Chapter 19-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Hot Post: [Why do we resist the female lead? And resist the romance plot?]
[#1: King of the Demonic Domain is an excellent hot-blooded shonen manga. The novel world-building, outstanding character development, and the profound bonds between the characters are the keys to its success.
The protagonist squad fought their way up from the lower district to become a globally-recognized ability user team. Their bond is unbreakable and cannot be intruded upon by anyone else. Now the creator wants to add a female lead, which is not only a contempt for the protagonist squad's friendship but also a denial of the manga's core theme!
Especially for the protagonist Percy, he has a great cause and lofty ideals; he would never pursue petty romance. This is a blasphemy to his character. As a Saintess of the healing ability, Ye Zheng's character position clashes with Zhao Mei, and she's also a 'Tianlongren' (a slang term for privileged people from a higher social class) from the upper district. She seems like a naive damsel from a sheltered background. How could such a person have a spiritual connection with Percy?
It's not that I reject female characters. Most female characters in male-oriented stories are just plot devices for the creator to give out fan service. As a female reader, I don't want to see soulless female characters like that. I prefer independent strong female lead. I'm tired of the petty romance in female-oriented stories, which is why I came to read male-oriented stories with a grander scale. I hope King of the Demonic Domain doesn't fall into cliché.]
[#2: As a male reader, I also support this. I don't want to see any female lead. I usually like stories where the protagonist kills his sister to prove his resolve. Women only slow down the speed of drawing one's sword.]
[#3: Aww, it's rare to see such a rational babe reader like the one upstairs! Other male readers are still asking for a harem. Disgusting.]
[#4: ... I'm a pure man. Keep that disgusting term "babe" away from me.]
[#5: Agreed. I only like independent strong female lead, which male-oriented works can't portray. It's better not to have any female characters at all.]
...
Ye Zheng scrolled through the posts condemning the female lead. She wasn't sad or angry, but rather confused.
"My appearance as Ye Zheng hasn't caused any trouble for the protagonist squad. On the contrary, I saved them and helped Percy sort things out."
"In this situation, shouldn't the readers be asking Percy to be a good independent male lead? He's the one who's given me a lot of trouble."
Ye Zheng didn't understand why the readers were criticizing her for not being an independent 'Da Nuzhu'. In her opinion, she was much more independent than Percy, the male lead.
The system chuckled.
[Independent male lead... what a niche term, hahaha!]
[No one uses the word 'independent' to measure a man.]
Ye Zheng was even more puzzled. According to her life experience, men were the ones who should pursue independence the most; they even needed their wives to carefully protect their fragile self-esteem.
Regardless, the readers seemed to love independent strong female lead, although Ye Zheng didn't quite understand the definition of this term in the higher dimension.
Independence should mean being strong enough not to need help from others, and strong female lead should be a female character with a lot of plotlines and a significant role, right?
Coincidentally, Ye Zheng's eyes lit up. She seemed to be heading in this direction.
Once she achieved her goals step by step, these readers would definitely love her as a strong female lead, right?
[Don't pay attention to what they say. If you ask them, they'll all say they like strong female lead, but if you look at their profiles, they're all staunch supporters of male characters.]
The system knew this all too well. The independent strong female lead mentioned in the forum referred to female characters who walked their own paths without interacting with male characters. In short, they were female characters who didn't get in the way of fans shipping couples or playing as 'Dreaming girl' (a term for female fans who imagine themselves in a romance with a male character).
If the female lead truly stole the spotlight from the male characters in a male-oriented story... the system didn't even dare to imagine how upset those readers would be.
"System, how much popularity does 'Ye Zheng' have now?"
[263. Although it's growing slowly, it's negligible compared to the popularity Zhao Mei has brought you.]
Ye Zheng's fingers slid across the phone screen, occasionally pausing on one or two comments.
[#69: Ye Zheng has only appeared three times, right? The creator hasn't said she's the female lead. It's just Percy who has a one-sided crush. I don't understand why you hate her so much.]
[#128: This character hasn't appeared many times, and you're already assuming she's a plot device for fan service and a soulless female character. Don't have so much hatred for female characters.]
[#370: If I say a few words for the new character, I'm labeled as a fan of her? Fine, from now on, I'm a Ye Zheng stan. Let's get more plotlines for my girl!]
...
The scattered comments defending Ye Zheng were drowned in the forum, but Ye Zheng's eyes curved in satisfaction. She was smiling even more than when she learned she had 7,500 popularity points.
[Thank you all.]
She sent this message in the post, a thank-you that no one would understand. Passersby would at most glance at the post and wonder about the unknown IP address.
"System, I will become a popular character." Ye Zheng said with a light and certain tone.
The system felt gratified. After being assigned to this position, it had lost all hope for its KPI. It would have been a great victory if the female lead wasn't killed off by the plot due to her low popularity.
Now, seeing Ye Zheng so motivated, maybe the character Zhao Mei could even make it into the top ten most popular characters of King of the Demonic Domain.
The system at this time could not have imagined that the most sensational character of King of the Demonic Domain in the future would not be Zhao Mei, who already had 7,500 popularity points, nor the super-popular male lead Percy.
It would be Ye Zheng, who currently only had 263 popularity points.
After the announcement of the sensational Phase Three competition rules, all the contestants entered a state of tense preparation.
Ye Zheng, on the other hand, was quite idle. She currently had no plotlines to follow with the protagonist squad, and the Crown Prince didn't like to take her with him for training. So, her biggest task every day was to fulfill her duties as the Saintess of the Sei Curia.
In addition to providing charitable treatment in the lower district, she also had to deal with the Hope God believers from the upper district at the Curia.
"Your injury is fine now. May the Hope God above bless you."
The graceful and pure girl knelt under the huge statue of the god. She lowered her head and put her left hand over her heart, performing the Curia's salutation towards the man in front of her.
"Thank you, Saintess, for the treatment. May the Hope God be above; such a thing as a lowly servant knocking over a cup and cutting my hand will never happen again!"
The luxuriously dressed man waddled away with his plump body. Ye Zheng thought that if he had come a little later, the scratch on his hand would have already healed itself.
The huge church was once again quiet. Ye Zheng lowered her head silently in the shadow of the giant statue, like a harmless lamb offered to the god.
This was a job she couldn't refuse in the Curia. The Saintess of the Curia had always had a high status but little power. The so-called 'Proxy of the Hope God' was just a nice gimmick to make the Saintess's healing services shine with the glory of the Hope God, a way for the Curia to curry favor with the powerful and noble.
Ye Zheng stood up, her expression veiled in the light and shadow. Her work for the day was done. She had treated a few more people who shouldn't have been alive.
"Saintess, the Pope is looking for you."
A laughing male voice came from the doorway. A silver-haired young man was leaning against the door, looking at her with a casual posture that didn't at all look like a priest-in-training.
"Yin Kong, you should be training. You're the captain of the Divine Academy team."
"And you were carefully selected by the Crown Prince as a substitute member, but I haven't seen you put much effort into it either."
The two walked side by side, both with polite smiles. If one ignored their subtly hostile tone, one would probably think they were good friends.
"Do you know why the Pope is looking for me?"
Ye Zheng suddenly stopped at the door and asked.
Yin Kong flipped his hand, and a thick stack of cards appeared in his palm. With his other hand, he casually drew one out. A card with a thunderstorm on it was shown to Ye Zheng.
"How would I know what the Pope is thinking? I'll ask fate for you."
Under Ye Zheng's expressionless gaze, Yin Kong turned the card towards himself. After seeing the content on the card face, he showed an exaggerated expression of surprise.
"Oh dear, it seems things are not looking good."
"A storm is coming, Saintess. Good luck."
The silver-haired boy's voice was teasing. He waved his hand and left.
According to Ye Zheng's observations on the forum, Yin Kong was also a popular character in King of the Demonic Domain. Readers said he was a 'schadenfreude enthusiast' (Le Zi Ren, a term for a person who enjoys other people's misfortune for their own amusement) who was both good and evil, with a mysterious ability and personality.
The preferences of readers always puzzled her...
In her opinion, this person was one of the people she needed to be most wary of.
His ability, [Fate Cards], was even more tricky than Sykes's [Destruction], perhaps because she hated the word 'Fate.'
Ye Zheng turned with a cold expression, watching the silver figure disappear at the end of the corridor. If necessary, she would take him out first.
However, the Pope was a more pressing matter. Yin Kong's Fate Cards were never wrong. The girl was silent in front of the door for a while before pushing it open.
"Xiao Zheng, come in." The middle-aged man in a simple white robe was tending to flowers by the window. He had a gentle and kind demeanor, and he spoke without raising his head.
Ye Zheng stood behind the man, watching him happily water the flowers. Who would have thought that the powerful Pope would have such a gentle and ordinary appearance?
The girl's back stiffened even more. Since becoming the Saintess at the age of 14, she knew the true face of everyone in the Curia.
"By the way, Xiao-Zheng, you've been the Saintess for three years now. How does it feel?"
The Pope finally raised his head from the flowers, revealing an unremarkable face, and looked at the girl with a cheerful smile.
"I feel fulfilled and happy every day. I'm grateful for the opportunity the Curia has given me."
Ye Zheng bowed respectfully and answered impeccably.
The man in the white robe stared at her, not speaking for a while.
"Three years ago, when you came to be selected as Saintess and were scrutinized by all the Curia officials, you also looked this impeccable."
"Other girls your age couldn't hide their confusion and fear. Only you, as if you were truly a Saintess sent from heaven, were so composed that no emotions were visible."
The Pope chuckled. "That's when I knew the Curia had been waiting for a true Saintess."
"However, what's most precious is that such a little girl was willing, willing to dedicate her life to serving the god."
Ye Zheng looked up, revealing a sweet and longing smile, "No one in the Holy Sei Empire doesn't believe in the Hope God. This is my honor."
The Pope looked at the girl with a gentle smile. "For this honor, you even hid your true ability rank when you were twelve. Otherwise, you would be the Crown Prince's fiancée now, not the Saintess of the Curia."
Ye Zheng's smile gradually faded, and her pupils under her eyelashes trembled.
The Pope waved his hand. "Don't be so nervous. I like your—ambition."
"Even if your ambition caused a little trouble for the upper district, compared to that trouble, you yourself are more precious."
Ye Zheng managed to maintain her expression and forced a grateful smile. "Thank you for your... forgiveness."
Her actions in the lower district were indeed found out. The Pope had even investigated what she had done when she was twelve. What exactly did the Curia want from her?
"You are smart enough and have the ability. Letting you join the Crown Prince's team was a result of the Curia's careful consideration. You must assist the Crown Prince well."
Ye Zheng looked up, showing a look of appropriate confusion.
"Ha, the Crown Prince is different... He can also be considered a person of the Curia."
The Pope smiled and shook his head, gently caressing the roses on the windowsill. "In short, compete well. The 'Dragon Bone' matter is far more complicated than you think."
"When this matter is over, you will have a chance to truly join us. You will no longer be a puppet Saintess but a core decision-maker."
Only after Ye Zheng had completely left the church did her stiff back relax slightly.
"System, to perform my tasks better, I think I have the right to know more, more about the Phase Three competition."
The implications behind this matter were far greater than she had imagined. Ye Zheng even began to doubt herself. Could she really get what she wanted in this murky water?
[You can only see your future plotlines through the manga app. Any other operations are a violation of the rules.]
[But I can tell you that the Phase Three competition is also known as the 'Dragon Bone' arc.]
[The true main plot of this work and all the hidden forces will be revealed in the 'Dragon Bone' arc, and there will also be a large number of character deaths.]
Ye Zheng's eyes darkened. As the designated female lead, what kind of plotlines would she have in the 'Dragon Bone' arc?
[The 'Dragon Bone' arc is about to begin, Ye Zheng. Get ready for a bloodbath, both inside and outside the manga!]
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