1 How it All Began

Michael Yang seldom came home on a weekday, but today he came unannounced and without having his mother made call after call first. The reason? He was in the vicinity. As a business-oriented elite, Young Master Yang saw an opportunity to save time and came in advance. This way, he had a reason to refuse to go again on the weekend. Just as the housekeeper has led him into the salon, he heard his sister angrily cursing.

"What! Still no update? It's been a week already! Did this author drop dead?"

But then she gasped, meekly holding her phone in reverence as if it was an heirloom and with a sweet voice taking back her words.

"No no no, I didn't mean it, dear God, I mustn't jinx it. What if the author really drops dead on me? I will never see those two happily together! I will pray for the author to be as healthy as an ox. No, two oxen!"

Young Master Yang had not many flaws, but one particular heavy flaw was his indulgent towards his sister. Since the two of them were over ten years apart in age, he had felt particularly protective of her since young. His little sister's birth changed the whole dynamic of the Yang household upside down, and she became the baby of the family that was spoiled rotten. Thank God, Catherine Yang has a bright head on her shoulders and unlike some of her peers, all those years of pampering didn't spoil her into a frivolous young lady. Still, in some aspects, this girl was too eccentric.

For example, she hated studying, but her notes were right. None of the family's business seemed to interest her, she had no particular goal in mind. And although her family was loaded to the brim, her hobbies were relatively mundane. She was intrigued at the daily life of young girls her age, watching all of those high school teen dramas and overly exaggerated romance dramas at prime time. Crying and laughing all the while.

Of course, having money would show somehow, but most of the time she dressed and behaved as if she came from a middle-class income household and not from one of the wealthiest families of the nation. She was like a rich person going incognito as a mediocre person. What did she try to achieve? The Yang family has an entire fleet of vehicles and private drivers but much to the dismay of the rest of the family, young Miss insists on taking the bus to school. She called it: challenging her worth! The security wasn't a problem, but the next bus stop was 3 kilometres away from home. This neighbourhood typically had no usage for public transportations. Only a few residents here had ever taken public transit anywhere. Even for the publicity, it wasn't worth it.

One of Miss' new hobby was reading online fiction. The Boys Love genre was a completely new world to her. She had read and watched a lot of the conventional romance tropes, but the forbidden fruit always seemed sweeter than others. A male x male relationship was different from a female x male relationship. She had no idea what it would look like in real life, but the stories she had read contained so much more drama while keeping the same if not more heartthrob and sugar-coated sweetness a regular love story had. And to tell the truth, imagining two hot guys making out was kinda... well, that's that.

As she laid leisurely on the couch, constantly refreshing the site on the phone as if she was waiting for a miracle, a shadow loomed over her. As she looked up in annoyance, her brother's handsome face came in sight. As soon as she realised the intruder's identity, she brightened up.

"Big Brother! Welcome home!!" With a voice as sweet as honey, she greeted.

His big hand patted her head. Worried, his first question was:

"What made you angry, Smitten?"

Smitten was her pet name. Since her friends called her Cat, he would call her Smitten. In his eyes, she would always be a little kitten. Adorably mischievious.

As soon as she was reminded, her cheeks blew up, and she blurted all her self-proclaimed injustices.

"Listen, Yun Yun, this author, although keeping regular updates is a must for them, this particular one only updates as they please! Not getting online for a whole week, not updating for a whole of two weeks! Fans are complaining left and right, but all they say is 'I have to work, work, work'! Hmpf! Normal authors have to beg the fans to read their works; this one dares to make the fans beg!"

"Truly a rotten person." Young Master Yang immediately added oil to the fire in support of his sister. As long as she says so, it must've been true. These two siblings, as if in their own world, lacked basic common sense where it was needed the most sometimes. Each on their own could still be considered reasonable, but it was as if some incomprehensible rule of the universe was at work once they talked to each other. The moment those siblings came together, their credibility would decrease by the minute.

"What do I do? Although these two people are certain to end up together, as of now, they haven't even met! With the big wealth gap between them and all the misunderstandings that will certainly come up once they meet, I, the reader, will be old and grey, when they finally reach a happy ending!"

As a sensible big brother, Michael Yang listened to his sisters rambling in earnest. When she said she had to wait until she gets old, his heart truly ached for her.

"Don't you worry, big brother will help you get justice!"

Catherine looked at him with revering big sparkling eyes.

"I knew Yun Yun is the best!" She then thought about it and earnestly said: "But how will you help me? I tell you, I do not allow kidnapping or breaking the law!"

Definitively a girl who had watched too many dramas. Young Master Yangs personal secretary was standing off to the side and felt that cold sweat was running down his back. Young miss, please don't give the President any strange ideas while his common sense is on a break. He exchanged a glance with the housekeeper who has gotten used to this kind of talk and seemed rather unimpressed by that kind of threat.

"First, show me that author."

After having a look at the author's page, Yang Yun, this was his given name, noticed the conspicuous sponsoring button. Since this was an online novel gathering page, the feature to sponsor an author was automatically added to every author's profile and stories. All of those sites had something similar installed. They called it 'buying a coffee', 'sending love or envelopes' or in this case, send an offering to get blessings (aka chapters) from the author. All those cases of donations, of course, they are generally done in small amounts since most readers are still young and not well off to begin with.

"See, this rotten person is obviously withholding chapters to blackmail money from readers like yourself." How dare they tried to blackmail pure and innocent readers like his sister. Seventeen years old 'pure and innocent' Catherine nodded vividly at the words of her brother. What he said must be right, he had so much more experience in life, as a worthy President, he must have seen the darkest side of people, fighting with the dirty underworld and greediness of competitors.

"But what do we do, Yun Yun?" She was worried, this was not only the author, but this whole system was built on the malicious intention of blackmailing the money from the readers to get new chapters. Does her brother want to break the system? Is he going to hire a hacker? Or lead a revolution to free the readers from this cursed fate? What kind of godly move was he going to pull?

"I will pay." President Yang said without batting an eye.

Everyone else: "..."

Since a person like Michael Yang, President of YNG Entertainment, had never accessed a page like that before by himself, he saw this button and treated it like he would treat business. A simple 'offering' became a business 'offer', and since he was going to give his money out of his own volition, you can't call this blackmail, it was sponsoring. And as the sponsor, he would be on the higher grounds. These two matters were completely different in his eyes.

He logged out with his sister's account and logged in through his own Social Account. The one, which was connected to his private Online Wallet. His finger hovered on the 'Send an Offering' button, but then he stopped, doubt appeared in his eyes.

How much to send anyway? He contemplated for quite some time while his sister watched with rapid attention. He doubted that this matter would need much investment, but it involved his sister, how could he treat it lightly?

"Secretary Ming." He asked in a low and earnest voice. This was the voice he used during business negotiations, so the secretary unintendedly straightened his back and yelled: "Yes, President Yang! At your service!"

"The rights for that one book we are currently negotiating about, what was its estimated net-worth again?"

"One Million, Sir!" But that would have already considered them successfully buying up the rights to it and making it into a movie. Also, only if the book and the film become a series in the future. Right now, the market value of this book, considering it was already a bestseller, was not even worth one-fourth of that estimation. But before he could say all that, the decisive President has already swiftly typed in a string of numbers and pressed on 'send'.

A very flustered secretary: "..."

President, did you just now spend a fortune on an unknown work of fiction on the internet? The kind, that was as many as the sand on the beach? President, your fingers were too fast, so I couldn't tell with certainty, but how many times did you press on zero just now? Didn't you forget to add a comma in between?

Secretary Ming's back was drenched in sweat. This incident wouldn't end well, would it? This was as worse as the CEO buying an entire horse ranch overseas for the Young Miss back in 2009 when she exclaimed that she wanted a horse on her 7th birthday. His wife severely scolded him for that. A minor can't just leave the country, flying back and forth at will, it would've been unhealthy for her little body to take long flights. So the madam bought another horse ranch for her daughter that would only need a short helicopter flight to reach.

No, the situation just now, depending on the number of zeros, might end up even worse. Secretary Ming was wondering if he should call the Vice President for backup?

Catherine Yang, on the other hand, didn't attach much worth on that money being spent, so she just cheered.

"Big brother, you're the best!"

The housekeeper just thought: I need to let the Master know, that Young Master just sneaked home to gain favour with the Young Miss. If Master Yang isn't careful, he will fall behind both Madam and Young Master.

Later that day, when Madam Yang returned home, things already calmed down. The mother and her children sat down, drank some tea, chatted and exchanged some gossip before it was time for the Young Master to leave.

"What's the matter, President?"

Back in the car, President Yang had checked his messages on his phone, but upon reading one particular mail, his face turned dark. It was as if some competitor had tried to headhunt one of their talents.

"It's nothing." He dismissed, so the secretary didn't dare to ask further. Still, for the president, whose pleasant mood had suddenly turned sour, this couldn't be a small matter?

President Yang, on the other hand, kept staring at his phone as if it had killed his puppy.

There was an open message, sent to his private account.

[ Congratulations, Friend!

You've received One Million Worshipping points!

You've unlocked premium VIP membership!

You've unlocked the title 'Worshipper Number One'.

Please sign in to claim your title.

Thank you for your support!

- NovelsOnline.com ]

He did that to make his sister happy, so he didn't care for any contribution points or whatever, but somehow when Yang Yun read that title, it felt like he had lost to that rotten author, so his mood plummeted.

Just when he was about to dismiss this matter, a call came in. He thought it was the office, so he answered it casually.

"Speaking."

The other side was silent at first, and then a male voice asked timidly: "Is this Mr. Yun Yang? Am I speaking to Mr. Yun?"

Yang Yun glanced at the number. It was actually an unknown caller. They must have gotten his name backwards to call him Mr. Yun. They definitely didn't know who he was. Back to the call, he neither affirmed, nor denied his identity, asking only: "What's the matter, who are you and why are you calling?"

"My name is Justin Wang. I'm from NovelsOnline.com. I am calling regarding your premium VIP membership, S-Sir." Since the man on the other side didn't know anything about him, he settled with a 'Sir'.

Yang Yun picked up an eyebrow, and his face got darker. Talk about the devil.

"What's the matter, why are you calling?" he asked again, his voice so cold that even secretary Ming shuddered as a bystander. Of course, the other recipient, who was directly addressed with this tone, nearly broke out in tears. He was nervous enough, to have to make this call, and now the other person seemed to harbour a personal enmity towards him.

"S-Sir! I am sorry to ask, b-but that amount of money, w-we wanted to make sure if it was meant s-s-seriously?"

Honestly surprised, Yang Yun was at a lost for words, his bad mood swept away.

"I am sorry to have disturbed you, Sir!" the voice added hurriedly as he got no answer. Did he anger the big VIP customer? Or were they right and the amount charged was a bug or an accident? If so, it would really be a shame to give it back, but they can't keep it, or could they?

"What? This is the reason why you called? Hasn't the money been transferred already? Do you think I would send you money as a joke?"

"Of course not, Sir! I am sorry to have doubted your sincerity, Sir!"

"Just update that story as soon as possible." He reminded.

"Yes, Sir! We will contact the author in question immediately." The voice, suddenly vigorous, replied. "In the name of our small team and our author, we thank you sincerely for your generosity and support. If there is anything we can do for you, please do not hesitate, Sir!" With an amount as high as one million, even if that man wanted to become their boss, they would only ask which office he wanted. A man who casually threw out a million was definitely some big shot.

But those words actually pricked Yang Yun's ears.

"Wait, did you say 'anything'?"

"Y-yes. As long as it is within our power, we will do our best to satisfy your needs, Mr. Yun!"

"I don't like my title."

"..."