《The World isn't as Ugly nor Beautiful as You Think》A New Leaf
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That boy saw the other boys his age were playing happily there. He hesitated to join them. He then decided to play with them. He then played with them that he looked happy, but suddenly, some hags who seemed to be their parents came with a scornful look on their faces. They then set their children apart from that boy.
'I told you to stay away from him!'
'You heard her, right! He's a monster!'
'You son of a bitch! Stay away from my son! Just die already!'
All of them kept swearing him, though the boy had no idea why they hated him so much. He began to sob, and suddenly purple Iru came out from his sword, his tattoo began to glow purple, and his right eye which the pupil had been glowing purple opened. All of them were intimidated by it.
'Why? Why?! WHY?! WHY?!' The possessed-by-his-Iru-boy shouted.
They then ran immediately, and the boy unsheathed his sword and cut the tree before him into 2. He looked like something was possessing him, and he turned his head to them showing his terrifying face. Suddenly, a man appeared holding the boy's deathly slash with his sword.
'Koloni!(Colony)' He exclaimed plunging his sword to the ground and making the soil around it run to the boy's direction.
It hit the boy and spread through his body petrifying him.
Later, the man unpetrified him and let him sit next to him. The boy then sat next to him awkwardly, and he looked sad.
'Are you OK?' The man asked him patting the boy's shoulder.
The boy didn't say a thing. He just ignored the man.
'My name is Arz. What is your name?' He asked friendly.
'I wanna die.' The boy said.
'Eh? What do you mean?' Arz asked surprised.
'Why do they hate me? What is my fault?' The boy sobbed.
Arz remained silent.
'Say, do you know why they hate me? They call me a monster and stay away from me. Shouldn't I be here? The sages said that I am innocent, yet why do they treat me like that? Not to mention the terrifying thing in my sword. It always possesses me every time they bully me. Why? Why!?' He sobbed.
Arz then knelt in front of the boy. He wiped the boy's tears and smiled at the boy. The boy looked so surprised that he saw someone smiling at him.
'What is your name?' Arz asked.
'Vincent.' The boy answered.
'Vincent, can we be friends?' Arz asked.
'You want to be my friend?' Vincent asked awkwardly.
Arz just smiled while nodding.
'If they do hate you, you don't need to make them stop hating you, as it's tedious. You don't need to be afraid anymore, as I will always there for you.' Arz said.
'Why? Why do you want to be my friend?' Vincent asked.
'You said that you wanted to die as no one cares about you, right? What if I become your friend, then?' Arz said.
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'Why?' Vincent asked.
'Human has a right to live, and I don't want you to suffer any longer. If everyone has a right to smile, then so do you.' Arz explained extending his arm to Vincent.
'You won't leave me, will you?' Vincent asked.
'Sure, but in one condition.' Arz said.
'What's that?' Vincent asked.
'Never ever think to kill yourself anymore.' Arz said.
Vincent then dripped his tears again and took Arz's hand. Suddenly, a boy Vincent's age came.
'Kakak, (remember what I told you previously in chapter 9?) what are you doing here?' The boy asked.
Vincent then hid behind Arz.
'Calm down, it's just Frans, my little brother. Frans, this is Vincent.' Arz said introducing Vincent to Frans.
Frans then approached Vincent and gave him a cheerful smile.
'Hello, my name is Frans. Nice to meet you!' He exclaimed cheerfully
Vincent smiled and said, 'My name is Vincent.'
"That's what makes me survive until now. My name is Varz. Vincent Arya Reksa Zaluntino." Varz said internally
Varz then awakes and gets up from his straw bed. Yes, he sleeps in a stable. It is inhuman, yet it is a prove of the villagers' "hospitality" for him.
Varz then gets out of his stable, and he sees Darz standing while watching the fish pool.
Varz then approaches her.
'Good morning, Darz.' He greeted her friendly.
Darz turns her head and says, 'Oh, good morning, Varz.'
'What are you doing here?' Varz asked.
'I am just watching the fish.' Darz answered.
The both then watch the fish for a quite long time.
'Say, Varz,' Darz said.
'Ya?' Varz replied.
'Are you really going to leave us?' She asked.
Varz just nods.
'Do you hate us?' She asked.
'No. You may hate me because of Doraduo, right? I am always upset every time you bully me, but there's no point for me to fight back, right?' He explained.
'I don't hate you, Varz.' She said turning her head to him.
'Darz...' He said turning his head to her.
'They do stay away from me as my terrifying personality, but I just want them to notice me. At first, they didn't care about me, even my parents left me when I was still a little girl.' She explained.
'Did Doraduo kill them?' He asked.
She just nods awkwardly.
'I'm sorry.' He said feeling guilty.
'Don't make it bother you. No one escapes death, right? Fortunately, the sages saved me and took care of me until now. At first, I always cry about losing my beloved parents, yet no one cared about it. Therefore, I decided to stop crying and started to behave like that just for making me forget this sadness. Even though I have been chosen as one of the 12 Swordsmen of the stars, I don't feel they want to be my friends.' Darz explained feeling sad. 'For the first time I saw you, I wanted to be your friend, as I thought we had the same problem, but I hesitated to see you. I wasn't afraid of you, I just didn't know how to start it, and now, finally, I can talk to you, even though you are about to leave us.' She added.
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Varz then smiles and pats both of her shoulders gently.
'Then, will you be my friend?' He asked.
'Why? Why do you want to befriend a weirdo like me?' She asked feeling sad.
'Loneliness. Do you want to stay with it? I did feel it for years and it's excruciating. I don't want you to be lonely anymore.' He explained. 'Once, a guy told me this "Human has a right to live, and I don't want you to suffer any longer. If everyone has a right to smile, then so do you" Seeing you reminds me of the old me, and I want to rescue you from the prison named loneliness.' He added.
Darz then sobs after hearing his answer. She feels happy knowing that she finally has made a friend.
'But, you are going to leave, right? I... don't want to lose you.' She said afraid.
'I'll ask Alfi to take you. They do ignore you, don't they? So come with me! I'm sure that you'll be happier with us.' Varz persuaded her.
Darz then drips her tears.
'I am glad you are worrying me, Varz, but I don't want to leave them.' She said.
'Why?' Varz asked.
'They do ignore me, but they are my family. Every their moment I see is priceless for me. Well, even though I don't share the same moment with them, I still love them.' Darz said.
'Are you sure, Darz? What if they are still ignoring you?' Varz asked afraid.
Darz smiles and says, 'Of course I am. They are my family anyway, and it's my job to protect them. Even so, I ask you to stay and leave His Highness Alfa, as you are going to protect the world with him, right? And I think it's a noble job, as you are not only protecting us but also everyone in this world.'
'Darz...' Varz said.
Darz then approaches him and kisses his right cheek. Varz looks very surprised.
'Do your best, Varz.' Darz said blushing.
'Yes, I will.' Varz said blushing.
The situation turns awkward. Varz and Darz have no courage to look at each other's face. Suddenly, they hear a great explosion. Then they are back to their senses.
'Go Varz! Save this world!' Darz cheering him.
'You too. Save them all!' Varz cheering her.
They both then run to where the explosion came from.
The explosion came from the village entrance. A lot of guys in polka dot cloak with orange base color fall from the sky. Once they land, they dash upon entering the village to attack the villagers. Alfi and the others come out from the house. The Swordsmen of the Stars have been on their position to fight those unwelcomed visitors.
'They are here already, eh?' Koji said launching flame from his glasses to the sky.
When the flame is at the sufficient height, it explodes into a great fire forming a man face with a big smile like the motive of Sky Bandit mask. Later, a lot of guys in thin jacket and mask with that motive fall from the sky. Once they land, they dash entering the village to fight those guys in polka dot cloak.
'Attack all of them and evacuate the villager!' Koji commanded them. 'Iqbal, Reza, Indra, back them up!' He added.
'Roger!' Iqbal, Reza dan Indra responded running to the villager's settlement to back their allies up.
Indra attacks them swiftly, and Iqbal and Reza aid their allies to evacuate the villagers.
'Don't you think that I am here without any single of a plan.' Koji said.
'Your Highness Alfi, Waku-waku has started their move, you have to defeat the guardians who guard the remaining 7 spots immediately.' Made said.
'Let us protect our village.' Nyoman added.
'Wait, I am waiting for someone.' Alfi said. 'We won't leave him here.' He added.
Varz and Darz finally arrive.
'Sorry I am late.' Varz said.
'Darz, protect the villagers!' Nyoman commanded her.
'Yes, sir!' Darz responded running to the villager's settlement to join the fray.
'Varz!' Wayan exclaimed.
'Yes, sir?' Varz replied.
'Promise me to protect this world with all of your might.' Wayan said.
'Do not ever betray your friend, or you'll know the consequence!' Nyoman exclaimed.
'Do your best, Varz.' Ketut added.
Varz feels happy hearing their support. He then smiles and exclaims. 'Yes, sir!'
Alfi and Koji flick their finger and a white giant bowl and black giant bowl appear before them. Alfi, Kartika, and Koji ride the black one, and Herman, Katon and Varz ride the white one.
'Atam, the next destination is Tirta Empul!' Koji exclaimed.
'Understood!' Atam exclaimed.
'Atam?' Alfi said in amazement.
'His name is Atam, because it's black. (Let me explain, it's a chicken (ayam) and it's black (hitam), so Atam is Ayam hitam (Black Chicken, or in my translating style, Black Cock))' Koji explained.
'What a lame name' Alfi said.
'Shut up!' Koji exclaimed upset.
'Pinto, the next destination is Kertha Gosa!' Herman exclaimed.
'Can't wait to kick some butts!' Katon exclaimed in excitement.
'Hey, Varz!' Alfi said.
'What?' Varz replied.
'Don't die.' Alfi said.
Varz chuckles and says, 'So do you!'
'We'll meet up at Pandawa Beach! Guys, do your best to protect this world!' Alfi exclaimed.
Pinto and Atam run to their each destination swiftly.
'We will protect this world at all cost!' All of them exclaimed.
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- In Serial20 Chapters
Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
8 153 - In Serial7 Chapters
Archangel Accelerate
In the aftermath of a failed revolution, a young woman attempts to uncover the mystery of her comrade's disappearance, leading her to discover the underground world of Relics, divine flesh that grants the user special powers and a connection to the Firmament, a world beyond our own. Also on Honeyfeed.fm: https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5944 Cover Art Note: The cover art is Angel Carrying Man, by Brayden Law, and is used under a Pexels License. Link to Art Source
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The Fisher King
Mallary is on a quest to slay the Crimson Bone of Death. On this quest he stumbles upon a strange little blue haired girl in a burning city. Along with a blacksmith and her mysterious sword. Together, along with the party that Mallary tries to ditch, must go on and slay the dragon.
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1870) (Completed)
In 1866, ships of several nations spot a mysterious sea monster, which some suggest is a giant narwhal. The US government assembles an expedition to find and destroy the monster. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a French marine biologist (and narrator within the story) receives a last-minute invitation to join the expedition. As the expedition travels south around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean, the crew finds the monster after a long search and then attack it, but the ship is damaged with the three main protagonists thrown into the water. They are quickly captured and then meet the enigmatic Captain Nemo. ~ Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne and was originally published in 1870. The novel was originally serialized between March 1869 and June 1870 in Pierre-Jules Hetzel's periodical, the Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation. An illustrated edition, published by Hetzel in November 1871, included 111 illustrations by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is regarded as one of the premiere adventure novels and one of Verne's greatest works, along with Around the World in Eighty Days and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Cover done by @sinadan
8 231 - In Serial56 Chapters
Among Giants
BOOK 1 DONE. THE STORY WILL PICK BACK UP IN THE REWRITE, BUT THIS DRAFT IS COMPLETE. BIG NOTE: This story is currently being rewritten. However, the rewrite has strayed so far from the original that they're hardly the same story anymore. If you want a better story with higher-quality writing and much better pacing, check that one out. (If you liked this story and want to show your support, consider rating the rewrite! I would be super appreciative if you did!) When a mystic has reached the peak of their world’s growth, they are able to ascend, leaving it behind in favor of a higher, more potent plane. Since the dawn of existence, ambitious prodigies have pushed the boundary of what seems possible, ascending beyond countless worlds in search of the peak. Hong Tang Kiro… is not one of those geniuses. However, his twin sister just might be. Secluded on a border world and selected for their talent in fire mana, the siblings are unknowing participants of a centuries-long experiment, hosted by a powerful eccentric on the verge of immortality. Follow the twins as they learn of and attempt to escape their predicament, before venturing out into the wider world(s).
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Inner Mechanisms- Maki Zenin x Reader
Going into your sophmore year of college, you pick up a job as a mechanic at a small warehouse in Tokyo. Little did you know you would be thrown into the world of underground street racing and meet Maki Zenin, an ex member of the notorious Zenin gang. _________Inspired by the amazing fan art in the cover by @huangdanlan on twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/huangdanlan/status/1362355607731277826It just gave me street racer vibes.
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