Five days earlier, Lu Chen Studio and Chen Fei'er Studio had simultaneously launched a "Trip to Korea" lottery event through their official verified Weibo accounts.
This giveaway originated from a promise Lu Chen made to his fans on his Waves (Langchao) Blog: if 'Autumn in My Heart' achieved a viewership rating above 10% in South Korea, he would randomly select the same percentage of fans and give them a three-day, two-night Korea vacation package.
Chen Fei'er later upgraded the prize, turning it into a double package, allowing each winner to bring one guest!
When 'Autumn in My Heart' aired on South Korea's KGS TV, it reached an astonishing average rating of 22.31%. This not only served as a slap in the face to the skeptics online, but it also meant that 2,231 lucky fans would receive this surprise gift.
The official lottery began on May 22nd. Both studios' verified Weibo accounts drew 100 winners per day from their respective fan clubs until all the prizes were claimed.
Technically, the entire draw could have been done in a single day using computer algorithms. But from a marketing perspective, spreading the event across multiple days kept the hype alive much longer, which was far more effective.
Now, Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er's fan clubs, official forums, and tieba pages were buzzing daily with posts from lucky winners showing off their prizes. Fans who hadn't won could only watch in envy, while even casual onlookers were green with jealousy.
A three-day, two-night double trip to South Korea cost at least ¥5,000 per person, meaning Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er were collectively spending over ten million yuan in real money. The promotional impact, naturally, was tremendous.
And precisely because the event generated such massive buzz, it soon attracted attention from South Korea itself.
Over the past decade, the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea had grown rapidly, bringing substantial revenue to the country. But with increasing competition from Japan and Southeast Asia, South Korea had become eager to strengthen its promotional efforts in China.
The Korea trip lottery run by Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er's studios presented a perfect PR opportunity. Thus came the invitation from the Jeju City Department of Culture and Tourism, to have Lu Chen serve as Tourism Image Ambassador.
There was no reason for Lu Chen to refuse.
The one-year ambassador contract didn't come with a huge endorsement fee, in fact, compared to commercial endorsements, it was the difference between heaven and earth.
But the honor and exposure were invaluable. It would help Lu Chen further open the Korean market, especially after the huge success of Blue. It would also shield him from potential backlash.
Because, truth be told, South Koreans were quite xenophobic. If Blue had flopped in Korea, no one would have cared. But its massive success could easily provoke resentment, especially from local rivals.
After all, 'Autumn in My Heart' on KGS had beaten out MBC's flagship drama The Queen's Power in ratings, a humiliating blow for MBC.
So when KGS later imported 'Full House', it would be surprising not to see MBC stir up some controversy in retaliation.
This kind of inter-network rivalry wasn't new. Many Japanese artists had suffered similar fates when trying to expand into the Korean market, starting strong but ultimately fading away.
That was why, during negotiations for 'Full House' with SPG and KGS, numerous conditions had been raised. Beyond profit-sharing issues, there had been pressure to localize, resulting in Lu Chen adding more Korean settings and casting several Korean actors. The goal was simple: to minimize future resistance.
Now, with his role as a tourism ambassador, SPG and KGS could leverage it heavily for promotional purposes.
A classic exchange of interests.
After wrapping up pending studio business, Lu Chen and his sister Lu Xi headed to the hotel where Sister Li had arranged a celebratory dinner.
That night, Lu Chen returned alone to his apartment at Zicheng Gardens.
With Chen Fei'er still in Jinling, the spacious home felt unusually empty. Lu Chen had once suggested that Lu Xi move in too, but she flatly refused; she wasn't about to be the third wheel!
Fortunately, after his shower, Chen Fei'er called.
The couple chatted sweetly for over half an hour before hanging up.
Though he was tired and had to return to Jinling early the next morning, Lu Chen didn't go straight to bed. Instead, he turned on his computer and logged into Waves Reading (Langchao Dushu).
Waves Reading was one of the largest original online literature platforms in China, boasting over 50 million registered users and more than 100,000 contracted or resident authors, a major force in the literary industry.
Online literature had emerged in China at the dawn of the new millennium, growing alongside the Internet itself. After more than a decade of rapid development, it had evolved into a massive market.
Genres like xuanhuan (fantasy), xianxia (immortal cultivation), urban, military, historical, and supernatural all thrived. Though quality varied widely, the sheer creativity and relentless output of countless authors had captivated millions of young readers to the point where it now rivaled, even overshadowed, traditional literature.
Platforms like Waves Reading, WeChat Literature, Hanmo Academy, and NetEase Chinese dominated the market, each vying for the enormous profits of literary IP commercialization.
Television and film adaptations of online novels such as Tales of the Heavens, The Tomb Raider, Rising Immortal Winds and Clouds, and Affairs of the Harem had all achieved tremendous success in the market.
While filming 'Autumn in My Heart' and 'Full House', Lu Chen had already turned his gaze toward this rapidly rising field. He intended to carve out his place in the booming era of major IPs.
His goals and ambitions were substantial, but creating a popular IP wasn't something that could be done overnight. Starting with online literature was, without a doubt, the best entry point. However, today's online fiction market had already become highly stratified, an era where "the winner takes all."
Most of the premium resources were concentrated in the hands of a few major platforms. These sites boasted many "god-tier" authors whose works were beloved by readers, making it easy for them to generate hit IPs.
As for newer platforms or up-and-coming writers, trying to secure even a small share of the market was extremely difficult.
Lu Chen, having studied the current state of the online literature world, clearly understood that his grand IP plan would face countless trials. Success would be anything but easy.
Because at the core of his IP project, was Wuxia.
In the dream world from his past life, Wuxia (martial arts fiction) once flourished, giving rise to countless masters of the craft. Film and television adaptations of Wuxia novels were ubiquitous, and even by the time his memory faded, the genre still held immense cultural influence.
But in this world, though Wuxia literature and films had appeared, they declined rapidly. In today's well-defined online literature ecosystem, Lu Chen wasn't sure if there was still room for a Wuxia-themed story.
In a way, Wuxia had become a "low-tier" version of Xuanhuan (fantasy cultivation). Online readers had long been accustomed to "high martial" or even "immortal martial" power levels in Xuanhuan novels, terms like battle qi, soul power, and beast spirits dazzled readers' imaginations. Would they still be interested in the grounded, "low martial" world of Wuxia?
Lu Chen had taken time to read a few of the most popular Xuanhuan novels online. Compared to the Xuanhuan novels from his dream world, they were quite different. Those older works had evolved out of Wuxia, whereas modern ones blended Western fantasy and Japanese-style adventure elements before being localized for Chinese audiences.
If one compared those to the Wuxia novel Lu Chen wanted to write, the difference was even greater.
Still, regardless of the result, once Lu Chen had made up his mind, he would see it through.
If this road led to a dead end, he would simply find another.
On the homepage of Wave Reading, Lu Chen didn't link his existing blog account to create an author profile. Instead, he registered a brand-new ID: Recalling Ancient Times.
That username carried a special meaning, one that only Lu Chen himself could understand in this world.
After filling out basic personal information, the author space for "Recalling Ancient Times" was set up.
Following the system's prompts, he was ready to release his first work.
Lu Chen opened the document stored on his USB drive and copied the first 3,000 words into the text box.
Then, he entered the title of the novel.
Finally, he clicked "Upload for Review."
This was the first step in publishing a new story, once approved by the site's administrators, it would officially go live.
At the moment he clicked the mouse, Lu Chen had no idea that this would mark the beginning of one failure, but also the true starting point of his Grand IP Project.
Everything, his vision, his determination, his future, would now await the test of time and the market.
(End of Chapter)
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