Lovely Writing System

22 Understanding The System

(A/N: Sorry for not posting for the last four days! You might have already seen it on my profile page but I had to prepare something for an appointment I had for my job yesterday and it took a really long time. But now, I'm back to writing LWS again! I'll try to hurry up a bit so that you'll get some more chapters in the next days 😉)

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Su Yan waited with bated breath for the result the Lovely Writing System would compute.

[Processing complete. Calculated compatibility of the chosen couple: 0%]

Su Yan's eyes widened. 0%? How could that be?! That was ... Well, it wasn't like he had never gotten 0% before but it was really an awful score. So, his system wasn't gay?

Su Yan pursed his lips. That was actually good news. But then ... Why was his score with Nie Chang so high? Were they really just very compatible? That couldn't be! They were both men!

Or maybe the system added some points because he was part of the possible pairing? Like, the one who got a system in novels was always the protagonist who had his protagonist halo. So, maybe all pairings including him would have a high rating?

Su Yan tried to justify his score this way. Yes, that must be it! Mn ... He should do one final test.

He thought of himself and then pondered which man he knew that he thought should get a high score but had gotten a low score. If that guy got a high score with him, then the reason was definitely that he was the owner of the Lovely Writing System.

The one who came to mind was Li Ming out of all people. Before that thing with the forced kiss had happened he had thought that Li Ming was pretty decent. He could very well be the second male lead of a novel. When he thought about it a little deeper he might even have a chance of being the first male lead if it was a story about childhood sweethearts or something like that. He never would have thought that it might turn out this way.

The system didn't care for Su Yan's inner turmoil and just started to work: [Processing answer.]

[Processing complete. Calculated compatibility of the chosen couple: 64%]

Whoa! Su Yan stared in disbelief at the rating. What was happening here? This was the third highest score the system had computed! And once again it was between two men! He had hoped this wouldn't happen. Even if it might be because he was the one who owned the system, it wasn't nice to always be paired up with other men.

Su Yan lowered his phone and pondered.

That boy who had dressed up as a girl at least looked girly. In a novel, that middle-aged man might fall in love with him, then find out that he was, in fact, a boy, then go through some intense struggling before finally deciding that gender didn't matter for him after he was already so much in love. It would be a modern plot with a bit of drama and a lot of sweet moments. At the end of the book, people probably wouldn't know what to think anymore. Was it alright for two men to be together? Who knew? It would certainly look like that after reading that novel!

Between himself and Nie Chang, the rating could be explained because they were best friends. If they weren't compatible with each other, then they certainly wouldn't be this close for all these years, would they? The system had just mistakenly translated that kind of compatibility into one needed in relationships.

But Li Ming and he ... That was entirely impossible. So, it could only be his protagonist halo that produced this result. Yes, it had to be this way.

Su Yan nodded in satisfaction. He had finally figured it out!

Actually, he knew that these thoughts were pure nonsense. If it was as easy as that, how could all the other low scores be interpreted? But he didn't want to face this gay system of his for now. He'd just pretend for a while longer that he didn't understand.

Since nobody was around he couldn't do anything regarding this 'special task' or whatever. He should have a look at the main task instead.

Su Yan opened his notebook and opened that novel again. The basic storyline was easily summarized: The son of the Heavenly Emperor had to descend to the mortal world because he still hadn't faced the customary trial. There was another god who was tasked with writing this trial, like some sort of fate he would be facing as a mortal. Everything was good until there but unfortunately that Heavenly Crown Prince had a lover who was a dragon. Since the different races didn't know much about each other that dragon didn't understand what the trial was for and just felt bad for the Crown Prince. He followed him into the mortal world and thanks to him everything became a disaster.

Through the novel was slightly funny, with lots of absurd things happening, Su Yan could only wrinkle his nose at the plot. Wouldn't readers expect the Crown Prince and his lover to talk about the trial beforehand? How was this story even slightly believable?!

Su Yan didn't know what to make of it. He wasn't sure if he could have come up with such a plot or the characters and setting that were used but he felt like he definitely would have been able to write a better story!

Just look at the first volume! The Crown Prince-turned-mortal was a total shut-in who was way too dependent on his mother. He couldn't even handle when his father took him to the forest for some hours and instantly started crying! Granted, he was only a child at that point in the novel but wouldn't readers expect a more outstanding protagonist?

And that lover of his ... Su Yan could only shake his head when thinking of it. Because the guy was jealous of the kids surrounding the Crown Prince he told him a bunch of lies and plotted against the girls. This was nuts! Why were people reading something like that?!

Su Yan really couldn't understand. He also didn't know how to fulfill the system's requirement of writing a 'romantic encounter' for this kind of story. Never mind that the two were men, one of them was a child for the complete first volume and only became fifteen years old some chapters into the second volume. It might be an age suitable for romance if one considered that the novel had a historical touch but the story only seemed to become stranger. How was this the cultivation story the author promised in the synopsis?

After reading for so many hours to make a good job at his first assignment from the system Su Yan had felt a bit cheated and not just because the main pairing consisted of two men.

No, he definitely wouldn't write about these two! The task hadn't detailed who should have the romantic encounter. He would just take a normal pair to write his scene!

Hmph, watch me!

Su Yan opened his text editor and started typing away.