Honkai Impact 3rd: Join Anti-Entropy at the start and dominate the entertainment industry.

Her waist was no longer slender, and her hands were no longer soft.

She became stout, aggressive, her hair was haphazardly combed, her skirt was not straightened, and she spoke loudly.

Sometimes, Mathilde would sit by the window and recall how radiant she was at that ball.

Fate cruelly played a trick on her, turning her life upside down.

But having experienced the hardships of life, Mathilde has been transformed.

She feels relaxed and happier than ever before.

Upon seeing this, Xingqiu felt a surge of respect.

This poor couple actually did it. They paid so much to compensate the other party for a necklace: their house, their savings, and even high-interest loans.

Who is the author of Chapter 325?

"This is the price to pay for excessively pursuing a high-quality life. Just like some people who are willing to take on a 30-year mortgage to buy a house, their lives are ruined."

Xingqiu was filled with emotion. He felt that he had almost understood the story. It was about a vain woman who ruined her own life for her own selfish desires. The underlying message was to advise people to cherish the present and not to pursue things that are beyond their capabilities.

The underlying meaning and concept are quite good; in Xingqiu's opinion, this story is a decent work.

However, he felt that it was still slightly inferior to Qian Jian's previous work, "The Story of the Magi".

What's the difference?

The problem lies in the ending.

Xingqiu said with some regret, "If there had been a shocking twist at the end, that would have been Qianjian's style."

There aren't many stories left, so Xingqiu plans to finish reading them quickly before moving on to the next one.

One Sunday, Mathilde unexpectedly met Madame Forestier, the owner of the necklace from years ago.

She was still young and beautiful, while Mathilde had aged and looked haggard.

But Mathilde felt no jealousy or shyness. She stepped forward to greet her friend and explained the story of the necklace from years ago, as well as the hardships she had endured over the past ten years.

To everyone's surprise, Madame Forestier exclaimed, "Alas! Poor Mathilde, but my string of beads was fake, worth at most five hundred gold francs!"

The story ends abruptly.

It contains only 162 characters.

Xingqiu felt as if he had read an article of more than 10,000 words.

The contents of the document directly impacted the depths of his soul, leaving him completely bewildered.

The necklace was fake?

He guessed that the female lead would buy a fake necklace to return to the other party, but he never imagined that the necklace she lent out was actually a fake one!

For a fake necklace that costs only 500 gold francs, someone actually risked their entire life?

How ironic!

How absurd!

This

Xingqiu felt his mouth was dry, so he picked up the coffee next to him and drank it all in one gulp!

A bitter taste filled his mouth, and he suddenly widened his eyes and stood up abruptly!

This ending? This familiar feeling? This soul-stirring impact?

It's him!

That's right! it's him!

Thousand Swords!

He definitely wrote it!

After Xingqiu figured it out, he chuckled.

Even if you hide your name, a truly brilliant person cannot conceal their brilliance.

Without a second thought, he cast all three of his votes and selected "Thousand Swords" from the guess section.

"I'm sure this must be Qianjian's work!"

Xingqiu was very confident.

"No other endings have this powerful impact!"

Of course, just to be on the safe side, he continued to read the rest of the works at an accelerated pace. After reading them, Xingqiu was even more certain that this story, "The Necklace," was definitely written by Qianjian!

The discussions among readers have become increasingly heated.

"This novel is set in the 19th century and seems to be satirizing the heroine's vanity, but if you look closely, the characters in this novel all seem to live a decadent and extravagant life. They crave enjoyment, pursue material things, and all want to escape their current situation and join the upper class, but they often end up in even more tragic situations."

"A closer comparison reveals that the characters in this novel seem to have prototypes in today's society, and even some of their backgrounds closely match certain situations in contemporary society."

"It seems to be criticizing the old system of the big bourgeoisie in power, but isn't it actually using the past to satirize the present?"

This comment immediately caused a huge uproar.

"Holy crap, you really dare to say that! The author of this novel is really brave! Is this something that can be used for satire?"

"I'm completely in awe! There are plenty of vain people in our society these days! But if those people were in the situation in the novel, they probably wouldn't be as good as the female lead. At least she's brave and responsible!"

"That's absolutely true. Only those who have experienced it firsthand can truly empathize. Not everyone has the courage to take responsibility after causing such a huge disaster."

"The female lead's husband is also a real man. Even though his wife made such a big mistake, he was willing to help her pay off her debts. If it were now, he would probably have started writing the divorce papers long ago."

"Haha, it's like the saying goes, 'Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately,' right?"

Amidst the heated discussion, people became even more curious about the author of this novel.

Who on earth could write such a masterpiece?

"The ending of this novel has a 'Thousand Swords-style ending' feel to it, and Thousand Swords also participated in this event. Could it be his work?"

"It's hard to say. All the authors participating this time are very talented, and there are several works that use the 'Thousand Swords style ending.' We can't be 100% sure that this was written by Thousand Swords; it could be someone else."

"I think someone with this kind of writing skill must be a well-established and famous writer!"

"This writer's talent is beyond doubt. This novel is only a little over a thousand words long! To be able to conquer readers with just over a thousand words, the difficulty of that is self-evident. Without further ado, I'm casting all three votes for 'The Necklace'!"

"I've voted! I have to vote! There aren't many novels that can win me over. 'The Wolf' is one, 'The Gift of the Magi' is one, and now 'The Necklace' is another!"

"I'm already looking forward to it! When the author's name is revealed, I'll definitely take a close look to see who wrote this work! I'll become a fan immediately!"

""

Soon, as the number of readers' votes increased, "The Necklace" rightfully took the top spot!

Its massive number of votes firmly surpassed the second and third place, directly exceeding the second place by a large margin!

It's safe to say the outcome is already decided; there's hardly any suspense left!

Seeing this result, not only readers, but also writers in the industry are discussing it and are very curious!

"Holy crap? Who wrote this article? It's incredible!"

"I can't tell. Just looking at the writing style, it has the shadow of Qian Jian, but I can't be sure. After all, everyone has read 'The Gift of the Magi,' and it's not difficult to imitate that kind of ending."

"Could it be Old Lin? Hasn't he been working on the Thousand Swords ending lately? He even said he's made some progress?"

"It shouldn't be Lao Lin. Although he participated in the competition and his published article did use the 'Thousand Swords Style Ending,' he just asked me privately if I knew who wrote 'The Necklace.'"

Chapter 326 Young and Unaware of the Goodness of Rich Women

"Good grief, are you all keeping things to yourselves? The result is already decided, so why be modest? It's okay to just say it, isn't it?"

"They're all so cunning! Anyway, 'The Necklace' was definitely written by someone we know! 'Lin Yi' already said that the forty writers they invited are all very famous! We definitely know all the famous writers!"

"Have you asked the organizers? See if they can reveal anything?"

"I asked them, but the organizers kept their mouths shut and wouldn't say a word. They just said the truth would come out when the results came out."

"Then there's nothing we can do but wait for the results."

"The article 'The Necklace' is indeed of a very high standard. The plot is structured like a chain, with a necklace as the thread that unfolds the story. This structure can intuitively show the development of events, allowing readers to easily and naturally understand the development of the whole story. The details are very well-chosen and just right. What is even more commendable is that it uses the past to satirize the present, and fiercely criticizes the current social ills."

"Yes, it would be unforgivable not to cite this work as the number one masterpiece."

"Second and third place are not bad either. Did you notice that the top three all ended with the [Thousand Swords Style]?"

"Yes, the second one describes a person standing next to a luxury car with a key in his hand. Friends, relatives, teachers, and ex-girlfriends passing by all fawn over him and greet him warmly. Finally, the person presses the key, and the parking lot barrier next to him starts moving. It's both humorous and ironic."

"The third place is also good. It tells the story of a group of people who went through a lot of trouble to save a dog that had fallen into a pit. They used countless resources and tried all sorts of methods. In the end, they even called a crane. But the dog just jumped out on its own. I couldn't help but laugh so hard."

"Haha, uh, why can't we come up with a work like this?"

Upon hearing this, all the writers fell silent.

The "Thousand Swords Style Ending" is indeed good, but they haven't written a truly satisfactory work.

It's just embarrassing.

The article "The Necklace" turned Lin Yi's event into a guessing game with a grand prize, as people vied to choose the author they thought was most likely.

While everyone was having a heated discussion, Bai Qianqu arrived at the entrance of Changkong University.

As one of the world's top universities, Changkong University has a magnificent main gate. In front of the gate is a large square with stone pillars on both sides. The bas-reliefs carved on them are very exquisite and can be seen to be the work of a master.

Bai Qianqu glanced at it casually.

Changkong University was originally named Changkong Art School. It was founded three hundred years ago. Its first principal was a very famous master artist at the time. Under his and the subsequent principals' hard work, Changkong Art School has cultivated many outstanding artists, including several famous masters. Today, Changkong University is a world-renowned cradle of artists, and many famous artists teach here.

Gretchen was a specially admitted student in the art program here.

He came here today to pick up Gretchen and take her to the studio, and also to help her carry some things over.

Gretchen mentioned last time that she wanted to add some things to the studio, and now that she has everything ready, she can take it all with her.

Outsiders are not allowed to enter or leave Changkong University without permission; they must be accompanied by a student from the university.

Bai Qianqu has already messaged Gretchen; she'll come out and take her inside in a little while.

There were many young people in the square at this time, most of whom were students from Changkong University.

When Bai Qianqu appeared, she immediately attracted the attention of many people.

As a school that thrives on art, Changkong University is not lacking in handsome men and beautiful women, but it is obvious that someone like Bai Qianqu is very rare, especially the kind of temperament he exudes, which is both artistic and languid, making him very attractive to young girls.