Chapter 8

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Amazing! It’s been years since I saw such an impressive beginning.”

“Why can a newcomer get so many hits? I’ve been an editor for a few years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such an excellent writer!”

“Wow, a new Fantasy-novel hotshot! I love this novel, and I want to read more, but why are there only three chapters?”

“Tsk, judging from his writing style, I’m sure that he can even win awards if he focuses on traditional literature. He shouldn’t have chosen online literature. It’s such a waste!.”

“The rhythm of the plots and the writer’s narrative ability are impressive. I’m just wondering if this novel is written by an anonymous hotshot.”

All the editors in the office crowded the narrow aisle in front of Cai Pingtong’s desk, tiptoeing to see how amazing “Battle Through the Heavens” was.

These editors had read at least 800 online novels. After reading this one, however, they could not help but exclaim in admiration.

The Fantasy-novel department was always like a deserted place. Now, however, it suddenly became the most crowded place in the office. Cai Pingtong was so astonished that he hadn’t come to his senses yet.

Cai Pingtong stared at the screen in a daze. His eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

Xiao Li said in an envious tone of voice, “Congratulations, Brother Cai! I think this is an excellent novel!”

Another senior editor added, “Xiao Li is right. I think this novel has a very creative beginning, which makes it interesting enough. We can try to focus on grooming him! Cai… Cai, what’s wrong? Say Something.”

“Oh… well… groom him! Yeah, we need to groom him!” Cai Pingtong stood up from his chair.

At this moment, Cai Pingtong was like a withered blade of grass that had suffered from a drought for a long time. He instantly stood up as if he had suddenly come back to his life. His blood was running through his veins like a wild horse, making his cheeks flush red.

The other editors in the office had not seen Cai Pingtong so excited for a long time. After all, they could not even remember how long had passed since the Fantasy-novel department signed a new contract last time.

“Thank you all for your reminder! I’ll go prepare to sign the contract right away! No! I’ll show it to the leader first and apply for a higher salary for him!”

Cai Pingtong rubbed his hands and walked around in circles excitedly. He was completely different from what he was like just now. Instead of being calm, he was very excited at the moment. He finally found a writer who had great potential. He was tempted to give the best resources to Mr. Shu so that he could groom him well.

Then, Cai Pingtong rushed into the leader’s office like a gust of wind.

On the other side.

Xu Yuan had completed the outline of Lord of the Mysteries. It took him two hours just to figure out 22 Sequences and 220 Beyonder professions. Fortunately, he had a good memory. If he missed any one of them, there would be a huge loophole. However, Lord of the Mysteries was worthy of being a phenomenal success. There were around 50,000 words in the outline.

After finishing the outline, Xu Yuan did not hurry to sleep. He stood up and walked around the room, relaxing his stiff back and sore fingers.

Then, Xu Yuan entered the online novel forum. He wanted to study the trend of the online novel market and those popular topics on various websites before making appropriate adjustments to his two works.

Xu Yuan was good at analyzing the trends of online novels. He browsed through the forum and found that the topics that were most discussed were Wuxia and city-life-themed novels. Their popularity was a lot higher than that of the other topics.

As for Fantasy novels, most of the readers gathered together to reminisce about the past. They missed those wonderful fighting plots and mocked the current boring online novels. Besides, they would also ask one another to recommend interesting novels to them.

The rest of the content was about the supporting programs for new writers on various online novel websites. They put numerous advertisements on these websites. However, from the topics they mentioned, one could figure out the main theme of each website.

There were many Fantasy novels. Writing a Fantasy novel was actually like building a house according to traditional features. Maybe one was able to build a house, but it remained a problem whether he or she could do it well. In short, there were lots of great business opportunities in Fantasy novels, but no one could grasp it.

In order to integrate faster into this world, Xu Yuan posted a question in the forum, trying to get some help. Its title was “May I ask all the hotshots here how long does it take the editors to review the manuscript? When can I sign the contract?”

Xu Yuan’s tone was very modest. One could tell that he was a newcomer who had just entered this industry. Such questions were raised in this forum every day. Every time, however, there would be some kind-hearted writers who were willing to answer them.

After all, this was exactly how these people became experienced online writers. Those who had just posted their novels online understood well the uneasiness and uncertainty. They just hoped that someone could answer their questions.

“Netland? Oh, it’s too difficult, man. They are very picky about writers. You gotta have excellent writing, plotting, and character designing skills.”

“Hello, my friend. You are a new writer, right? I’ve only got one thing to tell you. Run, now!”

“Netland reviews manuscripts very quickly. Those who write well will be contacted by the editors the next day. Normally, each contract you sign is worth 100000 yuan at least. And you have to do it under the condition that your novel is popular. Otherwise, you’ll have to take your time.”

“Rookies are not recommended to publish their novels on Netland. You can go to Migens. It’ll be easier for you to reach the standard there. At least you can get a full attendance bonus.”

“Yeah, what he says is true, dude. I failed three novels on Netland. If I had chosen another website, I could earn some money to pay for my food, at least.”

“If you can persist in writing your novels, you might be able to be successful one day.”

Numerous replies popped up on the screen as if they were telling Xu Yuan to give up. He frowned and scrolled through the replies one by one.

Xu Yuan looked at these kind replies and could not help feeling very depressed. Although he knew that the competition on Netland was very intense, it was a lot more intense than he had imagined.

Among these replies, there was one saying “Netland is those hotshots’ wonderland. It would be a waste even if you create a new account.”

Just then, a message popped up on the website of Netland.

Xu Yuan clicked on it, feeling a little insecure.

The message said that Xu Yuan could sign the contract with the editor immediately, and the title of the message was especially highlighted in bold type, telling him that he was invited to sign the contract with Netland as a “Level-S Writer”.

Xu Yuan could tell that the editor thought highly of him very much. He knew that his novel must have been valued, but he didn’t know what “Level-s Writer” meant.

Therefore, Xu Yuan asked in the post, “What does ‘Level-S’ mean on Netland?”

After Xu Yuan pressed the “send” button, the whole world seemed to pause for two seconds. Numerous notices of replies were flashing just now. But now, they were all silent.

Xu Yuan bent over to see if he had kicked off the Internet cable.

Suddenly, the notices sounded again!

“Level-S is the highest level on Netland. The editors will pay great attention to you and treat you as the NO.1 writer. Well, I heard about it from others!”

“Oh, man, you’re amazing. You just published a ‘Level-S’ novel. What’s the title of your novel? I’m going to read your masterpiece.”

“LMFAO. I kept blah-blah talking, trying to offer some help, and it turns out that I’m just a stupid clown.”

“Oh, hotshot, can you please tell me the secret of signing a contract with Netland? My novel has never been chosen before…”

“You must be an expert in showing off, man. No one is as good as you at showing off!”

“Well, a hotshot is just pretending to be a noob here. He’s making fun of us. Let’s go, guys.”

Amidst the compliments and jealousy, Xu Yuan found some explanations for “Level-S”.

Xu Yuan felt much more relieved now. It seemed that “Battle Through the Heavens” was highly valued by Netland. Probably because the editors thought that he would refuse to sign the contract with them, they were willing to offer him the treatment that only those famous writers could get.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to reply to the message, another message popped up on the website. It was from the editor.