C19 Shortly after White Horse Howls to the West Was Released

In his previous life, masterpieces by legends like Gu Long and others were sure to quickly rise to fame in this world.

Yet, the fantasy novels that were all the rage here hadn't seen a blockbuster hit like Dou Luo Continent or Heavenly Dragon Eight Series!

It was tough to predict which genre would take off faster, but Qin Mo's mind brimmed with storylines, ready to be penned simultaneously!

So, Qin Mo signed up on two websites, adopting pen names and verifying his status as an author.

On the Wuxia site, he went by Mr. Jin—a nod to the venerable Mr. Jin!

The name he chose for the Hong Guo site made him chuckle—Tomato Potato!

Ding! A random mission drops! Register and publish on a major literary site to earn an S-class Hand Speed Essence and an S-class Writing Skill Book.

Just for publishing, such generous rewards?

Qin Mo wasted no time and dove into his first piece.

Keen not to dishonor Mr. Jin, he steered clear of smash hits like the Condor Trilogy and the Heavenly Dragon Eight Series. Instead, he tackled a lesser-known novella, ‘White Horse Howls in the West,’ to test his ability to faithfully recreate Mr. Jin's work.

With a head full of plots and copywriting skills honed in his past life as an agent, his prose flowed effortlessly.

After all, modern society didn't fixate on literary flair.

He found the writing process quite smooth.

In just one hour, he churned out eight thousand words!

Another thirty minutes ticked by.

As Qin Mo filled in the title, introduction, outline, and the first ten thousand words, the system chimed in again.

Ding! Congratulations, host, on earning your reward. Please claim your prize promptly!

Qin Mo watched as two gift boxes appeared on the virtual panel, floating side by side.

They emitted a red glow, slowly spinning.

It appeared that S-grade rewards were all marked in red.

Qin Mo claimed the S-grade Writing Skill Book and the S-grade Hand Speed Essence.

After using them, he could feel the muscles in his fingers instantly fortified.

Energy seemed to surge endlessly into his fingertips!

His brain was also flooded with an abundance of writing knowledge.

Looking back at the short story "White Horse Howls to the West," he noticed numerous issues with the writing techniques.

Take the first paragraph, for instance, where Qin Mo describes the desert.

"The desert, boundless like a vast ocean, with the round sun clinging to its edge, casts the earth in deep shadow. From a distance, all that meets the eye is a vast expanse of thick yellow, with sand and wind twisting and soaring..."

Yet, this portrayal felt more akin to prose than to the narrative style of a novel.

It would be more effective to succinctly set the scene, dive swiftly into the main topic, introduce the plot, and create suspense to captivate the readers.

Qin Mo closed his eyes, replaying the storyline of "White Horse Howls to the West" in his mind.

When he resumed writing, he captured the essence of Master Jin.

"Across the boundless desert, dust and sand fill the air as two swift horses come galloping..."

Qin Mo restructured the plot and rewrote the initial ten thousand words.

This time, it took him only ten minutes to complete the 10,000-word composition!

The S-class essence of hand speed and his writing skills significantly boosted both his typing pace and literary prowess.

Qin Mo opened a webpage to test his typing speed.

Initially, he could type at a rate of 90-120 words per minute.

Now, his typing speed had astonishingly reached 1,000 words per minute!

Qin Mo was thrilled beyond measure!

In the web novel industry, earnings are based on word count, with some top-earning authors making thousands of yuan per thousand words.

Given Qin Mo's new typing speed, if his book became a hit, he could be making thousands of yuan every minute!

And that's not to mention the substantial potential royalties!

This sideline could really pay off!

Qin Mo swiftly penned the plot of "White Horse Howls to the West" from memory.

The original text was just over 70,000 words.

After some editing, the novel was condensed to 50,000 words, which he promptly uploaded to the Wasteland Literature website.

Only then did he notice the "Apply for a contract" button at the end of the submission form.

But he had already finished writing.

Qin Mo pondered for a moment. The Wasteland Literature website was not currently promoting short to mid-length stories, focusing instead on epic sagas exceeding a million words.

For now, he decided not to sign a contract for the novel, opting instead to post it online to draw in traffic.

"White Horse Howls to the West" didn't have an overly dramatic plot; its essence was encapsulated in the theme of love. The story began with the tragic deaths of the Gold-Silver Sword Third Lady, Shangguan Hong, and White Horse, Li San, setting the stage for a tale of love and vengeance among the protagonists and their supporting counterparts. The narrative revolved around the quest for the Gaochang Labyrinth map, weaving a complex web of emotions and desires between the Han and Kazakh people.

Despite its brevity, the novel's storyline was compelling. Particularly moving was the unrequited love of the female lead, Li Wenxiu, which conveyed a poignant message: the things we chase after aren't always valuable; true rarity lies in cherishing the happiness we already possess.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing a hidden quest: publishing your first web novel and seeing it through to completion. The Points Merchant Shop is now unlocked!

Qin Mo noticed a spinning key on the virtual panel before him. With a thought, he clicked on the key, setting off a burst of celebratory fireworks as the Points Merchant Shop page popped up.

The shop was split into two sections: one for purchases with popularity points and another for mission points. Currently, Qin Mo had amassed 10 million popularity points, while his mission points stood at zero. This was likely due to the shop's recent activation, as previous missions hadn't been tallied.

Qin Mo perused the explanation for popularity points. Every bit of attention he garnered in the real world translated into these points, starting with his initial fan base on Conboat. Subsequently, every public release of his work—garnering attention, likes, shares, and comments—would contribute to his popularity points, making them relatively easy to accumulate.

Take, for instance, Qin Mo's latest musical release on Conboat, which racked up 40 million plays and 10 million interactions in likes and comments. This achievement alone would boost his popularity points to a staggering 50 million!

However, despite the ease of earning popularity points, the items in the shop came with hefty price tags. A single premium song could cost a whopping 100 million popularity points!

The complete trilogy of the Condor songs commanded a staggering 1 billion popularity points!

For premium items like the S-ranked Rhelaweth martial arts essence, one would need to use mission points to acquire them.

Qin Mo knew that by relentlessly completing missions, he could amass a trove of high-end items!

With that thought, his spirits soared!

Who needs a break?

Time to get to work!

He began by selecting six songs he had sung before from the afternoon's recording session and uploaded them online.

But this time, he didn't limit the release to just the Conboat platform.

He went all out and released them across all music platforms!

Five minutes later, Qin Mo refreshed the marketplace data on his virtual panel.

The popularity points displayed had skyrocketed by 1.87 million!

A smile played on Qin Mo's lips; his popularity was indeed soaring. In just five minutes after the song's release, it had already garnered massive interest.

Checking the backend of his account, he discovered that the original version of "Dusk" had just gone live, prompting a wave of his fans to swarm in with likes and downloads.