Sorry I forgot to make a note, I’ll go back and make it on the first chapter.
[…] means a system communication or live broadcast comment.
[[…]] is an excerpt from Yu Mian’s novels.
“But I really am not!”
Ever since Yu Mian discovered the root cause of the issue, he had tried to communicate with the little system, but it was completely fruitless. He was left staring in shock as various analysts appeared in the comments section.
Even Yu Mian himself didn’t know that his nove actually had such profound meaning!
Moreover, although his legs really couldn’t walk anymore, that didn’t mean he was disabled! They had merely turned into a fish tail…
Just as Yu Mian was quickly brainstorming ways to salvage the mess caused by the system, like refunding each reward and explaining everything, he had barely sent out the first message when two heavyweight rewards suddenly appeared in the comments section.
[Airship x5] EN: No need to explain further. We understand. Strengthening your body’s nutrition is very important.
[Airship x10] I’m Not Landebai: Check your private messages! Check your private messages!! Check your private messages!!!
So Kane, who had just sent a reward a moment ago and was at the top of the rankings, noticed that his position was suddenly overtaken by someone called “I’m Not Landebai”.
The content of this message made Kane frown slightly.
So he opened the page and sent another reward:
[Airship x10] EN: Don’t disturb the author unnecessarily.
Although the message didn’t directly name anyone, it was obvious to almost everyone who it was targeting.
What no one expected was that, shortly after, the other party actually replied!
[Airship x11] I’m Not Landebai: Hah? I have business to discuss.
While waiting for Yu Mian’s reply, Bai Lande couldn’t help but feel that the other party was too nosy.
Did he really think of himself as a domineering CEO like Caesar?!
However, as these two arrogant readers engaged in their airborne “conversation”, they had no idea that this wave of operations would accidentally bring a new wave of popularity to “Contract Marriage”.
It should be noted that on the Huanyu Reading Platform, airships were the most premium gift.
Each airship cost 3,000 star coins. Although it couldn’t compare to the extravagant gifts on live broadcast platforms, which started at tens of thousands, it was considered extremely rare on a novel platform.
As a result, whenever a reader sent an airship, a scrolling banner would appear at the top of the platform, displaying the book’s title, the donor’s ID, and their message.
Although the banner only stayed for a few seconds, the advertising effect was phenomenal.
It’s just that although the Huanyu Reading Platform had been established for a long time, no one had ever realized that these reward banners could essentially be used like global announcements in a game!?
These two tycoons were actually having an airborne conversation this way.
It was simply unbelievable!
[I admit, this advertising effect is genius. Can I check out this book now??]
As a result, a wave of curious readers on the platform, drawn in by the scrolling banners, clicked through and landed on the book!
The wave of readers attracted by the scrolling reward banners quickly turned their attention to the peculiar new book, “Contract Marriage”.
[A new book with only thirty-three thousand words? And it’s not even signed yet? Isn’t the author afraid of wasting money on promotion for something so short…?]
[Yeah, is it common now for new books to buy promotions? Aren’t they afraid that the data would look odd?]
The book wasn’t signed, had few words, and yet boasted an unusually high number of collections, and a rare wave of high rewards.
In the eyes of old readers, even if the rewards may be the promotions bought by the author himself, the collections had to be fabricated data!
Although Huanyu Reading Platform has cracked down severely on authors buying fake data, it is still impossible to prevent a small number of authors from trying to use various means to make the data of their new books higher, so as to further obtain better recommendation positions on the list.
Given how conspicuous Yu Mian’s data was, it was no surprise that it aroused suspicion among these new, “parachuting” readers.
However, the questions raised by these new readers immediately angered the old readers squatting in the comment section.
Yes, it was a new book by a new author, but that didn’t mean anyone could casually question it. Did they think the old readers were nonexistent?
Even without mentioning the old readers in the comment section who are extremely protective of their child, the author’s obvious poverty was irrefutable evidence!
After all, the poor author was so poor that he couldn’t even afford a little bit of promotion!
[To the ones above, the two big shots are “actually” having a conversation! Don’t parachute in and start talking nonsense!]
[I can vouch for this. My poor author is so broke he couldn’t even afford a cover! Buying promotion? Impossible!!]
[There is no point explaining to you newcomers. Just read the novel first, okay? Finish it, then talk. Don’t you feel guilty?]
Faced with the united front of both old and new readers defending the book, this new group of book lovers who had initially planned to browse out of curiosity found themselves unable to resist clicking into the main text of “Contract Marriage” with suspicion.
They were determined to see what kind of content could inspire such confidence.
And once they clicked in, they were nowhere to be seen.
Though the new book only had a few tens of thousands of words, it felt like a time vortex. Once they started reading, they couldn’t stop.
Meanwhile, the focus in the comment section shifted back to the two big shots engaged in their airborne conversation.
[Also, isn’t “I’m Not Landebai” the account of Anchor Bai Lande? Why is he here commenting on a new book?!]
Some readers quickly recognized “I’m Not Landebai” as the account of Bai Lande, a famous anchor. What on earth was such a renowned figure doing supporting Yu Mian, an unsigned new author, and even throwing in such huge rewards?
As for the other commenter, “EN”, no one seemed to know who he was. His profile showed he was an old reader, but he rarely commented. Now, he was matching Bai Lande blow for blow in rewards!
At that moment, Kane, who was sitting in his office slacking off and catching up on updates, had already opened the reward page. He was prepared to make a decisive contribution and end this absurd competition.
He had never encountered anything so outrageous.
But just as Kane repeatedly tapped the send button, he found himself unable to complete the transaction!
[Sorry, the reward function has been temporarily disabled by the author.]
Kane: !?
Outrageous! Couldn’t the author have waited for him to finish before disabling it?
Just then, Kane received a “ding”—a notification alerting him to a response from an account set to special attention.
It turned out that Yu Mian had replied to one of his comments, drawing the attention of both parties and the entire comment section.
[Thank you so much for everyone’s support, but I want to clarify again that although I currently cannot walk, it’s absolutely not for the reasons everyone imagines!
Because I don’t want to waste your kindness, all reward amounts will be refunded shortly.
I hope everyone rewards only because you enjoy the novel and it makes you happy—please consume rationally!!!]
At that moment, Yu Mian even felt like an actor shouting, “Please stop fighting!”.
The comment caused an uproar in the section.
After all, it was unheard of.
Since the establishment of the Huanyu Reading Platform, no author had ever banned rewards in the comment section.
[Ahhh, why are you refunding!?]
Even the system, which had been sulking in silence after realizing it might have caused a mess, couldn’t help but voice its protest.
“Why? You asked me to collect popularity points, not money! Why are you suddenly so upset? Does more money come with extra rewards?” Yu Mian asked, confused.
[No… I used to be a money-collecting system before, so it’s muscle memory—ah, no! That’s not it! Why are you refunding!?]
The system was bound by logic and couldn’t understand Yu Mian’s decision. Although replacing sensitive words in line with the world rules might have led to misunderstandings, it didn’t see the harm in it.
“Because this has caused a huge misunderstanding. I just turned into a mermaid now, not that my legs are injured. Accepting rewards for such reasons would be emotionally manipulative.”
“Besides, don’t you believe I can gather enough popularity points with my works and finally restore my legs?”
At that moment, Yu Mian flicked his beautiful fish tail with confidence.
The system was speechless. It looked at those beautiful amber eyes filled with resolve and was left at a loss for words.
Was this the consequence of having an overly attractive host?
‘I feel like I can’t even continue arguing! I even feel like I’m being too distrustful of the host! QAQ’
[Fine, fine, do whatever you want! I won’t bother with you anymore, anyway, the popularity value cannot drop!]
The system was depresses just a second ago, but when it sneakily checked the progress of the popularity value in the next moment, it was utterly shocked:
[!! Why has the popularity value skyrocketed like this!? And it’s still climbing!]
It had only taken its eyes off for a day and found that the host’s popularity value, which had been teetering on negative numbers, had finally returned to a stable and upward trajectory.
[Your comments section seems to have blown up.]
The system quickly traced the source of the surge back to the comments section and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.
[Also, it seems your clarification didn’t work very well.]
For a moment, the system started gloating.
Yu Mian: ???
In fact, the comments section had erupted after seeing the unprecedented refund message from the author.
[No way! Who could’ve imagined that the conversation of the century would end because the author closed today’s reward option? I hate that I didn’t participate!]
[Everyone, let’s not reward anymore. Just pretend you didn’t see the badge of a loyal fan above my head. (Sarcasm)]
Beyond the shock of encountering an author who actually turned off the reward permission, a wave of comments expressing understanding began to emerge.
[Honestly, it’s understandable. I’ve been wanting to say this for a while—everyone’s sympathy can become a burden instead!]
[I get it too! Besides, the author’s book is genuinely interesting! It doesn’t need external reasons to attract readers.]
[By the way, when are you signing the contract and becoming a V? I’ll buy chapters like crazy. Now you’re making it impossible for me to spend money, and it’s really frustrating!]
Does this author even know how to make money!?
The readers’ wave of understanding instantly left Yu Mian’s second round of explanations stuck in his throat.
It felt like no matter what he said, the readers would interpret it with a knowing “I understand, I understand” attitude.
“What exactly do they understand?”
Amid the system’s mocking laughter, Yu Mian felt that his attempt to clarify things had suddenly become incredibly difficult.
Would he have to prove it himself in the future to settle this matter once and for all?
[Huh? I support that! You can do a live broadcast and show off your fish tail. You will definitely get a lot of popularity points then!]
The little system hesitated for a moment before becoming unexpectedly enthusiastic, and its attributes as a superstar system flared up dramatically.
‘Come on, this was the one and only mermaid in the entire universe!’
‘If he did a live broadcast, it would undoubtedly go viral, even land on trending searches!’
‘Not to mention his stunning looks!’
Yu Mian: “…I refuse.”
[You’re really breaking my heart!]
The system was practically grieving over Yu Mian’s response, its tone full of disappointment and exasperation.
However, just as Yu Mian was having a headache, a flashing private message notification in the backend caught his attention.
‘A private message?’
‘Was it from that anchor, Bai Lande?’
But when he opened it, Yu Mian found not only a private message request from Bai Lande but also a red system message from the platform.
[RE: Contact from a Huanyu Editor]
[Hello, author. I’m editor Crispy Shark. Thank you for choosing the Huanyu Reading Platform to publish your work.
Please note your pen name and work title along with your StarLink ID: 20231111. Once approved, we can discuss further to see if you meet the signing requirements.]
Ahhhhh!
Did he finally get a contract offer?
Yu Mian was really excited by the system message.
On online platforms, signing a contract was a major milestone.
After all, only with a contract could his work have a chance at getting onto important recommendation lists and reach even more interstellar readers!
Most more importantly, he wasn’t far from the intense updates that will burn down the crematorium!
