《My Pick Up Artist System》22: Stoned to death
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"Bravo!" The one shouting and clapping loudest was the professor. He'd never seen an undergrad student orate such a splendid speech! That was close to professional level! While he admired the performance for its skill, the surrounding students applauded it for a different reason—they felt something!
The speech resonated with them. It gave them ideas and encouragement, evoked rare emotions and inspiration, and made them rethink aspects of their lives. It touched them!
In the jaded streets of New York City, how hard was it to find something that affected them? How rare was it? Between the days filled with mundane moments, timed sunrises and sunsets eclipsed by gray skyscrapers, it was sensations like these that uplifted them. That gave their world colors and rich flavor! That made life worth living!
Many of them moved to New York for this! What was the point of appreciating this city's art and culture? Of deep friendships and falling in love? To encounter things that moved them! To feel something exceptional!
They found it in the most unlikely place.
Even Ben's jaw dropped! The uproarious feedback was unbelievable! He hadn't delivered a proper speech to an audience since his stats leveled up so he didn't know what to expect.
Although his communication was a 5, when combining a 7 in charisma with preparation, motivation, and a topic he connected with, this was the shocking result. It was reasonable. What was a 7? The system itself said a 7 was an entry-level standard for related professions. That meant Ben had the potential to get a job related to professional speaking. Yet, this was only a one-week seminar for undergrad freshmen.
The contrast between the minimal expectation and the impassioned performance was too huge! This was the outcome! It floored everyone! Who could have expected it?
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As the clapping subsided, a new revelation filled the space. One by one, the audience turned their heads from Ben and gazed at Zachary…
Everyone thought, 'Wasn't he in a competition with Ben?'
…
The only sound in the room was the grinding of Zachary's teeth.
Everybody here knew Ben was only a first year student. Meanwhile, Zachary was a graduate student and teaching assistant in the class, but when comparing his speech to Ben's…not worth mentioning!
Zachary turned pale. He got a bad feeling like a divine punishment was coming.
All the students wore strange expressions as they threw thoughts at him like stones.
'Was he planning to compete with his boring rant about national security?
Zachary's powerful speech became a boring rant!
'He spoke first so we could learn from him? What are we supposed to learn from a waste?'
Zachary went from best speaker to waste!
'This guy's a teaching assistant? He can't even beat a freshman. Who did he blackmail to get that position?'
Zachary was suspected of illegal activity!
It wasn't his fault. He suffered from the crime of contrast. Ben was too outstanding!
All eyes were on Zachary as the onlookers' gazes threw a finishing blow. 'Ben stuttered a week ago, but now gave such a moving speech. He must've worked hard. What were you doing?'
…
The worst part of it all was this dirt hole Zachary was neck-deep in…he dug it himself! Why did everyone know about their bet? It's because he asked people to tell them!
This wasn't dropping a stone on his own foot! This was handing out stones to a mob, then getting stoned to death!
Zachary's face was hideous. He couldn't cope with these students' stares anymore! He looked at Miyuki.
The kind and gentle Miyuki's expression gave off a different mood than usual. 'Don't look at me you trash!'
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'My date!' All of Zachary's plans evaporated in a puff of smoke! He'd already spent all his money on a new outfit!
'No! I still have a chance!' Zachary had one lost hope. He'd been working as a teaching assistant for the professor for a long time. This was only a small bet in a student seminar. The professor should still award him the win to save him some face. Zachary put on a bright smile and looked at him with hopeful eyes.
The professor coughed. "Ben, you've delivered the best speech today."
'What happened to respect between colleagues?!?' Zachary fell back in his chair.
The professor was already unhappy that this teaching assistant asked to compete against a student. He wouldn't compromise his integrity by delivering an unjust evaluation to please a glorified intern. Besides, Zachary got himself in this mess.
Since he wanted to slither like a serpent, he could now roll in the dirt!
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Mother of Learning
Zorian is a teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. He is a driven and irritable young man, consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, whom he resents for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, he has no time for pointless distractions or paying attention to other people's problems. As it happens, time is something he is about to get plenty of. On the eve of the Cyoria's annual summer festival, he is killed and brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take a train to Cyoria. Suddenly trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, Zorian will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery before him. And he does have to unravel it, for the time loop hadn't been made for his sake and dangers lurk everywhere... Repetition is the mother of learning, but Zorian will have to first make sure he survives to try again - in a world of magic, even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill. ********************************** If anyone is interested, I have a story-related worldbuilding site that can be found here. I don't update it as often as I should, but there is a fair amount of content there already. It also contains a page with all the fanart, fan translations, audio books and the like - you can reach it directly by clicking this link. I have a patreon account for those kind people that want to give me money. It also contains info for those who want to donate via paypal. The story was originally posted on fictionpress, back in 2011. When I reached chapter 91, I started uploading the story to RoyalRoad, one chapter per day. The story will continue to be updated on fictionpress as well as here, and can be reached by clicking on this link if somebody is interested, though at this point there is nothing there that isn't also on RoyalRoad. ********************************** The cover you see on the side has been made by a fellow RoyalRoad user Sydorow. Thank you for your time and art skills.
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