First Week Sales!

Every month, the new book first-week sales figures in the industry would be compiled by the people on the Light Novel Forum.

Just like in Li Xiaoci's previous life, the sales figures of various animation companies' works would be tallied by the relevant people on the Masterpiece Wall. Then, discussions about which books were doing well or not would arise. For example, how certain series were selling terribly compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or how certain unpopular works became breakout hits with skyrocketing sales.

Currently...

There are only a few light novel publishers in the industry, and Light Literature is just one of them.

But, because Light Literature just held the Light Novel Grand Prize, in terms of quality, it's definitely better than the new books that were published by the other publishers from last month's monthly award.

However...

Even though it was expected, the three new books published by Light Literature this time have surpassed all expectations in their first week of sales, completely breaking the industry's first-week sales record.

Many curious bystanders were shocked.

How can sales be breaking records again?

Wasn't it just last month that it broke the record?

Yes!

This time, the industry's new book first volume debut has set a new high.

For example, the winner of the gold prize in the Light Novel Grand Prize, "War of the Mourning," by author Liumu, sold 80,000 copies in its first week.

The silver prize-winning work "Fox," by author Muluoguang, sold 74,000 copies in its first week.

And the previous industry's first-week sales record was only 60,000 copies.

Of course!

The average reader was very surprised.

Industry insiders, on the other hand, were not particularly surprised by these numbers.

After all, with the advent of peace, the number of readers has skyrocketed, and the market for light novels will only get bigger.

Not only Liumu and Muluoguang, but also through the data, we can see that most of the achievements of all authors in the industry are continuing to rise.

This does not mean that authors are surpassing themselves one by one...

This indicates that the light novel market is constantly growing, and the number of readers is increasing.

That's right, it means that the number of otaku in China is increasing...

This can't help but make people sigh. During the Third World War, the entire country was filled with passionate young men who could fight and were willing to sacrifice themselves for the rise of the nation through flower planting... How come, just a year after the war ended, our flower-planting nation's passionate young men have become a bunch of deadbeat otaku who only know how to worship paper waifus? I mean, where did your manliness go?

This is not science!

In addition...

The top-selling work in the industry this time really shocked all industry insiders.

The bronze award-winning work "Magic Sword Academy" from the Light Novel Publishing House had a remarkable first week, with an astonishing 160,000 copies sold, double that of the gold award-winning work!

People are freaking out, wondering if the editors mixed up the names of the awards or something.

On the Light Novel Forum, fans are ecstatic: "OMG, have you guys seen this? 'Magic Sword Academy' sold 160k in its first week!!!"

Another user chimes in: "No surprise there! My wife Sophia is so cute, who wouldn't love this book?"

A third fan adds, "Yeah, my wife Chunya is so adorable. It's only natural that people would love this book."

Someone else remarks, "These people are obsessed with their wives. It's crazy."

Meanwhile, in a discussion group with only three people, the Oracle, upon seeing the sales figures, starts typing with a sly smile:

"Oh my, oh my, I heard that some top-notch light novel writers' debut numbers don't even match those of third-rate writers!"

The other two members, Li Mu and Mu Louguang, remain silent.

The Oracle continues, "Hey, didn't they just release the sales numbers for some gold and silver award-winning works? I'm pretty sure that the top two works from the Light Novel Grand Prize are going to be number one in the industry for debut sales. At least, as gold and silver award winners, they shouldn't be surpassed by a copper award winner, right? Otherwise, it'd be like a bait and switch, wouldn't it?"

Li Mu and Mu Louguang remain silent, but in their hearts, they curse the Oracle. Can't they have a normal conversation with this guy anymore?

Just speak simply, man. You're not an actor, so cut out the theatrics.

.....

In the second week after the release of "Magic Sword Academy," Li Xiaoci carefully calculated her income. With sales of 160,000 copies in the first week, at a price of 20 yuan per copy and an 8% royalty rate, she had earned at least 256,000 yuan before taxes. Wow! Does this mean she can now stop eating instant noodles and start eating gourmet ramen?

Is this is what it feels like to be rich!?

"I, Li Xiaoci, am now feeling pretty damn awesome!" she thought to herself.

Of course, what Li Xiaoci cared about more was her reputation value as shown on the system. After all, she was going to rely on the system to make a living in the future, so reputation was everything.

Checking her reputation value, she saw that it was currently over 10,000 and still slowly rising. She didn't quite understand how the system calculated reputation, as it wasn't based on sales or the number of fans, but regardless, it was enough for her to upgrade her writer skill card. However, she had also been considering buying an illustrator skill card with her reputation value so that she could create illustrations for her own works, but for now, it seemed that she didn't have enough.

Meanwhile, on the light novel forum, many people were discussing the rising star of the industry, Mo Shao.

"Mo Shao is probably one of the most promising new authors to emerge in the past few years, don't you think?" someone said.

Although "Magic Sword Academy" was not Li Xiaoci's debut work, it was only her second book, and she had only been in the light novel industry for a little over half a year. In many ways, she was still a new author.

"By the way, do you guys know what Mo Shao looks like?"

"No idea. He doesn't have a Weibo or fan group, and emailing the editorial department usually doesn't get a response. There's no way to find out."

"He's definitely a guy, though."

"Well, you never know. What if Mo Shao is actually a woman..." Someone replied to the post, their tone oddly excited.

"Come on, do you really think a female author would write from a male perspective and have such lewd and shameless plotlines?"

"Yeah, there's no way. This author understands the male psyche so well, it's obvious that they're one of us gentlemen."

To be honest, with such obvious light novels written for otaku, hardly anyone would think that Mo Shao is a woman. After all, female authors who write novels from a male perspective are rare, and secondly, the kind of lowbrow plotlines that cater to otaku fantasies are unlikely to be written by a woman.

Being able to bury one's face in a girl's skirt with a single slip, or accidentally witnessing a beautiful girl bathing just by opening a door - these kinds of scenarios and ideas, normal girls wouldn't even think of!

Therefore, whether it was the writing style or the story, almost everyone felt that the author of this "fat otaku happy book" must be a male otaku, and most likely a perverted one, or else it wouldn't make sense.

Just look at the plot!

One look and you can tell that he's one of us!

So...

Since it's not a female author, there's nothing to be curious about. We're not gay, so why would we like authors who talk too much about women?