As the saying goes, “a man’s name, a tree’s shadows” [1]. If it was an average reader trying to strike up a chat about her work, let alone criticize it, Professor Chen’s response towards them would always be the same two words – No thanks.

Professor Chen was absolutely unaffected by her readers’ opinions. Of course, she had not started out that way. As she gained experience, she soon learned that only by not giving two hoots about her readers’ opinion would she be able to freely create whatever she wanted, thus retaining a peace of mind…

She would only wear herself out trying to please everyone. She might even deviate from the main plot, leading to the collapse of the work.

For that very reason, she had completely ignored her readers’ opinion for a long time. She did not even concern herself with her fans group. This lowered the chances of some overly-enthusiastic reader coming forward to tell her how she should write her novels.

They were not all bad, but many often failed to take into account the authors’ side of things. As a result, authors would be in a dilemma. Should they compromise the entire structure for a single amazing scene, or should they pass up on all those opportunities to wait for the magical moment?

It really was a dilemma for the authors. Professor Chen decided to slam a wall between her readers and herself altogether. She had even gone so far as to abstain from reading her book reviews. She just wanted to be left alone to her devices. Several of her web novels were already fairly successful, so she was quite confident about her ability. They were not amazing, but they still got her a fair bit of income.

Professor Chen considered herself a traditionalist. She did not belong in the same room with current authors who emphasized interaction and communication with their readers. Even so, she produced quality that was above that of theirs.

This was also why Zhao Youyue felt that Professor Chen’s work had potential. If the author paid too much attention to their readers, their works would end up being too tacky. It would be soulless and forced.

Despite Professor Chen’s firm stance on self-isolation, Lady Zhao was not some ordinary reader. If she could make Lady Zhao happy, she would be well-rewarded. Who knows, the copyright of her work might get noticed by some big shots through Lady Zhao. They might buy the rights to her work and adapt it as a movie. This was probably the ultimate pursuit for most web novelists.

Why stop at movies? Let’s get ahead of ourselves and talk about game adaptations. Professor Chen was a girl, but she was a hardcore console gamer. No matter how the “Tales of Wuxia” series tortured her, she still came back to it. It was her first love. To her, a good game was a good art piece.

Who knows, someday, she might write some “Tales of Wuxia” fan-fics. She would introduce her protagonist to the world through her writings.

Lady Zhao was most definitely no ordinary reader. Professor Chen was in no position to turn her away. Furthermore, Lady Zhao was already giving her the honor of meeting her in person. Also, she had dropped a half-joke regarding her favorite artist, Hua Chenyu, to sing in Jiangnan University, but Lady Zhao had actually taken her up on it. Professor Chen was more than obligated to do something in return, or she would be a true asshole.

Zhao Youyue had already caught up to “Endless Apocalypse’s” current release. The male protagonist was Zheng Yi. From the Pinyin of the name, you could probably tell that this male character was overflowing with justice and optimism. It was a ‘Virgin Mary’ [2]-styled character.

To be honest, “Endless Apocalypse” had not picked up, precisely due to the ‘Virgin Mary’ style of the main character. Cold and intelligent, self-centered main characters were more popular than ever now. Cute and cheapskate characters were also equally popular. On the other hand, popular main characters who showered their kindness over everything on the planet had fallen out of time.

‘Virgin Mary’-styled main characters were out of the question. The words ‘Virgin Mary’ were enough to cause subconscious rejection. ‘Virgin Mary’ was synonymous to being brain-dead. Good things would never happen to the main character, but he would instead always be the scapegoat. On top of that, you threw Virgin Mary into a hellhole of an Apocalypse-based novel. How are we expected to feel good reading this?

No matter how skilled an author was, you could not deny that the current trend of web novels was still dominated by feel-good works. A majority of the readers would want to relax when reading novels, not get spiritually drained.

Relaxing and feel-good works aside, anything else interesting and exciting enough would be enough to please the herd.

An unlikable protagonist was one issue. An unoriginal setting was another. Sophisticated writing had succeeded at nothing but bringing out the deepest and darkest fears of a reader. It was not the pleasant thrill one got from reading horror. On the other hand, the personalities and skillsets of the protagonist’s numerous were well-portrayed. None of them were unforgettable.

If a work like this received a manga-adaptation, it would markedly more interesting. After all, mangas had the visual edge when it came to depicting characters.

Zhao Youyue gave Professor Chen her genuine thoughts on the latter chapters of the novel. She surreptitiously followed up with some of her views regarding the male protagonist. “I am not saying that a ‘Virgin Mary’-styled male protagonist is bad. However, we can’t deny that they are no longer in-trend. You don’t have to scrap him, you could probably insert another character inside to complement the male protagonist. His “Zhong Zhou Squad” [3] would share the spotlight among themselves. That might just be the last brick that needs placing.”

At first, Professor Chen did not take Lady Zhao’s advice to heart. She was sure that a reader, even Lady Zhao would never be able to sway her principles. However, Zhao Youyue’s sincerity and in-depth analysis of her work had touched her.

Therefore, Professor Chen asked curiously, “In what shape and form would this final brick take?”

Zhao Youyue responded as if she had long anticipated this question. She responded with the fluidity of a well-rehearsed presentation. “Of course, let’s have a wise man. This perfect squad is missing the voice of wisdom! We have not yet seen any team battles occurring in the novel. When one happens, and it will, we can’t have everyone rushing in like monkeys. We need a strategist, a formulator. They must take even the strengths of the weakest link into account. Every squad must have a leader. And every leader must have a wise advisor!”

This time, Professor Chen started to laugh. She had already considered introducing a ‘wise’-styled character to the mix. She had even studied the classic manga “Death Note” and had planned to use two of its wise characters as references. However, she did not think of placing the wise character at the male protagonist’s side.

Professor Chen felt that Lady Zhao’s words were wise and true.

“Her name would be ‘Chu Xuan.’ To her, everyone else is of average intelligence… at best…” Zhao Youyue said pleasantly.

Translation note:

[1] “a man’s name, a tree’s shadows” (人的名,树的影) means once a person has a good reputation, it is akin to a tree having shadows. The person with a good reputation would be able to utilize his reputation to protect himself, while the tree with shadows would be able to give shade to someone.

[2] “Virgin Mary” (圣母) is a term which refers to characters that are friendly on the surface, but is actually a stubborn character that would pit her friends against each other.

[3] “Zhong Zhou Squad” (中洲队) is from the book “Infinite Terror” by zhttty (a web novelist). It consists of 19 members who could reincarnate themselves when they die.