Chapter 94

【PS: I need a few recommendation votes to boost my profile~~】

Aowuchang is a veteran writer on Qidian, having started in 2004. His debut novel, "Nüwa World," coincided with the surge in online games and achieved great success. However, his next two books flopped, and he faced the harsh reality of being cut from publication. For this novel, "The Unscrupulous Emperor," he had high hopes, and it did not disappoint. Although it is also written in the first person, he was much luckier than I Chitomato. Many readers bought into his story, finding it thrilling to read about the emperor's unscrupulous deeds from the "I" perspective. This made him very hopeful for his performance on the monthly vote list.

However, as "Raging Thunder" began to catch up, he finally felt a sense of crisis. Unlike Futian, who, as a woman, did not say anything when she was overtaken, Aowuchang could not remain silent. "Raging Thunder" was only a few votes behind him, and Tongyanwuji was updating four chapters daily. With a few days left until the end of the month, was this level of effort really necessary?

Aowuchang, despite being a severe procrastinator and a slow writer, had two chapters in reserve for the monthly vote competition. To prevent being overtaken by the newcomer, he decided to update an extra chapter. However, he did not beg readers for votes, as he was proud. He believed that if readers appreciated his extra effort, they would naturally vote for him. If they didn't, it would be a waste of their acquaintance.

Aowuchang was very confident. Over the years, he had accumulated a loyal readership who knew his updates were not frequent. A three-chapter update in a day was a rare event, and they would surely be willing to vote for him.

Sure enough, after half a day, Aowuchang saw that his monthly votes had increased by over 80, and "Raging Thunder" had been overtaken by "Dragon Realm" by Zhongsheng.

"Hehe, trying to compete with me, young people are still too inexperienced. Writing an extra chapter is more effective than your daily four updates, hahaha!" Aowuchang gloated as he returned to the Qidian homepage and checked "Raging Thunder" on the weekly click list. Although it felt good to have the newcomer under him, "Raging Thunder" was a novel he had been following recently. Tongyanwuji's update frequency and writing quality were impressive, and he was quite objective about it.

"Hey, it's already at 105 chapters?" Aowuchang was startled. If he remembered correctly, Tongyanwuji had last updated to chapter 100 yesterday, meaning he had updated five chapters today!

Aowuchang quickly checked the monthly votes for "Raging Thunder" and was shocked. It wasn't "The Unscrupulous Emperor" that had overtaken "Raging Thunder," but the other way around, and by a significant margin. While "The Unscrupulous Emperor" had gained a lot of votes today, "Raging Thunder" had gained nearly 200!

"Raging Thunder" thus successfully entered the top 20 of the monthly vote list, now just below "The Face-Changing Warrior" by Dancing. "The Face-Changing Warrior" was nearing its end, with reduced updates, but its ranking showed that Dancing had a strong fan base, and his next book would likely soar.

"Only one extra chapter, yet so many votes, there must be something fishy!" Aowuchang could not accept being overtaken by "Raging Thunder." He began to read Tongyanwuji's updates quickly, trying to find the root of this strange phenomenon.

After reading the fourth update, he understood. Tongyanwuji was shameless, leaving a huge cliffhanger in the fourth chapter, a classic case of building up and then cutting off. This left readers frustrated and eager for more. Most infuriatingly, he wrote at the end: "I know everyone wants to see the next chapter, but writing so much every day is really tiring. Do you know what can refresh me? The answer is: monthly votes! If everyone helps me surpass 'The Unscrupulous Emperor,' I'll immediately update the fifth chapter!" You're asking for votes, why drag me into it!

It would have been easy to surpass "The Unscrupulous Emperor," with only a few votes needed. However, Aowuchang had preemptively updated an extra chapter, causing a surge in votes. This made it harder for "Raging Thunder" readers to complete Tongyanwuji's task. Many neutral readers had to use their saved votes to support "Raging Thunder," hoping to see the fifth chapter sooner.

Liuming had been monitoring the monthly vote list for Tongyan. When "Raging Thunder" finally surpassed "The Unscrupulous Emperor," Tongyan immediately updated the fifth chapter. After reading it, Aowuchang, still unsatisfied, cursed, "What a shameless chapter-cutter!"

Tongyanwuji left a cliffhanger in the previous chapter and did so again in this one. This is the art of cliffhanging. After reading this chapter, readers were even more eager to see the next one. Tongyanwuji then said, "I'm so tired, my hands can barely lift. If I get a few votes to boost my spirits, I might write another chapter."

This time, Tongyan did not specify how many votes or who to surpass before updating, leaving readers uncertain. They had to vote as much as they could. After venting his frustration, Aowuchang, with a sigh, reluctantly voted for "Raging Thunder" with the one vote he had saved for the end of the month...

With a week left until the end of January and four days until the New Year, to ensure a peaceful holiday, Tongyan had accumulated 12 chapters of reserve, writing over 20,000 words almost every day. In the past few days, Zhangxiao had come to visit, but Tongyan had no time to chat. Seeing Tongyan's dedication, Zhangxiao promised to rally more support in the group chat.

High-intensity writing is not a comfortable job. Several times, Tongyan felt like vomiting when he looked at the keyboard, a phenomenon known as "typing until you want to vomit." If it weren't for the rising numbers that motivated him, he would have found it hard to continue.

The average subscription for a novel can easily rise at the beginning of its release because the subscription cost is low. If readers like the book, they are likely to subscribe to all VIP chapters.

After a week of release, "Raging Thunder" saw its average subscription rise from less than 1800 to over 2700, with the first chapter's subscription reaching 3300. The total number of followers was close to 30,000, and many readers said they had become VIPs for this book, giving Tongyan a great sense of achievement.

With this level of subscription and Tongyan's faster-than-usual update frequency, the final subscription earnings would definitely exceed Watermelon's prediction. Adding the new book monthly vote bonus would make it even more substantial.

Now, "Raging Thunder" is third in the new book monthly vote list. "The Unscrupulous Emperor," limited by its update speed, has no chance of a comeback. The 1500 yuan bonus is secure, and the next goal is the 2500 yuan bonus!

However, as the New Year approached, Tongyan's writing speed inevitably slowed. He had to accompany his parents to buy New Year's goods and help prepare for the holiday, even if he couldn't cook. He could no longer spend endless hours at the bookstore.

Tongyan actually enjoyed the time with his parents and sister. He was writing to make everyone happy and content, so he wouldn't sneak out to write during family gatherings, which he considered counterproductive.

Thus, Tongyan could only write secretly at night, especially late at night, reminiscent of his school days. Occasionally, he could write a bit during the day when his parents and sister were out, managing about three to four chapters a day.

Tongyan saw that the daily four updates were no longer significantly increasing the monthly votes, so he decided to reduce the daily updates to three, as Huabiao's advice went: "If you keep spoiling them, you'll only suffer in the end!"

Tongyan also didn't want readers to take daily four updates for granted. Once school started, his updates would inevitably decrease, so using the New Year as an excuse to reduce updates and ease the pressure on his reserve was necessary.

To be honest, Tongyan was quite considerate. On Qidian, many well-known and unknown writers use the New Year as a legitimate reason to stop or reduce updates, and readers should understand, considering the special significance of the Spring Festival to the Chinese people.

On New Year's Eve, Tongyan followed his father in their used minivan to return to their hometown for the ancestral worship. He updated three chapters after midnight to feel at ease before the journey, but he doubted he would have time to write today...

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