The Buggiest System

56 - Cover Art

The tiles were all... so beautiful! And most of all, they looked expensive!

What the heck did the kids do this time?

I knew it! I knew I shouldn't have left them alone again...

Zhou Jiahao had a very mixed expression, as it was hard to tell what he was feeling right now.

He walked inside his house slowly, removing his shoes first, of course. As his feet touched the exquisite-looking tiles, his eyes narrowed.

These tiles were so... cold! Why are they so cold? Hmm, but now that I think about it, these tiles look fairly new, so it's only natural that they are cold...

He continued to walk inside. The windows were all open to let the dust be blown out of the house, but it was practically useless since the windows just faced walls.

However, what confused him the most when he walked inside was neither the exquisite new tiles nor the open windows that were useless.

What was most confusing was that... his wife, Zhou Xiang, was lying on the floor with a face of ecstasy.

"...Xiang. What are you doing?" Zhou Jiahao called out to his wife with a deadpan face.

Only then did Zhou Xiang snap out of her daze.

She arrived first from buying groceries and was confused why her husband was not there. She also had the same initial reaction as her husband to the new tiles, but eventually, she got addicted to the feeling.

"Ah, there you are. Didn't I tell you not to leave the kids alone? Look at what they've done to the house..." Zhou Xiang scolded her husband with an angry tone. However, with her face still ecstatic, it was really making Zhou Jiahao doubt if she was the one who just spoke...

"Well, I was called out to work by the boss... for 'urgent matters'." Zhou Jiahao relayed to his wife what had happened with a mocking tone.

"Sounds like you're pissed at him." Zhou Xiang bantered with her husband. She detected easily the mocking undertone in his voice.

With them being married for many years, it was a no-brainer as to why they knew each other's inside-and-outs.

"You know, you should stand up." Zhou Jiahao finally could not stand it anymore and asked his wife, who was enjoying the feeling of the exquisite and expensive looking tiles on the floor.

.....

"There... we... go!" Zhou Lei tapped letters on the keyboard as he spoke respectively. He was finally finished typing. Well, typing 20 chapters...

He stretched his hand above his head as his fingers made cracking sounds. He leaned on the chair as he breathed deeply.

"This... is a masterpiece." Zhou Lei muttered to himself as he nodded in agreement to his own comment. He was pretty satisfied.

"Now, I need to publish it..."

He put his untiring hand on the mouse and started clicking.

Click! Click! Click!

After a while, the first chapter was finally published. Zhou Lei named the novel "Conqueror of the Realms". It sounded very cliche, but to Zhou Lei, this title was the perfect and most concise summary of the story he just wrote.

"Hehehe, let me look for it on the website..."

Zhou Lei searched up the title of the novel and one result popped up. It was his work.

"Wait, oh, I forgot about this..." Looking at the page for his novel in disappointment, Zhou Lei realized he overlooked something.

It was the cover.

The cover of his novel was the default used by Webnovel.com, that is to say, it was pure and utter garbage nobody should read.

If a novel had a cover like that, it would scream unprofessionalism to the readers, and make them think that the content is no better than the crappy cover.

Even though there was the rare novel that actually had good content despite having a cover like so, it would likely never manage to take off because of the subconscious prejudice against novels with covers like that.

Although, he has seen already some novels in the most popular page that had a cover like that...

"Hmm, maybe, if my novel thrives despite being in that condition, it would entice other readers to read it. Since it's on the popularity rankings without a cover, it must be a good novel!"

Zhou Lei closed his eyes and a grin formed on his face as he crossed his arms and nodded. This idea of his... was pretty genius.

"Once it reaches the peak... I should add the cover then."

Feeling satisfied, Zhou Lei turned off the computer and stood up from the chair. However, an unfamiliar feeling invaded the soles of his feet.

"Hmm...?!" Zhou Lei was puzzled at first. He then looked down on the floor, only to see that... the tiles that were previously there were all gone!

All that was left was the cement under the tiles...

Zhou Lei looked around the room. The whole floor was a mess. There were pieces of tiles littered everywhere, and patches of cement were exposed here and there.

He saw a figure working diligently at the corner of the room. It was his little sister, Zhou Zhenya.

Zhou Zhenya's clothes were covered in dust. Her hands were holding a tile piece while she chiseled it to make it look better, all the while having a ferocious glare on her face.

"What... what the heck?!" Zhou Lei was really dazed. Why was his little sister doing something like this?!

Zhou Lei tried to recall any events that happened before she started doing this.

"Hmm... oh!" Zhou Lei suddenly remembered something.

"So it's the books, huh?" Now, Zhou Lei was not looking at his little sister in puzzlement, but with envy plastered all across his face.

He was not over the matter just yet. She stole a bunch of books all worth $500 from him, and what's more, System was asking him for compensation!

He was really mad this time around.

Suddenly, as he was harboring these thoughts, a series of notifications rang out in his mind.