Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

 Difference of Opinion

Zhao Youyue was also playing the newly released DLC of “Tale of Wuxia 3: Swords of the Future.” Of course, she was also live streaming it. However, she was obviously not as crazy as Wu Shun about the game. Even so, she still advanced the quests fairly quickly.

She still played as the pious monk – Ah Guang. Naturally, she chose to spare the mini-boss bandit who had the face of an old farmer. Due to this, she offended the officer of the Kingdom of Zhao, which increased the difficulty of her future quests from the main storyline.

It would have been a crippling crutch to most players. That mini boss was actually a citizen of the anonymous city. One day, if the nameless girl ever learned that the player and the officer had worked together to kill someone from the anonymous city, her favorability towards the player would understandably plummet. This was probably another one of Zha Feng’s small evil tricks. It would not be so ‘small’ to some of the players who were completely focused on increasing the nameless girl’s favorability towards them. It was the greatest form of torture that one could concoct!

If this small boss that appeared at the beginning was related to the nameless girl in some way, or if the nameless girl had once helped him, who would dare kill him…?

The increased difficulty of the quests made no difference to a monstrous player like Zhao Youyue. She had added her stats and skills in a way that left her with a large margin of error. Her HP bar was so long that it almost took half the screen width-wise, and she was well-equipped with an especially strong set of skills. Even if she accidentally got into a fight with a group of mobs, she could parkour her way out. Then, she could come back, draw their attention one by one, and eliminate them…

She could even grab her staff and barrel headlong into them. She might finish them off with a single sweep. At most, it might just cost her some HP. No big deal.

Zhao Youyue’s high HP and high defense, coupled with her adept tumbling and custom-made comboes left other players in awe. They did not think that they were just watching a game. They all agreed on one thing. Old Sly Zha Feng’s wicked tricks and conspiracies did not affect the mighty monk at all!

Sorry, anyone with extremely high HP could really do whatever they wanted

This was probably what that one sentence meant. In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and trickeries were insignificant!

Wu Shun’s viewers often watched him play with bated breath, and it wore them out almost as much as it did him. Wu Shun’s battles were always too thrilling. Every single boss fight either ended in disaster, or clutch victories. In contrast, watching Ah Yu’s gameplay was almost tranquil. Ah Yu was just too steady!

It took her almost no time at all to familiarize herself with the combat patterns of any boss. Whenever she got to work, she did it efficiently and uneventfully. She played it the simplest way possible, without any fluff or flamboyance. More often than not, the bosses died in especially unhappy fashion, angrily screaming – “despicable foreigners”…

It could not be helped. Ah Guang was just too strong. He was stoic and unyielding. People even believed that he had ascended deep into Dharma[1]. After all, “kill one to save more; eliminate sin, not people.” He was not a “Reckless Kingkong” who only knew how to brawl and take lives Even though it was his in-game assigned nickname.

Zhao Youyue was already rather well-acquainted to the plot of this DLC. However, this good-for-nothing Zha Feng always had something to add. He had created a hidden story that 90% of the players would never be able to experience. This way, he could surprise the players, although this was only limited to the 10% of players who liked to explore the story in depth.

Curious, Zhao Youyue also decided to play the game, to see how much of her experience in the world had remained unchanged.

At the same time, she was also looking forward to interacting with Jane Doe Su, the character she had previously possessed. It would almost be a “hello me from another world” experience. She also felt that the character she was playing now, the monk, was a perfect match for Jane Doe Su.

Ah Guang was her, Jane Doe Su was also her. Both of them had despondency and sorrow, hidden deep in their bones. Ah Guang also had a dauntless spirit he was always ready to sacrifice himself for the betterment of others. He lived by the quotes “if it is not me going to hell, who would?” and “before hell is empty, I would not become a Buddha.”[2]

In addition to getting revenge, Jane Doe Su had big dreams of living in a Utopia. She hoped that everyone would have equal opportunities. Even the people in the lowest level of the community could have access to martial arts. As long as everyone could defend themselves, humans would no longer need to remain as fearful of monsters. In the game’s lore, the internal strength and the energy of a warrior would be enough to hold monsters back. Stronger outputs could even kill the monsters outrightly.

She hoped to mass produce warriors to form an army of her own. She wanted everyone to give up on what they believed to be the right way of martial arts, so that all the martial artists could learn and pool their resources. She wanted to analyze martial arts through practice, as well as scientific methods and ultimately create the perfect form

Of course, such thinking was unconventional and highly futuristic. She was actually attempting to form an R&D division for martial arts. She was the Elon Musk of Wuxia!

However, such a way of thinking would never be accepted by the big shots of her world and era. One day, when they stumble upon the anonymous city, a small-scaled utopia that was already partially established, they would panic for sure. This girl was the devil in human skin. She was even more wicked than any other monster in existence. Was she trying to stir up the elites and have the world descend into chaos?

If everyone had strength, how could elites remain elites? How were they going to help others?

In a world where nobody was weak, what meaning did knight’s have?

Thus came the big question. In “The Law of Humane Justice,” what was the right way?

Yan Qingmeng felt that her way, which focused on self-cultivation was the right way. It was not possible for humans to achieve the impossible. Equal opportunities would result in the heavens crashing down. The world was only so big, how could it possibly have so many resources for cultivation?

Therefore, Yan Qingmeng was destined to clash with the “everything is possible” Jane Doe Su, because of their differing ideals. Moreover, the Chunyang clan had her support, which in turn supported the Zhao King Su Hu. Obviously, people would support whoever that was part of the Central Government…

For such a big clan, harmony and stability were greater than everything else!

Therefore, Jane Doe Su wanting to take revenge on her father and wanting to change the world was simply an idiotic dream. She was a devil for thinking so!

Wu Shun had already bulldozed through the game and was far ahead of the other players. He soon discovered that he had once again received a quest involving the Chunyang clan. Yan Qingmeng, the deity that he could never get close to – actually took the initiative. She told him about the real mastermind behind the main storyline quests —- —-

It was none other than the owner of the anonymous city!

The owner of the anonymous city was a highly ambitious individual. This person excelled in conspiracy and trickery, and often committed murder while performing human experimentation on those who survived an encounter. To expand the scope of human experimentations, it had now set its sights on subverting officials of the Kingdom of Zhao!

Upon hearing Yan Qingmeng’s words, Wu Shun thought that everything was finally falling into place. This damn storyline had been a whole, fuzzy mess so far. After this, the fight with the powerful anonymous city would probably begin. In the end, he would definitely have a decisive battle with the myserious owner of the anonymous city…

The thought did not interest him. He preferred working with the swordswoman, taking on various quests.

However, this time, the similarly beautiful Yan Qingmeng had taken the initiative to approach him. Wu Shun put the swordswoman aside for the moment. Perhaps he should try getting intimate with Yan Qingmeng…

And so, Wu Shun continued playing this game by listening to his heart!

Many other male players shared his thoughts. A raid-worthy female character has made her appearance, why pass up on such an opportunity?

Staying loyal in a game was boring. I’ve already bought the whole game. Obviously, the young ladies inside are all mine to keep!

Influenced by the how the DLC had been advertised before it was released, Wu Shun still believed that the deity Yan was the true heroine of this game. Hence, everything she said had to be correct. Listen to her, follow her, increase her favorability continually, and you will never go wrong!

Was the deity Yan someone who treated the players like garbage? Once she’s done with them, would she throw them aside?

Hmph, I don’t believe it.

Translation note :

[1] In Buddhism, dharma means “cosmic law and order”, and is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for “phenomena”.

[2] “If not me going to hell, who will go there?” (,?) and “Before the hell is empty, I will not become Buddha.” (,) are vows made by Kitigarbha. Kitigarbha is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be translated as “Earth Treasury,” “Earth Store,” “Earth Matrix,” or “Earth Womb.” Kitigarbha is known for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds between the death of Gautama Buddha and the rise of Maitreya, as well as his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied. He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings, as well as the guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture, where he is known as Jiz or Ojiz-sama, as a protector of children. Therefore he gets the name of “first in compassion and vows” and is worshiped by people since the ancient times.