Chapter 13: A Good Book Undermined by Its Title

After the game, Jiang Zheng and his friends headed toward the cafeteria. They had played for quite a while and everyone was exhausted. After dinner, Jiang Zheng returned to the dormitory. On the way, he reflected on how different today’s basketball session had felt—his state had been exceptionally good. At other times, he might not have thought much of it, but now he wondered if it was due to the “Enhanced Physique” reward.

The description of “Enhanced Physique” was rather vague. Did improved physical fitness refer to certain aspects, or all aspects? These were things Jiang Zheng had to discover for himself. The system’s rewards were not handed out all at once, but rather through a gradual process.

When he got back to the dormitory, Zhou Quanyi came to him, visibly excited. “Fourth Bro, our registration was successful!”

“What?” Jiang Zheng was momentarily confused.

“The registration for ‘Boys and Girls Go Forward,’ didn’t you check your phone? You should have received a text,” Zhou Quanyi explained.

He had indeed almost forgotten about registering for “Boys and Girls Go Forward,” mainly because he’d just been playing basketball. Taking out his phone, he found the official notification informing him that his registration had been successful.

“That’s great. I’m glad we made it,” Jiang Zheng said with a smile.

He was naturally pleased—this meant he could complete the task assigned to him.

Zhou Quanyi threw an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, Fourth Bro. When we go participate in the show, I’ll cover all the expenses.”

Zhou Quanyi came from a wealthy family—a typical second-generation rich kid—but he never looked down on his dormmates because of it. In fact, Zhou Quanyi rarely flaunted his wealth in the dorm. He ate at the cafeteria with everyone else, blending in easily. Perhaps the only thing that reminded people of Zhou Quanyi’s wealth was his gaming accounts; he played many games and often spent a fortune on them, his accounts filled with top-tier gear, characters, and skins.

Jiang Zheng merely smiled. “No need for you to splurge, Big Bro. I’ll cover my own expenses.”

Participating in the show would definitely cost some money—transportation, travel, accommodation, and so on. Jiang Zheng’s family wasn’t particularly well-off, but he could afford these expenses. So, he politely declined Zhou Quanyi’s offer. Zhou Quanyi’s wealth was his own business; as long as Jiang Zheng could pay his own way, he would do just that.

He was not the kind of person who liked to take advantage of others.

At Jiang Zheng’s refusal, Zhou Quanyi thought for a moment and said, “Let’s talk about it when the time comes.”

Jiang Zheng nodded and said nothing more.

They would have to wait until summer vacation to participate in the show. After taking a shower, Jiang Zheng sat down to write. Last time, he’d written that Black Little Tiger had resolved to lay low for a while. Now, Black Little Tiger faced another predicament. At this point, Black Heart Tiger was not yet the leader of the Demon Sect, and he was in crisis.

Black Little Tiger was determined to help his father through this hardship. Although Black Heart Tiger was not a good man, he was undoubtedly a good father—treating his son with utmost kindness. With Black Heart Tiger around, Black Little Tiger’s life was also much easier.

Jiang Zheng wrote these scenes swiftly. The early plotlines of the anime did not exist in the original work, giving him immense creative freedom. His fingers flew over the keyboard, and before he knew it, he had written ten thousand words. Still unsatisfied, he wrote another ten thousand before stopping.

The sensation of inspiration constantly sparking in his mind, his writing elegant and his speed unmatched, was exhilarating. The more he wrote, the more he wanted to write. The only drawback was that his fingers could barely keep up. The intense, prolonged typing quickly wore them out. If not for the fatigue in his fingers, Jiang Zheng would have written another ten thousand words.

He checked the time—there was about an hour left before the dormitory closed for the night. He wondered if he should go out for a run. He had played basketball today, but he wasn’t sure if that counted as “exercise” in the system, or if it would trigger a reward.

After considering it for a while, Jiang Zheng decided to play it safe and go for a run. It wouldn’t take much time, and if the system didn’t count playing basketball, it would be a shame to miss out. He went for a run, returning just as the dorm was about to close.

After another shower, Jiang Zheng lay in bed, playing with his phone. Since he hadn’t replied to Jiang Qian Yue yesterday, she hadn’t contacted him again.

…

Fan Yao was browsing online for novels, mostly new releases. He had read nearly everything on the rankings; aside from a few favorites he waited for daily updates, he preferred to explore new works. As an experienced bookworm, Fan Yao loved discovering new books.

If he found a good one, he would add it to his reading list, which was followed by many. Unfortunately, while there were many new books, few were ever good enough to make his list. Fan Yao’s standards were high, and most new books simply didn’t measure up.

Suddenly, something caught his eye—a familiar title.

“Transmigrating into National Anime: I Became the Most Cautious Villain.”

He’d seen this book before but hadn’t clicked in, put off by the title. That’s how it was with book hunting—the title was the first impression, and sometimes a bad title was enough to turn him away. That had been the case with this book; the title just didn’t interest him.

What surprised him was that this book had climbed into the top ten of the new releases list—an incredibly rapid rise.

Fan Yao frowned. His first thought was that the book’s stats had been artificially boosted! Some numbers could be faked, but it was easy for the platform to catch and ban such behavior. With a critical mindset, he clicked into the book, determined not to tolerate such tactics.

First, he checked the comment section. To his surprise, it was filled with glowing reviews.

Were those comments fake too? He was a bit suspicious—this was too much! But soon, Fan Yao realized something was off. Comments could be faked, but readers weren’t blind; people could tell if a book was good or not. There were only two possibilities for a sea of positive comments: either no one was actually reading the book and all the comments were fake, or the book was genuinely excellent.

He would know soon enough.

With this in mind, Fan Yao began to read.

After the first chapter, he found the author’s prose quite skillful—pleasant and smooth to read. By the third chapter, he was completely hooked, unable to stop until he caught up to the latest installment.

“That’s it?” Fan Yao had reached a particularly exciting part, only for the chapters to end—an agonizing feeling.

Yet, amid his frustration, he was exhilarated. This was a rare gem.

Without hesitation, Fan Yao added the book to his reading list and wrote a recommendation: This is a truly outstanding novel, unfairly held back by its title. Rest assured, everyone—this is a rare treasure worth savoring.