Star Origin Year 95, New Federation.
On an unnamed island.
In the early morning, on a mountain peak of the unnamed island, fourteen-year-old Caroline struggled to climb halfway up the mountain, anxiously shouting at a white-haired boy who was still watching the sunrise on the summit.
"Tiandao, the organization's final assessment is about to begin, hurry up and come down!"
Hearing Caroline's words from below, Tiandao Siming on the mountaintop was not in a hurry to descend.
He gazed at the sun, which was about to rise from the distant sea horizon, his special, star-like pupils gleaming with an inexplicable shimmer, as if he was anticipating something.
A moment later, as a faint but bright morning glow appeared on the horizon, Tiandao Siming smiled happily.
No one knew why he smiled, just as no one knew his identity as a transmigrator.
Two years, a full two years had passed since Tiandao Siming transmigrated to this world.
And it was on the very first day of his transmigration that Tiandao Siming activated the 'Popularity System' and learned about this world's situation.
This was a world that operated with 'Star Source' as its core.
And the so-called 'Star Source' was actually a special energy source.
It was the core of all extraordinary matter and the origin of all extraordinary power.
Initially, the development of this world was roughly equivalent to the early 20th century in Tiandao Siming's previous life.
But a special meteor shower 95 years ago completely changed everything.
Countless 'Star Source fragments' fell from the sky, landing in every corner of this world.
The emergence of 'Star Source fragments' brought about tremendous changes to the entire world.
Many people gained extraordinary abilities they had never dreamed of because of the Star Source fragments, and were revered as 'Star Envoys'.
Numerous animals and plants underwent bizarre mutations due to the Star Source fragments, becoming known as 'Star Beasts', 'Star Plants', etc.
Star Source research experts also regarded this day as the beginning of a new century, calling it Star Origin Year One.
And the time Tiandao Siming transmigrated was Star Origin Year 93.
Which was two years before the story of "Prequel of the Stars: Embers" began.
That's right, Tiandao Siming had not only transmigrated into a new world, but also into an 'interdimensional anime/drama'.
If Tiandao Siming wanted to survive in this 'interdimensional anime/drama', then he had to gain enough 'popularity'.
[Life is like a play. You, who stumbled into the stars, unexpectedly became a member of this stage. However, under the spotlight of the stars, the protagonist has long been decided. Therefore, if you, merely a supporting character, wish to remain on stage for a long time, you must acquire enough 'popularity'.]
[At the end of each season's broadcast:
If cumulative popularity ranking is below top ten, a forced plot kill will be arranged, and the character 'Tiandao Siming' will go offline.
If cumulative popularity ranking is 4th-10th, participation in the next season's story is confirmed.
If cumulative popularity ranking is 3rd, next season's screen time is guaranteed a minimum of 10%.
If cumulative popularity ranking is 2nd, next season's screen time is guaranteed a minimum of 20%, and you receive one character promotion worth 100,000 popularity points.
If cumulative popularity ranking is 1st, next season's screen time is guaranteed a minimum of 35%, and you receive one character promotion worth 1,000,000 popularity points, as well as one exclusive character backstory modification privilege.]
The Popularity System was a bittersweet special system for Tiandao Siming.
The good news was that Tiandao Siming could continuously improve himself and obtain various wondrous things by spending 'popularity points', such as 'pre-knowledge of the first season's story content', something akin to prescience.
The bad news was that if Tiandao Siming failed to achieve a top ten ranking on the popularity list by the end of a single season of this interdimensional anime/drama,
he would be forced offline, which was the so-called 'plot kill'.
To this end, Tiandao Siming not only meticulously planned for two years but also borrowed his entire 'popularity point quota' from the system.
Although this left him burdened with a huge 'popularity point debt' even before the story began,
Tiandao Siming felt it was all worth it.
Because his self-assigned character role was that of an innate powerhouse, similar to 'Gojo Satoru' from "Jujutsu Kaisen."
And if he wanted to achieve this, he had to widen the power gap between himself and other characters.
Therefore, using up the system's '1 million popularity point' loan quota was something he absolutely had to do in the early stages.
After all, risk and reward always coexist.
Going all-in was a valuable wisdom.
[Name: Tiandao Siming (Embers Organization Reserve)]
[Age: 12]
[Star Source: None]
[Star Core: Stareclipse Heavenly Eye (Compatibility 100%)]
[Attributes: Strength S, Agility S, Spirit S, Constitution S]
[Skills: Star Energy Control (Master Level), Shunpo (Master Level), Star Beast Encyclopedia (Expert Level)...]
[Current Popularity Points: 0]
[Loaned Popularity Points: 1,000,000 (Reached Limit)]
All S-rank basic attributes, and multiple master-level skills.
This was the magnificent character panel Tiandao Siming had obtained after two years and a loan of 1 million popularity points.
It is worth noting that the four basic S-rank attributes on Tiandao Siming's panel were not absolute values, but relative ones.
They indicated that his four basic attributes had been developed to the current limit of his body.
Therefore, if the rate of increase of his four basic attributes could not keep up with the growth rate of his body's potential,
then his four basic attributes would quickly fall to 'A-rank', or even 'B-rank'.
However, Tiandao Siming had full confidence to maintain his four basic attributes permanently at 'S-rank'.
Maintaining absolute suppression over other characters of the same period.
After all, the current him possessed all the elements required for a highly popular character!
First place in single-season popularity, he was determined to get it.
"The stage has been set, now... it's time for the actors to make their entrance, one by one."
Tiandao Siming stood up and stretched languidly.
The golden morning sunlight cut across the shimmering waves of the sea, like a natural stage spotlight, illuminating his slender figure.
A moment later, Tiandao Siming took out a small pair of sunglasses from his pocket, put them on, then put his hands in his pockets, and leaped off the edge of the mountaintop.
His slender body was like a feather, stepping lightly back and forth on the protrusions of the mountain wall.
In just a few breaths, Tiandao Siming, who had been watching the sunrise at the summit, landed beside Caroline halfway up the mountain.
"Yo, Caroline, good morning."
Seeing Tiandao still looking utterly carefree and lazy at such a time,
Caroline couldn't help but say, "Hey, Tiandao, do you even know what day it is today?"
"It's already this late, and you still have the mood to watch the sunrise here? Aren't you afraid of failing the assessment?"
Caroline's tone was heavy, and her voice involuntarily grew louder.
She was like a responsible mother hen, trying hard to look after her immature and disobedient child.
However, her increased volume forced Tiandao, whose hearing was excellent, to temporarily cover his ears.
Giving her a look that said, "Speak softly, my ears are going deaf."
However, his playful antics undoubtedly failed to calm Caroline, instead exacerbating her already displeased emotions.
Nevertheless, out of concern for Tiandao, Caroline finally suppressed her anger and said seriously, "Tiandao, I'm not joking with you right now. You must take this seriously today, understand?"
"Because if we fail the assessment..."
Looking at Caroline, who was so nervous about the fear of failure that her voice began to tremble slightly,
Tiandao Siming couldn't help but pat her cat ears, which had mutated due to Star Core surgery, and comforted her, "Relax, Caroline, with me here, we won't fail."
"Why?"
Facing Caroline's question, Tiandao thought for a moment, then gave an answer that perfectly fit his 'innate powerhouse' persona.
"Hmm, if you really want to know why, then of course, it's because I am the strongest."
Caroline was stunned, momentarily unsure how to respond.
Because if anyone else had said that, she would have simply thought they were joking.
But when those words came from Tiandao's mouth, she somehow felt they were entirely self-evident.
Yet, even so, she still felt that Tiandao, who constantly had "the strongest" on his lips, was a bit too high-profile.
Thinking of this, the meticulous and steady Caroline immediately decided to make Tiandao rein in his character and take today's final assessment seriously.
But before Caroline could speak, Tiandao, for some unknown reason, suddenly changed his expression drastically.
Seeing this, Caroline immediately asked nervously, "What's wrong, Tiandao? Did something happen?"
"Something big has happened, Caroline, something really big has happened this time!"
"No, Tiandao, don't just say something big has happened, tell me specifically what it is."
Caroline's heart leaped to her throat, and her pair of green cat ears stood up even higher.
But Tiandao's next words made her heart plummet from the peak to the valley.
Tiandao looked at her and said earnestly, "Caroline, the cafeteria has my favorite strawberry cake today, but I was busy watching the sunrise and forgot to go to the cafeteria to ask Aunt Lenna to save some for me."
"Caroline, do you think it's still not too late for me to go to the cafeteria now?"
"..."
Looking at Tiandao, who was spouting nonsense so earnestly, Caroline was completely speechless.
It was only because she couldn't beat this slightly childish guy in front of her; otherwise, she would definitely make Tiandao understand what a 'fist the size of a clay pot' felt like.
She had worried that something important had happened, only to find that Tiandao was still thinking about his so-called strawberry cake.
Seriously, Tiandao Siming, in your eyes, is the organization's final assessment less important than a mere strawberry cake?!
Caroline's face darkened, resolved to make this Tiandao fellow understand what 'prioritizing tasks' meant.
But before she could speak, the perceptive Tiandao seemed to guess her thoughts and didn't want to be nagged.
He immediately made a quick escape, turning into an afterimage and dashing towards the cafeteria down the mountain.
All of this happened too suddenly, so much so that Caroline didn't even react.
It wasn't until Tiandao's silhouette completely vanished among the mountains that Caroline realized what had happened.
She looked in the direction Tiandao had left and couldn't help but say, "The person with the highest Star Core compatibility, full marks in all subjects for the mid-term assessment."
"Tiandao, why are you so unreliable, yet when the words 'the strongest' come out of your mouth, it feels so utterly self-evident?"
"Though I don't want to admit it, compared to you, we really don't seem to be from the same world."
As Caroline was sighing thus, her stomach suddenly rumbled unexpectedly.
Feeling the gnawing pain in her abdomen, she then realized that she had been so busy coming to find Tiandao that she had forgotten to eat breakfast herself.
Thinking of this, she immediately shouted down the mountain, "Tiandao, save a portion of breakfast for me when you get to the cafeteria, hear me, Tiandao!"
Meanwhile, a certain boy who was almost at the foot of the mountain rubbed his ears in confusion.
"Strange, did I just hear Caroline saying something?"
"No, with Caroline's personality, how could she shout? Auditory hallucination, this must be an auditory hallucination. Never mind, I'll go grab food first."
Not being proactive about eating means there's something wrong with one's head.
At this very moment, not a shred of worry about the final assessment could be seen in Tiandao's eyes, only a craving for food.
After all, the so-called final assessment was no different from a child's game to him now.
Therefore, he never considered whether he could pass the organization's final assessment.
Instead, he was considering whether he could, in this final assessment, overpower the protagonist and become the most popular character of the season!
(End of this chapter)
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