Chapter 4

Three days later.

Luo Yang turned on his computer and checked the performance of Wu Shuang.

*Wu Shuang*: 1,532 clicks, 2,021 recommendations, 33,000 words, 1,058 favorites!

A new author, a new book, and over a thousand favorites in just three days!

This was an incredibly impressive result. Even though Luo Yang had mentally prepared himself, he couldn't help but feel a bit smug.

"I'm just a fresh, new author..." he gloated to himself, "I bet the contract will be coming soon."

"What's with that disgusting look on your face, Luo Yang?" Liu Qin, who was peeling an orange, leaned against the door and looked at him.

Luo Yang ignored her and continued to read the comments below.

"Discovered an absolute masterpiece!"

"From casually browsing to being completely obsessed with this book! I love this feeling!"

"Even in my dreams, I see the content of this novel. It's rare for a novel to give me this kind of feeling!"

"The protagonist is too awesome! With the experience and memories from his previous life, he's practically omniscient!"

"My favorite part is the protagonist's invincibility and dominance at his level! Compared to this, all the fantasy novels I've read before are garbage!"

"I think this book completely surpasses *Devil Sect*!"

*Devil Sect* was currently the top-ranked work on the Star Novel Network. For someone to say this, it was clear that *Wu Shuang* had thoroughly captivated them.

In addition to the lively discussion in the comments, *Wu Shuang* had also received seven or eight donations.

"Night Reader donated 200 Star Coins to *Wu Shuang*!"

"Puppy's Sanitary Napkin donated 100 Star Coins to *Wu Shuang*!"

"Ah Aifa donated 100 Star Coins to *Wu Shuang*!"

"Reset to Zero donated 80 Star Coins to *Wu Shuang*!"

The fan list now had seven or eight names, each with a fan value equal to their donation amount.

...

"Wow, that's a lot of money! What's the exchange rate for these Star Coins to Long Yuan?" Liu Qin, who had somehow sneaked up behind Luo Yang, asked with shining eyes as she looked at the donations below his work.

Long Yuan, of course, was the currency of Long Country.

"One-to-one," Luo Yang replied with a smile.

"Damn, so you've already earned a few hundred Long Yuan in just three days?" Liu Qin exclaimed, surprised.

Thanks to Luo Yang's influence, Liu Qin had some understanding of web novels.

In the early stages, it's very hard for a web novel to make a profit because all the chapters are free, so the author doesn't earn any royalties. Many authors have to write for one to two months before their work can be put on a paid subscription, and only then do they start earning royalties.

So, the fact that Luo Yang was already earning money at the beginning was quite surprising to Liu Qin.

"Is a few hundred a lot?" Luo Yang shook his head, "The real money will come once it's on subscription. Right now, it's just free chapters, and the website takes half of the donations, so I'll only get about two hundred."

"Capitalism is evil," Liu Qin huffed, as if her own money had been taken.

"Get lost, I'm updating," Luo Yang said, opening his document and continuing to write.

Liu Qin didn't continue to bother him. Writing was Luo Yang's job, and even though she was carefree, she generally tried not to joke around while he was writing, unless she was having a rare moment of mischief...

*Tap tap tap...* Halfway through, Luo Yang suddenly noticed that one of the letter keys wasn't working properly.

He pressed it hard, but it still didn't work.

"Film keyboards are no good, Liu Qin," Luo Yang said, getting up, "Let's go buy a keyboard."

"Keyboard broken?" Liu Qin asked.

"Yeah, let's get a good mechanical one," Luo Yang replied.

Liu Qin had no objections, and they changed clothes and headed out.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the electronics market. It was then that Luo Yang realized he had made a terrible decision.

No matter where Luo Yang and Liu Qin went, countless eyes would follow them... more accurately, they would follow Liu Qin!

When these gazes turned to Luo Yang, they would turn into naked envy, as if he were a pile of cow dung monopolizing a beautiful flower!

Luo Yang felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward under these gazes.

After quickly selecting a good mechanical keyboard, the shop owner said, "500 yuan."

"Here you go," Liu Qin, who was following behind Luo Yang, took out her wallet and handed 500 yuan to the shop owner.

The shop owner's gaze instantly turned to naked disdain.

"I..." Luo Yang was at a loss for words. The shop owner's look clearly labeled him as a kept man.

Liu Qin quickly caught on and deliberately said in a sweet voice, "Darling, what else do you want to buy? I'll get it for you!"

"Buy your sister!" Luo Yang's face turned dark, and he stormed out with the keyboard.

Liu Qin laughed inwardly but put on a pout, following behind Luo Yang with a look of deep grievance, "What's wrong, darling? Don't be angry..."

"Beast!" someone shouted at Luo Yang, not bothering to hide their voice.

"Kept man!" the shop owner who had just sold the keyboard to Luo Yang added, not holding back.

Luo Yang pretended not to hear and fled the electronics market.

Liu Qin laughed so hard she was bent over, pointing at Luo Yang as if her stomach hurt.

Luo Yang barely restrained himself from hitting her and gritted his teeth, "You bitch, are you done yet?"

"Every time I say I'm a man, you emphasize that I'm a tomboy! You can tease me, but I can't get back at you?" Liu Qin stopped laughing and said with a calm demeanor.

"Let's go back," Luo Yang, feeling mentally and physically drained, said. Playing the role of a cunning woman was not his strong suit.

——

Xiao Yuan was a new editor at Star Chinese Network.

When she first joined the best website in the industry, she was full of enthusiasm and determination to achieve something.

So, she worked diligently, signing over fifty books in the past two months and using her editorial power to give these books good recommendation spots.

However, all these books flopped...

The books she had signed were either abandoned or discontinued, and the few that were still being updated had mediocre results with no highlights.

"What kind of garbage books did you sign? How many recommendation spots did you waste?" The chief editor pulled her out early in the morning and gave her a harsh scolding, even saying, "If this continues, you're fired!"

Xiao Yuan was hit hard and began to doubt her own abilities for the first time.

Returning to her desk, she was somewhat dejected.

"When will Star Novel Network have another great author like Stone Man or Rat Eats Cat..." Xiao Yuan shook her head. These great authors didn't appear every year, and even if they did, it was unlikely she would encounter them.

"Alright, let's work hard!" Xiao Yuan opened the editor's backend and started reviewing manuscripts for the day.

She had turned the setback into motivation!

"This book is too bland..."

"This one has fundamental logical issues..."

"And this one, damn, the sentences are so poorly written. Are elementary school kids writing novels now..."

Because most of the books she had submitted for signing last month had flopped, Xiao Yuan was much stricter in her review this time. As a result, she didn't find a single book worth signing after reviewing for a long time.

"Hmm? Why is this new author's book performing so well?" Xiao Yuan looked at a book called *Wu Shuang*.

"Let's take a look."

As an editor, she read very quickly. Moreover, *Wu Shuang* was only about 33,000 words, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the millions of words in typical web novels.

Soon, she reached the latest update.

After reading it all in one breath, Xiao Yuan's big eyes started to sparkle!

"This fantasy novel has a fresh and creative concept, a grand background, and a mature writing style. The plot and pacing are also perfect! Even I, a female editor, am getting excited! It's amazing!"

Xiao Yuan's heart was racing, and she felt more nervous than on her first day of work!

Because the editors at Star Novel Network were in competition with each other—each editor could review manuscripts from other editors, and the first editor to submit a signing request would be responsible for that author.

The performance of the authors under an editor's charge was also the editor's performance.

"Submit... submit for signing!" Xiao Yuan suddenly remembered her role as an editor and urgently submitted *Wu Shuang* for signing.

She was afraid that if she was a step late, another editor might discover and sign the book first, which would make her cry. Once she signed the book, the other editors would have no chance.

"This author has the potential to become a super great author! If he becomes popular, I'll rise with him! Pfft, pfft, pfft, I'm not a chicken or a dog... but I want to rise too!"

Xiao Yuan was extremely excited, as if she could see a great author rising before her eyes...