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.

out later that the one who got the scholarship was actually lower ranked than me.

the sleepless nights and lonely days that I had spent

could totally afford to send

why not give it to

to apply to other universities for scholarships, but they were all outside of my city, and I couldn't afford to

that point, having exhausted all my family's savings, I was

How could I possibly study in another city where

left with no choice, I dropped all my studies and continued attending

an escape route in food, manga,

for me to

new hobby. Writing web novels. At first, I took it as a hobby to pass time, but later as more

And I succeeded

first novel was a hit, and money started coming

.....

[Descent of the Hero]

orphan boy from a poor village hopes of one day becoming a hero and embarks on a tough journey

: 4.7 (513

: 5.5M Words

.....

was your typical story of Hero vs Demon king, but what could I say? As

time progressed and as my second and third novels came out, I

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

loved fan 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 made my passion for writing decrease. I mean who would

exactly as my readers asked, apart from the first novel I never found my

today staring blankly at

click click

monotonous sound of my keyboard

pattern repeated like

Wake up

Type

Eat

Type

Repeat

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

Sigh

at my ceiling. How long will

my head, I look at my

.....

like your

totally agree with you. This novel had

agree with you man. There are too many plot holes and Deux Machina. It's

for the new

TwilightStar : Dropped

hey hey hey,

Dude is married to mary

.....

BAM!

you mean my

the table with my fist, I raged at my

tired of this

myself. Getting angry

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

the 'Great Cataclysm' occurred. A

first phase of the 'Great Cataclysm' - Shift in tectonic plates all over Earth, moving countries from where they were previously, resulting in tsunamis and earthquakes, killing millions in the process. The sudden shift in tectonic plates caused

unknown species which were later identified as demons and other races, started emerging. At first, they were

with great disasters come opportunities. As portals appeared, humanity managed to gain access to mana. A special force that lingered throughout the atmosphere and originated from other worlds.

the ending of the novel, and it

three factions ruled the world. The demon faction, the Human faction, and the

elves, dwarves, and the

manifestation of 'greed'. They were created with the sole goal of devouring planets. They would first start by entering a planet, then as time progresses they would reproduce like crazy, and slowly once they gained

dwarves were all refugees and survivors from the demons, who had already

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 a potential ally, but as time passed their excitement turned into disappointment,

and schemes which they witnessed during humanity's dark moments made all thoughts of collaboration vanish, only to be replaced with

humanity's weak and frail body left them utterly disappointed and thus deemed

them seem like brainless monkeys who roamed around

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

with the protagonist enrolling in the 'Lock', a specialized school that was established by the effort of all humanity, to raise warriors to defend the borders

MC with

war at the