Chapter 12: Sherlock Holmes Fanfiction

The Chinese grading team was deep in heated discussion, but the Zhang Chu they spoke of was in his room, searching through the world’s historical background. This was not the Earth he once knew; the timeline was truly tangled. Without the system's abilities, he might have been doomed by the college entrance exam, but now he could even aim for the top scorer.

“Sweetheart, you need to rest well today. Stop reading for now and have some of this—it’ll help your brain!”

Chu Lan knocked on Zhang Chu’s door, handing him a can of Six Walnuts.

Looking at his mother, whose face seemed more than ten years younger, Zhang Chu felt this world was quite nice. He asked, “What happened with Dad just now? Why did he look so down?”

“It’s nothing new. Another rejection. After all these years, barely any of his novels have been accepted. He always complains about his unrecognized talent. You mustn’t follow in his footsteps,” Chu Lan warned. Having one aspiring writer in the family was more than enough.

Zhang Chu breathed a sigh of relief. He’d worried his father, Zhang Bowen, had been caught after spending over a thousand yuan on old books. “Let him write—maybe one day he’ll get published in a magazine.”

But that hope was slim; in his previous life on Earth, Zhang Bowen wrote countless novels, yet only a handful were ever accepted. His writer’s dream was all but shattered.

“I’m not stopping him from writing. I just don’t want him wasting money. You’ll need a good sum for college—tuition, living expenses, a laptop. Those old books just take up space at home,” Chu Lan said.

Zhang Chu’s soul was that of an adult. He quickly reassured her, “Mom, don’t worry about tuition. I’ll earn the money myself.”

Chu Lan shot him a look. “Earn money? And how will you do that, young master? Handing out flyers, or working at McDonald's or KFC?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll figure it out after the exams.”

He wanted to lighten his parents’ burden and hoped they’d pursue what they loved. That would’ve been impossible before, but with the Savior System, everything was possible.

“I won’t say more. The better you score, the less pressure on our tuition. I’m not trying to stress you out—just do your best. Now go shower and get some sleep.”

“I’ll go after I finish this. You should go watch TV.”

“Mango Channel is on commercial break. That Lady Rong is too much—stabbing Ziwei with a needle! I’d love to give her a piece of my mind!”

Zhang Chu was speechless at the mention of the plot, recalling the terror of summer and winter vacations dominated by “Princess Pearl.”

...

The next day’s exams passed almost without incident. In the morning’s science comprehensive test, Zhang Chu used nearly two hours of outside assistance—those questions were massive in number, with many unfamiliar ones, so he could only rely on luck.

For the afternoon’s English exam, since there was a listening section, he chose in-hall assistance, copying the mindset of another English teacher from his school.

He breezed through the various question types, and his essay flowed smoothly. When he chose to turn in his paper early, the college entrance exam was over!

He’d felt panic and nerves, but more than anything, it was a chance to experience it all anew.

Thinking about university made Zhang Chu’s head ache—he couldn’t just play all summer; he’d have to study hard too. In his past life, he drifted aimlessly through college. This time, he was determined to make the most of it.

Many handed in their English exams early, so Zhang Chu blended in with the crowd, unnoticed. He’d wanted to meet up with friends from the exam hall, but it looked like he’d have to contact them by phone first.

Excited, he slung his bag over his shoulder and pushed open the doors of his family’s Hanlin Pavilion Bookstore.

“Well, what’s so special about today? The bookstore’s actually busy for once,” he remarked.

Zhang Bowen was at the register, packing books for customers. “Maybe it’s because the movie ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective’ is about to premiere. The promotion’s been intense. Didn’t you notice most of today’s sales are of ‘The Complete Sherlock Holmes’?”

“So that’s it. I thought I’d seen a ghost!” Even so, three or four customers were a lot compared to the usual empty aisles.

When the customers had mostly left, Zhang Bowen switched the sales system on the computer to a Word document, preparing to write.

Zhang Chu leaned over. “Dad, what are you writing now? Weren’t you rejected just yesterday?”

Zhang Bowen immediately put on a dramatic face, worthy of Sichuan opera. “What do you know? Every writer has been rejected. That was ‘Detective World’s’ poor taste. No wonder their sales keep dropping.”

“Right, right. With writing as good as yours, it’s all their fault.”

“Actually, today I’m planning to write a Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, or perhaps an original story. Hollywood’s new ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective’ is about to be released, and now there’s a global call for Sherlock Holmes fan works—probably as a publicity stunt.”

Zhang Chu wasn’t interested in that. He asked, “Is there any prize money in this contest?”

Even a hero is stumped without money. Zhang Chu was too embarrassed to ask his parents for more; he’d have to earn it himself.

Zhang Bowen fiddled with the computer and pointed to the screen. “It looks like there is. The movie is partnering with ‘Chronicles of Mystery’ magazine. Any fanfiction published in their magazine is automatically entered, and then online voting will choose the top three. Winning works will represent China in a global showdown.”

“All this for a fanfiction contest? Isn’t that a bit much?” Zhang Chu rolled his eyes. The honors were secondary—the prize money was key.

He stared at the prizes listed and shouted, “Wow! Every finalist gets 500 yuan per thousand characters. Third place is 100,000, second is 250,000, and first prize is 500,000 yuan! And that’s just the China division—the movie company must be loaded!”

Zhang Bowen added, “Sherlock Holmes fans around the world are ecstatic. I heard Warner Bros. plans to adapt the highest-voted fanfiction into a film or TV series. It’s not just about the money.”

“For those prizes alone, it’s worth entering.”

Compared to the film’s hundreds of millions in investment, these awards were nothing. But for such a small cost, they’d capture the attention of Sherlock Holmes fans worldwide and draw in curious onlookers—a bargain!

Zhang Chu was itching to get started. “Dad, when’s the deadline for submissions?”

“June fifteenth. The rankings are decided by the number of votes on the official website. The global winners are announced June twenty-fifth.”

“There’s still time—a whole week!”

Zhang Bowen finally realized, “You want to enter, too?”

“Why not? I’m aiming for that half a million prize. If I win, I’ll buy you any edition of any book you want!”

“Then I’ll look forward to your good news.”