The Road of a Copycat Writer

No doubt about it!

Li Congxin intended to become a Copycat Writer, and he was reaching his black hand directly toward Doupo Cangqiong, which had once taken the internet by storm in his previous life and was known as the Fantasy Textbook.

As a textbook of fantasy novels, Doupo Cangqiong possessed many of the strengths common to online novels. The two most prominent were its intense conflicts and its ability to get into the rhythm quickly. As long as you read the first ten thousand words, congratulations—you were already hooked. You would never be able to put the book down.

Since Li Congxin planned to become a Copycat Writer, he naturally had to start from scratch. Using this book to open the way was the best choice he could think of.

During the following period, Li Congxin spent almost all his time on two things: exercising and writing.

With the help of BGM, Li Congxin had reduced his weight from 120 kilograms to 95 kilograms in just half a month—a full 25-kilogram loss, averaging nearly one kilogram per day! His appearance had also changed from that of a hugely overweight man into that of an ordinary fat man.

During the next half month, Li Congxin's weight-loss speed remained unchanged. His weight smoothly dropped from 95 kilograms to 70 kilograms. After showering, he looked at himself in the mirror. The muscles on his body were sharply defined, and there was almost no excess fat left. Even his large, swollen face—which had originally looked especially bloated because of his obesity—had returned to a normal appearance.

It had to be said: after successfully losing weight, the looks of this body were even somewhat more handsome than Captain America's.

Looking at this handsome face that could be described as "plainly extraordinary," then recalling his fat-headed, big-eared appearance before losing weight, Li Congxin couldn't help sighing. Being fat really did ruin everything!

Alongside the results of his weight loss, his physical fitness had also improved significantly—indeed, the improvement was even more obvious than the weight loss.

Now, in terms of strength, speed, stamina, reaction, explosiveness, and other aspects, he had improved by more than double. Among ordinary people, he could already be considered one of the physically stronger ones.

By the time school started again, he would definitely be able to give everyone a huge shock!

On the other hand, Li Congxin's writing progress was not particularly fast, averaging only around twenty thousand words per day.

If he had been writing an original book, that speed would already have been astonishing. But as a Copycat Writer, such a pace was clearly somewhat embarrassing.

There was no helping it, though. The social and cultural backgrounds were different. Even when copying, he could not simply reproduce the original word for word.

Take the most obvious example: the Harem Novel style. There was nothing wrong with it in Huaxia. Ancient Huaxia had practiced polygamy, and emperors even possessed the Three Palaces, Six Courts, and Seventy-Two Consorts, with three thousand beauties in their harems. Poems such as "Three Thousand Beauties Lose Their Color" and "Three Thousand Favorites in One Body" were perfect expressions of this phenomenon.

But in Western people's worldview, the concept of polygamy simply did not exist.

To put it bluntly, you could have lovers, you could have mistresses, and you could irresponsibly have one-night stands—but you absolutely could not commit bigamy!

Even the emperors of their ancient times were no exception, much less anyone else.

Of course, that was only one example. There were many other aspects that seriously conflicted with Western values and needed to be changed. These problems were precisely why his writing speed had been severely affected.

Seeing that his stockpile of manuscripts had already reached a decent size, Li Congxin felt that it was time to release them and earn a wave of Impression Points.

Publishing it in the usual online-novel manner was definitely impossible, because there was no suitable channel. Since that was the case, he could only take the traditional publishing route.

With that thought, Li Congxin immediately picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Hello, is this Uncle Marcus?"

Marcus Williams was not some basketball player who had gone to develop his career in the Eastern Ancient Country. He was currently a captain at the Manhattan Precinct, a middle-aged Black man who looked somewhat like Michael Jordan.

Many years ago, Marcus had been one of Li Congxin's parents' closest friends. After that accident, he had even served as Li Congxin's guardian for a year. Only after Li Congxin turned sixteen and inherited his parents' estate was the guardianship terminated. It had been just over two months since their guardianship relationship ended.

All in all, Marcus could be considered one of the elders closest to Li Congxin. When he needed certain social connections, Marcus was the first person who came to mind.

"Clark?" Marcus's steady voice came from the other end of the phone. "What made you think of calling me today?"

"I was just missing you."

Marcus snorted. "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't give me any of that empty flattery." After being influenced by two generations of Li Congxin's family, Marcus's speech had taken on a distinctly Chinese flavor.

Li Congxin chuckled. "You really did guess it, old man. I called because there's a small matter I'd like your help with. It's hard to explain over the phone, so I'll come find you right away."

Marcus was stunned. "How do you know where I am?"

"Of course I can hear it." Li Congxin laughed. "Judging by the background music around you, is there any other place in New York besides Martha's Gym where you could be?"

The music playing inside Martha's Gym was Calories, and it was the kind with an amplification effect.

This was also one of Li Congxin's experiments with using his cheat. Attaching music produced by the God-Tier BGM System to a designated music player could amplify its effects, allowing everyone within the music's range to be influenced. However, because the effect was spread out, the amplification obtained by others could never exceed half of the effect Li Congxin himself received.

Naturally, Li Congxin was not being entirely honest. He had set the exercise-effect amplification to five percent, with no reduction in the harmful effects.

That way, he could increase Martha's Gym's appeal without making too much of a spectacle.

Since the amplification was neither too much nor too little, people could genuinely feel the difference after a workout compared to before. Through word of mouth, Martha's Gym's reputation quickly spread.

The amplification was not especially powerful, either. Even if someone with ulterior motives noticed it, they would only assume that the place had good feng shui, good air, or some other cause. They would never let their imaginations run wild and think of a cheat they had never heard of.

As it turned out, once the effects of Calories were shared, Martha's Fitness Club's popularity really did rise sharply. It was now packed with people every day, and Li Congxin had consequently earned a substantial number of Impression Points. His balance had risen from zero to a new high of 3,546 points.

More than half of that was thanks to Li Congxin's bold move.

When he saw Li Congxin again, Marcus was so astonished that he could hardly believe his eyes. "Clark?"

Li Congxin nodded with a smile.

"Oh, my God!" Marcus made an exaggerated expression. "I heard you had successfully lost weight, but I didn't dare believe it. I never imagined you'd succeed to this extent. You know, before you spoke, I was still wondering who this handsome young man was!"

Li Congxin gave him a polite smile. "Uncle Marcus, I actually came to ask you for help with two things." As he spoke, he took out a printed document and handed it over. "I wrote a novel over the summer. This is the first thirty thousand words. Uncle Marcus, you have plenty of connections. Could you help me get in touch with a publishing house?"

"You can actually write novels now!"

Marcus wiped his sweat with a towel beside the treadmill. Then he took the manuscript, glanced through it, and said, "I rarely read books, so I don't know whether yours is any good. But you're in luck. I happen to have a friend from a publishing house here. I'll ask him to take a look for you. Hey, Cook, come take a look at this!"

At Marcus's shout, Li Congxin turned his gaze toward two white men on the other side. They were working out their arm strength while chatting and laughing.

One of them was a middle-aged man in his forties who looked rather composed. The other was a teenage boy of sixteen or seventeen with a fierce-looking face, resembling an enraged Gorilla. His abysmal looks completely ruined the air of a sporty young man he might otherwise have possessed.

Wait a minute. Why did that description sound so familiar?

That was right!

That teenager was none other than the "Gorilla," Joe Cook, whom Li Congxin had angered into fainting at school!

Marcus had just called the middle-aged man Cook. Could that mean these two...

Just as an ominous feeling rose in Li Congxin's heart, Gorilla's gaze landed on him.

The next moment...

"Clark Li! You bastard, what are you doing here?"

Come to think of it, even Marcus—the man who had once been Li Congxin's guardian—had failed to recognize him at first, while this Gorilla had identified him with ease.

Was it true that your enemies always knew you best?

"Damn it!" Gorilla spoke again. "I was too careless in our previous contest. I demand a rematch. The loser has to apologize!"

Seeing Gorilla's attitude toward him, along with the close relationship between him and the man Marcus had called Cook, Li Congxin knew that he would have to find another way to publish his novel.

If that was the case, why should he continue being polite?

Time to fire back!

With that thought, Li Congxin replied without hesitation, "I refuse."

"Why?"

Li Congxin answered as though it were self-evident, "If I lose, I have to apologize to you. If I win, I get nothing out of it. If you were me, would you do something that stupid?"

Received 3 Impression Points from Joe Cook!

Gorilla shouted angrily, "If I lose, I'll apologize to you again!"

Li Congxin once again refused without hesitation. "An apology is like a woman's first night. It's most valuable the first time, but from the second time onward, its value drops by more than tenfold. This wager would still be a huge loss for me."

"So you'd better give up on that idea."

Received 6 Impression Points from Joe Cook!

The middle-aged man seemed uninterested in the two children's argument. He simply took the manuscript from Marcus and casually asked, "What's this?"

Seeing Li Congxin and Gorilla locked in confrontation, Marcus felt a headache coming on. As for asking the other man for help, he had already given up hope.

But since the man had asked, Marcus could only brace himself and introduce Li Congxin before saying, "Clark recently wrote a novel. This is the opening manuscript. He wants me to help him contact a publishing house."

"All right. I'll take it home and look at the quality of the manuscript first. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Although the man's words were polite, Marcus could already tell that the chances of getting this done were slim. With a trace of apology, he asked Li Congxin, "Clark, you just said there were two things you wanted my help with. What's the other one?"

Li Congxin said, "I want to learn some combat skills. Uncle Marcus, do you have any good recommendations?"

Marcus looked troubled. "I developed all my practical fighting ability at the police station, and you definitely can't go there. So... all I can do is apologize."

"I'll take Joe home and look over the manuscript. We won't bother you any longer. Goodbye." After politely bidding Marcus farewell, the middle-aged man took Gorilla and left Martha's Gym.

As soon as they stepped out the door, Gorilla could not help protesting to the middle-aged man, "Dad, you were far too polite to that kid today. If it were me, I'd have slapped these scraps of paper right across his face."

The middle-aged man patted him on the shoulder. "If I did that, not only would I look completely lacking in manners, I'd also lose Marcus as a friend. Even if I want to slap the manuscript across his face, I should wait until I've read it. Then I can declare it worthless. That would vent your anger and leave him speechless. Even Marcus wouldn't be able to say anything."

Gorilla's eyes lit up. He immediately gave the middle-aged man a thumbs-up. "Dad, you really are the clever one. How did I not think of that?"