Chapter 1: The Owl Post
Chapter 1: The Owl Post
In the early morning, a ray of sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains, illuminating the sleeping face of a young boy. Albert was still slumbering, but he wouldn't be for long.
The door on the second floor, near the stairs, was quietly pushed open. A brown-haired girl poked her head in, her large brown eyes fixing on the sleeping boy in the bed. "Albert, time to wake up," she whispered.
When the boy on the bed didn't stir, the girl pouted in dissatisfaction. She pushed the door open and walked in, followed by a British Shorthair cat.
"Come on, Tom. I need your help," the girl said as she picked up the cat and brought it onto the bed. She gently picked up the cat's tail and tickled the boy's face with it.
Albert, who had been sleeping soundly, waved away the cat's tail from his face. He opened his eyes and looked at his mischievous little sister, covering a yawn with his hand. "Good morning, Niya," he greeted.
"Dad said he's taking us to London today," Niya said, blinking. "We're going to get your Eton school uniform tailored and buy the things on the list."
"Okay, got it. I'll get changed," Albert replied, covering another yawn. He picked up the cat that had been stretching its claws on the sheets and placed it on the floor. He stretched lazily and then began to get dressed, after which he went to the bathroom to freshen up before heading to the living room for breakfast.
"You stayed up late again last night?" Daisy asked as she placed a hearty breakfast on the plate in front of Albert.
"Son, we should get going soon. We have a full day ahead of us," Herbert said, spreading out a letter that had arrived from Eton a few days ago on the table, a proud smile on his face.
It was common knowledge that private schools in the UK were the breeding grounds for elite individuals, and Eton College was the cream of the crop. To gain admission to such a school, one had to possess both talent and wealth.
The Anderson family was considered middle-class in the UK. The couple ran a law firm and had a decent amount of savings.
As for Albert, he was seen as a genius by everyone around him. Not only did he excel academically, but he had also participated in numerous inter-school competitions and won awards.
However, only Albert himself knew if he truly was the genius everyone believed him to be.
A genius?
No, Albert never saw himself as a genius. He had a big secret that no one else knew—he was a transmigrator.
As for how he had gained the reputation of a genius, that was a mystery to him as well.
A child who had no idea what a Rubik's Cube was had easily solved a scrambled third-order Rubik's Cube.
In the eyes of most adults, that was the mark of a genius.
In reality, he was only able to solve the Rubik's Cube because he had played with it in his previous life and knew the trick to solving it.
As for maintaining his image as a genius, Albert wasn't worried about being exposed at all. After all, he had the legendary golden finger of a transmigrator! It was a common trope in web novels, and it certainly didn't deceive him.
This all started when Albert was seven years old. He suddenly discovered a panel in his brain one day.
The panel had two main functions: accepting tasks and allocating skill points.
Sometimes, tasks would pop up, and upon completion, he would be rewarded with experience or skill points. The experience could be used to upgrade skills, while skill points directly upgraded a skill by one level.
The first skill Albert obtained was English Proficiency, and it took him several years to upgrade it to level 3.
If the English proficiency of an average British person was level 2, then a typical English teacher would be level 3.
As long as he maxed out his technology-related skills, Albert could become a genius scientist.
Of course, Albert had never wanted to become a scientist, nor did he have such aspirations in his previous life.
In his previous life, he had loved reading and eventually became an ordinary web novelist.
He had written several books and had a small fortune, allowing him to live a carefree life doing what he enjoyed.
In other words, he had been a slacker in his previous life.
As for how he ended up transmigrating? Well, it was quite embarrassing.
One day, he had been watching a Mr. Bean movie while lounging on the sofa, casually munching on an apple. The movie was so funny that he forgot about the food in his mouth, and he ended up choking to death on a piece of apple at the young age of thirty.
When he woke up, he found himself reborn as an infant in this family. He lived his life in a daze for several years, and then he adopted another cat, also naming it Tom, just like the one from the Tom and Jerry cartoon.
When he turned seven, the game panel suddenly appeared, causing Albert to question his existence and even suspect that he might be an NPC in some game.
However, as he never encountered any players, he eventually accepted the panel as a blessing that came with his transmigration.
Combining transmigration with the golden finger meant he was set up for success in life.
Albert didn't have grand ambitions. He just wanted to have a few romantic relationships when he grew up, find a simple and relaxing job after college, get married before he turned thirty, and earn enough wealth to squander for a hundred years so that he could live the rest of his life freely and without worry.
To achieve this future, Albert already had a plan. He intended to enter Wall Street in the United States after graduating. With his economic skills maxed out and the memories from his previous life, he believed he could quickly earn a fortune in US dollars.
However, upgrading his panel skills wasn't easy, especially after reaching level 2. Each subsequent level required a substantial amount of experience.
Albert needed to take on tasks to earn experience and skill points, and getting accepted into Eton was one of those tasks.
"Son, what are you thinking about?" Herbert asked, cutting into the steak on his plate as he looked at his son, who seemed to be spacing out.
"I was thinking about what I want to do in the future," Albert replied, popping a poached egg into his mouth and swallowing before continuing.
"And what do you want to do?" Daisy asked curiously. The couple rarely heard their child talk about his dreams.
"Finance," Albert answered without hesitation.
"We thought you might want to become a scientist or an astronaut," the Anderson couple said, exchanging glances.
"What's finance?" Niya asked, unhappy that she was being left out of the conversation.
"Finance makes a lot of money," Albert said, lifting his head. "By the way, can you get me some books about economics on this trip? Consider it an early birthday present."
"Son, don't mislead your sister. Only exceptional people can make money in that field," Herbert said, his face twitching as he coughed into his fist. "And we're not poor, by the way."
"Alright, enough chatter. Let's eat breakfast," Daisy interrupted. "Niya, make sure you drink all your milk."
"Oh!" Niya replied, as she wasn't a fan of milk.
Life after his rebirth was wonderful. He had a cute little sister, a harmonious family, a comfortable life, and the golden finger that would set him up for success.
If there was one thing that bothered Albert, it was the food in the UK.
He had once read online that the UK was a culinary wasteland, and while he had been skeptical at first, given the British preference for simple and comfortable lives, he no longer doubted the accuracy of that description after experiencing it for himself.
After finishing their meal and tidying up the dishes, the Anderson family prepared to head out together.
As Albert opened the door of the Ford, about to get into the back seat, he suddenly heard Niya exclaim in surprise, "Look, is that an owl?"
The Anderson couple looked on in confusion as their daughter pointed towards the sky. They saw an owl flying towards them and, as it flew over their heads, it dropped a letter at Albert's feet.
In that moment, the expressions on the faces of the Anderson family froze.
An owl, delivering a letter?
Since when did owls take on the job of postmen?
(End of Chapter)
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