136: Fire Stealers

Lin Que's gaze lingered on the link for three seconds.

He clicked the link, and the page redirected to a website with an entirely green color scheme.

At the very top of the website, a poster for "ferry convenience store" was scrolling by.

The poster's style was gloomy; at the entrance of a convenience store lit with sickly green lights stood a man wearing a black trench coat.

The copy was written in an extremely melodramatic way:

Following "soul ferry", a masterpiece by the Bige Chinese Network contracted author < Xun Wen Riyue > has emerged!

"When the ferry no longer requires a cold vehicle, but instead transforms into a convenience store that never closes, every lost soul can find their way home here..."

Lin Que didn't even need to read the text; just this strong scent of 'Kang Shuai Fu' instant noodles was enough for him to guess the content.

It was nothing more than taking the concept of "Convenience Store No. 444" and giving it a new skin,

swapping Zhao Li's cold ruthlessness for gentle warmth, transplanting the setting of Xia Dongqing's Yin-Yang eyes onto some pitiful heroine,

and turning the stories of ghosts with deep obsessions into forced, chicken-soup-for-the-soul style reconciliations.

This isn't called plagiarism; this is called "pixel-level homage."

【Hong Hu】: Great Master, did you see it?

This website is called "Bige Chinese Network," and they are our sworn rivals.

They really went all out this time; they plastered pop-up ads for "ferry convenience store" directly onto the homepages of all major browsers!

They are dead set on riding our coattails!

【Hong Hu】: The most infuriating part is that they also bought a bunch of internet trolls to spam the term "ferry universe" on various platforms,

forcibly tying their trashy book together with our "soul ferry",

claiming it's "two sides of the same coin," one healing, one depressing.

Ugh! As if they deserve it!

【Hong Hu】: Great Master, I have already had the company initiate the highest-level public relations plan.

If I don't hammer them until they are taken down, I'll write my name, Hong Hu, backwards!

Watching that string of text from Hong Hu, filled with rage and anger, Lin Que felt no annoyance; instead, a complex smile appeared on his face.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Forget it.

These two words were sent, and the messages from the other side came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had been choked by the throat.

After a full half-minute, Hong Hu finally sent an emoticon with a question mark.

【Hong Hu】: ??? Great Master, what... what do you mean by this?

Are we just going to let them act so rampantly and suck our blood?

This isn't just about money; this is an insult to your work!

Lin Que's fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Why stop them? If they want to promote, let them promote.

If they want to bundle, let them bundle.

Bige Chinese Network is a big company; if they are willing to spend money to advertise for us for free, where else can you find such a good deal?

Hong Hu was completely bewildered; she felt her brain couldn't quite keep up with this Great Master's line of thinking.

【Hong Hu】: But... but if this continues, readers will be diverted!

They will think that "ferry convenience store" is also part of the "ferry" series,

and then our exclusive IP value will be diluted!

Lin Que smiled.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Readers are not fools.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: You have to believe that no matter how good a dish smells, you'll know if it's a heated-up pre-made meal or freshly cooked by a chef after just one bite.

The higher they jump now, the harder their trolls spam, and the fuller they inflate the readers' expectations, the more intense the drop from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench will be when readers actually click in to read it.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: By then, who do you think those readers, whose feelings have been deceived, will vent their anger on?

Looking at those few lines of text on the screen, so calm they were almost cold-blooded, Hong Hu felt a chill shoot straight from her tailbone to her crown.

She could almost foresee how, when countless expectant readers flooded into "ferry convenience store" only to find a pile of soulless imitations and affected melodrama, the overwhelming torrent of spit and fury would completely drown that book and that website.

To kill is not enough, one must also destroy the spirit.

【Hong Hu】: Then we aren't going to do anything?

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Do nothing? No, we're going to give them a hand.

【Hong Hu】: ???

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Post an announcement.

No need to curse anyone, just say: "We are very happy to see that 'soul ferry' has inspired creative ideas in our peers. We have always maintained a tolerant attitude towards such homages and derivative works. Only if Hell is vast enough can it accommodate all kinds of imitators. PS: We recommend that readers read the original work before the derivative, to avoid confusion in world-building."

【Hell Dream Weaver】: Don't they want to ride our coattails? I'll just make the traffic pool even bigger.

When the readers they tricked find out the goods don't match the description, this "magnanimous" announcement of mine will be the final brick that crushes them to death.

【Hell Dream Weaver】: They want to build a "ferry universe"? Then let them build it. However, in the end, there will only be one sun at the center of this universe.

Hong Hu looked at that last sentence and felt goosebumps rise all over her body.

It was a shiver of being dominated by absolute confidence and absolute strength.

【Hong Hu】: Understood.

After finishing the chat with Hong Hu, Lin Que leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

For a long time, Lin Que looked out the window, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of clouds and mist, looking toward that distant and unreachable space-time.

He chanted silently in his heart, with thirty percent apology and seventy percent awe.

"Teacher Xiao Jixiangtian, and Teacher Claire, as well as all the seniors from that world whose works I have 'borrowed'."

Lin Que muttered in a low voice.

"Initially, it was just for survival, to make money, to let my parents live a good life, so they no longer have to toil over firewood, rice, oil, and salt."

He thought of his mother, Wang Xiulian, beaming with joy at the lunch table because he 'knew a great author,' and remembered his father, Lin Jianguo, quietly straightening his back because his son had made something of himself.

But now, there seemed to be something else added to it.

Perhaps, when a story can help a proud daughter of heaven like Ye Xi find the courage to break free from her shackles, and can give those strangers in the "New Tide" comment section a glimmer of solace in the deep of night, this matter itself has already transcended the meaning of money.

Since he had put on this hat of a "God," in order not to let it fall and hurt his family, he had to make this God appear even more real than the real thing.

"I promise you all."

Lin Que's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a rare sense of determination.

"Since I have brought these stories to this world, I will never disgrace them.

I will let the people of this world know what true fear is, what true redemption is, and what... true literature is."

"This can be considered the only fire-spreading work I, this fire thief, can do."

Lin Que put away his thoughts.

Looking at the stack of review materials and mock exam papers piled half a person high on the corner of the table, his temples began to ache faintly.

He could stir up the world in the literary realm.

But the third mock exam papers in the real world were like an immovable mountain.

"Fine."

Lin Que sighed in resignation and pulled a brand-new copy of "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation" from his schoolbag.

"Solve the main contradiction first."

After ferrying others, it was time to turn back and ferry his own final grades.