As the foot massage parlor closed, dusk had already fallen.
Wang Shu and Chen Minghao said their goodbyes and left Jiang Chuan City.
This was how friendships between adults were; they talked endlessly when they met, and had nothing to say when they parted.
Wang Shu didn't know when he would see them again after this parting.
Likely, unless something major happened, there wouldn't be another chance to meet.
He returned to Jinzhou the next morning.
Wang Shu first went home, took a shower, and then caught up on sleep.
In his dream, he heard the system's warning sound:
[Detected that the host's remaining lifespan is less than five days. Ten days of lifespan have been automatically exchanged for the host.]
"Great, I'm broke again!"
Wang Shu grumbled helplessly.
He had only earned a few million last time, and now he truly had nothing left.
His remaining time was only about ten days again.
He was genuinely worried he wouldn't earn enough money in ten days and would just kick the bucket.
After washing up, Wang Shu had a packet of instant noodles to make up for today's meal.
It wasn't that he didn't want to eat something good, but it was already late at night.
Most restaurants in the small town of Jinzhou were closed, so he didn't even have the chance to go out and eat.
After eating, Wang Shu, as usual, turned on his computer and logged into the author backend of Zhongdian Chinese Network.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he logged into the backend, his old, broken computer froze.
"???"
Wang Shu was dumbfounded. How could this computer be so useless that a webpage backend could break it?
After countless restarts and freezes,
Wang Shu simply gave up on logging into the author backend.
Anyway, the saved manuscripts inside should last him another two days. If all else failed, he'd find an internet cafe tomorrow to log in.
Closing the webpage, Wang Shu began typing again.
Meanwhile, the author group on Zhongdian Novel Network was also quite lively.
"What's the situation with this book? Not only is there no cover, but it's not even signed. How did it climb to the top of the new book popularity list?"
"It must be a bot. Didn't you see it even pushed down the new book from the great Taiyi?"
"Exactly! Taiyi is a top-tier author on Zhongdian Novel Network. Is Zhongdian Novel Network just going to let this big idiot push him down?"
A group of authors were fiercely discussing a book that wasn't signed and didn't even have a cover.
This was because the book had unexpectedly topped the new book popularity list for the week, even surpassing the new book by a godly author named "Mo Huang Tai Yi."
Mo Huang Tai Yi, the person involved, was also lurking in this group.
He had already announced a week ago that he was opening a new book and would compete for the top spot on the new book list.
However, he never expected to be pushed to second place by a newcomer's book titled "Douluo World," which was a book without a contract or cover.
This naturally made him, an established godly author, lose face. Therefore, he strongly suspected that the book's data was artificially inflated.
"I'm not that concerned about the rankings, but the act of data manipulation must be severely condemned!"
Mo Huang Tai Yi posted in the group, intending to firmly establish the narrative that "Douluo World" was a cheater.
"As expected of an established godly author, this perspective is truly admirable. The rankings are secondary; our real enemy is the bot!"
"You're right, esteemed author. Let's rally our readers to report this book. We can't let data manipulation damage the credibility of our web novel rankings."
"Agreed! I'll call on readers to report this book 'Douluo World' when I update my chapter later!"
Suddenly, many authors in the group responded, as most authors strongly disdained data manipulation.
Thus, they were easily used as pawns.
Watching the impassioned posts in the group, Mo Huang Tai Yi smirked at his computer screen.
Then, he shut down his computer, ready to welcome the good news of his book topping the new book list tomorrow.
Simultaneously, various authors also posted suggestions in their reader groups to report "Douluo World."
Many authors even issued a call to action at the end of their updated chapters, urging readers to report "Douluo World."
In an instant, more than half of the reader community on Zhongdian Novel Network began searching for "Douluo World," preparing to respond to the authors' calls to report.
However, according to Zhongdian Novel Network's rules, readers must read at least one-third of a book before they can report it.
Therefore, as these readers clicked into "Douluo World" intending to skim a few pages and report it, they were gradually drawn into the plot.
"Holy crap, this book is f**king good!"
"No wonder it's number one. It's so much better than Mo Huang Tai Yi's new book."
"This setting for martial spirits is too interesting. I read all the way to the latest chapter in one go!"
The comment section, late into the night, suddenly became even more lively.
Many readers who had intended to report were instead captivated by the book's content and became fans.
...
The next morning, Mo Huang Tai Yi eagerly got out of bed, ready to check if he had reached the number one spot.
But as soon as he clicked on the Zhongdian Novel Network rankings, he was stunned.
Because not only was "Douluo World" not taken down by reports, but in just one night.
It had directly become number one on the click rankings, search rankings, comment rankings, and new book rankings!
"???"
Staring at the four top rankings, Mo Huang Tai Yi froze in front of his computer.
What had happened overnight?
According to his predictions, shouldn't this trash book have been taken down today?
How did it become number one in four categories?
Was he dreaming?
He even deliberately went to take a shower, but when he returned to his computer, the situation remained unchanged.
"This guy must have secretly manipulated the data again last night. How hateful!"
Mo Huang Tai Yi secretly guessed.
If that was the case, then he wouldn't be blamed for dropping all pretense and personally stepping in to eliminate this scourge!
He immediately began typing furiously, writing a lengthy manifesto.
Then, Mo Huang Tai Yi published this manifesto, titled "Let's Join Hands to Report Cheaters and Restore a Clear Sky to Web Novels!" in his updated chapter.
He even specifically forwarded this article to the author group that had been discussing it heatedly last night.
He wanted to see how long this cheater could last.
In an instant, this manifesto spread throughout many author groups.
It even became the number one hot topic on the "Longwen Pavilion" forum of Zhiming Novel Network.