Lily Yariel clicked on the homepage for Mrs. Quincy’s new book one more time. She glanced at the fan rankings—the top five hundred were all Allies!!!

’Damn it, how does that bitch have so much money to buy so many Allies?’

’To become an Ally, you needed a Fan Value of 100,000, which meant donating 1,000 yuan. Five hundred Allies meant a minimum of 500,000 yuan!’

’Back then, to continue her legacy as the reigning queen, she had spent a fortune to buy 200 Allies, which cost her over a hundred thousand yuan in cold, hard cash even after discounts.’

’Now, seeing Mrs. Quincy get 500 Allies on the very first day of her new book... how could she possibly stomach this!’

’Damn bitch. It’s just 500 Allies. She could buy them too. If it came down to it, she’d just have to give up this month’s royalties!’

With a hardened heart, Lily Yariel logged onto an online boosting service and ordered a 500-Ally package. She spent 450,000 yuan in an instant, and the expense was killing her.

The 500 Allies appeared quickly...

She’d expected to immediately reclaim her throne on the donation rankings, but her position didn’t budge an inch.

’Is the network lagging?’

...

Lily Yariel probably had no idea that on the first day of her new book, Mrs. Quincy had already gained over two thousand Allies.

Claire Sinclair herself only found out about this later...

’She’d only published one Chapter of the entire book, just 1,000 words. Who on earth had tipped her so much money?’

’In Claire Sinclair’s circle of friends, there weren’t many people with more money than sense—almost zero, in fact. The only wealthy person she knew, and not even that well, was Ethan Kingsley.’

’Could it be Ethan Kingsley?’

’That’s impossible. They barely know each other.’

Just as Claire Sinclair was puzzling over this, a site message popped up on her author dashboard: "Dear Author, your work has met the standards for a premium contract. Please contact Editor Redbird. Contact info: ****"

Claire Sinclair was, after all, a new author and didn’t know much about these things. Out of curiosity, she added this Editor Redbird on QQ.

A moment later, an excited message from Redbird arrived: "Mrs. Quincy, I finally got to add you!"

ClairePot: Huh?

Editor Redbird: Hahaha, you’re a heroine to all of us editors and authors right now!

ClairePot: Huh??

Editor Redbird: I know you might have a negative view of our site, but actually, a lot of us hate plagiarists. But there’s nothing we can do. Someone higher up is protecting them, so we’re angry but can’t speak out. Now that you’re here, there’s finally hope for our site!

’So, this Editor Redbird hates plagiarism too?’

Editor Redbird: Okay, okay, let’s cut to the chase. Do you want to sign a contract with our site for your novel? You’ll only be able to collect the donation money if you sign.

ClairePot: Uh... what’s the deal with all those donations?

Editor Redbird: Huh? I thought you brought your own readers over to donate. One Ally is 1,000 yuan. You got 2,300 Allies today, breaking the web novel community’s record for "Thousand Allies on Day One." I thought you knew all this.

ClairePot: I honestly had no idea.

Editor Redbird: This donation money can’t be refunded. The only way you can get it is by signing a contract with us. And with your skill level, you qualify for a premium contract. That’s a 20-80 split—we take 20%, you get 80%. In other words, for every 1,000 yuan, the site gets 200 and you get 800. Make sense?

How could Claire Sinclair not understand something so simple? She just didn’t get what the benefit of signing was.

ClairePot: What’s the point of signing?

Editor Redbird: You’re the leading figure in original literature in Aridia. I hope you can lead the way. Signing a contract would set a great example for all the original authors who work so hard. It would show them not to be discouraged. Originality never dies!