The Great Creator Chapter 13 - Every character's first appearance should leave an impression on the reader

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Liang Jue and Xiao Ya are planning to get married this October, and both families have already met.

After confirming the wedding date, Liang Jue sent a red envelope to Duan Yao Guang via his phone. Duan Yao Guang responded, "You’re the one getting married, I should be the one sending you a red envelope."

"You’re going to be my best man, right? This is my personal best man red envelope, just accept it!" Liang Jue knew that Duan Yao Guang was running out of money, but if he tried to give it to him directly, Yao Guang wouldn’t accept it under any circumstances. He would just end up cooking instant noodles in a rice cooker in his old house. So now and then, Liang Jue would find some work for him to do to help him earn a little extra money for living expenses.

"Alright." Duan Yao Guang planned to start making at least enough money by tomorrow to cover the wedding gift, otherwise, he'd feel too guilty towards his brother.

"We're planning to pick a day to look at wedding dresses," Xiao Ya said, wrapping grilled pork belly in perilla leaves and lettuce before placing it in his bowl. She smiled and added, "How about we all go together? We can choose your best man suit as well."

"Okay." Duan Yao Guang didn't have the option to refuse. He then asked Liang Jue, "Is Liu Kaisong coming?"

"Everyone's coming," Liang Jue replied, inviting their college roommates. He added, "But you're the only best man."

Thinking of how successful everyone else's careers seemed, Duan Yao Guang felt exhausted just imagining explaining his current state at the wedding. He couldn't help but fantasize about running away from it all. He was contemplating whether to give Liang Jue a gift or cash for the wedding, knowing that Liang Jue never lacked money.

"Is Xiao Ya's jewelry ready?" Duan Yao Guang suddenly remembered something. "How about I give this to you guys? You can have it processed at a jewelry store..."

"No, no, no!" Liang Jue and Xiao Ya both reacted strongly, trying to stop him, but Duan Yao Guang had already taken off the pendant from around his neck.

"This is a piece of crystal," Duan Yao Guang said. "But if you have it reshaped, it could be made into a pendant."

"There's really no need," Liang Jue said. "Just having you here makes me happy."

Xiao Ya, however, asked, "Can I take a look?"

"Of course." Duan Yao Guang generously handed it to her.

Xiao Ya said, "While I was tidying up the room today, I almost broke it."

"It won't break," Duan Yao Guang replied. "It was lost for a while when I was in college, and then Liang Jue found it while cleaning."

That was Duan Yao Guang's only piece of jewelry. When he was quite young, he was very mischievous, wandering and exploring the mountains near his home. He found it in a strange cave. The crystal was hexagonal, scientifically known as the "hexagonal crystal system," nearly fully transparent, with a wisp of impure substance in the middle like light smoke.

Duan Yao Guang used it as a personal accessory, wrapping a string around it and always wearing it. After entering college, he showed it to his classmates in the geology department, but none could really identify it.

"It's very pretty," Xiao Ya said. "Natural ones are much more beautiful."

"I'll give it to you," Duan Yao Guang said. "I really don't have much else."

"No way!" Liang Jue seemed a bit upset and signaled to Xiao Ya with his eyes to quickly return it to Duan Yao Guang.

Smiling, Xiao Ya gave it back to Duan Yao Guang, saying, "Liang Jue found it for you, so it has special meaning."

Duan Yao Guang had no choice but to take it back. After dinner, Liang Jue, claiming they had ordered too much, packed a portion of stone pot rice, several plates of grilled meat, and vegetables for Duan Yao Guang to take home.

Duan Yao Guang had become accustomed to receiving discreet and considerate help. When he returned home, the muggy spring night made him uncomfortable. He opened his computer again, paused in silence, and prepared to start a new document to recreate his protagonist. If he couldn't write smoothly this time, he planned to give up.

During dinner, Duan Yao Guang chatted a bit with Liang Jue about his novel. He always felt that the stories he wrote weren't appealing. Maybe it was due to his own mental health issues; after devoting tens of thousands of words to a character and becoming familiar with the protagonist, he would start to feel aversion toward them.

"Do you dislike the protagonist?" Liang Jue asked. "You should write about someone you like."

"Yeah, you're right," Duan Yao Guang replied.

Xiao Ya added, "What kind of people do you like?"

Duan Yao Guang always suspected that Xiao Ya had an intuitive sense that he had a bit of a crush on her boyfriend, but she never mentioned it.

"I guess I like 'bad boys'? I mean, for the protagonist's type," Duan Yao Guang said.

Xiao Ya took a deep breath, seemingly wanting to follow the conversation, but it really clashed with her values. She couldn't just say, "I like bad boys too," just to comfort Duan Yao Guang, so she stayed silent.

Instead, Liang Jue chimed in, "Thinking about writing a harem novel is quite exciting! Go for it!"

Xiao Ya glanced at her fiancé, wondering if his phone was full of harem stories but held back from saying anything in front of Duan Yao Guang.

Duan Yao Guang indeed liked bad boys, with their open-arms attitude, between close and distant demeanor, and their knack for small talk that seemed to exude natural charisma; they were like a soul killer to him. His life intersected with many bad boys: the first male student he liked in third grade had six girlfriends, and his high school crush was a time-management master who had Duan Yao Guang stand guard while he was being affectionate with his girlfriend in an empty classroom.

Of course, these bad boys eventually went their separate ways, leaving behind promises like, "Bro, if you were a girl, I'd definitely marry you."

In his darkest days, it was also a bad boy who comforted his soul. After graduating from college, Duan Yao Guang found himself alone in a strange city. He met a suave boyfriend through online chatting. This boyfriend seemed tailored for him, hoping to rescue him from his poverty after learning about his dire situation. If Duan Yao Guang hadn't been penniless, their relationship might have lasted a few more days. When he discovered that this ideal boyfriend was actually running a romance scam, he temporarily gave up on changing his current situation.

Prompted by Liang Jue's encouragement, he decided to focus on writing, to at least finish this story. If he still couldn't continue, then... he'd pick up another job, perhaps delivering food, to earn some money for a wedding gift for Liang Jue.

What should he write about? Yao Guang scribbled disjointed ideas in his notebook but couldn't find any inspiration.

He loved fantasy literature, enjoying works like "The Lord of the Rings," "Dragonlance," "The Song of the Nibelungs," "Galactic Empire," and Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics." To him, the present world was an eternal cycle in hell, leading him to seek paradise in the imaginary.

However, the things Yao Guang liked were not what readers typically enjoyed. He wanted his stories to be popular and well-received, so he often went online to read writing tips from experienced authors. Predictably, instead of encouragement, he received a lot of criticism. Among those "writing mistakes you absolutely shouldn't make," Yao Guang had made almost all of them.

The first three chapters were packed with settings, featuring bizarre worlds, plots inspired by masterful films yet developing beyond recognition—readers didn't care for that. Instead, they thought it hurt their reading experience. All they wanted was for the protagonist to control the wind and rain in another world, amass a harem, kill anyone who got in their way, and satisfy their frustrated dreams from the real world, finding brief solace through reading.

What about logic? It wasn't needed. Across various stories, the settings had to be novel but not complicated, the protagonist had to be strong, the plot could be cliché but not boring, characters could be stereotyped but not dull, and values had to be universal and not indecisive. No one ever empathizes with the characters; people interpret everything from their own perspectives...

"Ahhh!" Yao Guang scratched his head a few times. He was the kind of person who imagined the difficulties and setbacks he would face before even starting something.

It was already midnight... he would deal with it tomorrow!

Yao Guang went to bed, and in this cramped, damp old house, he closed his eyes, finding redemption through his thoughts. It was like a dream temporarily woven for him; when the sun rose, it would vanish, but when night fell again, it would all return, and the cycle would continue.

The next morning at nine, he groggily got up, donned the clothes that his good friend's wife had kindly washed and ironed the day before, bought breakfast downstairs with the money given by his good friend, and pedaled his bicycle to work.

He worked part-time at a Butler Cafe, where his job was to chat and play board games with the girls who came to spend time there, occasionally listening to them vent about life, help paint their nails, make a few decorative stickers, or play games with them to rank up.

This Butler Cafe was like a Duck Shop whose core functions had been blocked after license reviews and could only offer chatting, with no physical contact or further developments allowed. It was all about providing company. Internally, they jokingly called themselves "mental ducks" because while ducks sold physical pleasures, the butlers sold gentleness. Of course, smiles and warmth weren't as valuable as physical charms: each guest was charged 200 yuan an hour, with the owner taking 170 and giving him a 30-yuan commission.

Yao Guang was very popular at the cafe, winning the "Star of the Month" two months in a row. Being gay and suffering from BPD, he always maintained a respectful distance with customers. Compared to his straight male colleagues, Yao Guang never ogled at female customers' chests or hips. His gay demeanor made the women feel safe, and his good looks helped as well.

But with the economic downturn, popularity didn't matter; the cafe was just scraping by as most of the patrons were regulars. Some were female students who weren't short of money, and occasionally there were gay male guests who liked young men. Mornings and afternoons often had no business. Yao Guang dressed in a suit and sat with his colleagues at the shop entrance, playing mobile games with occasional glances at passersby, reminiscent of people standing outside in the red light district to attract customers.

"What are you writing?" a colleague glanced at Yao Guang's notebook.

"World setting," Yao Guang replied. He quite liked this colleague; they were each other's only friends in the cafe because he had a sort of scoundrel's charm. Of course, all the butlers at this cafe had such charm, differing only in how apparent or subtle it was.

This was a scoundrel's dream job. Not only did they get to choose clients, but they also critiqued them behind their backs. Yao Guang, however, treated all clients the same way. As long as they were polite, he was willing to patiently keep them company because he was gay. For him, it didn't matter how the girls looked, only that their souls were interesting.

"Are you still writing a novel?" the scoundrel colleague asked.

"Yeah," Yao Guang replied. "I want to write a new story."

All his colleagues knew Yao Guang was an unpublished writer. His breadth of knowledge was vast, but he only scratched the surface in each area, which was advantageous when casually chatting and providing emotional value—he could talk about anything. Once people got familiar, they realized he was just like that.

It's said that students with poor grades have a lot of stationery, and writers who tell bad stories often have rich settings. This time, Yao Guang planned to write a post-apocalyptic story. He resolved to overcome all difficulties to complete it because only after finishing and publishing it could he truly take the first step in writing.

"Number 42, right?" a girl pretended to casually twirl her hair, having set her eyes on Yao Guang as soon as she entered the mall.

"You've got a client," the scoundrel said.

Someone had requested Yao Guang. He put away his notebook, took the coffee menu, placed one hand behind his back, and with a bow, held the menu out to take her order.

"What would you like to drink?"Yao Guang asked earnestly.

The girl was too shy even to look up at him. After she ordered her drink, Yao Guang went to make it personally and brought it to her, standing by her side.

Unless requested, butlers were not allowed to sit with clients, though nearly every client would ask them to sit down.

“Would you like to play something?” Yao Guang asked. “How about Tarot Cards? I really like Tarot myself.”

The girl happily agreed, so Yao Guang brought out the Tarot Cards, shuffled them, and played with her for a while. The client extended her time by an hour, earning Yao Guang a commission of sixty yuan. Afterward, he politely declined her invitation to stroll around the mall and have lunch together. At 2 PM, he went to the convenience store next door to buy a sandwich, eating just enough to stave off hunger, and continued working on his world setting.

By 5 PM, his colleagues started to gradually get clients. Some visitors came specifically to spend money, and some found it novel and decided to use discount vouchers to try it out. Yao Guang and his scoundrel colleague took on a group together, playing the Werewolf Game with the girls.

At 9 PM, as the mall prepared to close, Yao Guang could finally clock out. For the second time, he declined the clients’ invitation to go singing karaoke. He took off his ill-fitting suit, pocketed the day’s earnings of a hundred and fifty yuan, and dragged his hungry and exhausted self back home. There, he cooked a packet of instant noodles with a hot dog for a late dinner, powered up his computer, and prepared to write down the ideas he had developed earlier in the day.

Getting started is difficult, then the middle part is hard, and finally, endings are challenging. Yao Guang was so tired he just wanted to sleep.

After eating the noodles, he felt a bit more energized. This was his last gamble, the effort he needed to make in hopes of a turnaround in life. He acknowledged that his situation was purely a result of his own actions, so it was pointless to blame others or his family circumstances. Dwelling on resentment wouldn’t make anything better; it was better to put in some effort.

First, the protagonist needed a name. He opened a name generator website, clicked on random generation, and from the list of names that appeared, he picked one that he thought looked pleasing: Long Jian Lu.

Next, there should be an antagonist, right? Yao Guang had imagined that this world had turned into ruins due to an apocalypse. Who caused the apocalypse? AI. This detail was already settled in his mind, like in "The Matrix," where everyone’s consciousness would be uploaded to the central computer… Would this setting seem too cliché? No matter, this is how it will be for now.

Yao Guang worked hard to dispel all doubts about himself, knowing that such doubts would never end and would only lead him back into that cycle.

The remaining humans were trying every possible way to combat the invasion of the mechanical army. The AI wanted to kill all humans and absorb their consciousness to complete its evolution...

Some humans underwent genetic modification and became superpowered beings akin to the Avengers Alliance. Let's call them the Guardians. Today, Yao Guang had already designed abilities for some of the Guardians.

What kind of person is the protagonist? Yao Guang wanted to write a flawed man but not make him too unsavory, so he balanced his character a bit in the setting. He was constantly searching for the "Priest," who held the key to destroying the AI.

Meanwhile, the antagonist kept obstructing him... What should the antagonist's name be? Yao Guang clicked the name generator twice more, and hundreds of names popped up again.

"Let's call him 'Shan Rong,'" Yao Guang mumbled to himself as he gazed at the screen's glow.

He instinctively made Shan Rong quite handsome as well. The antagonist should be smart, not too foolish.

Long Jian Lu was the last knight, receiving no help. All his former teammates had disbanded and left the Knight Order because of the war's loss, leaving him to search the continent for the whereabouts of the "Priest," holding on to the mission of saving humanity... Hmm, Yao Guang himself liked such a character, thinking this type of man was intriguing, but whether the readers would like it was unknown.

Yao Guang's story began. He wrote several thousand words daily, mostly about Long Jian Lu's adventures across the continent, saving people, destroying the mechanical army, and rescuing ordinary people. These narratives became increasingly rich as he typed away at the keyboard deep into every night.

Yao Guang wrote for almost a month without stopping, but his initial enthusiasm gradually faded. After reaching over forty thousand words, he began to feel bored.

His protagonist Long Jianlu still hadn't found the Priest. How would he find the Priest if this continued?

One late night, Yao Guang started to grow frantic. He needed to create a turning point for the protagonist to overcome the predicament, but it had to be logical. Finding the "Priest" was an important turning point, as it meant Long Jianlu could then shut down the "World Tree."

Perhaps he should introduce another character? Yao Guang pondered, wondering who should fulfill this guiding role. Would introducing a suddenly appearing character be too arbitrary?

In Yao Guang's vision, the antagonist "Shan Rong" was ultimately absorbed by the AI's consciousness and began pursuing immortality through digital information, while also opposing Long Jian Lu. The protagonist continued his relentless effort and finally, within the ruins of a research facility, specifically Number 42 Research Facility...

He found a "person," but Yao Guang still didn't know who this was.

This "person" had no memories of the past, so let's call them Number 42. Yao Guang initially intended for Number 42 to provide Shan Rong with a new body, and thus, be able to perceive certain events. However, this hypothesis didn't hold up; it wasn't logically sound.

The clock pointed to two o'clock, and deep into the night, Yao Guang was very tired. He didn't even know what he was writing anymore, just mindlessly fabricating words. Long Jian Lu thought the person lying in the ruins of Number 42 Research Facility was the "Priest," but when he opened the cultivation pod's door and saw the person's appearance...

What would a person say upon waking with no memory? Yao Guang was too exhausted. If I lost my memory, how would I react? He subconsciously inserted himself into the story, wanting to add some characteristic to Number 42. After all, every character's first appearance should leave an impression on the reader...

...So Yao Guang casually typed a few lines:

[Long Jian Lu held his breath as he looked at the youth inside the cultivation pod. His skin was very pale, his chest bare, wearing only long sleep pants, with something hanging on his chest...]

Yao Guang didn't know what traits to emphasize. His ability to express himself was limited, and his vocabulary quite lacking, so he randomly added an accessory onto Number 42.

[...A hexagonal prism-shaped crystal hung on his chest, refracting a gorgeous light...]

At that moment, Yao Guang suddenly snapped awake!

It was as if someone had forcibly pushed his consciousness, jolting him awake from a half-drowsy state. Everything around him began to flow, the light forming peculiar vortices, and then all the flowing light converged into his pendant.

The light flashed intensely, and Yao Guang saw everything clearly.

"Hey, are you still alive?" Long Jian Lu asked, looking at him with concern.

Then, Yao Guang and Long Jian Lu went through many of the plot events from the novel he had created.

Honestly speaking, no one would probably believe it, but that's exactly how the situation was at the time.

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Note:

鸭店 (Yā Diàn) literally translates to "duck shop." In modern Chinese slang, 鸭 (yā) can refer to a young man who offers companionship or escort services, often for women.鸭店, in this sense, refers to establishments providing such services, similar to a host club or an adult entertainment venue.

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Translated by ELast.