Chapter 13

Casually searching a few keywords, Lin Mu opened a web novel site of this world.

This web novel site was surprisingly the same as the one from his previous life, even called Dianmiao, and most of the novel categories were the same.

The only difference was that there were no categories for "Fantasy" or "Immortal Cultivation" novels.

Martial arts novels still occupied a significant portion of the web novels.

On the monthly ticket ranking, the one currently leading by over seven thousand votes was a mid-length martial arts novel called "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind," authored by "Heshuo."

Lin Mu scanned through it; the book had just over a hundred thousand words and was in the middle of its plot development. The reviews in the comment section were excellent, and the number of people who had rewarded the author was substantial. The first fan value had already reached over four million, which would be equivalent to about forty thousand yuan.

Currently, his reputation wasn't enough to purchase the long novels, but Lin Mu still registered an author account and secured the ID "Yiye Shu."

After browsing for a while, Lin Mu opened a few other web novel sites.

The categories on these sites were the same as Dianmiao, but the pages weren't as clean and simple.

It was clear that the entire novel industry had entered a relatively stable creative period, and new types of novels hadn't really emerged yet.

After finishing his web novel site exploration, Lin Mu also looked into the situation of physical novels.

In this world, physical novels were a proof of quality. Even on industry leaders like Dianmiao, only a few dozen authors could have their web novels published as physical books.

And even those were often at the lower end of physical sales.

The only exception was the top-ranked author on the monthly ticket list, Heshuo. His last physical book, "A Pot of Beauty and the Kingdom," ranked in the top ten for physical book sales, with about 600,000 copies sold in half a year.

This was also his best-selling novel.

...

After browsing for a while, Lin Mu searched for other information.

The answers surprised him.

For example, the cultural development in this world was not strong. Although there were novels like "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind" where the protagonist had superhuman abilities and some special powers, the concept of "internal energy" was not deeply ingrained.

As a result, martial arts novels had significant limitations, focusing mainly on human emotions, love, and conflicts.

This narrow focus led to a lack of unique characteristics in martial arts novels, and their quality was generally low, which naturally affected their literary status.

For instance, martial arts novels were also known as "big books" because of their length.

Most authors could only attract readers through spicy plots, making them seem somewhat vulgar and lowbrow in people's eyes.

Moreover, the absence of martial arts novels, which were the most popular literary form among the locals, greatly diminished the domestic popular culture. As a result, Western and American vampire and superhero comics, as well as Korean and Japanese soap operas and ninja culture, had a significant impact on the domestic popular elements.

This was the situation Lin Mu observed. Even the games recommended on the web pages were mostly American soldiers and ninja creed games.

"Phew, a long and arduous journey! It's a pity that so many excellent and exciting novels are remembered only by me!"

Lin Mu rubbed his temples. Unconsciously, it was already dark outside, and his stomach was growling.

A fragrant aroma of fish wafted in, and Lin Mu's nose twitched. He opened the door to find three or four small dishes already set on the dining table, and Su Taohua was placing a pot of fish soup.

"Hehe, today is your first day living here. Don't say your beautiful landlord is bad. Come and eat!" Su Taohua said casually when she heard Lin Mu open the door.

Lin Mu didn't hesitate. Fish soup was always his favorite, and he ate until he was full.

During the meal, Lin Mu also learned some things about Su Taohua. Her parents worked out of town, and after finishing school, she returned to her hometown and took a job as an English teacher at a high school, enjoying a relaxed and carefree life.

Lin Mu also mentioned his family situation.

His parents worked out of town, and he had a younger brother, Lin Ye, and a younger sister, Lin Lin, who was in fifth grade. They were taken care of by their grandfather, typical left-behind children.

Talking about these things with Su Taohua, Lin Mu suddenly remembered that he had been so focused on writing, earning money, and reading that he had forgotten to go back home for the past two months.

More importantly, there was something Lin Mu hadn't realized: his parents in this life were exactly the same as those in his previous life!

Could it be that I'm not really a穿越 (穿越 means "穿越者," which can be translated as "time traveler" or "transmigrator") but rather...

Is this just another version of me in a different world?

"Whatever, I'm almost out of money. I'll buy some things and go home next month after I earn my manuscript fees!"

...

After dinner, it was only around seven o'clock. Lin Mu helped clean up the dishes and then went up to the rooftop to practice his Jeet Kune Do.

The incident with Wang Peng made him realize the danger. He had no foundation at all, and in the face of danger, he could only rely on his own fists.

The other party wouldn't always leave him a chance to win!

On the rooftop, Lin Mu wrapped a quilt around a stone pillar, which was originally used for hanging clothes, and now served as a punching bag.

...

After receiving the letter from "Wuxia Story," Lin Mu was about to return to his seat when he saw the class president, Cui Tingting, looking surprised and handing him a slightly thinner envelope with the "City Education News" logo.

"I didn't expect Lin Mu to be so capable now. Not only is he publishing novels in 'Wuxia Story,' but he's also on the City Education News..." Cui Tingting thought to herself, a hint of envy flashing in her mind.

Women always valued talent and reputation more than men. The City Education News, though a government publication, was still a significant honor for an ordinary student like her.

Lin Mu thanked her and returned to his seat to open the envelope.

He first looked at the remittance slip.

"Hmm? Only five hundred yuan?"

Lin Mu frowned but understood more when he read the letter.

The first section was mainly an introduction to the story's background, with not many words. A few illustrations were also included, but they were simple animal portraits to make it easier to read.

The newspaper's manuscript fees were much lower than those of magazines. On the City Education News, fifty yuan was already considered high.

Lin Mu put the remittance slip in his wallet and then opened the newspaper.

The newspaper was an eight-page broadsheet. The front page, as expected, had nothing to do with Lin Mu and featured a group of white-shirted leaders giving instructions.

Lin Mu pursed his lips and flipped to the next page.

"Before writing, I'll introduce the setting as a routine... In a certain time, in a certain universe, on a certain planet, there is a certain great country. Its name is too famous to mention.

This great country has a very long history. It has been dominant for a thousand years, not only developing a super-strong shell but also being amphibious, omnivorous, and versatile. To put it vividly, it's a mud turtle, leaking an aura of dominance, right? In the same world, any country that could be a disciple of the mud turtle would be envied by its neighbors.

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