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, his father

been mine! All the sleepless nights and lonely days that I

could totally afford to send

not give it to someone who

were all outside of

my family's savings,

possibly study in another city where the rent was

dropped all my studies and continued attending part-time

an escape route in food, manga, and

me

as more and more people started reading my novel, a fire that had long been extinguished

And I succeeded

first novel was a hit, and

.....

[Descent of the Hero]

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

: 4.7

5.5M Words

.....

typical story of Hero vs Demon king, but what could I say? As long as I liked it, and it made

thought at first, but as time progressed and as my second and third novels came out, I found myself slowly

because I hated writing, no, it was simply because of what I was made to write. Because I was catering to my readers, I

a virgin like myself. Fortunately, I had the internet to help me,

the first

today staring blankly

click click

sound of my keyboard typing echoed

same boring pattern repeated like any

Wake up

Type

Eat

Type

Repeat

save button at the

Sigh

a long sigh, I dazedly look at my ceiling. How

head, I look at

.....

feel like your writing is becoming worse

Weeboo : Replying to Goodguy85, I totally agree with you. This novel had

are too many plot holes and Deux Machina.

~Thanks for the

TwilightStar : Dropped

: hey hey hey, where the

: Dude is married to mary

.....

BAM!

you mean my writing

fist, I raged at my

tired of

to calm myself. Getting angry was not good for my blood

story, but unlike my previous novels, this one was set in a modern

occurred. A three-stage disaster that hit the earth causing the

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

Cataclysm' - 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

portals appeared, humanity managed to gain access to mana. A special force that lingered throughout the atmosphere and originated from other worlds. It would allow humans to do things they could've only dreamt of doing in

Cataclysm' - This happens near the ending of the novel, and it was when the Demon world forces started a full-scale invasion

Second cataclysm, three factions ruled the world. The demon faction, the Human faction,

alliance between the elves, dwarves, and the orcs. And that was because they were

devouring planets. They would first start by entering a planet, then as time progresses they would reproduce like crazy, and slowly once they gained enough strength they

survivors

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

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

weak and frail body left

made them seem like brainless monkeys who roamed around flaunting their power and intelligence with

claimed 3/8 of the earth, while humans only claimed 2/8 of

by the effort of

was your typical MC with

died due to war at the hands