Chapter 51: Yi Yunxue Reads "Lord of the Mysteries" (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

That is how the web novel market was in the past life; out of every ten web novels, at least five were system-genre, and three were quasi-system-genre.

[Jiang He]: Your friend writes quite well. The imagination is quite impressive.
[Sweet Potato]: I think so too. He said he referenced my "grandfather in the ring" trope, your "Mysteries" world-building, and mixed them with his own creative ideas.

The instant gratification of system novels is very straightforward, making it very easy for readers to immerse themselves. The only drawback is that sometimes they are even more brainless than Sweet Potato's "Sky Breaker."

There is no need to think about logic at all. For instance, in Sweet Potato's "Breaking the Sky," at least a "three-year agreement" was required to drive the protagonist's arduous journey and allow him to acquire power through various fortuitous encounters.

In contrast, stat-buffing system novels only require a simple phrase like "grinding monsters makes you stronger," and the protagonist's motivation to grow is instantly fulfilled. The plot requires no logical driving force whatsoever; a mere "my golden finger made me do it" serves as sufficient justification.

In the past life, some system novels even used quest notifications to drive the plot, which was terrifyingly shallow.

If this were in the previous life's market, which was saturated with system novels, this book would likely only achieve a mediocre level of success at best.

However, in this world, Chen Jiang judged that this book should easily reach tens of thousands of subscriptions.

Moreover, its creativity would be continuously imitated by other authors in the future.

"This is the true progenitor of the system genre!" Chen Jiang thought to himself.

After adding the other author's book title to the end of the chapter scheduled for release tomorrow, Chen Jiang exited the writing interface.

[Zhang Jianlong]: Finally taking a break! Come on, let's have an intense and satisfying match!
[Zhang Jianlong]: (Invites you to a Landlord card game match)
[Zhang Jianlong]: We need one more player, you in?
[Chen Jiang]: Who is the other person?
[Wu Haiping]: It's me.
[Chen Jiang]: How is your exam preparation going? I recall the written civil service exams already concluded this year, didn't they?
[Wu Haiping]: Finished last month. The scores will be out soon, and I can finally relax.
[Zhang Jianlong]: Are you coming or not, kid?
[Chen Jiang]: I'm coming!
...

Meanwhile, Yi Yunxue had just finished reviewing the company's financial statements and stretched, revealing her perfect figure.

As she casually scrolled through short videos on her phone, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't read any novels in a while.

She used to read web novels occasionally, but due to the busy schedule at the studio this year, she had missed many chapters of the novels she was following.

Unlike most readers who enjoyed reading free web novels on Tomato, Yi Yunxue still preferred paid novels.

She always felt that the quality was at least a level higher!

Opening the YueDian Reading App, which she hadn't touched for a long time, Yi Yunxue searched her bookshelf.

She vaguely remembered that she had been following three novels.

"Found it!"

The moment she saw the book status clearly, Yi Yunxue's expression instantly dimmed.

[Dropped by Author]
[Dropped by Author]

Damn authors!

Fortunately, "Breaking the Sky," which she had been following all along, was still being updated.

Even though it was still only a meager four thousand words per day, having accumulated three months' worth of chapters was enough to keep her entertained for a long time.

Start reading!

An hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the prompt [Please look forward to the next chapter] pop up, Yi Yunxue reluctantly exited the reading interface.

"Finished it again..." She checked the time; it was only nine-thirty.

Let's check the rankings and see if there are any excellent new books out recently!

"Mysteries? When was this new book released?" Yi Yunxue was somewhat surprised.

This book was actually ranked first on the monthly ticket chart, fiercely trampling the second-place "Breaking the Sky" underfoot.

"Since it's ranked so high, it must have some extraordinary qualities, right?"

Curious, she tapped on the book:

"This synopsis is so cryptic!"

"Let's see how well it's written."

In the blink of an eye, two hours went by.

"It's eleven-thirty?" Yi Yunxue reluctantly exited the reading page.

Time to go to sleep!

Her reading speed was very fast, and she had already finished the first volume.

"Is there any chance Captain Dunn will be resurrected later?"
"Did the protagonist just leave his family like that? Will they meet again in the future?"

Lying in bed, Yi Yunxue's mind was still lingering on the plot from the novel.

Oh no, insomnia is going to hit again...
...

"Bomb!"

As the match concluded, Chen Jiang secured a complete victory over the other two as the landlord.

"Damn it, your luck! How did you get such a good hand?"

"How would I dare to snatch the landlord role if my cards weren't good?" Chen Jiang said with a smile.

"Again!" Zhang Jianlong's voice came through the phone.

Chen Jiang checked the time; it was already eleven-thirty.

"Good grief, have we been playing Landlords for over two hours?"

Chen Jiang stood up and said, "No more playing, going to sleep."

He had promised Yi Yunxue earlier that he would visit the company tomorrow morning to check if any of the trainees were suitable, and if so, write songs for them.

"Holy crap, is it this late?" Wu Haiping exclaimed, "I have a date to go hiking tomorrow, logging off first."

"Nobody wants to play anymore? Then I'm going to sleep too," said Zhang Jianlong.
...

The night was quiet.
The next day.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Chen Jiang drove Yi Yunxue toward the studio.

Yi Yunxue yawned, her eyes half-closed, looking thoroughly exhausted and not fully awake.

Because she was only wearing light makeup, she still had two faint dark circles under her eyes, which, paired with her delicate little face, actually made her look somewhat cute, resembling aegyo bags.

"Did you suffer from insomnia again?"

"Yeah, didn't sleep well last night~" She leaned back against the seat, glanced at the traffic jam ahead, and closed her eyes with peace of mind:

"Wake me up when we get to the company."

Upon arrival, Chen Jiang woke Yi Yunxue up.

She rubbed her eyes, looking adorably drowsy.

"It's all because that novel is too good!"

Yi Yunxue sighed.

She simply couldn't fall asleep last night, so she had no choice but to pull an all-nighter and finish reading all the currently released chapters of "Mysteries."

In the end, she even cast all her monthly tickets to this book.

And tipped over a hundred yuan.

It wasn't a huge tip; although she wasn't short on money, money didn't grow on trees either, so Yi Yunxue felt a small gesture was enough.

The main thing was to support legitimate reading.

Walking into the company, Chen Jiang followed behind Yi Yunxue into the practice room.

The five company trainees had been waiting here for a while. Seeing the two of them enter, they all wore nervous expressions.

These five were promising talents personally selected by Sister Li.

Three men and two women.

Chen Jiang began testing them one by one.

"Good morning, Di-Director Chen!" the first female trainee said nervously.

"Sister Li said you excel at high notes? Sing the chorus part of Li Zhibin's 'Tsunami'."

After listening to her performance, Chen Jiang frowned slightly:

"You can go back for now. Your breath control is still somewhat unstable."
...

After listening to the performances of several trainees, Chen Jiang was somewhat disappointed.

Not a single trainee met his internal standards.

Either their vocal timbre was too ordinary, or their vocal technique still had flaws.

"Let's go," Chen Jiang said to Yi Yunxue.

Yi Yunxue nodded; she could also tell that Chen Jiang was not very satisfied with these trainees.

As they walked out of the practice room, a burst of singing suddenly drifted into Chen Jiang's ears, causing him to stop in his tracks involuntarily:

"This is..."