Chapter 55

Imagine this: if two books were placed in front of a reader who has never read a martial arts novel, the one with the highest reviews would certainly be "The Linked City Oath."

But neither "Martial Arts" nor "Martial Arts Stories" has noticed this yet.

Lin Mu knows this, but since he can't change anything now, he doesn't bother to remind them.

Lin Shuiqing smiled and said, "Although we haven't won yet, what's the difference? The惨loss of this issue of 'Seven Spells of the Wild Wind' has already proven its content's flaws, and it has completely collapsed, even its die-hard fans no longer buy it. The next issue of 'The Linked City Oath' will be more exciting than ever. What else do we have to worry about?!"

Qin Hong also said happily, "Old Lin is right. It looks like the bonus you'll give everyone this year will be thicker!"

When she said this, everyone in the editorial office fell silent. The joy of improved performance naturally paled in comparison to the allure of a bonus.

Zhu Zhengting's face froze with a smile, looking at the surrounding employees, and forced a smile, "With the editorial office's performance improving, everyone's salary will naturally increase. As for the year-end bonus, heh heh, it will be increased!"

Some new employees were overjoyed, never expecting to encounter such a great event just after starting work. What a good start!

But some of the more experienced employees, seeing Zhu Zhengting's expression, felt a chill in their hearts.

Time reveals true character. The editorial office's performance wasn't always bad, but the rewards for employees have always been lacking.

A few days ago, Zhu Zhengting's 5,000 yuan reward to Lin Mu surprised many new employees, but in the eyes of these old employees, it was miserly, clearly a deliberate reduction in the reward because Lin Mu was a new author.

Imagine if He Shuo hadn't transferred to "Martial Arts" and had used "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind" to boost the sales of "Martial Arts Stories" to such a degree, would Zhu Zhengting have dismissed He Shuo with just 5,000 yuan?

That would be an insult to a renowned author, right?

Yiye Shu is a newcomer with a good temper and didn't care about it, but as the editor-in-chief, can you really pretend to be ignorant?

Now, with the magazine's sales increasing several times over and advertisers coming in waves, giving Yiye Shu's manuscript fee only 30 yuan more per thousand words than a new author, isn't that unfair?

Even if they aren't close to Lin Mu, they wouldn't fight for him.

But Zhu Zhengting treats the editorial office employees more strictly than the authors. After all, he understands that without good authors, the editorial office can't survive.

But he doesn't care much about the employees.

As he puts it: authors and some key employees are hard to replace, but technical staff and manuscript reviewers are easy to find.

Although it's true that jobs are hard to find, a good work environment and decent salary are very attractive, but if you keep doing this, won't it make people feel disheartened?

This is why "Martial Arts Stories" has always been the perennial second. The employees he considers "unimportant" have no motivation to work hard.

If it weren't for "Martial Arts" making mistakes and being caught in various personal relationships, "Martial Arts Stories" might have already closed down.

Now, the annual sales champion is almost a sure thing. Zhu Zhengting can already foresee that with such an honor, next year, a large number of top short and medium-length novel authors will be attracted. As long as we don't publish novels based on personal relationships like "Martial Arts," "Martial Arts Stories" becoming the industry leader is a sure thing!

"Heh heh, we just need to wait for the next issue's sales. Deputy Editor Qin, you can prepare the year-end bonus table. Hmm, except for you, Shuiqing, and a few other old-timers, everyone else will get an additional 800 yuan, heh heh..."

Qin Hong: "What about the new employees this year? I've seen that Xiao Zhao and Xiao Wang have been working hard, often overtime..."

Zhu Zhengting thought for a moment: "Since you mentioned it, let's promote them to full-time positions. Everyone else will remain the same!"

...

At the "Martial Arts" editorial office.

Editor-in-Chief Cheng Xiong热情ly served a cup of tea to a middle-aged man in front of him.

"River North, don't be upset. This isn't your fault. Even if Mo Dao were here, it would be impossible to set up a complete plot and martial arts system in such a short time. Haven't you noticed that although some martial arts masters have released new books recently, Mo Dao, Chen Fengxiao, Wulong, Zhu Yi, and even Qiong Lou, who writes romance, have been quiet? Clearly, they are preparing for new works."

Sitting in front of him was the author of "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind," He Shuo.

He Shuo smiled bitterly, "Yes, these seniors have given up their original interests, all social engagements and commercial performances, and are thinking hard about new novels. I didn't see it clearly before."

Cheng Xiong patted his shoulder, "A temporary setback, what's the big deal? Yiye Shu originally conceived of internal energy, and he must have been thinking about 'The Linked City Oath' for years. 'Seven Spells of the Wild Wind' has a collapsed plot, so he can only write by ignoring some bugs!"

He Shuo felt a bitter taste in his heart. Was he finally going to take this step?

By ignoring some bugs, the author no longer pursues the reasonableness of the plot, even overturning common sense to make the plot proceed smoothly.

It seems similar to the "pleasure point first" in web novels, but it's even more extreme.

Even excellent web novels have a framework; otherwise, they would collapse like "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind."

The writing method Cheng Xiong mentioned is like a scene in a Stephen Chow's absurd comedy, for example, in "All's Well, Ends Well," where Zhou Xingchi jumps and lands on a tree, only to be hit by a bird's egg and lose his memory.

A normal plot is forcibly twisted!

Zhou Xingchi's acting makes such a situation funnier, but which other actor would dare to do this?

What He Shuo needs to do now is to make the "bird's egg that knocks people out" appear frequently in "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind," guiding the story back on track through this method.

It's clear that with this writing style, "Seven Spells of the Wild Wind" will regain some of its lost performance due to the increased pleasure points, but it will also mean that the book will become a one-time read, and readers won't want to read it a second time.

Using his reputation to win back readers for "Martial Arts"!

It's harsh, but who made him greedy for the title of "first in internal energy," leading to the plot's collapse? Now, Cheng Xiong is just following the industry's "unspoken rules."

"I will end 'Seven Spells of the Wild Wind' in two or three chapters. Heh heh, after this book ends, I will reflect on my mistakes. This time, I held the magazine back..."

"Heh heh, let's cooperate again next time!"

PS: Thank you to Tian Nan Qijueyan for the 100 and Aizou Qingyunlu for the donation.