Regarding the recent chapters’ depictions of reality

Art originates from life. In order to make my novel more authentic, I always strive to seek inspiration from real experiences. After finishing the recent chapters and checking the comment section, I found myself unsettled, even contemplating scrapping and rewriting them entirely.

It’s often said that online novels should provide a sense of exhilaration—never make the readers uncomfortable. It seems I may have failed in that regard. Some readers in the comments accused these chapters of being mere filler. Honestly, if I were to focus solely on the gaming aspect, it would be far easier for me than writing about real life as I did in these chapters. I suppose I went out of my way to do something extra, only to find it thankless. I poured endless thought into these chapters, all inspired by real events.

Let me give a few examples. Sansheng Stone once said, “After I’ve slept with a woman once, I lose all interest in a second time.” This line is verbatim from a friend of mine—an admirable person in many respects. I once advised him to settle down and be good to his current girlfriend, and this was his exact response.

The KTV scene is also drawn from real life. Not long ago, I went to a KTV with colleagues for a birthday celebration. As we left, we saw two men gripping a girl’s arms at the door of a private room, while another man hugged her from behind. After overhearing their argument, we learned that the girl liked to frequent such places without spending money, and she was used to men being handsy with her. But that day, the three men intended to take turns with her in the private room. One of my colleagues remarked, “Let’s go. Stuff like this happens at KTV all the time. I’ve seen worse.”

That left a deep impression on me, and afterward I heard many similar stories. My womanizing friend once told me about a time five men took two girls to a hotel. On another occasion, when I went out with him, he suggested we hit a bar. There, two attractive girls joined us for drinks. While playing a drinking game with one of them, she lost several times and proposed, “How about this, Chen? If you lose, you drink; if I lose, I give you a French kiss.” Later, she even said that if I could chug two bottles of beer in one go, she’d go home with me that night. I won’t claim to be immune to temptation, but out of fear of disease, I’ve never gotten involved with women like that. The characters Dong Xiaohui and Lily are both modeled after such women.

Sansheng Stone, as a character, is a composite of that womanizing friend and a classmate of mine. I devoted so much space to developing this sort of character because I’m surrounded by many such people in real life.

I wrote these chapters about real life to flesh out the female lead’s character. Some readers guessed that the shopping mall scene was designed to introduce four alumni, but my main intent was to portray Ban Qianqian. Society is complex. I wanted to show her as a lotus growing out of the mud yet remaining unstained. No matter how her classmates behave, she tries to adapt to society while retaining a core innocence. In the shopping mall, she said, “If someone looks down on me, I’ll just walk away. But if someone looks down on you, I get really mad.” I wanted to show that she truly believed in their two-year online romance and that, in her heart, the protagonist mattered more than herself.

I hesitated to write these real-life chapters even after returning home, but since I’d already set things up, I couldn’t just leave the plot hanging. If I simply glossed over the KTV incident, all previous foreshadowing would be wasted. Reader criticisms in the comments mostly focus on a few points. First, that the protagonist lacks courage and cunning, not fitting the high-IQ persona. To clarify, the protagonist’s memories of the future only include knowing that a girl will be assaulted at a KTV on June 1st—he has no knowledge of any criminal involvement, so he believes he can prevent it. When waiting for the heroine in the corridor, he prepares a text message in advance, which is a sign of caution and rationality. As for bravery, I admire the sentiment from “Counterfeit Hero,” where the fat protagonist says, “When it’s time to take responsibility, even knowing it’s hopeless, you still charge forward.” True courage isn’t about beating up thugs with overwhelming force.

Second, some criticize the protagonist for barging into the room alone, knowing there are many inside. But I ask those readers—when did the protagonist ever know how many thugs were in the room? He simply received a brief call from the heroine, worried she was in trouble, and rushed in to protect her. Upon seeing her being drugged, could he have stepped back and calmly considered other strategies?

I personally feel these real-life chapters failed mainly because I overlooked the fact that most readers of gaming novels are still students, lacking such experiences. Thus, what I wrote with great care came across as melodramatic or illogical. Yet I want to tell you, most of these events are based on real incidents. Such things happen constantly in society, however unbelievable they may seem.

The strong negative reaction also stems from the fact that the protagonist didn’t exude a commanding aura or easily beat up the thugs. However, I designed the protagonist as a strategist, not a natural fighter—it would feel off for him to start as a brawler, hence the lack of that overwhelming presence. He did send a message to Wang Ying beforehand, and the issue was resolved through other means. Isn’t that also a sign of rationality?

This is a gaming novel and perhaps shouldn’t contain too much real-life content. Yet, after seeing readers complain there wasn’t enough realism, I added more. We’re still in the early stages and all chapters are free. If you dislike these sections, feel free to skip them. With a novel of several million words, it’s impossible to please everyone with every chapter. But if you’re still reading, there must be something here that keeps you hooked.