Chapter 27: The Promotional Campaign for Dragon Raja 3 Begins

Chapter 27: Launching the Promotion for Dragon Raja III

A taxi arrived quickly. The three of them climbed in and returned to Zhang Suxin's home. Lu Anzhi left while Qianqian was drowsy from her nap; he simply couldn't bear the sight of the little one looking so pitifully reluctant to let him go.

He had nothing on for the afternoon, so he contacted a renovation company and headed over to the Jiuan Piano Shop. He spent the rest of the day busy overseeing the delivery of materials and furniture. By the time he finished, his body—usually accustomed to running around—was completely worn out. Returning to the hotel that evening, he collapsed onto the bed, too exhausted to even move.

He figured that since he had already submitted the manuscript for *Dragon Raja*, there was no rush for anything else, so he decided to just rest for the night.

After a quick wash, he was preparing to sleep when his phone chimed with a text message. Opening it, he saw a message from his editor, Kuku: "The manuscript results are in. Get online, let's talk details."

Lu Anzhi replied: "I'm tired. Not getting online. Let's talk here."

Kuku: "t皿t, Boss B, I beg you to log on to QQ. Have some mercy on your poor editor."

Lu Anzhi sighed and reluctantly got up to turn on his computer.

In the past, Kuku had tried calling him, but Lu Anzhi was often traveling and would frequently miss the calls. After failing to reach him several times, she had resorted to texting, begging him to switch to QQ. Lu Anzhi, finding it awkward to talk on the phone with someone he had never met, eventually fell into the habit of using QQ as their primary means of communication. Since then, both of them had naturally avoided phone calls.

Lu Anzhi crawled out of bed and opened his laptop. Logging into QQ, he found the chat box already flooded with Kuku's messages:

"Are you there?"
"Please reply if you see this, it's urgent."
"When will Boss B be online?"
"Just give me a sign."
"You aren't going to make me wait until night, are you?"
"It's already night, why isn't Boss B online yet?"
"Are you there?"
"Are you there?"
"Are you there now?"
...

Lu Anzhi felt a twinge of guilt. He had been so busy with other things over the past few days that he had neglected his hardworking editor. The way she was messaging made him feel like a real jerk.

He typed out a line and hit send: "I'm on. What's up? Also, in the future, just send me a text or talk to me in the evening. I've been busy out and about during the day lately."

Kuku's avatar was gray, but Lu Anzhi knew full well she was lurking. He wasn't worried about her missing his message. In his mind, this editor was like a web-addicted teenager, always glued to her computer; there was never a time she couldn't be reached on QQ.

Sure enough, the next second, Kuku replied: "Oh, okay, understood!"

Seeing that she hadn't answered his first question, Lu Anzhi asked: "What is it? Spit it out."

Kuku replied: "The final review for *Dragon Raja III* passed today. The Editor-in-Chief organized a meeting and finalized everything. *Dragon Raja III* will be split into three volumes, but they will all be released together. Starting tomorrow, promotion and printing will happen simultaneously."

Lu Anzhi was slightly surprised: "Releasing all three at once? Are you in such a hurry?"

Kuku replied: "We need to build momentum. The Editor-in-Chief asked me to check with you and get your opinion on this. A lot of companies are currently bidding for the film, animation, and game rights to *Dragon Raja*. The Editor-in-Chief asked me to ask you: Boss B, do you want to sell them now, or wait?"

Lu Anzhi wasn't surprised by this. With the popularity of his first two works, *Holy Record* and *Wukong Biography*, as a foundation, *Dragon Raja* had reached an even higher level of fame. Furthermore, in terms of commercial viability, *Dragon Raja* was indeed superior to his previous works. It was only natural that people were coming for the adaptation rights.

After a moment of thought, Lu Anzhi typed: "What does the Editor-in-Chief think?"

Kuku quickly replied: "The Chief's opinion is to not rush. Once *Dragon Raja III* is released, its popularity will definitely climb even higher. Selling then would be much more profitable. That was the consensus at our meeting here at Maple Under. But ultimately, it depends on you, Boss B. You hold the rights so tightly that we can only offer suggestions."

Lu Anzhi nodded to himself. Maple Under’s thoughts aligned with his own. *Dragon Raja III* would bring the series to its peak popularity. Waiting until after the release to negotiate rights was indeed the best choice.

He replied: "Then let's go with your suggestion."

Kuku: "Mmhmm. I'll notify the Editor-in-Chief tomorrow."

She then added: "Boss B, you wouldn't believe it, but our Editor-in-Chief was completely wrecked by *Dragon Raja III*. It’s the first time I’ve discovered he actually hides a girlish heart. A middle-aged man crying his eyes out, yikes..."

Lu Anzhi was taken aback. He had never met the Editor-in-Chief at Maple Under, but he had seen photos on their website. The man looked square-jawed and quite serious, with a receding hairline—hardly the sentimental type. Could a man like that really weep over the tragic ending of a book?

He typed back: "I don't believe it. A dignified Editor-in-Chief, crying in front of you?"

Kuku replied: "Of course not. I saw it by accident. When I went to his office, the door wasn't fully closed, so I peeked. Hahahaha! Boss B, you have no idea—when I knocked and walked in, he hurriedly wiped his face, but his eyes were still red. He couldn't hide it, hahahaha!"

Her schadenfreude was palpable even through the text.

Lu Anzhi: "That must have been awkward for you both."

Kuku: "It was. But it's fine. The Chief was pretty calm. He told me he was reading it from the perspective of Erii's parents, and seeing her die felt like watching a daughter he’d raised with such care pass away, which is why he couldn't help but be sad. I don't get it..."

Lu Anzhi sent an ellipsis. He also couldn't fathom how someone could immerse themselves in the role of an old father while reading. Didn't that mean that while reading, he was essentially peeping at his daughter and her boyfriend, and even watching the boyfriend work as a host with great interest?

Yikes...

He couldn't help but "yikes" himself.

Kuku: "So it's settled. Tomorrow just happens to be the release of the new issue of Maple Under's digital magazine. The prequel and the first three chapters of *Dragon Raja III* will be serialized in the magazine to help build hype."

Lu Anzhi understood that the prequel Kuku mentioned was the content about Black Swan Bay.

That was fine by him. Except for his first book, *Holy Record*, which was serialized in its entirety on Maple Under, he had switched to this pattern for all his subsequent books.

Maple Under, like other literary websites online, maintained traditional sales models. Publication was the main focus; for popular series and high-profile authors, they would serialize the beginning in digital magazines before putting the full volume on sale.

Regardless, tomorrow, *Dragon Raja III: Tide of the Black Moon* would be unveiled to the world.