*BOOM!*"Ah really! I"m going crazy from all these fireworks! It"s just a new year and they"re all making a fuss about it! So what? Are your lives gonna get better? New year, new beginning? Who are you kidding? Bah! So noisy! I can"t concentrate on what I"m writing!"
Mei Yue is trying to come up with a storyline for her new novel. Credits to her editor for requesting a female lead who"s not pretty and a very handsome male lead as a partner. How is that even possible? She is writing romance, yes. But that kind of romance is waaaaay too much of a fantasy. Just thinking of how to write such a story is already giving her a headache, adding the constant sound of firecrackers on the street and the occasional booming sound of the sky flowers, she"s already on the verge of a mental breakdown.
*BOOM!*
She jumped from the sudden sound and her heart raced. She tried calming herself down by taking deep breaths but to no avail. She stood up from her chair and was about to get a gla.s.s of water when she felt a sudden dizziness and she felt like her world is spinning. Instead of going to the kitchen, she went to her bed to lay down then closed her eyes.
She hasn"t been sleeping lately as she was scouting places to find inspiration for the settings of her new story. Who told her to be so dedicated to her profession? Well, no one can blame her as only her brain, hands, mouth and eyes are the only parts of her body that are not lazy. The rest? Good luck asking for cooperation. She"s actually quite good in the head as she was always on the top of her cla.s.s and always in the top ten in national ranking. A lot of people had high expectations from her but she doesn"t like the feeling of pressure so she told her parents early on that she didn"t want to be subjected to their career manipulation like they did to her elder siblings. They didn"t take her request well and she was given an ultimatum resulting to her being kicked out of their home.
She had been writing stories ever since she had learned how to imagine. Her imagination runs wild and her only outlet to keep herself sane is to write them. She got kicked out at the age of 16 and her eldest brother took her in. But she didn"t like how his wife treated her so she started looking for a job to support herself. Her adviser, whom she often asked to read her her novels for criticism and advise, got concerned when she found out what happened and comvinced her to try submitting one of her novels to a writing compet.i.tion. The prize money was actually big as the contest was a nationwide compet.i.tion. She submitted her best work, although doubtful that it will be picked as her compet.i.tors are mostly professionals. But luck was on her side as after three months, she received a call confirming that she won and that she was asked for an exclusive contract by a well-known publishing company.
*BOOM!*
Mei Yue was pulled back from her contemplation as the last noise was louder than the first two that it managed to shake the ground. She then felt something cold touching her neck and her heartbeat quickened. She immediately opened her eyes and tried to sit up but was welcomed by a sight that was unknown to her.
What"s going on? Where am I?
The place was dark and smelled of gra.s.s and dried leaves. A forest? She looked at the thing that was resting on her neck and found out that it was a sword. She tried to gulp down the lump that was building in her throat. She tried to raise to her head to see who was pointing the sword at her but was startled when the person spoke.
"Any last words before you die, mortal?"
What the? Mortal?
Other than being annoyed at the pressure given to her by people"s expectations, what she hates the most is being belittled. This man had the nerve to call her mortal?!
She forcefully pushed the sword that was resting on her neck. It managed to nick a bit of her skin but she didn"t care. The man didn"t seem to expect that she would push away the sword as it fell to the ground. She immediately stood up and glared at the man. She was stunned when she saw the person"s countenance as it was so handsome that actors and models that she had been using as inspiration for her stories paled in comparison.
The man saw her look and smirked. This caused her to wake up from being dazed and got more annoyed. He probably didn"t expect what she did next. He wasn"t able to dodge and was. .h.i.t at the bridge of his nose.
She didn"t let him recover as she immediately crouched to get the slipper she threw at his face and showered him with slipper slaps. She hit him wherever she can and the man just stood there looking at her as if she was crazy. He didn"t even defend himself and was just staring down at her.
When she was tired, she picked up the sword that was discarded and ran twenty paces away from him and yelled, "How dare you call me mortal?! What? You think just because you look like a G.o.d, that you are one? Ptui! Your kind are the kind I hate the most!", she finished panting.
The man seemed surprise by her outburst but his face darkened when he heard her last sentence.
"My kind? What do you know about them?", he asked while slowly walking towards her.
She immediately took several steps back before answering, "Hah! Your kind? Of course I know about you guys! Just because you"re handsome, you are so arrogant and you look down on people whose looks aren"t on par with yours! And what"s wrong with you?! Why are you walking around with a sword and wearing that kind of flashy clothes? Are you a member of a performing troupe out on a woman hunt? I"m warning you, I know karate, judo and taekwondo!", she tried to bluff. How would she know such tiring stuff? If she"d known she"ll be in such kind of a situation, she would have convinced her body to cooperate and learn martial arts.
The man looked at her as if confused. He looked at her intently before speaking more to himself than to her, " Could I have gotten the wrong person? Why does this person look so stupid?"
"Who are you calling stupid?!", she didn"t care anymore and threw both her slippers at him which he easily dodged. She hoist the sword up her shoulder and threw it as far as she could and ran for the nearest slipper and showered him with slipper slaps again.
This time, the man didn"t seem to like the idea of being hit again as he quickly dodged all her attacks. When she got tired, she slumped down the ground and tried to even out her breathing. She was getting dizzy again. She wanted to lay down but she was outside.
Something dawned on her and she immediately looked at the man who was still observing her. She looked at her surroundings and the clothes that the man was wearing. She looked down at herself and saw that she was still wearing her oversized sweater and jogging pants. What"s going on?
"Hey mister, this is still Country A, right?"
"Country... A? Heh. So you"re just a lunatic after all. You"re in the Mortal Realm and this is the Invulnerable Dragon"s Kingdom.", the man answered.
"What? That"s impossible!