Chapter 11: Shatter the Darkness with Thunder!
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In the secluded room.
Old Zhang drew the curtains, locked the door from the inside, and after making sure his precious daughter wouldn't discover him, he pulled out several brand new decks of playing cards from the drawer.
"Greed does not pay, let's start with cutting the deck,"
muttered Old Zhang.
Turns out, after watching Lin Chuan's "Swindler" tutorial, he couldn't resist and decided to secretly practice card cheating techniques.
How could a gambler resist the temptation of cheating techniques?
Cut! Cut! Cut!
Old Zhang practiced cutting the cards like crazy.
For a while.
The large room was covered with playing cards strewn all over the floor.
But it wasn't without success.
Old Zhang's hands were nimble, and as he rapidly cut the cards, with a slight flick of his thumb, his sharp eyes caught sight of the corners of several cards.
After seven or eight repetitions, he had already memorized the sequence of the first dozen or so cards.
However, his technique would appear clumsy to an expert, and his speed was not fast enough; one glance and you could see the trick.
But having reached this level of skill, Old Zhang was overjoyed, thinking to himself with a gleeful chuckle, "Mr. Lin did not deceive me! Once I've mastered this, I will dominate the gambling scene!"
"Hahahaha!"
...
Unbeknownst to him, the outside world had already turned to dusk.
The setting sun cast a yellowish glow on the old city district, painting it with a golden coat, soft and warm.
Occasionally, a few swallows flew by, tracing a black arc in the sky.
Lin Chuan stretched lazily, got up to move his limbs around, and walked to the window, taking deep breaths of the fresh air outside. A smile hung on his handsome face.
At that moment, everything seemed to become more beautiful.
This, perhaps, was the charm of two Alliance Leader's Treasure Chests!
Of course, the Popularity Value/Average Subscription had also increased quite a bit.
[Work: "Swindler"]
[Status: Uploaded.]
[Popularity Value (Average Subscription): 50/1000]
"This increase isn't bad; wait until the platform does a round of recommendations, the average subscription should go up some more!"
Lin Chuan laughed.
The new book had just been released; recommendations wouldn't come so quickly.
Dingdong--dingdong--
Lin Chuan's phone rang.
"Old Wang, what's the good word?" Lin Chuan answered the call with a laugh.
Old Wang, a colleague of Lin Chuan's.
The two entered the business at the same time, and now Old Wang had written a hit novel, with hopes of making it big.
Lin Chuan would teasingly refer to him as an "almost influent Author."
As soon as Old Wang opened his mouth, it was with the air of someone on the brink of success, "How did you find out that my book hit six thousand in average subscriptions?"
Lin Chuan's face darkened: "..."
Fuck
He's here to show off!
Three thousand average subscriptions for a hit.
Six thousand average subscriptions for a big hit.
"Old Lin, why aren't you saying anything, is the signal bad?" Old Wang laughed.
Lin Chuan curled his lips, "Through the internet cable, I can still smell your arrogance."
Old Wang burst out laughing, "I'm just sharing my joy with a good brother, how about you now?"
"Well, it's not looking good."
Lin Chuan sighed, "I only got two Alliance Leader's Treasure Chests today."
"I always said..." Old Wang suddenly paused, his tone surprised, "What did you just say, two Alliance Leader's Treasure Chests?"
"Still a bit few."
Lin Chuan grinned widely, unable to contain his happiness.
It was always Old Wang showing off to him, but this time, Lin Chuan finally had the chance to smugly rub it in Old Wang's face!
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Old Wang was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "That's great, it seems that your 'Life of a Thief' is looking up!"
"'Life of a Thief' has been completed," Lin Chuan smiled, "I've started a new book."
Old Wang was somewhat surprised, "You've started a new book?"
"Mhm."
Lin Chuan responded with a sound.
On the other end of the phone, Old Wang had already opened Lin Chuan's author's homepage and was even more surprised to see Lin Chuan's new book, "Old Lin, you're actually writing about swindlers?"
"Is there a problem?" Lin Chuan laughed.
Old Wang teased, "Be honest with me, are you from the Rong Sect or the Cheating Sect?"
In old times, those who made a living in the Martial World were differentiated into different industries, and over time, countless professions emerged.
The Rong Sect referred to those who lived by thievery.
Pickpockets were called 'Xi', and those who broke into homes to steal were called 'Burglar'.
As for the Cheating Sect, they lived by "cheating."
The Cheating Sect had Eight Generals, and the life Lin Chuan experienced belonged to one of the generals, the Righteous General, who made a living off Cheating Techniques.
Lin Chuan chuckled, "If you keep asking, people from the Six Fans Gate are going to come for me again."
"Again?"
Old Wang was startled, "Have you been taken in for a 'tea session'?"
Lin Chuan grinned, recounting the process of Shen Qianqian's visit to summon him.
Old Wang laughed, entirely without sympathy, "Old Lin, you're really courting disaster! You still dare to write about swindlers, aren't you afraid of being locked up in a little dark room again and then subjected to a trial by fire?"
Lin Chuan was taken aback, "Really?"
"You, my friend, are brazenly testing the limits of the law!" Old Wang laughed.
Lin Chuan thought for a moment, "I don't think so, they've even made movies about it, surely I won't get arrested for writing a novel, right?"
"Well... I can't say for sure," Old Wang paused, "But I have to tell you some bad news."
Lin Chuan was startled, "You're going to put on airs again?"
Old Wang chuckled, "What kind of person do you take me for? This bad news is about you."
"Go on," Lin Chuan frowned.
"You're doomed! Your new book is being released at the same time as two authors with subscriptions in the tens of thousands. You should know what kind of impact that will have."
Old Wang turned serious for a rare moment, his voice heavy.
Lin Chuan's brows furrowed, and he took a deep breath.
That's the spirit!
Right on!
At Sailing Novel, authors with high subscriptions starting new books will get traffic support.
However, a website's traffic is limited, and the traffic allocated to new books released in the same period is also relatively fixed.
This means that they could very well attract a large number of readers, leaving others in the dust.
If some people get the lion's share, others will have to bite the dust.
It's very possible that Lin Chuan would be the latter.
"The two tens-of-thousands subscription authors are Handon and Hongmei; they have a history and neither is willing to let the other overshadow them, hence they chose to release new books in the same period,"
Old Wang explained to Lin Chuan.
"When influent authors fight, the small fries suffer," Lin Chuan smiled.
"Right, there's even worse news that I think you wouldn't want to hear," Old Wang added.
"Here you go trying to show off again?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Look at you, always judging me like that. I was just sharing joy with you," Old Wang chuckled, then suddenly changed the subject, "I just took a glance at Handon's new book, guess what genre he's writing?"
Lin Chuan's brows knit slightly, "What genre is it?"
"His book is titled 'King of Cheating'!" Old Wang dropped the bombshell.
"What?"
Lin Chuan's eyes widened, and he drew in a sharp breath.
This is bad, it's targeting me!
He's also writing about swindlers!
"If you're not confident, you can change the genre and start another book in a few days," Old Wang consoled.
Lin Chuan looked out the window, where the sun was setting, and dusk was approaching. He smiled and said, "With a thunderbolt, shatter the darkness!"
Old Wang was taken aback, "Are you messing around?"
Lin Chuan laughed, "The female police officer who summoned me, she said my last book was good, and that I have the potential to become a great author. I think so, too."