Early morning sunlight streamed through a gap in the curtains, illuminating Albert's sleeping face. He wasn't awake yet, but it wouldn't be long.
The door to his second-floor room, near the stairs, creaked open. A brown-haired girl peeked inside, her large hazel eyes fixed on the still-sleeping boy in bed. She whispered, "Albert, time to wake up."
When Albert didn't respond, Nia pouted slightly, pushed the door open wider, and entered the room, followed by a British Shorthair cat.
"Tom, please do the honors," she said, placing the cat on the bed. She gently lifted its tail and brushed it across Albert's face.
Albert, still half-asleep, swatted away the tail. He opened his eyes to see his mischievous younger sister, stifled a yawn, and greeted her, "Morning, Nia!"
"Dad said he's taking us to London today," Nia said, blinking at Albert. "To get your Eton College uniform fitted and buy everything on the list."
"Alright, I'll get dressed," Albert replied, stifling another yawn. He picked up Tom, who was stretching his claws on the bedspread, set him on the floor, stretched languidly, changed his clothes, and went to wash up before heading to the living room for breakfast.
"Burning the midnight oil again last night?" Daisy placed a lavish breakfast on the plate in front of Albert.
"Son, we'd better hurry. Today's schedule is packed," Herbert said, spreading out the letter Eton College had sent a few days earlier on the table, his face beaming with pride.
It was common knowledge that private schools in Britain were the breeding grounds for the elite, and Eton College stood at the pinnacle. Admission required two things: talent and wealth.
The Andersons were a middle-class family in Britain. The couple ran a successful law firm and had accumulated substantial savings.
As for Albert, he was widely regarded as a prodigy. Not only did he excel academically, but he had also won numerous interschool competitions.
Whether Albert truly lived up to this reputation was a secret he alone knew.
Genius?
No, Albert never considered himself one. He harbored a secret no one suspected: he was a transmigrator.
As for why he had been labeled a prodigy, he was just as puzzled as everyone else.
A child who had never even heard of a Rubik's Cube could effortlessly solve a scrambled three-layered one.
To most adults, that was the very definition of genius.
The truth was, Albert could solve the Rubik's Cube because he had played with it in his previous life and knew the secret to solving it.
As for maintaining his genius persona, Albert wasn't worried about being exposed at all. After all, he possessed the legendary Golden Finger!
Transmigrators always get a Golden Finger—the web novels didn't lie!
It all started when Albert was seven years old. He suddenly discovered a panel had appeared in his mind.
The panel had two main functions: accepting missions and allocating skill points.
Missions would occasionally appear, and completing them would reward him with experience or skill points. Experience could be used to level up skills, while skill points directly increased a skill's level by one.
Albert's first skill was English Proficiency, which took him years to level up to level 3.
To put it in perspective, an average British person's English Proficiency was around level 2, while a typical English teacher's was level 3.
If Albert maxed out his technology-related skills, he could become a scientific prodigy.
Of course, Albert had never aspired to be a scientist, nor had he harbored such ambitions in his previous life.
In his past life, he had loved reading and eventually became a mediocre web novelist.
He had written a few books, accumulated modest savings, and lived a carefree life, doing what he loved every day.
In other words, in his previous life, Albert had been a complete salted fish.
As for how he had transmigrated...
It was rather embarrassing.
One day, he was lounging on the sofa watching a Mr. Bean movie, casually munching on an apple. The film was so hilarious that he forgot he was still chewing, choked on a chunk of apple, and died at the age of thirty.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself reborn as an infant. He drifted through his early years in this new family, eventually adopting another cat and naming it Tom—a tribute to the Tom and Jerry cartoon.
On his seventh birthday, a game-like interface suddenly appeared, causing Albert to question the very nature of his existence. For a time, he even wondered if he might be an NPC in some video game.
But after years of never encountering any actual players, he simply accepted the interface as a transmigrator's built-in perk.
Connecting his transmigration with this "Golden Finger" meant he was destined to be a winner in life.
Albert harbored no grand ambitions. He hoped to have a few romantic relationships after reaching adulthood, secure a simple, stress-free job after college, get married before thirty, and amass enough wealth to live a life of carefree luxury for the next century.
To realize his vision for the future, Albert already had a plan. After graduation, he intended to conquer Wall Street in America. Armed with his maxed-out financial skills and the lingering memories from his previous life, he was confident he could quickly amass a fortune in dollars.
However, leveling up his panel skills proved challenging, especially after reaching level two. Each subsequent level required a substantial amount of experience. Albert needed to complete missions to earn experience and Skill Points, and gaining admission to Eton College was one such mission.
"Son, what's on your mind?" Herbert asked, cutting into his steak and glancing at his daydreaming son.
"I was wondering what I want to do in the future," Albert replied, swallowing a mouthful of fried egg.
"And what do you want to do?" Daisy asked curiously. The Andersons rarely heard their son discuss his aspirations.
"Finance," Albert answered without hesitation.
"We thought you might want to be a scientist or an astronaut," the Andersons exchanged surprised glances.
"What exactly is finance?" Nia asked, clearly annoyed at being excluded from the conversation.
"Finance is where the real money is," Albert replied, looking up. "While you're at it, buy me some books on economics. Consider it an early birthday gift."
"Son, don't mislead your sister. Only the truly skilled make money in that field," Herbert said, his cheek twitching. He clenched his fist, covered his mouth, and cleared his throat lightly. "Besides, our family isn't exactly poor."
"Alright, everyone, finish your breakfast and stop talking nonsense," Daisy interrupted. "Nia, make sure you drink all your milk."
"Okay," Nia replied, though she wasn't particularly fond of milk.
Albert's life after his rebirth was perfect. He had a lovely younger sister, a harmonious family, a comfortable life, and a Golden Finger that would propel him to the pinnacle of success.
If there was one thing that truly vexed Albert, it was British food.
He had once been skeptical of the online claims that Britain was a culinary wasteland, assuming the British simply preferred simple, comfortable living.
But after experiencing it firsthand, he no longer doubted the truth of those descriptions.
After breakfast, the Andersons helped tidy up, secured the doors and windows, and prepared to leave together.
As Albert opened the Ford's back door and was about to climb in, Nia suddenly exclaimed, "Look! An owl?"
The Andersons turned to see an owl flying toward them. As it swooped overhead, it dropped a letter at Albert's feet.
In that instant, the entire Anderson family froze, their faces stiff with disbelief.
An owl... delivering mail?
Since when did owls start moonlighting as postmen?
____________________
T/N- Important Announcement, please do read, will take just a few seconds.
Hey there! We're three friends working on this project and multiple others. If you find any issues with the translation do share it freely, any advice is appreciated.
That aside, this is a highly rated fanfiction if the raw ratings were to say anything, and we personally enjoyed the story as well.
For now, a mass release of 15 chapters will be done first to be eligible for the the rankings. After that uploads will be once everyday at 4 PM GMT.
Bonus Chapters will be provided by powerstones—
100 PS for 1 Chapter
300 PS for 2 Chapters
500 PS for 3 Chapters
1000 PS for 5 Chapters
Top 1 Ranking— Double Daily Update for the following week.
And to those that like the story and want to read ahead, you can do so on our Patreon.
Patreon.com/EtherealTL
Patrons can read up to Chapter 45 right now and also get daily double uploads regardless of the books ranking :)
(PS. If the book hits rank 1, patrons will get three updates daily!!!)
Happy Reading :)
(Note- We're taking suggestions for projects, preferably neutral or evil Protagonists, please do recommend some raw mtls that AREN'T being translated right now and we'll immediately work on it.)