C19 The Short Song Dusk Was Released!

In his previous life, the works of legendary authors like Mr. Jin and Gu Long were immensely popular. In this world, they would likely become hits quickly. The fantasy genre, which is popular on Red Fruit Novels, hasn't yet produced major successes like "Douluo Continent" or "Battle Through the Heavens."

Qin Mo couldn't predict which type of story would become a hit faster, but he had no shortage of plots in his mind and could work on multiple projects simultaneously. So, he registered pen names on two different websites, confirming his identity as a writer. On Journey, he used the pen name Mr. Jin, as a tribute to the great author. On Red Fruit, he humorously registered as Tomato Potato.

Ding... A random task has been assigned! Register and publish a work on a major literary website to receive an S-level typing speed essence and an S-level writing skill book! Just for publishing a work, such great rewards?

Qin Mo quickly began writing his first piece. To honor Mr. Jin, he avoided the famous "Legend of the Condor Heroes" trilogy and "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils." Instead, he started with a lesser-known novella, "White Horse Neighing in the West Wind," to see if he could capture the essence of Mr. Jin's work.

With plots in mind and experience as a former agent, Qin Mo had honed his writing skills, producing smooth prose. In modern society, literary flair isn't overly emphasized, so he found writing relatively easy. In just one hour, he wrote 8,000 words!

Another half hour passed. When Qin Mo completed the title, synopsis, outline, and 10,000 words of the main text, and clicked to publish, the system prompted him again.

Ding... Congratulations! You've received a reward. Please claim your prize promptly!

Qin Mo saw two gift boxes pop up on the virtual panel, hovering side by side in the interface. They emitted a red glow and slowly rotated. It seemed that S-grade rewards were always marked in red.

Qin Mo claimed the S-grade hand speed essence and the S-grade writing skill book. After using them, he felt an immediate enhancement in the muscles of his fingers, as if an endless stream of energy was flowing into his fingertips. His brain was also flooded with a wealth of writing knowledge.

When he revisited the short story "White Horse Whistles in the West Wind," he noticed several issues with his writing techniques. For instance, in the first paragraph, Qin Mo had a description of the vast desert:

"The boundless desert was like a vast sea, with a round setting sun skimming the desert's edge, casting a somber shadow over the land. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but an expanse of thick, yellow sand, with the wind swirling upward..."

However, this description seemed more like prose and didn't quite fit the style of a novel. It would be better to succinctly set the scene, quickly dive into the plot, and create suspense to capture the reader's interest.

Qin Mo closed his eyes and recalled the storyline of "White Horse Whistles in the West Wind." When he picked up the pen again, he captured the essence of Mr. Jin's style:

"The vast desert, dust swirling, as two swift horses galloped forward..."

Qin Mo revised the storyline, rewriting the first ten thousand words. This time, he completed the task in just ten minutes! His exceptional typing speed and writing skills, akin to an S-class level, significantly boosted his productivity. Qin Mo opened a webpage to test his typing speed. Previously, he typed between 90-120 words per minute. Now, his speed had skyrocketed to a thousand words per minute! Qin Mo was thrilled!

In the world of online literature, earnings are calculated by word count. Some top-tier writers earn thousands of dollars per thousand words. With Qin Mo's current typing speed, if his book became popular, he could earn thousands in just a minute! Plus, there were substantial royalties to consider. This side gig had potential!

Qin Mo quickly wrote down the plot of "White Horse Whistles in the West Wind" from memory. The original text was only about seventy thousand words. He made some edits, trimming it down to fifty thousand words, and posted the entire novel on Journey Literature Network. It was then he noticed the "Apply for Contract" button at the end of the article. But he had already finished writing.

Qin Mo pondered for a moment. Journey Network currently didn't support short to medium-length works, focusing instead on novels over a million words. So, he decided not to sign a contract for this novel just yet, opting to leave it on the site to attract readers first.

The plot of "White Horse Whistles in the West Wind" wasn't overly dramatic, focusing instead on themes of emotion. The novel begins with the deaths of the characters Jin Yin Little Sword Lady Shangguan Hong and White Horse Li San, and unfolds with the "Three Heroes of Luliang" seeking the map to the Gaochang Maze, exploring the love and hatred between the main and supporting characters.

The entire narrative revolves around the central theme of the "Labyrinth of Gaochang," unfolding a series of emotional and passionate encounters between the Han and Kazakh people. Despite its brevity, the novel's plot is incredibly captivating.

The poignant and moving unrequited love of the protagonist, Li Wenxiu, conveys a profound message: the things people pursue are often not truly valuable; instead, cherishing the happiness one already possesses is a rare and precious state in life.

Ding... Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden task of publishing a web novel for the first time and successfully finishing it. The points store is now open!

Qin Mo saw a rotating key on the virtual panel before him. With a mental cursor, he clicked on the key, and fireworks burst forth. The points store page popped up.

Qin Mo noticed the store was divided into two sections: one for purchasing with popularity points and the other with task points. Currently, Qin Mo had ten million popularity points but zero task points. It seemed that since the store had just opened, previous tasks hadn't been counted for points.

Qin Mo reviewed the explanation for popularity points. Every bit of attention he garnered in reality contributed to his popularity points. His initial popularity points were based on his follower count on Conboat. From then on, every time he published a work, people's attention, likes, shares, and comments would all count toward his popularity points. Popularity points were relatively easy to acquire. For instance, when Qin Mo released a music piece on the Conboat platform, it garnered forty million plays and ten million likes, shares, and comments.

So, Qin Mo earned a popularity score of fifty million!

However, while popularity points are easy to earn, the items in the store are pricey. A single premium song costs a billion popularity points! The complete "Shooting Eagle Trilogy" requires a hundred billion popularity points! As for high-level items like S-class martial arts essentials, those need task points for purchase. As long as he keeps completing tasks, he can get a lot of high-level items!

Thinking of this, Qin Mo got excited. Why take a break? Time to get to work!

He first selected a few songs he recorded that afternoon and posted six of them online, ones he had sung before. This time, he didn't just post on Conboat. He released them on all music platforms!

Five minutes later, Qin Mo refreshed the store data on the virtual panel. The popularity score column showed an increase of 1.87 million!

Qin Mo's lips curved into a smile. It seemed his popularity was indeed high; the songs had only been out for five minutes and already gained so much traction. Checking the account's backend, he found that as soon as the edited version of "Dusk" was released, many of his fans had come to like and download it.

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