I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 35

“Please hold onto your seats. Next station: Longyuan Road Southbound. Passengers who need to get off, please move towards the rear door and prepare to exit…”

I took the same bus back as I did before. Feeling a little drowsy, I sat in the back seat, leaned against the window, and closed my eyes for a moment. It seemed that my little girl’s body was particularly susceptible to sleepiness, and my biological clock was quite accurate.

Around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I would feel like taking a nap. When I was selling things at Mingzhu Plaza earlier, I was actually extremely tired but had to stay awake to talk to Pipi and the others.

Even though I had slept for more than nine hours last night, I was still feeling tired…

As the bus announced “Longyuan Road Southbound,” I reluctantly opened my eyes and yawned widely. Longyuan Road is located near the rental apartment I’m staying in. When the bus announces this stop on the way back, it usually means I’m getting close to “home.”

Though, it’s not really a “home,” is it? It’s just a rented apartment.

I must admit, I don’t quite understand the concept of a “home.” In my childhood, I lived in a welfare institution, and then I moved to a dorm when I started school. After I graduated from college, I began living in rented apartments.

People say that a “home” is where you have family. Various feel-good magazines also suggest that “home” is a place where your heart can find peace. However, I’ve always felt like I’ve been wandering, just going wherever time takes me.

When I reached the right age, I started going to school, attended classes, took exams, and once I finished all my studies in college, I entered the workforce. Just like most people, I started with an entry-level job, rented a small apartment, and adopted a carefree approach to love, without a strong desire for luxurious homes or mansions due to the high property prices.

This kind of personality trait has led to the fact that even in my late twenties, I’ve never been in a romantic relationship, and I don’t have much savings. If I hadn’t encountered that Miss Grim Reaper, even if I didn’t die suddenly at that time, I’d probably still be wandering around looking for work now.

*Sigh*… After checking my belongings, I stretched lazily in my seat and looked out the window.

Since I’ve received my payment and it’s a bit more than planned, I should treat myself to something delicious tonight. It’s somewhat embarrassing that, as a grown man, what I look forward to the most every day is going to the market in the evening, selecting ingredients, and cooking my favorite dishes at home. Going shopping alone, carefully choosing ingredients, then using various seasonings to prepare a refined dinner by myself, and finally eating at the dining table – it’s the happiest moment of my day.

During these past few months of being unemployed, I’ve discovered one thing – as a freelance writer, I can go to the market earlier than regular office workers. I can leisurely purchase various ingredients without the need to wait for the peak hours when it’s crowded.

Now that I’ve turned into a little girl, cooking has become more challenging. I need a small stool to reach the stove, and it takes more time to handle a knife and cut ingredients compared to when I was a grown man. However, a little girl’s appetite is naturally smaller, so I can buy fewer ingredients and save money. The most significant advantage is that my current girl’s body and mental state are evidently better than when I was a grown man. Mental strength is crucial for a writer.

Of course, I don’t like being a little girl, nor do I think it’s better than being a grown man. I’m simply stating some facts.

“I’m back!”

After the bus reached its stop, I ran all the way back to my rented apartment on the third floor. I punched in the door code and opened it. I placed the adorable rabbit backpack, a set of sleepwear, and socks into the closet in my room. Feeling the need to relieve myself, I went to the bathroom and habitually pulled down my pants…

…only to realize there was nothing to pull down.

Well, a girl’s body has its inconveniences too.

Feeling a bit frustrated after dealing with this physiological issue, I returned to the computer desk and pressed the power button.

?I’ve finished reading it. This is just a cliché story, I’m giving up.?

?Is that really the author’s pen name? It’s too creepy, isn’t it??

?We gathered in the group to support you, and you promised to crossdress at 1,000 subscribers, Uncle. Don’t back down!?

?The plot is okay, but when is the next update??

After opening my computer, one of the first things I did was click into the author’s dashboard on Honeydew Light Novel website to check the comments and feedback on my novel.

This was also one of my daily moments of happiness.

As an author, I carefully savor and revisit every piece of feedback, comment, and barrage from readers. Praise and compliments can often make me happy for half a day, while criticism, dissatisfaction, or even abusive comments can leave me feeling down for a long time. Life is like that, you never know what will happen tomorrow, and you never know how much malice some random readers might hold when they open their computers each day.

However, life and writing are enriched by this variety of responses. It’s true that life includes sweet and sour, laughter and anger, and all sorts of experiences.

The first day of this book saw 29 collections, which is a pretty standard start.

Excluding transformation novels, which are a very unstable genre, the usual male protagonist stories written by regular authors have a collection to subscription ratio of around 10:1 or 15:1. In my case, considering I’m not that great, I’d estimate the ratio is around 20:1, meaning 20 collections for every 1 reader willing to subscribe. Therefore, to reach my goal of an average of 1,000 subscriptions, I’d need at least 20,000 collections, provided the book develops normally.

What’s the significance of 20,000 collections? For instance, on the first day, I got 29 collections. If I maintain this growth rate every day, without any extra promotion, it would take me 689 days to reach 20,000 collections.

Typically, a new book has a one-month initial period. Based on 30 days, with 30 collections per day and daily updates of either 2,000 words or 4,000 words, after 30 days, the book would be 60,000 or 120,000 words long with around 900 collections.

At this point, the editor provides a trial recommendation, which usually lasts three days and can increase collections by around 500 per day, totaling 1,500 collections. By the end of the first month, the book goes through its new release period with approximately 2,000 to 3,000 collections. Upon release, another small recommendation brings the collections to 5,000. Considering the collection to subscription ratio for an average author, which is 20 collections to 1 subscription, the book would have around 250 subscriptions at launch, which is four times less than the 1,000 target.

With 250 subscriptions, and assuming a rate of 5 yuan per 1,000 words on Yae-Do Light Novel site, the author would earn 60% of the subscription price, which is 6 yuan per chapter of 2,000 words, and the author’s income would be 15 Chinese yuan. If the author publishes three chapters a day, that would be an income of 45 yuan a day or around 1,350 yuan per month, with an extra 500 yuan for regular updates. This does not include additional income from donations or monthly passes.

So, based on this starting point, I can see the future of this book. Even though editors from larger websites might have had their reasons for rejecting it, I understand that from their perspective, it’s a low-earning book. However, as a writer, my focus is on participation, and I’m not aiming to become a super-popular author. Writing diligently and consistently is what matters most.

?Thank you for the support!?

?Pen name doesn’t matter, read the book, read the book.?

?Crossdressing at 1000 subs, but it looks like I won’t get the chance, hehe.?

Due to the website’s anti-spam settings, there must be a gap of at least 3 minutes between replies to comments, or else the replies would be invalidated. I spent about ten minutes responding to the comments from the novel readers. After that, I stretched lazily at my computer desk and picked up a pen and paper, attempting to write down the name “Yin Nuo’er.”

As expected, even the font had changed, just like I thought. I stared at the adorable loli font on the desktop stationery and fell into a brief contemplation.

Font style, swimming, and riding a bicycle are all part of “muscle memory” and won’t change just because I’m a middle-aged man in my soul. My current font style is probably designed by that grim reaper, and I can no longer write in my previous ornate style. No matter how hard I try to write hastily, it turns out as that soft and squishy loli font.

“……”

Never mind, let’s not worry about that for now. Writing and saving drafts is the priority.

I got up, poured myself a glass of water from the electric kettle on the side, and returned to my computer chair. I extended a small hand, tapped my chubby little cheek twice, and said softly,

“Keep it up.”