Star Origin Year 95, New Federation.
On an unnamed island.
Early morning, on a mountain peak of the unnamed island, fourteen-year-old Caroline laboriously climbed halfway up the slope, anxiously shouting towards a white-haired boy still watching the sunrise at the summit.
"Tiandao! The organization's final assessment is about to begin. Hurry and come down!"
Hearing Caroline's words from below, Tiandao Siming at the summit wasn't in a hurry to descend. He gazed at the sun, which was about to rise from the distant sea horizon. The special pupils, like stars, shimmered with an inexplicable glow, as if anticipating something.
Moments later, as a faint but brilliant ray of morning light appeared on the horizon, Tiandao Siming smiled happily.
No one knew why he smiled, just as no one knew he was a transmigrator.
Two years. It had been exactly two years since Tiandao Siming transmigrated to this world.
It was on the very first day of his transmigration that Tiandao Siming activated the Popularity System and came to understand the situation of this world.
This was a world operating with "Star Origin" as its core.
And the so-called "Star Origin" was, in fact, a special energy source. It was the core of all extraordinary substances and the source of all extraordinary powers.
Initially, the development of this world was roughly equivalent to the early 20th century in Tiandao Siming's previous life. However, a special meteor shower 95 years ago completely changed everything.
Countless "Star Origin Fragments" fell from the sky, landing in every corner of this world. The emergence of these fragments brought about tremendous changes to the entire world.
Many people gained previously unimaginable extraordinary abilities due to the Star Origin Fragments, becoming revered as "Star Emissaries." A large number of animals and plants underwent various bizarre mutations because of the Star Origin Fragments, becoming known as "Star Beasts," "Star Flora," and so on.
Experts in Star Origin research also regarded this day as the beginning of a new era, calling it the Star Origin Era.
The time of Tiandao Siming's transmigration was Star Origin Year 93.
That is, two years before the beginning of the story of Prequel of the Stars: Embers.
That's right, Tiandao Siming had not only transmigrated to a new world but also into an "alternate dimension anime."
And if Tiandao Siming wanted to survive in this "alternate dimension anime," he had to gain enough "popularity."
Life is like a play. Having accidentally entered the Stars, you have unexpectedly become a member of this stage. However, under the spotlight of the Stars, the protagonist has already been chosen. Therefore, if you, merely a supporting character, wish to remain on stage for a long time, you must gain enough 'popularity.'
At the end of each season's broadcast settlement:
Cumulative popularity ranking below Top 10: Forced plot kill arranged, 'Tiandao Siming' character goes offline.Cumulative popularity ranking 4-10: Confirmed participation in the next season's story.Cumulative popularity ranking 3rd: Next season's screen time guaranteed at 10%.Cumulative popularity ranking 2nd: Next season's screen time guaranteed at 20%, and receive one character promotion worth 100,000 popularity points.Cumulative popularity ranking 1st: Next season's screen time guaranteed at 35%, and receive one character promotion worth 1,000,000 popularity points, as well as one exclusive character story background modification privilege.
The Popularity System was a bittersweet special system for Tiandao Siming.
The sweet part was that Tiandao Siming could continuously improve himself and obtain various miraculous things by consuming "popularity points," such as "knowing the story content of the first season in advance," akin to precognition.
The bitter part was that if Tiandao Siming failed to rank in the top ten of the popularity list by the end of a single season's broadcast of this alternate dimension anime, he would be forced offline, which was the so-called "plot kill."
For this, Tiandao Siming not only meticulously planned for two years but also borrowed the entire "popularity point quota" from the system. Although this put him in huge "popularity point debt" even before the story began, Tiandao Siming felt it was all worth it.
Because his character positioning was that of a naturally gifted powerhouse, similar to Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen. And to achieve this, he had to widen the gap in strength between himself and other characters. Therefore, using up the "1 million popularity point" loan quota given by the system was something he had to do in the early stages.
After all, risk and reward always coexist. All-in, that's a valuable wisdom.
Name: Tiandao Siming (Embers Organization Reserve)
Age: 12
Star Origin: None
Star Core: Stellar Eclipse Eye (Compatibility 100%)
Attributes: Strength S, Agility S, Spirit S, Constitution S
Skills: Star Energy Control (Master), Shunpo (Master), Star Beast Knowledge Encyclopedia (Expert)...
Current Popularity Points: 0
Popularity Points Loaned: 1,000,000 (Maxed Out)
All S-rank basic attributes and multiple master-level skills. This was the magnificent character panel Tiandao Siming obtained after two years and loaning 1 million popularity points.
It's worth noting that the all S-rank four basic attributes on Tiandao Siming's panel weren't absolute values but relative ones. It meant that his four basic attributes had been developed to the current physical limit of his body. Therefore, if the rate of increase of his four basic attributes couldn't keep up with the growth rate of his body's potential, his four basic attributes would quickly drop to "A-rank" or even "B-rank."
However, Tiandao Siming had full confidence in maintaining his four basic attributes at "S-rank" indefinitely, keeping an absolute suppression over other characters of the same period. After all, he now possessed all the necessary elements for a high-popularity character!
He was determined to take the top spot in popularity for the season.
"The stage has been set. Now... it's time for the actors to make their entrances."
Tiandao Siming stood up and stretched languidly. The golden morning sunlight cut across the shimmering sea, like a natural stage spotlight, illuminating his slender figure.
Moments later, Tiandao Siming pulled out a small pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he leaped from the edge of the mountain peak. His slender body was like a feather, stepping lightly on the protrusions of the mountain wall, pacing back and forth.
In just a few breaths, Tiandao Siming, who had been watching the sunrise at the summit, landed beside Caroline halfway down the mountain.
"Yo, Caroline, good morning."
Seeing Tiandao still so leisurely and carefree at such a time, Caroline couldn't help but say, "Hey, Tiandao, do you 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 unconsciously grew louder, like a responsible old mother trying hard to take care of her immature and unfilial child. However, her raised volume forced Tiandao, with his excellent hearing, to temporarily cover his ears, looking as if to say, Lower your voice, my ears are going deaf.
But his playful act undoubtedly didn't calm Caroline; instead, it exacerbated her already discontented emotions. Nevertheless, out of concern for Tiandao, Caroline ultimately suppressed her anger and said seriously, "Tiandao, I'm not joking with you right now. You must be serious today, understand? Because if we fail the assessment..."
Seeing Caroline, whose voice even began to tremble due to fear of the failure's outcome, Tiandao Siming couldn't help but gently stroke her cat ears, which had mutated due to the 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 "naturally strong" persona.
"Hmm, if I had to say why, it's naturally 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 found them to be so self-evident.
Even so, she still felt that Tiandao, who constantly had the words "the strongest" on his lips, was a bit too high-profile. Thinking this, the meticulous and steady Caroline immediately decided to make Tiandao rein in his personality and take today's final assessment seriously.
But before Caroline could speak, Tiandao suddenly's expression changed drastically, as if he had thought of something. Seeing this, Caroline immediately asked nervously, "What's wrong, Tiandao? Did something happen?"
"Big trouble, Caroline! This time it's really big trouble!"
"No, Tiandao, don't just say 'big trouble,' tell me specifically what happened." Caroline's heart leaped to her throat, and her pair of green cat ears stood up high.
But Tiandao's next words made her heart plummet from the mountaintop to the bottom of the valley. Tiandao looked at her and said in all seriousness, "Caroline, today the cafeteria has my favorite strawberry cake, but I was busy watching the sunrise and forgot to ask Auntie Lena in the cafeteria to save some for me."
"Caroline, do you think I can still make it to the cafeteria now?"
"..."
Looking at Tiandao, who was spouting nonsense so earnestly, Caroline was completely speechless. If only she could beat this slightly childish guy, she would have definitely shown Tiandao what a fist the size of a casserole felt like. She had been worried, thinking something important had happened, but it turned out Tiandao was still preoccupied with his so-called strawberry cake.
No, Tiandao Siming, in your eyes, is the organization's final assessment less important than a mere few strawberry cakes?!
Caroline's face darkened, determined to make this guy understand the importance of priorities. However, before she could speak, Tiandao, who was very perceptive, seemed to have guessed her thoughts and didn't want to be nagged. He immediately bolted, turning into an afterimage as he rushed towards the cafeteria down the mountain.
All of this happened so suddenly that Caroline didn't even react. It wasn't until Tiandao's shadow completely disappeared into the mountains that Caroline belatedly realized. She looked in the direction Tiandao had gone and couldn't help but say, "The number one in Star Core compatibility, full marks in all subjects for the midterm assessment."
"Tiandao, why are you so unreliable, yet when the words 'the strongest' come out of your mouth, it feels so natural?"
"Although 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 like this, her stomach suddenly rumbled. Feeling the cramps in her abdomen, she realized that she had been so busy looking for Tiandao that she had forgotten to eat breakfast herself. Thinking this, she immediately shouted down the mountain, "Tiandao! Save me a portion of breakfast 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 say something?"
"No, with Caroline's personality, how could she shout like that? Hallucination, this must be a hallucination. Never mind, I'll go grab food first."
If you're not proactive about eating, something's wrong with your head.
At this moment, there was no sign of worry about the final assessment in Tiandao's eyes, only a craving for food. After all, the so-called final assessment was no different from children playing house for him now. Therefore, he was never concerned about whether he could pass the organization's final assessment.
Instead, he was considering whether he could overpower the protagonist in this final assessment and become the number one most popular character of the season!
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