Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

When Zhao Youyue reached her hometown, she went straight to the bookstore and bought “Girlish Numbers” and “Everyone In The World Is In A Deep Sleep Other Than Myself.” Looking at how both novels were displayed on the shelf, “Girlish Numbers” was clearly selling worse.

Zhao Youyue spent a few days to finish both books. “Girlish Numbers” had more potential of becoming an iconic novel. Du Hang’s storyline knew just how to showcase the adorable side of his female protagonist. This novel had the potential of producing a hilarious anime with its artwork alone as the female protagonist expresses her thoughts in her heart. It would be easy to make a series of facial expression emojis based on her face!

Iconic novels did not always necessarily need emoji packages. But when emojis were needed, people would only use emojis from widely-known, recognized anime. When their friends catch sight of these emojis, they would start looking up the origin of such an adorable female protagonist. Who knows, the novel might even gain a new reader or two?

Then… There would be no more “then.” It was a story of a girl in the voice acting industry. It was a hateful, hostile world. The irony, cynical sarcasm would be a little too heavy-handed for some. Readers preferred something funny and delightful, even if it was fabricated.

Undeniably, Du Hang had a remarkable talent for writing. If only he could stem his ego and write what the market actually wanted…

Zhao Youyue could not place her finger on how the other novel with that lengthy title actually became as popular as it was. The only rational explanation would be, miracles – truckloads of it.

Generally, readers of light novels preferred the slow progression of a youth love story. One step at a time. Protagonists did not meticulously plan strategies; there was no need to rush it.

On the contrary, it would not be a light novel if the protagonist achieved his goals a little too soon. It would be more similar to a hentai in the form of paragraphs and essays. If it was a hentai, why take the fuss to portray how the world looked like?

This novel was not particularly hentai’ish. After all, it was a novel meant for all ages, not just adults.

This light novel actually created shockwaves the moment it debuted on the market. However, it quickly lost momentum when readers grew bored of its monotony and repetition.

The author “Love The Taste Of Rice In Her House” never attempted to add anything fresh to the scene. He merely introduced new girls to the scene for the protagonist to wake.

This novel did not deserve any of Zhao Youyue’s efforts. She had to leave this world without hurting herself. Destroying this novel would not be an option.

Despite its deteriorating standard, it still had some readers. Destroying this novel would more than likely result in a backfire.

She would have to get into a lengthy discussion with the author to initiate a passer-by’s cameo. Since she only wanted a small-fry character, it was not asking for much.

Thankfully, Du Hang had given her rather easy access to this otherwise troublesome author.

With her reputation, looking for any author in the world would not be too far-fetched. But it would still be somewhat awkward to show up at the doorstep of an author and ask for a cameo character.

A Cameo must look like it belonged to the storyline. It should be temporary – like a sneeze that would only bother readers momentarily and get forgotten not long after. A sudden cameo should not throw readers off the trail and get them to investigate on the cameo, instead.

It was the weekend. Zhao Youyue would be meeting Ke Zhang – together with Su Li, Han Leng, and Du Hang. It was a meeting of authors; much would be discussed.

Zhao Youyue was most definitely a creator herself. She had composed several soundtracks for a few animes and games. Her work was rather famous among the learned audience and authors.

Professional musicians acknowledged Ah Yu’s talent. Her music was just as powerful as Hiroyuki Sawano.[1] It drew viewers into the thick of the scene itself; it sucked their souls into entirely new worlds. Fans of Hiroyuki Sawano loved to watch the process of composing music itself. Watching him write music was as fortunate as listening to his music!

Therefore, Lady Zhao definitely belonged to the same vein as those authors. Of course, it was all thanks to Chu Luoxun. Through Zhao Youyue’s healthy body, her music talent manifested itself in reality and started transforming the world.

Ke Zheng was not born in Jiangnan Province. He stayed a moderate distance from it – almost an hour away by train. Zhao Youyue had planned a two day trip over the weekend for this phenomenal group.

Zhao Youyue and Su Li have done this together countless times. Du Hang had good reason to join in. He loved the idea of strengthening his network connection. Sharing ideas and thoughts over a meal was efficient and productive.

Han Leng was the only one who did not enjoy himself. He did not like to socialize, especially at the “taking the initiative to know someone” part. However, he would never coldly reject anyone who approached him for small talk.

He had tagged along because of Du Hang. Also, Lady Zhao had given him a direct order… Fortunately for him, Du Hang was a good companion. Both of them were like twins, sharing the same page on almost every topic.

On the other hand, Du Hang was a little too embarrassed to speak to Su Li. It had always been a dream for small-fry authors to meet Su Li, the goddess of illustrations. She was basically an angel who drew angels herself. Having her draw anything for you would be a blessing!

These light novel authors never ran out of methods of drawing Su Li’s attention. Su Li’s nickname, “The Illustrator of Death” meant little to them. If things went south, she would be there to bear the pan.

At one point, Du Hang had sheepishly asked Su Li for a signature. Han Leng disapproved of Du Hang’s unmasked affection. To him, she was a cheap, unprincipled woman. She would do anything for money. Nevertheless, her artwork was commendable. They were top of the line. He had been fortunate enough to have Su Li draw for his “Beautiful April.”

Translation Note:

[1] Hiroyuki Sawano (澤野弘之 Sawano Hiroyuki, born 12 September 1980) was a Japanese composer and musician best known for his work on many anime, TV series, and movies. He was represented by Legendoor between 2006 and 2017, and is currently represented by VV-ALKLINE. In 2014, he started a new vocal project under the name ”SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]”.