First-Day Data

Ruyi watched the constantly rising backend data for Legend of Sword and Fairy, her heart pounding as she wondered whether it could break the Chinese Web Novel Platform's first-subscription record.

This was the best-performing book she had signed since joining the Chinese Web Novel Platform over half a year ago! Ruyi even felt that this might be the best book the platform had ever had!

Before this, no web novel had ever moved her the way Legend of Sword and Fairy did.

She laughed and cried along with the characters in the story. The writing was excellent, and the humor between the lines was sharp and witty. What kind of person was this author called Li Xiaoyao, to be able to write such a wonderful story...

At eleven that night, Ruyi was still at the office watching the data. Seeing it continue to rise, she cried out excitedly:

"We broke the record!"

An excited Ruyi sent the editor-in-chief a data report for Legend of Sword and Fairy. The editor-in-chief was also in the office keeping an eye on the numbers. This book might well be the key to taking the Chinese Web Novel Platform's traffic to the next level.

When the editor-in-chief saw that Legend of Sword and Fairy had broken the record, he immediately let out a sigh of relief. It was both expected and unexpected.

A novel of such high quality deserved to break records, but it was still somewhat surprising that the record had been broken by a new author.

Still, this was good news! Incredible news! The Chinese Web Novel Platform had not seen a phenomenon-level novel like this in a long time.

They had to step up the promotion tomorrow!

Excited, Ruyi opened Penguin Social and began bombarding Li Changle's Penguin account.

"Great God Xiaoyao! Your book broke the record!"

"You broke the Chinese Web Novel Platform's first-subscription record!"

"You're incredible, Great God Xiaoyao!"

She went on and on, but Li Xiaoyao on the other end did not reply at all. His profile picture was gray, clearly showing that he was offline.

Li Changle truly had not logged into his Penguin account. He was already asleep.

Going to bed early and getting up early was good for the body. The painful lessons of his past life had taught him never to stay up late. Staying up late was the root of all evil, and staying up late to work overtime was even worse.

So he had gone to bed early.

He probably never expected Legend of Sword and Fairy to break the record either.

Early the next morning, Li Changle got up and opened the backend data. When he saw the terrifying numbers, he froze for a moment. He had not expected Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 to become this popular even in this world...

He then opened Penguin Social and saw Ruyi's avatar flashing wildly. She had sent him over twenty messages, but they could all be summed up in one sentence.

"Legend of Sword and Fairy is doing extremely well! It broke the Chinese Web Novel Platform's first-subscription record."

Li Changle could clearly feel Ruyi's joy through her messages.

Li Changle was happy too. He sent Ruyi a simple reply, then directly uploaded twenty thousand words.

The readers who had gotten up early waiting for an update immediately spread the word in celebration.

"Legend of Sword and Fairy has updated. Twenty thousand words. The protagonist has just entered the martial world. Reply upon receipt. Over."

"Received, received. Let me get up, wash, and freshen up before reading, over."

"Li Xiaoyao actually lost his memory! You dog author, are you planning to stab us adorable readers in the heart?"

"Grandma actually died. Why do I smell tragedy? I don't dare keep reading..."

"This dog author isn't really going to stab us, is he? No way, right? No way?"

"But I really can't stop reading..."

"I can't control myself..."

"This hurts, Ma Fei..."

"Person above, light some incense before you leave!"

After the new chapter came out, the comment section erupted into another wave of plot discussion. The question of whether this novel was a tragedy became especially lively.

Although the plot so far felt somewhat sorrowful, it did not affect the readers' desire to keep reading in the slightest. They truly could not control themselves.

That was the heartfelt cry of countless readers. After the first-subscription record was broken, the Chinese Web Novel Platform went crazy with recommendation slots. The exposure that day was exceptionally high.

Many readers who had never read Legend of Sword and Fairy saw the book, as the platform's recommendation algorithm told them:

When a website pushed a book this intensely, it meant the novel was of very high quality. Many readers chose to add it to their collections.

On top of that, there was already a decent amount of content available. Most people chose to click in and read, spending half a day finishing more than two hundred thousand words.

Then they became fans of Legend of Sword and Fairy, joining the review section to discuss the plot and urge for updates...

Anyone with eyes could tell that Legend of Sword and Fairy's rise was now unstoppable. Even the Platinum and Great God authors chose to avoid it, temporarily suspending their ranking battles for the next few days.

Some authors even became fans of Legend of Sword and Fairy themselves. They stopped writing altogether and discussed the plot of Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 in group chats.

"This Legend of Sword and Fairy gives me the feeling I had when reading Wuxia novels as a child!"

"Same here!"

"Plus one!"

"So Xianxia can be written this brilliantly without leveling up and fighting monsters. This humble Taoist has been blinded by appearances..."

"I don't think it's entirely Xianxia in the strict sense. It includes all kinds of elements—Wuxia, Xianxia, romance..."

"The setting is great. I just wonder how the martial world will unfold later on. I'm so excited!"

"Seeing this book's results has crushed all my confidence! My mentality has collapsed. This is a newbie author?"

"This is probably what talent is. You can't envy it into existence. Better just keep writing honestly..."

"What's there to envy? You'd still be alive without it."

A Great God author with lemons growing out of his eyes said sourly.

"Sure enough, being a sourpuss is humanity's true nature."

"Nonsense. Humanity's true nature is obviously ending up loving what you once hated."

"You're all talking crap. Humanity's true nature is being a parrot."

"I think so too."

"Same here!"

"Same here!"

"Look, humanity's true nature is being displayed in all its glory right now."

The Great God authors' group chat had gone completely off-topic. No matter what group chat it was, the final words always tended to be: Same here.

Li Changle was feeling a little helpless. He realized that he truly had no access to any especially good way to make money quickly.

Write songs?

Strictly speaking, he only knew one person in the entertainment industry, Wang Siyi. And Wang Siyi had disappeared without a trace too. He was embarrassed to directly ask her about it on WeChat.

Write novels?

He was already doing that, but the income came a little slowly. At the earliest, he would not receive his first payment until next month, and he had no idea how much it would be.

As for anything else, he could not think of any. In his previous life, he had worked with words and written proposals, but asking him to go back to work as corporate livestock now was something Li Changle truly could not accept.

He was sick. He had a condition where going to work would make him collapse.

Unless he was truly left with no choice, he would rather go to a detention center than enter a company.

Li Changle helplessly shook his head. There was no other way. He could only work hard and keep typing.

The book was already premium, so there was no need to control the update pace anymore. He would write like crazy and strive to finish Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 in two or three months, then start another book.

Since there was no point dwelling on things without a solution, Li Changle simply stopped thinking about them. Things would work themselves out when the time came.

Li Changle picked up his guitar, intending to use music to ease his troubled mood.

Speaking of the guitar, he had originally learned it because he wanted to see whether he could recreate some of Earth's classic songs.

Then he could make one into a title track for Wang Siyi. Yet ever since she went to Shanghai, she had never come back.

It had already been over half a month. He wondered how she was doing, whether recording her songs had gone smoothly. If it had, he should hear news from her before long, right?

Honestly, that woman had eaten his cooking for half a month. They could be considered friends. Could she not at least greet him, tell him how she had been doing in Shanghai?

Li Changle shook his head. Maybe that was just what big stars were like. Meeting her had been a lucky coincidence for him.

The two of them had never belonged to the same world. It was only one act of righteous courage that had forcibly brought people from two different worlds together.

But in the end, it was most likely that she would walk her broad sunlit road while he crossed his narrow log bridge. She would be her big star, and he would be Li Xiaoyao.

Everyone had a bright future.

Distractedly, Li Changle thought that if she really released a new album this time and became a first-tier singer, they might never have another chance to meet.

If that happened, perhaps he should consider moving out. Once his royalties came in after a while, he would have enough money to rent a place with decent conditions.

Given another year or so, the royalties from Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 might even be enough to buy him an apartment outright.

If it truly became difficult for them to meet again in the future.

He should make plans early and move out. After all, they did not have much of a relationship to begin with. She had let him stay in this apartment only to repay him.

The Li Changle from back then had been muddleheaded, and he did not know why he had accepted her repayment.

By now, Li Changle had freeloaded on rent here for several months and made it through his hardest period.

Although this Rich Woman's thigh was long, and living off a woman was certainly pleasant...

No matter the reason, Li Changle could not convince himself to stay here with a clear conscience.

Maybe he should tell her after his royalties arrived next month?

She probably would not have time to come back anyway, and they likely would not get many chances to meet in the future.

For feelings between people to last, whether friendship or love.

They needed face-to-face interaction and communication for those feelings to grow stronger.

If they went too long without speaking, they would both feel awkward when they met again.

Li Changle did not want to make things awkward in front of Wang Siyi.

They were not from the same world to begin with. At most, he had helped her out and cooked for her for a few days.

Though she was also a Rich Woman, very beautiful, with a pretty good personality, and so on...

That woman seemed to have no flaws in terms of outward qualities?

Li Changle slapped himself. What am I thinking? What do her flaws have to do with me? How pathetic!

He could not let himself keep indulging in such wild thoughts. He had originally planned to play some guitar, but after picking it up, before he even started playing, he began thinking about all sorts of nonsense.

Li Changle decided to write instead. He would work some overtime to cool his head down. Only when he was typing could he empty his mind more completely.

So Li Changle sat in front of his computer and typed like mad. He did not even eat lunch, writing nonstop until six in the evening.

Only when his stomach started protesting and his shoulders and spine could no longer take it did he stop.

He then uploaded another thirty thousand words to the Chinese Web Novel Platform, updating a full fifty thousand words that day.

There was no helping it. After writing all day, he had built up nearly eighty thousand words of saved chapters. He was just that willful.

Li Changle's move sent the fans into a frenzy.

Especially Brother Lacks Money and several other wealthy readers. They threw tips at Legend of Sword and Fairy like money was worthless, and treasure chests immediately filled the Chinese Web Novel Platform's screens.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Web Novel Platform's Great God and Platinum authors were wailing in despair.

"Damn, this guy used to update so slowly. Why has he suddenly become so diligent these past few days?"

"Fifty thousand words a day? Is this guy some kind of tentacle monster?"

"I can accept being less talented than him, but now I can't even outwrite him. Damn it, I might as well quit the industry."

"What a sin."

"With Xiaoyao already born, why was I, this handsome guy, born too? Heaven has wronged me!"

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