Chapter 608

{The original intent of this book was merely a trial at transformation. }

{My longtime readers all know I debuted writing entertainment fiction. }

{Of the urban, entertainment, harem genres, only the harem element connects to this new book. }

{In every other aspect, it's a completely new field for me. }

{Before I started writing it, both my editor and chief editor strongly advised against such a drastic transformation. }

{Especially since this is my first long novel after becoming a Grandmaster and Platinum author. }

{But I told them I'm only just eighteen this year. }

{My life is still very long. }

{Youthful audacity! }

{It's precisely at this age that one ought to squander freely. }

{If I want to write, then I write—there's really nothing to hesitate over. }

{The facts prove my writing isn't bad—the readers' votes, ongoing reads, and the extremely high activity in the chapter comments all confirm this. }

{You've given me the greatest confidence to transform! }

{To be honest, three years ago I never imagined I'd achieve what I have this year. }

{My parents run a breakfast shop; every morning, they'd get out of bed at three or four a. m., working from dawn till dusk. }

{As their son, I couldn't help much, and even rebelled a bit, causing them much worry. }

{After the high school entrance exam, I understood many things, and began getting up early every day to help at the shop, feeling my parents' hardship. }

{At that time, I thought: study hard, get into a good university, find a good job after graduation, earn enough money, so my parents won't have to suffer so much. }

{But that would take a very, very long time. }

{Three years of high school, four years of university, and perhaps many more years of struggle after entering society. }

{I can wait, but my parents are growing older every day. }

{Then I thought of earning extra income to support the household. }

{When I first started writing novels, my mother disagreed. }

{She thought it would distract me from my studies and told me not to be sidetracked. }

{Fortunately, the summer break after the high school entrance exam was long, so I made a bet with my mother. }

{From the start of summer vacation until the big exam after school resumed, if my grades dropped on any test, my parents could immediately stop my novel writing. }

{Thus, I Am Really Not a Star was born. }

{I rose from being ranked 86th when I first entered school—about 250th overall when including the 160 top students admitted through independent enrollment—to currently ranking second in the entire school. }

{Last year, I even barely snagged first place in my grade. }

{Fortunately, my mother is open-minded and didn't stop my new book just because I slipped back to second place this semester. }

{Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading this book (dog head). }

{This book will officially launch at midnight on June 1st. }

{At that time, there will be a launch event on Qidian with push notifications; readers can participate by collecting, subscribing, and casting monthly votes to earn lottery chances. }

{After launch: }

{Minimum five updates per day! }

{Ten thousand characters daily! }

{Plenty to satisfy! }

{At this point, some readers will ask: }

{Aren't you in Gao San this year? }

{Aren't you taking the college entrance exam in less than a week? }

{How can you still burst with updates? }

{Relax, everyone~}

{Not only will Night Watch of Great Qian maintain ten thousand characters daily, but I Am Really Not a Star will also keep its regular daily updates without interruption. }

{As for the college entrance exam~}

{I'll say this: if any brother scores higher than me on this year's Jiangsu Province college entrance exam, }

{Private message me your admission ticket and exam results in the reader group, and for every one of you, I'll burst with ten thousand extra characters! }

{Also, if any brother gets into a 985 university, I'll add one extra update per person! }

{Chongran promises to deliver! }

{Everyone, please study hard for your exams—put more pressure on me! }

{But brothers taking the exam this year, don't read novels these next few days—just focus on studying with me. }

{You can read after the exam. }

{That's all. }

{I wish all examinees this year (including me) a stunning breakthrough and glorious success on the exam rolls! }

{As for the rest of you readers, see you at midnight! }

——————————

{Why are you just lying there staring instead of writing? }

{May 31st, 10:30 p. m. }

{Xu Youyu had just finished writing and bathing; he walked in and glanced at his two younger sisters curled up under the warm covers, then leaned over Li Luo's back to see him grinning foolishly at the screen. }

{I'm reading the chapter comments. } Li Luo chuckled.

{Isn't that your launch message? } Xu Youyu glanced at the screen and saw Li Luo scrolling through the chapter comments of tonight's newly posted launch message, one by one.

Xu Youyu saw this and couldn't help rolling her eyes and teasing, "You're so ridiculously vain."

I have to say, Li Luo's debut announcement truly embodies the vibe of "acting cool like the wind, always by my side."

For instance, when he mentioned just turning 18, it sparked a flood of chapter comments.

【Just turned 18? I don't believe you for a second!】

【Don't doubt it… other authors might be joking, but this guy is genuinely 18…】

【Damn it! You didn't remind me, but now I'm left wondering how I, a college student, can even compete!】

【Wait, the author is only 18? So he's the same age as me?】

In reality, most readers don't care much about the author themselves—90% are just focused on reading their books and rarely pay attention to industry gossip.

Even though Li Luo is already very famous, there are still plenty of readers who don't know him.

After all, many readers don't read entertainment-themed novels and may only know Li Luo by seeing his name frequently on rankings.

"Here, here—I want to see this part!" Xu Youyu glanced over, got interested, pointed to the section where Li Luo mentioned ranking second in his grade, and urged him to open it.

Li Luo obliged, opening each of those chapter comments in sequence to read them.

【Look, look! Is this even human speech?】

【What's the value of being second in grade? Is your school pretty average?】

【I heard it's a provincial key school—still pretty impressive anyway】

【You got lucky and ranked first? Send me your address—I'll come over and ask you exactly how you pulled off that "luck."】

【Are you trying to kill us? You're great at writing novels, great at studying, and even write songs—do you have to hog all the good fortune?】

"I see you enjoying writing your debut announcement more than your actual novel," Xu Youyu said with a grin as she watched, "Look how many people are getting emotionally shattered."

"I'm just telling the truth."

"Then what about this part?" Xu Youyu pointed to where Li Luo made a bold promise to add extra chapters, "What if some reader actually has a higher Gaokao rank than you?"

"Impossible," Li Luo chuckled, "Most top students don't even read web novels."

As he said this, he clicked open the chapter comments for that section.

The next second, his expression froze.

"What's this?" Xu Youyu leaned in curiously, pointing to the top comment's image, "Open it and take a look."

Li Luo: "..."

With a blank face, he opened the image—it clearly showed a report card.

From the top of the report card, it was evident this was the second mock Gaokao score sheet for Class 1, Grade 3 at Zhenhai High School.

The reader who posted this comment added text: 【Does my ranking stand a chance of making the God of Rekindling add 100,000 words?】

Seeing the red circle around the class third place and 57th overall in the mock exam, Li Luo's lips twitched.

If the reader had circled the class first-place student—who ranked 2nd overall—he might have doubted it.

But since they circled third place, the authenticity instantly became undeniable.

"Hahaha~!" Xu Youyu burst into laughter upon seeing the image, shaking with mirth as she pounded Li Luo's back.

The two younger sisters on the bed asked curiously what was going on, and Xu Youyu gleefully shared the news.

Beneath this chapter comment, dozens of readers had already left replies—within just minutes, the likes had already reached hundreds.

【No surprise—this is my Zhenhai genius!】

【Hahaha~ The God of Rekindling must be completely stunned right now】

【God of Rekindling: Bro, I was just joking—did you actually go and do this?】

【Dude, can you ask the two guys above you to check out our "Great Qian Night Patrol Corps" too?】

【So it's buy one, get two free? That's 300,000 words in hand already, hahaha!】

【There's also a student from Xuejun High below—also top 100 in the mock exam】

【Wait… I thought everyone reading web novels was just like me, a struggling student—turns out you've all been pretending all along?】

Less than half an hour after Li Luo posted his debut announcement, over a dozen top students from Qianjiang Province had already posted screenshots.

Though not all were in the top 100 of their mock exams, they were all still extremely impressive.

They were all strong enough to easily get into Qianjiang University.

If Li Luo hadn't taken his Gaokao seriously, he might have actually failed.

"Looks like someone's going to be busy once his Gaokao results come out," Xu Youyu teased, lying on his back, "Fifteen thousand words of drafts don't seem enough anymore?"

Li Luo, enjoying the massage from Xu Youyu's elastic back, twitched his eyelid: "I had no idea it would turn out like this."

He could only hope these guys wouldn't go too far.

One or two would be manageable, but if three or four showed up demanding hundreds of thousands of words of extra content, it would be unbearable.

Even with the Memory Palace, he couldn't be pushed this hard.

"So you're going to do the big release and extra chapters at midnight, right?" Xu Youyu stretched lazily, turning toward the bed, "Still over an hour away—good thing I don't have early class tomorrow."

"You don't have early class, but we still have morning reading," Li Luo shot her a look, then turned to the two girls on the bed, "Why don't you two go back to your own rooms? Otherwise, you'll be up all night."

"It's fine," Ying Chanxi shook her head, refusing to let Xu Youyu and Li Luo have a private night, "I'll just skip morning running tomorrow."

Xu Youyu didn't mind—she knew private moments had to be created intentionally, and if she really wanted them, Xixi couldn't stop her.

After snuggling next to Xixi, Xu Youyu continued chatting with Li Luo at his desk: "By the way, your chapter break before launch was brutal—cutting right as the ancestral ceremony went wrong, huh?"

"Standard practice," Li Luo shrugged with a grin. "The early chapters were lighter; now that the framework's set, things are about to ramp up."

"So something's about to happen?" Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow.

"The cases I wrote early on seem unrelated, but all their hidden clues will eventually tie back to the ancestral ceremony incident," Li Luo explained simply.

"But your early content felt scattered—like you were throwing darts randomly everywhere," Xu Youyu pressed.

"But if you look closely, the main plot has always revolved around solving cases," Li Luo replied with a smile.

"I understand what you mean; purely from the content, the protagonist really does hop from one thing to another."

"For instance, he copies poems at the Lu Ming Academy, and copies poems at the Teaching Office, gaining renown in poetry."

"For instance, he goes to the Star Gazing Tower and tricks people with modern scientific knowledge."

"For instance, he muddles through ambiguous romantic entanglements with several female characters, probing so-called scholarship."

"But if you look closely, every time he does these things, it's because he's investigating a case and happens to visit these places along the way."

"Then, naturally, the characters from these places are introduced, interactions occur, the power backgrounds are established, and the investigation progresses."

"The Imperial Library directly under the Emperor, the Star Gazing Tower that oversees sacrifices and astronomy, the Night Patrol Office that monitors officials..."

"The Ministry of Personnel responsible for the year-end official evaluations, the Ministry of Justice that cooperates with the Night Patrol Office on cases, the Ministry of Works that collaborates with the Star Gazing Tower..."

"The people the protagonist meets at the Teaching Office, the Lu Ming Academy, or the Seven Stars Sword Domain all have some connection to the above factions, or are even members of them."

"Meanwhile, there are foreshadowings of the demon clans from the Southern Ten Thousand Mountains, the dragon clans of the Eastern Sea, the merchants of the Western Regions, and the wars on the northern steppes."

"So far, the first three hundred thousand characters have clearly mapped out the major power framework of the Great Gan."

When Li Luo was writing this new novel, he actually had a small ambition.

He clearly understood the future trends of Online Novels, and knew that court and martial world were the best channels for male-oriented adaptations into film and television.

So, as Xu Youyu had said before, he did not focus the爽points solely on the leveling-up arc.

Instead, he shifted the focus to the plot itself.

Xu Youyu lay on her side by the bed, propping her chin with her right hand, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on Li Luo as he spoke eloquently.

She loved watching Li Luo when he discussed Online Novels with her—the way he seemed to have everything under control.

So handsome!

She didn't really understand Online Novels that well; most of the time, she wrote purely by instinct.

But every time she talked with Li Luo about plot handling, he always analyzed a pile of theories for her, all of which matched her taste perfectly.

After listening to Li Luo explain his arrangements and clever ideas for the new novel, Xu Youyu's eyes sparkled with delight, and she couldn't help extending her toes to gently brush against his calf.

"Hey, now that you mention it, I just thought of a great plot," Xu Youyu suddenly said. "Will you come with me to record it? Let's see if there are any problems."

Li Luo paused slightly at her words.

Then he saw Xu Youyu wink at him playfully, her toes tracing upward along his calf.

The implication was obvious.

"Cough... I can't do anything about you," Li Luo pretended to be nonchalant, slowly rising and patting his backside. "It's still early before midnight release—fine, I'll go discuss it with you."

An hour later.

Watching the time grow closer to midnight, Ying Chanxi, lying in bed, suddenly realized something was off and sharply turned her head toward her sister: "Zhusheng."

"Hmm?"

"Are they really just discussing plot?" Ying Chanxi couldn't help suspecting. "They didn't go off to do something improper, did they?"

Yan Zhusheng blinked, looked at her sister, then said expressionlessly: "Sister, when you dragged Li Luo to shoot that music video—were you really just shooting a music video?"

Ying Chanxi: "..."

(End of Chapter)