Samad's strong extremist air put Chen Yuanguang on guard.
Judging from his identity alone, Samad did not seem like a man who had fallen on hard times. It could only be said that the path he believed in was incompatible with the reality dominated by Alpha.
Chen Yuanguang more or less understood the core of the ideas Samad was expressing. Restrictions had become too rigid, leaving no room for imagination, and humanity had lost its drive to rise higher.
As a time traveler who could move freely between two worlds, Chen Yuanguang was not too worried about that. There were plenty of ways to experience in modern society the life experiences unavailable in the future.
So when Chen Yuanguang interacted with Samad afterward, they would discuss such matters as well. Most of the time, though, he simply listened to Samad speak. He did not particularly enjoy voicing his own opinions.
After reading several future science fiction mysteries, some written by AI and others by humans, all recommended by Samad—
Chen Yuanguang gave the events that had happened to him a literary treatment and wrote "Kuala Lumpur Investigation."
"The writing has no charm. The emotions are barely delicate enough, but the characters are far too flat. As for the most important aspect of a science fiction mystery—the deduction—it can only be called logically consistent. There is not a shred of originality. Yuanguang, honestly, I think it is worse than AI." Samad sighed.
Samad could tell that this rare friend from another generation, someone he got along with so well, possessed little talent for literary creation.
In this era, if one wanted to become famous through literary creation, the goal was not to defeat other competitors, but to defeat AI. That required extraordinary talent, and Samad believed Chen Yuanguang clearly did not possess talent at that level.
They had discussed this work many times already. Samad could tell at a glance that it had been adapted from a real case, but since Chen Yuanguang said nothing, he pretended not to know.
After revising it back and forth many times, he had ultimately received Samad's evaluation.
Chen Yuanguang thought, That is enough. He was only taking it back to modern times to enter the Science Fiction New Star Competition. The competition itself meant no big names would be entering.
What Samad considered merely logically consistent would have been filled with novelty and a perfect logical loop four hundred years earlier.
Taking it back to enter the Science Fiction New Star Competition would be a piece of cake.
With that thought in mind, he logged onto the official website of Science Fiction World to submit it. He casually chose 2477 as his pen name, the year in the future timeline after conversion according to the old calendar.
After submitting his manuscript, all Chen Yuanguang needed to do was wait. In modern times, he prepared for the prerequisite exams needed to go abroad, while in the future, he worked on the project Pangu had assigned him.
He had absolutely no idea where to begin with that project, and Chen Yuanguang did not dare discuss it with professors in related fields at school. A project like this was equivalent to a path to enlightenment. What if he discussed it with a professor, only for the other party to use it directly and produce results first?
Therefore, in the future, he read vast amounts of literature related to the project and used computers to simulate possible results in search of inspiration.
Chen Yuanguang felt that he had never lived such a fulfilling life.
He had originally thought his senior year would be incredibly leisurely. He would write four thousand words a day to satisfy his readers, while the remaining twenty hours belonged entirely to him. Having finished all the courses he needed, he could spend those twenty hours having fun.
Instead, all twenty-four hours of his day were packed full.
Fang Ning was an editor at Science Fiction World. He had joined the Science Fiction World magazine after graduating from university and was also one of the preliminary judges for this Science Fiction New Star Competition.
"These are the last few days. It is finally about to end." Fang Ning opened the website backend, holding little hope for the submissions from the past few days.
This Science Fiction New Star Competition was the tenth edition, so they had invested considerable resources into it. The first prize alone was worth fifty thousand yuan. Even the Galaxy Award's Best Novel prize was only worth one hundred thousand yuan.
As a result, there had been an enormous number of submissions. As an editor, Fang Ning had to handle both regular submissions and entries for the Science Fiction New Star Competition. He had been working at high intensity for a long time.
"Gift of the Gods"
"The Last Architect"
"Light-Year War"
Fang Ning felt as though the square-shaped characters were taking over his entire brain. The words on the screen blurred together, and he was close to no longer recognizing them.
"Phew." Fang Ning stood up and went outside to make a cup of coffee, taking the opportunity to breathe some fresh air. Even the smog in Shu City smelled especially sweet.
"One, two, three, four." Fang Ning counted the manuscripts in the backend. "Only five left. Thank goodness."
"Kuala Lumpur Affairs, 2477." Seeing the title and author's name, Fang Ning thought, Another title that makes no sense, and a pen name dreamed up by some pretentious asshole.
"Mr. Lin, may I ask whether you know about the car accident that recently occurred on the mountain road outside Kek Lok Si Temple?"
Chen Yuanguang's science fiction mystery unfolded through Lin Ran being questioned by the police, before eventually revealing the true culprit through a detective named Li Zhongliu.
Fang Ning was quickly absorbed by the story. Even after finishing it, he was still savoring it. "What happened to Lin Ran in the end? What became of the director who had orchestrated everything?"
The semi-open ending left Fang Ning wanting more.
"Recommend." After Fang Ning clicked recommend, he saw in the backend that three other editors had already recommended the novel as well.
They were the first stage of review and used a cross-review system. As long as one editor thought a work was good, it could enter the next round. In the next round, all the preliminary judges would sit down together to review the works and select those that would enter the final round.
The preliminary judges were not limited to Science Fiction World's internal editors. They also included representatives from sponsors, university professors, young science fiction writers, and others.
The final review would be conducted by renowned domestic writers and several scholars.
Turning to Chen Hui beside him, Fang Ning asked, "Hui, what did you think of Kuala Lumpur Affairs? I suspect an established author created a new alias to submit it."
Chen Hui was another editor and had also clicked recommend for "Kuala Lumpur Affairs."
Chen Hui shook his head. "Are there any established domestic authors who write science fiction mysteries well?
Apparently not. I actually think this is a newcomer. Is it not perfectly normal for a gifted newcomer to suddenly emerge?
The writing is polished, the descriptions are precise, and although it switches perspectives often, it never feels messy. What impresses me most is how well it combines deduction with the future world. The logic is consistent, and I cannot find many flaws.
If no better work appears in the remaining days, I think this is the best submission I have seen."
Chen Hui gave it an even higher evaluation.
Fang Ning agreed. "I think so too.
After the preliminary review meeting ends, we can contact the author first. Whether it wins an award or not, we can publish it in a future issue of Science Fiction World."
Chen Hui said, "How could it possibly not win an award? We are the organizers, not Goose Factory. There are not that many shady dealings.
Even if a better work appears later, he will definitely have no problem taking second prize."
Please give Ya Shang some monthly votes. (TT)
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