Chapter 703: More And More Confusing
Translator: Yunyi Editor: Yunyi
"Evidence?" Song Xin sipped her coffee casually at home, "I would like to see what evidence Hai Rui can produce."
She assumed that her plan was perfect. At least, for those outside the industry, she did not expect them to see any flaws.
Unfortunately, the people she was up against were Mo Ting and Tangning.
The author of 'The Tracker' felt a little guilty, so he called Song Xin for help. But, Song Xin told the man calmly, "Don't worry, Hai Rui won't be able to produce any evidence. As long as you stick to your guns, Hai Rui can't do anything to us."
"But...this matter involves my hands..."
"There are no buts."
Song Xin assumed that the other party didn't know she was the mastermind behind the entire incident. Otherwise, why were they so anxious? This was where Song Xin was smart; she knew how to stay out of the main focus of the battle. Even if the truth was to be exposed, she knew she'd walk away unscathed without anyone drawing any relation back to her.
Plus, she was confident that everything was just a part of Hai Rui's PR scheme. After all, didn't Hai Rui always handle matters in this way?
However, the author was a lot more anxious than Song Xin. He had bet his own two hands on this matter. If Hai Rui actually produced evidence, what was he to do?
The public paid close attention to the progression of the incident; they especially wanted to know if Hai Rui could produce evidence. Wasn't the contract for 'The Tracker' already conclusive evidence? Did they actually have something that was more conclusive?
What a joke!
It was impossible!
Everyone waited for the arrival of 7pm, especially the screenwriters and authors that teamed up to boycott 'The Lost Relative'. They were filled with righteous indignation and were ready to swallow Elder Wu alive. But, if Hai Rui actually produced evidence...
...what was to happen to their pride?
...
Time passed, one second at a time. It felt extremely slow, but the time everyone was waiting for eventually arrived.
During this period of time, no other news was more attractive than Hai Rui's announcement that they'd be presenting evidence.
"Stop going in circles Hai Rui! Hurry and show us what you've got!"
"Hai Rui, stop playing with our emotions. It's already one minute past 7pm."
"Where's the evidence? Was it all a lie?"
Not long after, Hai Rui's official website released a PR statement filled with their findings; it composed of 9 whole pages of solid evidence.
Within the PR statement, Hai Rui quoted all the sections within 'The Tracker' that were inconsistent and explained, "An author's writing style should remain the same. The terms, the phrases, the punctuations and tone used, should be consistent. But, please look at this 540,000 word novel. Within 'The Tracker', there exists a few different writing styles. Perhaps, the author is schizophrenic?"
"I'm sure fans of reading novels can immediately spot the differences. If the author isn't schizophrenic, how did he produce this result?"
At this point, Hai Rui used the remaining 8 pages to point out inconsistencies and other flaws within the novel.
Hai Rui was letting everyone look at the findings first, so they could interpret it in their own way. They wanted them to trust that Hai Rui were presenting them with real evidence and that they weren't just making random accusations.
Didn't they ask for evidence?
Hai Rui was giving it to them!
Because Hai Rui did not give a definitive answer, those that paid attention to the incident, quickly went online to look at the evidence.
Before they looked at it, they did not have any doubts. But, as soon as they looked at it, they questioned why the same novel would have 5-6 different styles of expression.
Oh God!
"I originally thought Hai Rui were trying to play tricks. But, I never expected them to be so detailed as to actually show us screenshots as evidence."
"The author can't deny this. Hai Rui took screenshots directly from the web novel site and the web address and date are clearly shown. It can't be faked."
"Woah, what a shocking turn of events! The author is crazy, this is obviously written by 5-6 different people."
"Is the author mentally ill?"
"Before the author claims that others are plagiarizing him, he should first step out and explain why his novel was written by 5-6 different people."
"It seems Hai Rui has been very serious in looking for evidence. They even discovered something as detailed as this."
"This evidence from Hai Rui is awesome! It seems, they've paved the path for a faceslap!"
This was Hai Rui's intelligence. They did not immediately reveal their trump card. Instead, they created an illusion that Hai Rui could produce any evidence possible and that they were merely leaving the author and supporters of the author with a bit pride.
"8pm. We will answer everyone's questions and explain why there were 5-6 different writers," Hai Rui left everyone hanging.
The truth felt close. And because of this, opinions began to sway.
Those that were certain that Elder Wu had plagiarized, those that angrily scolded him and practically pushed him to end his life, were no longer as certain as before. If there was nothing wrong with the author, he wouldn't have gotten 5-6 different writers to help him write his novel.
Plus, no one had even heard of this novel before. Was there a need to find so many other writers?
All this information indicated that there were more unknown secrets yet to be revealed.
"This whole thing is becoming more and more confusing!"
"The author's evidence doesn't seem fake, but Hai Rui's evidence is also real. I went to read 'The Tracker' and found that the novel was exactly as it appeared in Hai Rui's screenshots; there are parts that are extremely incoherent. It's obvious that it was written by multiple people."
"I really want to know the truth. What is this all about?!"
Faced with the reactions from the public, the author went from feeling panic to guilt.
He knew, not only would this incident put him to shame, he was also going to lose his hands because of it!
But, there were still a few people that stubbornly supported him.
"Even if there is a problem with the author, it doesn't mean that Elder Wu did not plagiarize."
"That's right. At most, this will simply prove that the author isn't an honest person either. Every industry has its injustices; it's a normal occurrence!"
"Hold your horses, Hai Rui said that they'd reveal everything at 8pm. Everyone needs a bit of time to look through the evidence. Do you think you're a God and that everything you assume is right?"
All of a sudden, the internet was filled with conflicting opinions. But, it was clear that Hai Rui's first step was a success. Even so, Tangning's motive was not to simply punish the author - she also wanted to tear apart the mastermind behind the entire incident.
However, Song Xin did not make an appearance from beginning to end. How were they to prove her involvement?
Tangning wasn't going to let Song Xin remain so lucky.
She was definitely going to find a chance to catch her out!