Efforts Never Betray You.
It was a famous quote from my favorite novel, but I thought it was BS. Effort may not betray you, but it sure loves wasting your time.
So why even work hard when you can work smart... or better yet, not at all?
That was my life motto: "Put in effort, but just the right amount to make people not think you're lazy, anything more is just a waste of time."
Perhaps that's the reason why, even though I have a dream of becoming a web novelist, I haven't gotten past my newbie stage after two years of test writing.
I guess effort is important... but who cares? I'm still not planning on putting any in.
"Why did the author suddenly make the plot dark?" Scrolling through my phone in my kind-of-neat apartment, I cursed at the author for the second time today. "Bastard just had to ruin my mood."
I tossed my phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling that was barely visible through the darkness surrounding my room.
The switch was right above my bed, but I didn't have the energy to roll that far.
Putting in effort is such a shitty thing. I grabbed my phone and switched on the torchlight. There are always easier ways to go about things.
Of course, setting my example aside, there were others that the first quote worked on — but it seems I'm not one of them.
Ding!
The sound of a notification rang in my ears. As I picked up the bright phone, fully in dark mode, I saw a message from a Webnovel account called Milk_me_dry. Such a weird username — well, almost everyone on that damn app had a weird one. And then there was always the Daoist gang, which made up half the readers.
Reluctantly, I tapped on the message, which turned out to be a reply to my paragraph comment on my favourite book.
The message was a bit lengthy, but to summarize, the person was an aspiring author who wanted me to beta test their book. Sure, I liked reading random books with coins, but that didn't mean every new author had to message me to check out their novel.
Honestly, I usually ignored such messages, but today was different. Today, I wanted to put in a little bit more effort.
Ren_Dover_Fan: Okay, see my Discord link. Chat me up.
Within a minute of sending it, another notification popped up from Discord, and I tapped on it. And just as anticipated, it was the same guy — no "hi," no greeting — just the EPUB file, with a single message that said "it is for a game."
"Does he mean to say I shouldn't expect the best writing?"
I opened the file and started my binge reading. To be completely honest, it was an enjoyable story about a hero blessed by the heavens and given the mission to kill the Devil King With No Army. Naturally, he went to an academy, but unlike most academy series, this one didn't have world-ending chaos every arc and was actually chill, though the protagonist was a bit annoying.
The synopsis promised lots of adventure, and it didn't disappoint. With three missions per semester, the academy gave me the school life I loved, the adventure I wanted, and a relaxing slice-of-life atmosphere on top.
Within a few hours, I had gone through 99 chapters, or rather episodes, and decided to stop at an impressive cliffhanger, grab a drink, and continue from episode 100.
With a stretch, I got off the bed and moved toward the kitchen.
"It sure is dark here. Maybe I should get a cute Japanese maid?" I chuckled at my own words. Hearing my voice echo in the house lit a fire in me. "Yeah, baby!"
The moment the words left my lips, they echoed through the hallway. I kept singing and shouting until I reached the kitchen and grabbed a drink.
"Oh, I might also need a snack." I turned toward the fridge again to grab something, that's when I felt my legs slip on something, and my whole world tilted upside down.
"Shit!"
The only thing I heard at that moment was the echo of my own voice and the sound of my hand slamming against the ground.
I wasn't sure... but I think I'm dead.