Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

What I feared most came to pass.

He didn't seek out novelists; the novelists came to him.

Chapter 179 Oh no, the novelist is going to steal our house!

"I'm sorry to bother you, senior."

The novelist apologized right away, his politeness was so touching.

Liu Zheng glanced at Niu Ma and thought that compared to the novelist, the other strange residents he knew could only be considered barbarians from beyond the borders.

"What are you looking at? Look again and I'll poke your eyes out."

The cattle and horses shook their broken horns in a defiant manner.

"whispering sound."

He looked away.

"It's alright, we don't need to be so polite. So, what is it?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"It's like this, the Metropolitan Writers' Association is hosting a salon ball and has invited me to attend. I would like to ask you, senior, to be my date and accompany me."

The novelist said.

"what?"

He froze for a moment.

"I know this is abrupt, but if you don't want to, then that's fine. Sorry to bother you, senior."

The novelist assumed he was unwilling and spoke calmly.

But Liu Zheng could sense a subtle sadness in that calm and even tone.

"Oh, I'm not surprised you invited me, I'm surprised you even received the invitation."

He didn't mince words.

"what?"

The novelist let out a soft gasp, then fell silent.

The awkwardness was palpable in the air.

Just as Liu was wondering if he should say something to ease the tension, she finally spoke.

"Senior, don't let my long stories fool you, I'm actually quite good at writing short stories. You can take a look if you don't believe me."

As if to prove herself, she quickly sent several text messages.

Liu Zheng clicked on the first item, and his pupils dilated in shock.

"I slept with my childhood sweetheart after we got drunk. I thought that ten years of liking and companionship had finally come to an end."

"But who knew that when I woke up, all I found on my pillow was an emergency contraceptive pill and two thousand yuan."

"I called him and questioned him, 'What do you mean by this?'"

"He said casually, 'It doesn't mean anything. You said bad things about Xiaomei, I was just venting for her.'"

"My heart is breaking because I know that Xiaomei is the prettiest girl in our class and the girl he is pursuing."

There were probably another one or two thousand words left, but he didn't dare to read any further.

Because he was afraid that he would go blind, and that his eyesight would be irreversible.

"Senior, these are some of my proudest works. What do you think?"

The novelist asked expectantly.

"Hmm, they're quite good at stirring up emotions."

Liu Zheng racked his brains and came up with a fair and positive evaluation.

"As expected of a senior, you immediately grasped the essence of the short story."

The novelist said admiringly.

"Given the length of this novel, it's impossible for it to go in any other direction."

he replied.

The essence of novels, especially online novels, lies in emotions, but there are many kinds of emotions, such as a sense of accomplishment, a sense of novelty, and a desire to explore.

Because of their length, long online novels can choose to focus on different emotional stimuli depending on the subject matter, while also incorporating other emotional expressions.

But short stories are different. There's only so much space, so you can only choose the strongest, most obvious, and most relatable emotions, and the way you evoke and express them will be very direct and crude.

It's not fair to say that short stories are inferior to novels, but for someone like Liu Zheng, who is used to reading and writing novels, reading a short story is like a classical musician listening to a DJ.

"That's right. I turned to novels because I saw the limitations of short stories."

The novelist agreed.

"Actually, writing short stories can be quite lucrative, no less so than writing novels. There's no need to risk switching careers."

Liu Zheng said sincerely.

In fact, switching from short stories to novels is more than just a change of direction; it's not much different from changing careers.

"I definitely have to write a novel. Writing short stories can only make money, but writing novels is the only way to reach a higher level."

The novelist shook his head.

"Okay. Just ask me any questions you have, and I'll teach you everything I know."

If he's still in this instance.

For these strange inhabitants, the higher level may have other, deeper meanings.

Although Liu Zheng didn't know what higher level writing a novel could evolve into, he didn't care.

"So, does that mean you've agreed to be my date?"

The novelist asked.

"accepted."

He's had a lot of part-time jobs, and his male companions are considered quite respectable.

"Great!"

The novelist said happily.

"However, you'll have to order the takeout yourself."

"Of course. By the way, do you have any suitable clothes, senior? This salon is quite upscale, so you should dress formally."

The novelist offered a reminder.

"No, and we can only wear uniforms when we're working, right?"

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and then said.

The main problem is that he's hard to change; if you change his legendary vest, his combat power will plummet.

"Alright then, the uniform from the Bloody Restaurant is presentable. However, you should still dress up a bit, senior."

The novelist didn't insist.

"Get dressed up? Sure, no problem."

Liu Zheng agreed.

When it comes to dressing up, he knows quite a few experts.

"Then see you at seven o'clock tonight."

The novelist hung up the phone.

"Is it the woman who helped you get people out of trouble?"

Suddenly, the ox and horse asked.

"Yes."

Liu Zheng nodded.

"Oh no, she's going to steal our base. She's got the most bets on her, the odds have dropped to 1:1.1."

The ox and horse pondered.

"Then I wish you all lose everything."

He offered his heartfelt blessings to these idle bastards.

Niu Ma didn't care at all. He just assumed it was because he couldn't place a bet and was just being a sour grapes.

"Hey bro, could you call my big brother for me?"

"what?"

"Didn't you just hear that? The novelist asked me to accompany her to a salon, so I need to dress up."

Liu Zheng said.

"With your appearance, no matter how well you dress up, you still don't look like a human being."

The ox and horse mocked.

"You talk as if you're some kind of human being. Hurry up and fight! You only earned that 270,000 with other people's help."

If it weren't for the novelist's help in rescuing the nightingale, the subsequent grave-dumping operation wouldn't have succeeded, and the cattle and horses wouldn't have made such a large sum of extra money.

"Hmph, when did it become your turn to urge me?"

Despite their words, Niu Ma still made the phone call.

“You’ve called me more times in the last few days than you did in the entire last year.”

After the call was connected, the big white goose complained.

"There's nothing I can do, big brother. Who told me to have such a troublesome little brother?"

Niu Ma glared at Liu Zheng, who then looked up at the ceiling.

"Hurry up, tell Big Brother what's wrong."

Niu Ma handed him the phone.

"Hello, elder brother!"

Liu Zheng greeted him in high spirits.

"Not so good. You've really put our customer service department through a lot of trouble."

The white goose's tone was unreadable.

"Brother, I'll bring you the fish you ordered as soon as I leave."

He avoided the question.

"Young man, changing the subject won't work on me."

The big white goose smiled.

"You can't blame me for this, after all, the British minister himself agreed to have that cord installed."

Liu Zheng had no choice but to resort to shamelessness.

"But you're the one who found it. You know, everyone in the customer service department has been on edge lately, even I don't dare to stay outside for long."

"The big white goose complained."

"Is that mourning rod really that powerful?"

It looks quite dry. Will it swell up if I soak it in water?

"It's not just fierce, it's excessively fierce. Where did you get it from?"

The big white goose asked curiously.

"It was bought from a mummy doctor."