I Became an All-round Artist

At the end of the month, Silver Blue Library officially announced the five winners of this year's "Supernova Award." Lin Yuan received the notice from Yang Feng and saw Prince of Tennis listed as the last entry on the winner's list.

"The novel will be published tomorrow," Yang Feng gave Lin Yuan a heads-up, "But don't worry too much about the sales. Sports fiction is a niche genre, and sales aren’t the only measure of success. Anyway, congratulations on officially becoming a novelist."

"Thanks," Lin Yuan responded.

Yang Feng chuckled, "I’ve got a publishing meeting to attend. Once the novel is out tomorrow, we’ll send you a few free copies. You can also visit the major bookstores in Qinzhou—your novel will be on the shelves starting tomorrow."

"Alright, goodbye."

After ending the call, Yang Feng put away his phone and stepped into the meeting room, where editors were already whispering about the results of the Supernova Award.

"I wonder how this year's Supernova sales will be. I have high hopes for Demon King of Another World, the first-place winner. The protagonist is transported to another world and becomes a demon king everyone wants to defeat. It’s a unique concept with a lot of appeal."

"I’m more interested in the second place."

"Second place is written by Da Long, an experienced novelist. He’s not really a newbie—just pretending to be one. But his novel is quite interesting; the protagonist is summoned to another world by a princess."

The discussions continued, with people supporting different top contenders. However, Prince of Tennis, which ranked fifth, attracted the least attention. Most of the editors knew that it was only included to diversify the market.

This was understandable.

The market for novels had become overly homogeneous, which wasn’t good for the industry’s overall development. So this year, Silver Blue and other publishing houses had been actively promoting new genres to encourage more variety and innovation in the market.

After the results were announced, the official website released descriptions of the winning novels and conducted a reader expectations survey. Unsurprisingly, the top three novels— all fantasy—isekai (otherworldly) stories—were the most anticipated by readers.

Prince of Tennis ranked the lowest in reader expectations. Readers seemed inherently uninterested in tennis, even though the website emphasized that it was a sports novel anyone could enjoy, regardless of their knowledge of the game. Still, that didn’t change the survey results.

Some readers even protested on the website!

This kind of protest happened every year after the Supernova results were announced. Some authors who didn’t make the cut often felt the judging process was unfair. This year, Prince of Tennis especially ruffled some feathers.

"Why?"

"There’s never been a breakout hit in Qinzhou from a sports novel, let alone one about tennis. Silver Blue forced this onto the list just to diversify the genres, which is really disappointing."

With the top four books being from popular genres, the fifth-ranked Prince of Tennis became an easy target.

However, Silver Blue wasn’t fazed by the protests. The editorial department firmly believed that while Prince of Tennis was a niche genre, the novel's quality was far better than the negative public perception.

"It’s a shame about He Mingxuan."

One editor shook his head.

He Mingxuan, an established author, had entered the Supernova contest under a pseudonym and received positive feedback. Many editors felt his work deserved fifth place in the competition.

But unfortunately for him, he was up against Prince of Tennis.

The chief editor had convinced everyone, saying, "First, the market needs diverse options. Second, He Mingxuan is a veteran. While it's common for experienced authors to enter under fake names, we should prioritize giving opportunities to newcomers."

And so, He Mingxuan missed out.

Some editors consoled He Mingxuan: "If it weren’t for the push to diversify genres, you definitely would have placed fifth. So don’t take it as a reflection of your skill—it’s just a bit of bad luck."

...

Though He Mingxuan ended up unofficially ranked sixth, he didn’t join the protests against Prince of Tennis. When he first debuted, others had protested against his work too, so he knew what it felt like. He refused to become the kind of person he once despised.

The editors were right.

He also felt that his bad luck this time was due to special circumstances. Besides, he wasn’t a newcomer anymore, and entering under a pseudonym to compete with rookies wasn’t exactly something to be proud of. Giving way to a newcomer was only fair.

"Maybe I’m just not cut out to be an author."

He Mingxuan began to doubt himself. He had debuted as a novelist five years ago and even topped quarterly sales with one of his books. But after that, every book he wrote flopped, to the point where few publishers were willing to take him on anymore.

This left him in a state of frustration.

If things had been different, he wouldn’t have felt the need to join a competition meant for new authors. For a novelist, competing with newcomers was a clear sign of failure.

That night, He Mingxuan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The next morning, still in a daze, he walked into the nearest bookstore and instinctively looked toward the front display.

Once, his books had occupied that prime space.

But today, it was filled with the top five Supernova Award winners.

As the sixth place finisher, he had no recognition.

The bookstore was bustling with young readers, most of whom headed straight for that prominent shelf—just as they did every year, eager to check out the Supernova winners.

However, getting them to actually buy a book was another story. Most people weren’t ready to make a purchase right away. They’d pick up a book, read through the first few chapters, and only if they liked it would they part with their money.

Watching this scene, He Mingxuan recalled a time when he’d done something silly.

When his first novel was published, he’d sat in a bookstore all day, watching readers. Every time someone bought his book, he’d silently celebrate.

Today, He Mingxuan found himself unconsciously observing the crowd again.

As expected, most people gravitated toward the first three books— the most heavily promoted ones. But surprisingly, few actually bought anything. It seemed this year’s Supernova winners weren’t generating the same excitement as previous years.

There was, however, one book with an unexpectedly high purchase rate.

It was none other than Prince of Tennis—the very book that had cost He Mingxuan his fifth-place spot.

In fact, very few people even picked up Prince of Tennis to browse. Compared to the other top four books, its readership was pitifully small.

But what shocked He Mingxuan was that nearly everyone who did pick it up ended up buying it!

He even counted the numbers.

Since he’d entered the bookstore, only 18 people had picked up Prince of Tennis.

But of those 18, a staggering 15 actually bought the book!

"This..."