Chapter 535: Novel Released, Internet Explosion

Chapter 535: Novel Released, Internet Explosion

Dongzi had long known that his grandfather was incredibly capable. Back in the days of the production teams, Grandpa was the master of making large vats, and his skills were unmatched for miles around.

After the reform and opening up, he became even more successful in business. Not only did his own business flourish, but after becoming the head of the Deng clan, he pooled resources to establish the Deng Group and brought it to a level that the clan members could only dream of.

What Dongzi didn't expect was that his grandfather would also have such insight into the creation of web novels.

Looking at the incredibly detailed outline and chapter summaries of "Rebirth: Thief of the World," Dongzi truly admired his grandfather. The old man was truly amazing!

Even though the novel hadn't started yet, just reading the detailed chapter summaries made Dongzi feel a surge of excitement. This novel, which his grandfather defined as a game-themed story, was truly fantastic. As long as he followed the chapter summaries and wrote smoothly, he had a strong feeling that it would become a huge hit online.

Thus, with great enthusiasm, Dongzi began his first-ever creative writing endeavor.

When he started writing, Dongzi once again thanked his grandfather. During the summer and winter breaks, his grandfather had taken him and his sister on trips all over the country, and after each visit to a scenic spot, he would assign them writing assignments related to the place. This was how Dongzi's writing skills were honed.

Now, with the detailed chapter summaries guiding him, Dongzi found the writing process to be incredibly smooth, a feeling he had never experienced before. The more he wrote, the more excited and passionate he became.

In just one day, Dongzi completed the first three chapters of "Rebirth: Thief of the World," totaling around 12,000 words. The speed was impressive.

After writing the first three chapters, Dongzi carefully reviewed and revised them from start to finish before sending the manuscript to his grandfather for review.

Deng Shirong was surprised by his grandson's writing speed. Although he had never written a novel, he understood the saying "the hardest part is starting." If the beginning could be written so quickly, how much faster would it go once he got into the flow?

Having read web novels for over a decade in his previous life, Deng Shirong knew the principle "in the world of martial arts, speed is invincible." Why was Laoying so popular in the future? It was because of his fast updates!

Updating two to three ten-thousand-word chapters a day, when the plot was exciting, the rewards and monthly votes would naturally follow.

Moreover, with so many words updated, the setup would quickly pass, leading to the exciting parts of the story.

If the same book updated at a snail's pace of four to five thousand words a day, the setup might take over a week, and readers would lose patience, flooding the comments with complaints.

Therefore, to achieve good results, frequent updates were essential, a consensus among all authors.

Unfortunately, not everyone could become Laoying.

Dongzi's writing speed was on par with Laoying, and with Deng Shirong's guidance, he had the potential to become a sensation, even in the future. In the current era, with professionals helping to manage the release, the prospects were even better.

Deng Shirong carefully read the three chapters Dongzi had written and compared them to the "Rebirth: Thief of the World" in his mind. He found little difference, and in some aspects, Dongzi's writing was even better.

After reading the 12,000 words, Deng Shirong knew that Dongzi's status in the web world was secure. He couldn't help but praise him, "Very good, really very good. You write both quickly and well. I didn't expect you to have such a talent for this."

Encouraged by his grandfather's praise, Dongzi's confidence soared. He chuckled and said, "It's all thanks to your guidance, Grandpa. With a complete outline, I have a clear idea of the plot direction. With the detailed chapter summaries to guide me, writing comes naturally and feels easy."

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Alright, keep up this pace. I'll help you check your work every day. Accumulate a good amount of content before uploading it to the website to meet the readers."

Dongzi was greatly inspired and happily replied, "Okay, Grandpa."

Thus, in the following days, Dongzi devoted most of his time to writing, aside from a couple of hours each day for his sister's tutoring.

No matter what, the first time doing something is always filled with passion, and writing a novel was no exception.

Many writers, regardless of their success, enjoy the process of creating their first work. However, after the initial phase, when they start their Nth novel, they often struggle to recapture the initial enthusiasm.

Currently, only Dongzi and his grandfather knew about his novel writing. The rest of the family was unaware.

On March 31, 2003, Dongzi finally registered an author account on Qidian and uploaded his debut novel, "Rebirth: Thief of the World."

...

That evening.

Yulin, Guangxi, at a certain internet cafe!

Since Yulin hadn't been affected by the pandemic, the business at internet cafes and other public places was booming.

At one of the computers, Xiao Yifei was intensely playing a game.

Xiao Yifei was 18 years old and a student at a mediocre high school. Since the school's management was lax, sneaking out at night to stay up all night at the internet cafe and returning to school in the morning (to sleep) was a routine for him.

Of course, he wasn't the only one. Many students from their school chose to sneak out at night to spend the whole night at internet cafes.

Xiao Yifei's roommate, Pang Chuan, was one of the guys who often joined him for these all-nighters.

However, their goals for coming to the internet cafe were different. Xiao Yifei would either play games or chat with local girls on the local network. On the other hand, his good friend Pang Chuan had only one hobby: reading novels.

Pang Chuan had already finished reading most of the martial arts novels in the rental bookstores during his middle school years. After entering high school, he started reading web novels online.

That night, while Xiao Yifei was engrossed in playing "Legend," Pang Chuan opened websites like Long's Sky, Qidian, and Huanjian Book Alliance to catch up on his favorite novels and search for new ones.

He first browsed Long's Sky and Huanjian Book Alliance but didn't find any new books that satisfied him. So, he turned his attention to Qidian.

Within three minutes, Pang Chuan found a new book that caught his eye. The title of the book was incredibly appealing, drawing him in immediately.

The book was titled "Rebirth: Thief of the World."

In this era, there were no novels about rebirth, so the inclusion of "rebirth" in the title naturally had a strong appeal.

The book's synopsis, while perhaps not as captivating in the future, was quite engaging for this time:

A solitary wanderer, chasing the shadows, this is the anthem of the thief.

Returning ten years in the past with the memories of a level 180 grand thief, Nie Yan's fate has played a cruel joke on him.

What was once lost or taken away must be reclaimed.

Then, he will gear up with divine equipment, crush everything in his path, and become unstoppable.

After reading the synopsis, Pang Chuan couldn't wait to click on the first chapter and started reading with great interest...

Half an hour later, completely immersed in the novel, Pang Chuan clicked to the next chapter, only to find that there were no more chapters available.

What the hell, just when it was getting good, it ends?!

Pang Chuan felt as if thousands of ants were gnawing at his heart. The novel was far more captivating than he had imagined. To be honest, it was more enjoyable than any other web novel he had read before, perfectly suited to his taste.

In the future, after the creation of rebirth novels, this genre became the largest and most popular in the web novel world, with no close second.

Moreover, this genre remained popular for a long time, demonstrating just how appealing rebirth novels were.

Although Pang Chuan was very curious about what would happen next in the book, he had no choice but to wait for the author to update.

Feeling antsy, Pang Chuan couldn't help but tap Xiao Yifei on the shoulder and called out, "Lao Xie."

Xiao Yifei, enjoying his game, turned his head slightly and replied, "What's up?"

Pang Chuan said, "Stop playing for a moment. I want to introduce you to a novel that I guarantee will keep you hooked."

Xiao Yifei turned his head fully, reaching out to feel Pang Chuan's forehead. "Are you running a fever or something? What are you talking about? I'm not interested in novels."

Pang Chuan swatted his hand away and said, "Lao Xie, this novel is different. You'll definitely like it."

Xiao Yifei snorted, "It's just a novel. What's so different about it? Even if it's one of those erotic novels, I'm not interested. I'd rather watch a movie. That's much more direct and clear, a hundred times better than reading a novel."

Pang Chuan smiled faintly and said, "I know you're not interested in martial arts novels or erotic novels, but what about a novel about games? Are you interested in that?"

Xiao Yifei was taken aback for a moment, then frowned. "Chuan Ge, are you kidding me? There are game novels in the world?"

Pang Chuan replied, "I didn't know about game novels either until I saw one just now. So, are you interested in a game novel?"

In this era, there was already a web game novel abroad called "Dragonlance Chronicles," which was originally intended to provide a background setting for the Dungeons & Dragons game series. However, it unexpectedly became a global hit, and many future web game novels were influenced by its settings.

In China, the first web game novel was "The Final Battle in the Network" by Xing He, published in a science fiction magazine in 1996.

However, this work was only about 20,000 words long, more of a short story rather than a true web game novel.

Therefore, the first widely recognized long-form web game novel in the future was "Dreamland Demon King," published on Qidian in 2003, written by an author with the pen name "X."

This was the first long-form novel in the game genre to be serialized online.

Unfortunately, this pioneering web game novel was only 700,000 words long and was left unfinished.

At this point in time, this web game novel had not yet appeared, meaning that "Rebirth: Thief of the World" directly replaced "Dreamland Demon King" as the pioneer of web game novels.

Xiao Yifei and Pang Chuan were both students with poor academic performance and were completely unaware of "Dragonlance Chronicles" and "The Final Battle in the Network." Therefore, it was normal for them not to know about the existence of web game novels.

Hearing his good friend's words, Xiao Yifei became genuinely interested and asked, "Which novel are you talking about? What game is it about?"

Pang Chuan said, "The book is called Rebirth: Thief of the World. You can find it by searching on Qidian. As for what game it's about, you'll see when you read it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

Hearing this, Xiao Yifei stopped playing his game and, following his friend's instructions, opened the Qidian website and found Rebirth: Thief of the World. After reading the synopsis, he instantly became interested and started reading the novel.

Once he began, he was completely hooked.

The charm of a novel is something that only those who read it can truly understand.

Some people might have bad luck and start with a poor novel, which can make them lose interest in reading altogether. However, if the first novel they read is a classic, they are likely to become immersed in the world of novels and eventually become one of the countless devoted readers.

This was Xiao Yifei's first encounter with a novel, and Rebirth: Thief of the World was one of the most accomplished works in the game-themed genre. It was a well-known enjoyable read in the game-themed novels, and in its previous life, during its serialization on Qidian, it set a record with a 200,000 RMB donation during a monthly ticket competition.

It's important to note that this was around 2010, when the highest honor for a donor was "Ally." There were no distinctions like "Silver Ally" or "Gold Ally." The maximum donation at the time was 100,000 points, which would result in a prominent red thank-you post in the book's comments section, known as "Red Float."

A 200,000 RMB donation was equivalent to 20 million points, resulting in 200 Red Floats. The scene of 200 Red Floats flooding the comments section was a sensation across the internet, and even Qidian's official homepage displayed a banner to celebrate the achievement, highlighting the significance of the 200,000 RMB donation for that era.

Such a classic work, appearing in an era where game-themed novels were nonexistent, had an incredibly strong appeal.

Xiao Yifei read it non-stop, but when he clicked to the next chapter, he found that there were no more chapters available.

"What the hell, why are there no more chapters?"

Xiao Yifei tapped his friend's arm and asked impatiently, "Chuan Ge, what's going on? It was so good, and now it's just gone?"

Pang Chuan replied calmly, "It's normal. The author has only written up to this point. If you want to read more, you'll have to wait for the author to update tomorrow."

Xiao Yifei's eyes widened, "What the hell, this novel isn't finished yet?"

Pang Chuan nodded, "That's right, it's not finished."

Xiao Yifei looked puzzled, "You're reading an unfinished novel? And you're recommending it to me?"

Pang Chuan smiled, "What's so strange about that? Most online novels are unfinished. Authors write and upload new chapters daily, and we, the readers, follow along every day. It's not as satisfying as finishing a book in one go, but it's like watching a TV series, and the process of waiting for new chapters can be quite enjoyable."

Xiao Yifei sighed, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was so into it, and now it's gone. It's driving me crazy."

"That's part of the fun of following a novel. You'll understand it better in the future."

Pang Chuan laughed and then asked, "So, how was it? Was it enjoyable?"

Xiao Yifei nodded repeatedly, "It was really enjoyable. I didn't expect novels to be so good. The virtual reality game described in this novel is amazing. If such a game existed in real life, it would be incredible. The author's imagination is truly outstanding."

Pang Chuan agreed, "Yeah, the author is amazing. The idea of being reborn with memories from the future is just so cool."

After that, the two of them stopped playing games and started discussing Rebirth: Thief of the World, sharing their thoughts on the plot and speculating about how the story would develop. They were more excited than ever.

Xiao Yifei and Pang Chuan were just two of many readers who were captivated by this novel. Many other readers were equally drawn in by this groundbreaking game-themed novel. The appeal of Rebirth: Thief of the World was that it was enjoyable regardless of whether the reader played games or not.

In an era with few novels, the sudden appearance of Rebirth: Thief of the World caused a huge stir among readers. This work, which could be described as the progenitor of both the rebirth and game-themed genres, had the potential to become a sensation on its own, even without special promotion from Qidian.

And indeed, that's exactly what happened. Rebirth: Thief of the World went viral on Qidian within a week. Not only did readers eagerly read and discuss the novel, but many fellow writers were also amazed by the author "Thief of the World's" creativity.

Moreover, this novel inspired many other writers to explore the ideas of rebirth and game-themed stories. It was clear that in the coming days, many more rebirth and game-themed novels would sprout up across various websites.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end