I’m not practicing this thing for any exam. Having lived a second life, I don’t even care if I go to school or not. Diplomas might matter to kids in their ivory towers, but he’s not a child.

He’s doing this to stay alive!

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t started training—right now, with this middle schooler’s body, even with a running start on flat ground, he can only jump a little over three meters. Way too weak! If he doesn’t train, and makes even a small mistake when it’s time to complete the mission, wouldn’t he just be done for?

Right now, his whole body aches with the soreness that comes after intense exercise. In his previous life, he always said he’d get fit, but was too lazy, and ended up with a body full of fat. In this life, he has no choice but to exercise...

At times like this, the only thing that can comfort him is his own divine book.

Seven days, updating 6,000 words a day, three chapters daily. Normally, at this stage, no one would be reading it. After all, it’s a new book, just a seedling with tens of thousands of words—who would read it? Henry Carter was already mentally prepared to be writing solo until he hit 100,000 words.

But unexpectedly, on the sixth day, a flood of reader comments suddenly appeared!

“When I first saw the words ‘divine book,’ I just wanted to come in and take a look, maybe mock it a bit. Even the top authors in the channel probably wouldn’t dare call their own books ‘divine.’ But! Fellow readers, pay attention to this twist! This book is just so damn good! From the very beginning, it’s a nonstop thrill ride, every setup leads to an even bigger payoff, and every chapter brings a new surprise! The naturally useless protagonist gets a reasonable cheat and grows up amid everyone’s scorn—so satisfying! Truly worthy of being called a divine book! I’m going to recommend this to all my friends. Please, author, don’t drop it! Here’s 100,000 book coins, I just hope you can write in peace!”

“And most importantly, unlike the slow-burn books out there now, this one’s pacing is lightning fast—there’s no boring intro period at all!”

Shengshi Chinese Web is the same as the site Henry Carter was on in his previous life: the book coin ratio is 1:100. In other words, this person, upon reading Henry Carter’s book, got so excited that they tipped 1,000 yuan right away! The cultural industry really has a future!

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Henry Carter’s mouth. Isn’t this exactly the key to his success? He wants readers to feel the thrill from start to finish!

He looked at the next comment.

“The first time I saw this book, I had a weird feeling. I knew it probably wouldn’t have any depth, but I just couldn’t stop reading—it felt so good... Anyone else feel the same? I don’t have much money, but here’s 10,000 book coins. I hope you keep writing!”

And then a string of comments followed: “I feel the same way, I can’t put this book down!”

When writing this book, Henry Carter had seriously considered its positioning. He knew that no novel could satisfy everyone’s tastes. He could write something heavier and more meaningful if he wanted—it’s not that he couldn’t.

But in the end, Henry Carter still positioned this book as a “beginner’s novel,” because even if he wanted to change his writing style in the future, it would be about getting better and better, not getting more and more watered down or worse.

That’s what a low starting point really means.

But for some reason, even after Henry Carter’s book hit 50,000 words, he still hadn’t gotten a contract offer. He knew that for web novels, 30,000 words was a hurdle for getting signed. If you hit 50,000 and still aren’t signed, things aren’t looking good.

If he doesn’t get a contract, it means Henry Carter’s divine book won’t get any recommendations from the site. Without recommendations, there’s no source of readers, and most people won’t see the book. No matter how good the reputation is, it’s useless.

Henry Carter was puzzled—his stats were great, so why couldn’t he get signed? He contacted customer service through the backend, and the reply was blunt: Your book goes against the current mainstream literature on the site and lacks depth. The editors aren’t optimistic about your work.

Looks like this is just a cultural difference between two parallel worlds, Henry Carter thought, scratching his chin.

But it’s fine—even in his previous life, there were books that didn’t get signed at first but later became breakout hits! Like “A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality”!

Right now, the editors at Shengshi Chinese Web probably think the divine book is too much of a beginner’s novel and aren’t sure about it, plus it’s unapologetically so!

Yeah, it just keeps going down that path, with no sign of turning...

But as long as the stats keep rising, there will definitely be a chance to get signed.

Henry Carter thought for a moment, then went ahead and updated five chapters in one go today, and posted a single-chapter note: Hello everyone, I’m the author of the divine book, Silly Billy. Thank you all for your support of this book lately. Every time I see a comment agreeing with the book, it makes me incredibly happy. But today I was told that this book is too different from the current mainstream literature, so there’s no chance for a contract.

I will definitely finish this book, but I kindly ask everyone to help me get it on the rankings. I want more people to see this work, and I want to prove with results that even if it goes against the mainstream, a good book is still a good book! Thank you all!

He posted this single-chapter note to rally his current readers to help boost the book’s ranking.