"Hey everyone, the big boss can take on some writing tasks now!"
"But we'll just take on three for now, let's draw lots!"
Shifang relayed Xu Lin's message back to the small group.
Xu Lin stood there, a bit bored, contemplating taking on three tasks for practice.
He needed to save some money, planning to buy a car when he goes to college.
By then, he'll buy a car worth hundreds of thousands to drive around.
A car worth hundreds of thousands, something Xu Lin couldn't dare imagine before; though he could ask his parents for money, they definitely wouldn't buy such an expensive car.
But now Xu Lin dares to dream.
Because he truly can earn money.
Before long.
Three people added Xu Lin as a friend, all from that small group of Shifang's. The lot decided it was those three, named: Soul, Asura, and Daddy, don't!
Xu Lin accepted their friend requests one by one.
Then he uniformly replied, "You can send me the outlines or basic structure of the pieces you want."
[Task: The Man Behind the Gods.]
[Task Progress: Gaining Some Fame.]
Xu Lin took a glance at his task panel.
He needed to work harder.
As long as he reached the "Fame Rising" stage, he could receive rewards.
Right now, he just wanted to secure rewards, though he needed to earn money in the process.
Soon, messages from the three came in.
Soul: "Boss, here's the outline of my piece, take a look."
Asura: "Boss, here's my outline, please check it out!"
Who would've thought I'd be called a boss one day.
Xu Lin was in a good mood, feeling a surge of emotional value.
What about Daddy, don't?
Daddy, don't: "Boss, I'd like to request you to write an opening, cough cough, hopefully with about 20,000 words, and I'd observe meanwhile, is that okay, boss?"
Only takes daily payments: "What general content do you want, send me the info."
Daddy, don't: "Sure! Trouble you, boss!"
Xu Lin replied, "Opening, 20,000 words, 30,000 bucks."
Before, from Moonlit Night, the second time, Xu Lin got 30,000, so he used this price.
Besides, the opening is far more important than the following ghostwriting content, 30,000 for an opening is already a bargain in Xu Lin's eyes, take it or leave it.
"Boss, if I want you to write an outline, is that possible? A basic outline will do, not too detailed, under 10,000 words! Is that convenient, boss?"
"Outline plus 70,000, opening and outline, 100,000 total."
The outline required Xu Lin to think for himself, basically asking Xu Lin to build a complete world system, power system, etc., no wonder Xu Lin was asking for a lot, it was mentally exhausting, he charges very high fees now.
Xu Lin exited and chatted with the other two.
Among them, Soul's piece required 60,000 words, and Xu Lin priced it at 30,000; Asura's piece was also ghostwriting, similar to Moonlit Night's case, the book got messed up halfway, and wanted Xu Lin to fix it, but Asura's piece was 100,000 words, and Xu Lin charged 50,000.
On the other side, Daddy, don't! replied.
"Boss, 100,000 it is, I'll count on you, boss!"
Only takes daily payments: "ok."
"A capable author sure is straightforward!"
Xu Lin was in a good mood, at least there were no haggling issues. According to what Moonlit Night said before, some of these authors earn over a million a year, and if a bit worse, they'd still make several hundred thousand a year, but there aren't many in such author circles because the industry itself can't accommodate too many high-income practitioners.
Meanwhile, as his phone vibrated, the payments for writing requests from Soul and the others started to roll in, totaling 180,000.
Where else can you get so much money all at once?
Xu Lin felt he made the right choice in this path, as he only took writing tasks instead of writing his own novels. As long as he wanted to earn money, he could take assignments, and if he wanted a break, he could easily make a large sum without needing to diligently update like those web novel authors. It doesn't deplete brain cells and doesn't lead to various occupational illness over time.
"Time to work!"
Xu Lin immediately immersed himself completely.
Divine Penmanship activated, inspiration surged, the Flourishing Brush thrived.
Xu Lin's current focus was on Daddy, don't's writing request, he needed a 20,000-word opening plus an outline under 10,000 words.
In total, 30,000 words.
But an outline was rather troublesome because it's the storyline and various settings of the entire book, containing a lot of elements.
"The genre is Xianxia, ensemble cast... let me think..."
Don't say, as soon as Xu Lin started thinking, inspiration began to flood in, this was the 'Divine Penmanship' activating, leading to a flurry of whimsical ideas in his mind.
Is the outline difficult? Are the settings hard to create?
Not hard.
But a good outline, an excellent one, or even a top-notch outline it's very tough.
But none of this fazed a man like Xu Lin with cheat-like abilities.
So, he finished a 16,000-word outline in over four hours, even writing several thousand more words.
[Energy (100+/100): Your energy has exploded!]
In the middle of the night, Xu Lin was still full of vigor, not feeling tired or exhausted at all, glancing at the energy bar, he realized his energy was still in an explosive state.
"Damn, won't drink that much next time!"
"Keep going!"
After completing the outline, Xu Lin started finishing the 20,000-word opening.
For a Xianxia story, the important thing was to have a sense of immortality.
The protagonist is a young man, extraordinarily talented, emerging out of nowhere, and dominating all around.
The first three chapters start with the protagonist ridding the people of evildoers.
A story summed up in one sentence doesn't sound great, but Xu Lin writes so fiercely that five characters come alive in three chapters. Nine thousand words in three chapters, with over ten thousand words left for the remaining four chapters, the story unfolds rapidly with a fast pace.
This time, Xu Lin's writing style is quite sharp, as it matches the protagonist's youthful vigor and ambition.
Twenty thousand words, like flowing water, completed in one go.
In just two and a half hours!
And by then, it was just past two in the morning.
Many night owls were still awake!
Xu Lin sent the opening and outline to 'Daddy, don't!' and the other party quickly accepted.
"Wow! Boss, so fast?"
"You pay for the job, so of course you put in your best effort."
"Boss, let me take a look."
A dozen minutes later.
"Wow! Boss, what you've written is amazing, I feel like I could become a legend with this outline!"
Afterward, Daddy, don't! sent over a dozen more messages, all expressing disbelief.
Xu Lin felt if he switched to voice chat, the guy would probably be incoherent.
He only replied briefly: "Stay calm. I've given you the outline, whether it works out or not depends on you."
"Boss, thank you so much, I need to ponder this well!"
Xu Lin didn't reply again, to avoid endless back-and-forth.
Meanwhile, Daddy, don't! returned to his small group.
Daddy, don't!: "Brothers, the boss has sorted out my opening and outline, and the outline has several thousand more words."
"Whoa, so fast? How is it?"
Everyone asked eagerly.
"The boss's writing is incredible. If I can perfectly execute it, this opening and outline could make me a legend!"
Daddy, don't!: "Brothers, I'm going to seclude myself for half a month, talk later!"
"Damn! That scary? Seclusion for half a month?"
"What did the boss write?"
Everyone was shocked yet curious, but Daddy, don't! had already gone offline, saying seclusion means seclusion.
This made everyone even more curious.
[Energy (100+/100): Your energy is exploding!]
"How come the energy is still this high? Is the system down?"
At three in the morning, Xu Lin checked the energy bar again, feeling like it hadn't changed at all.
Twelve bottles of beer got him to this state, if it were someone else, they'd be out for over ten hours easily, but Xu Lin felt like he was going to be high for over ten hours, even more excited than if he'd taken Viagra.
"Forget it, keep going, get it all done at once, to avoid having to continue later."
So, Xu Lin started working on the remaining two manuscripts, one with sixty thousand words and the other with a hundred thousand words, totaling one hundred and sixty thousand words.
In the circle, even for those who aim for twenty thousand words a day, one hundred sixty thousand words would take eight days.
But Xu Lin wanted to challenge himself.
Current time: 3:05 AM.
"Let's get started!"
Xu Lin was fully focused, glanced at the chapter outline, and started typing furiously. His typing speed was scarier than that of professional typists, as his hands seemed to be hitting the keyboard wildly without a pause, very terrifying. Professional typists would probably find their scalp tingling if they saw it.
So, from just after 3 AM until well past 5 PM that same day.
For over fourteen hours, Xu Lin was constantly typing and finally completed two manuscripts totaling one hundred sixty thousand words.
The subsequent editing took another hour or so.
It was already 7 PM.
In June, it's not yet dark at 7 PM, with a tinge of sunset afterglow still lingering on the horizon.
Very beautiful.
Xu Lin stretched lazily, got up from his seat, and loosened up his muscles.
[Energy (50/100): You're a bit tired, recommended to rest or recharge.]
"The aftereffect of twelve bottles of beer is really lasting!"
Xu Lin couldn't help but remark as he stood up to move around.
Buzz buzz...
Just then, Xu Lin's phone vibrated a few times.
It turned out to be a message from Yu Xinyan.
Opening it, Yu Xinyan had sent him a few photos, also of the after-sunset glow, but over at Yu Xinyan's side, the sunset's glow was more beautiful, with a poetic vibe.
"Xu Lin, did you see it? The afterglow, isn't it beautiful?"
"Xu Lin, what are you doing?"
Yu Xinyan asked him.
"I'm watching the afterglow too!"
"Really?"
"Really."
Xu Lin took a photo from outside the window to show her, also of the afterglow.
"Wingless, our hearts fly together in understanding."
In the end, Yu Xinyan added a sneaky smile emoji.
You're looking at the afterglow, I'm also in the afterglow.
Xu Lin, is this telepathy between us?