Some novels entertain, others teach, but there are a rare few that manage to carve a space in your life, accompanying you through days and nights like an old companion. This novel, with all its quirks and polarizing themes, did just that for me. For nearly a month, it wasn't just a story—it was an experience, a world I eagerly dove into during moments of boredom, a universe that stayed with me long after I closed the app.

The novel's greatest strength lies in its boundless exploration of themes and industries,... more>> particularly the literature circle. As a reader, I found myself constantly pausing, marveling at the timeless masterpieces of poetry and prose woven into the narrative. It became not just entertainment but a trove of inspiration—a gateway to discovering works I never would have encountered otherwise. My notepad is now brimming with saved lines, articles, and verses, each a testament to the novel's ability to enrich beyond the page.

Emotionally, the book was a whirlwind. There were moments that made me laugh aloud, tears brimming during poignant passages, and times when I clenched my phone so tightly in anger I thought it might break. But therein lies the beauty of it all. For every frustration the protagonist Zang Ye caused, there was the satisfaction of seeing him grow, the catharsis of justice delivered, or the joy of his deeply human, sometimes humorous, sometimes flawed victories.

Yet, this novel isn't for everyone. It wears its patriotism boldly, often venturing into themes that may come across as uncomfortable or even abrasive to some. The anti-Japanese and anti-US sentiments embedded in the story might deter readers who are sensitive to such rhetoric. However, I'd argue that while these elements are present, they don't wholly define the novel. It's also a celebration of life's multifaceted nature—friendship, family, career, entertainment, art, and the countless complexities of the human experience.

For those who choose to venture into this story, you'll meet Zang Ye, a protagonist whose journey is riddled with imperfections. His early days as a perverse and immature character might put some off, but there's a charm in watching him evolve. By the later chapters, his growth into a balanced, capable, yet still wonderfully childlike personality feels earned. And Zeqing, his wife, offers a counterbalance—a traditional yet fiercely successful and devoted partner who brings warmth and stability to the narrative.

To those who share my fascination with this book, I hope my reflections resonate. If you've read past Chapter 1695 (where I last left off, during the "Frozen" arc), please reach out—I'd love to know if the story has truly concluded or if there's more to discover.

I finished this book just before Christmas, and perhaps that's what makes it even more special. It accompanied me during the festive season, a time of reflection and connection. To anyone who stumbles across this review: give this book a shot if you're searching for something multifaceted, engaging, and, at times, wildly unpredictable. And if you have recommendations for novels that evoke the same kind of immersive joy, I'd be grateful for the nudge.

From my heart to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Books like this remind me that stories are more than just words—they're shared journeys, memories, and emotions, spanning time and space. ^•^ <<less

I'm Really a Superstar appeals to a certain subset of people. I am not one of them, and let me tell you why in the lengthiest way possible. There will be minor spoilers through select examples, but no actual plot ones.

First, the protagonist is a terrible person. He never grows out of his petty personality, making me wonder how he's an adult. Zhang Ye picks fights and can't get along with anyone. The guy's basically an internet troll's wet dream, so it's no surprise his fanbase begins on the net... more>> and revel in his antics. They literally call themselves his troll army, so I'm not making things up. This is like having 4chan back you up, and when they like you, you're probably controversial to put it nicely.

The story rides on their reactions over Zhang Ye's "facesmacking" as justice, but don't forget the origin of the protagonist's talent--he's a plagiarist. The man has never toiled hard for his results. He lives off others' work and justifies its use because people are a**holes to him, too.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Speaking of his power, it's a lottery system he draws upon. The problem is this isn't real randomization. You know he's going to use the learned skill or item in the next story arc. I expect this in these stories so I'll let it slide. But his use of it is questionable.

I'm talking about the romance. His current love interest (as of the 200s~) likes him because of the lottery. He can't even get women without shenanigans, which is no surprise as the romantic scenes are as sexy as elementary school kids in beauty pageants. Zhang Ye acts like a rapist and the author plays it off as fun or whatever. And while he's romancing love interest-chan, Zhang Ye is feeling up his landlady at the same time.

What a hero to the people.

I've seen people say, "Well, it's not like she's stopping him." Hold up, now, that's really not the point. But arguing is a waste of time. You'll either despise him for this or not. There's no middle ground here, although he's a shameless scumbag and knows it, calling himself an as*hole (as a positive trait, no less) at one point. I can't stand s*xual assault in other novels, but at least those aren't based in the modern day. History isn't nice. This on the other hand is modern times, and with it comes different expectations.

Speaking of modern times, why is he so racist? Zhang Ye is extremely nationalistic and loves harping on about how great the Chinese are while crapping over Koreans and Japanese and white people and so on. Let's not forget the random black guy added in just for the protagonist to make a fool of. Who's next? This isn't the stone ages. You'll get crucified saying these things in reality, and he should be banned everywhere as a public figure. Consider today's celebrities spouting such garbage and recall how much it blows up in their face, then realize Zhang Ye is no different.

You'll have the same apologists defending racism, and I wonder if people ever step back and think about what they're saying for once. If Zhang Ye dislikes those who look down on the Chinese, maybe take a good look at yourself and see what you're saying about others, too. It's ironic. You'd think a webnovel about the power of words would be more self-aware of the crap being spewed, and spreading hate through text on a page.

#Chinesemasterrace tho am I rite?

"But they deserved it, they were mean!" some may say. Except the author wrote them that way to justify his s*upid agenda. He goes out of his way to make foreigners utter dipshits, and this keeps happening. So no, none of this is deserved. I could write an entire novel about how the Chinese are huge tools too. This is propaganda to an embarrassing extreme. The protagonist (ahem, author) is going to take his bullsh*t to the next level eventually, and it's only a matter of when and how the author defends battery. Once again, Zhang Ye is a terrible person. Or should I say the writer? There's a saying that tells you to separate the work and author, but it's tough when they insert themselves so hard into this.

God forbid anyone inserts themselves as Zhang Ye. Busting out poems to burn people isn't even cool when you think about it. His entire shtick is a joke, and readers have to really suspend their disbelief to pretend anyone's amazed at his godly wit. Slaughtering billions of people in seconds drops jaws regardless of how generic that is. Reciting one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish will not, no matter how much the author wants you to believe it. Imagine some wannabe rapper boasting about his new mixtape, then imagine him trying to roast someone with mad rhymes.

Yeah, exactly. Zhang Ye's facesmacking, ladies and gentlemen. Or just gentlemen, really. This is clearly not written for womankind. For something labeled comedy, the only joke is the protagonist. The guy's problems occur because he burns more bridges than arsonists with his unhinged tongue. Believe it or not, pissing everyone off doesn't actually help your future. Many of his issues blocking his rise to stardom occur due to said pissing contests in the past. The saying "You reap what you sow" is so relevant it's no wonder it's a cliche.

Frankly, I wanted to like this and read more than it deserved. Then I took a break, read even more, and left with a worse impression than before. And the reason is because the arcs never change. It's a formulaic rinse and repeat of:

1. Do well (with someone else's work and effort)

2. Someone hampers his progress (life is tough, deal with it like an adult)

3. Zhang Ye takes out a rocket launcher (when the problem requires a fork at most)

4. Find new field to ruin (okay. jpg)

The fact that he often cannot work in the same field after reveals how excessive his actions are. If you're a working adult, you'd think Zhang Ye is the fresh out of college, utterly insufferable and unprofessional newbie. If you're a student, he's the guy you're forced to partner with and dicks around. He might show occasional bouts of work, but the moment someone sneezes on him, he pulls out the nukes and makes it his life goal to screw everyone over with a capital F. Unless you work at a cemetery during the graveyard shift on the moon, you'll probably work with others, and meshing with peers is essential. In a team, if a project fails cause of one person, you all goofed and everyone's fired. Once more, Zhang Ye is a child. Unfortunately, the only thing that grows is his ego and resume, and like the arcs themselves, never changes.

What else never changes? The translations, whose quality hurts the story. When sponsored chapters are allowed, I expect good work. Yet the translator and editor double check nothing. Have they read a western English book?

Chapter 262-

Wang Xiong invited him to take a seat and smiled, “The episode of ‘Zhang Ye’s Talk Show’ with the highest hits has officially broken 10 million views."

No, Wang Xiong, you can't smile dialogue. Did your smile speak? That's what's happening here, and the fact that it's happened for hundreds of chapters means it's not changing for the better. You can't laugh dialogue either (Zhang Ye laughed, "blahblahblah"). Considering the huge monologues these writers love doing to infodump, well... try laughing an entire sentence, usually an entire paragraph, word for word and see how well that turns out. There's zero mention of speaking, whether it's in the form of asked, grunted, guffawed, hissed, or whatever terrible thesaurus words are used to replace said. But at least those are grammatical. Even ejaculated would've been better than smiled. This example required a full stop. Period.

Chapter 184-

“To good cooperation.” Zhang Lu said.

Now they flipped the problem. A comma is required here. That or keep the period and give Zhang Lu an action instead. Let's try something correct.

"To good cooperation." Zhang Lu ejaculated.

There. This actually makes sense, grammar-wise. Too bad if it's not pinned together with a comma, the entire meaning is changed. Unless you want Zhang Lu jizzing everywhere, this is why I have problems with bad editing.

This isn't me being a grammar na*i. These are basics ignored by 95% of translation groups that would make any reader roll their eyes at wuxia/xianxia if they passed kindergarten. I can't tell if this is a problem with Gravity Tales or the actual author writing it wrong to begin with, with the translators being true to the incorrect source. Regardless, editors could easily fix it themselves. But whatever the truth is, whoever's giving us the final product picked poorly. It is, however, a great way to learn what not to do in writing. In the end, it's no surprise finding some (most?) groups don't pay their editors, so you get what you don't shell out.

Just kidding, you're paying 70 USD per sponsored chapter!

Let's pretend we have a regular novel at 70k words, which is on the short end, and compare it to a 2k word chapter of IRaS. A mass produced paperback is about 8 dollars USD. You're literally paying.035/word for an amateur job whereas an actual book published and edited by professionals gives far more value for a fraction of the price. I don't expect Shakespeare, and if people want to donate then they clearly like the story, but please learn if you're accepting money. Especially when asking for $70 for a sponsored chapter. Frankly it's ridiculous, and this expands to every translation group. Consider donating to the original author too, at least. Not that I would for a story this bad.

That's not the end of my rant. Also hurting the translation is the story's main inspiration. When its foundation relies on jokes and puns and whatnot in Chinese, the essence is lost when translated into English and even more when the supposed wit requires explanation in parentheses. Whole arcs lose impact due to this, and while not the fault of translators, it still hampers enjoyment. Unless you love not understanding anything for dozens of chapters, then I don't know.

There's little to love about this story. Every character is flat as a board, and it's not even the "flat is justice" kind. It's the kind where they have zero personality. Zhang Ye's parents never change. They're pathetic stereotypes bordering ret*rdation. Zhang Ye's co-workers never change. They're there to blow him and say he's amazing as they swoon. Zhang Ye's love interests never change. They are there because ti*s and ass -- literally s*x objects. And notice how I didn't give names earlier? That's because everyone's the same and it doesn't matter what you call them. In war movies, they're throwaway cannon fodder you wouldn't even remember had they died. For the record, Zhang Ye never changes either, but I already told you that. He is and will always be a hypocritical creep. Or a creepy hypocrite. He's both, really.

Let alone the story content, the way it's presented makes this low quality, unsalted, and microwaved popcorn at best. Food connoisseurs would tr*sh it because there's no saving grace. In a genre plagued with the problems above, this is bottom-of-the-barrel, and that says a lot.

To end said review, I'll leave you with this.

Do you enjoy protagonists with a child's sense of justice? Do you like virg*ns writing half-baked erotica? How about xenophobia? Hypothetically, if your mother asked for your opinion of IRaS and you said it was great, then she requested to read it, could you recommend the story? The answer is no, because I doubt your mother enjoys juvenile manchildren, mol*station, and racism. Hell, she'd give you most disgusted look in the world knowing your interests in said list. Do you want to disappoint the woman who gave birth to you?

Again, the answer is no.

Tl;dr Zhang Ye was a loser before for good reason. <<less

This is just a joyful read. Just give it a chance!

Besides all the wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan genres, there are plenty of other web novels on Qidian that are excellent. Currently one of the top on Qidian's monthly voted ranks is "I’m Really a Superstar" (我真是大明星).

The genre is "Workplace Novel > Entertainer". It is a great modern-day novel. I am caught up with the novel.

The general premise is that of a modern day human, Zhang Ye who ends up appearing in another modern day Earth, but now he has a game ring. It... more>> is powered by 'Reputation'. He gains Reputation if people approve of something he did. He can use the popularity points to have a chance at a jackpot which can grant him various benefits such as

Spoiler

stat increases (strength, speed, stamina), one-time items (save points, lucky bread, unlucky charm against one person, AOE unlucky charm, invisibility, etc), special game abilities (such as unlocking a 'merchant shop' where he can buy a specific item with his popularity points), skill books (hacking skillbooks, Taiji fist skillbooks, acting skillbooks, directing skillbooks, video skillbooks, etc)

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His goal is to become the number one celebrity in the world. Now, notice I mentioned that he came into another modern Earth, but this Earth has something different with its entertainment history or even history. It can be backwater in certain ways compared to his own Earth, so he can plagiarize...I mean share the knowledge from his own world to this world and become popular as a result.

Late in the story, his lists of accolades become ridiculous, he is a top

Spoiler

host, top actor, top comedy skit actor, top stand-up comedian, top songwriter/composer, top singer, top hacker, Chinese professor, Math professor, top radio host, top poem writer, top novel writer and has even flown a plane after defeating hijackers.

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If people like reaction chapters, this novel is chock full of them, and the language used is extremely 'flowery' (read swear words in a funny way).

This story also makes you more in tune to China, giving you a glimpse of their culture and problems they face. It can also give you some insight on why xianxia/xuanhua novels are written in such a way.

In fact, it feels like a modern day xianxia story. MCs use skills you don't really understand to beat their rivals? Zhang Ye uses his poetry and cursing to beat his rivals. Zhang Ye is a person who personifies the meaning the pen is mightier than the sword.

Oh btw, he uses

Spoiler

a Brick in later chapters to fight against other martial artists...

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<<less

This is just xianxia hiding in a pretentious writing, antagonist gets mad at MC for and gets owned by him. The characters except for the MC are boring and one-dimensional.

The people seeing how awesome he is, start to sucking mc's dick. (Sounds familiar right? Glorifying the MC like a typical xianxia novel)

Repeating the cycle with different poems and situations. And you get Im really a superstar. The MC doesn't have his own ability he didn't create the poems or that ghost story, he literally plagiarizes from other works.

If he... more>> is in a sticky situation, he will rely on his deus-ex machina lottery to solve the problem. <<less

This was fun at the beginning but become rather tedious and nasty as it continues.

The most atrocious element of this story is the protagonist. He is just a really horrible person, but, the story supports him. It is a form of plot armor, so to speak. He constantly attack other people and the story just justifies it. He sexually assaults women (yes he does) and the story makes it out as if it was OK. There is one in the earlier chapters where he is given the power to give... more>> others misfortune and thus they get hurt, embarrassed, electrocuted, injured, etc. And the story says it is all alright. Well, it might be "alright" but it would not make the protagonist likeable.

The other characters are almost just as bad. They are all very flat. The good characters like his relatives are mostly annoying and the bad characters (villains) are morons. The plot is really very repetitive and somewhat weak. Some moronic character appears and causes conflict in someway (usually by belittling him) then he slap their faces by producing the works from his world and presenting it as his. Then he receives praises and acclaim. This formula is then repeated over and over and over.

The worst part of the plot is, because he is just plagiarizing the works, you can't really contribute the success and praises to him. He doesn't deserve the praises he received. You can only attribute the praises to the work themselves and the original creators, not to the protagonist himself. This is not good considering that our protagonist isn't that likeable in the first place. At least we could like the protagonist for his great talents, but we can't.

Another problematic issue with the plot is the lack of tension. The story is setup so that he can not fail. He can undo time, become invisible, get ridiculous amount of luck, get skills without effort and so on. He can practically do anything.

And of course there is the goal, the reason why our protagonist is doing all of this. He wants to become famous. I don't need to tell you how shallow that is. A goal like that just can't carry a story very far and it shows.

The only element that drives this story is humor and they aren't the high quality kind. There is also a lack of variety to the humor which is mainly of over the top reactions and schadenfreude. Oftentimes the humor can be very dumb. I even believe that the Tom and Jerry cartoons has more variety in its humor than this. Its humor can quickly become tiring after being repeated far too often.

The story also depends on its humor solely for its driving power. I mean, if you read this, you will not be reading it for its characters, or for adventure, or for thought provoking commentary, etc. You will read it for the laughs. But then, the humor is mostly cheap and dumb, which makes the whole story, that only have humor its driving factor, rather cheap and dumb too.

I give a one and a half star mainly because it can still be entertaining in its dumbness and shallowness. Though, it might soon get tiresome as it doesn't really have anything to offer. <<less

IRAS

Just before you read, I love IRAS. I truly love it, but because I love it so much I became utterly disappointed at the direction the author is bringing IRAS in. Really, I really2 loved this novel.. Sigh.

The genre is Comedy, almost a pure comedy. Within the first 250s or so chapters it's a really fun read but after that, it just seems to be getting bleaker and bleaker, the jokes are not as funny as before. It is not making me laugh every chapters or so again, it seems like the author had forgotten this novel's very core and instead went on to a scolding free of other nations.

Style : For 300 or so chapters, One could argue it's a bit repetitive, although I am not too bothered by it. But beyond that.. Questions started to be asked.

It has a kind of a rythm to the chapters for around 300 or so chapters.

Short arcs that goes by :

Zhang Ye started something new -> Zhang Ye is very good at it -> typical xianxia enemy starts to appear -> more hate and injustice -> Zhang Ye smacks them in the face -> Zhang Ye saves the day. And in between every new arcs, there can be great relaxing chapters that can make us read at ease and laugh. Although the pattern may seem continuous, the author actually made it so that we are still hooked depsite the pattern, props to the author for this.

But.. It all changed, I don't know when exactly but more and more annoying scenes of Zhang Ye taking advantages of the girls came out, which is absolutely and totally unnecessary at all. I usually skipped this kind of scenes 90% of the time, I don't know if this was meant to be a fan-service but this is horrible. This, is the 1st big flaw it has.

The 2nd big flaw, is something that most of us I believe do not appreciate this at all: Racism.

Racism, no matter what form it is, is absolutely disgusting. It brings a good novel a level down and causes readers to not enjoy it so much.

Actually the racism in it is not too evident, especially in the first 250 chps when there are almost no hint of racism. Only nationalism.

Warning, a bit of a rant and slightly spoilerish below.

Story : The story actually feels like a xianxia that is not a battle but instead a battle using words and literature, the typical xianxia antagonist is here with their unable to see Mount Tai character but is not much of an annoyance to me.

Until chapter 250s the joke is still very fresh but just like what I stated above, it goes downhill from around there.

The objective of the MC is very simple and oblivious from the title : to become a superstar. With the help of a ' system ' he had paved his own road to become one with ordinary looks and ordinary skills to achieve his goal.

While this might seem interesting, eventually as more chapters go by, I felt that the author is losing sight of this too.

Firstly, Zhang Ye's dream is to be the biggest star in the world, but.. He is actually borderline-racist? Hell me, this would never be possible in the real world, especially when he scolded the koreans so much, he is still talking about being the No.1 artist? Please.

Secondly, the novel pretty much strayed a bit fron the original intent: to be a superstar, more like vs the koreans.

Characters : Some of the characters are funny and interesting. Zhang Ye's character himself is already evident since the start, so there is no character developments at all, he will be the same dude throughout the story, just more apparently racist.

Tldr; IIRAS is an excellent read if you are looking for something fun and with hype as long as you can ignore the repetition, racism, the mc's character, the author trying to justify that the MC is great and useless fan service.

There are very awesome moments of the novel that is blood boiling but alas, the author's racism and MC praising have really destroyed this WN. 8.4 for all the fun and early chapters but with it's apparent flaws added a 4.3 would do. Oh, let's not forget the plagiarism plaguing this novel.

I’m Really A Superstar is a novel that starts with an amazing amount of promise. It’s take on common elements found in xianxia/xuanhuan novels spun in a different direction is refreshing and the reaction chapters are very entertaining. Zhang Ye borrows literature and other works from his 'old world' and imports them into his new world where they do not exist with the help of game elements. This, among other game elements such as skill books, helps him on his journey to becoming a superstar.

The alternate world that Zhang Ye... more>> falls into is interesting, but it is perhaps too malleable for the author’s intents. Parts of the world change around him, but everything always changes to his benefit. Things that are easier to keep the same, stay the same. The world is simply too convenient. IRAS is very enticing in the early story because it shows the same traits as other successful CN novels:

Person goes to a workplace (sect) and is looked down upon by coworkers (other disciples). He proves them wrong by his show doing better than others (in a fight) and basks in the subsequent reaction chapters. He outgrows his workplace (family, sect) and leaves in search of a new place (academy, workplace) where the process repeats itself.

The conflicts in the story are resolved far too easily with no noticeable impact on Zhang Ye as a character. There is zero character development in I’m Really A Superstar. His popularity increases, but he does not progress as a person, at all. He is petty, and the events of the story do not change this. It is simply a series of people going up against him and getting burned. Conflict in a story and the resolution are supposed to be a tool to develop the characters and story. IRAS does not do this.

Speaking of not learning from his mistakes, Zhang Ye is a lech. Even if his advances are refused, he continues. The ‘romance’ in IRAS is the poorest I have read in a translated novel. It is cringeworthy. If you are expecting any form of decent male to female interaction, this novel is not for you.

I’m not even going to talk about the nationalism in this story. I understand that it is very nationalistic because it’s written by a Chinese author for a Chinese reader base, but outside of this, it adds nothing to the story besides attempting to put the MC on a moral pedestal where he is better than others simply because he likes his country more. Nothing wrong with this, but if you’re reading the translation, you are not the target audience.

My biggest gripe however with IRAS is the big picture. At the start of the novel, there is a big picture. He’s hardworking and he wants to make his way to being a superstar. This goal doesn’t change, however, the focus of the novel does. The novel becomes less and less about his workplace and goals, and more and more about senselessly getting into trouble and creeping on any woman who comes within a 10 foot radius of him. The novel loses the plot, the direction becomes aimless. You don’t know when, if ever, he is even going to go back to work because the author spends way too much time writing (poorly) about irrelevant crap that has no implications on the story. It’s filler, and it’s terrible.

I would highly recommend that people read the first 100-150 chapters of IRAS. Initially, it is fantastic. The new spin on common ideas is refreshing and to see it used in a different manner is very nice. The initial reaction chapters are amazing and are very entertaining to read. After a while, the novel doesn’t just go downhill, it falls off a cliff. I could not recommend this novel in it's entirety to anybody. Even if the reaction chapters are very nice to read, they become further and further apart, and the content in the middle is not worth reading. <<less

Mehs, dropped it basically. Author took a very WEIRD turn and I wouldn't be surprised if he lost a lot of Chinese readers as well. Down to a 1 star...

You can read the bottom review if you want info on before the weird arc...

Mehs.

... more>> Mehs.

So I've read all of the chapters in the raws and I have to say I enjoy it and am following it still. There are a few bad parts though that make me grimace.

The main bad part is the patriotism. Zhang Ye isn't afraid to hit and curse people who aren't Chinese, and this causes a great deal of international infamy to stack up under his name. While you may enjoy it at first since it doesn't seem very offensive, he becomes incredibly nationalistic and even focuses the butts of his jokes and curses on other countries in general.

Again, you may think it isn't a problem since he has enemies in China as well... I guess you'll just need to read it to find out. For me, personally, he goes a little too far. Making fun of individuals, and then making fun of an entire people... meh.

The second problem is the... female-male parts. MC interacts with more pretty girls than the public expects, and the interactions get a little... wow. His items from his game ring has something to do with it, but then there's the odd parts.

Spoiler

For example, when he's with Rao Aimin, he somehow gets away with groping her entire body without getting rejected. The idea that she's asleep won't cut it; she's one of the five living martial arts masters and I doubt she doesn't know what happens when they're asleep. Blah.

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The advantages of using Luck boosts along with the Lottery becomes the most OP thing to happen. However, I'm fine with it since it makes the story more fun. Zhang Ye becomes a rather OP individual and the title of "God" fits him when everything he does, he does with aplomb. Here's a list of things he's amazing at now.

Spoiler

He solved one of the world's unsolvable math equations (Our world already solved it). He is now an associate professor of math at Peking University and one of the world's Mathematicians.

He unleashed the Panda virus and its 100 variants on South Korea due to the South Korean hacker attacks. Since he used the false ID of "2", his fame and infamy isn't impacted. He is still, however, the third rank hacker in the world due to his destructibility; his goal with the Panda Virus was only to destroy!

He is the successor of the Taijiquan, a lost martial arts with no successor (except for this one girl who still isn't as strong as him). He is equated to be near equal to the martial arts masters.

These are just a few of his greater accomplishments.

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Otherwise, this story is amazing. My ranking of 5 should really be 4, but I can't with good conscience give that mark seeing as how I'm following the raws... <<less

I really don't understand all the good reviews for this novel. People say it's funny and I can't really see why, maybe the first or second time something happened it had some appeal. Then it happened another 10 times, then 20 more times. To be frank this is another one of those novels that repeats itself every chapter. By chapter 368 I could literally guess what words were going to be in the chapter. I guess this can appeal to some people for being ''funny'' but for me all I... more>> see is a typical ret*rded main character who can only see one single way out of any given situation. Every time it's direct confrontation making things more difficult for himself and everyone else. I mean obviously with the kind of people that screw with him, I'm not surprised he would want to mess them up, however it's always the same type of people and it's always for the same type of reason. There is absolutely nothing new at all in any bad guy or situation.

Well if you read that little rant then great, if not, bottom line is this novel isn't even worth a rating of 1.0 in my opinion. Give it a shot if you're interested for the first 10 chapters, but if you don't like the first 10, then stop reading, because those first 10 or so are the entire novel. <<less

Edit after I've read a lot more chapters:

tl;dr: great funny novel that slowly becomes grossly creepy, sadly racist and can give a blow to your faith in humanity.

Actually, just read the first few hundred chapters. Around 200 - 300. After that, the novelty starts to wear off and the novel takes a turn for the worst.

You can read a bit more if you skip the "romance" paragraphs / whole chapters. I'm not picky and I usually even manage to read through weird Japanese harem romance stuff but... it's just really... more>> creepy in IRAS. Way too creepy and cringy. Just eew (and not a good " eew that's kinky!" Just... eew...). The things the author seems to find sexy are reeaaaaally far from mine. At first, I thought maybe it was a problem with the translation (bad choice of words or something) but no... everything else is pretty good. And I don't have that problem with any of the dozen of other CN I read.

The thing that finally made me drop this novel is the barely veiled racism that's being praised as "nationalism". There's a limit to how much I can read something when the contempt the author has for everyone and everything that is not Chinese becomes more and more obvious, more and more insulting.

The author's repeated attempts to say it really is not racism, just nationalism are not convincing. At all. I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Once, twice, thrice... but please, stop lying to yourself and to us. This is racism. I'm not buying the explanation anymore.

Almost all foreigners in this novel are jerks and a**holes. If they are not a**holes, they are dumb. The only nice ones are just there to be awed by the MC and the greatness of China. Like you are only nice and respectable if you are praising him.

I continued reading because at first, you couldn't call that racism since well... besides the girls, almost all the side (Chinese) characters are also jerks and a**holes or only there to praise the MC. So there was equality. At first. Plus I wasn't sure if it was the opinion of the character or the author that I was reading. At first. Then the bias becomes so glaring and it's so obvious that there's not much difference between MC and author that I can't ignore it anymore. It's just sad when you realize that the moral of the story is :

"Disdaining foreigners and foreign stuff is showing your love for your country ! If you love foreign stuff and people, then you are a traitor or a poor lost sheep that strayed from the right path."

Like that time when...

Spoiler

Zhang Ye starts shouting at the Japanese delegation and scolding them during the welcome party for the collaboration between the Chinese and Japanese universities. And he encourages the whole audience to shout with him. This is written like it is a miraculously glorious and heroic moment that needs to be written down in history. And even thought there is consequences for his actions afterward, it is really not much. Everybody seems to totally understand him and acts like he is a war hero that sacrificed himself for the future of his country. (Besides a few "traitors" that got corrupted by Japanese either because they actually married one (How dare they!) or worked for too long in Japan.)

Yep, people from the Japanese delegation were behaving like arrogant self-entitled a**holes. But it was the author that made them do so. In the real world, would there really be people behaving like that when visiting another country for cooperation ? And was that reaction really appropriate ? Just how much can you justify throwing temper tantrums, even in a fiction ?

[collapse]

I know Chinese have really bad history with the Japanese. I just need to see there's actually a whole "Japanese war" section for Chinese webnovels that's filled to the bring, to guess the feelings they have for them. I'm totally an outsider and I don't dare have an opinion about that. But honestly, these chapters of IRAS? It is not the Japanese it gave me a bad image of. Rather, it is the image I have of Chinese people that got tarnished. Just the idea that this novel is really popular and that there are a lot of people that read this and feel good about it, feel a sense of justice... It just makes me sad.

So I stopped before it got even worse. Because I know it will. This novel is on a downward slope.

That and the romance scenes are just gross. Really.

Previous review:

"So good. So funny.

It manages to keep some of the usual xianxia tropes (those applicable in a modern world anyway) :

- MC poor, weak and underestimated that ends up beating and awing everyone.

- Impossible situations where everyone think he will fail but he pulls through in a totally awesome way.

- Ennemies get huge slaps in the face.

- MC gets a cheat skill.

- Storage ring.

- MC starts with nothing but continually grows stronger.

But... it's all twisted to fit the showbiz world instead of a sword and magic world.

And it's just so damn funny.

A must read.

Even if the synopsis isn't enough to tempt you.

Even if it's not usually the kind of story you read.

Just read it, it's worth it." <<less

This novel is hilarious! I couldn't stop myself from grinning while reading. Can't wait to read the rest of it.

I'll keep it short and sweet: this a story glorifying plagiarism and a populist sense of nationality that looks down on other cultures and countries. This is essentially propaganda; a way for Qidian to pander to its bigwigs and political backers.

Please don't read this story, please don't support it.

There are plenty more quality stories that were written for the sake of entertaining readers and stimulating their imaginations; not to expose them to political ideology and platform.

This is one novel you should definitely read though it has its own negative points (repetitive format and s*upid antagonists) ! It has an interesting premise, likable protagonist, awesome humor, fun side characters and interesting character reactions! On the negative part, the series has 0 IQ people pretending to be experts who serves the role of antagonists for MC. You kind of get tired from the repetitive format (getting a new job-> offending higher-ups who have pea size brain->face smacking-> new job-> repeat).

Main character is a shameless rascal and... more>> you can't help but admire him when he shows his shameless side.

Side characters are fun as well! The Landlady and her niece are one of the best female side characters I have ever seen. Not only the story is entertaining but we also get to read classic chinese poems and prose which is hardly available for English readers. I never thought plagiarism could be so fun! Give it a chance. This series would definitely make your day. <<less

From the moment I read the description, I knew that reading "im really a superstar" would be poison for my soul... but I never knew that it would be this bad.

It's so bad that I spent hours binge reading it until morning the next day.

Now you all know how bad it is, so go ahead and drink this poison! ;)

On a more serious note, it might seem like a "the fudge" novel the first time you take a glance at it. I mean, what would you expect from a... more>> story that essentially has a character that plagiarizes every literary and popular thing from our world, right? EVERYTHING, Zhang ye is wayyy more than I thought he would be. For one thing, in my opinion he has a very well fleshed out character. The way he feels anger and frustration with the injustice he faces in the media industry is my favourite part about him. He doesn't do the whole muscle brained tacky revenge a dragon proud sky would do. Instead he takes a more cultured approach and ruthlessly cusses his opponents out with finesse.

tldr, please just read it up to the latest chapters cause I can guarantee that by the time you read the latest, you'll already be a fellow brother of ZhangYeNumber1Fan <<less

This is pure comedy.

If you really care about your stomach, I suggest you to not read this novel, otherwise you'll end up like me, having a stomachache after laughing hard...

Oh, and a little warning from me, this novel is like a drug and smoke, once you taste it the 2nd time, you know you can't take it off anymore (in other word, addicted)...

I really love the novel! Read it all in one go and now I need MOAR!!! I love the MC and the problems that he has to go thru and how he resolves issues. I also like that this novel is exposing me to poems and literature from other countries. Read read read this novel! Someone commented on gravitytales that this novels MC is like Meng Hao but more funny and I totally agree! =D I couldn't stop laughing at all the comedy that was going on in this novel.... more>> If you loved the trolling that goes on in ISSTH's you'll enjoy this novel.

7/2/2016

Now I am currently up to date on the chapters and am waiting for the author to release more. This novel gets more addicting the more you read and it makes me seek out the poems, songs, tv shows, and a whole bunch of other stuff it mentions. I thought I would lose interest the more I read who knew I just got more addicted lol. I really recommend this novel if you haven't already started it yet. <<less

Worst chinese novel i've ever read, if only I could give it minus 5 stars...

At first I liked it, and then I noticed the racism. After noticing a little bit of racisme I said "ok...i like the story so I will close my eyes on that.." and then it didn't stop, racism kept getting worse and worse. It's the first time a novel made me feel so much anger against the author. It was disgusting I didn't expect this I was shook I was so upset for all the people... more>> the author insulted through MC's mouth.

Koreans, Japanese, Americans, Black people and so on it was unnacceptable I felt so sad for all the foreigners who must be from those countries who read this novel, like how must they have felt seriously? Would the author not be happy to have foreign readers from these countries? Why introduce foreigners if all you're gonna do is insult and humiliate them? He belittled their cultures so bad... That's so sad... all the hate directed towards innocent people he don't know just because they're not chinese.

Like I'm not even american nor black and when he talked about them I felt so much indignation. Don't worry author, we foreigners hate you too. And just because we hate you and that you're chinese it doesn't mean we hate all chinese people, no we're not racist like you and we don't spread hate like you through a novel that's supposed to be a story. It's just you alone we resent, you're tr*sh. You seriously deserve some severe face slapping.

I don't know if author has been a victim of racism but that doesn't give him the right to hate and look down and spit on all the rest of the world. Expect China of course :) because for author China is the best, i've never hated an author that much before like seriously f**k you author. <<less

I'm an avid reader of different kind of novels. For me genre doesn't matter when it comes to excellent novels, though I have favorites too. I've been reading IRAS for 1 week now. First started devouring translated 40 chapters (Thanks to CKtalon, and Legge), then delved into raws. And I, who read a lot of Chinese, and Japanese novels (I know both languages), have to admit that this novel went straight into my " Must-Read " list. Although I've seen this novel before, it still surprises me how... more>> and why I in the frickin hell haven't read this. This isn't your typical " I'm best, so who can oppose me" or " Her skin is as beautiful as jade, so she should be in my harem" type of novel. This novel is very funny, and beautiful slice of life novel. Story has a very unique style, and everything "kinda" happens in the real world. You have a very plain MC who grows while the story progresses. He isn't that arrogant, and fights against injustice with his own skill (okay, not his own). No cultivation, but as a fantasy story it has its own unique tricks. In my opinion it deserves 4.5, but I can only give it 4 or 5, so 5 is better. However I can't understand why some people give it, 1 or 2 stars. It's understandable that not all of us are fan of these kind of novels. If u don't prefer these kind of novels, don't vote. Voting is for the people who read novel and give his or her opinion about it. It isn't for the people who come here, and start destroying its rating, after reading just 10-20 chapters. There are synopsis and tags, so check all of these before Reading and saying "Meh, it's not my type". I recommend these people to go, and read their own bullsh*t novels like CSG, PMG, ATG, and etc. Don't dirty this beauty with ur useless ratings, unless u r an avid reader and can give a constructive criticism. <<less

A transported style story with game AI element added to the mix in a modern setting world.

Our MC, Zhang Ye holds good attitudes, imo.

He wants to be famous and suddenly an AI function transported him to a new world and treated him as a main character/player in a game setting. Just imagine, instead of you as a gamer plays a game, you got transported into a world that so similar to modern world (there are differences here and there which MC takes advantage) and try to achieve your goal. In... more>> Zhang Ye case, he wants to be famous/a celebrity. He even has a screen like interface that only him can see.

Hilarity ensues, the comedies are good. I find it funny. And MC character isn't a snob. He treats people the way other people treat him. If they treat him bad, he too treat them bad, and vice versa. He takes no bullsh*t from others. He is an educated person. By educated I mean, not college graduate although he did graduate from college. He knows a lot of stuff that related to literature; be it poems, essays, folk tales, etc. He uses all his knowledges from earth (just about anything) that aren't in this world to gain advantages, closer to his goal.

I was so glad when I read this, the translator made a crazy unending post after another, otherwise I would gone crazy in wait to read the next chapter. I'm sulking in the corner now waiting for next one as I caught up. <<less

This novel is just too good!

The MC simply gets... 'transported'? I don't know if the right term is transported, basically, what happened was that world around him 'Changed'. Just read the story and you'll get what I mean.

The MC uses every arsenal (Knowledge from his 'Old' World) at his disposal. I really like the MCs personality since he is both frugal and doesn't take any sh*t from anyone, it reminds me of Weed from Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. Even the Grass Porridge Cult has a counterpart in this novel, which is... more>> the Troll Army! That particular scene is just too funny! LOL! \ (≧▽≦) /

Anyways, this story is good. I'm really glad that the translators started at the beginning of the novel (Instead of Chapter 200+, like what they did before). I also hope that this novel will be fully translated until it reaches the end.

Kudos to the Translators and Editors! ♡ ～ ('▽^人) <<less