I Laboriously Copy Old Poems, Turning History into a Novel

This world is missing a great deal of historical material.

It is a parallel world to ours, one that also passed through ancient times, the Qin and Han dynasties, and even the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Yet this world has no tradition of recording history.

Because historical records are so scarce, even a few stray words on a scrap of paper can set everyone talking. From ministers to ordinary people, they are all fascinated by history books and old poetry.

Li Gengbai transmigrates to this world as a university student. He already has a girlfriend, yet he has fallen for the most beautiful girl on campus.

A novel-writing contest begins, and Li Gengbai joins in. He has never written a novel before, but before transmigrating, he loved reading history books. What? You want to hear the stories of Su Shi and Wang Anshi, Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an, Nurhaci and Yuan Chonghuan? You think I made them all up myself? No, no. Those stories were already in the history books. I’m just telling them to you.

You could call me an author, but not exactly a conventional one. This is not something I can explain in a sentence or two. Anyway, I’m bringing the stories of historical figures from before I transmigrated back to life in the form of novels.

I swear on my five-finger maiden that I’m not writing these historical novels for money.

I want to enrich this world’s cultural life. I’m going to write A Complete History of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, and Biographies of the Founding Emperors. What? You think stories about emperors and sword immortals are too dull? Then, to suit your tastes, it’s time to start writing Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio!