Of course, Zhou Zhipeng would not allow his reputation to turn bad, even though he did not have a good reputation, to begin with.
So, the only thing he could do was to provide a link. Indirectly, he was also promoting the newly created “Source World” web novel site.
Many did not actually read his recommended book, but waited for the others to provide some feedback. If the responses were good, it would never be too late to start reading. If most of the feedbacks were negative, thanks for saving my time.
When people saw that this literary work had been posted on an unknown website, they lost all interest. Only hollow literature could become popular in these minor websites. Qidian was still the best.
Readers who did not have any books to read or anything better to do decided to give this book a try, not expecting much from it…
Many soon became hooked to it!
From tasting the waters to becoming mildly interested, to becoming hardcore fans of this author. They even topped up to tip him! None could understand their excitement from finding such a masterpiece as experienced readers. The suffering they have endured from not finding a suitable book to read for such a long time was like a shower after a long period of drought.
Those excited readers came back to thank Zhou Zhipeng right after discovering a great book, and they replied—
“Thank you for recommending this book, I’m totally hooked! If the author could maintain such quality, we’d have an icon in our hands!”
“Such a shame that it had not been posted on Qidian — it would be a chart-topper in no time at all!”
“How much is he actually earning? This small site couldn’t possibly provide much, I actually fear discontinuation. This author might be new to the scene. Why didn’t he try Qidian?”
“The review seemed suspicious to be at first, especially with that author. Now only do I know that it was just that good. I pity this poor author for having picked the wrong platform…”
…
More soon joined in on the reading, and in no time at all, the book had developed a solid fanbase!
As expected, 80% of the readers gave a very positive review for this book. Of course, some people liked to go against the crowd for the sake of it…
When Zhou Zhipeng saw all these replies thanking him, he felt a strange, happy sense of fulfillment. He was unhappy to see those who opposed for the sake of opposing, so he vehemently fought back to keep this recommended book on the trending list. Of course, many supporters of this book stood on his side. It truly felt great to be part of a solid fanbase of a solid book. It was literally flawless. He had no worries of being blindsided.
More and more readers began to read the “Grand Vizier.” It quickly became the most discussed book. Experienced readers were heading for it in droves!
Most importantly, more were becoming aware of the “Source World.” After catching up to the latest chapter of “Grand Vizier,” they started to read the other books on a whim, only to be pleasantly surprised!
At first, they had thought “Grand Vizier” was the only great book in this little upstart website. They certainly did not expect others works of similar quality to find their way here! How wrong had they been to underestimate “Source World!”
Besides that “Grand Vizier,” there were hundreds of web novels that could instantly become famous if they had been posted on Qidian!
Some mysterious organization had to be behind this. How else could a minor website draw the attention of all these elite authors?
As time went by, the plagiarists’ creations in Zhao Youyue’s “Source World” gained a strong following. The other web novel sites were left wondering. Where were all these talented unknowns coming from?
Due to its rapidly growing fame on the internet, it no longer remained small or insignificant. Because its anti-piracy policies were solid, no pirated versions of it could be found elsewhere. Readers were willing to pay to read these highly worthwhile titles.
As “Source World” gained more readers, other web novel sites started to shiver, except for Qidian. They tried hiring these talented authors, hoping to poach them from the “Source World,” but all their efforts were in vain.
It was a mystery. They had no way of reaching these authors whatsoever! No contact information, no existing readership, no past works. They seemed to have just popped up out of nowhere!
It would take a miracle for them to find the real authors. These authors were plagiarists, and they had come from other worlds, while posting their plagiarized copies in yet another world…