Since the Light Music Club had only just been established, there were no official activities planned yet. After drinking tea together for quite a while, Ritsu Tainaka cheerfully declared the end of the day's club meeting.
Lin Zhi glanced at the clock—it was already past five.
"Well then, I'll head out first."
He waved goodbye to the girls, slung his commuter bag over his shoulder, and made his way toward the door.
"See you tomorrow!" Ritsu's energetic voice echoed from behind him.
As he descended the stairs, a loud and excited voice suddenly rang out when he reached the third floor.
"Ye Zhi!"
The shout was so loud that it echoed through the entire hallway.
Lin Zhi froze.
He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
Moments later, quick footsteps followed, and a familiar, eager face popped into view.
"It really is you!"
Lin Zhi gave a half-smile. "Runya."
Standing before him was a boy with rather ordinary features—short, neatly cut hair and a pair of large round glasses.
This was An Yi Runya, the editor-in-chief of the Fantasy Beyond Reality website—an extreme ACGN fanatic and one of Lin Zhi's earliest online friends. They'd met plenty of times in person by now.
Lin Zhi glanced around. Runya's booming greeting had drawn quite a few curious stares. Several students were already pointing their way.
Lin Zhi's expression darkened. "Runya, when will you ever stop being so loud and impulsive?"
Realizing what he'd done, Runya scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry. I'll keep it down next time."
Lin Zhi sighed. He knew this was just how Runya was—scolding him wouldn't change much.
They moved to a quiet corner. Runya still looked thrilled.
"You're in Class 1-A, right? That means it'll be so much easier for us to talk about stuff now!"
"Don't. Don't you dare come looking for me." Lin Zhi immediately cut him off.
"Eh? Why not?" Runya's grin faltered, confusion flashing in his eyes.
Lin Zhi gave him a flat look. "Because you're a campus celebrity. I don't want to be associated with the 'Otaku Evangelist.' I just want a quiet high school life."
Over the past week, Lin Zhi had picked up quite a bit about this school's quirks—mostly thanks to gossip queen Iroha Isshiki.
Runya, despite his unremarkable looks, average grades, and not-so-charming personality, was actually a well-known figure at the elite Private Sogo High.
He'd once caused a stir by storming into the faculty office to argue for permission to show an anime at the school festival—he even got the principal involved.
And as a self-proclaimed "missionary of the two-dimensional faith," he spent his days passionately recommending anime, novels, and games to anyone within earshot. Thus his nickname: The Otaku Evangelist.
In a school full of geniuses and prodigies, Runya still managed to stand out.
"Why not? Shouldn't we spread great works to more people?" he said earnestly.
Lin Zhi clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone's got their own tastes, you know. There's a saying—'One man's honey is another man's poison.' What you love might be unbearable to someone else. It's fine to share what you enjoy with fellow fans, but forcing it on others? That's different."
He paused, then added, "Think about it. If an extreme sports enthusiast kept pushing you to try skydiving every day, would you be interested?"
"You wouldn't. You'd just nod along to be polite, then get irritated by his endless rambling."
"So, Runya… there's nothing wrong with loving something—but you can't shove it down people's throats. That'll only backfire. Got it?"
Runya was quiet for a moment before mumbling, "Yeah… I get it."
Did he really? Lin Zhi sighed inwardly. Probably not. The guy was stubborn as a rock.
He'd known Runya long enough to understand just how deep his obsession with the two-dimensional world ran. The line between reality and fiction had already blurred for him—it wasn't passion anymore, it was addiction.
But true to form, Runya quickly bounced back, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Oh, right, Ye Zhi—"
"Wait. It's Lin Zhi."
"Ah, right. Lin Zhi." Runya corrected himself, though it sounded awkward. He'd been calling him by his old pen name for so long that it was practically muscle memory.
"So, when's Volume 13 coming out?"
"Uh… soon, maybe." Lin Zhi's tone turned a bit awkward.
Runya was, of course, talking about Lin Zhi's unfinished light novel.
Life in the countryside had been peaceful but boring. To kill time, Lin Zhi had adapted the lore of a certain legendary MOBA game from his past life into a light novel.
The story followed a boy's journey to becoming a legendary hero. Thanks to the game's already rich worldbuilding and well-crafted characters, the novel began with a sweeping, epic tone.
When he submitted it, one of the editors immediately loved it and helped push it to publication. But they also warned him—it wasn't exactly what the Japanese light novel market was used to.
Grand, mythic storytelling was rare in that world; such epic scale was usually found only in shonen manga.
So while the novel's debut sales weren't bad—above average for a newcomer—it wasn't exactly a breakout hit.
Still, that was how Lin Zhi and Runya had first met.
Back then, Runya wasn't a famous blogger yet—just another faceless fan online. But he fell head over heels for the novel's heroic themes and began tirelessly promoting it to fellow readers.
As word of mouth spread, the novel's popularity skyrocketed.
Since Lin Zhi already knew the original lore inside and out, he wrote quickly—releasing a new volume every month and a half. The sales soared, and soon he'd become one of the hottest new light novel authors in the scene.
But then… his chronic laziness struck, and his once-blazing update pace plummeted.
Even his personal website—initially just a small homepage for his work—slowly evolved into the prototype for what would become his online community.
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