Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Zhao Youyue entered the Two Dimensional Gate and possessed the sleepwalking girl with the name “xxx.” xxx walked about for no less than three minutes before plummeting in the waters and drowning. Lady Zhao gave a deep bow and left the stage…

She had not spent much time in the ‘Two Dimensional Gate,’ so its cooldown period would be proportionally short. Therefore, Zhao Youyue did not need to wait long before her next gacha draw – no wait, that’s wrong, another random attempt in the literary world. As always, she went in, full of confidence, believing that her next random encounter would be a fruitful one!

Zhao Youyue felt that her popularity in the real world had yet to reach its peak. After all, the more popular she got, the better she got at utilizing the ‘Two Dimensional Gate.’ For starters, she could aim for the Student Council President spot. Furthermore, there was no more meaning in staying low-key.

Her existence was like a bright moon on a dark night. No matter how well she hid, the land could never hide from her moonlight!

Now, an opportunity had presented itself, courtesy of Han Leng. The movie for ‘Beautiful April’ had commenced filming. The actress for ‘Chu Luoxun’ became a hugely discussed topic on the internet!

Han Leng secretly hoped that Lady Zhao would step up to the role. The image of Lady Zhao playing the violin had long haunted his mind. Before his very eyes, she would transform into the perfect goddess, Chu Luoxun!

His logical mind had never been once able to determine the cause of this. At times, Han Leng thought that he was an incredible psychic. ‘Lin Meiyue’ was supposed to have been based off Zhao Youyue. How did Lady Zhao end up as Goddess Chu? This was so illogical! Did he have some premonition of the real Lady Zhao and wrote it in the form of Goddess Chu?

However, something was very clear. Even if Lady Zhao was the perfect embodiment of Chu Luoxun, but asking someone who had no acting experience to play one of the main female characters of a major, intellectual property movie might raise some difficulties!

Even so, Han Leng thickened his face and begged Lady Zhao. He was certain that no one else could play the Goddess Chu Luoxun. She had to save her from ruin!

Nobody else could play the violin like her, except for Lady Zhao. A normal actress would only be able to act it out and play pretend. Ah Yu would still have to do the voiceover and the soundtrack. They needed Ah Yu, the big Buddha, and loads of post-processing. This could all be circumvented if Lady Zhao played the part directly. She would be able to show the power of Goddess Chu’s violin!

Zhao Youyue did not agree nor reject his request. She simply expressed her willingness to consider it.

In reality, even if the ‘Chu Luoxun’ character card kicked in, she might not be able to play the role adequately. Chu Luoxun was not an actress, so she could not simply act out according to a script…

When cameras roll, untrained humans would never be able to resist stealing it a glance. On the other hand, any other actress would not have firsthand experience of Chu Luoxun’s journey in the literary world. Their interpretation of Chu Luoxun would never match the genuine article.

Back to the first issue. Look at biographical films that featured people playing as themselves. Could they even act properly?

Obviously, that was impossible. It would be effortless for the important figure to make a special guest appearance of themselves and reveal their faces for a few minutes. However, if they were to act as the main character and act out the entire movie, things would be very different!

Zhao Youyue had seen the heated discussion about the casting online. Many avid readers would start to select their favorite stars. The two characters – Chu Luoxun and Lin Meiyue would get mentioned in just about every comment. On the other hand, some commenters claimed to not even remember Gu Yuan…

In actuality, it would take a great deal of skill to play as Gu Yuan. He was a boy who had a torrential storm in place of a working brain. He would be constantly conflicted, internally and externally, while also trying to figure out how he actually felt about the two girls. Pretty faces would not be enough to play as these characters. On the other hand, superb acting skills might just overpower a mediocre appearance. Anyway, Gu Yuan was not supposed to be some drop-dead, handsome guy. At most, he had delicate features.

Zhao Youyue did not want to witness Chu Luoxun being ruined by others. Chu Luoxun may be an iconic character card, but she couldn’t risk her taking any hits fro this, right?

Zhao Youyue did not want to gamble the possibility. No matter what, the Chu Luoxun character card was a critical part of her. She could never allow Goddess Chu to be humiliated!

In reality, many loyal fans on the internet had suggested – “why not let Ah Yu play as Chu Luoxun? Don’t forget, Ah Yu has recreated Chu Luoxun’s compositions, piece-by-piece, from the novel. Even the most hardcore of readers could not deny the authenticity. So, why can’t Ah Yu play as Chu Luoxun, now?”

Self-proclaimed professionals had quickly shot down such a suggestion!

“Ah Yu’s musical talent is, beyond a doubt, rare. However, asking her to act in a premium film would be stretching it!”

“Chu Luoxun is a complex, self-contradictory character! Even the outstanding actresses of this new generation would not be able to express that kind of anguish while maintaining indomitable courage and optimism. How could Ah Yu do it? She’s not even in the industry!”

“Ah Yu should remain in the carefree comfort of a female broadcaster’s life. Acting would not suit her. Furthermore, the entertainment industry is in utter chaos. I am sure that I speak for many others when I say this – we hope Ah Yu does not associate herself with wicked people. Of course, with Ah Yu’s frightening background, no one would even dare to provoke her. However, this might still stifle her growth in the industry. After all, female celebrities in the entertainment industry are all like this. Only those who have the guts would be able to make a name for themselves!”

“Acting is not easy. If it was something else, Ah Yu could easily cameo as a ‘flower vase role’ [2] with her beautiful face. However, when it comes to playing as Chu Luoxun, forget it… I don’t think anyone alive could actually play her flawlessly. In the novel, she’s beautiful, she exudes elegance, and she’s overflowing with talent. Her appearance came after a lengthy, massive period of build-up. Sadly, beautiful actresses would not have the acting skills – skillful actresses would not have Chu Luoxun’s elegance!”

“Well, whatever happens, please have Ah Yu dub the violin scenes with her music. That is an absolute necessity. I have the firsthand experience of Ah Yu’s playing when I attended one of her classical concerts. It was superb. Back then, I was sure that I would remember every intonation, every resonation of the melody. I was not wrong – I still do. At that time, I felt just like how the audience in the novel had been said to have felt…”

…

After Zhao Youyue had read the enthusiastic comments, the internet decided on the best compromise. They settled on ‘Liu Xin,’ an actress who was lively, had the beauty and had acting skills to play Chu Luoxun. Zhao Youyue could not quite accept that decision, but something told her that she should just leave things to fate.

With nothing left to do, she continued to wander The Two Dimensional Gate before taking the dive. She ended up in a new literary world, which turned out to be –’Perfect Acting’!

This was not a novel nor a comic. It was a self-help book. The Two Dimensional Gate even did this?

Zhao Youyue was at a loss of words.

Translation note:

[1] “long shot” (长镜头) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. These are typically shot now using wide-angle cameras.

[2] “flower vase roles” (当花瓶) means just being a pretty face in a movie.