Chapter 2

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

[ Ding! You have obtained an English oral skills book (expert level)! ]

[ Ding! You have obtained an English writing skills book (expert level)! ]

[ Ding! You have obtained a code word efficiency skill book (God level)! ]

[ Ding! You have obtained a memory retrieval capsule (limited to web novels)! ]

What did the system say? The system only produced high-quality things as it was truly honest.

Fang Yuan opened the newbie gift bag and found that everything was arranged clearly.

A confident smile appeared on Fang Yuan’s face.

“Wow, Fang Yuan, you can still smile? Do you even have a manuscript to hand in the day after tomorrow?”

“Look at those gloomy eyes. I guess you’re prepared to fail your course, retake it, and delay your graduation.”

“The child must be suffocating under the heavy pressure of his studies. Save the child!”

“Another crazy one. Send him away.”

Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear to the discussions and mockery in the classroom.

He then got up and left the room.

Finding a quiet place in the library, Fang Yuan swallowed the [ memory retrieval capsule ] with water.

He closed his eyes and looked for a very old online literature in his memory.

This work was once popular, with everyone talked about it. It was a classic Western fantasy of dragons and magic in China, and it also laid the foundation for the establishment of Oriental fantasy in the future.

Most importantly, it perfectly met the requirements of this graduation thesis.

This work was “The Coiling Dragon”.

As the first work to be spontaneously translated by foreign readers and fans, “The Coiling Dragon” successfully pulled in tens of millions of English readers into the world of Chinese web novels.

It was considered the pioneer of an era.

Fang Yuan only needed to replicate the success of his previous life in the parallel world.

After confirming the direction, memories flooded into his mind. He could see every word of the original work clearly without missing a single word.

He opened his laptop.

The keyboard was clicking away as he typed out the introduction. “The building-sized bloody-eyed maned lion, the powerful purple-eyed golden-furred ape, the world-destroying nine-headed snake emperor, and the terrifying lightning dragon that carries destructive lightning…There are all sorts of strange things here. This is a vast magical world. Experts can stand atop the heads of giant black dragons and roam the skies. Terrifying magic can burn rivers, destroy cities, and raze Mountains. This book tells the story of the dreamlike journey of a youth who possesses the ‘Coiling Dragon Ring’…”

He had to admit that the time he spent immersed in his writing was quite enjoyable.

The next day, when the sky was bright, Fang Yuan let out a long sigh of relief and stretched. He had already finished the first volume of “The Coiling Dragon”, “The Coiling Dragon Ring” which had a total of 120,000 words.

The first volume of the series, “The Coiling Dragon Ring”, was fairly complete.

It described how the main character, Linley, had unintentionally picked up a magical ring from his ancestral home.

Within the ring was an erudite old grandpa, Doehring Cowart, who had led Linley on a mysterious adventure.

This could be published as the first volume of a series.

Graduation was just around the corner, so Fang Yuan did not have much time left.

He did not care about his reputation and went directly to the publishing house affiliated with the University of Iowa to meet with an editor.

Fang Yuan planned to introduce himself and seek a publishing opportunity.

“Hello, Mr. Stoner. This is my work, ‘The Coiling Dragon’. Please have a look.”

Fang Yuan placed the printed sample book in front of the editor, Stoner.

Stoner glanced at the book cover and did not even open it. He only saw the author’s signature in Chinese and shook his head. “Mr. Wei, I don’t mean to offend you. Fantasy literature has been rooted in the West for hundreds of years. You’re from China, where modern literature is underdeveloped, and you’re a new author who’s writing a book for the first time. What makes you think that your work can stand out from the sea of books?”

Fang Yuan was neither servile nor overbearing. “Because I know that this work is excellent enough. If you open the book and take a look, you’ll know it too.”

However, Stoner had no intention of reading the manuscript.

He laughed very mockingly. “Every writer will feel that they’re the chosen one and feel that their work is different from others. In reality, most of them are pretty much the same.

“You have to know that I’ve been a damn editor for ten years. Ten years! How many decades is there in life? What I need now is a masterpiece that’ll change my fate, not your debut novel.”

Fang Yuan did not say anything else.

He sighed and finally understood why Stoner had been an editor for ten years.

Stoner could not even grasp the opportunity that came his way!

“Don’t be too sad. A newcomer’s submission is bound to be rejected.”

“I’m not sad for myself. I just feel sorry for you. It seems that you’ll miss the turning point of fate again.”

With that, Fang Yuan turned around and left the publishing house.

He wanted to find another way out for “The Coiling Dragon”.

In his previous life, web novels were published in chapters. If it was serialized in a magazine, it might be a good choice as well.

Fang Yuan was very motivated and immediately turned to the University of Iowa magazine publisher.

He wanted to publish his manuscript there.

The editor of the magazine, Walter, was very enthusiastic.

He winked and smiled obsequiously, and almost came up to Fang Yuan to hug him. “I understand, I understand. Mr. Wei, every graduation season, there will always be students like you who come to visit me with manuscripts. I have to say that you’ve found the right person. I’m an expert in solving this problem, but in terms of the price…”

Fang Yuan thought that with his status as a newcomer, he might not be able to get a high price. “Just follow your usual rules.”

“Three thousand dollars.”

Three thousand dollars to sell the copyright of “The Coiling Dragon” was too much of a loss.

“Actually, I don’t want to buy it out. Instead, we can follow the royalty-sharing model.” 

Walter frowned and said, “What buy-out or royalty? I mean, if you want to publish it, you have to pay me a deposit of 3,000 US dollars first. This can be considered as the layout adjustment fee for the self-financed publication. There are also printing fees, editing fees, and some other fees. If you add them together, I’ll give you a discount price of 5,000 US dollars.”

With that said, Fang Yuan finally understood where Walter was getting at.

Walter was selling a magazine space!

A student’s graduation thesis had to be published in a print publication, but the level of creativity was not good enough to be published, so what else could he do?

He would just pay a journal editor and bribed him to forcefully select works that did not meet the requirements.

The editor could make some extra allowance for himself.

The student would spend money and give their tutor an explanation.

‘He’s just treating me as a fool! I’ve worked so hard to write a book and have yet to earn a single cent from it, yet he wants me to spend money first? Forget it, screw him!’

Since there was no hope for the publishing house or the magazine, Fang Yuan returned to his dorm, turned on his computer, registered a domain name, and started a blog.

He wanted online literature to return to the place where its dream began.

Fang Yuan wanted to publish “The Coiling Dragon” on his personal website.