I Became an All-round Artist

Using the contact information provided during the submission, Yang Feng reached out to Lin Yuan that evening. "Hello, is this Chu Kuang? I'm Yang Feng, the review editor for Yinlan Publishing's New Star Awards."

"Yes, speaking," Lin Yuan answered the call from his dorm room.

Yang Feng smiled and said, "Congratulations! After deliberation by our New Star Review Committee, we've selected your novel Prince of Tennis as the fifth winner in this year's New Star Awards. This means your novel will be published. I can send you the contract via email—shall we exchange contact information?"

Lin Yuan replied happily, "Sure!"

Although the system had been quite confident, Lin Yuan wasn't entirely certain that Prince of Tennis would make it through the newcomer awards. This phone call put his mind at ease; it seemed the system was trustworthy after all.

After hanging up, they added each other to their contacts.

Yang Feng quickly sent over a contract. The contract stated that the initial print run for Prince of Tennis would be 100,000 copies, priced at 20 yuan per copy, with a 5% royalty—a fairly standard rate for a newcomer.

To clarify, "royalties" here don't refer to regular taxes as commonly understood, but rather to the copyright usage fees exercised by the publishing company. It's the monetary benefit collected by the original creator or copyright holder from others who use their intellectual property.

Lin Yuan didn't feel cheated. In his previous world, newcomers' first books were usually bought out entirely by publishers, with no profit-sharing on subsequent reprints. Only when a newcomer accumulated enough clout would the situation improve, unless they had insider connections for special treatment. So in this regard, Bluestar was already quite reasonable.

After reading the contract, Lin Yuan agreed to sign it. He also directly sent over the next 100,000 words of Prince of Tennis. Publishers needed time to edit the novel, correcting any unsuitable sentences or typos.

Lin Yuan understood this well. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't have much to correct, since the system's typo correction was impeccable. Only in terms of word choice and phrasing—areas that are somewhat subjective—might there be slight adjustments.

Upon receiving the manuscript, Yang Feng wasn't surprised. Since the novel was submitted, the author must have been prepared for acceptance, and having the first volume ready in advance was normal. However, just as he was about to chat a bit more with Chu Kuang, he was stunned to find that the other party had already gone offline!

Yang Feng: "..."

In this industry, new authors usually go out of their way to please editors. Even some less prominent novelists lower themselves to get special attention from editors. When faced with editors urging for manuscripts, they mostly just lock themselves in their rooms, nervously typing away.

But Chu Kuang was different. After discussing the contract, he simply went offline, leaving Yang Feng a bit baffled. He hadn't expected Chu Kuang to grovel—in fact, he rather disliked when authors did that.

But the problem was, he still wanted to have a good conversation with Chu Kuang. After all, he thought highly of him and had planned to discuss the market and future creative directions, offering some professional guidance...

At this moment, staring at the black profile picture, Yang Feng held back his words.

Considering that the other party was still a student with probably little social experience, Yang Feng didn’t feel angry. Instead, he found it amusing. If this kid wanted to continue in this industry, he'd eventually learn how intimidating editors could be.

It wasn't that Lin Yuan wanted to ignore Yang Feng; it was just that he was getting ready for bed. While the system had extended his lifespan, it hadn’t enhanced his physical condition. So, Lin Yuan's body was still quite fragile, and the consequences of not getting enough sleep were serious.

Lin Yuan was, after all, a patient. Although his terminal illness had been treated, it didn’t mean his body had suddenly become robust. Compared to the average person, Lin Yuan was still quite weak, so the system's approach made perfect sense from a medical perspective.

This issue was actually rather troubling.

Lin Yuan considered whether he should start working out. However, given his physical condition, any exercise would need to be scientific and moderate—his foundation was too weak. Overdoing it could end up worsening his health.

"Ding!"

Sensing Lin Yuan's concerns, the system suddenly issued a mission: “Sensing the host's desire for better health, a special mission has been triggered. If the host completes the special mission, the system will ensure the host lives healthily, without illness, until the age of 30.”

[Mission Name: Health is the Foundation of Revolution]

[Mission Objective: Achieve over one million reputation points in both literature and music categories]

[Mission Reward: The host will live healthily, without illness, until the age of 30]

[Mission Note: 'Healthy' means the host will have a body meticulously conditioned by the system, far surpassing the average person. This mission will expire when the host turns 27.]

It seemed this mission would last quite a while.

The reason for the expiration at 27 was because, as of now, 27 was Lin Yuan’s lifespan limit. If he hadn’t completed the mission by then, he would likely pass away.

"Accept."

Lin Yuan had always been the type to accept missions without hesitation. After all, there were no penalties for failure.

What surprised him was this kind of special mission. If he completed it, he would essentially be buying himself a health insurance policy at a system level, ensuring he could live to 30 without any health issues.

Sounded pretty good.

But then again, achieving one million reputation points in both literature and music wasn’t going to be easy. Judging by how slow his music reputation was growing, he thought to himself, "I work hard on these missions; you’d better conquer that illness."

System: "..."

System: "As long as the host completes the series of tasks issued by the system, the system will defeat the host's illness. To the system, the host is the master! If the host dies, the system will self-destruct."

Such loyalty.

Lin Yuan nodded and went to sleep.

Seeing Lin Yuan turn in for the night, his dorm mates naturally turned off the lights. Those on the phone quietly stepped out into the hallway, and those on their computers put on their headphones, making sure not to disturb Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan always went to bed before 9 p.m. In other dorms, 9 p.m. might be when the fun began, but in Lin Yuan's dorm, silence followed that hour. His roommates knew that Lin Yuan’s health wasn’t the best, so they always accommodated him.

“I should probably move out,” Lin Yuan thought.

Though his roommates were considerate, Lin Yuan didn’t want to take it for granted. He wasn’t the type to use his weaknesses as an excuse. Now that he had some money, he could think about renting a place of his own.

That way, his roommates could live like normal college students, staying up late and enjoying their nights.