Some friends might ask why I refer to it as the Golden Age.

Those of you who have been reading online fiction for four or five years probably know—that was the Golden Age of Originality.

You could pick up almost any book and find a masterpiece; any plot discussion was rooted in something new.

Everyone passionately debated the author's intent and the story they crafted.

No one thought about plagiarism or even heavy borrowing.

At most, perhaps they’d adopt the same kind of extra-dimensional creature—that was the Golden Age.

It was exactly then that I stepped away from the online literary scene.

I regret missing its decline, but I am also fortunate for having missed it.

In the months since my return, I’ve been scouring the internet for something new to read.

But as some friends have told me, searching and searching—no, I should say digging and digging—you might unearth one book with decent prose, and then another with decent prose...

I keep hearing friends discuss how a book’s writing style is good, and it puzzles me.

Why not mention the plot? After all, I myself am an author who focuses on plot.

Slowly, I understood the reason—the secret behind the vanishing of the Golden Age.

It’s actually quite simple, and many friends must already know: once an original author creates something—a world view, a plot, or a unique writing approach—it is quickly plagiarized and borrowed by countless others until it’s utterly worn out.

Truly worn out.

Before The Misty Trilogy, aside from some very old Xianxia works, had many people even read about Cultivation? And now? How many truly excellent novels can you find in that genre? Consequently, my friends can only judge a book's quality by its prose.

What about the plot? The originality? They can’t discuss those things because those elements have already been recycled a thousand times over.

If you conceive an original idea, write it well, and then someone immediately takes it and uses it, will you write a second one? A third and a fourth? In a situation like that, you won’t continue.

Otherwise, people will just call you an idiot.

Indeed.

So, when originality disappears, and the existing concepts are used a thousand times over, everyone is forced to judge books solely by the quality of their writing.

That’s the only way they can distinguish what’s worth reading.

Alas.

I wonder if anyone has noticed: the protagonist’s name in Terror Infinity sounds like "struggle." Yes, Terror Infinity is my struggle.

I want to use it to tell my friends that a good book requires not just good prose, but also novelty—something that makes readers’ eyes light up, something that gives them the desire to keep reading.

I want them to know that the world of originality hasn't died! I want them to know! This little patch of green—no, this tiny speck of green!—it still survives! Perhaps some will call me a fool because this is the way of the world; reality has patents to protect creators.

But what about the online literary sphere? There’s nothing.

When you create worlds again and again only to have them copied and used, will you continue? I ask myself with a clear conscience, and my answer is: No! Then, once originality is lost, what will the online literary world become? I dare not imagine—it will only be a desert! To that author friend, I am not targeting you.

Perhaps my conviction is a foolish decision, but I still want to tell certain friends: originality can actually be fun.

It can make readers’ eyes light up, and it can give them that long-lost feeling of reading truly good books.

We can succeed with originality! That author friend, I cannot stop you from using the concept of Terror Infinity, but please write it well.

Don't ruin it, okay? —zhttty, written in the early hours of April 27th.