Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Noticing a bunch of his fans leaving the reader group, I’m The Best instantly felt terrible. Among the members who left, a couple of them happened to be loyal fans who had tipped him more than 100 RMB. He then switched his attention to the group conversation history:

“At first, I was so excited to know that Master Best had published six chapters at one go. I bet I’ll have a great time reading all of them! Well, that was my previous thought, but the moment I looked into the new chapters… is he writing jokes? Even the main character was dead, what else should I look forward to?”

“Exactly! Perhaps Master Best couldn’t figure out the upcoming plot, and that he just wrote it on a whim, and presented this book with such a horrible ending…”

“Sigh, I’m tired. I feel I was fooled by this trashy novelist. To protect my brain from further damage, I must leave the group now!”

“Ahh, me too. I won’t read his book anymore.”

“Let us all leave the group now! Plus, there isn’t any girl in this group at all. I can’t believe what had kept us staying for so long.”

“Leave group! Leave group! Leave group! Leave group!”

…

At this moment, I’m the Best felt like weeping, but he failed to shed a tear. Despite the rants, there was one thing which warmed his heart. The members who had clamoured to leave the group, were the ones who stayed along with him eventually, whereas the quiet members had left without a word. In fact, only a few members would discuss about the novel in the reader group. Apparently, they would talk everyday about anything else, as most of them had become good friends through the group. Well, if those chatterboxes left the group by now, they would probably feel something missing.

Oh well, not all the readers were that petty. They were not giving up the author completely just because he had spoiled one of his books. Bombarding him with bad names like “Drug Lord” might be possible, but their bodies remained truthful in all cases. If the readers were once again amused by the author’s new book, here comes another reading binge.

I’m the Best promptly explained himself in the group “My dear readers, I was awfully drunk last night. I’m terribly sorry for what I’ve written, even I myself could not tolerate that. I’ll delete all these chapters right away, and rewrite all of them! @AllMembers”

Very soon after his appearance in the group, the remaining active members jeered at him,

“Master Best, you are indeed talented! I’ve always made good guesses of the upcoming plots of any other novelists. But this time, it totally went beyond my prediction!”

“Why should you rewrite the whole thing? Isn’t there a tycoon who had tipped you a Sect Master after reading your masterpiece? Just carry on with your invincible tale of Super Side Character conquering the world.”

“There is no need to rewrite at all, wasn’t there a tycoon who has tipped you a Sect Master after reading such a plot? Just proceed with your invincible tale of a super Side Character conquering the whole world.”

“Oh, Master Best must have drunk some fake beer …”

…

After apologizing to the readers, I’m the best jumped back to his workspace. Before beginning his rework, a private mail was sent to “Youyue”, his very first Sect Master. He invited her to join his reader group, and wished that he was directly added to her QQ contacts. As for the final touch, he had not forgotten to ask for her sincere opinions regarding his works in future.

…

Later on, I’m the Best took a glance at the number of subscriptions for this book. Sure enough, the subscribers had decreased along with the release of his latest chapters. That made him sunk into depression. Indeed, it is pleasantful for a novelist to obtain a Sect Master, but only with the power of subscriptions, the novelist could achieve a continued success! Anyways, Sect Masters are mostly known for one-time businesses…

I’m the Best then started his worked frantically. Astonished to himself, he reckoned that his reworks were pretty dull and soulless. In contrast, those stories he made up the previous night seemed rather vivid, and that gave him a great sense of satisfaction. Unfortunately, that was merely a misconception. He had woken up to be amazed by the ridiculous writings of his own.

I’m the Best did not realize that he was able to produce such contents, which were entirely about a minor side character stirring up troubles in the story…

Very soon, Zhao Youyue saw the private mail sent by I’m the Best. Though she had tipped him a Sect Master, a piercing guilt had aroused her, as such she proceeded to add his QQ and subscribed to his reader group too.

I’m the Best was preoccupied with his rework, and so, he did not accept her friend request on QQ immediately. Anyway, her request to join the reader group was instantly accepted, as the reader group administrators, were none other than those superactive chatterboxes at the comments section.

Zhao Youyue’s QQ nickname was Youyue as well. Based on her information, she is a fifteen-year-old girl, if we are to follow the nominal age, she should be sixteen by now.

Her QQ account was set as the system-default coffee avatar, and since she was a new user, her QQ account level was very low.

Such an account, is fairly similar to one’s second account on QQ, of which the information is unreliable.

Zhao Youyue was showered by these messages upon her entry to the group:

“Welcome Newbie.”

“Welcome_to_enter_the_dress[1].jpg (Picture of a cute girl pulling up her dress)”

“Come, new member! Let us see your face and hear your voices!”

“What? The new member is… girl?”

“Impossible! By registering yourself a second account with the gender set as “female”, do you think that will make you a girl? Is it even possible for a girl to read a book like this?”

“New member, stop pretending. You must be just another man who loves scratching his legs. You’re furiously here to kill Master Best right after reading his latest chapters, aren’t ya!”

“This is highly possible! (Sniggering)”

“Wait, the new member’s account ID looks familiar…”

“Gosh, could this newbie be the new Sect Master of Master Best?”

“Probably, there won’t be such coincidence where both of them are named “Youyue”, right?”

“Say something, new member!”

…

Experiencing such dynamics within the group, she was extremely surprised. She had never joined any reader group like this. Instead, she had only joined those inactive classmates groups, in which people would rarely chat. At times some members would even post the hyperlinks to some random inexplicable websites. Guess what? Just because their QQ accounts were hacked.

People in this group typed with the speed of light. Before she managed to end her typings on the phone, a couple of messages had popped up on the screen.

At this very moment where she was forced to speak something, she felt as a teacher was calling her name, thus, she responded in a subconscious manner, “I’m here!”

Her response had brought more pleasure towards the group members.

“The newbie’s response is amusing. She’s so cute!”

“Hey newbie, come into papa’s arms!”

“Alright, now I’m pretty sure the newbie is a girl. No matter what’s her identity in real life, for those who would act cute on internet, aren’t they all girls?”

“Indeed, a big-c*ck cutie is awesome!”

“You bunch of fellars, stop harassing our new member.”

“Don’t underestimate him because he is new. Look at this! (An animation showing a husky which looks cute at first, but shows a sly smile in the end)”

“Anyway, isn’t this new member the tycoon Sect Master?”

…

Overlooking the responses from everyone, she giggled and her face blushed. Should anyone see her right now, he would be astounded by her cuteness!

Then, she affirmatively answered the question which had intrigued everyone. Was she really the Sect Master? Her answer sounded positive. In a split second, the group appeared to be livelier than ever. After confessing their admiration towards her for being a tycoon, everyone threw her another question at the same time. Why did she tip the novelist a Sect Master? Was it because he introduced a significant death scene in his latest chapters?

Translation Note:

1. In Chinese, the words “Dress 裙” and “Group 群” share the same pronunciation.