I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

When Carter entered the office, the West Coast Division's public affairs tab had already surged to the top of the back-end homepage.

This has never happened before.

While Weiguang allows users to discuss news and public issues, the platform's real advantage always lies in literature, art, and long-form content.

The number of active users in the public affairs section is less than one-fifth of that in the literature section.

Starting last night, a large number of new accounts bypassed the literature recommendation page and entered "Running for Governor" directly from the election channel, local news, and university forums.

Some people only read the few paragraphs that were quoted.

After reading the entire book, some people went on to look for "The Old Man and the Sea".

Many people registered for WeLight for the first time just to view policy documents released by Elias Reid a few months ago.

Carter stopped in front of his desk.

On the light screen, a temporary data report has been completed.

Of the new readers of "Running for Governor", only 27 percent were originally active in the literature section.

The remaining visits were mostly from public affairs, news commentary, legal research, and local communities.

The most common external citations below a work are no longer book reviews.

The Sequoia State fact-checking account is citing it.

Scholars who study journalism ethics cite it.

Even in the explanatory notes of several local media outlets, a seemingly unrelated sentence has begun to appear:

The following materials have been verified and do not constitute anonymous allegations in the "thirty-four witnesses" style.

That line of explanation clearly carried a hint of self-deprecation, yet it was quickly adopted by other media outlets.

Carter glanced at it for a moment before continuing to flip through the report.

After the publication of "The Old Man and the Sea", the West Coast section of the Welsh Light magazine also experienced a surge in popularity.

Those who flocked in that time were mostly port residents, marine workers, and ordinary readers who hadn't opened a literary page in many years.

They rekindled their conversations about ocean currents, fishing boats, and long-forgotten memories because of a book.

Carter had thought that was the limit of what literature could achieve in relation to reality.

But "Running for Governor" didn't evoke any memories for anyone.

It changes the language that people are using right now.

An editor walked into the office and projected several urgent emails onto the public screen.

"The Redwood State Election Commission asked us whether we would accept a candidate purchasing an artwork with an associated label."

Carter looked up.

Which side?

"I asked both sides."

The office fell silent for a moment.

Immediately, someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Carter smiled, but quickly shook his head.

"I don't accept it."

"The 'Running for Governor' page is not associated with any candidate, does not add real-world labels, and does not accept campaign redirects."

The editor nodded and made a note of it.

"Several media outlets also want to buy comment section data to analyze voter attitudes."

"Only public data interfaces are provided."

Carter said:

"Private reading records and user profiles will not be made public."

The editor hesitated for a moment.

"This batch of data is very valuable."

"Therefore, it is even more important not to sell."

Carter looked at the still-growing visit curve.

Once Weiguang starts judging which candidate a user prefers based on their reading history and then selling the conclusions to the campaign team, it becomes not much different from the newspapers in novels that fabricate conclusions for different camps.

Weiguang was able to gain a lot of traffic from this incident.

But if the platform takes one more step in either direction, the most important distance between the novel and reality will disappear.

Only now did Carter truly understand why Yu Wen set the story more than two hundred years ago.

It's not about escaping reality.

It is precisely because it is far removed from reality that the things in the story will not be taken over by a particular state, a particular party, or a particular candidate.

It didn't speak for anyone.

Therefore, everyone can use it to judge others.

Whether the author will eventually see himself is not something he can decide.

A notification sound suddenly came from the other end of the office area.

An editor in charge of copyright matters looked up.

"There are new applications again."

"The Center for Political Communication Studies at Sequoia State University hopes to include 'Running for Governor' in its public communication case studies this semester."

The West Coast Press Association has applied to hold a public discussion.

"Another law firm wants to confirm whether citing 'suspicious silence' in court would constitute a copyright issue."

After the last email was read, laughter filled the office once again.

Carter rubbed his temples.

Tell them that quoting a single sentence is free.

"The premise is that it's not included in defamatory material."

The editor sent out the reply and then retrieved another document.

"These are interview requests."

Carter hadn't paid any attention to it at first.

Every time Yu Wen publishes a new work, a large number of media outlets want to interview him.

The lists for literary columns, publishing houses, and cultural channels usually don't change much.

This time, however, the document stretched for a full four pages.

Literary media is not at the top of the list.

Instead, it includes public news channels, election observation programs, media ethics forums, and several comprehensive media outlets covering multiple regions.

One of the Sequoia State local channels wanted Yu Wen to clarify whether he supported Reed.

Another organization wanted to question whether "Running for Governor" constituted intentional interference in real elections.

Some people even wrote their interview outlines more directly:

Should an author from the Eastern region be held responsible for the shifts in public opinion during the West Coast election?

Carter's gaze lingered on that sentence for a few seconds.

He wasn't surprised.

When a novel is still in the literature section, people only judge whether it is well-written or not.

When it actually becomes a reality, the first reaction is often not praise, but questioning whether the author should bear responsibility.

Carter moved applications that clearly showed a political stance aside and filtered out several channels that relied on editing controversial statements to attract traffic.

The remaining list is still very long.

The editor asked:

"Transfer them all to the Eastern Region?"

"I'll tidy it up and then send it out."

Carter said:

"Please indicate the nature of the program, the live broadcast method, and the full interview duration. If the outline has been modified at the last minute, please also indicate this."

He did not decide for Yu Wen whether or not to accept an interview.

But at least the other party should know who is sitting on the other side of the camera.

Half an hour later, the list was finally reduced to twenty-five companies.

At the top is a cross-regional public news channel.

It did not ask Yu Huashi which candidate he supported, nor did it ask him to predict the outcome in Redwood State.

The interview topic consisted of only one line:

When a novel becomes reality, should the author be held responsible for the changes it causes?

Carter read the document and sent it out.

Meanwhile, in a study in the Eastern region, Yu Wen's terminal lit up softly.

Carter has forwarded you an interview request.