A young 7th grader from the Philippines, Luciel Choi lived through his life despising books and preferred video games more. To him, reading is a waste of time. Reading is like a punishment to him, avoiding it at all costs. After a long school day, Luciel immediately went home to play games all night on his computer. He didn’t bother enough to do his homework; he wanted to slack off. While he plays, he talks to his online friend. “Don’t you hate it when teachers give loads of homework?” Luciel complains. “Um, it depends?” his online friend responded, in a confused tone. “Homework is a form of abuse, it rots and tires our brain!” Luciel continues to slander. After he finished playing games for so long, Luciel finally went to sleep at midnight.
The next day, they have to pass their homework and unfortunately, Luciel has nothing. “Oops,” Luciel mumbled to himself, the teacher became furious because he made the same mistake again. The teacher thought of something for his punishment, thus, the teacher announced something that would change Luciel’s life. “Luciel, you’re joining the school's annual reading contest. Please prepare within a month.” Luciel’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me, I don’t read!” He snapped but the teacher’s decision was final.
Luciel stormed home, fuming. His younger brother, Sae, noticed his sour mood. “What’s with you?” Sae asked. “My teacher signed me up for some stupid reading contest,” Luciel grumbled. Sae, the optimist, grinned. “Erm, actually! Reading’s cool, it’s not that bad. Plus, it might even help you.” Luciel rolls his eyes. “Whatever, nerd… I don’t know what to do right now, ugh this stupid contest..” Sae immediately thought of someone, “Ooh, I know who.” “Huh? Tell me, please.” Luciel asks desperately. “You remember my senior friend? Han? He’s an avid reader and a genius! I’ll tell him about you later.” “Thanks Sae.” Luciel says in a relieved tone.
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Later on, senior Han messaged him, that their first stop tomorrow is the library. On the following day, Han waited for Luciel outside of the library. Luciel was late, he rushed to get to the library. As soon as possible he finally arrived. “You must be Sae’s older brother; you said you needed help for the upcoming competition, right?” Han asks. “Yes, I need help, I was struggling yesterday.” Luciel looks away, annoyed. “So, the first thing we need to do is to find an interesting book, I’ll ask for help from the librarian.” Han walks up to the counter, and Luciel follows him. Han taps the bell and calls the librarian, “Miss Librarian Mizi!”
Surprisingly, the librarian is a friend of his. “Oh, hello there Han. What brings you both here?” Mizi welcomes them warmly. Han asks Mizi for a book she recommends that’s the perfect fit for the contest. Mizi’s enthusiasm helped them. “This one has a great story and some deep themes. It’s perfect.” She said handing over a thick classic book by Jane Austen. Luciel grimaced at its size but took it anyway. Over the next month, Han became both a mentor and a friend. They spent hours discussing the parts of the book’s story. Luciel began to grasp the joy of unraveling a story.
The day of the competition finally arrived, and Luciel was ready—though his nerves weren’t. He did all of his best to perform well, he answered the questions and presented his analysis. He remembered everything Han taught him. After the contest, the winners were already being announced, Luciel held his breath. Suddenly, “And the champion is.. Luciel Choi!” Luciel’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had done it. Luciel ran up to the stage to get his medal. Han claps for him from the crowd, proudly and smiling. Han went up to Luciel to congratulate him, “Told you, you could do it.” Han said with a grin. “No; Thank you for everything,” Luciel replied. He glanced at his medal and thought about the past month. Not only did he learn about books but he also discovered the value of hard work and the strength of friendship. “Books weren’t so bad after all.” Luciel says with winning smile on his face.