Chapter 11 (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Zhang Ziqiang said, “First of all, I’ve to commend Master Su Li for your exceptional drawing skill, that even the side characters drawn by you are gorgeous and flawless. Besides, you specially presented “Xu Jing” with a ponytail hairstyle. Perhaps you have considered this hairstyle to be quite common and unattractive, but out of your expectation, it had made her stand out from all the other characters. She seemed to be the only girl with a ponytail since the manga release.”

Upon hearing this compliment from her assistant, she humbled herself, “Honestly, I feel my drawing skill is still unrefined. It’s just that drawing this kind of female characters has always been my specialty and style. Well, I was about to draw merely a side character, without knowing it, I had drawn another pretty girl.”

Ah, there is one thing that has to be mentioned. The manga characters are facing severe homogeneity in term of their appearances. At times, they are only distinguishable by their hairstyles and hair colors. These situations happen among male protagonists of Harem mangas especially, since all of them have always looked like the same person, or you might say the other guy with “Kirito’s face” [1]. As the name implies, it is not surprising that many male characters look like Kirito!

Su Li then continued, “I’ve to agree with your viewpoint on the matter of hairstyle. I personally prefer “black, long and silky hair”, “double ponytails”, “side ponytail”, “bobbed hair” and so on… Even if it’s the iconic ponytail, the length must be the same as the hips. This character’s hairstyle, is the most common one you can find in reality. In any way, I don’t think it’s attractive at all, so I’ve simply opted for it. This is unbelievable, it actually rendered her outstanding!”

“There must be some other factors which have intrigued you. What are they?” Su Li inquired.

Zhang Ziqiang had pulled no punches. As Su Li’s assistant, he reckoned that not only should he support her on the artworks, but he shall contribute on the creative ideas as well.

“Oh… Of course… it’s the personality and behaviour of this character.” Zhang Ziqiang spoke in a leisure manner.

Su Li then showed an expression of the “Are you kidding me?”. Zhang Ziqiang was indeed a slow speaker, while Su Li herself was a pepperbox. Just before Ziqiang managed to finish his sentence, she could not resist countering, “What kind of personality does she have? Not to mention her behaviour… I’ve never spent any meticulous effort in depicting her, have I? She barely have a few lines in the story, and is nothing more than a background character!”

Zhang Ziqiang was not in a hurry to retort her, and again, he spoke firmly, “For the personality of this character… perhaps you didn’t keep your own character setting in mind, but I did notice it… This girl might not show a great aptitude, but… she is quite diligent, aspirant and so passionate in her studies… Am I wrong?”

Su Li nodded her head without qualms, “That’s right, she’s just a side character, and shall not possess any aptitude, or else it must be my mistake! You know, within the main character’s harem, there’s such princess character with an IQ as high as 250, blonde hair, flat chest, and a Tsundere[2] personality. It’s impossible that I would create another character with such superior IQ, that will just be repetitive.”

“Aptitude is not a big thing. What’s most admirable about her is her diligence and passion for studies!”

“Ahh, I don’t understand what you are saying. A regular character setting like this, yet being placed upon an unappealing side character, how interesting could that be? I think you’re delusional! Xu Jing was given this character setting solely to serve as the icing on a cake for Yang Xixi, the most important “little-sister character” in my manga. As an old saying goes, “One who touches rouge will be stained with red, one who touches ink will be stained with black” [3]. I’ve thus presented Yang Xixi with this bestie, who is mundane but full of positive energy, and this will be a plus for Yang Xixi!”

Su Li had set forth her intentions behind the character setting of “Xu Jing”, but little did she know, that it had already been altered. She was positive that all of this stemmed from her sole ideas.