Chapter 2: A Different World

In the quiet room, Yun Xuan sat at his desk and started browsing the internet. The only sites he visited were all related to painting. “Not even a mysterious F drive… This guy really is…” Yun Xuan could no longer find words to describe it.

A high school boy’s room, yet there wasn’t a trace of anything risqué. His only treasured possessions were a few magazines featuring beautiful female artists. The room was perfectly tidy, not a hint of an unusual smell, clean and orderly.

The only thing remotely normal was that his only real-life friend was his childhood companion—ironically, she was also the most terrifying person in his life.

In his previous life, Yun Xuan had been a devoted otaku, though he was somewhat handsome. He earned enough each month by writing fan fiction based on anime to cover his rent in a small city, spending an average of twenty-five days a month indoors. The landlady would check on him once a week, worried he might simply pass away unnoticed.

The remaining days were the few times Yun Xuan ventured out. Thanks to his good looks, he’d chat up a few girls online. Those days were always his busiest, and the ones he chose were all playful and well-off. As he put it, a person like him shouldn’t hurt genuinely kind girls or those struggling financially like himself.

Of course, there were times he made mistakes—girls who wanted to marry him. In such cases, Yun Xuan would devise all sorts of methods to quietly slip away from their lives.

His life was simple, but he found it interesting. The curiosity brought by new anime series, the nostalgia of rewatching old favorites, those occasional sparks of inspiration when writing fan fiction—for someone with nothing else, these were his greatest joys.

The girl he’d saved wasn’t a stranger; she had once liked him. He’d hurt her before and couldn’t bear to watch her die.

…

“Still thinking about all this now… Heh, I really am beyond help…” Yun Xuan laughed at himself and opened QQ on his computer—it was exactly the same as in his previous life.

“Ding ding ding…” The familiar sound of QQ messages chimed.

Yun Xuan filtered through the group messages, began leaving group chats, and removed all useless contacts from his list. Soon, only one group and five friends remained.

Among those five, two were sisters he’d met in the orphanage, one was his next-door childhood friend, another was a girl he’d known online for three years, and the last was his teacher—the one who had introduced him to the world of anime.

To put it simply, this teacher recommended manga for him to read, provided some guidance, and eventually shared fan works and videos of their own drawing process.

“Wasn’t there some kind of lottery just now, Meow Meow?” Yun Xuan suddenly remembered.

His assistant sprite, Meow Meow, stood beside the computer, no bigger than a palm.

“Mm, three bronze-level draws, one silver-level draw,” the cat-eared girl replied, her ears twitching.

“Let’s do the draw then,” Yun Xuan said, looking at the cat-eared girl. Was there a roulette wheel or a box for this draw?

“Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Silver-level skill—Intermediate Painting; Bronze-level skills—Elementary Martial Arts, Elementary Cooking, and Elementary Hacking,” the cat-eared girl announced.

“Huh? Wait—” Before Yun Xuan could react, the cat-eared girl appeared before him and slapped his forehead. It really did feel like a sudden revelation.

Yun Xuan was stunned.

Lines of drawing, the use of pigments, color matching, the spirit and meaning of painting…

Martial arts techniques, training methods, combat abilities…

Cooking recipes, the use of various seasonings, methods for common dishes, unique culinary skills…

Hacking programming, techniques, methods for undetectable attacks…

…

“Transfer complete,” the cat-eared girl landed on the desk.

Yun Xuan came to his senses, feeling completely different.

“I never thought painting could be so simple. No time to waste—let’s draw waifus!” Yun Xuan excitedly grabbed a blank sheet of paper.

Drawing waifus had always been one of his dreams. Unfortunately, he hadn’t known how to draw in his previous life; otherwise, he would have started making doujinshi long ago.

With a pencil, Yun Xuan quickly sketched out the figure, then the whole composition. The room was well-stocked with art supplies, as his predecessor had also been a beginner artist.

In less than ten minutes, Yun Xuan was finished.

In the drawing, a young girl wore a black sailor uniform. Her long hair flowed around her as she sat on a chair, holding a paperback novel, a faint smile on her lips. The girl's name was Yukino Yukinoshita, from the anime "My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected."

“Yukino… I really miss her,” Yun Xuan said, looking at the drawing.

He had just searched the web in this world; there were no classic web novels from his previous life, no Four Great Classical Novels, and not even any famous anime.

Yet this world’s cultural industry was by no means inferior to his old one—if anything, it was more advanced. Since the Qing dynasty, this world had diverged. Martial artists had emerged, and technology had advanced rapidly.

Now, the Huaxia nation was truly the Celestial Empire. Foreigners took pride in coming to work in Huaxia, and becoming a citizen was a cause for envy.

After the founding of Huaxia, rather than promoting martial arts for all, the country had vigorously advanced the cultural industry, giving rise to two major publishing houses.

One was Xuanwen Press, specializing in fantasy, speculative fiction, and martial arts novels. Their magazine circulation far outstripped the competition; their highest-selling issue reached two hundred million copies. These magazines serialized not only martial arts, fantasy, and speculative fiction, but also comics and showcased new outstanding works.

With weekly and monthly editions, they were the most popular magazines in Huaxia.

But there was another formidable presence: the Manga World.

What was the Manga World? Its founder had only ever said four words: "The World of Anime."

It had begun as just one of many publishing houses, but with adorable characters and by attracting talented foreign manga artists, it grew ever larger. While others scoffed at anime, Manga World quietly claimed the territory.

Today, its magazine circulation often rivaled that of Xuanwen Press. Carrying the banner of the “second dimension,” it thrived in the three-dimensional world, beloved by young people.

Crucially, Xuanwen and Manga World had a cooperative relationship. For fantasy or other works to be adapted into manga, Manga World was the first choice. Conversely, if a manga was to be novelized, Xuanwen Press was the only option.

“If the Four Great Classical Novels don’t exist here, then let me bring them to this world,” Yun Xuan said, opening the exchange page.

The exchange system was divided into abilities and culture. Abilities were still grayed out, not yet unlocked.

Switching to the culture page, Yun Xuan found the list of works exchangeable for ten points.

His face twitched. “Ouch… the Four Great Classical Novels cost ten thousand points each?” He clutched his face. He’d just boasted about gifting the world the Four Great Classical Novels, but who would have thought they’d be so expensive…

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