I Became an All-round Artist

At the same time, thirty well-known short story writers were invited to compete on the same stage.
With such a large-scale event, Tribal Literature made sure to promote it far and wide.
From the moment the news broke, many short story enthusiasts were eagerly anticipating the event—
For them, this would be a literary feast.
In the short story community, this event also caught the attention of many insiders.
However, when the competition started, people quickly realized that Tribal Literature had pulled an unexpected move!
The event announcement contained the following message:

"Each user has three chances to 'heart' their favorite stories. You can only heart each story once, and the ranking will be determined by the number of hearts. To ensure fairness, we've hidden the authors' names. We encourage you to judge purely based on the content, and after the rankings are finalized, we will reveal the authors."

Why was this move so surprising?
Because the invited authors were all popular figures with dedicated fanbases.
There’s something known as the "fan filter."
Many fans tend to vote for their favorite author, rather than the story they genuinely like the most.

So, to prevent this bias, Tribal Literature concealed the authors’ names.

"That’s pretty clever."
"Some authors have a very distinct style, so readers might still guess who wrote what, but no one can be entirely sure. After all, many authors’ styles are quite similar."
"That’s probably why they didn’t reveal the names of the thirty invited authors."
"I wasn’t that interested at first, but now I’m intrigued."
"..."

After the initial discussion, people began reading the stories.
Short stories are usually limited to around 3,000 to 5,000 words, so they could be read quickly.
The power to decide the rankings was in the hands of the readers.
Everyone enjoyed this feeling of being a judge, making the reading experience less tedious and even adding a sense of responsibility.
"My heart could decide the future of these stories."
Many approached the event with this mindset.

Gradually, one story began to stand out: The Death of a Minor Bureaucrat.
This was inevitable. If this story didn’t grab readers' attention, it would be strange, considering that the artistic appreciation level on this world, Blue Star, is even higher than on Earth. They couldn't miss its brilliance.
To be clear, this story was written by one of the three literary giants from Earth, Anton Chekhov, known for his early masterpieces!

Leo Tolstoy once praised Chekhov, saying, "Setting aside all false modesty, I must admit that from a technical perspective, Chekhov far surpasses me!"
In literature, there's no definitive ranking, but this compliment from Tolstoy, who was known for his directness, speaks volumes about Chekhov's skill.

Chekhov is famous for his critical realism, and The Death of a Minor Bureaucrat is one of his representative works.
As more and more people read this story, the comments section started buzzing.
Even though the author’s name was hidden, readers were free to leave comments.

"This story is incredible."
"It’s just over a thousand words, but I’ve read it three times. The first time I found it funny, the second time I found it tragic, and by the third time, I could almost relate. If I were in the bureaucrat’s shoes, I might not apologize as obsessively, but I certainly wouldn’t sleep well for a week."
"It seems like it's criticizing the ancient feudal system, but it’s actually a satire on modern society."
"Exactly! Satirizing the present through the past. It took me a while to think of that phrase, but all I could say at first was, 'Whoa...'"
"Our modern society has plenty of people like this minor bureaucrat, though the story uses exaggeration to highlight the point."
"I don’t even think it’s that exaggerated. People who’ve had similar experiences might relate even more. Fear is a powerful emotion—it can destroy a person. That’s why we emphasize the importance of mental resilience."
"..."

Amid the discussion, curiosity about the author started to grow.
"Tribal Literature hiding the authors’ names is such a bold move. Just based on style alone, I can’t tell who wrote this."
"It must be a well-established writer."
"The skill is undeniable. Capturing readers with just over a thousand words is no easy feat, but I’m already hooked. Here's my heart."
"The scary part is that this story is only about a thousand words long!"
"I wish I could give all three of my hearts to this story, but sadly, Tribal Literature doesn’t allow that. You can only heart each story once."
"I’m really looking forward to the reveal now. Who could the author be? This suspense is killing me, haha!"
"..."

The next day, The Death of a Minor Bureaucrat shot to first place!
However, the second and third-place stories weren’t far behind, so the competition was still fierce.
Given the situation, it wasn’t just the readers who were curious—authors in the short story community were buzzing with speculation:
"Whose work is this in first place?"
"Just based on style, I really can’t tell."
"Could it be Old Zhou’s? Tribal Literature surely invited him."
"Old Zhou is participating, but he won’t tell me which story is his. In fact, he just asked me if I knew who wrote The Death of a Minor Bureaucrat."
"Has anyone admitted to it?"
"No, these guys are sneaky. But one thing’s for sure—it was written by someone we know. Tribal Literature promised that all the invited authors are well-known in the industry."
"Has anyone tried asking Tribal Literature?"
"Yes, but even there, only the editors-in-chief know the authors' identities, and they aren’t leaking anything."
"We’ll have to wait for the final reveal."
"By the way, The Death of a Minor Bureaucrat is brilliantly written. The humor is sharp, and the satire is biting. It’s short but deep."
"It’ll probably stay in first place."
"Not necessarily. The second-place story is a mystery with a strong plot and a surprising twist—it could still win."
"The third-place story isn’t bad either. It’s about two middle schoolers who fall in love. One excels academically, the other struggles. To stay together, one works extra hard and ends up in the best high school in the county, while the other deliberately underperforms to end up in a less prestigious school. It reminds me a bit of The Gift of the Magi, which was trending recently."
"..."

Amid all the discussions, Tribal Literature's competition was turning into a guessing game: "Guess who the author is?"

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