Because I Am the Strongest

Year 95 of Star Source Era, New Federation.

On an unnamed island.

Early in the morning, on a mountain peak on the unnamed island, fourteen-year-old Caroline struggled up to the mountainside and anxiously shouted at the white-haired boy still watching the sunrise atop the mountain.

"Tiandao, the final assessment arranged by the organization is about to begin. Get down here!"

Hearing Caroline below him, Tiandao Siming did not hurry down.

He gazed at the sun that was about to rise over the distant horizon. His unusual, star-like pupils flickered with an inexplicable Glimmer, as if he were waiting for something.

A moment later, as a faint yet brilliant ray of morning light appeared over the horizon, Tiandao Siming smiled happily.

No one knew why he was smiling, just as no one knew he was a transmigrator.

Two years. It had been exactly two years since Tiandao Siming had transmigrated into this world.

And on the very first day after transmigrating, Tiandao Siming had activated the 'Popularity System' and learned about this world.

This was a world that operated with 'Star Source' as its core.

So-called 'Star Source' was actually a special kind of energy source.

It was the core of all supernatural matter and the origin of all extraordinary power.

At first, this world's development had been roughly equivalent to the early twentieth century in Tiandao Siming's previous life.

But a strange meteor shower ninety-five years ago had completely changed everything.

Countless 'Star Source Fragments' fell from the sky, landing in every corner of the world.

And the appearance of the 'Star Source Fragments' brought enormous changes to the entire world.

Many people gained extraordinary abilities they had never imagined possible because of the Star Source Fragments, and were respectfully called 'Star Envoys'.

Many animals and plants underwent all kinds of bizarre mutations because of the Star Source Fragments, becoming known as 'Star Beasts', 'Star Plants', and so on.

Experts researching Star Source also regarded that day as the beginning of a new era, naming it Year 1 of Star Source Era.

And Tiandao Siming had transmigrated in Year 93 of Star Source Era.

That was two years before the story of "Stellaris Prequel: Embers" began.

That was right. Tiandao Siming had not merely transmigrated into a brand-new world, but into an 'Alternate Dimension Anime'.

And if Tiandao Siming wanted to survive in this 'Alternate Dimension Anime', he had to gain enough 'Popularity'.

Life was like a play. Having stumbled into Stellaris, you unexpectedly became a member of this stage. Yet beneath the spotlight of Stellaris, the protagonist had long been chosen. Therefore, if you, merely a supporting character, wished to remain onstage for a long time, you had to gain enough 'Popularity'.

At the end of each season:

If your cumulative popularity ranking is below the top ten, a Plot Kill will be forcibly arranged, and the character 'Tiandao Siming' will be written out.

If your cumulative popularity ranking is between 4th and 10th, your participation in the next season will be confirmed.

If your cumulative popularity ranking is 3rd, your guaranteed screen time in the next season will account for 10%.

If your cumulative popularity ranking is 2nd, your guaranteed screen time in the next season will account for 20%, and you will receive one Character Promotion worth 100,000 Popularity Points.

If your cumulative popularity ranking is 1st, your guaranteed screen time in the next season will account for 35%, and you will receive one Character Promotion worth 1,000,000 Popularity Points, as well as one Exclusive Character Story Background Modification Permission.

The Popularity System was a special system that brought Tiandao Siming both joy and sorrow.

The good part was that Tiandao Siming could continuously improve himself by spending 'Popularity Points', and acquire all sorts of miraculous things, such as 'learning the contents of Season 1 in advance', something akin to foreknowledge.

The bad part was that if Tiandao Siming failed to rank within the top ten on the popularity rankings when a season of this Alternate Dimension Anime ended—

Then he would be forcibly written out, through what was known as a 'Plot Kill'.

For this reason, Tiandao Siming had not only planned meticulously for two years, but had also borrowed the full amount of 'Popularity Points' from the system.

Although this had saddled him with a massive 'Popularity Points debt' before the story had even begun.

Tiandao Siming felt it was all worth it.

Because the role he had given himself was that of a Natural Strongman, similar to Gojo Satoru from "Jujutsu Kaisen".

And to accomplish that, he needed to widen the gap in strength between himself and the other characters.

Thus, using up the system's 1,000,000 'Popularity Points' loan limit was something he had to do in the early stages.

After all, risks and rewards had always gone hand in hand.

Going all in was a precious kind of wisdom.

Name: Tiandao Siming (Ember Organization Reserve)

Age: 12

Star Source: None

Star Core: Stellar Eclipse Heavenly Eye (Compatibility 100%)

Attributes: Strength S+, Agility S+, Spirit S+, Constitution S+

Skills: Star Energy Control (Master Level), Flash Step (Master Level), Star Beast Knowledge Encyclopedia (Expert Level)...

Current Popularity Points: 0

Popularity Loaned: 1,000,000 (Maximum Reached)

All S-Class basic attributes, along with several Master Level Skills.

This was the dazzling status panel Tiandao Siming had obtained after spending two years and borrowing 1,000,000 Popularity Points.

It was worth mentioning that the four S-Class basic attributes on Tiandao Siming's panel were not absolute values, but relative ones.

They meant that his four basic attributes had been developed to the limits of his current body.

Therefore, if the rate at which his four basic attributes improved failed to keep up with the growth of his body's potential—

Then his four basic attributes would quickly fall to A Class, or even B Class.

However, Tiandao Siming was fully confident that he could keep his four basic attributes permanently at S Class.

Maintaining absolute suppression over all other characters of the same era.

After all, he now possessed every quality a high-popularity character needed!

The top spot in seasonal popularity was his for the taking.

"The stage has been set. Now... it is time for the actors to take the stage one by one."

Tiandao Siming rose and lazily stretched.

The golden morning sunlight cut across the rippling sea like a natural stage spotlight, shining upon his slender body.

A moment later, Tiandao Siming took out a pair of small sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. Then, with both hands in his pockets, he leaped from the edge of the mountaintop.

His small body was as light as a feather as he stepped lightly across the protrusions of the cliff face.

In just a few breaths, Tiandao Siming, who had been watching the sunrise atop the mountain, landed beside Caroline on the mountainside.

"Yo, Caroline. Morning."

Seeing that Tiandao was still so relaxed and lazy at a time like this.

Caroline could not help saying, "Hey, Tiandao, do you know what day it is today?"

"At a time like this, you still have the mood to watch the sunrise. Aren't you afraid of failing the assessment?"

Caroline's tone was harsh, and her voice involuntarily rose.

Like a responsible old mother trying her best to take care of her immature, unfilial son.

But her raised voice forced Tiandao, whose hearing was exceptional, to temporarily cover his ears.

He looked as though he were saying, Lower your voice. You're going to make me deaf.

Yet his clowning around did not calm Caroline down. Instead, it further intensified her already dissatisfied mood.

Still, out of concern for Tiandao, Caroline ultimately suppressed the anger in her heart and said sternly, "Tiandao, I'm not joking with you right now. You have to take this seriously today, understand?"

"Because if we fail the assessment..."

Seeing Caroline become so nervous that even her voice began to tremble from fear of the consequences of failure.

Tiandao Siming could not help stroking the cat ears that had mutated from her Star Core Surgery, comforting her. "Relax, Caroline. With me here, we won't fail."

"Why?"

Faced with Caroline's question, Tiandao thought for a moment before giving an answer that perfectly fit his Natural Strongman persona.

"Well, if I have to say why, then of course it's because I'm the strongest."

Caroline froze, momentarily not knowing how to respond.

Because if someone else had said that, she would only have thought they were joking.

But when those words came from Tiandao, they felt entirely natural.

Even so, she still felt that Tiandao, who was always talking about being 'the strongest', was far too high-profile.

Thinking this, the rigorous and steady Caroline immediately decided to make Tiandao rein himself in and seriously face today's Final Assessment.

But before Caroline could speak, Tiandao seemed to think of something, and his expression suddenly changed dramatically.

Seeing this, Caroline immediately asked nervously, "What is it, Tiandao? Did something happen?"

"Something terrible has happened, Caroline. This is really bad!"

"No, Tiandao, don't just say something terrible happened. What exactly happened?"

Caroline's heart leaped into her throat, and her pair of green cat ears stood straight up.

But Tiandao's next words made her heart plummet from the mountain peak to the bottom of a valley.

Tiandao looked at her and said with a perfectly serious expression, "Caroline, the cafeteria has my favorite strawberry cake today, but I was so busy watching the sunrise that I forgot to ask Aunt Lunna to save me some."

"Caroline, do you think it's still in time if I go to the cafeteria now?"

"..."

Looking at Tiandao spouting nonsense with such a serious face, Caroline was utterly speechless.

If only she could beat this somewhat childish guy in front of her, she would definitely let Tiandao find out what a fist the size of a casserole felt like.

She had thought something urgent had happened, but it turned out Tiandao was still thinking about his so-called strawberry cake.

No, Tiandao Siming, in your eyes, is the organization's Final Assessment really less important than some strawberry cake?

Caroline's face darkened as she resolved to make Tiandao understand what it meant to know one's priorities.

But before she could speak, the quick-witted Tiandao seemed to have guessed what she was thinking and did not want to listen to her nagging.

So he immediately made himself scarce, turning into an afterimage as he rushed toward the cafeteria at the foot of the mountain.

Everything happened so suddenly that Caroline did not react at all.

Only after Tiandao's figure had completely disappeared into the mountains did Caroline come to her senses.

Looking in the direction Tiandao had gone, she could not help saying, "Number One in Star Core Compatibility, Full Marks in All Subjects for Midterm Assessment."

"Tiandao, why is it that even though you are so unreliable, when you say the words 'the strongest', they somehow sound so natural?"

"Though I don't want to admit it, compared to you, we really aren't from the same world."

As Caroline sighed with emotion, her stomach suddenly growled as well.

Feeling the twisting pain in her stomach, she realized that she had been so busy coming to find Tiandao that she had forgotten to eat breakfast too.

Thinking of this, she immediately shouted toward the foot of the mountain, "Tiandao, save me a breakfast when you get to the cafeteria, did you hear me, Tiandao!"

Meanwhile, a certain boy who had nearly reached 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 possibly shout like that? Must have been an auditory hallucination. Definitely an auditory hallucination. Never mind, I need to go grab food first."

If you aren't proactive about eating, there's something wrong with your brain.

At that moment, there was not the slightest hint of concern 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 to him now.

So he had never considered whether he could pass the organization's Final Assessment.

What he considered was whether he could crush the protagonist in this Final Assessment and become the number one popular character of the season!

PS: New author here, please support me.