Chapter 5: Leeuwenhoek’s ‘Truth’

Zhou Ke and Li Hua were punished by being made to stand at the very front of the line, closest to the flag-raising plaza. Once all the students had completed their tests, Zhou Ke witnessed the arcane brilliance of the "Truth" for the first time in his life.

"Small or great, size lies in the observation."

Whaleye whispered the incantation, and his Truth manifested from thin air, diffusing a deep emerald spiritual glow. Although his back was turned to the crowd, people could clearly see that whenever his well-tailored suit obscured a stone sculpture, that sculpture would simply vanish. It was as if by magic; two stone carvings that would have required several people to lift were reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye.

While the teachers and students on the playground gasped in amazement, Zhou Ke, standing closest, saw it more clearly and accurately than anyone else. The sculptures had not disappeared; they had shrunk into toy models less than five centimeters tall. Furthermore, he saw the title of Whaleye’s Truth: *The Wonders of Nature*.

Judging solely by the title, one might assume this was a book about flora and fauna. In reality, it was authored by the "Father of the Optical Microscope," Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, depicting the marvelous world of tiny organisms he discovered under his lens.

"Since it is a Truth concerning the microscopic world, its ability is to shrink objects? I just wonder if it works on living things..."

The Truth examination finally drew to a successful close amidst Zhou Ke's endless reverie and silent contemplation.

***

The autumn water mirrored the setting sun, and the flowing light faded over distant mountains. At six-thirty in the evening, with the sun sinking in the west, Zhou Ke stood before his front door. His expression was unprecedentedly grave; the dim, yellowish glow of the setting sun descended slowly from the west, veiling half of his cheek. The bridge of his nose served as the boundary: one side in shadow, the other in residual red. His deep, dark eyes stared unblinkingly at the doorway, as if a ferocious beast were lurking behind it, or perhaps a world-shaking treasure lay buried within.

"I ought to have a younger sister," Zhou Ke murmured uncertainly after a long, intense gaze.

With a mixture of anticipation and hesitation, he took out his keys and unlocked the door. The two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was dimly lit and desolate.

There was only one pair of slippers in the entryway, revealing the cruel truth of living alone.

"Ah, how truly lonely. Who exactly set the unspoken rule that transmigrators must be star-crossed loners?" Zhou Ke sighed. He changed his shoes and entered, not even bothering to turn on the lights. Like a fish out of water that had lost its dreams, he sank deep into the sofa in the living room.

According to his theory, the parents of transmigrators were high-risk professionals. As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall. Knowing there was little room for them in the narrative, they had been secretly disposed of by an author too lazy to invent two more names back when Zhou Ke was a child. Moreover, they had left behind no grand background, no powerful patron, and no earth-shattering treasure.

"Let's see... as for fixed assets, there is this apartment. It was bought in full, so I don't have to pay monthly rent, though water, electricity, and property management fees are still due." After lounging for a while, Zhou Ke searched through his memories. "There aren't many savings. My living expenses have long relied on my predecessor's part-time job at a fast-food restaurant and scholarships. Life has been... quite frugal. I simply can't save any money."

If his peers were fretting over how to live, Zhou Ke was busy just trying to survive.

"While I wouldn't mind eating plain noodles every day, I need to keep some money aside for emergencies like illness... All things considered, the remaining cash will last me at most three weeks, right?" Zhou Ke scratched his head in distress, his long black hair turning into a total mess.

Before he transmigrated, he hadn't been a man of great wealth, but he hadn't experienced such destitution either... well, perhaps he had, but he couldn't quite remember. On Earth, Zhou Ke was an obscure children's book author. His representative works included *The Empress's New Clothes* and *The Black-Dog-Blood Princess and the Seven Little Zombies*. Judging by these titles, it shouldn't be hard to tell that the previous story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" had indeed come from Mr. Zhou's pen.

Beyond that, Mr. Zhou was widely known in the industry by a moniker even more famous than his pen name: "The Fairy Tale Ripper." There was, of course, a reason for this. Although his primary profession was writing children's books, his works were often unpopular and had even been rejected for publication several times due to excessive dark, heavy, and cruel elements.

Driven by hunger and cold, he had reluctantly written suspense horror novels, which were, ironically, highly acclaimed. They sold so well that they were reprinted three times—three whole times! Almost all his fans and editors urged him to stop obsessing over those nonsensical fairy tales and focus on suspense novels, promising he would surely become a famous author.

But Zhou Ke was stubborn. Becoming a fairy tale author had been his dream since childhood. He would never give up lightly; he believed that as long as he persisted, he would inevitably achieve success. Just like Beethoven, who lost his hearing in middle age—many people urged him to give up music, but did Beethoven listen?

Suspense novels were merely a compromise to make ends meet and did not represent his true aspirations. A man must know when to bend and when to stretch, when to be long and when to be short, when to... let's stop there; if we keep driving this vehicle, we might end up off a cliff.

In short, everyone knows that this down-and-out artist did not choose to start a World War but instead persevered in his writing. This was a truly commendable thing.

Just as Zhou Ke on Earth was trapped in a predicament of lacking inspiration and unable to continue writing, while holding onto the optimistic philosophy of "where you fall, you grill," he decided to go to bed early to find inspiration in his dreams...

A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he transmigrated.

The transmigration was so abrupt, and the world was so alien and strange... but that, of course, is a lie. As we mentioned earlier, Zhou Ke was someone very good at adapting to circumstances. Panic and resistance were nonexistent; he was filled with curiosity and a sense of novelty.

"This world has a magic system, and mages are a dime a dozen as a profession; it's not a bad source of interesting inspiration," Zhou Ke thought, his train of thought taking an unusual turn.

He lay on the sofa with his hands behind his head, pondering for a long time. He didn't set about solving his financial problems, nor did he use his surge of inspiration to write a fairy tale. Instead, he turned on the television to provide background noise and picked up his phone to scroll through short videos.

Zhou Ke knew what he needed to do and how to do it, but—he simply didn't want to. He made an excuse about wanting to learn the local customs and comfortably indulged in low-brow entertainment. It was as if he were saying: *This is what a normal person does.*

"Let me see how far the fast-food entertainment in this blue world has developed. 'Hagimi Hagimi,' 'Far ahead,' 'Pure love war god falls to the ground'... so much fun, so much fun!"

Zhou Ke’s finger, swiping across the screen, suddenly stopped. His smiling, squinting eyes focused on the bathroom, where the light was flickering on and off.

"Come to think of it, when did I turn the light on?"