Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A reporter’s question was always incisive.
This question was tantamount to asking a man if he would save his mother or wife first if they were to fall into the river.
This reporter was bribed by Penguin Publishing to deliberately make things difficult at the scene.
No matter how Fang Yuan answered, he would fall into their trap.
If Fang Yuan said that “Candle in the Tomb” was better, then he would definitely offend a large number of “The Lost Tomb” fans and would be labeled as arrogant on the headlines the next day.
“Arrogant ‘Candle in the Tomb’ author thinks he’s the King of tomb-robbing stories. Southern Sect Third Uncle smiled in silence.”
If Fang Yuan answered that “The Lost Tomb” was better, then he would definitely hurt the hearts of his many fans and would push “The Lost Tomb” to the peak of fame.
A winner still had yet to be decided. No matter how Fang Yuan answered, it would have an impact on “Candle in the Tomb”.
However, this question was not difficult for Fang Yuan.
He picked up the microphone and said without the slightest hesitation, “That depends. From the point of view of artistic creation and style, as well as knowledge depth, there’s no doubt that ‘Candle in the Tomb’ is better than ‘The Lost Tomb’.”
“OMG, how can he say that? He’s so arrogant!”
“What right does he have to say that?”
“‘The Lost Tomb’ is creative and has plenty of depth!”
The internet exploded.
The judges at the scene were also discussing animatedly.
“Arrogant! Truly arrogant!”
The reporter who had just asked the question was also extremely excited.
The author of “Candle in the Tomb” had made a scene denying his opponent in public. This was big news! The reporter wanted to make this a big deal in his article later so that it would create a butterfly effect tomorrow once it was published. He thought, ‘My promotion and a raise is just around the corner!’
Fang Yuan continued, “‘The Lost Tomb’ is intended to be more of a commercial novel. This is something that ‘Candle in the Tomb’ can’t compare to. If we talk about impression, perhaps ‘The Lost Tomb’ is better than ‘Candle in the Tomb’.”
Just as he finished his sentence, the scene was silent, so much so that they could hear a pin drop.
What did he mean by this?
Fang Yuan’s first sentence was arrogant, saying that ‘Candle in the Tomb’ was the best.
However, in the next second, he said that his work was not as good as “The Lost Tomb”.
Was that not self-destruction and admitting defeat?
The reporter seized the opportunity and asked, “Mr. Fang Yuan, do you mean that in terms of artistic creativity and knowledge, ‘Candle in the Tomb’ is better than ‘The Lost Tomb’, but in terms of reading interest, ‘The Lost Tomb’ is better?”
“Yes, exactly. Is there any other questions?”
The audience was in an uproar.
Many people sighed saying that Fang Yuan was too young. If he maintained his arrogant and unruly attitude earlier, perhaps he could still attract a group of diehard fans. The number of people might be small, but they would be loyal to him.
What he was doing now was so capricious that he was only digging his own grave.
It would be extremely disadvantageous for his future career as an author.
“I originally thought that ‘Candle in the Tomb’ was pretty good with sophisticated writing. I even thought that the author was an older person, but now it seems that ‘The Lost Tomb’ is still better.”
“Bullsh*t! ‘The Lost Tomb’ is meant for children. ‘Candle in the Tomb’ is a masterpiece. If you don’t understand, stop talking nonsense!”
On Twitter, Facebook, and various social media, the debate became even more intense because of Fang Yuan’s words.
The fans were still divided into two factions.
However, it was obvious that more people were leaning towards “The Lost Tomb”.
Penguin Publishing was a giant company.
If they did not do anything now, they would not have a chance to strike later, so now was the best time to stir up public opinion.
There would be a huge amount of traffic if they did so, which meant that there would be a huge amount of profit as well.
Controlling public opinion was the key to everything.
The two editors, Stoner and Walter, were even happier when they saw the debate on social media.
“This is a huge opportunity!”
The two of them clapped their hands in joy.
If they took advantage of this opportunity to add fuel to the fire, the whole thing would explode. Sometimes, a book really did not have to be well-written to be number one. It had to rely on the operation of a professional team.
The two editors immediately contacted the internet trolls.
The money was pouring in.
All kinds of comments, likes, flowers, and gifts were presented to “Ghosthand”.
After this, “Ghosthand” actually exceeded the approval ratings of ‘Candle in the Tomb’ and ‘The Lost Tomb’. Obviously, the judges at the scene realized that the final result was very likely to be a three-sided war.
Stoner also felt that he was about to get a promotion and a raise.
He said excitedly, “Do you think that’s enough? Give me more!”
The two groups of internet trolls got to work. One group said that ‘The Lost Tomb’ was not as good as ‘Candle in the Tomb’ while the other group was arrogant saying that ‘Candle in the Tomb’ was art, literary foundation, and knowledge. It was much better than ‘The Lost Tomb’ and that ‘The Lost Tomb’ still had lots to catch up on.
After three rounds of operation, the rhythm was going.
The comments were retweeted to the point it was trending.
They also commented on Fang Yuan’s objective evaluation of both works.
At this time, the two editors, Stoner and Walter, led a group of internet trolls to say that the quality of “Ghosthand” surpassed both these works, and perhaps it was a hidden pearl.
When this kind of public opinion erupted, it revealed one’s own purpose and would naturally attract everyone’s attention.
It became a chain reaction.
Out of curiosity, people began to look at “Ghosthand”.
There were always people who thought a novel was good while others thought it was bad.
“Ghosthand” also gradually rose in popularity.
“Hmm…although it’s a lot worse than ‘The Coiling Dragon’, ‘Ghosthand’ is not bad. Reading it gives me goosebumps.”
Although this extinguished the popularity of “Candle in the Tomb” and “The Lost Tomb”, it actually helped Fang Yuan’s previous book, “The Coiling Dragon”.
More people became curious and looked at “Ghosthand”.
The reviews were not bad.
The two editors at Penguin Publishing were going crazy with joy as they used such a storm of public opinion to achieve such a miraculous effect.
At the same time, the judges were puzzled. Previously, “Ghosthand” was clearly inferior to the other two works in all aspects, so how did it rebound? Was it that good?
..
At this moment, someone suddenly went on stage, indicating that there was a big change in the top four books.
Ghosthand’s online fan support had exceeded 400,000.
As for “Candle in the Tomb” and “The Lost Tomb”, their current fan support was only 200,000. If this continued, the judges would have no choice but to announce “Ghosthand” as the final victor.
Furthermore, the battle between the two works stopped momentarily. If they got the author of “The Lost Tomb” to go on stage and answer everyone’s questions at this moment, it would cause a backlash. Hence, the judges decided at the last minute to have the anonymous author for “Ghosthand” speak on stage first.