Huang Yifan's concerns about buyout contracts, naturally, didn't make much of a splash in the chat group.
Competition in the web novel scene was fierce, and the pressure was immense. Everyone craved a bit of stability. Now that buyout contracts had finally emerged, there was hardly an author who wasn't tempted by the prospect.
Huang Yifan knew this too; no point explaining further. So he simply changed the subject and chatted with the group about other things.
Half an hour later, Huang Yifan exited the Striving Writers Group and logged into the Feilong forum.
As a neutral hub for web novel authors, Feilong had always attracted attention from across the writing community.
The recent deletion scandal involving Lingdian had been a hot topic on Feilong for a while. Now, more than a month later, the uproar had died down, but the fallout continued. Industry insiders on the forum reported that several well-known Lingdian authors had jumped ship to Huanyue and Lianheng. Although Lingdian had tried to fight back by offering generous contracts to retain top-tier authors, their resources were limited. They simply couldn't match the power of Huanyue and Lianheng. As a result, Lingdian had suffered major talent losses.
Even more worrying was Lingdian's plummeting traffic.
According to professional data analysts, Lingdian's site traffic had dropped by 20%.
But that was only one side of the discussion on Feilong. Another major thread centered around Lingdian's new "noob-style" fiction initiative.
Thanks to the influence of 'How a Bad Guy Is Made', noob-style writing had gained popularity, despite the novel's deletion. Readers had been actively hunting down similarly simple and satisfying works. In an attempt to counter Huanyue and Lianheng's aggressive expansion, Lingdian had launched a dedicated noob-style fiction category.
At first, the category attracted a lot of interest, as it seemed to replicate the charm of 'How a Bad Guy Is Made'.
But it didn't take long before readers got bored.
Many complained: "This is noob-style? Sure, the words are simple, but there's zero payoff in the story!"
In the end, Lingdian's noob-style initiative became the laughingstock of the web novel world.
Some authors even started threads on Feilong, mocking the new initiative while pointing out that noob-style wasn't even a real genre. "Has Lingdian lost its mind? Promoting something like this? No wonder the site's declining."
Others chimed in with skepticism: "Was 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' even that popular to begin with? Sure, it got a lot of favorites, but those numbers can be inflated. Who knows if they were real?"
To make things worse, trolls and rival authors, many likely using burner accounts, flooded Feilong with attacks on Lingdian's noob-style fiction and its growing popularity. They labeled the genre as a fringe trend at best, a fad at worst. "Even if one book goes viral, the rest won't. This is the beginning of the end for noob-style fiction."
Then came a bombshell, a thread posted by "Bird of Paradise," a rising author who had just defected from Lingdian to Huanyue. His post directly attacked The Number One White Under Heaven:
"The Number One White Under Heaven, ha! Is he dead yet? If so, I wish him a safe journey. If not, what a shame. His novel getting deleted was the best thing that's ever happened. But unfortunately, it dragged down countless innocent authors at Lingdian."
"And what's worse is this garbage genre he created, noob-style fiction. Just look at the copycats out there. Same childish prose, same kindergarten-level plots. This is the future of web novels? If so, 2015 will go down as the year of the biggest joke in web literature."
"Thankfully, the market doesn't lie. These noob-style knockoffs have no literary merit and no market acceptance. As everyone's saying, they're being rejected by readers."
"I wonder, The Number One White Under Heaven, how does it feel to watch all this unfold?"
"Oh, right, you probably don't even know. Or maybe you do, and you're still dreaming about being the founder of this "genre.""
"Come September 8th, we'll see. That whole "When I bloom, all others wilt" line? Sure, pretty words, but I can't wait to see how your little bloom plans to outshine a thousand others."
"And to all you would-be noob-style authors: with writing like yours, you have no business being here. If I were you, I'd delete my pen name and disappear from the web novel world. Otherwise, go train your writing for three years and come back when you're ready."
The thread sparked another wave of author defections from Lingdian. Newcomers publicly declared they wouldn't even consider publishing there. Mid-tier authors hinted they were in talks with Huanyue and Lianheng. Even some of Lingdian's veteran stars admitted that, if the price was right, they might just jump ship too.
…
Heh. After all this time recovering, someone's still got enough hate to write a whole rant about me.
Seeing the post, Huang Yifan chuckled.
Writers have always been quick to tear each other down; it's a tradition as old as literature itself.
Given how 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' had once taken the spotlight, and the fact that he still held the rare rank of a 1-star author, it wasn't surprising that others felt some jealousy.
Originally, he hadn't planned to respond. But now that he had free time, and seeing how much noise was being made, not just about him but also Lingdian, he reconsidered.
His second novel would still be published on Lingdian, and under the same pen name: The Number One White Under Heaven.
He didn't want to launch his next work already branded a joke.
So... should he entertain them for a bit?
With that thought, Huang Yifan logged into his account and started a new thread.
"Wow, after all this time away, there are still so many friends who miss me. Looks like my popularity's only grown, definitely something to celebrate. And to that friend who posted such colorful words about me, here's my reply. Just a humble little poem, don't be afraid, it's not very good."
"Heaven creates all things to nourish man, yet man still blames Heaven for being cruel. Blind to the swarms that plague the land, they suffer, ruled by those crowned in gold."
"Men are born to high or low estate, The noble always Heaven's chosen. Riches and rank fall from the sky, while commoners bear Heaven's wrath."
"One night, a madman sharpens his blade, the emperor's star dims, disaster looms. The time has come to upend the world."
"Why flinch from blood, when hands are ready?"
"The traitor must die! The unfilial must die! The unjust must die! The unkind must die!"
"Those without virtue, wisdom, or truth, the Western King declares: Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"You once published at Lingdian, then jumped ship before your contract ended, that's betrayal."
"You were a known writer, but instead of writing, you came here to throw mud at others; that's cruelty."
"We're all fellow authors, yet instead of support, you hurl insults; that's injustice."
"Noob-style fiction was market-tested a decade ago. If you still can't see its worth, that's ignorance."
"So tell me, someone, so faithless, cruel, unjust, and blind…Shouldn't you be cut down?"
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