Hm?

Penname?

Everyone was caught off guard. What was the deal with the pen name?

Opening up Celestial Bane, they checked the pen name and it was…"I am Y"?!

OMG!

They all thought their eyes played tricks on them. Rubbing their eyes and checking again, it was real!

[Unbelievable! Do you think this is a marketing ploy? Or there's a Y in novels now?]

[This is major news! Y is writing novels!]

[No wonder Celestial Bane was so good! So it's Y's work!]

[The author is a dumbf*ck. Taking on such a magnificent name to grab attention! Is he not afraid of being a laughingstock?]

…

For some time, the discussion forums turned livelier.

Ye Lingchen completed his morning exercise and finished the breakfast Zhang Yunxi prepared, then took a bus to Capital City Sports Bureau.

Feeling bored along the way, Ye Lingchen took out his phone and started to check on Celestial Bane's PK results.

He was told by Yogurt that the PK session was an important process for a new novel. Based on his literary standards, Celestial Bane's PK results should not be that bad.

Upon entering the author's corner, Ye Lingchen was dumbfounded. The comment section was bombarded with comments while his gift chart had shot up all the way!

Especially between Long Aotian and Lonely Sky Piercer. Their gifts kept coming, and they were all in huge sums. Furthermore, both of them seemed to have a strong personality, provoking the other party stylishly while gifting and bragging all the way.

Below that was a huge wave of respectful voices, all of them looking up to the two wealthy guys.

Finally, it seemed that Lonely Sky Piercer had won the battle. His name placed at the top of the gift chart. Furthermore, he even changed his name to Lonely Seeker of Loss. Such a scary person.

Other than that, his statistics had seemingly gone through some earth-shattering changes. The collection rate and recommendation votes went up by 10 times! That was all in one night!

Shocking! He did not expect the PK recommendation to have such an impact!

At the same time, Ye Lingchen's brows turned into a deep frown. Within the various comments praising the novel, there were also some vicious criticisms mixed in between.

[Bullsh*t! Nonsense! Go write your mommy's novel!]

[What dogsh*t is this? The author has yet to graduate elementary school?!]

[This novel is a pile of dung. Even a retard writes better. This novel placed first in the new novel list? What a joke!]

[This is a sh*tty novel. Please stay away. It burns your eyes out!]

…

These comments were vitriolic. Although Ye Lingchen knew those people were badmouthing him intentionally, he still felt uneasy.

The novel was something he spent his effort and time, typing it out in front of the computer, word by word. The total effort spent was beyond imagination. The novel was like his baby, yet it was being slandered by others maliciously.

That was like his hard work was being denied by others, his effort being laughed at. Writing a novel was no easy task.

'If you don't like it, don't read it! If you want something deep and fanciful, go read some books on language! Why are you here reading a novel?'

Some criticisms were not just targeted at the novel itself, but rather moving onto personal attacks. To be insulted for no particular reason would have made anyone feel bad.

Furthermore, it was still free to read! One could just stop reading if it was not enjoyable. What was the deal with all the cussing?

Beep beep beep!

His QQ avatar blinked, revealing a QQ message.

It was from Rugao Under The Bridge.

[Bro, your PK result is heaven-defying. You're definitely getting the award with your first novel!]

[It's so so. There are plenty of criticisms too.] Ye Lingchen replied humbly, [I've read your novels as well. They are quite good.]

[You're being too humble. My writing is nowhere near yours.] Rugao Under The Bridge then continued, [You can ignore those criticisms. They are the howls of the failures. If you check their comment records, you'll find that regardless of novels, they will throw in a bad word or two.]

[Truly some crazy folks.] Ye Lingchen replied.

[These people are the type that are not doing well in reality. Whenever they see the success of others, they won't evaluate the reasons for success. These people lack effort yet they do not wish to see others put in the effort. Apart from jealousy, it's still jealousy. They want nothing more than to have you stop writing from their criticism and have you fail too! Didn't you realize, they didn't even mention anything from the contents of the novel. I suspect they have not even read the book!]

That was the case indeed. If the readers did not like a particular part of the plot, they could bring it up in the comments section instead of spewing all that vitriol.

Rugao Under The Bridge had seen much in the field of web novels and was already used to such happenings. It was obvious that he went through his fair share of criticisms. [Moreover, a lot of those critics are probably spare accounts of some other authors. They are your competitors trying to get you out of the scene with scathing criticism. Your novel is good. Please don't let this affect you. Also, I want to continue reading!]

[Mm, thank you!] Ye Lingchen replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, within Yuewen's contracted author's group, things were lively. Everyone was tagging Ye Lingchen, congratulating his novel's achievements.

Even some editors showed themselves. They praised his novel and urged him to keep it up.

After some casual chat and a round of bragging in the group, he had finally arrived at Capital City Stadium.

The stadium looked grand. It was separated into different sections by sports such as running, swimming, athletics, table tennis, badminton, and so on.

The outer sections were open to the public. Ye Lingchen followed President Zhang's instructions and headed towards the inner parts of the Stadium.

At the same time, at the Capital City Basketball Association within the stadium…

Zhang He, with a red face, was in the middle of a full-blown conflict with another elderly person.

That elder's hair and facial hair were thoroughly white. He seemed to be advanced in age, but his mind was clear and alert. His face was similarly flushed red arguing with Zhang He.

Around the two of them, around a dozen people in red basketball jerseys had their heads lowered in silence, acting as though they heard nothing.

"Zhang He! You're trying to give me a stroke! Do you even know what you're doing? I shouldn't have passed the position of the president to you! Oh my heart, oh my poor heart!" The elderly scolded with a strong voice, hyperventilating throughout the ordeal.

"Teacher, please calm down. Will you listen to my explanation?" Zhang He laughed bitterly.

"Explanation? Why bother!?" The elder slammed the piece of paper in his hand onto the desk, causing a loud sound. "You look at the content written in this! Is this a contract?! Is this a contract that our basketball association can sign on?!"

The elder was extremely aggravated when that topic was brought up. He pointed at Zhang He with trembling fingers. "You tell me! Is he a relative of yours that you've forcefully arranged to leech off the country?! Corruption! Such corruption! Of all things, I despise corruption the most! What a waste of my years to have taught a student like you!"

Zhang He was lectured miserably, looking extremely pathetic.

He too had his own unvoiced difficulties. That was the day he had scheduled for Ye Lingchen to sign the contract. Who would have known that the former president, his teacher, would suddenly appear for a spot check? When he saw the contract between Zhang He and Ye Lingchen, he almost passed out from the shock as his blood pressure shot upwards.

That kind of contract was something unimaginable by the elder in his entire life. That was equivalent to the sports bureau paying a person for doing nothing!

"Teacher, it's not as you think it to be. I went all out to beg him to join. If not for such a contract, he would not even join us," President Zhang explained.

"What?!"

The elder jumped, blood rushing to his head, "Just what kind of place do you think this is? Do we need to beg people to come?! You spineless worm!"...