All-rounder Artist

“Different worlds yet similar experiences.”

Lin Yuan sighed thoughtfully after noticing these movements.

In the terrestrial world, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is often hailed as the most controversial work in the history of detective fiction, known for its role in launching Agatha Christie’s reputation.

Perhaps due to his fame trumping that of Christie’s upon the release of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” the controversies surrounding Lin Yuan’s version were somewhat subdued. But even fame cannot completely avoid such situations.

Thankfully, the quality of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is indisputable and represents the orthodoxy of narrative trickery in detective novels.

After all, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is the benchmark for works of its genre, fervently imitated but seldom surpassed.

Bear in mind, it ranked twelfth among the one hundred classical detective novels selected by the Mystery Writers of America.

In addition,

In the East and West Detective Novel BEST100 list, it took the fifth place! This list was voted by the Mystery Writers of Neon Association and detective clubs at various universities.

The number one on the list was also one of Christie’s works, one even more impressive, entitled “No One Survived.”

When Lin Yuan was deciding on the book to be adapted, he was drooling over the idea of coming across this novel.

“Boss.”

Jin Mu appeared, reporting the current performance of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”

This is the fifth day since the release of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” and the novel’s cumulative sales have reached about 5.6 million copies.

However, judging from yesterday’s sales data, it shows a decline in growth.

This relates to the distinct characteristic of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”—once the plot has been spoiled, the readability of the book significantly decreases.

In the internet age, spoilers are ubiquitous. People have the freedom of speech and can hardly be expected to keep secrets.

“The sales aren’t bad. I wonder if we can break ten million by the end of the month…”

Lin Yuan laughed from the heart. The more readers, the better. Everyone should come join the Blue Star merger!

“Hard to say.”

Jin Mu continued, “Silver Blue Books contacted me, hoping you could participate in a book signing event…”

Book signing.

This is indeed a way to stimulate sales.

Lin Yuan convenient not to reveal his face, he was about to refuse when Jin Mu preemptively said: “No need to show your face, we’ll just sign fifty copies in private and let Silver Blue Books randomly distribute them to various bookstores and online channels.”

“There’s such a tactic?”

Lin Yuan expressed his surprise and then agreed. He even suggested,” How about signing one hundred?”

“Wouldn’t be ideal to have too many.”

Jin Mu smiled, “After all, it’s your first time doing a book signing and rarity increases perceived value. Fifty copies will suffice as a hype tool.”

“Fair enough.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

He started right away with the signing of his name on the fifty books that Silver Blue Books had sent over.

“Sign under the pen name Chu Kuang.”

Jin Mu was quick to remind Lin Yuan just before he put pen to paper.

“Thanks for your reminder.”

Lin Yuan was about to sign his real name.

Jin Mu reminded again, “Given that you’ll face similar situations with other pseudonyms in the future, you might want to vary your handwriting somewhat.”

“Handwriting?”

Lin Yuan went blank for a moment before grasping the idea.

So, he gave it some thought and used flamboyant cursive writing to sign the name “Chu Kuang”.

Wild cursive.

If someone ever asks for Xian Yu’s autograph, Lin Yuan decided to use regular script.

As for Shadow, he would figure that out later.

“The boss has quite the…”

Jin Mu was taken aback by Lin Yuan’s flamboyant handwriting of “Chu Kuang”.

The boss’s handwriting wouldn’t be precisely described as wild cursive, more appropriately as scribble…

Yes, Lin Yuan’s handwriting wasn’t exactly appealing.

It seems the boss is not adept in everything, he has his weaknesses too, Jin Mu thought quietly to himself.

If it was not for the honesty towards the readers, Jin Mu almost wanted to help Lin Yuan with the signing.

It would only take a few moments to sign a hundred characters over fifty books.

Once the signed books are returned to Silver Blue Books, they quickly announced this news to the public:

Fifty copies of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” signed by Chu Kuang are now randomly released for purchase.

It was somewhat late. This sales-boosting proposal should have been presented when the book was first launched, but it was not as heated as it is now.

In any case, Silver Blue Books merely saw this as a promotional gimmick.

As a result, Silver Blue Books surely underestimated fans’ demand for Chu Kuang’s signed books.

The day the news was released.

Sun City Time Bookstore headquarters.

To everyone’s shock, a customer actually drove a van to the bookstore, purchasing a thousand copies of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” in one go and had the bookstore staff help load the books.

Some spectators couldn’t resist gathering around.

An unexpected encounter for a journalist passing by, who was startled by the sight.

He launched into interview mode and asked bewildered:

“Why are you buying so many? Do you also own a bookstore? Are the bookstores running out of stock?”

“No.”

The customer chuckled, explaining, “I am a fan of Chu Kuang. I have been following his novels since his first work. This time, I bought so many of Chu Kuang’s new books hoping to get a signed copy of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.”

Pfft!

People around him were stunned.

Is this the world of the rich?

Ordering a thousand copies just to get one signed book!?

The reporter, who knew the situation well enough, couldn’t help but say, “As far as I know, there are only fifty signed copies of Chu Kuang’s books. According to the daily sales data of the novel, even if you buy a thousand copies, you can’t guarantee you will get a signed one…”

“Exactly.”

The customer nodded, “That’s why I also posted a reward online today. Whoever gets Chu Kuang’s signed book and is willing to sell it, I am prepared to offer a high price for it.”

“That’s going to cost a lot. Is it worth it?”

The customer shrugged. “A thousand copies of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ cost less than 20,000 yuan. The bookstore also gave me a discount. If there’s no signed copy in this batch, I can give the books to friends or donate them so that more people can read this work.”

Reporter: “….”

Less than 20,000 yuan?

Are you kidding me?

It seems you don’t know how difficult it is for an ordinary person to earn 20,000 yuan…

The reporter then interviewed the bystanders, asking for their thoughts on ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.

This place was a bookstore, and the customers were all book lovers. There were many who had read ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, so they were happy to be interviewed.

“I am a fan of mystery novels. I loved ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, especially the ending, it’s extraordinary! Because of this book, I’ve become a fan of Chu Kuang. Maybe it’s related to the fact that I’m from Chu, the word Chu in Chu Kuang’s name gives me a sense of affinity.”

“It’s a great novel. If I had the money, I would also like to get Chu Kuang’s signed book… and then sell it to this guy.”

“I haven’t read ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ yet, but I came here today to buy it, as many people around me recommended it.”

“I am also a fan of Chu Kuang. I want to say something during this interview opportunity. ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ is fantastic! It’s not a cheap trick by the author. It’s a completely new way of constructing a mystery novel. It’s called ‘Narrative Trickery!'”

“As a reader of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, all I can say is that no one should miss out on the pioneering work of narrative trickery.”

“I understand why this brother bought a thousand copies of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’. Since Chu Kuang’s debut, he has never held a book-signing event, so many people want to get Chu Kuang’s autograph.”

“….”

Not only was this happening at Time Bookstore in Sun City.

With the news of Chu Kuang’s signed books, there were large-scale book purchases at numerous bookstore entrances and online order channels!

Obviously, all these were readers who were economically well-off and insanely worshipped Chu Kuang.

Moreover, there were indeed some rich people on the internet offering large rewards for a signed copy of Chu Kuang’s ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’!

As a result, a lucky buyer who managed to get a signed copy of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ resold it to a rich second-generation follower for 5,000 yuan!

You must know…

It’s just a signature.

And ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, because of its relatively short content, is priced at only fifteen yuan.

After the news report, many netizens were dumbfounded.

“These tycoons really don’t treat money as a problem. For a celebrity’s signature, they almost emptied the little bookstore.”

“A signature for 5,000 yuan is more expensive than those sold by celebrities!”

“I have a signature from a top-tier singer at home. I offered it for two thousand yuan but nobody wanted to buy it…”

“I heard that a certain basketball superstar’s signed jersey sold for 8,000, but that’s the signatures of the entire team and Chu Kuang is just one person.”

“Probably because Chu Kuang has never held a signed book sale, so it’s relatively rare.”

“I’ve decided to buy a copy of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’. The content is the same. Others paid 5,000 yuan, but I’m only paying 15. Round it down, I saved 4,885 yuan!”

“I humbly call you a mathematical genius, buy a hundred copies and you’ll be rich!”

“Hahaha, you must’ve returned all your math to your PE teacher. Get out a calculator and do the math. You actually saved 4,985 yuan.”

“…”

The netizens enjoyed the lively discussion, and with each successive wave of buzz, the term “Narrative Trickery” began to resonate with more people.

“Stop saying that this novel’s logic is unreliable. This is called Narrative Trickery!”

“Narrative Trickery is okay, it is cunning.”

“Narrative Trickery, a very accurate description.”

“So this is Narrative Trickery, what a lesson!”

“What Narrative Trickery… I finished reading this book, and was completely discouraged from reading mystery novels afterward. Completely outweighed in intelligence, Chu Kuang, the old rascal, is such a scam!”

“…”

Seeing all these reactions, Lin Yuan was dumbstruck.

He was seriously considering the possibility of selling his signature.

Alright then.

This thought was quickly dismissed by Lin Yuan. He was still aware of the principle of scarcity adding value.

Now that Lin Yuan was in a better financial situation.

If it were not for that, Lin Yuan would not care about the principle of scarcity increasing value.

During these series of events, a small incident occurred that left Lin Yuan rather upset—

A user shared Chu Kuang’s signature online, but due to the scrawled handwriting, it attracted a few jesters.

The top comment in his section was actually:

“Chu Kuang, the old rascal, take a break from typing and practice your handwriting.”

His handwriting was disliked!

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