Grace Miller was very conflicted. If it was true, then it meant her own son was publishing a book, which was a weighty honor.

But if it was false, there would certainly be disappointment. More importantly, it might erode his confidence. However, it was clear that Grace Miller's worries were unnecessary.

"Ah!" Mrs. Foster suddenly cried out.

"How is it, Mrs. Foster? Little Brian wasn't scammed, was he?"

"No, just now my friend at Deyun Publishing House said that 'Wukong Biography' has indeed been included in the publication list."

Mrs. Foster's answer made Grace Miller beam with joy.

"Little Brian's mom, your Little Brian is much more impressive than our Little Yvonne."

"Not at all, not at all," said Grace Miller.

The voices just now were quite loud, and all the neighbors from the same community who knew each other gathered around, offering congratulations and praising Brian Carter as a little genius. Brian Carter's mother smiled radiantly, repeatedly saying thank you. Standing to the side, Brian Carter suddenly felt that his mother hadn't been this happy in a long time.

When your own child achieves something, the happiness parents feel is even greater than if they had succeeded themselves. But in his previous life, he was already in his thirties, still without a girlfriend and accomplishing nothing, causing his parents endless worry.

"I will definitely become my parents' pride!" Brian Carter said to himself in his heart.

No one knew how long they chatted with the neighbors before finally stopping. Now, Grace Miller couldn't wait to tell everyone about her son's book publication.

"By the way, does Brian need us to pay for publishing the book?" Grace Miller suddenly asked.

"Of course not. Not only do we not have to spend a penny, but the publishing house will also pay me royalties."

"How much?"

"Five thousand," Brian Carter said, holding up five fingers.

"Five thousand? Brian, you're amazing!"

"No, I have to go to the market and buy a fish to celebrate your book publication, Brian. You go home first." Grace Miller hurried off to the market.

Back home, his father hadn't finished work yet. He first finished the essay assigned by the homeroom teacher today. Taking out his composition book, he searched his mind for that micro-novel combining science fiction and the environment, and copied it down.

He wrote quickly, finishing in just over ten minutes. He carefully checked for any typos—none. Done.

He took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote down some book titles: "After buying a computer, which novel should I choose as the first step?"

"Zhu Xian? It's called the post-Jin Yong martial arts bible, and its brilliance is unquestionable. But in this world, just like on Earth, shallow web novels are all the rage, so it doesn't seem quite right." He crossed out "Zhu Xian."

"Then how about 'Battle Through the Heavens'? Tudou became the rookie king with this novel; it's the pinnacle of shallow web novels. But I feel it lacks depth. Pending." He drew a triangle symbol after "Battle Through the Heavens."

" 'Terror Infinity'? ..."

Chapter 4: Hey—Come Out!

Although this world doesn't have pioneering novels like "A Step into the Past," "Dragon and Tiger," or "Buddha is the Way," online novels here have also existed for over twenty years, maybe even longer than on Earth. Genres like xianxia, fantasy, competitive, online games, and so on have already been categorized, so it's impossible to become a founding master anymore.

"The most popular thing in writing online novels is to create a new genre and lead countless people to follow."

"In this world, the main categories of online novels are already fixed, with only a few subcategories."

"Among them, in the xianxia genre, 'Buddha is the Way,' 'Stellar Transformations,' and 'A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality' would all be considered pioneering works in this world."

"'Buddha is the Way' started the Honghuang genre, while 'Stellar Transformations' started the infinite leveling-up genre, and 'A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality' started the mortal genre. These three books are pending."

"The tomb-raiding genre: 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' and 'The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles.' But tomb-raiding novels are more suitable for print publication; their online subscriptions aren't great. Rejected."

"Science fiction mecha genre: 'Legend of the Mech Warrior,' and the infinite genre's 'Terror Infinity.' First of all, 'Terror Infinity' is immediately rejected! This world doesn't have any of the movies featured in the novel. If I wanted to write it, I'd have to create all those movies myself and even film them. No doubt the novel is brilliant, but the cost is too high. Rejected! Next is 'Legend of the Mech Warrior.' For the same reason, since anime like 'Transformers' and 'Gundam' don't exist here, even if I wrote it, few people would understand. Rejected!"

"Sigh, there are too many classic novels—it's hard to choose." If web novel authors knew about his dilemma, they'd be green with envy.

After picking and choosing, there were far fewer novels left pending on the blank paper—

"Battle Through the Heavens"—pinnacle of shallow web novels △ pending.

"Buddha is the Way"—Honghuang genre △ pending.

"A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality"—mortal genre △ pending.

"Stellar Transformations"—infinite leveling-up genre △ pending.

"How a Bad Guy Was Made"—pinnacle of the underworld genre △ pending.

"Zichuan"—fantasy war genre △ pending.

"God's Tomb"—fantasy suspense genre △ pending.

"Dragon Snake Romance"—pinnacle of martial arts genre △ pending.

"Which one should I choose?" After much thought, Brian Carter finally made a decision.

"Little Brian, time to eat."

"Coming," he put down his pen.