Chapter 107: The Consequences of Offending Fans

Su Tong hurried back to his room, logged onto Diandian, and entered the review section of "Coiling Dragon."

“Damn it!” Su Tong covered his forehead, staring at the chaotic review section filled with curses and insults. The verbal abuse was so intense it seemed to set his ears ablaze, sweeping far and wide, dragging ancestors from eighteen generations into the fray.

“Just because you won the monthly ticket championship once, you think you’re all that, flying high in the sky?”

“It’s only because all the site’s readers supported us that you got the championship. What a joke, ‘Heroes League’ my ass.”

“Why don’t you just go die? You’re a bunch of wild kids born without parents to raise you.”

“Damn your whole family…”

“Petty and arrogant, thinking you can declare war on the entire site. Even the almighty Dragon God wouldn’t dare open fire like this. You’re just a newbie, who do you think you are?”

“A bunch of ungrateful bastards. It was a mistake for me to bother helping you in the first place.”

“…”

Su Tong was exasperated. Why were so many people attacking him and the Heroes League?

“Dongtian, what’s going on?” Su Tong couldn’t stand it anymore. The insults kept escalating, each worse than the last. To understand the situation, it was best to ask Dongtian.

Dongtian sighed helplessly. “It’s because of what happened last night. Almost everyone in the Heroes League has revolted, using your name to challenge the entire site. They’re determined to fight for first place this month.”

Su Tong was stunned. Damn, that was even possible?

The Dragon Alliance felt wronged; they accepted last month’s loss. But the Heroes League kept mocking them, rubbing salt into the wound shamelessly.

Su Tong checked the Diandian forum himself. It was even more chaotic there because the “Coiling Dragon” review section had several moderators constantly banning and silencing troublemakers, with volunteers on duty around the clock. But the Diandian forum didn’t have enough moderators to manage such a huge volume of posts and comments, especially since it was the gathering place for all authors and readers on the site.

Many accounts were banned or silenced, making users more cautious with their words, yet the attacks remained harsh.

Returning to his own review section, Su Tong looked at the monthly ticket leaderboard and was shocked. “Coiling Dragon” was biting closely at the heels of the first-place “Great God,” trailing by just over a hundred votes.

Fans who had come from the talent show were truly generous, not just talk—they were putting their money where their mouths were.

Looking more closely at the top pinned comments, Su Tong noticed they were new, not from the previous month. Wow, there were several donations of ten million, and even a few millions.

If last month’s helpers hadn’t stopped supporting this month, “Coiling Dragon” would already be number one.

But because some Heroes League fans launched mockery attacks, some readers outside the Dragon Alliance were prompted to help “Great God” again.

Su Tong felt sorry for those who donated; he was still an ordinary contracted author, splitting profits fifty-fifty.

“Cough, brothers and sisters of the Heroes League, I was wrong. I sincerely apologize. Stop causing trouble. Isn’t Bi Yao’s physical body still fine? If you keep this up, it’ll be irreparable,” Su Tong posted on Weibo, combining firmness with kindness to steady his fans.

Then, he posted a single chapter update on “Coiling Dragon.”

“To all readers and authors outside the Heroes League, I apologize. My capriciousness has disheartened my brothers and sisters in the Heroes League and caused a great mistake. Don’t blame them; blame me. Also, my Heroes League family, I know you love and hate me. Your intention was never to make enemies for me. The situation just slipped out of your control. Some troublemakers took advantage to stir up chaos… This month, ‘Nian Nu Jiao’ will not compete for monthly tickets. Please don’t waste money. If you keep spending recklessly, I’ll stop updating or even abandon the work—I’m telling you.”

Su Tong’s single chapter was like a bombshell, spreading through the entire online literary circle.

Damn, that was bold, wasn’t it?

He sounded sincere at first, then dropped the bombshell at the end.

With a book doing so well, on Diandian, only a handful of authors were updating, all established masters. If they just gave up, how would the struggling authors survive?

No author had ever threatened readers like this. Usually, after publishing, authors begged for subscriptions and donations. Nian Nu Jiao was doing things the opposite way.

Diandian’s staff could only smile wryly.

Since Su Tong was a revenue-sharing contracted author, there was no issue with him posting single chapters like this. If he had sold the rights outright, it would risk undermining the site’s interests.

“Yang Dong, fly over tomorrow and sign him to a platinum contract,” Diandian told Nian Nu Jiao’s editor-in-chief.

Fans of the Heroes League felt ashamed after seeing Su Tong’s Weibo post and single chapter. The trouble they caused was being borne by Gege.

As Su Tong said, some fans harbored resentment and set fires everywhere, but the situation spun out of their control.

Gege just wanted to write peacefully but ended up shouldering so much blame.

He was too content, not wanting fans to waste money.

Some authors and readers who understood the truth sighed deeply.

“Nian Nu Jiao’s online writing journey is truly bumpy—his success and failure both come from his fans.”

“I heard he’s also a talent show host, telling a story on the side. Although it’s in the xianxia genre, the love story is so tragic and beautiful it outshines everything else.”

“Yeah, I checked it out too. The text version is superb; if I tried to write a chapter like that, it would take me days.”

“No wonder he writes fast without care for literary style. Impressive!”

“Is it true what people say online—that his writing speed is ten thousand characters per hour, over a hundred thousand words a day?”

“That’s exaggerated. Maybe tens of thousands per day, but not that much.”

“What’s exaggerated? There are many masters out there. Haven’t you heard his storytelling? He can do more than twenty different male and female voices. Do you think that’s an exaggeration? He really has that ability.”

“Last night and today’s chaos happened because he was too harsh on his fans. After reading ‘Zhu Xian,’ I can’t stand how he treats Bi Yao.”

“...”

Though the damage was done, after Su Tong’s posts on Weibo and Diandian, the flames of war slowly died down. At least the main battlefield was over, leaving only scattered skirmishes.

Besides Weibo and Diandian, Su Tong also calmed tensions in various chat groups.

One fan would praise, ten would criticize—real and fake fans made Su Tong’s head spin.

After handling the Heroes League’s rebellion, he was exhausted.

That entire day and night, not only was Diandian in uproar, but Nian Nu Jiao’s Weibo, Tieba, and fan groups were also in chaos.

“Brother must be so tired; even his words lack their usual wisdom,” at Principal Song’s home, Shi Jiaqin said with concern. “Those bastards—they’re still Heroes League members? Even if they have grievances, they can’t hurt brother like this.”

“Brother smiles less now, his words full of weariness. Boo hoo, how could they be so cruel to him?” In Yangcheng, Wen Peiyan’s eyes welled with tears. She used to be proud of the Heroes League fans but no longer. Many joined the protests, making Nian Nu Jiao’s life in the online literary world nearly unbearable.

“La la, la la la…”

Before long, Su Tong’s phone rang again.