Chapter 76

When the Spring Festival Gala programs were broadcast on almost every channel, and the sounds of joy spread to thousands of households, Lin Han held a plate of frozen dumplings and started watching TV.

However, he was not alone; many netizens accompanied him through the internet, which somewhat alleviated his loneliness.

This was the first Spring Festival since he had come to this world, and Lin Han had already achieved considerable success, winning three Galaxy Awards. He had transformed from a struggling writer who couldn't afford rent to one with a small surplus. If all the royalties and prizes were to be credited, he could at least buy a house in Yanjing City.

All these achievements were due to the memories from Earth. Without those memories, he could never have written such classic science fiction novels. Holding a bottle of crooked-mouthed liquor, Lin Han muttered to himself, "Thank you, Liu Cixin, thank you, Asimov, thank you, Andy Weir, thank you, all the science fiction writers on Earth for giving me a living. No science fiction writer on Earth has won the Nobel Prize, but I hope to use the power of the entire Earth to achieve a breakthrough."

Making money was no longer the most important thing for Lin Han. His main focus was on building his reputation and prestige internationally. He chose to write "I, Robot" to establish his reputation, rather than directly writing profitable young adult science fiction adventure novels.

To gain the favor of the Nobel Prize, they first needed to know of his existence, and Lin Han was still far from that.

The road to building his reputation was long and arduous.

...

On the first day of the lunar new year, the snow was white and the remnants of last night's festivities were scattered in the streets and alleys. The sanitation workers had no holidays and had to clean up all the garbage in the cold wind. Fortunately, in recent years, the ban on setting off fireworks and firecrackers had reduced their workload.

After Lin Han woke up naturally, he slowly opened the refrigerator to look for food. Watching the Spring Festival Gala and its criticisms, it seemed to get worse every year.

Lin Han had little sense of connection with the stars here; he didn't recognize many of them. Only occasionally would he be surprised to see a familiar face, realizing that this world also had Uncle Ben Shan, Guo Donglin with a bald head, and Li Guyi, who sang "Unforgettable Tonight"!

This interwoven world made Lin Han feel a bit dazed, and he didn't know how to adapt.

With no one to go out and play with, Lin Han could only pass the time by watching movies. He had developed a liking for Hollywood science fiction movies here, many of which were not available on Earth, making them very interesting and a great gift for science fiction fans.

The first day of the new year deserved a break, and he wanted to enjoy the pleasures of science fiction, which justified his subscription to the video website to watch high-definition movies.

The movie "Never Compromise" had a cover showing a small human against a vast interstellar fleet. Lin Han checked the rating, which was 71 points, not bad for a science fiction film, as not everyone could produce high-quality science fiction like Nolan.

After clicking to watch, Lin Han nestled into the sofa, planning to spend the day leisurely.

The two-hour movie seemed to pass in a blink. After getting up to use the restroom, Lin Han started preparing lunch. He planned to continue watching the movie in the afternoon, but lunch still needed to be eaten.

Treating himself well, Lin Han made braised beef with tomatoes, fish-flavored shredded pork, stir-fried pork intestine, and shredded cabbage. For a single person, this was already a very sumptuous meal.

Watching movies for a long time would strain his eyes, so Lin Han used this method to rest his eyes while seriously pondering why the original owner's movies were so poor.

After lunch, the other movie he had pre-ordered had already buffered, "The Time Tunnel," with an IMDb rating of 87 points, hailed as a classic.

Time travel or wormholes were always popular themes in science fiction movies, so Lin Han watched it with great interest, finding it much more engaging than the Spring Festival Gala.

The protagonist's wardrobe turned into a time tunnel, witnessing the development of different eras, the birth of tragedies, and the rise and fall of humanity.

The movie was seamless, and when the credits rolled, Lin Han sighed, still feeling the aftereffects. This was not a typical science fiction superhero blockbuster that you could just watch and forget.

Walking to the window, Lin Han twisted his neck and looked at the distant leafless forest to relax his eyes.

But he inexplicably opened the Weibo app on his phone to see how the jokesters were criticizing the Spring Festival Gala, a traditional program on the first day of the lunar new year.

To his surprise, he didn't see the jokesters' Weibo posts but found many of his own and new comments.

A student in the UK posted a photo: "Today I bought 'The Daily Mirror' and found out that the results of the world's shortest novel contest were announced. Guess what I saw! The first-place winner looks like a Chinese person, han-lin. Who is he? He has two novels on the list, check it out."

In the photo, the first-place winner was "God Is Dying," by han-lin. The third-place winner was also by the same author, the last Earthman, which had been previously exposed on Weibo.

Although Lin Han's name was well-known in the science fiction circle, it was insignificant on the entire Weibo platform, so it was normal for the blogger not to recognize him.

However, some netizens guessed from the last Earthman and the pinyin han-lin that it was Lin Han!

A series of comments followed, with everyone working together to help Lin Han, telling him he had won and to come forward and claim his prize.

The efficiency of "The Daily Mirror" was surprisingly fast, taking only a few days to select the winners. The rankings were not based on popularity but were decided by the judges themselves.

Although Lin Han's two submitted novels were published just before the deadline and few people knew about them, the judges showed a particular fondness for them.

"Damn, I only saw that the first place gets 100,000 pounds, and the third place gets 20,000 pounds. Lin Han wrote just a few words and earned 120,000 pounds?"

"Wow! They say a word is worth a thousand, but this is a word worth ten thousand! A three-word novel, winning 100,000 pounds, each word worth 33,333 pounds, faster than printing money!"

"Can someone help me translate the English? I can't understand it."

"The judges said the reason for the award was simple: the theme was melancholic, expressing various concerns about the turbulent and outdated world. We believe these three words are very powerful and vivid."

"No wonder Lin Han posted that Weibo that day; he was participating in the contest. Hahaha, his science fiction micro-novel came in third place, but what type is the first-place novel, 'God Is Dying'? Is it mythology, fantasy, or horror?"

After seeing these comments, Lin Han couldn't help but shake his head. These guys were just making wild guesses, mixing up the sequence of events. He had clearly posted the Weibo first and was later reminded by Li Wenyuan to participate in the contest.

However, winning was a pleasant surprise. After all, 120,000 pounds was a significant amount of money. Even with the high taxes in the UK, it was still a matter of pride to have his novel published in "The Daily Mirror," which would be seen by the entire British public!

...