Chapter 1 (2/2)

Zhao Youyue opened up the high school textbook that she had just obtained, and took a glance at it, why is this so complicated… isn’t this too much to become an elite scholar?

She might as well become a pornstar!

This must be a way to bring up her fame. Well, she did have an identity as the precious daughter of a hospital director, that could be quite a selling point, couldn’t it?

Anyway, she would never do such a thing, besides, the competition in that field was pretty intense. Among the myriad pornstars filming in Japan, how many of them would actually be remembered by the masses?

Zhao Youyue used to be a fan of Katou Megumi from the manga “Saekano”, but she did not have that “saint” mentality of hers. She would not resign solely to being a side character. In fact, in the latter part of the story, Katou Megumi, under the guidance of the male protagonist, grew much more attractive and conspicuous. She thus lived up to the title of a main character.

Zhao Youyue decided to improve her sense of presence. She now had the desire to change herself from a side character into main character, and now, her brain was completely occupied by two words – Make Trouble.

“The student behind Wang Yang, it’s your turn to introduce yourself,” Mr. Qiu the class teacher called out.

Zhao Youyue got to her feet, yearning to say — “I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, sliders, or espers here…come join me. That is all!” This is apparently an old joke, but it has always been effective at drawing people’s attention.

What she eventually let leak was, “I’m Zhao Youyue, glad to be classmates with everyone.”

Just like Katou Megumi, she spoke with a mild tone and a sweet voice, but her self-introduction was too unremarkable. Everyone just darted a glance at her without putting her in mind.

Zhao Youyue sat down in disappointment. She had the will, but not the courage to become a troublemaker. Anyway, she would not come up with Haruhi Suzumiya’s disgusting way of self-introduction! Uh uh, she was not going to build up her sense of presence by such methods.

After all, what were the odds of such a side character becoming a main character? If any novel had such a main character, the author might as well drop the novel right away. It would fail sooner or later, wouldn’t it?

Hence, this is the end of the novel, let us celebrate!

Nevertheless, Zhao Youyue soon found herself an outlet to become a troublemaker. Of course, this involved the discovery of her special ability!

Translation Note:

1. “Bitterness first, sweetness later” – “先苦后甜” is a Chinese idiom. It means that one has to work hard (bitterness) before enjoying life or reaping the harvest of one’s hard work (sweetness).

2. Chinese always refer to a very beautiful girl as “Goddess” – “女神”.

3. “Golden finger” – “金手指” refers to the extraordinary advantage granted to a character in the story, usually the main character, which allows him/her to achieve something much more easily than the other characters.

Hi guys. Editor Tonicquill here. I’ll be joining the novel, from Chapter 115 onwards. Chapters prior to that were produced by an almost entirely different team within Endless Fantasy. Doubled back here to add some of my touches to prevent the disparity of terms and tone of this novel, until the point where I start editing for it full-time.

Firstly, a TL-related note: Due to the raw slightly differing from the source material of the author’s reference, we decided to adopt the actual subtitled line uttered by Suzumiya Haruhi herself.

Secondly, some of my understanding of the story so far. (Read chapter 2 to answer some Chapter 1 questions while giving rise to many new ones. Admittedly, Chapter 1 by itself is hella confusing as it is.)

Our main girl is Zhao Youyue. The author used a roundabout method to explain this, but apparently, some unknown entity had taken over this Zhao Youyue and assimilated her memories.

Shifted (meaning still unclear as of now – whether it means to possess a body, or to transform her appearance, or to reincarnate).

I know it’s confusing, but this line

‘-female senior, Wu Di. That girl was able to slim herself down into the proportions of a goddess [2] even after once shifting into a plump girl.’

might have been deliberately misleading on the author’s part – I’m assuming that would be Female senior as in senior student, not female shifter, as the narration seemed to imply that shifters are some sort of profession or a different species altogether. Wu Di is probably an ordinary, thickset girl who lost a lot of weight – OR she is someone who has been possessed like Zhao Youyue – and was thickset at that point in time.

One thing we do know, these Shifters came from another world, as Zhao Youyue has considered plagiarizing novels from another world and selling them in this world as her own.

These shifters appear to want nothing more than to get noticed in this world, otherwise living rather peacefully. I’m getting a Host vibe by Stephenie Meyer here, lol