"Wow, I never thought the academy had such facilities. It looks like I underestimated the academy," Draco said, as his friends showed him the entirety of the Luminari Academy.
"Same here!" Ming said, supporting Draco's words. "Never thought an academy would be like this."
The Academic library boasted vast knowledge and history about Cerulean, which Draco couldn't wait to devour. The training grounds, equipped with various machinery, left him in awe. There were many more impressive sights that caught his attention.
"Rose, have mercy on this poor guy," Blum said, his eyes darting between Bubble, whose pleading gaze seemed to say "Please save me," and Rose, who was affectionately scrubbing Bubble's face.
"Why are you complaining? You're just jealous of Bubble," Rose retorted, her eyes flashing with disdain.
Blum's face fell. "It looks like I underestimated your integrity," he muttered, wondering who he had offended in his past life to deserve such friends, who made his heartbeat rise almost daily.
"You all love fighting!" Ming intervened. "If someone recorded our actions or wrote our storyline as a novel, I'm sure readers would be bored."
As avid novel and anime fans, Ming's words gave them pause.
"Haa! You've ruined my image in front of my readers," Blum lamented, feeling like crying, while the others looked at him with amusement.
"Nobody's writing your storyline; where do you find your readers?" Ming asked, struggling to contain his laughter.
Blum's eyes turned cold.
"Don't worry, bro; the supporting character halo will save you," Draco said, trying to soothe his friend.
Blum's eyes lit up. "Yes, the supporting char— Wait, what do you mean by side character? I'll always be the main character in every novel I appear in!" He shouted in rage.
"Pfft, don't make me laugh. I'm the main character of this novel," Draco said, as they continued arguing.
Rose and Ming exchanged a knowing glance, feeling a headache coming on.
"Yo, you're not kids anymore; why argue over something that'll never happen?" Ming asked.
Draco and Blum turned to him, their red eyes blazing in unison. "Shut up."
It was clear that both were die-hard novel fans, deeply invested in the world of fiction.
"Behaving like kids, pfft," Rose said, looking at the two boys with disdain as she continued playing with Bubble.
Ming facepalmed, seeing they were gathering attention from the academy students.
"Can you two settle down and act like mature men for once, please?" Ming asked.
He understood their fascination with novels, given their lives fit the criteria: supernatural talents and systems.
Draco and Blum, still red-eyed, turned to Ming and chuckled.
"So, Ming, let's say this: if you had the chance to be a novel character, which role would you pick?" Blum asked.
"What does this have to do with stopping your argument?" Ming retorted, confused.
"Just answer the damn question, bruh," Blum pressed.
Ming sighed. "I'd pick being the main character. Nothing wrong with that."
"Who doesn't want to be the main character?" Ming mused. "They always have immense luck, a harem, some system, or a heaven-defying technique. Despite the burden, no one wants to miss that role."
"Okay, I get it," Blum said. "But what if your role was given to another person? What would you do?"
Blum thought for a moment. "Then I'd try everything to beat the main character and become the main character."
Blum turned to Draco. "What about you?"
Draco pointed to himself in surprise. "Me?"
Stroking his chin, he replied in a chilly tone, "I'd just plunder it all."
His words sent shivers down the spines of the others, including Rose, who was playing with Bubble.
"Why are you all sweating?" Draco wondered.
As expected, Blum spoke up. "You sound like a demon from the deepest pit of hell. How can you expect us not to fear you?"
Rose intervened, smiling slyly. "Yes, if this were true, I'm sure you'd plunder everything belonging to the main character."
"I have a better suggestion to decide who'd be the main character if our storylines were in the same novel," Rose continued.
The boys looked at her curiously, wondering why she was interfering, as this wasn't their first argument about novels.
"What's your suggestion?" they asked in unison.
"What about a game related to novels?" Rose proposed. "We each write down the number of novels we know within five minutes."
The boys' eyes shone when they heard this: "What a nice idea! That's great, Rose. That's why you're the best." Draco smiled, and Rose blushed at his praise.
Meanwhile, their activity had drawn the attention of the crowd, making them look suspiciously at the group. Hearing Draco's words, they felt like reprimanding him.
How does this childish idea seem great when you're not five years old? someone thought. And why are you, a grown man, arguing over novels meant for ladies? You're blushing over praise for something so juvenile.
Blum asked, "So, you would be the invigilator?"
The crowd was shocked by his question. "It isn't an examination, so why do you need an invigilator for a childish game?" they thought.
Rose replied angrily, "Who said so? I'm also joining the quiz," giving Blum a fierce look.
Both the crowd and the boys were shocked by her response.
"I thought you hated novels," Ming asked, surprised.
Rose stuttered, "When did I say so? Maybe you misheard me."
The crowd looked at her, shaking their heads. "Madam, you don't know how to lie; your face is as red as a tomato. You're pouting, with your cheeks puffed out, unable to meet their eyes directly. You need to go to a school where they can teach you how to lie convincingly."
"Okay, no problem," the boys agreed.
Ming asked, "But who will be our invigilator?"
Rose snorted, "Don't you see many people around us? Just grab one to be our invigilator."
She dashed into the crowd, singling out a person.
The boys were surprised because the person dragged was the lady from the main clan who had awakened an S-Ranked Talent.
The young lady asked, struggling to free herself from Rose's grip, "What are you doing?"
Rose blurted out, "You know what I'm doing. I know you sneakily read novels at night."
The lady's face turned bright red.
Draco asked, "How did you know?"
Blum replied, "They're roommates, bro."
Blum said proudly, "Okay, let's find a classroom to start the contest. And don't forget to call me the main character after I trash all of you."
Draco muttered under his breath, "I wonder if it's the main character or side character," clenching his fists.
Meanwhile, the crowd was shocked by the behavior of the so-called geniuses. Some even considered reading novels themselves, inspired by the five friends' enthusiasm.
Few Moments Later:
"No... This can't be happening." Blum's face was ashen, almost crying like a child who had lost his favorite toy.
Ming's face looked even worse, as he took the loss hard. "Here we have our main character for the future novel, Draco," the young lady said, announcing the result.
The crowd cheered unknowingly, having watched the entire contest, with the four geniuses acting as if they were writing an exam.
"You're a freak, Draco. How can you write 100 novel titles? Don't you rest or sleep?" Blum was shocked, having written only 50.
Writing novel titles was easy, but creating main and important supporting characters was kind of hard. Yet, Draco had written 100 of them within five minutes.
"Complete Martial Attributes, Invincible, Martial Peak, Spellbound with You, Journey towards Godhood, Ascending from Cerulean, Heaven Devouring Emperor... Damn, you've literally read this book with more than six thousand chapters," Blum said, his face pitiful as he read the titles of the novels Draco wrote.
Another freak was Rose, who claimed to hate novels but had written more than 60 novel titles and their characters. Blum and Ming felt defeated, retreating to a corner to vent their frustration, having taken third and fourth place.
Now the main character was decided.....