Chapter Forty: The Wolf Is Here!

Interrupted right when he was in the zone, Chen Qi shot an irritated glance at his phone. Seeing the unfamiliar number, he instinctively didn’t want to answer—it was probably another call from an advertising company, or so he thought. But then again, it seemed like those companies hadn’t bothered him for a while now.

“Hello?” he finally picked up.

“Hello, is this Mr. Chen?” A young voice sounded on the other end.

Mr. Chen?

Chen Qi was momentarily taken aback. He glanced at the chapter open on his laptop and instantly deduced the caller’s identity. He quickly replied, “Yes, that’s me.”

An editor from the novel website was contacting him directly? That was truly unexpected. Could it be that his rapid updates had even startled the staff? How amusing.

The editor’s main purpose in calling was to suggest that he slow down his update schedule. Over two hundred thousand words in just one week—such a wild pace was unprecedented! Over the phone, the editor patiently explained that the recommendation slots couldn’t keep up with his updates.

On the novel website, recommendation slots were crucial—one might even say the fate of a book depended on them. With the current popularity of “Immortal World,” it might be fine to skip the smaller recommendations, but the major ones were essential. The problem was, it would take at least a month to cycle through all the big recommendations, and at his current pace, the book would surpass a million words by then.

A million words before launching the paid version? That was a bit much!

Listening to the explanation, Chen Qi remained unfazed. “It’s fine. I’ll leave that to you—you’re the professionals, I’ll follow your arrangements. As for the updates... I won’t hold back; I type fast anyway.”

He had little interest in the finer points of these rules. If it weren’t for the knowledge that without signing a contract and launching the paid version he’d miss out on many rankings, he wouldn’t have bothered with the contract at all.

“Uh... alright then.” The editor was at a loss for words at his response.

Type fast? Now that was an unbeatable reason.

Still, since Mr. Chen insisted, the editor couldn’t object. “By the way, I’ve sent you a friend request. Please accept it,” the editor reminded him before hanging up.

“Okay,” Chen Qi replied.

After the call, he checked his phone and found the friend request waiting. He accepted it and went right back to work.

...

While Chen Qi was answering the call, the status of “Immortal World” on the website was changed to ‘contracted.’ This small detail was quickly spotted by some sharp-eyed readers who delighted in stirring up excitement.

“The status has changed! The status has changed!!”

“We can reward the author now!”

“Get ready, rich folks—it’s your time to shine!”

These playful readers excitedly posted in the comment section, watching the commotion with glee.

Almost at the very moment these posts went up, the first reward for “Immortal World” appeared. The reader “Just This Willfulness” sent a reward of 1,000,000 points, becoming the novel’s first Silver Patron!

This was the same reader who’d previously vowed to reward a Silver Patron level as soon as the status changed.

“Wow!!!” When the system announced the reward, the comment section erupted with astonishment.

“Hey, big spender, let’s be friends!”

“Let’s be friends!”

“Be friends!”

The front page was filled with cheerful chatter.

But that was only the beginning.

“Nickname Not Normal” rewarded “Immortal World” with 1,000,000 points!

“I’m a Man of Character” rewarded 1,000,000 points!

“I Don’t Want the Teacher to Call My Name” rewarded 100,000 points!

“Who in This World but Me?” rewarded...

It was as if the readers of “Immortal World” had been summoned; one after another, they showered the novel with generous rewards, expressing their admiration and support for the author in this way.

In just a few short minutes, “Immortal World” had three Silver Patrons, seven regular Patrons, and countless small and medium rewards. The comment section was awash in red!

New readers, drawn by the reward announcements, were left utterly baffled by the lively scene.

What was going on here? Had some famous author started a new book?

But when they discovered that this was a complete newcomer, their jaws dropped in disbelief.

A newcomer? Was this a joke?

When did a newbie ever command such influence?

Then they learned that this newcomer had been dominating the update rankings for seven consecutive days.

And then, collectively, they were stunned, their eyes wide as saucers.

In that instant, “Immortal World” seemed to steal the spotlight from the entire website. Nearly every reader group and author group was abuzz, discussing this wild reward spree that unfolded in just a few minutes.

...

The popularity of “Immortal World” continued to soar, and its collection count broke through the 30,000 mark!

Watching the novel’s meteoric rise, the other authors were left dumbfounded. They couldn’t shake the feeling that tomorrow’s sales rankings would be snatched away too.

And indeed...

The next day, “Immortal World” took the top spot on the sales chart!

Not only that, but Mr. Chen maintained his breakneck pace, updating with ten new chapters and claiming the update ranking’s crown for the eighth time. And judging by the momentum, he showed no signs of slowing down.

At this point, many authors were on the brink of despair.

They struggled to write two chapters a day, totaling four thousand words, and that was already considered diligent. Yet here he was, churning out ten chapters—thirty thousand words—every single day?

How was anyone supposed to compete? How were they expected to survive?

It was just... embarrassing!

After a bout of exasperation, these authors timidly checked their own comment sections.

Sure enough...

“What’s with your pitiful update schedule? Look at Mr. Chen!”

The comments were eerily uniform. It was as if, overnight, all the readers had turned into playful trolls.

Staring at their comment sections flooded with teasing remarks, the authors were on the verge of tears.

At this moment, they had a strong premonition: this was only the beginning!

Once “Immortal World” launched its paid version, that would be their true nightmare!

The only consolation was that their books were not the only ones being overrun by such comments. In fact, any book with decent subscription numbers was not spared. Some readers even started judging the quality of a book by whether its comment section had these posts.

But the most crushing news was yet to come.

That very afternoon, a well-informed author heard from an editor that “Immortal World” would receive a major recommendation slot this weekend, followed by the official launch of its paid version!

But that wasn’t the most important part—the key was that the editor had received confirmation from Mr. Chen himself that he intended to maintain this frenetic update pace...

When this news spread through the author community, everyone was thrown into turmoil.

They all had the sense that the wolf was at the door.

They couldn’t even imagine the ordeal they would face if Mr. Chen truly kept up this insane rate of updates.