If that's the case then Hawkmoth has not completely comprehended of the conditions of the ultimate miraculous power." Wayzz said and floats to Marinette, "We might still be able to do something about even without Plagg and Tikki. We can ask the other kwamis for help."

"Trixx, Sass, Mullo and Kaalki will be a great choice for the team. Plagg added.

"What exactly is the condition of the ultimate miraculous power?" Mari interrupts.

Wayzz inhales sharply, "Due to the universe needing to maintain a state of balance, once the wish is granted, an equivalent weight of the wish must be taken from the recepient."

"Equivalent exchange." Plagg finishes Wayzz's sentence.

Mari then realizes what that meant for Hawkmoth's wife.

Her lips pursed, "Then...what's the price for a life?" her voice quaked, wanting to hear an answer but at the same time fears the answer.

The three kwamis fell silent. Mari confirmed her speculation by the look on their faces.

Her face turned dark, "Say, who will be taken in exchange then?" she said in a heavy tone.

Plagg didn't want to answer so he glanced to Wayzz for a reply.

"Probably not the person who made the wish, but someone the person holds dear." Wayzz answered.

They fell silent, feeling remorseful of how unlucky Hawkmoth will be for gaining something while losing another. The cycle of his grief might just repeat if that happens.

Nooroo then gasps realizing what Tikki meant by saving Adrien. She must have known about the conditions of the wish from the start and finding out who Hawkmoth is scared her of what might happen next.
"I understand now..." tears start to fall from Nooroo's eyes.

"What? What happened?" Plagg turned to him. Wayzz looked at him too shocked of his sudden sobbing.

"Nooroo what is it?" Mari leans closer worried of the little guy.

"Tikki..." he whimpers, "She said to tell you guys to save Chat Noir."

"Of course we will. We'll keep an eye on him since Hawkmoth is probably going to target him next." Mari tries to comfort him.

"That's not it!" he yells. Plagg and Wayzz looked at each other shocked. Nooroo never yells.

"Nooroo, what exactly did Tikki tell you?" Wayzz said firmly.

Nooroo looks to Plagg and Plagg gave him a confused look. He then glances to Marinette, eyes filled with tears, "Marinette. Stop the father from destroying his child." his voice shaking.
Plagg and Wayzz didn't quite catch the message. They exchanged glances a few times figuring out Tikki's instruction. But it was different for Marinette. She's always with Tikki. She knew how Tikki thinks and it reflected with how she always encrypted her message that only those who really know her would understand. Plagg might be one of her closest, but Marinette watched her closely.

Mari flinched, her hand trembling. Her head went blank with Nooroo's message. She wanted to ask why Tikki said that, but then Tikki had always had a knack for information. Tikki wouldn't just give her word for no reason. Which means, this message from her, is real.

"Marinette, your eyes look dead. Are you okay?" said Plagg, touching her cheek.

"Chat Noir is Hawkmoth's son." she blurted out and Plagg froze.

Nooroos sobbing got stronger as he whispered, "I'm sorry." feeling the weight of the crimes his master had done. He felt responsible for everything. But Tikki was right, it was now down to Marinette's final decision.

"What did you just say?" Plagg said, transferring in front of her.

Mari looks at Plagg straight in the eye as tears start to well up at the bottom of her lids, "Tikki found out, Plagg. Hawkmoth's son...it's Chat." 

Plagg fell to the sheets. Shock was an understatement to describe how he feels. For Marinette it was a matter of saving her partner, but for Plagg it was already a matter of saving a boy's sanity and life. Plagg felt his back shudder in fear. Adrien's stories of his mother started flashing before his eyes. The look on Gabriel's face flashed before his eyes. Everything about Adrien started intruding his senses including that sad portrait Adrien and Gabriel had at the hallway. He can't help but feel mad for Adrien as he realized how ironic it was that the only time the boy has a proper interaction with his father is when they are fighting each other behind their masks. 

"Then that means..." Plagg mumbles, "If Hawkmoth wishes for his wife to come back....my boy will be paying the price..."

Mari groans, "This is getting out of hand." she covers her face, "How am I supposed to save someone I don't know!?"

Then it hit him. Plagg then realizes the most important thing for this to work. Mari needs to know who Chat is to save him. She can do it. She is the current master of the miracle box. She holds all responsibility with it, including the lives of the holders. Which means...

"Wayzz," Plagg glances at him, "I believe it's time that Marinette knows who Chat Noir is."

"What? That's not allowed!" Mari exclaims.

"It is not allowed between holders." Wayzz cuts her, "However, you are not simply a user anymore Marinette."

Mari stares at the three, "Then Wayzz...I am allowed to know now?"

"As the guardian, yes. Guardians hold full responsibility of all the kwamis and holders of the miraculous. But...." he hesitates and Marinette had a hint of what he was about to say next remembering what happened to Master Fu.

"With the price of my memory." she smiled sheepishly, "That's why I'm allowed now, correct?"

Wayzz nods.

"You're our only hope now, Marinette." Plagg said.

She felt sad even when she understood what it meant. But Mari had no time to feel sad. She has to know who Chat Noir is and stop him from transforming so Hawkmoth won't find him.

"Nooroo," she picks up the crying kwami, "It's going to be alright now." she said, caressing his head lightly with her finger.

Nooroo looks up and sees Marinette smiling at him, "I'm really sorry Marinette.." he whispered.

Marinette shook her head, "No, I should be thanking you for helping Tikki. You were really brave despite how dangerous it was to leave Hawkmoth's side. I promise you I'll keep Chat Noir safe. In return, I want you to keep an eye on Tikki when you go back. Will that be okay?"

"Yes! Definitely! I'll watch over Tikki!" he said enthusiastically.

Marinette giggled, "Thank you."

She then glances at Wayzz and Plagg who was waiting for her plan. Marinette took a deep breath to clear her thoughts. After all those crime fighting moments with Chat Noir, she cannot believe she'll have to find out about his identity this way. To think she'll have to save her partner from his own father.

"I'm ready, Wayzz." her eyes full of determination.

"Alright." Wayzz nodded turning to Plagg.

Plagg then levitates closer to Mari's face, sighing, "I can't really say Chat Noir's name since there's a spell that blocks our mouth from telling our holder's identity," said Plagg, "But..I believe you'll figure it out easily once I give you a hint."

"So I know Chat already?"

Plagg and Wayzz nodded.

"So, who is he?"

Plagg glances at Wayzz and smiles bitterly at Marinette, "Wait here." he says flying down from Marinette's loft. 

"Where is he going?" she glances to Wayzz.

"Maybe he'll get paper." replied Nooroo.

After a while, Plagg comes back carrying something. It was hanging from the kwami's torso, and it looked bulky and long from Plagg's shadow. When the light from outside hits Plagg, Mari's heart wanted to leap out from her chest. Her jaw dropped and her eyes wider than the blue sea. She instinctively opens her free hand letting Plagg put the item on her palm. Now that it's closer and clearer to her, it all made sense why Tikki made Nooroo risk it all to deliver the message.

Mari broke down.

"No...." she said stifling her cry. Her tears poured like waterfall, and her heart ached like it was being pounded over and over again.

"I can't believe it....you were this close to me?" her voice cracked, staring at the charm that Adrien gave her.

The story is a fictional continuation from where the series has ended so far. Adrien now decides to date Kagami and Marinette has lost hope of her dream relationship with Adrien. Luka now officially courts Marinette making her feel that maybe Luka is the right one for her. She now decides to support Adrien and lives up to how she's always been to him―a very good friend. But will Marinette be able to hold her feelings back once she finds out the truth about Adrien?

We made it outside not seeing that telepathy guy at all looking at everything it looks ancient. " System what happened to everyone in my school" I said walking down the broke down street. " when the glitch happened everyone was scattered across the world". " Wait so I could be the only one I know that's still here" I said feeling something in my throat. " Yes but do not worry to much there are magic teleportation stones u can use to travel anywhere". " Well that's reassuring oh yeah system what exactly can a glitch breaker do" I say getting back on topic . "That's up to u u have to find glitch books there are two types glitch point books and skill glitch books". I began to think that glitch breakers are like video game characters. Continuing with her explanation she keeps talking "point books give u points u can use to upgrade speed and strength u can also use them to unlock skill glitch books when u find them". " Also skill books can be anything like controlling fire or useless like becoming a plant". System laughs " fitting for someone weak"! " IM NOT THAT WEAK" I say pouting. " The first thing u need to do is find point books there is one in the abandoned factory right up ahead". I walked down the street to the factory walking into the dirty wet place. The point book was ahead I went to grab it "look out" system yells. A man came out the shadow used telekinesis and lifted me 3 feet and sent me flayed back. I managed to protected my head I got back up grabbing a steel bar and through it. He teleported right by me and grabbed my arm I closed my eyes.  " Allen is that you" a familiar voice said releasing there grip. " It's me Dre" he said I open my eyes and hug my best friend I then went to grab the Point book. " I see so u must be a glitch breaker" Dre said "yeah you know" " yeah only glitch breakers use glitch books". " how do u know so much" I said confused " the world told me". " I'll tell u more later but Allen remember this glitch breakers are hunted by every race don't tell people" Dre said In a really serious voice. " Ok let's get some sleep it's getting dark" i pleaded trying to get out the serious talk. Dre then brought out some blankets and pillows we made little beds and joked and laughed like old times. "Hey Dre why are glitch breakers hunted are they that important"? Dre responded to my question swiftly " Yes glitch breakers are God's and if u kill one u can obtain the power to level up like a god as well". " Do u have something called the will of the world"? " yes I call her System" confused by the question. " Allen that will is the proof you are a god and the god that rules is the god that obtains the power of the will". " What do u mean"? " That's enough for today we will talk tomorrow goodnight Allen" " yeah, goodnight Dre". Like that we both closed our eyes and drifted into deep sleep.

Slowly my eyes opened and I looked around to find myself in a car of some kind. It looked oddly...vintage to my eyes. Like a car from the early nineties.

I looked to my left and saw a middle-aged man with his hair thinning around the top but rather full on the sides and back. It was grayish in color. He looked a bit too...I don't know, big city lawyer-type to be of any use outside of when you want to sue someone out their ass or you are getting sued out your ass.

But apart from that, I had to wonder...where the hell am I?

Looking around a bit I stopped when I saw two kids and a sleeping woman in the back of the car. One of the kids was a small boy who looked around 11, and the other was a girl who looked around 13 or 14.

The boy was pretty small, with longish brown hair that was pretty messy and curled at the end, while the girl had blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail with only a fringe on her forehead.

Both of them were wearing some pretty...retro clothes. It only made the earlier observation about the car's design even more outstanding in my memory.

Why is that?

Just as I was about to take in the woman asleep next to the kids, I finally came out of my daze and realized the kids and lawyer man was frozen. Not just still like a statue, but they weren't breathing, nor was their heart beating if the lack of movement around their jugulars was anything to go by.

...I keep getting more and more questions without any goddamn answers.

As if to prove me wrong or simply to just answer my complaint, a screen popped up in front of me.

[God's Mission]

[Jurassic Park, 5 Person Mission

Mission: Survive until the end of the 'plot' when rescue will arrive.

Side Mission: Protect the Main Characters of 'Jurassic Park' from death. Each death for any of the main characters will deduct 1500 points from every Player of Team USA. Reward upon completion: 1000 and a D-Rank Reward.

You have 10 Minutes Until the Mission Starts: 10:00...09:59...09:58...]

Terror Infinity.

Well, oh shit.

Remembering back to the pop-up on my laptop, I thought to myself that I should have said no. Even if it was just to avoid a possible virus. Damn my insatiable curiosity.

Taking deep breathes I focused on keeping a calm mind like my training was telling me to, but I was interrupted by a smooth yet fierce voice.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

I looked back to be met by some amber eyes which looked at me angrily. I raised my hand, motioning for this tigress of a woman to calm down before speaking.

"There should be a screen somewhere in front of you, if not, think about 'Mission Details' or something similar. I'm in the same situation as you, I didn't kidnap you," I spoke evenly, knowing that snapping back at her would lead to an argument we didn't have the time for.

She went to reply with a scowl but she froze while looking into mid-air.

Guess the screen appeared. While she was reading that I wondered about the mission we had.

Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs. Inaccuracies about Velociraptors. Danger. Yada yada yada. Honestly, I could see why it was only a 5 Person Mission. You just have to follow the plot and not act like an idiot if you want to survive.

And if you're like me, the Dinos could be a useful source of points.

'What are you?' You may be asking? Well, disembodied voice in my head I, Jason, am a genetically engineered soldier. I'm stronger, faster, smarter, and overall just better than even Olympic-level humans. So, I feel like I have a good shot at killing some Dinos if I can get my hands on a gun. 'What's the rest of your story?' Well, disembodied voice, that's very rude of you to ask. At least take me on a date first.

...Let's just say they didn't fully perfect the mental modifications. The constant war from the age of 10 may have had it's effects as well.

Luckily I was mentally fortified enough to not break down despite being a part of this death game, huh?!

Pulling me out of my thoughts, literally, the amber-eyed beauty from before pulled on my collar and looked me dead in the eyes, practically growling words out at me.

"What did you do to me?" her pupils were constricted until they were pinpoints and she glared at me with anger only a woman could conjure up.

Once again putting my hands up in a gesture for her to calm down, I evenly replied despite the inner feelings of annoyance this girl was causing to brew inside of me, "Again, I'm in the same situation as you. I haven't drugged you either. This is real, look around you - these are the characters from the first Jurassic Park movie. This would be easier if you'd read--" she cut me off before I could say it which annoyed me even more but when I heard what she said that annoyance disappeared pretty quickly.

"Terror Infinity, right? Well, I have read it. I was just sure this was a prank...a pretty shitty one but..." she let out a sigh as she looked over to the children who were frozen in place, "This is real, isn't it?"

Internally rolling my eyes at her, I finally snapped back at her with some light-hearted sarcasm, "What gave it away? The ethereal screen in front of you or the people frozen next to us? Geez. You can also let go of my collar now, I ain't going anywhere," I smirked at her as she got a tad flustered and quickly let go of my collar.

Though I've got to say, I am surprised such a pretty woman has read a novel like Terror Infinity before. Not that girls don't read, just that I didn't think that type of book is really up a girl's alleyway. Guess I'm rethinking my personal biases today, huh?

After a short few seconds of gathering herself, the girl outstretched a hand and introduced herself.

"My name's Jessica but most people call me Jess," she looked slightly nervously at me, but I ignored it and took her hand returning the greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Jess. My name's Jason," I let go of her hand before thinking for a second about whether I should say what I thought, but I mentally shrugged and said it anyway, "You know how this stuff goes, having read the novel and all that, so what kind of talents do you have? What do you do for a living as well?"

She seemed slightly taken aback by how calmly I was looking at the situation as now that this entire situation was settling in, she was slowly giving in to the fear. How did I know? Well, her body language practically screamed it. Plus her breathing was slowly picking up and I guessed that she would soon be hyperventilating.

I guess not everyone was trained from the time they could walk to calmly work in extremely stressful environments like me, huh~?

...That's a joke, by the way, I already know my upbringing was...unique, to say the least.

But to my surprise, Jess closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening her eyes and focusing on me and my question to avoid her fear.

Good, I have at least one person with potential on my team.

"I've trained in martial arts since I was around 6 - I'm 20, for reference - and I've been a runner ever since Freshman year* in Highschool. I work as a part-time waitress at a bar near my College."

Nodding I gave her a once over as I saw the toned muscle definition on her arms, or at least what I could see of her arms.

"That's good. Your martial arts experience will help if you get back to God's Dimension. Right now, your running will probably be your best bet; I don't think you could punch a Dinosaur to death with your human strength," I joked, getting an uneasy smile and chuckle from the woman, I carried on and did an introduction of myself, "Well, Jess, I'm a soldier. More specifically a special ops soldier. They didn't train us to kill Dinosaurs but you can bet your ass I can survive in that forest next to us. You have realized what's going to happen to us, right?" I asked when I saw her face turn to one of confusion when I mentioned surviving in the forest.

Sighing, I motioned to the kids in the car, and to the lawyer (WHO DIES IN THE MOVIE), before motioning to the electrified fence to the right of us.

She looked to all three of these things before the cogs in her head started turning. It didn't take long for her to figure it out.

And it didn't take that long for her to shout her findings.

"We're gonna get attacked by the T-Rex!" she went back to how she was before, about to go into a panic attack. I can't really blame her, honestly.

Turning around in my seat, I leaned over my seat and held the woman's shoulders before shaking a bit of sense into her, "Jess! It's gonna be alright, okay? We know it's gonna happen, and we know what not to do, so calm down, alright?" my voice seemed to get through to her but from her breathing, she was still a few steps away from jumping over the proverbial edge and going into panic mode.

"Y-yeah, you're...you're right! We can stop the kids from attracting the T-Rex!" she let out a hopeful smile as she looked at me but it was squashed as I shook my head, "Why?!" she screamed in response.

Taking my hands from her shoulders I gave her my answer with a serious gaze, "We should stick to the plot as much as we can. That way we know what to expect. All we'll have to do is get over the edge and into the Jungle. I'll even carry you if it helps calm you down a little," I laughed as I lessened my serious act a little before carrying on after she glared and pouted at me, "Okay okay, I'm just joking to lighten the mood," holding up my hands in surrender, I continued, "Like I just said, if we stick to the plot, we know what's gonna happen. It's imperative that we keep it that way so we don't end up facing even worse odds than we already are."

She looked at me weirdly before quirking one of her eyebrows upward, "What could make the odds worse for us? We're already about to be attacked by a T-Rex for god's sake!"

Sighing, I brought a hand to my face and squeezed the bridge of my nose before looking toward Jess.

"Okay, one, don't say stuff like that, you'll jinx us," I stopped for a second, and looked to the left, the rain starting to fall to the ground again. It seemed the mission was going to start soon, so I sped up my explanation, "It could get worse by us messing about with the plot and having to fight a T-Rex AND Velociraptors, instead of just one of them," I heard more and more sounds from around us and finished up quickly, "Okay, the mission seems to be starting, so get ready and remember; Follow the plot!"

I turned around in my seat just in time for the people in the car with us to start moving, with the boy beginning to talk about random Dinosaur crap.

Kid, you ain't gonna like Dinosaurs for long.

Want to know the meaning of life? Want to live... A real life? The world changes when you click YES. At least it did the Characters of this story.

Follow Jason as he and Team USA forge onward as they find themselves with a bunch of newbies and no veteran Players!

Watching her dramatic expression, Tang Min felt speechless. Li Yuri then proceeded to ask curiously, "What are you doing here late at night?" 


Tang Min smiled and said dryly, "I should be asking the same question to you." He glanced at the black car fading in the darkness and an indescribable emotion flashed in his eyes. 


Before Li Yuri could answer, she heard Tang Min speak, "I came out to have a walk and saw Lu Jeongshan leaving just now. What was he doing at your house at this hour?" Li Yuri blinked her eyes and replied while scratching her head, "Actually… Bro Shan was having dinner with us."


Tang Min was taken aback by her reply, "What? He had dinner with you? Wow, Xiao Ri, I didn't know you two were so close to have dinner together.. Moreover, his house is so faraway from this street; what was he doing here instead of heading to his home?" 


When Li Yuri heard his words, she was stunned. Right, Bro Shan lived rather far from here.. What would he be doing in this street? But soon she shook her thoughts off and simply said, "Bro Shan must've had work nearby so maybe he dropped by.. Bro Min, don't think too much! After all, we used to be rather close before!"


 Tang Min chuckled, "Close? He has always been avoiding us since that incident; I almost forgot how close we used to be back then.. Well, whatever; it's late, go inside.." Li Yuri nodded her head and waved her hand as she turned around, "Bye! Goodnight!"


"Goodnight." Tang Min stared at her fading silhouette and sighed. "Perhaps, it's too late.." He mumbled before taking a last glance at her before returning to his house which was just beside Li Yuri's. 


- Next Day, Class 1-2


Mo Xuanji looked at Tang Min and asked curiously, "Why are you sitting with me today? Don't you usually prefer to sit with Yuri?" The latter didn't say anything and lay his head on the desk, as if he didn't hear her. Mo Xuanji was speechless. 'Did these two kids fight again?'


She rubbed her temples and was about to say something when she received a text message from Li Yuran. 


[Brother Ran: Xiao Ji, where are you? I miss you~ *heart emoji*]


[Xuanji: I'm in class right now; you should also get going since class is about to start soon.]


[Brother Ran: Xiao Ji! Classes are no fun; I only want to see you for a while~ I'll wait for you outside your class.]


[Xuanji: Brother Ran, we're not dating yet. I already promised you that I'll date you once we graduate from school. My parents are very strict and I need to focus on my studies so that we can be together.. Let's just meet during lunch-break.]


[Brother Ran: Okay. Keep your promise that we'll date once we graduate. Bye~ Let's meet later then.]


Mo Xuanji sighed and put her phone away as she took out a book from her bag. 'I will keep my promise, Brother Ran.'


In the other side, Li Yuri glanced at Lu Jeongshan who was seated next to her. She was so immersed in staring at his handsome side profile that she didn't even hear the bell ringing. She found out that the more she looked at him, the more attracted she felt towards him..


The hand she was holding her head with slipped the moment Lu Jeongshan turned his gaze towards her. She immediately came out of her reverie and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. Sh*t, was she literally drooling over his beauty just a moment ago?!


Li Yuri quickly picked up a book from her desk and pretended to read it while sneaking glances at Lu Jeongshan whose eyes were stuck on her. She watched as he leaned towards her and her heart sped up unknowingly. She backed away instinctively while covering her face with the book.


"B-Bro Shan.. W-what are you doing?" Lu Jeongshan didn't say anything and kept moving forward. He stopped moving when he was few inches away from her face. Li Yuri blinked her eyes and her mind turned blank. 


Lu Jeongshan took the book and turned it around as he calmly said while returning the book to her, "You were reading it upside down." Only when she heard his words did she realize that she had been holding the book upside down from the beginning. 


Li Yuri bit her lips as she took the book from him. 'Embarrassed myself in front of my crush again; what should I do?' She smiled awkwardly, "Hehe, thank you, Bro Shan! Actually, I wanted to learn how to read a book upside down!"


Just then, the door opened and Mr. Gong entered. Li Yuri quickly stood up, "Everyone, greet the Homeroom Teacher." Everyone stood up and bowed respectfully, "Good morning, Homeroom Teacher!" Mr. Gong seemed to be in a good mood as he nodded his head.


"Good morning, everyone! Please take your seats!" After everyone took their seats, he said with a strange grin in his face, "Alright, everyone, today since I'm in a really good mood, I'm going to take a surprise test!"


Following his words, all the students groaned in unison, "Ohhh.." They simply won't let Mr. Gong to be in a good mood from now on! Mr. Gong's smile broadened as he cleared his throat, "Enough. Class President and Vice President, step out to distribute the papers."

School Days are really tough! Mainly when you are the Class President and have so many responsibilities! 

Li Yuri, as the Class President of Class 1-2, has many responsibilities! Last year, Class 1-1 had stolen the most precious title from the Class 1-2! Learn about how Yuri will help Class 1-2 to take back their respectful position!
---
Li Yu Ri, a high school student, finds out that she is the Class President of her class 1-2. While fighting against Class 1-1's arrogant class president, Song Lin, Li Yu Ri finds herself falling for the vice class president, Lu Jeong Shan.

Travel with Li Yu Ri and her friends as they go through different adventures like any normal high school student. Experience high school crush, mischief, punishments, pranks, friends, love, heartbreaks, & Action!

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