The Author's POV

'Efforts never betray you'

A quote that has been widely respected and repeatedly preached across the world.

Some people widely regard this quote as a personal mantra to follow throughout their life, while others simply scoff over the quote as if it were a mere joke.

I mean why put effort when you have a super-rich dad that provides you with all that you need?

Big house?

'Hello, daddy can you buy me a house?'

New car?

'Daddy~ There's this new car that I really love and was wondering if...'

There's also those that live in luxury because they are simply lucky, like the ones that win a lottery

I mean how much effort does it take for someone to win a lottery?

'Congratulations you have won 200 million'

How does 'efforts never betray you' apply here?

Of course, setting those examples aside, there were many cases in which the quote proved to be correct.

For example, have you seen the movie....hmmm what was it called.

Ah! right the 'Pursuit of happyness'

It was your perfect example of 'Efforts never betray'.

It was a touching story about a homeless dad living in the street with his son, and later because of his pure love and dedication for his son, he managed to succeed and became a millionaire. Very touching.

But what about me? What have I got to say about 'Efforts never betray'?

It was utter bullshit. Period.

'Efforts never betray?' I could only simply scoff at such a ridiculous notion. I mean sure if you put in some effort you would definitely achieve better results than your regular mob out there, but was that really all to it? Was this the key to success?

No. It simply wasn't

The key ingredient to success was 'Talent'

No matter how much effort you put into something, you would never be able to surpass the unsurmountable mountain known as talent.

I mean look at football for example. Many people trained just as hard as Messi or Ronaldo, but in the end, they don't even come close to their level. No matter how much they trained, no matter how much blood sweat, and tears they put in, they would never be able to even touch their ankles.

What kind of Bullshit was that?

Getting back on topic. Why did I have such a grudge against the quote 'Efforts never betray'?

Simple. It was because I was one of those idiots that wholeheartedly believed in the quote.

You see, my parents died when I was 14. Some bastard got drunk and ran them over. I couldn't remember how many times I had cried myself to sleep because of the accident.

My parents didn't have siblings, and both my grandparents, maternal and paternal, had already left the world, making me an orphan.

Luckily, they had enough money in their bank account to last me until school finished, and thus I studied as my if life depended on it. I mean it literally was.

I would study hours and hours on end, just so that I could enroll at the prestigious University A and later find myself a suitable job for myself.

But hold on. How could I possibly afford to go to university? I mean university usually costs a hell of a lot of money.

A bank loan? Would they loan to someone that had no parents and no assets? Well, I tried but in the end, I got rejected by the government.

But there was a way. A scholarship.

If I managed to secure myself a scholarship I could attend university without paying a single cent.

Luckily University A, the only university near me, offered a scholarship program that was perfect for me. One of my teachers heard that they only offer one scholarship a year for people in the school I attended. But that was enough for me. If I studied hard enough and achieved a high enough score, there was definitely a chance.

And so I studied, studied so hard that all the friends I had made over the years became estranged. But I was fine with it. As long as I could attend university I could make all the friends that I wanted...was what I thought at that time. But looking back at it now, I could only laugh at how naive I was back then.

Thanks to all the effort I put in I managed to get on the top 1% percentile in the national exams, but in the end, the scholarship I so wanted never came.

that the one who got the scholarship was actually lower ranked than me. Apparently,

sleepless nights and

even more frustrating was the fact that the father could totally afford to send his son to university without

give it to

were all

all my family's

part-time jobs. How could I possibly study in

choice, I dropped all my studies and continued attending

depression and found an escape route in

putting on more pounds with each passing day, it became increasingly harder for me to continue going to part-time jobs as I would always run out of breath after standing for over 10

myself a new hobby. Writing web novels. At first, I took it as a hobby to pass time, but later as more and more people started reading my novel, a fire that had long been extinguished

And I succeeded

novel was a hit, and

.....

[Descent of the Hero]

of one day becoming a hero and embarks on a tough journey to fight against all odds and become

: 4.7

: 5.5M

.....

it was your typical story of Hero vs Demon king, but what could I

least that's what I thought at first, but as time progressed and as my second

was made to write. Because I was catering to my readers, I slowly started straying away from

service, but it was really uncomfortable from a writer's point of view. Especially for a virgin like myself. Fortunately, I had the internet to help me, but it was stuff like this that

though I did exactly as my readers asked, apart from the first novel I

today staring blankly at my

click

monotonous sound of my keyboard typing

pattern repeated like any other

Wake up

Type

Eat

Type

Repeat

my last sentence, I pressed the save button at the top right of my screen

Sigh

ceiling. How long will I have to

head, I look at my

.....

Ugh Author-san I feel like your writing

This novel had so

agree with you man. There are too many plot holes and Deux

for the

TwilightStar : Dropped

hey, where the ecchi

Dude is married to

.....

BAM!

do you mean my

my fist, I raged

of

I forcefully tried to calm myself. Getting angry was not good

typical weak to strong story, but unlike my previous novels, this one was

A three-stage disaster that hit the earth causing the world to

tectonic plates all over Earth, moving countries from where they were previously, resulting in tsunamis and earthquakes, killing millions in the

- Huge portals started appearing where unknown species which were later identified as demons and other races, started emerging. At first, they were docile, but as soon as they deemed humanity weak they started rampaging all over the

force that lingered throughout the atmosphere and originated from other worlds. It would allow humans to do things they

of the 'Great Cataclysm' - This happens near the ending of the novel, and it was when the Demon world

world. The demon faction, the Human faction, and

the elves, dwarves, and

sole goal of devouring planets. They would first start by entering a planet, then as time progresses they

survivors from the demons, who had already conquered their

first, when the elves, orcs, and dwarves arrived on earth, they chose to observe. They wanted to see if the humans were worthy enough to join their alliance to fight against the demons. At first, they were very excited with the prospect of gaining

the prideful elves, the selfish acts and schemes which they witnessed during humanity's dark moments made

orcs, humanity's weak and frail body left

technology made them seem like brainless monkeys who roamed around flaunting their power

and the Fantasia faction each claimed 3/8 of the earth, while humans only claimed 2/8

the story starts with the protagonist enrolling in the 'Lock', a specialized school that was established by the effort

MC with a

war at the