Honkai Impact 3rd: Join Anti-Entropy at the start and dominate the entertainment industry.

Chapter 248 A Short Story Customized by Night Owl

Looking at the +1 red dot above the [Contacts] list, Bai Qianqu felt very uncomfortable. He disliked these red dots the most and would click them off as soon as they appeared.

Upon clicking, I found an unfamiliar profile picture, and the other party's ID was 【Night Owl】.

"Night Owl? Is it him?" Bai Qianqu wondered. Her editor was Raven. What did he want to do by adding her?

After thinking it over, Bai Qianqu accepted the friend request.

The other party immediately sent a message.

[Night Owl: Hello, Teacher Qianjian! I'm Night Owl, the editor-in-chief of the short story section at World Serpent Library!]

Upon hearing the other person mention short stories, Bai Qianqu remembered that she had also published one before, which had won the top prize in a short story competition.

[Qianjian: Hello, is there anything I can help you with?]

He guessed that Night Owl was looking for him because it was related to the short story, and sure enough, the other party sent a long message.

[Night Owl: It's like this, I know you're currently focusing on novels, but I read your previous short story submissions and thought they were very good. So I was wondering if you'd like to continue writing short stories? If you still want to, you could consider publishing with us. Our World Snake Library also has a dedicated short story magazine called *Spark*, which has a very stable and considerable readership. There are no restrictions on the subject matter, so you can be very free to express yourself. Most importantly, if you're willing to come with us, I can promise you excellent payment terms. What do you think?]

Upon hearing that a high profit-sharing agreement could be signed, Bai Qianqu immediately became interested.

He didn't receive any royalties for the short story he published last time; he only received a prize money from an event, which was relatively little compared to what he earned.

Although he didn't expect to earn much from writing a short story in a few minutes, he certainly wouldn't refuse the money that Night Owl was offering to deliver to his door.

Seeing that Bai Qianqu did not reply directly, Night Owl quickly added:

[Night Owl: The highest fee I can offer is 10,000 yuan per thousand words! Of course, if you can write a work as excellent as "Wolf," the fee can be even higher!]

Unlike novels, short stories are published in magazines, so they don't generate revenue sharing. Generally, most short stories are charged based on word count.

The price offered by Night Owl was actually quite reasonable. Although Qian Jian won first place in the short story competition last time, he is still a new author in the short story circle. It is impossible for him to enjoy too high a treatment right away. Ten thousand yuan per thousand words may not sound like much, but it has already surpassed the vast majority of authors.

Of course, Night Owl couldn't guarantee that the other party could write another work like "Wolf," since many authors reach their peak upon debut and it's difficult for their subsequent works to surpass their famous works.

However, Bai Qianqu was clearly not very satisfied. He had earned a lot of money now. Songs, novels, and even comics could bring him a lot of income. Especially songs, where a single song could easily generate hundreds of millions in revenue. So now his horizons had been broadened considerably.

Five hundred yuan per thousand words is a high price for other authors, but it is dispensable for him.

Even a small mosquito is still a piece of meat!

So Bai Qianqu decided to ask for an exorbitant amount.

[Qian Jian: Too few.]

Night Owl had anticipated that things wouldn't go so smoothly, so he countered with a question:

[Night Owl: So, what's your price range?]

[Qian Jian: At least 20,000 words.]

When Night Owl, who was drinking tea, saw Thousand Swords' reply, he almost spat out his water. He quickly typed:

[Night Owl: Teacher Qianjian, that's too high! It's impossible! Perhaps you don't know the current state of short stories. Let me put it this way: there are probably no more than two hundred people writing short stories exceeding ten thousand words! I admit your previous book, "The Wolf," was indeed very good, but can you guarantee you can write works of that caliber in the future? Unless you can produce more excellent works, this price is impossible anywhere.]

Bai Qianqu did not refute Night Owl's words. What he said was true. If one did not have enough strength to prove that he was worth the price, then there was indeed no reason to bargain.

However, Bai Qianqu was not worried. He may not have much else, but he has an endless supply of works.

[Qianjian: Okay, then, I'll send you a short story later, you can take a look first, and then we can talk about payment, okay?]

Night Owl had no choice but to agree.

However, he didn't have high hopes for the work that Qian Jian was going to send. A short story of the caliber of "Wolf" was not like cabbage in the market. Most authors would be proud enough to write one in their lifetime.

It's likely that Qianjian only wrote a work slightly inferior to "Wolf," which is why he's so confident.

Night Owl also decided that as long as Thousand Swords could produce a decent piece, he wouldn't mind slightly increasing the payment, but at most by a thousand; twenty thousand for a thousand words was simply outrageous. Moreover, at that level of payment, it wasn't something he, as the editor-in-chief, could decide; he would have to discuss it with Gray Serpent first.

After exchanging email addresses, Bai Qianqu began to ponder which piece of work he should produce to convince Ye Xiao to agree to his request.

Last time it was a story from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". This time we should present an even better work so that the other party can see our strength to the greatest extent.

"System, open the short story customization interface!"

Soon the system interface unfolded before his eyes, the panel filled with all sorts of short stories, dazzling him.

Bai Qianqu's goal was very clear: to find a work that was even more famous than "The Wolf".

He quickly identified a target.

"System, commission the short story 'The Gift of the Magi'!"

[Customization of "The Gift of the Magi" is in progress! Customization successful! Purchase amount: 2!]

[The novel's content has been polished for the host to better fit the world's setting!]

Bai Qianqu's eyes lit up as she sensed the new information appearing in her mind.

As the system said, the novel's background has been slightly modified, but it doesn't affect the story's reading experience. It seems that this customization is quite useful.

He felt a surge of emotion as he recalled the familiar story in his mind.

In the original world, "The Gift of the Magi" is a household name, known to almost everyone.

As a short story told from a third-person, God-like perspective, it contains impressive content, especially its unique "O. Henry"-style ending, which has benefited countless readers.

Chapter 249 Poaching?

The ending was unexpected, yet perfectly logical.

Many people have heard this phrase from their teachers more than once when they were in school.

The impact of this writing style on readers is unparalleled, making it a true gem in the world of writing.

Countless works of art, novels, films, and games have used this narrative technique to varying degrees.

It can be said that the "O. Henry" ending has had a profound impact on the art world, and continues to this day.

Bai Qianqu had long ago discovered that this writing technique did not exist in this world.

It's time to start a revolution! Let the people of the world experience the power of ultimate reversal!

Following his memory, Bai Qianqu quickly finished writing "The Gift of the Magi," a text of about 3500 words, which took him only a few minutes.

After finishing the novel, Bai Qianqu sent it directly via email. He then received a message from "Qianzhiwu" saying that his clothes had been ordered, so he hurriedly went out to pick them up.

However, he didn't notice that in his haste, he had sent the email to the wrong person; the email that was supposed to be sent to Night Owl had been sent to Raven's mailbox.

At this moment, Raven was in her office arguing with her group of authors. Although she was on holiday, she didn't go back to her villa but chose to work overtime at the company.

She planned to stay until New Year's Eve before going back, since the overtime pay for the past few days was quite substantial.

Although her year-end bonus increased significantly thanks to "The King's Avatar," the pressure of mortgage payments still exists, which makes her dare not relax at all.

At that moment, she noticed the email from Qianjian, and immediately put down what she was doing and quickly opened the email.

Anything related to Qianjian must be dealt with immediately; this is the highest principle she set for the entire department.

"What good stuff has Teacher Qianjian sent this time? Hmm? A document? And there's a sentence on it?"

Raven looked at the words in the email and read them aloud, word by word.

"I'm going to eat. Editor Night Owl, could you take a look at this short story first? We'll decide on the payment after you've read it."

Raven frowned deeply; she immediately understood what had happened.

Qianjian sent the email to the wrong address!

This email was originally meant for Night Owl, but it ended up being sent to me instead!

But that's not important!

The raven jumped to its feet! It felt a surge of rage!

"Night Owl contacted my Thousand Swords privately and even commissioned an article from them?!"

"Isn't this blatantly undermining me right under my nose?!"

Can this be tolerated? !

Raven gritted his teeth and, without thinking twice, dialed Gray Snake's number.

Gray Snake didn't go home either; he was working overtime at the company reading comics.

Recently, he has become engrossed in the manga "Initial D" by Zhiyin, reading it with great enjoyment, and even went so far as to buy a manual transmission car.

Just as he was getting to the exciting part, a phone rang, startling him.

Upon picking it up, he realized it was a call from Raven, and Gray Snake then pressed the answer button.

"Hey? Raven editor, what's up?"

Raven's voice still betrayed his anger: "Editor-in-Chief! Something terrible has happened! You can't ignore this!"

Something happened?!

Gray Snake's eyes immediately sharpened, he straightened his back, and spoke with great calmness.

"Raven editor, don't rush, tell me what happened first."

The raven was furious: "Someone's trying to steal my man!"

"Poaching?" Gray Snake breathed a slight sigh of relief. Poaching is something that no company can avoid, and it is especially true for World Snake Library. Their company's excellent authors often receive invitations from other companies, and they themselves often invite people from other companies. Poaching each other's authors is perfectly normal.

Gray Snake said casually, "This is normal. Just handle it the same way you always have. First, try to find out if the author really wants to leave. If he does, then go through the breach of contract compensation process."

Raven panicked: "But this time it was Thousand Swords that were dug up!"

The gray snake shuddered and jumped to its feet.

"What?! Who dares to dig up Qianjian? Who has the audacity to lay their hands on our company?!"

"What did Qianjian say? Did he agree? What conditions did they offer? Tell Qianjian that no matter what conditions they offer, we'll pay double! We must keep him here!"

Gray Serpent was well aware that Thousand Swords was now a hot commodity, with countless companies vying to poach him.

That's why he hid all of Qianjian's information, fearing that others would find it.

Although they knew that secrets would eventually come out and that Qianjian's information would be discovered sooner or later, they tried to delay it as long as possible.

What he least wanted to see was Thousand Swords being taken away, as this would be a huge loss for the World Serpent Library.

Raven: "It wasn't an outsider who poached him, it was someone from within our ranks! Night Owl contacted Thousand Swords privately and commissioned him to write an article!"

Gray Snake: