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Title: Anyone who finished reading Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance, can you tell me why there's a truck here?

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OP: I just finished reading the first few chapters and thought it was a very rare kind of light, refreshing story. Watching the two protagonists interact made me want to twist my body 360 degrees from sweetness. At that point, I still hadn't realized the author's sinister intentions.

That was until Li Hua's white-moonlight senior came back and said he had cancer. Li Hua's family forgave the senior for his past behavior and let Li Hua spend more time with him before he died. They even hid the fact that the senior had cancer, worried that if Li Hua knew the truth, he would feel guilty.

So Li Hua ended up being entangled by the senior like this. The senior chased him back instead, and Li Hua was both happy and miserable. Heh, yeah. After all, the senior was so good-looking and was exactly Li Hua's type. Just by going shopping together, they could list dozens of little things they had done together.

There was also something going on with Xiao Ming's side. His ex-boyfriend's older brother looked about eighty Percent like the ex, so let's just call him "Eighty Percent."

In order to atone for his younger brother, Eighty Percent proposed a substitute contract. He was willing to act as his brother's stand-in, letting Xiao Ming order him around. Xiao Ming had Eighty Percent work part-time for him, and the two of them laughed and chatted in the bar. Eighty Percent was much smarter than Li Hua. He wasn't clumsy while working, and he even showed off fancy bartending tricks together with Xiao Ming. The bar customers were all cheering, but my heart was bleeding!

Why are you tearing apart my precious little couple?! Author, did you write all that sweetness earlier just to tell readers, "They're more compatible with other people"?!

Then, because of an accident, these four people met. And Eighty Percent… actually turned out to have been a fellow patient with the senior… in the same hospital before…

At that point, I still didn't know what kind of trick this bastard Xun Ming was trying to pull. I needed to take a break to calm myself down.

—

User A: OP really suffered. Did you see the comment-section war back then? Readers originally demanded that the senior and Eighty Percent hurry up and exit the story, but Xun Ming just ignored them completely. So everyone tried a roundabout approach and asked the author to write the senior and Eighty Percent as a couple, so that Xiao Ming and Li Hua could go back to being an undisturbed, youthful, idiot couple.

The result was… Xun Ming, don't let me know your IP address!

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OP: Later on, Xun Ming's conscience briefly came online, and he wrote a few chapters of interaction between Xiao Ming and Li Hua. Xiao Ming wanted to take exams domestically, while Li Hua's grades weren't great, so he wanted to go abroad. Xiao Ming encouraged him to study because he selfishly didn't want Li Hua to leave the country. Their dialogue was a bit hard to understand, but it should have been sweet. I'll quote a part here.

[

Xiao Ming: "You don't want underclassmen writing you letters in the future, right?"

Li Hua: "What kind of meme is that?"

Xiao Ming: "Dear Li Hua, I'm very sorry to hear that you failed to get into college. I'm writing this letter to comfort you…"

Li Hua: "Xiao Ming, I heard you smeared ink all over your math problems again?"

]

 

Anyway, the two of them worked hard at studying.

But then the news that the senior had cancer reached Li Hua. Li Hua dropped everything and ran off to take care of him. Xiao Ming didn't like the senior and went to make drinks with Eighty Percent instead. Someone caused trouble at the bar, and Xiao Ming saved Eighty Percent.

When Li Hua heard that something had happened to Xiao Ming, he hurried over to find him, but what he saw was a misleadingly intimate scene between Eighty Percent and Xiao Ming. He got so angry that he accidentally knocked over a table. The manager thought he was causing trouble and had security throw him out. Li Hua refused to leave and shouted for Xiao Ming to come out and see him. At that moment, the senior arrived, and amid the pushing, both the senior and Eighty Percent fell and were sent to the hospital.

Xiao Ming and Li Hua waited silently in the hospital corridor and learned a shocking piece of news.

It turned out the senior never had cancer at all. The hospital had mixed up the report, and the one who actually had cancer… was Eighty Percent!

Eighty Percent wanted Xiao Ming to stay with him, and Xiao Ming agreed, making Li Hua extremely jealous. Eighty Percent also hoped Xiao Ming could go abroad with him, since his family business overseas could give Xiao Ming a better future. At this point, Li Hua figured things out and said he wanted to stay in the country with Xiao Ming and that he would study properly.

Xiao Ming hesitated a little. Li Hua said he would give Xiao Ming time to think. If Xiao Ming wanted to keep going with him, then three days later, he should come out on a date with him as an official couple.

On the night before the date, Xiao Ming was crossing the road when a huge truck suddenly appeared on the street.

AHHH! Someone please tell me! WHY! IS THERE! A CAR! HERE?!

The truck crashed into him, and Xiao Ming lost his memory!

Xiao Ming's family sent him abroad overnight, while Li Hua waited in the cold wind until dawn. The two of them broke up just like that.

Wuwuwu, my tragic little couple TAT

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Random User: Another Fairy Tale: Love and Death discussion post. Great! Now, please have all sides present their arguments!

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OP: ?

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User B: Hello, OP. I think Xiao Ming has a huge problem. Why did he hesitate? He could clearly still get into a good university and find a good job domestically. Why couldn't he just agree to Li Hua?

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User C: What the heck, are you biased or what? Li Hua only woke up after finding out the senior didn't have cancer. What? Can love just transfer along with an illness?

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User D: Ugh, the senior is the worst one here, okay? He was clearly sick himself but refused to speak up, dumped Li Hua, and then blamed Li Hua for not continuing to chase him. Disgusting.

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User E: Is there anyone more annoying than Eighty Percent? Forcing a substitute contract and then asking Xiao Ming to go abroad with him. It's basically moral kidnapping. Xiao Ming doesn't even have feelings for him!

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User B: No feelings? Then who was laughing and joking with Eighty Percent and getting cheered on by bar customers without explaining anything? Xiao Ming's long-lost twin?

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OP: Nobody is perfect. Who doesn't make mistakes? They're more real because they all have flaws. Don't you people care about love at all?

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Random User: OP, why did you have to bring this up again? Next, please welcome the "Li Hua × Senior White-Moonlight True Love Faction," the "Xiao Ming × Eighty Percent Contract True Love Faction," the "Senior × Eighty Percent Equal Pairing Faction," and the "Xiao Ming × Li Hua Official Couple Faction." To enter the debate in an orderly manner...

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OP: ??

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User L: The official couple is the official couple!

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User K: Or maybe the author should just spare them and let each of them pair up with someone better.

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OP: Two hundred replies appeared in an instant. To get this many people discussing it, this story was written pretty well.

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Random User: OP, I'm not trying to be mean, but why did you keep stirring things up? Now the two most heated groups, "the author wrote trashy dog-blood" and "the author wrote something so real and delicate," are about to start physically fighting each other.

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OP: They can still argue???

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User F: Xun Ming is a trash author, and Flying Duck Novel Network is finished if they're pushing someone like this onto the rankings. He forces the plot forward with zero logic. Everyone acts like they suddenly lost their minds when making choices, they suddenly can't recognize their own feelings, then they suddenly open their hearts and understand themselves. The romance line is a complete mess.

Why not read Yong Ye's instead? In just a few lines, he clearly writes out each character's emotional stance, and the logic is always solid. Way better than these brainless dog-blood stories. It's free anyway. Xun Ming's readers should try reading something good.

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User G: It's obviously you people who don't know how to appreciate it! The author is actually using tangled interpersonal relationships as a backdrop to highlight the uniqueness of the two protagonists' bond. Both leads met many people, just like how we meet different companions on a journey. But only that one person is the correct answer, and only that one person can leave an unforgettable mark. Isn't that precisely the shocking emotion the author is describing?

As for this Yong Ye you keep talking about, it's just writing that uses gore as a gimmick. Can his novels depict such delicate emotional shifts? Can his novels go without killing people?

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Random User: Don't forget, there's also the faction of "no matter what, it's all the author's fault."

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User H: Don't fight anymore~ I already tipped ten thousand Stardust on Yong Ye's reward leaderboard. I hope that Yong Ye's next novel has a character named "Xun Ming," so everyone can get a happy ending. Yay!

]

 

Gezi is now deeply experiencing the bloody storm brought about by the Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance. Readers were no longer satisfied with debating in the comment section. As long as related keywords were mentioned, they would automatically enter the battlefield, determined to convince the other side.

But the hardest thing in the world was the opponent's mouth. The flames of war didn't die down; instead, they grew fiercer.

On top of that, Flying Duck Novel Network and Materialist Archive were clearly competing head-to-head. Both sides ramped up their promotions, and readers also started comparing them on their own. Other novels released around the same time as Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance never had this level of discussion, so this novel was always mentioned together with The Case Files of Mr. Zhong.

Xun Ming and Yong Ye were also frequently compared.

Both were novelists debuting in the Pangshi Galaxy, were heavily promoted by their platforms, and had distinct styles. Influenced by the heated discussions, readers gradually split into two camps.

At this point, readers weren't too emotionally invested yet. Both Xun Ming and Yong Ye had too few works. More people were just there for the spectacle. So a poll was quickly pinned to the top of the book-lover forum homepage:

"Who do you think is stronger, Xun Ming or Yong Ye?"

Gezi also saw the poll. But before voting, it couldn't see the results. It hesitated between the two options, but chose Yong Ye in the end.

Xun Ming's ability to stir readers' emotions was indeed good, and the discussion around Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance grew explosively. But it was obvious to the naked eye that Yong Ye's novels were more professional and required more brainpower to read. In readers' minds, detective writers were still more impressive.

The poll results appeared quickly, which showed that Yong Ye had twice as many votes as Xun Ming. It seemed that most readers thought the same as Gezi.

"But Xun Ming isn't that bad either, right?"

Gezi started to feel a bit sorry for Xun Ming again. There were so many flame wars around the book, and he was even judged by cosmic creatures as being weaker than other authors. Actually, Xun Ming's dog-blood stories were already pretty good among the books it had read.

It clicked back into Xun Ming's Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance and found that Xun Ming had been updating less recently, and the update times were getting later than usual.

"Looks like the flame wars really affected him…"

Gezi felt a deep sense of regret. It decided it would read both authors' works from now on, but it would leave thoughtful comments on Xun Ming's side, and would definitely tip him in support once he put the novel behind a paywall.

Inside the Flying Duck editorial office, the atmosphere grew even heavier.

"Our special feature didn't just fail to steal traffic from Materialist Library; we even handed them a ton of discussion topics!"

"I said it before. This is purely a quality competition. This proves that the books our office picked out just aren't good enough! Sigh, I thought with Xun Ming's high discussion volume, we could at least go head-to-head with the Materialist Archive. I just didn't expect that it would be completely outmatched."

The chief editor spoke loudly and deliberately strolled past Glasses Duck's desk. That duck had previously suspected him of stealing performance credit, and he hadn't forgotten that grudge.

"Xun Ming is nothing special."

Glasses Duck ignored the chief editor. It saw the poll on the book-lover forum and decisively voted for "Xun Ming." When the displayed results appeared, its feathers seemed to dull.

It was indeed frustrated by the direction Xun Ming's novels were taking, but that didn't mean it disliked Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance. On the contrary, this novel had helped it gain a foothold in the office, and it sincerely hoped Xun Ming could receive more praise.

"Next, we're entering the semifinals," the chief editor continued.

"This time, headquarters has discussed it. The plot track will go on sale first, and the emotional track will remain free afterward."

"Why?" the editors responsible for the emotional track all questioned. "This really hurts the feelings of emotional-track novelists."

"Feelings? Are feelings more important than profit?" The chief editor naturally had a capitalist's logic. "Our traffic is declining. If both tracks go paid at the same time, each book will get fewer promotional resources, so we're splitting it up. Right now, Yong Ye's detective novel is the hot topic. He leans toward plot, so of course, the plot track goes first.

What do you, emotional-track people, have to fight Yong Ye with? Xun Ming?"

An editor muttered softly, "It's obviously to please those five external helpers who came to the plot track…"

The chief editor coughed once and walked away with his head held high.

Glasses Duck was just a small editor and had no power to influence upper management's decisions. It could only dejectedly send an email to Xun Ming:

"I'm very sorry. Due to the website's temporary regulations, your work will be delayed before going premium…"

Xun Ming happened to be online and replied quickly, his tone as unrestrained as ever:

"Whatever."

"Actually, I can't really be that casual," Xi Yujin muttered to himself in confusion. "Why can't I make money from Flying Duck Novel Network? The Flying Duck Commerce Guild already scammed me out of so much Stardust."

Stardust in this universe was really too easy to spend, and he urgently needed money.

These days, his life was split into two main parts: working on the spaceship and experiencing life across various planets. He wanted to be a qualified tourist, so whenever he saw something novel, he wanted to try it, and trying things naturally cost money.

They had just landed on a commercial planet. At a glance, Xi Yujin set his sights on an ultra-long floating slide. One ride costs 2,000 Stardust.

He paid while sighing about how expensive things were in the universe. Gano stopped him and bargained in an incomprehensible language. The merchant awkwardly laughed and lowered the price back to 500 Stardust.

Afterward, Gano quickly translated a copy of The Interstellar Anti-Fraud Guide for him.

Gano's expression was serious. "I'm certain that it's very useful. Please trust me."

Xi Yujin: ? Why does it feel like there's a story here?

"Instead of flipping through it bit by bit, why don't we just walk around together?" Xi Yujin suggested.

Gano nodded slowly. He was worried that the appearance of a Zerg on the streets would cause panic, and also that Xi Yujin would be tricked by sly merchants. In the end, he and Xi Yujin disguised themselves and walked side by side down the street.

On the commercial street, Xi Yujin spotted many pieces of furniture that could be used on the ship. He picked up a fuzzy ball from the roadside and said, "This feels so nice! It would be great as a pillow. Gano, why can't I see a price tag on this?"

The fuzzy ball suddenly trembled, stretched out two fluffy, long ears, and fiercely smacked Xi Yujin.

A few seconds later, Xi Yujin stood there blankly, completely spotless and dust-free.

The fuzzy creature: "Squeak squeak squeak!"

Gano explained, "This is from the Long-Fur Clan of the Cloud Galaxy, Yujinno. It's not a product."

Sorry, alien…

The fluffy creature squeaked furiously after being put down.

Xi Yu Jin asked Gano, "What is it saying?"

Gano hesitated. "It's saying… that you're very hard."

For such a soft, squishy creature, "very hard" probably meant "very ugly," right?

Gano expressionlessly squeaked back in the same language. The fuzzy alien immediately rolled away.

Xi Yujin asked curiously, "What did you say just now?"

Gano said, "I said… please leave. That's all."

Xi Yujin continued shopping with great interest, occasionally asking Gano for his opinion. Unfortunately, even with Gano helping him save money, Xi Yu Jin still felt that his Stardust wasn't enough.

"I still need to work hard on updates. I'll just write more on Yong Ye's and Canghai's sides," he decided silently.

He returned to the Tidal Peace Ship and, as usual, put on multiple aliases and carried out a split-personality conversation in The Reader's comment section. He also casually created a few anonymous accounts to mix in as backups: ready-made aliases for future use.

Switching to his Yong Ye alias, he thought about the framework of The Case Files of Mr. Zhong. Previously, the cases were written more like standalone episodes. He hoped that the upcoming main storyline would be clearer, so readers could really enjoy it. Therefore, he decided to create a nemesis for Mr. Zhong.

A detective having a nemesis was standard practice, and this nemesis would be named Mr. Shi!

Mr. Zhong and Mr. Shi used to be partners, but after a major incident, they parted ways. Mr. Zhong went to repair clocks, continuously moving forward in search of the truth. On the other hand, Mr. Shi already fallen into darkness. This time, he returned to face his former close friend once again…

Looking at the outline with Mr. Zhong, Mr. Shi, and the captain of the security team, Xi Yu Jin suddenly felt a surge of amusement. So he switched aliases and posted in The Reader's comment section.

 

[

Yong Ye: Recently, I've been planning to give my detective a nemesis. His personality is completely different from the detective's close friend, giving the detective a totally different feeling… The nemesis ultimately walks a path opposite to the detective's… But I'm stuck on the detailed outline and would appreciate advice.

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Xun Ming replied: I'll guide your writing. Listen to me, the next step is "Fated Newcomer VS Childhood Sweetheart!"

—

Yu Jin replied: Do the two of you really have to chat in The Reader's comment section?

]