277: Chapter 277 One cent per thousand words

11:00 PM.

The summer heat of Jiangcheng remained thick in the night air.

Tree shadows stretched thin and long under the streetlights; an occasional breeze swirled withered leaves by the roadside.

But in this seemingly tranquil late night, deep within the internet...

Beneath this facade of a peaceful night, the depths of the internet were already surging with waves, accumulating energy that was about to explode.

Less than an hour remained until the official serialization and unlocking of ordinary world.

In the living room of Xisheng Mansion, Lin Jianguo had changed into a brand-new red tank top and was sitting upright.

Three mobile phones were laid out in front of him, their screens all stayed on the homepage of the New Tide APP.

"Old Lin, with this setup of yours, someone who didn't know better would think you were performing a ritual."

Wang Xiulian sliced a plate of watermelon and placed it on the coffee table, looking at her husband with some amusement.

"What do you know? This is called a sense of ceremony!" Lin Jianguo didn't even look up, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screens.

"The people in Group Two are already warming up, and I've arranged things over in Group Three as well.

At midnight tonight, we're going to push out unprecedented data for Teacher Jian Shen!"

Lin Que sat at the other end of the sofa, holding a book, though his gaze occasionally drifted toward his old man.

Seeing Lin Jianguo's "facing a formidable enemy" expression, Lin Que took a sip of plain water,

hiding the smile that was about to overflow.

Meanwhile, in Jinling.

Ye Xi had just finished her shower, the tips of her hair still damp.

She sank into the soft sofa, hugging a giant pigeon plushie.

The light from the phone screen reflected on her exquisite face; the countdown on the New Tide APP was ticking down second by second.

Last night, when she finished reading the "Preface to the Readers" and opened the first ten chapters of ordinary world with trembling hands, her inner unease had completely vanished.

The scene of Sun Shaoping swallowing black steamed buns in the rain—that bone-deep poverty and resilience—

made her, an artist far removed from the soil, feel an unspeakable shock.

This was no longer distant philosophical speculation, but a tangible torrent of life.

She finally understood that Lin Que's phrase "covered in mud, yet still a master" was not comfort,

but a true insight into "Jian Shen."

She opened the chat box with the black avatar, her fingertips hovering over the keyboard,

wanting to send something, but in the end, she silently backed out.

...

At this moment, on the top floor of the New Tide Building, the atmosphere was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

Inside the command center, dozens of computer screens flickered with a ghostly blue light,

and the roar of the fans converged, making one's eardrums ache.

Wang De'an stood before the large screen in the center; his tie had long been pulled off and thrown aside, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up high.

"President Wang, the online data is still rising!" Operations Director Old Zhang ran over, drenched in sweat, holding the latest report.

"It's already surpassed nineteen million! This number... is still jumping up at a rate of ten thousand per second!"

"Not only that, there are nearly two million IP visits from abroad."

Wang De'an stared at the red line on the screen that was climbing almost vertically, his heart racing.

"What about the Technical Department? Can the servers handle it?" Wang De'an turned to look at the technical supervisor.

"Fortunately, you had us expand the capacity tenfold earlier!" The technical supervisor stared intently at the monitoring console.

"The current peak traffic has reached the highest point since our site was established. The server load is at 41%, still within the safety range!"

Wang De'an took a deep breath, easing his tense nerves.

"We must hold the line! If anything goes wrong tonight, our New Tide will truly become the laughingstock of the literary world!"

A thousand kilometers away from the New Tide Building, at the headquarters of Zhongdian Network, the conference room was also brightly lit.

As one of the giants in the web novel circle, the executives of Zhongdian Network were also at their posts and had not gone home.

Editor-in-Chief Hui Wen held a cup of steaming espresso,

Editor-in-Chief Hui Wen held the steaming espresso, his gaze sweeping over the pre-heating page of the New Tide APP, a hint of disdain appearing at the corners of his lips.

"The traffic is indeed staggering, but this is just the fame Jian Shen accumulated before." Hui Wen took a sip of coffee, his tone indifferent.

"Serializing serious literature is a paradox in itself. Web novel readers want a sense of satisfaction and a fast pace.

Jian Shen's theory about eating black steamed buns might trick a few tears during the first ten chapters of the trial reading, but in the middle and late stages, it will inevitably lose momentum."

"Exactly." The Urban Section's Editor-in-Chief, Hui Die, leaned back in his chair, looking composed.

"We've done data modeling. The subscription conversion rate for this kind of genre is usually only three-thousandths.

New Tide has bet everything on paid serialization this time. I expect that tomorrow morning, they'll be coming to us in tears to discuss copyright distribution."

"A great god like Jian Shen should indeed come to us."

The Fantasy Section's Editor-in-Chief lightly twirled a fountain pen between his fingers.

"When the time comes, we'll tailor a platinum contract for him to let him know what true professional operation looks like."

However, just then.

Bang!

The conference room door was burst open.

The data monitoring supervisor rushed in, his glasses already crooked, his voice trembling:

"Editor-in-Chief! The situation has changed!"

Hui Wen frowned slightly and set down his coffee cup:

"Speak!"

"The traffic over at New Tide... just now, their instantaneous visits surpassed thirty million! It broke the highest peak since our site was established!"

"What?!" Hui Wen stood up abruptly.

Thirty million?

As the industry leader, Zhongdian Network had been operating for over a decade, and its highest traffic peak was only a little over twenty million.

How could New Tide, a startup APP, achieve this?

"It's not over yet!" With trembling hands, the supervisor projected a recently captured page onto the large screen.

"Their official payment rules... have just been posted!"

The executives glanced casually at the large screen.

Originally, they thought they would see various complex top-up rebates, VIP levels, or fancy token conversions.

But when they saw those few lines of simple text clearly, the conference room instantly fell into a dead silence.

The rules on the screen were extremely simple, even simple to the point of being a bit shabby:

【ordinary world Payment Rules Announcement:】

【1. All VIP level restrictions are canceled; a uniform price for everyone.】

【2. Fixed pricing for all chapters: 0.1 Yuan / 1,000 words.】

【3. All advertisements, pop-ups, and induced consumption plugins are permanently canceled.】

【Jian Shen's Message: May everyone who looks up at the stars while covered in mud be able to afford to read.】

"Ten cents... per thousand words?!"

Hui Wen looked at the screen, the coffee spoon in his hand falling to the floor with a crisp clatter.

His face was pale, his expression dejected.

"New Tide has gone mad..." Lan Jing murmured to himself, his eyes filled with horror.

"Ten cents per thousand words? Is he doing charity? This doesn't fit commercial logic at all!"

"No, he's not mad."

His gaze was fixed on the phrase "looking up at the stars while covered in mud."

As an old fox who had been through the ups and downs of this industry for many years, he instantly saw through the terrifying lethality behind this set of rules.

In this era of web novels filled with various tricks and top-up traps,

this move by Jian Shen was no different from dropping a water purification bomb into a murky swamp.

With pure sincerity, he had completely overturned the foundation of survival in the web novel market!

"He never intended to compete with us for our livelihood. He's going to... smash our rice bowl directly."

Imagine when readers get used to this pure reading experience at a few cents a chapter, used to writing that doesn't carry any smell of money.

Who would be willing to go back to those APPs where it costs hundreds of yuan to finish a book and which are filled with ads and tricks?

How is this a serialization?

This is clearly a long-premeditated baptism of the entire entertainment industry!

The comment section of the New Tide APP was now completely boiling over.

"Ten cents per thousand words? Am I seeing this right? Is Teacher Jian Shen doing charity!"

"No VIP restrictions, no ads—is New Tide pawning their underwear for this? I'm starting to worry they won't even be able to pay the server's electricity bill."

"Don't be too naive upstairs; this must be a capitalist trick. Use low prices to reel in users first, then harvest them once they're fattened up. The price will go up sooner or later."

"Even if the price goes up, I'll accept it! Just for Teacher Jian Shen's preface, I'm going to support it today even if I have to empty my wallet!"

All kinds of comments scrolled frantically across the screen, the heat soaring vertically, sparks flying everywhere.

Xisheng Mansion.

Lin Que glanced at the wall clock.

11:59 PM.

The thunder outside had ceased, and a fine rain was falling gently, softly sprinkling the earth.

At this moment, the midnight bell tolled resoundingly.

Tens of millions of screens across the internet lit up suddenly in the same second,

reflecting countless faces filled with anticipation and shock.

ordinary world: Volume One was officially unlocked.

...