Chapter 19 (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Most of Zhao Youyue’s attention was placed solely on the “Dimensional Gate”. Well, this Dimensional Gate of hers is quite distinct from the other mission-based or endless survival type of dimension-traveling novels. As long as the author continues working on the literature, she will be able to slip into the Dimensional Gate every night while she is asleep.

Zhao Youyue’s Dimensional Gate currently directs her into the world of “Pure Romance”. When her physical body rests during her sleep, her spirit will naturally be able to enter the body of “Xu Jing”. She could use Xu Jing’s studybug attribute to learn vigorously and gain knowledge. Once she awakens in real life, her spirit will again automatically exit the world of manga.

Her actions in the manga world tend to mysteriously affect the mangaka, placing the mangaka in a state of an “inspiration outburst”. The mangaka will then express the plots relating to her character through different writings and drawings.

If the plot made perfect sense, the author will naturally feel that it is their inspiration that came up with such a powerful storyline and was able to draw the characters in a rather vivid way…

Conversely, if the plot is exceptionally ridiculous, the author will merely think she has completely lost her senses and was in the midst of confusion. That must be how she haphazardly created such an absurd storyline.

In the past, the contents related to “Pure Romance” and “Xu Jing” were basically just her acting as the side and background character at the same time throughout the storyline. She will always be buried in her studies, therefore there was no urgency to narrate her character in detail. Now however, as “Xu Jing” gained the favor of the mangaka Su Li, her appearances have substantially increased. There was also an increase of interactions among her and the other main characters. Not to mention, she was effectively promoted to a supporting character role. As such, there is now a need to narrate Xu Jing’s recent encounters in “Pure Romance”.

Xu Jing’s initial character settings were very straightforward – apart from being obsessed with studying, she showed little interest towards everything else. In between her studies, she might occasionally lift up her head and gaze at the interactions between the hero and the girls with the “caring-for-the-retarded” expression.

There were several close-ups of her in the manga previously, but it was rather unnoticed among the readers. Instead, it was the mangaka’s assistant Zhang Ziqiang who noticed her and subsequently mentioned that “Xu Jing’s character was rather interesting”. Besides, he also managed to persuade Su Li to create more positive appearances for Xu Jing.

Ever since Su Li has made Xu Jing a supporting character, she naturally began to explore this character in a more in-depth way. First off, why is she extremely passionate about her studies?

Well, all because Xu Jing came from a poor family and she hopes to change her destiny through her passion in learning.

Why is her family poor?

It turned out that her father got terribly sick. He no longer could work and was bedbound with illness. Her mother was an undeployed employee. She could only set up stalls outside the school compound to sell novelty items. To make matters worse, she would be chased away by local government officers from time to time.

One thing worth mentioning that it is best not to deliberate on the sensibility of illnesses in any novels or manga-s – like that “Ukyo – One foot in the grave for three hundred years and still undefeated – Tachibana” [1] for example. Some of these so-called incurable diseases are purely the author’s plot device. As long as the author does not allow the character to die, that particular character will still cling on to life even after an incurable disease befell him. He could even be in the state of cheat mode [2], as if the incurable disease was actually some kind of strengthening buff. On the other hand, when the author felt that the character has outlived his usefulness and can finally die, the character will be eliminated immediately.

The illness that Xu Jing’s father had in “Pure Romance” was the kind that is very cost-intensive. Frankly speaking, even the mangaka has no idea what illness it was. What was certain is that he did not die from the illness, but at the same time he could probably be dead the very next moment. As such, the mangaka made sure Xu Jing’s family remained poor and debt-ridden in such a way. Thus, Xu Jing had to make up her mind to be super diligent in her studies. As for now, her ambition is to become a doctor in order to cure her father’s sickness on her own.

As Zhao Youyue entered Xu Jing’s body this time around, she discovered that she did not possess the usual tendency to study. Instead, she was back in her “nothing-but-her-bare-walls” home. A strong scent of medicine permeated the surroundings of the house.

She quickly came to the realization that the mangaka has added additional settings to her character. Anyway, she was not fascinated about this setting. After all she only wanted to secretly stay as a studybug side character. But all of a sudden, she had become a girl from a poor family. What the hell is this?

Truth be told, Zhao Youyue was pretty much used to enjoying a luxurious life as the little missy in reality. She felt rather let down to be abruptly thrust into such a life in the manga world. Meanwhile, she instantly realized that she may have lesser opportunities to learn in peace from this point on. There will surely be many inconveniences and obstacles ahead!

As for this, she could not help but had a grudge against the mangaka. Well, she did learn a valuable lesson, which is the need to communicate with the mangaka the next time she enters the world of other works through the Dimensional Gate. Otherwise, it would be such a shame if situations like this happens again where a side character is turned into a supporting role.