There are thousands of magazine publishers across Huaguo. Among the major periodicals are 'Reader's Digest', 'Kindred Spirits', 'Youth Literature and Art', 'The Informed', and 'Story Forest'.
Top-tier magazines include 'Legends of the Ages', 'Folk Tales', 'Jiangmen Literature and Art', and 'Thinkers of the World'.
These magazines all have notable sales records. In addition, there are niche magazines like supernatural-themed magazines, historical magazines, wuxia magazines, light novel magazines, traditional literature magazines, photography magazines, national geography magazines, travel magazines, railway magazines, and aviation magazines.
Since niche magazines generally don't reach the same sales volumes, they're categorized as minority-interest publications.
But a niche has its advantages. Though the sales may be low, the readers are extremely loyal. Some fans of these magazines have subscribed for decades. For this reason, magazines that don't seem especially popular in the mainstream market, like 'Suspense World', 'Midnight Talk', 'Thriller Weekly', and 'Supernatural No. 1', manage to survive. In fact, 'Suspense World', the leader among supernatural-themed publications, is doing quite well. Over more than ten years, the magazine has not only developed a distinctive style but has also launched the careers of many well-known supernatural writers.
Right now, another round of supernatural-themed magazines was being distributed throughout Huaguo.
Because most magazines are either monthly, semi-monthly, or weekly, their release schedules often overlap. It was Monday, and all kinds of weekly magazines were being displayed at newsstands in middle schools across the country.
Indeed, whether mainstream or niche, students, especially middle school students, are the primary readership of these magazines.
"I'll take a copy of 'Reader'."
"I want 'Thinker'. Give me a copy."
"Boss, is the new issue of 'Story Forest' in yet?"
During the lunch break, groups of students quickly surrounded the small newsstand, scrambling to grab their favorite publications.
Of course, among them, 'Reader's Digest', 'Youth Literature and Art', 'Thinker', and 'Story Forest' were the perpetual favorites. But outside of these, supernatural-themed magazines also had a strong following in schools. It wasn't just boys who liked them; even the girls enjoyed them.
As a result, students also picked up copies of 'Suspense World', 'Thriller No. 1', 'Midnight Talk', and others.
At Xiaojiang Middle School.
Most of the students who had bought magazines were now back in their classrooms, eager to read them all in one sitting.
"Xie Yanping, why did you buy 'Midnight Talk' again? I heard that the magazine is about to shut down."
Classmate Zhou Wen, holding a copy of 'Reader's Digest', shook his head at Xie Yanping. "Seriously, why read something like that instead of a good magazine like 'Reader's Digest'? These supernatural mags are all scary and have no literary value. If the teacher catches you reading one in class or during evening study, it's guaranteed to be confiscated. But with something like 'Reader', even if you're caught reading during evening study, the teacher won't say a word."
Seeing that his advice wasn't having any effect, Zhou Wen continued.
"Come on, Xie Yanping, give it some thought. If you're going to read supernatural stories, at least go for 'Suspense World'. Look at Zhu Songbin, he always buys 'Suspense World'. He says that next month, supernatural master Zhang Yun is going to serialize a new horror novella there. Seriously, you should start buying 'Suspense World' and quit wasting time on a magazine no one even reads like 'Midnight Talk'."
After all that, Xie Yanping finally looked up from the magazine he was devouring. "I've been reading it for years. It's a habit."
"Alright, fine. It's up to you. But I still think you should switch. Once I'm done with 'Reader', I'll let you borrow it. I'm sure once you read it, you'll be hooked on all the life lessons inside. And then, just like them, you'll be on the path to success."
Zhou Wen was a die-hard fan of 'Reader's Digest', buying it religiously every issue. One of the magazine's key sections was called Life Lessons. True to its name, it talked about life and philosophy and had an incredibly strong brainwashing effect. Or maybe not brainwashing, since these articles did promote positive energy. That's why many readers, once they started reading 'Reader', found themselves completely absorbed in its world of life philosophy.
Even though Zhou Wen had no connection to the magazine, as a loyal fan, he often tried to convert others to his camp.
"Sure, after I finish reading 'Midnight Talk', I'll check out your 'Reader'."
Xie Yanping didn't fully agree, but he didn't reject it either. It wasn't like he'd never read 'Reader' before. He just didn't like it. Actually, "didn't like" was putting it mildly; he downright hated it. Yes, what Xie Yanping hated most was the Life Lessons section in 'Reader's Digest'. Those so-called philosophies, preaching endlessly. Who didn't already know those things? Yet out of the hundreds of millions of people in Huaguo who had read 'Reader', how many actually became successful?
So to him, 'Reader's Digest' was a terrible magazine. Instead of letting it brainwash him with high-sounding moral lessons, he'd rather read his favorite supernatural stories. At least those didn't preach or moralize. They just told a story, and Xie Yanping liked stories.
That's what he thought, but he didn't say it aloud. He just buried himself once again in his copy of 'Midnight Talk'.
As he read, he let out a small sigh.
He knew very well that 'Midnight Talk', which had been around for over a decade, was on its last legs. Just like the supernatural stories in the magazine, though dozens were published every week, not a single one had managed to capture his interest. Even the featured piece by the supernatural master "San Yue" failed to impress him.
Still, he kept reading 'Midnight Talk' out of a sense of loyalty.
Even if the stories were getting worse and the content was running dry.
The last story.
After quickly finishing all the previous supernatural stories, Xie Yanping felt more disappointed than ever.
He had actually been looking forward to issue 300, hoping it would feature some heavy-hitting stories. That hope had been fueled by the teaser at the end of issue 299. But once again, he was let down.
It wasn't the first time.
Maybe he really should take Zhou Wen's advice and switch to 'Suspense World'.
He had wanted to subscribe to 'Suspense World' for a long time. Back then, when it went head-to-head with 'Midnight Talk', Xie Yanping had been on the 'Midnight Talk' side, and his side had won. So he became a loyal reader and refused to touch 'Suspense World'. But as the saying goes, tides turn with time. What used to be a fierce rival was now far beyond 'Midnight Talk' reach.
Oh well, thinking about it wouldn't change anything. It was just the nature of magazine competition.
Once he finished reading this last story, he'd start reading 'Suspense World' instead.
'Midnight Talk', my old friend, I hope you won't hold it against me.
Strange Tales.
The final story in this issue was titled 'Strange Tales'. Xie Yanping didn't exactly know what Strange Tales meant.
Still, even without knowing, those two characters stirred something in him.
It felt a bit like reading Tang poetry or Song lyrics; there was something deeply resonant about it.
Strange Tales. Strange Tales.
He mouthed the words quietly, and a small smile crept across his face.
No matter how the story turned out, just those two characters gave him a good feeling.
He temporarily set aside the title and continued reading.
'Strange Tales: Biting a Ghost' was a short story, probably just over a thousand words.
He finished reading it quickly.
The story was about sleep paralysis, a ghost pressing on someone in their sleep. Nothing particularly special, not the least bit scary. In fact, he felt the story was too cliché. In today's world, a good supernatural story should be terrifying, suspenseful, and thrilling. Aside from the poetic title, the whole piece felt flat, with no climax at all.
But just as he closed the magazine, feeling a mix of reluctance and vague hope, he realized something strange.
That story he had just read, 'Strange Tales', wouldn't leave his mind.
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