Journey of Reading

1. Where It All Began — Accidentally

Let’s be honest.
Reading? Yeah, it never interested me.
Teachers would walk into class and throw around book names like they were doing us a favor.
“Read this,” “Study that,” “Understand this author.”

I didn’t connect. I didn’t care.
Reading felt like a burden, something forced into our lives, not something worth exploring.

But then... something unexpected happened.

I watched an anime I loved.
Like most anime, it wasn’t finished.
I was curious desperate to know what happened next.

So, I searched.
I found the Tensura light novel.
And I read like a madman.

700 pages in two weeks.

That’s where it started.

2. Manga — My First Real Escape

I didn’t immediately become a reader after that.
In fact, I didn’t touch another book for months.

But during that time…
I discovered something that did pull me in: manga.

Late nights at 1 AM, lying in bed, phone in hand,
page after page of beautifully illustrated stories.
Simple. Emotional. Magical.

No praise, no academic value, no one asking “what did you learn?”
Just stories.

That was enough.

3. Manhwa/Manhua — A New Dimension

Then came the next evolution:
Manhwa and Manhua.

Whoever invented this format? Absolute genius.

Vivid colors. Frequent updates.
Completely different tone and style than manga.
And stories that weren’t just entertaining they were bold, often philosophical, and visually stunning.

I was in deep.

Even among my friends some still stuck on anime, a few into manga
I felt like the only one reading manhwa.
And that made it feel even more personal.

Series like Solo Leveling, ORV, and countless cultivation manhuas?
They became my world.

It was beautiful. Chaotic. Addictive.

4. The Burnout

But nothing lasts forever.

Manhwa and manhua had a problem:
they moved slowly.
Some were amazing… but updates were painfully slow.
Years of waiting for just 50 chapters.

I was getting frustrated.
And the feeling of not having enough stories? It returned.

So I did what I had to do.

I went deeper.

5. The Deepest Dive — Novels

This time, it wasn’t accidental.
It was intentional.

My return to novels started with Trash of the Count’s Family
a masterpiece.

That one book opened the door again.
And I walked through it hard.

One novel turned into ten.
Then fifty.
Now I’ve read over a hundred.

Then came the peak
Lord of the Mysteries.
And that novel?

It didn’t just leave a mark — it redefined everything.
It changed how I view stories, writing, and creativity itself.

6. What Reading Gave Me (No, Not the Cliché List)

No, I’m not going to bore you with “reading improves your vocabulary” nonsense.

Just listen.

Reading gave me two priceless things:

1️⃣ Endless ways to think, write, and create.
Reading hundreds of fantasy stories makes your brain explode with new ideas.
You start seeing creativity in ways you never imagined.

2️⃣ Insight into what great writing feels like.
When you read a peak-level story like LOTM or Shadow Slave,
you realize just how godly a well-crafted tale can be.
That feeling? It’s the real treasure.

And now?
I can read anything technical books, philosophy, heavy nonfiction
because I’ve built the patience to appreciate it.