Chapter Forty-Two: The New Book Takes the World by Storm

Diandian, Magic City Headquarters.

The editor responsible for Su Tong’s account noticed “Coiling Dragon” appearing in the backend. With more than half an hour left before the end of the workday and nothing urgent to do, he decided to review it.

His QQ nickname was Watermelon. He opened “Coiling Dragon” and began reading slowly.

“Uploading four chapters right after approval—most likely a newcomer.”
“Look at these early chapters, the cultivation is described so thoroughly, but where’s the cheat?”
“Five chapters in, still no sign of a cheat.”
“There’s some buildup, at least.”
“…”

After reading the chapters Su Tong had uploaded, Watermelon felt a bit disappointed. To be honest, he didn’t want to sign this book.

For a newcomer, the opening chapters are crucial.
Conflict, suspense, tension—all important, but none more than the cheat.
Damn, five chapters and still no cheat. What is this rookie trying to pull?

However, Western fantasy had been languishing for a while, with few new books. Watermelon hesitated.

“Forget it, I’ll look again tomorrow.” When his shift ended, Watermelon shut down his computer and didn’t send Su Tong any contract information.

The next day, Su Tong uploaded four more chapters of “Coiling Dragon.”

Still no contract.

On the third day, another four chapters.

On the fourth day, Su Tong logged into the author backend and finally saw the contract information.

“Damn, scared me to death. If I couldn’t even get a contract, that’d be tragic.” Following the instructions in the backend mailbox, Su Tong added the contract editor’s QQ number.

Under the editor’s guidance, Su Tong filled out the information, went out to print the documents, and mailed the contract.

Over these few days, Su Tong also contacted Zhang Xin, urging her to work with publishers to sell “The Legend of Wukong.”

As a part-time agent, Zhang Xin had been keeping an eye on these matters, though she hadn’t been too invested yet. After careful consideration, Zhang Xin felt that the path to stardom was like a career in government—one must rise step by step. Stars, too, need groundwork and accumulation; without it, she worried Su Tong’s future road to fame would be rocky. Besides, Su Tong himself wanted to focus on his studies, not planning any major breakthroughs until his senior year.

“This kid sure is restless.” Knowing Su Tong had begun writing “Coiling Dragon,” Zhang Xin smiled and took the initiative to contact publishers. After all, only fans from the Cool Cool Show knew about “The Legend of Wukong”; outside, few people had heard of it, so naturally, no publishers approached him.

A couple days later, Zhang Xin called Su Tong; everything was settled.

Published by Yandu Guangming Publishing House, at two hundred per thousand characters, after tax.

This was only the simplified edition; traditional and comic versions could still be sold.

Su Tong had no idea how well “The Legend of Wukong” sold in his previous life. Anyway, the worlds were different—some disparity was inevitable.

Nearly a hundred thousand yuan in royalties, Zhang Xin took nothing, transferring the entire sum to Su Tong.

The print edition didn’t restrict Su Tong’s rights to the electronic version. For “Coiling Dragon” and to boost popularity for the pen name Nian Nu Jiao, he began uploading “The Legend of Wukong” onto Diandian.

Then, he announced on Weibo: “The Legend of Wukong” will soon be published by Guangming Publishing House, available for pre-order; the official electronic version is being uploaded to Diandian.

Nian Nu Jiao’s over a hundred thousand fans saw the news and immediately flocked over.

Most fans didn’t have a Diandian account. Even if they just registered, they had no recommendation votes.

Many found it troublesome and gave up. Only the die-hard fans patiently applied for accounts, learning how Diandian worked.

There were thousands of die-hard fans, and they quickly pushed “Coiling Dragon” onto the Newcomer New Book Ranking.

“Oh wow, another newcomer boosting stats, huh? These numbers are insane.”
“Not just the new book ranking, all the rankings are dead—cheaters everywhere.”
“But if they don’t boost the stats, we’d never see it. Let’s check it out—if it’s bad, we’ll roast him.”
“…”

With continuous support from loyal fans, “Coiling Dragon” soared up the new book ranking, attracting many readers hungry for books.

Ten days after its release, with the contract status still unchanged, “Coiling Dragon” climbed to fourth place on the homepage’s new book ranking.

“What the hell is this crap? Is this supposed to be Western fantasy?”
“The author’s an idiot, no further explanation needed.”
“Damn, what a lousy book. Author’s brainless, confirmed.”
“…”

The more popular someone becomes, the more controversy follows. No matter how good a book is, there will always be insults. Su Tong was delighted reading the comments in the review section.

The more scolding, the better—after all, someone’s got my back.

Those people, naturally, were Nian Nu Jiao’s die-hard fans.

“Who are you calling an idiot? With such a filthy mouth, were you born out of someone’s ass?”
“I’ll mess with your whole family. If you dare, tell me your address; if not, come to mine, here’s my address.”
“Haha, this place is awesome—everywhere’s a battlefield. Grandson, your grandpa’s here; don’t sleep tonight, let’s fight till dawn…”
“…”

Nian Nu Jiao’s die-hard fans were hardly easy to deal with. Chasing after trolls in the review section, they waged war across posts, broadcasts, and private messages.

When the show’s administrators joined Diandian, they scrambled to become administrators for “Coiling Dragon.”

Once the contract status changed and the book received a small recommendation, “Coiling Dragon” immediately appeared on the homepage’s member click ranking.

Now things got even livelier.

Books on the member click ranking weren’t to be trifled with; it was mostly the domain of top authors. With “Coiling Dragon” written by a newcomer and no strong recommendations, it was as if he’d stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Who do you think you are, a top author? How dare you boost stats like this.

For a while, “Coiling Dragon” became almost the enemy of the entire site.

Fans of superstar authors entered without reading, unleashing a storm of criticism.

Su Tong, however, was thoroughly enjoying himself. Let the storm rage even harder.

Just days ago, he’d worried about not getting a contract; now, after just half a month, he’d surged to first on the new book ranking and ninth on the member ranking.

“This isn’t a masterpiece, honestly—the beginning isn’t great, but as you keep reading, it gets better and better. The plot becomes more exciting, anticipation grows, and it shows potential to be a classic…”
“Having read the author’s ‘The Legend of Wukong,’ I support him. The only flaw is he hasn’t adapted to the online fiction model yet, but I can see he’s working hard and improving rapidly.”
“This is a great book—haven’t seen such an exciting Western fantasy in years. Why don’t people read before criticizing?”
“A masterpiece, especially impressed by the author’s update speed—four chapters a day.”
“Author, why are you so naïve, still not on the shelves? No reason for this burst—this is all money!”
“…”

After a fierce battle in the review section, many began to read seriously and realized the book’s popularity was justified; its quality held up.

Su Tong’s “ignorance” forced editor Watermelon to give some advice.

“Even if you have a lot of drafts, don’t upload so much at once. Two chapters a day is enough, best to stagger them—there’s a scheduled upload feature.”

He had no choice but to follow the editor’s advice and upload two chapters daily.

The royalties from “The Legend of Wukong,” the wages from Cool Cool Show’s livestream—all arrived.

Su Tong breathed a sigh of relief. His father’s hospital fees were fully covered, and he could compensate the family whose house had burned down in the village.

“Haha, Xiaoyu, Xiaoxiao, the tuition is saved again. There’s seventy or eighty thousand left—we can buy a fridge and a washing machine, and upgrade the TV to a flat screen.” Su Tong laughed, leading his two sisters into the city.