"Xu Lin, you're freaking awesome!"
"Teach me how to pick up girls!"
"I don't want to use my hand anymore!"
"I thought you were watching some videos secretly after I left, but turns out Yu Xinyan was at your place!"
"So badass!"
Lei Haolong's messages came through over half an hour ago.
Xu Lin felt he was a bit incoherent.
Xu Lin said: Do I need to watch that stuff?
"Bro! Teach me how to pick up girls!"
"Get lost, I'm busy."
"Xu Lin, you're amazing!"
Lei Haolong probably misunderstood something again, like mistaking that Yu Xinyan was still with Xu Lin, thinking they were about to do what men and women do, and believing Xu Lin had completely won over Yu Xinyan.
Xu Lin couldn't be bothered to explain.
That's just how he is; he doesn't want to waste energy and words explaining trivial things.
"Xu Lin, I'm home!"
Yu Xinyan sent a message.
Xu Lin replied with an "Oh."
By now, it was past 8 p.m., clearly not time for rest yet.
Xu Lin played games for another half hour.
After that, Xu Lin had a sudden urge and entered an author forum he had previously browsed casually.
Xu Lin thought that he had a "Divine Penmanship" ability, and not using it to make money was a waste.
Worth a try!
On this author forum, many authors were discussing various topics.
Additionally, there was a black market section where authors posted ghostwriting tasks, which was straightforwardly hiring ghostwriters.
Xu Lin wanted to explore it a bit.
He's not a persistent person; for example, writing a book and having to update it daily for a year or so—he wouldn't do that.
But being a day-to-day ghostwriter was doable, meaning he could get paid once he finished writing for the day, or at worst every couple of days.
And there were different levels of ghostwriters: rush jobs, low-tier, and high-tier, among others.
He didn't pay attention to the first two, but was interested in the high-tier ghostwriters.
The income for these high-tier ghostwriters wasn't low; exaggerated rates went over a hundred per thousand words. So a thousand words for a hundred bucks, ten thousand words for a thousand bucks. Of course, there's no price ceiling as long as you're capable.
Meanwhile, Xu Lin considered how long it would take him to type out ten thousand words?
So Xu Lin decided to experiment a bit. He designed a plot.
Main character: Fei.
Supporting character: Xu Lin.
The basic plot was that a well-known expert in the martial world, Fei, had been pursuing a goddess for years to no avail, only for Xu Lin, who never did anything proper, to win her over in less than a week. Fei, furious, challenged Xu Lin to a duel at the peak of the Forbidden City, attracting all sorts of characters from around the world to come and watch. Ultimately, Fei not only gets defeated by Xu Lin but also witnesses Xu Lin embracing and kissing the female lead in front of him, causing Fei to cough up blood and faint on the spot.
With the plot set, Xu Lin's inspiration flowed abundantly and his writing style was absurdly excellent.
Mind you, back in high school Xu Lin struggled even to churn out an 800-word essay!
Xu Lin realized then that the "Divine Penmanship" ability granted him two buffs: one was a fountain of inspiration, the other was flourishing brush.
It's worth mentioning that Xu Lin typed very quickly. Partly because his thoughts were swift and fluid, without writer's block, and partly because he had argued a lot with teammates in games, which honed his typing speed to an impressive level. Anyone who plays games and argues like this knows that if you type slowly, you'll definitely get cursed by the opponents, who will throw insults about your ancestors of eighteen generations ahead of you. So fast typing really comes from being pushed into it.
As a result, in just under an hour, Xu Lin had completed twelve thousand words.
And then Xu Lin sent it to Yu Xinyan.
"Yanyan, how's my writing?"
"Xu Lin, what are you up to?"
"I'm writing novels to make a living!"
"Xu Lin, you can write novels?"
"Of course, please help me take a look. I'll give you an early reservation for a female lead role, you'll be my designated leading lady!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
Yu Xinyan was easy to coax, and immediately said, "Then I'll take a look!"
Twelve thousand words could be read in just a few minutes, but Yu Xinyan took twenty to finish, reading very earnestly.
"Xu Lin, how is your writing so good?"
"Yanyan, you're the first person to say my writing is good!"
"Dummy! Your writing is really good!"
Afterwards, Yu Xinyan carefully analyzed it for Xu Lin, as if she were a language teacher explaining reading comprehension in class.
Xu Lin glanced at it and knew Yu Xinyan truly thought his writing was good, and her assessment was quite objective.
"Let's get started!"
Without a second thought, Xu Lin added a contact for a high-tier ghostwriter priced at eighty per thousand words, awaiting approval.
It's not that Xu Lin didn't want a higher price; it's just that eighty per thousand was currently the highest in the black market.
It was also at this moment, the system sent a notification.
[A high-tier ghostwriter gig+.]
There was a plus sign, Xu Lin immediately clicked on it.
[Task available: The Man Behind the Gods!]
?
The task title was imposing, almost overwhelming!
Xu Lin clicked to see what it was about.
[Task Progress: Unknown.]
[Note: This task is calculated based on fame, divided into Unknown, Slightly Famous, Prominent, Renowned, and Known Globally. From 'Prominent' onwards, each level of fame reached unlocks a reward.]
[Note: Task duration is one year, with no penalty for failure. Successful completion unlocks substantial rewards, including but not limited to abilities, wealth, and items.]
"I see!"
Xu Lin realized suddenly.
Just didn't expect that this could trigger a task.
"But to become a god-tier ghostwriter, one has to build a reputation first, right? Otherwise, why would they trust me?"
Buzz buzz.
Just then, he remembered the ghostwriting request had been approved.
Moonlit Night: Hi, are you interested in taking my ghostwriting job? Do you have any track record?
Track record?
What track record could I possibly have?
So Xu Lin sent over the twelve thousand words he had just written.
Only Takes Day Jobs (Xu Lin): You can take a look at my writing.
'The recipient has received your...'
After a few minutes passed.
Moonlit Night: Damn, is this your writing style? Emotions, thrill points, character settings... everything is amazing, with a story and scene portrayal that's vivid and immersive. You're taking ghostwriting gigs with this kind of writing? Such a waste, man! If I had your writing skills, I'd become a god, brother!
Only Takes Day Jobs: I don't want to spend time on long novels, just want to do day jobs like this.
Moonlit Night: Oh okay, I get it.
In the end.
The other person sent a chapter outline over.
This chapter outline had the content of five chapters.
Xu Lin took a quick glance, the story mainly involved one of the female leads discovering the male lead's two-timing, her heart shattered, triggering the plot.
Moonlit Night: Can you write out the female lead's painful inner turmoil? If it can be more literary, that would be even better.
Only Takes Day Jobs: Give me two hours.
"Damn, I really have to write something literary now!"
Xu Lin spent ten minutes brewing his emotions, then got to work.
With over ten thousand words in five chapters, Xu Lin completed it in just over an hour, spent a few minutes polishing it, then sent it over to the other person.
'The recipient has received your...'
A few minutes later.
Moonlit Night: Dude, your writing is insane! I'm absolutely blown away! I never thought a storyline could flow like yours, and your writing style leaves me in the dust!
Only Takes Day Jobs: Stay calm.
Moonlit Night: Bro, send me a QR code, let me transfer some cash!
Xu Lin immediately sent over the payment code.
Not long after.
Buzz buzz!
"Your account has received 1300 yuan..."
Why is it 500 more?
Moonlit Night: Bro, your writing was so amazing, it was a pleasure working with you, gave you an extra 500!
Ah, that explains it.
"I just made 1300 in one go!"
Xu Lin had tasted success.
To be precise, he earned 1300 in just over an hour!
For eighteen-year-old Xu Lin, this was undoubtedly a huge surprise.
Money comes quite easily!
Only Takes Day Jobs: Reach out if you have more work in the future, also please recommend higher-paying ghostwriting gigs to me.
Moonlit Night: Will do, bro!