Chapter 168: Release Day
The release day finally arrived. Wenqing had launched a multi-pronged marketing campaign, promoting the Gold Award-winning novel on Weibo, proclaiming it a new era for the company, even releasing pre-publication spoilers and excerpts to generate buzz.
For a new book to gain traction, publicity was crucial.
However, the author, the mysterious Shion, remained hidden, their identity unknown, only their status as the Gold Award winner revealed.
On release day, bookstores displayed Ballad of the Enchantress, its cover attracting attention. Unlike the typical fanservice-heavy designs, this cover was beautiful, its aesthetic refined and elegant, the character designs bishōjo-esque, almost like a shoujo manga.
Thanks to the prestige of the Gold Award, the novel garnered considerable interest, at least among readers of light novels. Though marketed as a time-travel romance set in the future, the specific plot details remained a mystery.
Yu Linna and Fang Jiangning visited a bookstore, pretending to browse manga while secretly observing customers, Yu Linna’s face lighting up whenever someone bought her novel.
“Not bad. Almost a hundred people bought your book this morning. It seems people like it.”
Fang Jiangning, having accompanied her, was genuinely happy for her friend.
This was her deskmate’s novel, the illustrations also done by her. She was incredibly talented, and Fang Jiangning felt a surge of pride. She wished she could reveal their connection, announce to her livestream viewers that Shion was her best friend. It would be a huge sensation.
Yu Linna had also been actively promoting her novel on her official Weibo account, posting spoilers and excerpts in collaboration with Wenqing’s marketing campaign, even announcing the upcoming June release of her second novel, Zixuan and the Paper Airplane, to generate further buzz.
They lingered in the bookstore for so long that the owner, suspecting them of loitering, almost asked them to leave, their beauty the only thing saving them.
Ballad of the Enchantress, written during a week of intense, sleepless nights, a process she had described in the afterword, had generated considerable interest. But the sales figures were her biggest concern. Though outwardly calm, she was more anxious than anyone.
This was her debut novel; she was afraid readers wouldn’t like it.
No one understood her anxieties better than herself.
“Alright, let’s go to the next bookstore.”
Fang Jiangning bought a copy of Ballad of the Enchantress to support her friend, planning to showcase it during her next livestream.
As a senior student, her time for livestreaming was limited, her reduced activity on Bilibili drawing complaints from her fans. But for Yu Linna, she would make time for a special promotional stream.
Ballad of the Enchantress didn’t make a huge splash on its first day, selling a modest five thousand copies out of the initial print run of thirty thousand. By the third day, it was sold out, prompting a reprint of forty thousand.
The story, a bittersweet romance, a lengthy saga with a challenging plot, wasn’t instantly appealing, but it found its audience. The readers seemed less interested in the action and sci-fi elements, focusing instead on the romance.
“Holy shit! What an ending! I need the next volume!”
“Where’s the female protagonist?! Where’s Xu Anqi?! I need Volume Two!!!”
“What a cliché story! Such a predictable plot! Why isn’t there a second volume yet?!”
“I’ve never read such a delicate and nuanced portrayal of emotions. It doesn’t seem like something a male author would write, but it’s tagged as a male-oriented novel…”
“The art style alone tells you it’s a serious story, not just fanservice. I’m tired of all the ecchi novels anyway.”
“Exactly! So many male characters, but only one female protagonist, Xu Anqi. And those… assets… I’m in love!”
“Pervert! You’re a total pervert! How could you not invite me to join you in your… appreciation?”
The novel gained traction on Weibo, readers recommending it to their friends, the word-of-mouth marketing proving effective. Many commented on the sweet beginning and the frustrating ending, flooding Shion’s Weibo with messages.
“Shion! You monster! Why write such a depressing ending?! How could you do this to your own characters?!”
“Bring back Anqi!”
“If Anqi doesn’t come back in Volume Two, I’m dropping this!”
“Don’t give Ye Han a harem! Anqi sacrificed so much for him! How could you make her a side character?!”
“Shion-sensei, are you male or female? If you’re a girl, we’ll lock you up and make you write! If you’re a boy, we’ll… well…”
“I’ve been wondering… could Xu Anqi be the male protagonist’s descendant…?”
“Shut up! If you write that, we’ll kill you!”
Shion ignored the comments and messages, much to the readers’ frustration. Their anger, however, only fueled the novel’s popularity, Shion’s Weibo follower count increasing from less than a hundred to over twenty thousand in a week, with no signs of slowing down.
The editors at Wenqing, initially worried about the melancholic ending deterring readers, were now relieved. The ending had, in fact, increased anticipation for the next volume, readers clamoring for its release.
Such a positive response, even surpassing Zhao Yuyan’s debut, which had benefited from her being marketed as a beautiful young author, was a testament to the novel’s quality, not just the plot, but the romance, a refreshing change from the typical harem fantasies where the male protagonist conquered all, collecting girls like trophies.
With the established pairing of the male and female protagonists, the absence of a harem intrigued many readers, even attracting female readers who usually avoided male-oriented novels, drawn to the central romance. Female readers comprised at least forty percent of the readership, a rare statistic for this genre, especially for a Wenqing publication.
Though Zhao Yuyan’s The Rich Man’s Game also featured a central couple, the romance was a secondary element, the story primarily focused on comedy, with the male protagonist often interacting with other female characters, creating a pseudo-harem, much to the frustration of readers eager for more romantic development.
In April, as the New Talent Award-winning novels were released, Bai Chen’s The Cross-dressing Young Master Doesn’t Want to be Served sold only thirty thousand copies, surpassed by Ballad of the Enchantress. He was understandably frustrated.
Of course, with dedicated fans came passionate haters, many expressing their dislike of Shion’s work.
“Such a terrible ending! So depressing! And you call this a masterpiece? Check out Dragon Fight Tiger Fight!”
“I don’t understand why you like this book. The plot is cliché, the logic flawed. It’s supposed to be a time-travel story set in the future, yet it barely mentions any futuristic technology, focusing instead on the romance. It’s completely backwards!”
“Terrible! Absolutely terrible! This isn’t a proper commercial novel! It’s trash!”
“Shion is clearly being pretentious with that melancholic ending! We read for entertainment, not for depression! How can you even stand reading such garbage?!”
The negative reviews sparked online debates, Shion’s fans defending their favorite author, the controversy only fueling the novel’s popularity, generating free publicity on Weibo. Though not a masterpiece, especially with its flaws and incomplete world-building, it was still a well-written novel, its quality undeniable, despite the haters.
And this online debate was exactly what Wenqing wanted, the controversy generating buzz without any additional marketing efforts.
Ballad of the Enchantress sold well, establishing Shion’s name in the industry. And the fact that Shion also handled the illustrations generated even more interest.
Ye Zhiyun bought three copies, keeping one for herself and giving the other two to her friends. Seeing Yu Linna’s growing popularity on Weibo, she felt a surge of pride. That once struggling girl was finally taking flight, her success well-deserved.
She had been at her lowest point, contemplating suicide, but she had persevered, rising from the ashes, reclaiming her dream, making a name for herself. Her story was a true inspiration.
“Little Linna wrote this?” Dai Wenqian asked, holding the novel in her hand.
“Yes. Want to support her?”
“Of course! I’m going to buy a whole stack and give them to my juniors!”
“You already left the group, didn’t you?”
“So? I can still visit. I’m the former leader, after all.”
Having such supportive friends… it was a blessing.
