0.5

[Do you think he is... Is he a 1?][Probably around 0.5.][0.5...?][In fact, he's the most pitiful.] This is quoted from the opening of the original work—I first encountered the author through a short essay about robot hearts. Clean and simple, although the linear story is somewhat simplified, both its style and meaning are quite to my liking. So I looked up and began to revisit the stream-of-consciousness (and somewhat absurd) cover and the stream-of-consciousness (and somewhat absurd) book itself, *0.5*. On my first read, I also glanced at the book reviews. —Hmm, it seems rather difficult to understand...

Commentator: Qiu Mila Title: A Uniquely Written Urban Fantasy Story Review Summary: Mind-bending, multi-threaded works need to be clearly written, providing readers with a sense of independent exploration and a clearer plot. Suitable for: Authors who want to show off their skills and gain more readers, and authors who want to clearly write multi-threaded, multi-perspective stories. Word Count: 2842, approximately 5 minutes reading time. I've always felt that the most surprising thing about SF (a Chinese online literature platform) is that I can always find unique works that stick to their own style in the vast sea of ​​books. These works may be relatively obscure, but once you click on them, you can feel that "only the author wrote this..."

I clicked on this because the title and cover seemed a bit mesmerizing. The first chapter's opening felt a bit like a tomb raiding story (maybe?). While the formulaic opening is rather cliché, there's an undeniable reason why it's a formulaic story; it still kept me reading. But then, in the latter half of the first chapter, the style suddenly shifts. The male protagonist kills the unattainable beauty with scissors and then watches her die. Huh? What the heck? The second chapter also starts with some inexplicable dialogue from a dream, and since I didn't understand it or finish reading it, I'm not sure what it's about...

The narrative, breaking away from conventional perspectives and relying almost entirely on characters' psychological shifts to drive the story, is remarkably novel. It squeezes malice and desire out of the text, delivering a raw, unfiltered feel. The writing is dirty yet pure; such writing is rare these days. However, the story itself is a weakness; once extracted, it becomes surprisingly monotonous. Nevertheless, the characters' performances effectively bring this somewhat somber tale to life. (The last sentence is a poetic expression and doesn't directly relate to the narrative.)

Honestly, why can't I even type a newline character or leave a blank line?

Are you still there? If so, I'll give you a monthly pass next month, and we'll update around that time.

Hey, how about we think about when to rob another bank?

Adding "This is probably one of the wisest things I've done in the last six months" to the end of the previous comment.

I have a lot of things to do, so I'll take leave until around August.

Isn't 0.5 Supposed to be both dominant and submissive? 😏