In the past few days, the school has been abuzz with talk about one person... Ren He!
Originally, Ren He was rather inconspicuous at school; even when placed in a crowd, people might not notice him right away, and his presence nearly faded to zero.
But recently, he seemed crazy, practicing his long jump runs every day on the track field, continuously training during breaks and after school...
Before long, the word spread: Ren He from class three-year-two, yes, that underachiever, is now desperately practicing long jump. He probably realized he wasn't cutting it in academic subjects and decided to take the route of physical education! If only he had studied harder earlier, look at him now, working so hard! For what?!
To hell with what I'm 'working so hard' for, Ren He was shocked when his deskmate asked him about it. Could it be that in just these few days he had become famous?
He wasn't practicing for some exam. Having lived life once before, school didn't matter to him, nor did a diploma – something that mattered to children from ivory towers, but he was no child.
He was doing this to save his own life!
Without practice, he wouldn't have known, but now he realized that his frail junior high body could only manage a little over three meters in a running long jump – too weak! If he didn't practice, wouldn't a slight mistake during his mission make him bite the dust?
Now his body ached all over from the intense physical activity. In his previous life, he intended to get in shape but was always too lazy, ending up overweight. In this life, he had no choice but to exercise...
The only thing that could comfort him at this time was his own 'awesome book'.
In just 7 days, updating 6000 words daily, and 3 chapters a day, no one would typically notice, being a new book. A fledgling novel with just a few thousand words, who would read that? Ren He had already braced himself to operate solo until reaching 100,000 words.
But unexpectedly, on the sixth day, a flood of reader comments suddenly appeared!
"When I first saw the words 'awesome book,' I wanted to come in and take a look, then ridicule it. Even the channel's top authors wouldn't dare to call their works 'awesome books,' but! Attention, my fellow readers, note this transition! This book is freaking amazing! Right from the opening, it's a thrill ride, with each setup paving the way for the next exciting moment, and each chapter bringing new surprises! The protagonist, born a weakling, gains a reasonable golden finger, growing amidst the scorn of many – it's insanely thrilling! The title 'awesome book' is well deserved! I'm going to recommend this book to all my friends and hope the author doesn't drop it! Here's 100000 book coins, just hoping the author can write peacefully!"
"And the most important point is, unlike the slow-burning books out there, this one has a very fast pace, with no need to slog through a boring beginning!"
Shengshi Chinese Network, similar to the website in Ren He's previous life, had a book coin ratio of 1:100, meaning this person actually donated 1000 yuan the moment he got excited about Ren He's book! The cultural industry has a future indeed!
A faint smile appeared on Ren He's lips. Isn't this the key to his victory? He aimed to keep his readers thrilled from start to finish!
Then he looked at the next comment.
"The first time I saw this book, I had a weird feeling. Although I knew it wouldn't have any deep content, I just couldn't help but read on, that exhilarating feeling... Does anyone feel the same? I don't have much money, but here's 10000 book coins, hoping the author can continue!"
And then the comments were all saying the same thing: "I feel the same way, I can't stop reading this book!"
When Ren He was writing this book, he seriously considered its positioning. He knew that it was hard for a novel to cater to everyone's taste. He could write something heavier, more meaningful, it wasn't that he couldn't.
However, in the end, Ren He still classified this book as a light-novel for less sophisticated readers, because if he were to change his writing direction in the future, he wanted it to give people the impression that it was getting better, not more watered down or worse.
That's what a low starting point meant.
But somehow, Ren He's book hadn't gotten the chance to be contracted even after hitting 50,000 words. He knew that reaching 30,000 words was a hurdle for web novels looking to get a contract, and if it didn't happen by 50,000, it was probably a lost cause.
If he didn't get a contract, it meant that Ren He's 'awesome book' wouldn't receive any promotion opportunities from the website. Without promotions, there were no new readers, and the majority wouldn't see his book. Good reputation or not, it was pointless.
Ren He was baffled; his performance was solid, why couldn't he secure a contract? He reached out to customer service, only to get a direct response: Your book goes against the grain of mainstream literature on our site and lacks depth, our editors aren't optimistic about your work.
It seems this is the cultural difference between two parallel worlds, Ren He thought, scratching his chin.
But it's okay, even in my previous life, there were books that started without a contract and ended up rising to prominence unexpectedly! For instance, Mortals Cultivate Immortality!
Right now, the editors at Shengshi Chinese Network are probably unsure because they find The Divine Book a bit too naive, and it seems to have a kind of brazen naïveté!
Yes, it's just being brazen all the way, with no intention of turning the corner...
However, as long as the grades come in, there will definitely be a chance for a contract.
Ren He thought about it and released five chapters in one go today, then he published a separate chapter to express his feelings: Hello everyone, I am the author of The Divine Book, Foolish Deer. Thank you all for your recent support for this book; every time I see a comment that agrees with this book, it makes me exceedingly happy. However, today I was told that this book is too different from current mainstream literature, so there is no chance for a contract.
I will definitely finish this book, but please help me get onto the rankings. I want more people to see this work, and I also want to use performance to prove that, even if it goes against mainstream literature, a good work is a good work! Thank you, everyone!
He posted this chapter to express his feelings as a way to mobilize his existing readers to help lift the work.
Right after Ren He made this post, the comments section suddenly exploded: "No way, such a good work can't get a contract? Actually, a book that allows me to relax after work is a good book! I'm a bit tired of those masterpieces, they're too tiring to read!"
"Just for these five chapters' update, I have to support it. The updates are too 'Geili', forget it, all my votes will go to you from now on!"
"Without a doubt, let's boost Kid onto the new books' chart! Let all the readers on the site see this book!"
In just one hour, The Divine Book actually got 1300 recommendation votes—a result many other authors achieve in a week! Even without a contract or recommendation, The Divine Book shot up the new books' chart like a rocket, bursting through everyone!
Among those it surpassed were even many veteran authors!
This level of support had Ren He himself a bit dumbfounded; so The Divine Book had unknowingly accumulated so many readers already?
Suddenly, a veteran author exclaimed in the authors' group: "I spent hundreds of bucks to top the chart, and a new book has burst past me!"
"No way, haha, your readers are so stable, topping the chart was a sure thing for you, plus you even bought recommendation votes. How could someone burst past you?"
"For real, you guys should check out that Divine Book!"
"The Divine Book? How divine?"
"No, it's just called The Divine Book!"
The authors paused for two seconds, then burst out laughing, replying: "Pfft, so bold, it's called The Divine Book directly? I've got to check this out!"
"Let's go, let's go, you might have come across a big spender who might be able to buy tens of thousands of recommendation votes. However, if such a book isn't good, and even if it gets hyped onto the charts, it'll still flop after going on the shelf. Surely, they can't buy subscriptions for themselves, right?"
However, when all the authors opened The Divine Book to start reading it, they all gasped in amazement: Wow, this book is so exhilarating!
Reading physical books can be exhilarating, too, but nothing like this one, which is exhilarating in such a straightforward, dense, and frequent manner!
Each setup seems to be for the next mini-climax, and then these mini-climaxes accumulate into a major climax.
When they looked at the comments for The Divine Book, the comment section was actually full of spontaneous messages from readers saying they should boost The Divine Book up the ranks. Each person was posting the number of recommendation votes they had cast, followed by words of encouragement: 13 votes cast, please write with peace of mind.