[Full manuscript in progress, expected to be published by the end of the year. Note left on June 30, 2026]
Xia Liwen, an intern at an AI studio.
The studio took the outline of a cultivation novel she'd written in high school about a male protagonist and ran it through AI, producing three books.
The first was a romance, where a sunshine heroine redeems an evil villain.
Xia Liwen: "Damn it, my villain is a sinister old man! And a disfigured one at that!"
The second was a power fantasy, where an unassuming male protagonist seizes opportunities and ultimately becomes the strongest in the cultivation world.
Xia Liwen: "What the hell, why is he even stealing the female cultivators' techniques? Did this male lead come from O Tang or something??"
The third was a farming story, where an imperial chef transmigrates and opens a flying gourmet ship, serving dishes so sought-after that they're impossible to get.
Xia Liwen: "Look at my worldbuilding! Indulging in food will hinder your cultivation!!"
After watching all three with a blank expression, Xia Liwen asked, "Where's the male lead from my original story? Where did you squeeze him in?"
Her coworkers, who'd generated the three books: "Take a look."
In the redemption story, the original male lead was the second male lead who couldn't get the one he loved and eventually turned evil.
In the power-fantasy comeback story, the original male lead was a foil who kept getting face-slapped.
In the farming gourmet story, the original male lead was a nobody who only knew how to eat, then got stuck in his cultivation.
Xia Liwen: "...He's sure busy."
Her merciless mockery came back to bite her, and Xia Liwen transmigrated with her body shrunken.
Looking at the male lead beside her, trembling and wearing the same face as her, she sat up straight and began to think.
Great, she'd transmigrated. But which script was this?
Or was it... all of them?
*
[Reading guide]
1. Blunt, cocky, hyper-competitive heroine x laid-back, resigned, snarky male lead;
2. The good stuff and all the spotlight belong to the heroine. They're not both powerful: the heroine is strong and the hero is weak. His role is to provide commentary, and he's very useless in the most reassuring way;
3. The cultivation world's setting has lots of original rules, not traditional cultivation, with plain and simple writing;
4. The heroine and male lead are not related in any way!!
5. The blurb involves an [AI studio] setting. The author herself doesn't support the commercialization of AI novels. It's only part of the setup to round out the worldbuilding, and isn't a major focus;
6. Updates daily at 18:00, three chapters a day. If the book gets a paid chapter section, it'll be six a day;
Theme: Stand on your own two feet and strive to improve
