Modern Literary History

For overseas doctoral applications, obtaining recommendation letters from leading scholars was a shortcut. Taking that route saved a great deal of trouble.

For example, many professors at Jiang University collaborated with overseas scholars on joint research projects. Their recommendation letters carried considerable weight with professors at foreign universities they had partnered with.

Since the dean of Jiang University's Chemistry School had completed postdoctoral work at the University of Virginia and knew many people there, applying to Virginia with his recommendation letter would give you a particular advantage.

Chen Yuanguang was aiming higher. He wanted to apply to the very top tier of universities, and he wanted a full scholarship. Under those conditions, recommendation letters from Jiang University professors alone were not quite enough.

After all, he had very little research experience, and his university GPA was merely decent. That meant he needed an especially strong endorsement.

The Science Fiction New Star Competition organized by Science Fiction World had become an excellent opportunity.

Since this was the tenth Science Fiction New Star Competition, it would be held on an especially grand scale. Goose Factory had exclusive naming rights and sponsorship, and Michael Levitt, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry in recent years, would be invited to attend the final award ceremony.

The timing was also perfect. The results would be announced in two months, followed by the awards ceremony.

Even if he only won a Third-Class prize, as long as he had the chance to attend the ceremony, Chen Yuanguang was confident he could get a recommendation letter from Levitt himself.

Chen Yuanguang had not considered asking Levitt to be his supervisor directly, since their research fields did not align.

"What should I write?" Chen Yuanguang opened Word, but his fingers lingered over the keyboard. "Should I copy down a science fiction work from the future, or write one myself?"

Those were the two issues he faced. If he wrote it himself, he might not win. But if he copied a successful work from the future, he would feel somewhat guilty.

Even if it was only a novel written by a future AI.

"I should write it myself. If I win an award by relying on someone else's work, I won't be happy. It will just become a psychological burden.

"As for the subject matter, isn't the unsolved case that happened to me the best material?

"Although I don't know who the real murderer is, I can completely invent one in my work." Chen Yuanguang thought as he typed the words "Kuala Lumpur Affairs" onto the keyboard.

Science fiction mystery—he just needed to add science fiction elements.

But he had to prepare for all kinds of exams here, start from scratch exploring a new style of writing and polishing a new story there, and later speak with Pangu to select a research topic.

Chen Yuanguang felt as though one person had to be split into two. There was simply too much to do.

"Sorry, but the pressure from my studies has been too great recently. I truly cannot balance writing and studying, so this book can only end here."

After fleeing into the outline, Chen Yuanguang casually wrote a completion note to ease the guilt in his heart.

Honestly, he did not want to leave it unfinished like this either. But he no longer had the mental energy to juggle writing a Tokyo romance light novel.

When your journey was toward the stars and the sea, you had no mind left for romantic scenes or love plots.

"BYD is abandoning another story, huh?"

"Light Dog can't be trusted. First it was two updates every three days, then weekly updates, and now he's just abandoning it outright. So this is the crazy update schedule you promised in your paid-release note?"

Chen Yuanguang's Qidian ID was Giant of Light. When he updated frequently, he was the God of Light; whenever he took leave or abandoned a story, he instantly became Light Dog.

"Bold declarations at the beginning, deranged rambling in the middle, and now total silence."

"It was one thing for you to abandon your last book, since you really couldn't keep writing that one. But this book's performance is so good—why abandon it too?"

As a somewhat well-known LV5 author, Chen Yuanguang's sudden abandonment caused quite a stir. His completion note was filled with curses.

In his earliest core Reader Group, everyone was more restrained, but they still had nothing nice to say.

"@Giant of Light, that familiar feeling is back!"

"Screenshot.jpg"

The screenshot showed the bold declaration Chen Yuanguang had posted in the group when he started this book: This one will definitely update like crazy. Ten thousand words a day after paid release won't be a dream.

Although he no longer intended to work in web fiction, Chen Yuanguang still wanted to give everyone an explanation. "Sorry. There really are more important things in real life waiting for me to do."

"I originally planned to write web novels, but after thinking it over, I've decided to study abroad instead."

"Yes, I don't plan to stay in web fiction for now. The road ahead is long; if fate allows, we'll meet again."

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. Things changed too quickly. I never could have predicted things would turn out like this."

Who could have expected his golden finger to arrive so suddenly?

Over in Kuala Lumpur, aside from Knowledge Download, he had also selected an in-person course in Modern Literary History.

After entering the University of Malaya, Chen Yuanguang had seen real people around campus, but he had never spoken with any of them.

He chose Modern Literary History this time partly because he genuinely wanted to learn about the subject and prepare for writing Kuala Lumpur Affairs. Jumping from romance light novels to science fiction mysteries was quite a leap, and he felt he needed some advance preparation. The other reason was that he wanted to interact with real people.

"Good, good, good! I thought this course wouldn't even be able to run this year. I didn't expect anyone to still be interested in literature."

Inside a classroom on the third floor of the University of Malaya's teaching building, a Southeast Asian-looking man with completely white hair but surprisingly few wrinkles danced about with excitement.

It was Chen Yuanguang's first time in the teaching building. He had not expected there to be no one else in this class besides him.

"Professor, should I leave?" Chen Yuanguang was starting to have second thoughts. This man did not look quite normal.

"Don't go. Since you chose this course, you must want to gain something from it. I believe I can offer you some inspiration.

"Since you are my only student, I can provide one-on-one answers to your questions." The man hurriedly stood up and waved for Chen Yuanguang not to leave.

Chen Yuanguang went in and sat across from him. "Hello, Professor. I'm Chen Yuanguang."

"Samad. Samad Said. You can call me Professor Samad." Samad began swaying his head as he spoke. "Yuanguang, from the Yingchuan Hall Chen Clan?"

Chen Yuanguang nodded. "Yes."

Samad continued, "I don't believe for a moment that Chen Dingsong is really from Yingchuan Hall. He merely borrowed the name.

"He is a Malaysian born and raised. Before he made his fortune, he was only a conscript. If he truly belonged to the Yingchuan Hall Chen Clan, would he have gone to be a conscript?"

Chen Yuanguang did not know how to respond. No wonder nobody chose this course. He starts by digging into other people's dirty laundry.

But he was genuinely interested in such things. In an online game, these would count as background lore. There might even be important clues hidden within them.

"I couldn't keep my mouth shut again. But whether Chen Dingsong is truly from the Yingchuan Hall Chen Clan or not, no one says he isn't now, so he is.

"Let's stop there. Each class lasts two hours. I will lecture for the first hour and a half, and the final half hour will be for questions. You can ask anything that interests you." Samad stood and walked to the podium.

Worked overtime last night. I owe you one chapter, and I'll make it up tonight.