My System Forces Me to Live off Women-Chapter 224 - 203: Stories from the Editorial Department

Shen City, in the office of the head of the Female Channel Editorial Department at Endpoint Group, Gold Medal Editor's Studio.

At this moment, a man in his thirties was sitting in front of a computer, fully focused on his work.

He was wearing a plain dark blue sweatshirt, but his appearance was quite extraordinary. The face beneath his black, tousled hair was fair and gentle yet had defined contours, and his thick eyebrows rebelliously arched slightly upwards, adding a soft ripple. His deep-set eyes seemed to lazily see through everything yet retained sharpness. A straight nose, with an icy-cold and stern expression, and even the subtle dark circles around his eyes were uniquely enchanting…

This man was none other than Li Peifeng's editor, Xia Sheng!

He was using TT software to communicate with his colleagues in the editorial group;

"Did you guys read the novel I sent you yesterday? Give me some feedback."

(9th Group Chief Editor) Yy: "Too long, didn't read."

(2nd Group Chief Editor) Baodao: "@Xia Sheng, go through the sequence of events. You, the head of the female channel, dropped such a huge file in our male channel chief editor group yesterday asking for feedback, not caring if we can digest it or not, and now you're asking for results this morning. Is this how you ask for help? What kind of attitude is this?!"

(6th Group Chief Editor) Peanuts: "Goodness, my internet speed is too slow. I only received the 200+ MB document today. @Xia Sheng, give me five years to read it, and I'll send you the feedback engraved on a stone."

(1st Group Chief Editor) Lemon: "As the group admin, here's my offer: two meals of Ho's Official Cuisine, and everyone will kindly give feedback. Old Xia, what do you think?"

Xia Sheng gritted his teeth in front of the computer: "Wasn't it agreed on just one meal yesterday?"

(9th Group Chief Editor) Yy: "Who agreed with you? Who saw it?"

(2nd Group Chief Editor) Baodao: "Kick him out. Quick, give him a plane ticket. The head of the female channel is messing around in our male channel. Doesn't understand the rules at all!"

Xia Sheng: "Alright, two meals! Be serious, you bastards!"

(6th Group Chief Editor) Peanuts: "Old Xia's attitude is acceptable. What do you guys think?"

(7th Group Chief Editor) December: "Hahaha, let's do it on Friday, we'll go eat then."

(2nd Group Chief Editor) Baodao: "(dog head emoji) Good, it'll be easy once we understand the rules. I'll come to your office later and give you a summary of everyone's feedback."

Xia Sheng let out a long breath, massaged his temples, and then opened a document titled "The Chronicle of Sword and Magic - History" to review it word by word.

At times his expression was serious with furrowed brows, at other times relaxed with a smile...

About an hour later, Baodao sent him a document just after he received it, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

It was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing jeans and a checkered shirt with sparse hair and glasses, a standard IT guy image.

"Old Xia, did you receive the electronic version?"

The 2nd Group Chief Editor 'Baodao', real name, Li Baodao, took a seat across the desk as soon as he entered the room.

"That's what I'm looking at right now."

Xia Sheng focused on the computer screen, took out a cigarette from the desk, and handed it over.

Each lit a cigarette, and amid the smoke, Li Baodao spoke: "Summarized it for you in three words: Not optimistic."

Xia Sheng simply stopped looking at the screen and stared at him: "Reason?"

"What he sent is just a small outline, but it already says it's a story about a protagonist traveling to an Otherworld and transforming it with ideas from their original world. The interest lies in portraying the clash and sparks between different mindsets and values from both worlds."

"Analyzing just the story setup, Yi Liangfeng wants to write an extraordinarily grand and realistic fantasy piece with a serious tone. The 200 MB document includes 190 MB of images, world maps, flora, fauna, depictions of various races, and 700,000 words of history from the evolution of life and the founding of nations in the Otherworld to the heroic tales of its races..."

"So, what kind of book does Yi Liangfeng want to write himself? He wants to write about politics, philosophy, human nature, godliness, beastliness, the different characteristics of each race in an Otherworld, and a grand and mysterious parallel world that includes phenomenal philosophical thoughts... "

At this point, Li Baodao paused, then laughed: "Even if we don't consider his writing skill, even if he has the ability to integrate these elements, from a market perspective, do you think readers will like such a novel?"

"..."

Li Baodao flicked his cigarette ashes and emphasized: "I don't know, but I do know that readers nowadays prefer lighter reads that help them relax. From the ancient era's self-reliance and diligent cultivation, not asking favors; to rebirth; then the system flow, the tycoon flow; and now the idle sign-in flow... Even in the female channel, you should realize that web novels are becoming lighter, avoiding heavy topics because readers are under pressure, and their demands for web novels are naturally changing."

"But..." Xia Sheng was about to say something when Li Baodao cut him off: "Indeed, Yi Liangfeng's story framework is extremely brilliant, the power system seamless, the social-economic system flawless, and the unique and unheard-of political systems of different nations and races make it exceptionally realistic, making one doubt whether he's actually been to the Otherworld."

"Yy previously worked in game planning, and he said this document, as is, could directly be used to make a game. A massive 3A RPG game, with a storyline and art team of 30 people spending a year might not create such a masterpiece. But this is writing a web novel!"

Xia Sheng remained silent for a moment, extinguished his cigarette, and sighed: "It's tough."

"Secondly, Yi Liangfeng's book is in the fantasy genre, right?"

Li Baodao answered his own question: "I'm working on fantasy and understand the situation. The current fantasy market is in decline. Film companies aren't considering fantasy works for adaptation into films. Western fantasy web novels have almost no chance of being adapted into dramas. It's difficult to shoot, and they aren't localized enough. The entire world is full of Western names, but the actors on screen have yellow skin and black hair, it's too incongruous... Without film adaptations, the income for Platinum Gods is reduced by half!"

Xia Sheng couldn't help but say: "Narnia has yellow-skinned humans too, and some names are similar to ours. Also, you mentioned it could be adapted into a game, and if not, anime is also possible, those rights are valuable too."

"Hmm, let's not talk so far ahead." Li Baodao waved his hand: "Let's talk about reality now, I'll ask two questions."

"Go ahead."

"Yi Liangfeng wrote so many works for the female channel before, and now that he's signed with Platinum, he's going back to writing from a male perspective. Do you think he can adapt? And on the other hand, will his original female readers follow him to the male channel and keep reading this novel?"

Xia Sheng pondered: "I'm not worried about Yi Liangfeng adapting to the male channel. His writing skill can be seen from the world framework; he studied under Zhao Qingge, specializing in web novels, and can write anything. I'm mainly concerned about the market. As for the reader retention issue, don't even consider it, many readers will surely be lost, but there's nothing I can do if Yi Liangfeng wants to write for the male channel."

"I've already told you about the market, it's surely not going to be great, but also..."

Li Baodao changed his tone: "It might not be certain either, considering he hasn't even finished writing the outline, just a synopsis. Our discussions are merely speculation at this point. Besides, in the market... sometimes certain heroes can turn things around."

"Turn around?"

Xia Sheng shook his head with a smile: "Do times make heroes, or do heroes make times?"

Li Baodao was unusually positive: "Of course, they can turn things around. To be honest, I'm quite optimistic about this author. And considering the novelty of his book and his Platinum status in the female channel, in the early stages, we might consider some resource allocation... hey, you can't take over after he switches to the male channel, right? Let me take over?!"

Xia Sheng instinctively crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee, rubbing his chin as he stared at his colleague.

Li Baodao, with a little cough, said: "Don't think too much, I'm not snatching him, just doing you a favor by looking after him..."

Xia Sheng gaze lingered on him for a long time before he chuckled: "Baodao, put some eye drops in, your eyes look so red as if you're gonna devour him alive!"