❖2021 Watty Awards Shortlist❖ Kevin was just a normal 10 year old kid until he saw a woman vanish right before his eyes. This made Kevin just a little bit different. He paid more attention to people now. Little did he know that this little difference would kill him the next time he encountered another alien about to return home. It would tear him apart, cell by cell, until he was unmade. His mind being transported away. --- So distantly far away there is a race that advanced to the point where they built dyson spheres to house their civilizations. In their continual expansion, they seeded galaxies with pods and connection satellites. Over time they upgraded their dyson spheres into matryoshka brain Cores. Imagine a computer powered by a star. Citizens of Cores no longer age once they upload their minds into the virtual living system of the Core. While they didn't age, most still choose to cycle through life and death though at a different scale of time compared to our lives. Citizens can visit other planets and live there as if they were on a "vacation". Mercury is Earth's hub connected to the closest Core and Earth is a remote vacation spot for wealthy citizens. When the main character was 10 he witnessed a citizen returning to the Core. The story continues 10 odd years later when he again witnesses a similar situation unfolding and manages to touch the person returning to the Core. This causes him to be swept up in the transfer as well and for his mind to join as a "Guest" user of the Core. As a Guest he has limited powers, a starting balance of zero cr or Citizen credits, and no idea how he can get home. He is the first human to ever become a Guest of a Core. Where money itself is the highest form of their science.

If it is possible to "raise a level", no matter how monotonous the work I can continue it forever --Natsuno Taiyou. A talent that is supposedly only useful in a game , has suddenly become useful in real life?! Power was given by the fairy which allowed Taiyo to level up in real life, Immediately he attempted to raise his level by performing monotonous work, however he ended up decreasing his charm instead!--- Nevertheless, his charm level which was originally at 0 points, was actually raised to a ridiculous figure of "65535"! Taiyo is aiming to reach level 100. Furthermore he wants to fully enjoy his harem life filled with 7 beautiful brides.

Magic is a fickle thing, hard to grasp and even harder to truly master. Mana flows through everything in the world, every rock, plant, and human. They all breath, grow and influence their surroundings in their own right. Join Teo, a bright young boy with a gift for Arcane Magic, through his journey to tackle the Elements, master his Craft and climb to the very peak of magic itself. Who will he meet, friends or foes? Trusted companions or bitter rivals? Will he be able to find his answer and get to the real meaning of magic, all while wrestling with the complex laws of nature and his own unripe emotions? There is only one way to find out. The story will start with a few chapters of introductions in volume 1 to establish the characteristics and the nature of the world the characters live in. After that, it will probably become a lot more fast-paced and incorporate real story progression. My goal is to fuse the common magic advancement system in a weak-to-strong fashion, together with elements of naturalism, magic combat action and little bits and pieces of science, wherever necessary, to form a bright and interesting story about a boy chasing his dreams about magic.