After thinking it over, he had already smoked half a pack of cigarettes before Brian Clark finally took a deep breath and typed a line on the open document.

　　【I’m Not Joking】

　　This was the book title he had come up with, and he was going to write it all by himself—a modern-day rebirth novel. The name sounded silly, but it carried a deeper meaning. First, it was a reminder to himself that being reborn is no joke.

　　Second, there were already too many titles like “Strongest,” “Ultimate,” “Super,” and “Almighty”—so many that they were everywhere. On the contrary, a silly name might stand out, catching readers’ eyes in the vast sea of books.

　　Third, he planned to try out the ability of a literary figure to spread “Dao-rhyme” to others within the novel.

　　Brian Clark was far from being able to write profound, deep, accessible, and Dao-infused articles, nor could he copy them—after all, the memories of the great literary master were missing.

　　But there was another way to spread Dao-rhyme.

　　Every literature student, starting from high school, had to systematically train in how to write textbook-style combinations of words that carried Dao-rhyme.

　　The benefit of this kind of word combination was that it was mechanical and rigid. Just like ordinary students on Earth, not everyone could become a writer or develop excellent writing skills.

　　But with enough practice, anyone could learn to write individual Chinese characters.

　　It was the same with Dao-rhyme combinations—practice enough, and anyone could do it. The downside was that whether it was the literature student themselves or their readers, to actually gain strength from this required talent.

　　That kind of talent was one in ten thousand, and even if someone was highly gifted, the effect would only be temporary, lasting just five minutes.

　　Publishing this kind of Dao-rhyme combination could still bring feedback to the author.

　　“Maybe I can’t count on making money by writing books. If I don’t copy books, I’m just trash in this area. But if I write Dao-rhyme and post it online, what if I can awaken some people’s talent? Even if it’s just one percent, if enough people are awakened, I’ll also…”

　　Third, a title like this was a hint to the outside world: no matter how bad his writing skills were, what he wrote would be a divine book, able to turn powerful geniuses into superhumans for a few minutes. This really wasn’t a joke.

Chapter 2: Have You Read Yourself Stupid?

　　Over an hour later, Brian Clark sat in front of the computer, looking at what he had written, feeling a bit speechless—two thousand words.

　　He had decided to write a modern rebirth novel. Even though he’d read quite a few, taking over an hour to grind out 2,000 words was still too little.

　　With so few words and such mediocre content, Brian Clark, an old bookworm himself, judged it from a reader’s perspective and found it bland and completely unappealing.

　　Such an opening could only be described as a failure.

　　“Forget it. I’m not relying on the quality of my writing to attract people anyway. The key is the content. I’ll just paste in one of the Dao-rhyme word combinations I practiced over the past few days. As long as someone can feel something from it, I’ll get feedback. If there are two, even better. That’s enough.”

　　“To make money, I’ll have to think of something else!”

　　……

　　After reviewing this 2,000-word opening four or five times, he found it more and more dull and pointless. Brian Clark gave a wry smile.

　　In this world, the website that dominated the online literature scene was called Qihang, meaning “set sail.” Whether it was about dreams or wealth, for ordinary writers, such a name was full of meaning.