Jiang City, XC District, Flying Dragon Internet Cafe
It was late at night, but the smoky, crowded internet cafe was still packed, with hardly an empty seat to be found.
Wang Pu took a final, deep drag from the Red Five cigarette dangling from his lips, sucking every last bit of tobacco until nothing remained. Reluctantly, he stubbed out the still-glowing butt in the ashtray.
In the next moment, he exhaled a plume of smoke, straightened his back, and stretched his arms wide, suddenly energized.
His fingers danced across the keyboard as he expertly opened his WeChat group: "Brothers, get ready to vote!"
He quickly copied the same message to two other groups.
The group members responded instantly like a tidal wave.
"Don't worry, Group Leader! My 15 recommendation tickets are itching to go!"
"Just waiting for midnight! Two V-accounts, 9 tickets total, I'm locking them in for the week!"
"You guys prepare; I'll drop a wave of donations first."
"Holy crap, the big spender's here too! Begging to latch onto your coattails, begging for a good flogging!"
"We've got to get it to the top of the homepage recommendations list!"
Watching the messages flash across the screen, Wang Pu felt his blood surge, as if he were commanding an army charging into battle.
Just after midnight, he clicked the confirm button in the voting panel, which he had kept open for hours, casting all seven recommendation tickets from his account for 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'!
With the clock striking twelve, it was officially Monday. According to Wave Reading's rules, the click, recommendation, and reward charts on the homepage would reset and refresh, making this the perfect moment to seize a prominent spot on the leaderboards.
As a die-hard fan of 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' and the leader of three reader groups each with over a thousand members, Wang Pu had been planning this chart-topping campaign for days. He had mobilized vast numbers of group members and coordinated efforts across Tieba forums and other online communities.
Wang Pu harbored a deep-seated resentment.
'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' had premiered on Wave Reading on May 27th. By August 14th, the novel had been continuously updated for over two and a half months, amassing over 400,000 words!
Clicks: 235,600; Recommendations: 225,647; Favorites: 6,690; Comments: 23,690!
For 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' to achieve such success without any promotion was a minor miracle. Its click-to-recommendation ratio was nearly 1:1, utterly eclipsing countless signed novels on the charts.
Yet despite its outstanding performance, 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' remained unsigned. Wave Reading seemed to completely ignore its existence, treating it with utter disdain!
For such a remarkable novel to fail to secure a contract, Wang Pu felt deeply insulted.
Ever since discovering this Wuxia novel on Wave Reading, he had quickly become a devoted fan. Following its daily two-chapter updates had become an ingrained habit in his life.
As the story of 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' grew in length, it reached new heights of excellence. Each gripping plot twist left him utterly hooked, making it nearly impossible to stop reading. Though he had tried several times to resist and save up chapters for a binge, he found himself inexplicably clicking open the webpage the moment new updates were released.
This deepened Wang Pu's curiosity about "Recalling Ancient Times," the author of 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'. He repeatedly tried to contact the author via private message on the website, but never received a reply.
In Wang Pu's view, "Recalling Ancient Times" was a talented and capable writer who didn't quite grasp the rules of web novel publishing. Aside from diligently updating daily, they made no effort to interact with readers or promote their work, like a silent, hardworking ox toiling in the fields.
But that didn't matter. Wang Pu created multiple reader groups, actively promoting the book in book review sections and Tieba forums to attract readers, uniting a large community of fellow Old Bai readers who shared his passion for the novel.
'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer''s current success owed much to Wang Pu's efforts. He sought no gratitude or rewards from "Recalling Ancient Times"; his sole motivation was to prevent this exceptional novel from being buried.
It must not be buried!
Many readers, like Wang Pu, were indignant at the injustice suffered by 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'.
This collective indignation sparked the campaign to get the novel onto the charts.
Once 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' stormed to the top of Wave Reading's homepage, could they possibly continue to ignore it?
Unless they were all blind!
The group chat icon in the lower right corner of the screen flashed frantically. In the three 1,000-member reader groups for 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer', members were furiously posting "battle report" screenshots, images of their votes and tips, with higher vote counts and larger tips naturally indicating greater contribution.
Fueled by this collective action, 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer''s weekly recommendation ticket count skyrocketed. After the chart refreshed every ten minutes, it astonishingly climbed to the top spot with a staggering 3,780 votes!
The three groups erupted in cheers.
"Hahaha, we're number one!"
"See? It was that easy!"
"Exactly! Unity is strength! Everyone did amazing work!"
"This is way too easy! I even prepared three V-accounts and 25 recommendation tickets!"
"If we could just hold the top spot for a week, that would be amazing."
Wang Pu quickly interjected, "Don't celebrate too soon, everyone! Our opponents are incredibly strong. Brothers with tickets, keep voting! Use them all to maintain our lead, even if it's just for one more day."
Although 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' had claimed the top spot on the weekly recommendation chart thanks to their efforts, it was only temporary. The readers of the website's massively popular titles far outnumbered their own, and once mobilized, they could easily crush their hard-won gains.
Wang Pu's only strategy was to exploit the time difference, aiming to keep 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' on the chart for as long as possible.
His ultimate goal, nevertheless, was to secure a contract for the book and earn a coveted recommendation spot.
Wang Pu firmly believed that once 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' received the website's endorsement, its success would skyrocket!
The group members wholeheartedly agreed.
"Don't worry, Group Leader! We won't let our tickets go to waste!"
"I'll mobilize support in other groups too. Every vote counts, let's at least keep it on the homepage for a day, right?"
"Actually, the group isn't that crowded yet. More people will join today."
"This week, all my votes are going to 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'!"
"Supporting a great book! Supporting our group leader!"
Wang Pu's heart warmed. He poured his energy into these efforts, not for fame or profit, but purely out of his love for 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'. Receiving so much support from fellow readers filled him with immense satisfaction.
After a moment's thought, Wang Pu typed: "Thank you, everyone. It's late now, so get some rest. We'll check the results tomorrow!"
"Good night!"
Closing the WeChat group, Wang Pu went to the counter to settle his bill at the Flying Dragon Internet Cafe.
Leaving the cafe, he grabbed a bowl of noodles at a nearby diner for a late-night snack before returning to his rented room and collapsing into a deep sleep.
Wang Pu dreamed he had entered the Martial World, that sword-shadowed, blood-boiling Jianghu of the novel.
And in this dream, he was the heroic protagonist, righting wrongs and upholding justice.
(End of Chapter)
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