Chapter 77: Guess Who I Am

Simultaneously inviting thirty highly renowned short story writers to compete on the same stage.

Such a grand move naturally led to widespread publicity in the world of tribe's literature.

Many enthusiasts of short stories had been eagerly anticipating this news from the moment it was announced—

For them, it promised to be a sumptuous feast.

In the realm of short stories, there were quite a few insiders paying attention to this event.

However, when the event commenced, everyone realized that tribe literature had played a clever move!

The announcement for the event contained the following passage:

[Each user has three chances to give a heart to a story. You can express your support for a work by giving it a heart at the end of the article. Each user can only heart a story once. The ranking of the works is determined by the number of hearts, but to ensure the fairness of the final ranking, we have intentionally hidden the authors' names. Please evaluate the works based on their content. Once the final ranking is determined, we will disclose the authors of these works.]

Why was this considered a clever move?

Because the writers invited to participate in the tribe literature competition had their own fan base.

There's something called a fan filter.

Many fans would only vote for their favorite writers rather than their favorite works.

To prevent this situation, tribal literature directly concealed the authors' names.

"Quite interesting."

"Some authors have a distinctive style, so readers can still guess who the author is, but who dares to be certain? After all, the styles of many authors are quite similar."

"So that's why tribe literature didn't reveal the identities of the thirty participating authors in advance."

"I was initially indifferent to this event, but now I'm getting interested."

"..."

After the discussion, everyone started reading.

The length of short stories is generally around three to five thousand words, so readers went through them quickly.

Tribe literature handed over the decision-making power for ranking to the readers.

Everyone enjoyed the feeling of being a judge, so while reading, there was no sense of impatience. Instead, there was a mysterious sense of duty.

"My heart decides the future of the work."

Many people participated in the evaluation with this belief.

Gradually, some people noticed the novel "The Death of a Civil Servant."

This was expected because it would be strange if this novel didn't attract readers' attention. After all, Blue Star's artistic appreciation level was higher than Earth's; it was impossible not to recognize the excellence of this novel.

You see, this is one of the three giants of Earth's novels, and Chekhov's early works are quite representative!

Leo Tolstoy once evaluated Chekhov like this: "Setting aside all hypocritical politeness, I affirm with certainty that skill-wise, Chekhov is far more clever than I am!"

There is no first in literature, and there is no second in martial arts.

Westerners don't like false modesty and politeness.

Chekhov, who received such an evaluation from Leo Tolstoy, must be very capable.

Chekhov is known for his critical realism, and "The Death of a Civil Servant" is precisely a work with significant representativeness.

As more and more people read "The Death of a Civil Servant," the comments section of this novel gradually became lively.

Even though the author's name is concealed, readers are still free to comment on the novel.

"This novel is quite impressive."

"Although it's only a little over a thousand characters, I've read it three times. The first time, it seemed funny; the second time, somewhat tragic; and surprisingly, the third time, I could relate a bit. Because, if I were in the shoes of the civil servant, I might not apologize repeatedly, but I'd probably lose sleep for at least a week."

"While it appears to criticize the ancient feudal autocratic system, it's actually a satire on the present."

"Yes, a satire on the present. I thought about it for a while and couldn't come up with the term; all I could think of was 'wow.'"

"In our modern society, there are many people like the civil servant in the story. The novel just portrays them in an exaggerated manner."

"I don't even find it exaggerated. People with similar experiences might empathize more. Fear is a terrifying emotion; it can truly destroy a person. That's why we emphasize mental resilience."

"..."

After the discussion, curiosity about the author of the novel began to arise.

"Concealing the author's name in tribal literature is such a clever move. Solely based on the writing style, I can't guess which writer's hand produced this novel."

"It must be a well-established author."

"The author's skill is undoubtedly remarkable. To captivate readers with just over a thousand characters is no easy feat. I've been captivated, giving my heartfelt admiration."

"The frightening part is that this novel is only a little over a thousand characters!"

"I wish I could give three hearts to this novel, but alas, tribal literature allows only one heart per novel."

"Now I'm curious about the unveiling of the results. Who could the author be? There's an inexplicable sense of anticipation. Haha."

"..."

The next day, the novel "The Death of a Civil Servant" astonishingly claimed the top spot! However, the difference in the number of hearts between the first, second, and third positions was not significant, so the competition remained tight.

Facing this result, not only were the readers curious, but even the circles of short story writers began to wonder. Many small groups were discussing:

"Who wrote the first-place piece?"

"Just by the writing style, I can't figure out who it is."

"Could it be Old Zhou's? Tribal literature must have invited him, right?"

"Old Zhou did participate, but he refuses to tell me which piece is his. However, he just asked me if I knew who wrote 'The Death of a Civil Servant.'"

"No one is admitting?"

"These folks are sly. In any case, 'The Death of a Civil Servant' is definitely written by a familiar author. Tribe literature guarantees that all participating authors are relatively experienced in the industry."

"Did anyone ask tribe literature?"

"I did. Even on their end, only people at the editor-in-chief level or higher would know the author of any given piece. However, they are tight-lipped and won't reveal any author for any piece."

"We can only wait for the final announcement."

"On another note, the writing level of 'The Death of a Civil Servant' is really high. The language is humorous, the satire is sharp, the length is short, yet the content is profound."

"I estimate it won't be a problem for it to claim the first place."

"Hard to say. The second-place piece is a detective novel, very plot-driven, and the final twist is unexpected. There's hope for a comeback."

"The third place is also good. Two students in love since junior high, one excelling, the other struggling. To be together, one studies intensely and excels in exams, entering the best high school in the county, while the other intentionally performs poorly, entering a comparatively worse high school. But I can't shake the feeling that this story resembles that novel that was popular a while ago, 'The Gift of the Magi.'"

"..."

The discussions were lively, and the tribal literature event was filled with the guessing game of "Guess Who I Am."