First Moment [ENG Version]

Chapter 3 : The Real Ferst

Chapter 3

The Real Ferst

"Praise is nourishment, criticism is a weapon."

- Mo (Momentum) -

I went through the trouble of learning how to use Instagram from Google, but to this day, I still hadn' t sent a message to thank Ferst.

I sat there typing and retyping, trying to figure out whether to say thank you for following, glad you' re following, or thanks for helping to promote my book. In the end, after hesitating for days, I deleted the whole message, thinking it was better not to send anything. I wasn' t sure if he wanted to talk to me or not. Maybe he just wanted to read the novel and didn' t want me to bother him. I felt like I shouldn' t disturb my readers too much.

That said, I had something new to worry about now.

The novel HSH had reached number one, as I had hoped. P' Praew and the publishing house seemed elated, even capturing the ranking and posting it on the publisher's page to show off.

I was happy too — I was glad I achieved this and felt so joyful. But after a while, other feelings started rushing in.

I still remember when I first started posting my novel online, there were barely any readers. It felt like I was publishing just for myself. Comments were rare for me, but I never gave up writing. Whenever I saw writers at the top of the rankings with thousands or tens of thousands of fans, I dreamed of being like them. Having so many readers join the world I created seemed very fulfilling.

If I wanted to reach that point, the only way was to keep writing with patience.

And the novel Genesis Online made my dream come true. I was so happy to have made it to the top. The joy of writing was fulfilled by the love I received from my readers. At that time, I must have been one of the happiest writers.

However, the more love you receive, the more hate you attract — a universal truth.

Back when my novel wasn' t ranked, the only people who came to read it were those who genuinely liked my story. I was used to receiving encouragement. But once the novel reached the top, not everyone who came liked my work.

That was the first time I had to face pressure, expectations, and scrutiny. My mind back then probably wasn' t strong enough, which might have been another reason I stopped pushing for rankings.

And now, I was walking down the same path again. HSH had reached number one as well. The saying 'the higher you go, the colder it gets' was undeniably true.

Many people clicked on my novel because it was ranked number one, with high expectations that it must be a great read. But when it didn' t suit their tastes, they left harsh critiques. Some comments were reasonable, while others were just keyboard warriors.

'This isn' t sci-fi, not logical at all.'

'Is this a gag comic? Almost every chapter ends the same way.'

'This story is awful. How did it even reach the top? The plot is so boring.'

'I checked it out because it was number one but it' s not fun at all.'

'I' m confused as to why it has so many followers. Other stories are way better written.'

'Lousy writer. Just stop writing already.'

I did gain more followers, but the insults I received also multiplied. This wasn' t the first time I had faced harsh criticism like this. Even though I had built up some resilience from previous experiences, it was still difficult to accept when something I had worked so hard to create was getting insulted.