2.Detective

Late at night, Matt came back after working for more than sixteen hours, and as promised, he brought back a cheap pen, a bottle of ink, and a small amount of writing paper.

"Brother, what exactly are you going to do with these?" Matt asked.

The house was too dark, and most of the slum areas didn't even have electricity, let alone electric lights. Lynn lit a candle and examined the things Matt brought back with the candlelight: "Write novels, to make money."

Matt was stunned: "What...what?"

There wasn't much writing paper bought back, so to save it, Lynn filled the pen with ink and chose to try writing on his hand first: "Write novels, make money."

"Write novels?" Matt had lived with Lynn since childhood and had never discovered that the latter had the ability to write novels.

"It's late, you should go to bed first." Lynn knew that it would be difficult to explain this to Matt, and only by writing the first draft and demonstrating his ability could he reassure him.

"Since when did you learn to write novels? You don't even like reading them, do you?" Matt didn't want Lynn to give up on himself because of his disability, but writing novels seemed absurd to him.

"It's really impractical. Instead of scribbling on paper, why don't you go out and find some of the simplest jobs, even if you can only earn a hundred copper coins or fifty copper coins a month. "Writing novels is difficult, and you can't just make money out of thin air. Brother, maybe you should just give it up..."

After checking the pen, Lynn reached out and patted Matt on the shoulder: "Don't worry, when you wake up tomorrow, you'll see—what's wrong with your face?"

Just now, because the candle wasn't lit, his attention was mainly focused on the pen and writing paper, so he didn't look at Matt closely.

Now, as they were closer, he could clearly see Matt's gaunt face in the candlelight, There were several bruises on it.

And before he left, his depravity value was displayed as [-40], but now it has become [-30].

Based on the patterns Lynn has observed in recent days, the higher the depravity value, the more depraved the person is. Conversely, the lower the value, the more upright the person is.

The injuries on his face and the increase in depravity value suggest that Matt might have encountered something outside.

"My face? Ah... I fell. The road was too, too slippery. It was all snow. Luckily, I didn't fall off the roof." Matt touched his nose and explained.

"Is that so?" Lynn keenly observed that things didn't seem quite so simple, but since Matt wasn't forthcoming, he didn't delve further, "Just be careful in the future and don't let anything happen to you."

"Okay, okay..." Matt, feeling slightly guilty, lost interest in interfering with Lynn's affairs.

Thinking about it from another angle, it wasn't bad for Lynn to write and feel like he was living a meaningful life. Once he had resolved his own issues, he could take the time to help Lynn find a job.

"I'm going to bed now, brother. Call me if you need anything."

"Alright, goodnight." Lynn spent the day With nothing else to do and now equipped with pens and writing paper, he immediately decided to work on the first draft through the night.

This way, he could earn money sooner and leave the slums. Otherwise, he suspected he wouldn't last long before freezing to death this winter.

The first mystery novel he chose was the world's most renowned "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".

This novel, firstly, consisted of numerous short stories, making it ideal for serialization in newspapers. Secondly, it was a well-known masterpiece that had been tested by the market. Thirdly, the novel's world setting was similar to his current surroundings, reducing the difficulty of adaptation.

Based on these points, choosing "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" to break the ice was undoubtedly the most suitable option.

Although Lynn read this book as a child, it truly deserved the title of a classic, and he still remembered the general content. Moreover, as a mystery novelist himself, it was not difficult for him to adapt it into a similar version based on his memory.

The only obstacle hindering his progress was that the original body of this person didn't know many characters. Despite inheriting the memories and studying hard over the past few days, he still had deficiencies.

Therefore, he could only first write a draft in a simplified manner, He intended to revise and finalize the manuscript once he had a deeper understanding of the language in this world.

December 24th, Dawn

Matt woke up after only a few hours of sleep, rubbed his eyes, and was surprised to find Lynn still sitting at the desk, writing his novel.

A small pile of written manuscripts had already accumulated beside him, and the bought sheets of paper were almost used up.

"Brother... Have you been awake all night?"

"No, I'm almost done. I'll rest after I finish." Lynn wrote intently.

Back on Earth, rushing to complete manuscripts had made him feel incredible pain and annoyance, but after coming to this world, his energy seemed to be boundless.

"...Okay." Matt took the partially written manuscript from Lynn and began flipping through it.

When Lynn's legs were still functional, he had worked hard to support Matt's education for several years, so reading novels didn't require much effort from Matt, and he was quickly captivated by the intricate plot of the draft. With his mouth slightly open in disbelief, he exclaimed, "Brother... Did you really write this?"

"What do you think?" Lynn put down his pen and looked at Matt expectantly.

As a native of this world and the first reader, Matt's opinion on the manuscript would be invaluable.

"I... I think it's good..." Matt's eyes lit up, first in surprise that his usually rough-around-the-edges brother could write such a meticulous story, and then with joy for Lynn.

Written like this, it was certain to earn some money, but that wasn't the most important thing.

What mattered most was that Lynn had found his own value. He no longer had to sit in a wheelchair all day, unable to do anything, nor did he have to go out and find the most arduous jobs for the most meager pay.

"Any suggestions? Let me hear them." Upon hearing Matt's evaluation, Lynn felt relieved.

Matt's evaluation was significant not because of the differences between commoners and aristocrats, but because of the level of acceptance in both Earth and the other world.

As long as Matt could enjoy it and think it was good, Lynn was confident he could conquer those newspapers and their primary audience group - the aristocrats.

"Opinions... uh... I can't quite put it into words, but it's just really good... The reasoning is both unexpected and logical, and there's a sense of satisfaction when you reach the end..." When asked for specific evaluation, it exceeded Matt's ability. After thinking for a long time, he still didn't know what valuable opinions he could give and could only stammer out some words without much substance.

"Alright, I'll keep writing and then polish it before submitting it to the newspaper." Lynn wasn't surprised and picked up his pen to continue writing.

"Great, I'll help you submit it when you're done. I'll go make some bread first, and we can eat and work afterwards." Matt was in a particularly good mood, getting out of bed to make two pieces of dark bread.

Lynn was also in a great mood, probably because he had been writing all night and was hungry. Even the usually unpalatable dark bread was devoured to the last crumb.

"Do you need me to buy more writing paper, brother?" Matt asked after finishing his meal and simple ablutions, preparing to leave for work.

"Yes, please buy some more, and also ink."

"And one more bottle of ink, please." Lynn nodded.

"Sure, I should be back this afternoon, and I'll buy them for you then."

"Afternoon? Why so early?" Lynn remembered that Matt usually left early and returned late, especially during winter when the rich neighborhoods needed their chimneys cleaned, and there was always plenty of work to do. Coming back before 10 pm was considered early.

"Don't you remember? It's Christmas Eve." Matt reminded him.

"Christmas Eve?" Lynn suddenly recalled that it was December 24th, and this world also celebrated such a festival as Christmas Eve. "That's why... Alright, I'll wait for you to come back."

Matt grinned, revealing a radiant "Hey, bro, let's go out and have some fun tonight? We finally have some time, we need to relax properly and get some fresh air. Plus, it's also a way to celebrate in advance your becoming a novelist."

In the few days since arriving in this different world, Lynn had barely left his place except to use the restroom.

The main reason was actually that his wheelchair was too old and inconvenient for moving around, and the road conditions in the slum area were terrible, full of pits and bumps everywhere.

If he went out alone, he would probably have to use all his strength just to get to the entrance of the alley.

Of course, if his younger brother was by his side, then all these problems would be easily solved.

"Okay." Lynn was quite interested in the Christmas Eve in this different world, and he was also eager to personally understand this world, to further analyze the reasons why he could see the "Corruption Value" and why he had the label of a "Awakened One" through more people.

Since Matt had time, there was no reason for him to refuse.