Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Zhao Youyue quietly screenshotted the replies from Su Li when she saw the decisive reply of Su Li who self-described herself as an old veteran towards the Sect Master. Furthermore, it was being done in front of approximately 1,600 fans and promised everyone that “Pure Romance” would have a great and prosper happy ending.

Actually, not only did Su Li make a promise in the group, she had also posted that on her Weibo with more than 500,000 followers. She claimed herself as a mangaka who would always put the readers before her because they were the ones supporting her livelihood. Her work would only bring joy to the readers ever but not some messed up stuffs.

This was probably because a lot of readers saw her merciless abusement on Xu Jing and were afraid that she would extend even further to the point of killing Xu Jing. Su Li certainly would not allow the readers she cared so much to have such worries, and therefore she used an extraordinarily speaking manner to express –

“I am not the Okamoto Lynn who was a female torture devil, nor am I Urobuchi Gen who loves to mistreat the popular characters, creating an ending where everyone is dead. ‘Pure Romance’ is still my maiden work and it is a relaxing, joyful, warm and comforting type of manga. After a slight abuse on Xu Jing, I can think of a phrase from a poem, ‘The rainbow only comes after the rain'[1]. I too like this character Xu Jing, or should say that I favor her quite a little, and this is why she will have a happy ending. Similarly, the ending of this manga will be a great one as well. Everyone will get their felicity. Tragedy? This doesn’t exists! Please don’t worry about this!”

After Su Li posted her Weibo post, certainly more and more “Pure Romance” readers liked the post and shared it everywhere. After all, most of the readers in this world were not masochists who loved those depressed series. Although the ending of comedies often does not show enough potent, and unable to leave strong impressions, but still most of the readers would certainly be glad to see this.

Furthermore, Su Li did not have much awareness to create an icon, she only wanted to produce a manga with high popularity, the ones that were able to bring her unmeasurable income. But actually, besides the top selling hot blooded kingcraft manga, for example “Dragon Ball” by Toriyama Akira, otherwise what kind of harem manga will be remembered by everyone? Indeed, such routine manga like “Pure Romance” was completely smacked down by the hot blooded kingcraft manga from the aspects of the theme.

Fans who followed Su Li on Weibo started to increase rapidly, they commented –

“I support you Su Li! Now I could fall for your manga without worries. Wish you get better and better at drawing this!”

“Su Li really has a great conscience. It’s so different from those son of a b*tches who legitimately take the readers by surprise!”

“For Master Su’s promise, I decided to tip a Sect Master!”

“Sorry, I used to be a pirated reader. But now, due to the honesty and integrity of Master Su, I decided to go for the genuine. Firstly I will subscribe all ‘Pure Romance’ online, and then purchase a whole set of manga booklet for collection! Of course, I will also purchase the figurines of ‘Xu Jing’!”

…

Seeing the rapid increase of the cohesion between the fans due to her promises, she showed a more dazzling smile on her face. Actually she did not understand why in the world would there be authors who could not even control their own plot and ended the story in tragedy.

Urobuchi Gen, which she mentioned earlier who was also known by the name “Uro the old warrior of love”, was said to suffer from “illness incapable of creating a Happy Ending”. His representative works were “Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer”, “Song of Saya”, “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”. Although in this world, “Fate/Zero” was still not created, but his “heart healing” style had already been engraved deeply in the mind of readers. Somehow he likes to add “ketchup” and “jelly plot” into a “seemingly beautiful love story” (for details please refer to “Song of Saya”, where eating human flesh is as easy as eating jelly.)

Most importantly, some commented that this illness would be suffered by any author if they faced the story cordially. Some overcame it and produced something with hope, while some confronted it and produced a story of their ideal. Both of this would lead to a different path, but there is no right or wrong no matter which side is chosen, as it only leads to a different result.

Actually, Su Li kind of despised that. Although she showed respect to the renowned scriptwriter from Japan, but she felt this illness was purely a delusion and there was no need to exaggerate. Anyway she would never give the readers a crappy storyline. As she mentioned before, she would rather eat crap if she actually did that!

…

Just as Su Li was determined with her creation ideas, Zhao Youyue quietly screenshotted all of her firm commitments on Weibo and were looking forward to the ending of “Pure Romance” to come.

In the world of “Pure Romance”, Xu Jing who was shifted on by Zhao Youyue finally woke up. She noticed herself lying on the hospital bed, and beside her was her best friend – Yang Xixi.

Yang Xixi knew about the family background of Xu Jing from the beginning but she never looked down on her. Instead, she always helped Xu Jing. In the dull and lonely life of Xu Jing, the existence of Yang Xixi was as if she was her mother, adding a small touch of colour within her.

Although Yang Xixi would always act overly dependent in front of her brother Yang Ming, and loved to snuggle up against him, but in front of Xu Jing, she was like a gentle elder sister. She would bring Xu Jing out for a meal whenever she had the opportunity, in hope to improve her diet. At the same time, Yang Xixi also treated Xu Jing as someone who was able to pour out her feelings. Thus, she had shared all the troubles of her love life to Xu Jing.

Xu Jing was rather the right person to confide to. She was not a talker but would always listen to Yang Xixi’s confession with a straight face. Seeing Xu Jing’s expression, Yang Xixi often ended up laughing when she saw Xu Jing trying her best to comfort her with some clumsy sentences. Although she was unable to bring any useful advice to Yang Xixi, this still helped Yang Xixi to move along her doubts and worries.

At the same time, Yang Xixi also relied on Xu Jing a lot in her studies. If there were any questions that she could not solve, she would turn to Xu Jing. The thing about Xu Jing was that when she explained about the test questions, she would speak in an enthusiastic way. As such, Yang Xixi would certainly understand her teachings. Both of them had already made a promise that they will attend the same senior high together and continue to be the best buddies.

At that moment, Yang Xixi noticed that “Xu Jing” finally woke up. She held her best friend and wept with tears of joy. This showed how deep her feelings for Xu Jing was.

“Xu Jing” felt the soft touch of Yang Xixi’s body and a pleasant smell from her. Suddenly, she felt an irresistible jealousy and anger. Why did Yang Xixi loved her faithless brother this much?

Couldn’t it be her?

She will actually do anything for Yang Xixi…

Quickly, “Xu Jing” dismissed her strange notion. Until one day, her mother left the world for good.

Translation note:

[1] 不经历风雨,怎能见彩虹– The rainbow only comes after the rain. A portion of a poem, bringing the meaning of a beautiful thing only comes after great challenge.