After returning to their place, Wos immediately took out paper and pen, ready to start writing.
But after writing only a few words, he stopped again.
“Wait, I need to study this world’s publishing situation more carefully.”
Tom and Jerry watched him fidgeting again and exchanged a helpless glance.
This guy had already been so excited at the internet cafe, so what was he up to now?
“I remember seeing some information about publishers online earlier. Let me double-check the submission methods.” Wos rummaged through the notes he had jotted down.
After sorting things out, he found that the American publishing industry in 2007 was indeed still mainly based on traditional submissions.
Authors first had to write a detailed synopsis and sample chapters, then mail them to a publisher’s editor.
Online submissions existed, but they hadn’t become mainstream yet.
“That’s actually convenient, no need to mess around with building a website.” Wos breathed a sigh of relief.
“I can just submit directly to publishers.”
But right after that, another problem stumped him.
“Would American readers really like Chinese xuanhuan novels?” Wos frowned.
“Things like Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, would these concepts be too unfamiliar for Americans?”
He recalled the information he had seen online earlier.
America’s mainstream novels were indeed mostly fantasy, science fiction, and mystery.
But most of those fantasy novels were Western magic systems like *The Lord of the Rings* and *Harry Potter*, which were completely different from Chinese cultivation fantasy.
“If I write *Battle Through the New Heavens*, would American readers be totally confused when they see ‘Battle Qi turning into a horse’?” The more Wos thought about it, the more worried he got.
“What if nobody understands it? Wouldn’t it just flop?”
Tom noticed Wos’s gloomy face and walked over to pat his leg, as if asking: What’s wrong?
“I’m thinking about what type of novel would be best to write,” Wos explained.
“Xuanhuan might be too hard to understand, so I need to change my approach.”
He went over the various web novel genres he had read in his previous life again.
Xuanhuan and xianxia really did have cultural barriers, but there were other genres!
“Rebirth! Transmigration!” Wos’s eyes lit up.
“These themes are the easiest to understand, and they can also be combined with American historical backgrounds!”
The core of rebirth and transmigration novels was simple: the protagonist dies or accidentally travels to the past, and uses his knowledge of the future to change his fate.
This setup didn’t require a complicated worldview, and readers from any cultural background could understand it.
“And it can be written to be really satisfying!” Wos stood up excitedly.
“The protagonist knows the stock market trends, knows historical events, knows who will get rich and who will go bust. How could it not be satisfying?”
Jerry curiously climbed onto the table and watched Wos scribbling on the paper.
Wos began thinking up various eye-catching titles:
*The Civil War Breaks Out, and President Lincoln Asks Me Three Times to Take Command*: Reborn in the Civil War era, the protagonist uses modern military knowledge to help Lincoln and becomes a legendary strategist. Read this novel at NovelPing for the best experience.
*The Afghan Soldier King Returns, but His Daughter Is Trapped on Loli Island*: A retired special forces soldier is reborn and discovers his daughter has been trafficked, setting off on a path of revenge.
*Starting With a Weapons Check-in System, I Became America’s Biggest Arms Dealer*: Transmigrated to the eve of World War II, he uses a system to check in for all kinds of advanced weapons and profits from the war.
*Transmigrating at the Start of 9/11, Watch How I Save the Twin Towers*: Transmigrated to 2001, he stops the 9/11 attacks and becomes a national hero.
“Heh heh, these titles are satisfying and exciting enough, right?” Wos looked at his masterpieces, very pleased.
But as he wrote, he thought of another problem.
It was 2007 now, so wouldn’t a 9/11 theme be too sensitive?
After all, only six years had passed, and the scars were still fresh.
“Forget it, historical themes are safer.” Wos crossed out the 9/11 title.
While he hesitated over which theme to pick, he suddenly remembered something.
“Right! Captain America!”
Wos remembered that in this Marvel world, Captain America, Steve Rogers, was absolutely a household-name hero.
A legendary soldier of World War II who woke up after being frozen for seventy years, although right now he should still be dreaming sweet dreams in the glacier.
An experience like that was a natural source of material for a novel.
“Besides, everyone knows Captain America’s story, so I can write about a comrade who fought alongside him!” The more Wos thought about it, the more excited he got.
He quickly wrote a new title on the paper: *Reborn in World War II, I Became Captain America’s Comrade*
This setup was simply perfect!
The protagonist transmigrates to the World War II era, becomes Steve Rogers’s comrade, and fights HYDRA together with him, going through all kinds of thrilling battles.
It had a historical background, superhero elements, and could satisfy readers’ hero complex too.
“This is it!” Wos clenched his fist excitedly.
Tom and Jerry watched him suddenly become so excited.
Although they didn’t quite understand what was going on, they were happy for his excitement too.
Wos began working out the specific plot:
The protagonist is a modern military enthusiast who accidentally transmigrates to America in 1942, and discovers that he is actually a mutant with a super healing ability.
With his knowledge of history, he knows that Steve Rogers is about to become Captain America.
So he finds a way to join the army and becomes Steve’s comrade, and because of his special ability, the protagonist’s military rank keeps shooting upward.
The protagonist also witnesses the historic moment when Steve takes part in the experimental program and becomes Captain America with superhuman strength.
Then the protagonist resolutely gives up his own rank and teams up with Steve as partners, carrying out all kinds of secret missions against the Red Skull and the HYDRA organization.
“The key is to write that brotherhood of fighting side by side!” Wos quickly jotted down key points on the paper.
“Two people going from strangers to trust, from partners to brothers who’d die for each other. Readers eat up this kind of emotional line.”
And the protagonist could also use his knowledge of future technology to help Howard Stark improve weapons and equipment, and even invent some high-tech gadgets ahead of time. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
The protagonist would act as a wingman, helping advance Steve and Peggy’s romantic line.
In the final battle against the boss, the Red Skull, he would take Steve’s place and fly the plane that was about to explode to the Arctic, and before leaving, he would urge Steve to live a good life with Peggy.
“Satisfying moments, full of emotion! Right?!” Wos looked at the densely packed plot outline, extremely pleased.
The reason Wos wanted to make the novel’s protagonist a mutant was that he had his own little plan.
He figured that if this novel ever became a hit, it could also change the American public’s view of mutants.
While he was immersed in his creative passion, Tom suddenly patted his arm and pointed at the clock.
“Ah! It’s already five in the afternoon!” Wos finally noticed the time.
“Tom, you need to get ready to go to the restaurant!”
Tom nodded.
Although he was curious about Wos’s writing plan, work still had to be done.
“Go change into your tailcoat first, and I’ll tidy these things up.” Wos carefully put away the papers filled with ideas.
“When you come back after tonight’s performance, I’ll start writing the novel for real!”
Half an hour later, the three arrived at “The Blue Danube” restaurant again.
There were even more guests today than yesterday, and many had come because of his reputation, hoping to hear that amazing cat play the piano again.
“Mr. Tom! You’re here!” Franz walked over warmly.
“Several tables of guests today came specifically to hear you play!”
Hearing that, Tom was very pleased with himself, and even walked with his head held high.
“Then don’t let the audience down.” Wos patted Tom’s shoulder.
“Go on, show off your talent!”
When Tom walked gracefully toward the piano in his tailcoat, warm applause rang out in the restaurant.
“Is that the cat who plays piano?”
“Unbelievable!”
“I saw the video online yesterday, and I came today specifically to hear the live version!”
Listening to the guests’ chatter, Wos felt delighted.
It seemed Tom was already getting a little famous, and that was definitely good for them.
As the first note sounded, the restaurant fell quiet.
Tonight Tom had chosen Beethoven’s *Moonlight Sonata*, and the melodious music echoed through the restaurant, with everyone immersed in the beautiful melody.
Wos sat in a corner, watching Tom play with such focus on stage, and thought that since Tom was working so hard, he couldn’t fall behind either.
Then he took out his paper and pen, and, taking advantage of the quiet environment, began planning the opening of the novel.
“My name is John Smith, an ordinary military enthusiast. If someone had told me that I would transmigrate to America in 1942, become a mutant, and become comrades with Captain America, I would have been sure they were insane…”