Chapter 3: Argent [2]

Ring-! Ring-! Ring-!

"Whhhhyyyy?!!"

I woke up to the sound of the alarm blaring furiously, and grumbled under my breath.

After the voice-activated alarm was off, I released the pillow I had gripped tightly over my ears and stifled a yawn, before proceeding to check the U-pad.

{13:12}

{July, 26th, 2072}

Shit. I slept through the day till noon. Thank heavens we haven't resumed yet. 

'Sigh. I have somewhere to go today.'

All for growing stronger.

If only I had been given a sign-in system by whatever ROB brought me here.

I sat up and lifted myself off the bed, stumbling to my feet. I felt oddly exhausted physically, like all the energy had been drained from me, while my brain was hyper like I could retake the Horizon written test and take first place.

Pops were heard as I stretched, my yawns resounding in the small room, why was I exhausted? The feeling that I was missing something deepened, but I couldn't waste time on that same thought since I had no lead, so I just temporarily let it settle.

After finding balance, I proceeded to draw the curtains then turned around to the bathroom but stopped in my tracks.

Drawing the curtains was something I would never do, because I hated bright places. Was this an effect of the memories of yesterday? It was most likely it, but I didn't care, I was too lazy to start delving into minor personality changes.

I opened the door to the bathroom and emerged minutes later, then proceeded to change my clothes. A simple grey long sleeve together with black trousers did just fine.

After I was done, I walked to the bedside cabinet and opened the drawer, taking out my Tell, a smartwatch that had long replaced phones.

After wearing the Tell on my right hand, with my left, I picked up a miniature crystal orb that was made out of Névéquartz, an ore that possessed a natural [Characteristic].

The orb had several glowing lines and circles running through it's surface in a looping trajectory, like some sort of circuit.

I turned my right wrist to reveal a groove on the side of the Tell about the same size of the orb. And when I fitted the orb in the groove, the golden lines on it spread to the Tell through engraved paths on the Tell and finally reached the screen causing it to light up.

After tapping the screen once, a hologram interface appeared in the air, and the first thing I did was to check my bank account.

===

Amtt C15,000=

==

C, short form of Credits. The currency of the whole Human Domain. It had about the same purchasing power as Dollars, which meant I was looking at about $15,000. A considerable amount if looking at it from a normal perspective, or from the Unawakened's perspective.

But it was different for an Awakened.

Apart from the expenses like potions, weapons, protective gear and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by an Awakened, this amount was small. Because I also had plans, and I needed money for them.

I turned the Tell off and then held the handle of the cabinet with the purpose of closing it, but not before briefly glancing at a rectangular black box lying in a corner.

From the assimilated memories, this was a gift given to me by Selene before she left on her Mission, informing me that it was something that would assist me in getting used to my [Gift], and I shouldn't open it until then.

I didn't really question how she knew my [Gift] before it was even awakened. Because each person had a secret, and in this world that had birthed a variety of [Phenomena] after the onset of the Ascension, there could be a way of finding out.

I lifted the Horizon ID card that came with the letter, and scanned it shortly before pocketing it.

===

Name: Jerome Argent.

Year: One

Class: 1-A

Program: Hero

Rank: 984

===

I was currently weak. Too weak.

984 out of 1000. I had to do better if I was to survive what was coming.

With that shabby resolution, I walked out of my room directly into the building hallway. Yes, hallway. Most cadets would have moved to the dormitories a week or two before resumption.

Unsurprisingly, your accomodations was one of the factors determined by your rank. And for someone like me who was among the weakest of the weak, all I got was just a room and a bathroom.

I reached the elevator and walked in after it dinged open, revealing two guys who paused and looked at me before walking out and continuing the discussion they were having.

I tapped the button for bottom floor and thought back to the pieces of the conversation I heard from the two other Cadets.

'Have... found... backing... Rank 2?'

You are reading story Diary of a Transmigrated Author at novel35.com

'No... ordinary background.'

'A nobody outranked Lucas Foil?!'

I heard the last sentence clearly as it was particularly loud.

It seemed a few people were still shellshocked at the fact that an unknown person got the Rank 2 position.

Well, what could I say? My MC was making waves wherever he went.

The elevator opened and I emerged into the lobby of the building before walking out without stopping.

I looked behind me at the building that housed Ranks 500-1000 and was visibly again impressed at the money invested in Horizon.

Yes, the Tepes Hall housed 500 cadets, that was the extent of the size of this building that I would have called a monstrosity, if it wasn't among the smaller structures in the whole of the Academy.

My legs carried me in the opposite direction, as I moved towards the entrance of the Academy.

The warm golden rays of the sun shone on us mortals, unhindered by the nimbus clouds that made up the white splotches here and there in the blue sky above.

It took me about 30 minutes to reach the tall, imposing steel gates of Horizon. There were two sentries standing guard on the two sides of the gates.

They made no efforts to stop me as we had not resumed yet. I walked out of the Academy and trekked for some time. After a few minutes, I arrived at one of the most important Landmarks in Prism, the statue of the SS- ranked Hero. Ganesha Patel.

Such a beautiful woman. A pity she died.

While the street where Horizon's entrance was located was quiet and deserted, this crossroad–named Prism Central–was quite busy as we were way into the middle of the day.

The crossroad also served as a bus stop, as it was one of the most frequently used roads in the whole of Prism, the Capital City of the Human Domain.

I checked the time on my Tell.

{13:54}

There was still some time until the scheduled bus arrived, but I wasn't urgently waiting for it, as the skyscrapers and monoliths in Prism Central created a natural shade from the sun.

By 2PM, a sleek bus painted in white arrived at the bus stop, and I along with some others who were waiting moved to the open doors.

Each person scanned their Tell on the QR code to pay the bus fare, but when it got to my turn I took out a card and showed it to the bus driver. His eyes revealed a glimmer of surprise in recognition of the Horizon ID before nodding towards the seats at the back in a slightly frendier gesture.

Yeah, there were several privileges enjoyed by Horizon Cadets, and free usage of public transportation amenities was one of them.

I sat back and watched through the window as we moved from District to District, with the low but steady hum of the bus engine in the background.

After about two or three stops, I alighted at District C-11, then closed my eyes and took a deep, pollution-free breath.

One major thing that came after the Ascension was advancement of technology, and in the process of advancement, crude oil and it's derivatives were abandoned for a cleaner and far more efficient energy like mana, which virtually every form of machine in the Human Domain later came to function with, including vehicles.

After the minor relaxation, I turned my gaze to the huge building that had hundreds of people going and coming from, it was the Prism Terminus.

As I walked towards the entrance, I received a number of gazes for my uncommon hair and eye colours. But that was it, because my looks were uncommon but not rare, as looks became far more colourful with the Ascension.

Setting foot into the Station brought me to a far wider space, akin to a shopping mall, where the amount of people was far plentier than that of the entrance, with rays of the sun streaming down through the arched glass roof of the Station.

There were a several guards scattered around the vicinity with X33 mana blasters of the latest model keeping an eye out for suspicious people. Their arrangements were seemingly random, but someone with a good eye would recognize that they were actually positioned in strategic places for quick response and apprehension.

I quickly removed my sights before I met their gaze, since I didn't actually have any ulterior motives, therefore, didn't want to be delayed by any form of check-up.

There was no delay in procuring my ticket, as my beloved ID sped things up, and within minutes, I was sitting in the Anti-Grav Train, a floating train that was one of the new innovations of NAE, short for New Age Engineering.

It may have been because of the assimilation of my memories, I felt comfortable and familiar in the cushioned seat, and spent my time looking down on the city as the Train blitzed in the air.

I sank into the chair and contemplated on the item I was aiming for in Orient City.

To be precise, it was an Arte, not an item, one that would raise my chances of survival and make my [Chaotic Stasis Physique] seem like it was a good [Characteristic] all along.

Aah, the motion of the Train was psychedelic, making a very dangerous combo with the plushy softness, I was getting tempted. 

"Yaaaawwwnn!"

Weird looks came my way but what could I do? I was feeling drowsy, the comfort that came with closing my eyes seemed second to none at the moment.

It seemed the [Slothful] trait wasn't for nothing.

Anyway. Orient was about an hour or two. So having a brief rest wouldn't hurt anyone.

That's how I fell asleep. And just like yesterday night, I failed to notice the Status notification that appeared just before closing my eyes.

[Sleeping(S+) activated]

It ended up costing me a lot. Literally.

You can find story with these keywords: Diary of a Transmigrated Author, Read Diary of a Transmigrated Author, Diary of a Transmigrated Author novel, Diary of a Transmigrated Author book, Diary of a Transmigrated Author story, Diary of a Transmigrated Author full, Diary of a Transmigrated Author Latest Chapter