Bonus Chapter – It’s Here!

“C’mon, c’mon. . .” Sophie gritted her teeth, repeatedly refreshing the app on her phone.

She occupied the entire living room couch by jumping around every five seconds, vigorously waiting for something.

“Whatcha doing?” Max leaned over her shoulder after she finally settled down.

Sitting with her legs crossed, Sophie refused to look away from the screen.

“Not now,” she brushed him off, making him sigh.

Max looked at his sister as she flipped through the pages of a brand new book. Realizing he won’t get her attention, his gaze shot toward Irene and Arthur who were hanging around the kitchen making breakfast together.

“Don’t look at me. I have no clue what’s got her so excited,” Arthur said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Must be the new web novel she was looking forward to,” Irene mentioned with her back turned to them.

“What are you talking about?” Tjay said, reentering the house with Don and Ari after having a swim.

“Just discussing a web novel Sophie’s excited about,” Max explained, sitting down on a barstool.

“Oh, is it coming out today?” Don asked.

“You know about it?” Irene looked over the shoulder while cutting tomatoes. “What’s the name?”

“Oh, I know!” Ari eagerly interrupted. “Tales of Alexander: The Ancient Bloodline.”

“Yeah, it’s a new series that’s just coming up. Fantasy, adventure, action, romance. . . There’s a lot going into it,” Don explained.

“I’ve heard of it!” Tjay yelled out excitedly. “I’ve seen the art being teased a while back. Apparently, there’s supposed to be really good fights.”

“Didn’t know you liked magic stuff,” Don looked at him surprised.

“Well, I ain’t the biggest fan of weak-ass casters but I heard that there are martial arts as well,” he ran and slid across the floor before making weird kung fu poses. “Besides, the cover art has him holding a sword!”

“Sounds fun,” Irene finally finished up, turning around to the rest. “Anything else you can tell me about it?”

“Sure, but I know only what’s been teased,” Don said, clearing his throat. “It’s pretty much about the MC who got the short end of the stick by being born with a body that’s unable to absorb mana even though he is from a prestigious bloodline. It focuses on his adventures and on the action Tjay mentioned, but it’ll dive into various aspects of world-building such as politics, war, culture, and magic. There are also elves and stuff. Can’t have a fantasy world without elves.”

“Pervert. . .” Tjay teased.

“Am not!” Don defended himself nervously.

“Is there any romance?” Irene asked. “I don’t like it when they make all these cool characters that never get anywhere with the women around them.”

“Well, it’s tagged as such, so there’s bound to be loads of spicy moments knowing the author,” Don kept explaining, glancing at Sophie who had her tongue sticking out. “Besides, the biggest focus of the novel is the characters themselves as it is written from first person view. It’s something the author wanted to try for a change.”

“It’s out!” Sophie yelled out excitedly, opening up the chapter right away. “Everyone keep quiet, I wanna read.”

She laid down on her stomach with her feet dangling above. Her chin rested on a pillow tucked under. It was enough to get Irene to snicker which made the rest laugh along.

“They’ll never be quiet,” Iseul pointed out as an experienced reader in their group. “You just have to learn to live with it.”

“Yeah. . .” Sophie sighed, glancing at Iseul. “By the way, you should give it a try.”

“Oh, I already did,” she said nonchalantly. “Probably one of my favorites.”

“Wait, what?” Sophie looked baffled.

“Yeah, there’s some advanced chapters that I got my hands on. Besides, I know the author so. . .”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Sophie was in utter awe at Iseul’s revelation.

“Nope. We even share the same birthday, the tenth of September.” Iseul bragged before looking back at her book.

“Oi, read us a few lines!” Tjay yelled out, interrupting their chat.

“Okay,” Sophie winsomely smiled before turning to the rest, once again glued to the screen. “I’ve always wondered about the meaning behind our dreams. I’m not talking about aspiration, but literal dreams when we’re asleep. How many times will I witness the impossible?

Ever since I was little, one of these dreams kept haunting me once in a full moon. It had me standing atop a wall surrounded by soldiers who were nervously waiting for the fighting to begin.

It always started the same with me staring into the horizon without an enemy in sight, confused as to why I-. . . Wait, why don’t you just read it yourself? It’s public and there’s going to be daily chapters for a bit before we get a standard schedule.”

“Yeah, just look up Tales of Alexander: The Ancient Bloodline on Royal Road, written by RizTales,” Don mentioned.

“What do you think Art, wanna read it with me?” Irene asked, placing her hand around his arm.

“Might as well give it a shot,” Arthur smirked, intrigued by a story that somewhat reminded him of his past life.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading!