My Extraordinary Achievements

Chapter 24: Men Who Use Umbrellas Are Handsome Too

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

BeeBuzzBuzz was Xiao Ti’s loyal fan, so he had heard of his new book “Floating Dream in a Millenium” long ago. Now, upon hearing that the illustrations were done by a friend he knew, his heart was pumping with excitement.

“Um, I don’t know Xiao Ti.”

Meng Fan explained to him painstakingly.

“Oh, I see, that means you’re hot sh*t!” Bee stopped for a while, then said happily, “If that’s the case, my bro can consider increasing your pay. I’ll message you in a sec.”

Meng Fan was the illustrator for Xiao Ti’s new book. Bee had an advantage now, it seemed. At least he had the qualifications and trustworthiness to negotiate a salary.

It didn’t take long before Bee responded on WeChat, “My bro is willing to pay you 1500 a week for no less than 10 illustrations, with more than half of them in color. He will pay you every week before the drawings are submitted. Once paid, he expects no less than 5 drawings within the next three days and all drawings should be submitted within five days. If you can’t continue to work with him, both ends must communicate that one week in advance. What do you think?”

He didn’t mention the consequences for breaching a contract. After all, this was a small business, and with Bee as the middleman, nobody will give him too much trouble.

Meng Fan had no objection to the price, as it was around 150 HXB per drawing. Generally, students from the academy would not receive such good pay. Of course, based on Meng Fan’s current drawing skills, the author was getting a great deal. But he had no exposure—even after illustrating Xiao Ti’s new book.

Of course, if everything went according to plan, Meng Fan could easily finish ten drawings within half a day. This meant he would be making 1500 HXB a day, which to Meng Fan was no small feat.

“The price is ok, but I have two requests.”

Regarding the pay, Meng Fan did not have any issue. Even if he hadn’t been reborn or had a system, Meng Fan didn’t see himself as someone who mulled over money during his life. The only thing he wanted to gain from this was some exposure on his live stream.

“First, I will draw some of his illustrations on a live stream, as I might not have time to draw them. Second, whenever he posts a picture on social media he must credit me and link my stream. I am just looking to promote my stream. Can you ask him that for me?”

“That’s a good idea, hold on.”

Not long after, Bee replied, “He said he’s got no problem with you streaming it, as long as when you draw, you can indicate the source for the character, which happens to be his book. But if you could, don’t draw all of them during your stream, at least save two or three. Regarding your credits, he will naturally do so, as nowadays copyright is crucial. But as for linking your stream channel, it won’t be possible to link one under each drawing he posts, but he could link it twice a week at most. Uhm… Hehe. His advertisement fee is really not cheap.”

“Also, he says if you are willing to collaborate, he will recommend you in his book as a friendship feature. Of course, it is not good to indicate your online handle. Probably just means if fans want to watch your stream they’ll have to search your name online. I think this is a good deal; his book has already collected 100,000 HXB, not including his other genres.”

“Tight! I will try my best to draw for him, and fast too.”

This kind of collaboration was very cost-effective for Meng Fan, so he happily accepted the offer.

Bee quickly sent the author’s contact info to Meng Fan. “FlatHeadBro”. Added and approved.

“Thanks for agreeing.”

FlatHeadBro messaged him as he transferred 1500 HXB to Meng Fan.

“Thank you as well.”

Meng Fan accepted the money.

Afterward, neither end spoke another word.

Meng Fan told Bee he had received the money and for him to send the name of the novel.

“I’ll have something to do during class this afternoon.”

Meng Fan read web novels as well, mostly on the QiDian APP he had downloaded on his phone. He mostly read Otaku style novels, but occasionally picked out some fantasy and sci-fi books for a change of taste. Previously, he had never heard of FlatHeadBro.

He searched the title ‘Rampage and Repair the World’ and looked at it briefly.

Totalling 820,000 words, 35 million clicks, 1.9 million recommendations…

These numbers were way higher than any of the books he read there.

As for how high it really was, Meng Fan did not delve into the rankings.

The main prompt of this book was about a guy similar to himself entering a fictional realm and the stories that followed.

After reading through his class, Meng Fan could confirm that the author was a world builder, for he had created a comprehensible class and world system that was very reasonable and innovative. This made Meng Fan want to continue reading, despite his disinterest in oriental fantasy and deity type novels.

The protagonist’s name was Yuan Chong, who was as famous as his name was. He had a hard and strong personality, similar to the pen name of the author, FlatHeadBro. Regardless of life and death, he was willing to fight, no matter who it was against.

With a personality like that, he found conflict everywhere he went in this realm. There was a lot of bloodshed and violence, but also many incidences that made people cry with laughter.

This author’s penmanship was not bad; he could write with real vigor and humor.

Many jokes were laid out subtly, and once people caught on it, they would find themselves bursting out in laughter.

Another great feature was that the fight scenes were very graphic and stimulating.

It was shortly past 3 pm when Meng Fan’s class ended, with the sun still burning bright outside. The tough guys from his class who were too embarrassed to use an umbrella began the process of “umbrella share” with their girl classmates. They were under one umbrella, and hitting two birds with one stone.

Chen Da Qiang and Xing Ta Ge were two loyal customers of the ‘umbrella share’ procedure.

Newly hitched Zhang Zhou Wei saved the trouble of this and happily sleezed next to Wang Ya Nan as they entered the heat.

With Meng Fan’s body type, it was impossible to share an umbrella with anyone. Not just girls, for even the guys would refuse him too. What could he do then? Walk back under the glaring sun, or put on his headband and cool down for a bit?

Wearing a headband without running seemed a bit excessive.

He just used an umbrella himself.

Meng Fan took out an umbrella from his backpack that he had bought some time ago but was too embarrassed to use. After his confession fever, his skin had gotten thicker and found no hesitation when he sprung the parasol open.

It was red, with the text “Men Who Use Umbrellas Are Handsome Too”.

After opening it, Meng Fan looked around at the guys and girls who were using umbrellas. There wasn’t anyone more prude than him.

“Uhm…”

Just as an idea formed, a legendary figure emerged from next door. It was then that Meng Fan knew what a King was.

A book box!

This legend had walked out with a book box!

What was a book box?

Simply put, it was a portable bookshelf. Historically, scholars who traveled to visit colleagues or to far away exams would carry their books in a book box.

The box normally had an awning that stuck out of it, so when carried on one’s shoulders, it just covered the head enough to block out sunlight and rain.

Still didn’t understand?

To be educated in this, one must read ‘A Chinese Ghost Story’. The character Ning Cai Chen wore one of those.

“That’s so badass!”

In contrast, Meng Fan felt like he was scum.

His poser skills were still way below the gods that roamed this college.

He had to learn from them!

Meng Fan quietly stepped into the hot sun and felt the ground baking, which made himself speed up.

Once he returned to the dormitory, he immediately switched on the air conditioner and the fan. He plugged his phone into a portable battery. He found a comfortable position and went straight back to reading the novel.

Meng Fan was not slow at reading, and by five o’clock he had already finished reading the public portion of the novel. After subscribing, he read a few more chapters with his VIP status, then stopped.

One was because he was out of time. Two was because he had a good grasp of what the novel was about, so his next step would be to extract the style characteristics and formulate the character designs.

At six o’clock he changed into his sportswear and headed for the track while the black magic running shoes attached to his regular shoes. He warmed up and began to run, finishing 5 kilometers in just 40 minutes.

“Beep! Your total mileage has reached 60 kilometers. You’ve completed Task Phase 3 of [Travelling Deity]. Reward: Points +50, speed +1.”