As a long-established forum for authors, Dragon's Slumber had once attempted to develop into a webnovel platform similar to Fantasy Book Alliance, but the attempt had ended in failure.
The website's administrators had clearly recognized this limitation and decided to focus entirely on developing the site as a forum for authors.
Every week, the administrators organized various novel-related activities, and forum members who published technical articles were eligible for special rewards.
If Dragon's Slumber could establish itself as the largest gathering place for authors in the webnovel industry, its influence might not be much smaller than that of an actual webnovel platform.
In such an environment, the appearance of 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' had an extraordinarily far-reaching impact on the forum itself, its authors, and its readers.
One hour after Kamiyā Yuu published 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels':
[What the heck? A technical thread about writing novels?]
[Reincarnator... Well, whatever. I'll support a technical thread.]
[An alt account that's only been registered for one day? Which legendary author's alternate account is this?]
[First page! Showing my support!]
Most forum members had merely glanced at the screenshots included in the post.
They had yet to realize just how astonishing the contents of the downloadable attachment truly were.
...
More than eight hours after 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' was published, countless authors were still staying awake late into the night, tirelessly studying this technical guide to webnovel writing.
Several forum members had already created separate threads to ask questions about its contents.
Meanwhile, the Dragon's Slumber administration had unconditionally pinned Kamiyā Yuu's post.
[Has anyone else read 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels'? I want to ask whether the Literary Plagiarism Genre is really as viable as the guide claims.]
[Infinite-flow sounds pretty interesting. But wouldn't writing novels in that genre get you sued by foreign copyright holders?]
[A 1.5-million-character summary of webnovel writing techniques! What a legend! Could this guy actually be a real transmigrator?]
...
One day after 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' was published, forum members had generally begun reading its contents.
Dragon's Slumber exploded into an uproar.
[Today, we're all \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*! Screw it! I'm dropping my current novel first! Its performance was half-dead anyway. I've decided my next novel will be an infinite-flow story!]
[HOLY FUCK! Has a real reincarnator actually appeared!? Only someone reborn from the future could write a technical guide this far ahead of its time!]
[I'm starting to believe transmigrators really exist in this world! Forget writing novels! Chosen One, don't leave! Let me cling to your thigh! Even a single leg hair will do!]
[Incredible! Between the author of 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' and Wang Mang, which one seems more like a transmigrator?]
[Great Reincarnator, please tell me tomorrow's winning lottery numbers! If you can't do that, at least tell me which way the stock market is going, or the results of the FIFA World Cup matches!]
[Today's suffering is all for the sake of creating a brighter future! All right, I'm announcing that I'm dropping my novel too.]
[If the emperor commands his subject to abandon his novel, his subject has no choice but to abandon it.]
[Today, we are all reincarnators!]
Within a single day, Dragon's Slumber seemed to have been struck by a Category 12 tornado, followed by an earth-shattering earthquake that completely transformed the forum.
'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' was pinned in the most prominent position on the entire forum, with its title highlighted in an eye-catching shade of red.
By the evening of the following day, Kamiyā Yuu's thread had accumulated more than ten thousand replies.
In just one day, it had shattered Dragon's Slumber's record for the most replies to a single thread.
At the same time, Kamiyā Yuu's forum account had received more than ten million Dragon Coins in ratings and donations.
Converted into RMB, those Dragon Coins were worth approximately ten thousand yuan.
His account was also awarded a special, officially customized title and rank by Dragon's Slumber:
The Unparalleled Mythical Dragon.
All those Dragon Coins had been donated by forum members.
Most of these members were authors themselves. For a thread that had swept away their confusion about webnovel writing and shown them a clear path forward, no amount of appreciation seemed excessive.
The decision to award the title of The Unparalleled Mythical Dragon had been unanimously supported by Dragon's Slumber's founder and all its moderators.
'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' had made its first appearance on Dragon's Slumber.
Anyone familiar with the webnovel industry could foresee that this post was destined to change the course of the industry's development.
As a result, the fact that Dragon's Slumber was the place where it had first appeared would inevitably acquire a special historical significance.
This was a celebration belonging to the entire webnovel industry.
At that moment, the most popular phrase on Dragon's Slumber was:
[Today, we are all reincarnators!]
Even the enormous commotion previously caused by 'Battle Through the Heavens' seemed insignificant by comparison.
Every section of the forum was filled with discussions about the contents of 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels'.
China in this world also had social networking applications similar to QQ, including group chat functions resembling QQ groups.
When an author discovered 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' on Dragon's Slumber and uploaded it to an authors' group chat, the information spread at a rate even more astonishing than a viral outbreak.
Apart from a small minority of authors who ignored everything around them and devoted themselves entirely to writing, more than ninety percent of all authors in the webnovel industry had encountered 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' within a single day.
The most immediate effect of 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' on the industry was that the rate of abandoned novels reached an all-time high that very day.
Of every ten authors who encountered the technical guide, more than three decided to abandon their current works, study 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' thoroughly, and then publish new novels.
After reading the guide, they compared its contents with their own writing and finally recognized just how immature their novels were.
'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' contained the essence of Kamiyā Yuu's accumulated knowledge of the webnovel industry's development in his previous world.
Simply reading it was enough for many authors to benefit enormously and avoid countless unnecessary mistakes.
Furthermore, one of the guide's most influential features was its introduction of numerous innovative genres that had yet to appear in the current webnovel industry.
New genres were always capable of attracting greater interest from readers.
Whoever became the first to write novels in these genres would be among the first to taste the benefits of a previously unexplored market.
Their chances of producing a popular novel would increase dramatically.
Barring any unexpected developments, China's webnovel industry would soon experience a wave of innovation.
An explosive period of growth would rapidly sweep through the entire industry, laying the foundation for its future development.
...
Kamiyā Yuu, the mastermind behind everything, watched the commotion he had personally created with great interest.
The following day, however, he went to Yosuganosora Animation Studio as usual and began preparing for the production of the first episode of 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'.
Animation was his primary profession now.
As for the webnovel industry, giving it a push from behind was enough.
He believed that, as the webnovel industry expanded rapidly, it wouldn't take long for the industry in this world to embark on a path similar to the one taken by the webnovel industry in his previous world.
As for the enormous disturbance on Dragon's Slumber, that had absolutely "nothing to do" with him, an animation director.
He had no intention of ever using the account that had been awarded the forum's special title again.
No matter how extraordinary his computer skills were, acting so recklessly before reaching the level of technological mastery he had possessed in his previous world would inevitably risk leaving behind clues.
The reason his post had caused such an explosive reaction in such a short time wasn't solely due to its contents.
His decision to call himself Reincarnator Y had also played an important role.
Almost every novelist harbored some unrealistic fantasies.
Before crossing over to this world, even Kamiyā Yuu himself had participated in forum discussions about transmigration.
The contents of 'Outline for the Development of Web Novels' were simply far too advanced for the current webnovel industry.
Combined with the author's claim that he had been reborn from the future, it was more than enough to send people's imaginations running wild.