Chapter 28: Chapter 28: This time, shouldn’t be going in again, right?

Lin Chuan looked at the message from Youyou, the editor, and was stunned for a moment before responding with a ‘confused.jpg’ emoticon.

Youyou replied instantly, “Lin Chuan, you finally responded to my message!”

Lin Chuan frowned slightly and replied, “Youyou, what’s up?”

Youyou: “Swindler, it’s become a quality piece!”

Lin Chuan was still lying in bed, sleepy-eyed.

But, when he saw this message from editor Youyou, he “sprang up from the brink of death,” completely losing the urge to sleep, his pupils focusing sharply on the word ‘quality’.

Quality piece!

A quality piece, a work with more than 3000 Average Subscriptions, in Sailing Novel is like a grain of sand in the ocean, inconspicuous.

But!

In just one day’s time, Lin Chuan’s million-word volume of Swindler, from an Average Subscription of over 100, surged to 3000 Average Subscriptions, a truly astonishing feat.

Put another way, it might be more illustrative.

In a single day, “Swindler” achieved chapter subscription numbers reaching 1,215,260.

Converted into manuscript fees, that’s 60,000 yuan!

Lin Chuan swallowed, taking a deep breath.

He had indeed considered that after repeated publicity, “Swindler” would see a surge in results.

But he had never expected it to become a quality piece overnight!

Finally, he’d made a breakthrough!

“Indeed, traffic is the code to wealth.”

Lin Chuan couldn’t help but remark, “If it hadn’t been for this publicity campaign and the huge influx of traffic, for ‘Swindler’ to achieve quality status would have been an indefinitely remote possibility.”

Even the fragrance of wine fears the depth of the alley.

Without recommendations, without traffic, few people have the chance to see it.

And Lin Chuan’s divine maneuver in the anti-gambling publicity was equivalent to a self-initiated recommendation.

In fact, it could be considered a ‘self-rescue.’

After all, he was competing with Handon and Hongmei, who debuted simultaneously, clashing themes with Handon’s “King of Cheating.” And the system had explicit Popularity Value requirements, leaving him trapped in a dark room with no way out.

Fortunately, Lin Chuan broke free.

“Lin Chuan, aren’t you going to publish some thoughts on becoming a quality piece?”

Youyou sent another message.

Between the lines, you could sense Youyou’s satisfaction.

A smile appeared on Lin Chuan’s face as his fingers tapped swiftly on his phone: “First off, I’d like to thank my editor. Writing books under editor Youyou for many years, I’ve always been at the bottom. Now, fortunately, I have achieved a quality piece…”

On the other end of the phone.

Youyou’s mouth curved upwards, looking at Lin Chuan’s string of thoughts, shining brightly like peach blossoms: “Alright, no need to thank me just yet, there’s more good news.”

Lin Chuan’s pupils dilated, his fingers pausing in their rapid typing before he quickly typed out another message to Youyou: “There’s more good news?”

“Go check out Heroes Compete,” Youyou replied.

Heroes Compete?

Lin Chuan thoughtfully recalled.

He vaguely remembered that this was a special event created for The Two Heroes, Handon and Hongmei, to battle it out.

“That’s right!”

Lin Chuan suddenly remembered, “My book is also part of this event; I should be able to get a decent reward.”

He got out of bed, turned on his computer, and checked the Heroes Compete leaderboard.

The next second.

Lin Chuan’s pupils shuddered.

[No.1: Swindler (Mr. Lin), Popularity Value: 316,000.]

[No.2: Number One Sword Immortal (Hongmei), Popularity Value: 83,000.]

[No.3: King of Cheating (Handon), Popularity Value: 73,000.]

Leading the Heroes List!

This… what does this mean?

For a moment, Lin Chuan found it hard to express his feelings, perhaps only the words “holy shit” could succinctly convey his emotions.

“How about it, isn’t that good news?” Youyou sent a message.

“It’s fantastic!”

Lin Chuan hurriedly replied.

Youyou continued, “The duel of the two giants, but you’ve completely crushed them both, 316,000 Popularity Value far in the lead. Even the chief editor says that in this event, no one can surpass your ‘Swindler’.”

Lin Chuan felt a surge of joy and replied, “Does that mean I could possibly be first?”

Youyou was very certain, “It’s not a possibility, it’s a certainty!”

Both of the ‘The Two Heroes’ are new books, serialized, with fewer words, while Lin Chuan’s ‘Swindler’, with a million-word length, many chapters, and high popularity, basically has no chance of being overtaken.

A hint of joy surfaced on Lin Chuan’s face.

This is the correct way to exploit a loophole!

Immediately afterward.

Lin Chuan opened the event details page for ‘Heroes Compete’ to check the first-place reward:

‘50,000 yuan in cash rewards, exclusive site recommendations, IP rights development, video platform promotion to attract readers…’

“Really nice!”

Lin Chuan nodded sincerely, much impressed.

Aside from the ‘rights development’ being a bit of a grandiose nothing, Lin Chuan approved of the other rewards.

Especially the ‘promotion to attract readers’.

If his next new book could get that kind of promotion, it would undoubtedly be winning right from the starting line.

So.

Lin Chuan tentatively asked, “Youyou, I’ve been thinking about releasing a new book recently.”

“A new book? You just dumped a million words at once, and now you have a new book?”

Youyou was slightly surprised.

Lin Chuan found an excuse, “These are all manuscripts I wrote before, which I dug up the other day. I might as well polish them a bit and publish them to give it a try.”

Youyou was half-believing, half-doubting, “Oh, that so? About the new book, I do have a suggestion.”

Lin Chuan sent a ‘I’m all ears.jpg’ emoji.

“Your ‘Swindler’ has been a huge success. I suggest you strike while the iron’s hot and write another swindler-themed novel: ‘Swindler II’. You have a very good chance of reaching ten thousand subscriptions,” Youyou recommended.

Lin Chuan frowned.

In the worlds of TV shows, movies, animations, games, and the like, making a sequel after the first one became a hit was a basic move.

They call it: building an XX universe.

In reality: it’s all about milking money.

The novel circle is no exception.

Apart from a few ‘trilogy series’ which are conscientious works, the rest are… well, let’s just say complicated.

Making money is not embarrassing, of course.

Unfortunately, the life Lin Chuan experienced last night wasn’t ‘Swindler II’, but ‘Assassin’!

Lin Chuan had no choice but to reply, “Youyou, I don’t want to write about swindlers anymore. I want to write about a different profession.”

Youyou asked, “What profession?”

Lin Chuan typed two characters, “Assassin.”

Youyou: “???”

A smile spread across Lin Chuan’s face, “Youyou, trust me!”

Youyou asked doubtfully, “Did your family’s second uncle also work as an assassin when he was young?”

Uh…

The corner of Lin Chuan’s mouth twitched as he replied, “No, that hasn’t happened.”

Being an assassin, you get caught and it’s a straight shot to execution, can’t let that happen to second uncle.

“Then has anyone in your family ever been an assassin?” Youyou continued to inquire.

“No.”

Lin Chuan’s face darkened.

That definitely couldn’t be the case.

“Assassin is a completely new theme for you, nowhere near as much a guaranteed success as ‘Swindler II’,” Youyou suggested.

Lin Chuan checked the information.

Indeed, no one could guarantee that every single book would be a hit.

‘Swindler II’ was the safest bet.

It’s just that the system didn’t allow it!

“Youyou, I want to give it a try, trust me!” Lin Chuan was adamant.

Youyou: “You’re mad! If you write yourself into a corner, I won’t be able to pull you out.”

The corner of Lin Chuan’s mouth twitched.

Hearing this, he couldn’t help but think of the ‘cold and aloof’ Shen Qianqian, and his face immediately sprouted several black lines.

This time, he shouldn’t end up inside again, right?