Chapter 2-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

Percy stuffed the advanced beast hide back into his bag and nodded to his teammates. "Let's go."

The four left the Sei Curia, and someone on the way couldn't help but complain.

The blond teenager in a luxurious white suit clicked his tongue. "The Sei Curia people are still so arrogant, looking down on us with their nostrils when they kicked us out."

The tall boy in soft armor good-naturedly advised, "Perhaps it wasn't our benefactor's intention. After all, he saved us; he's a good person."

"Ha, just wait until their noble Divine Academy gets absolutely crushed by us in the league. How dare they so blatantly look down on us people from the lower district!"

The high-ponytail girl swung a fist in the air, her short leather skirt flaring with her angry steps.

Finally, the three looked at their captain, Percy, in unison.

Percy walked at the very end of the group. Usually calm and composed, he looked a little lost, seemingly deep in thought.

"Captain, what's wrong? You haven't said a word."

The girl jumped up and put her arm around Percy's shoulder. Percy snapped out of it and smiled at his teammates.

"This is still under the Sei Curia's jurisdiction. We'd best stop discussing them to avoid trouble."

The three teammates were obedient to their smart and powerful captain. Soon, the topic shifted from the Sei Curia to food, drink, and entertainment. After a big battle, they certainly deserved a good reward.

Percy remained silent. After walking for a while, the composed and handsome young man couldn't help but look back, his gaze thoughtful.

From this spot, the church was no longer visible.

But the faint scent he'd smelled days ago, when he was on the brink of death, still lingered in his nostrils, and a girl's voice in his ears disturbed his mind.

"That's great, still alive."

The girl's sigh gave him the illusion that he was precious to her.

Her soft hair had fallen on his chest, and he could still feel the tickle to this day. That backlit, blurred face always appeared in his dreams.

She saved him, but—

Why wouldn't she see him?

[Ahhh, how can you not meet the protagonist group?!]

The system's harsh mechanical voice roared in Ye Zheng's ear.

[Compared to an unlikable role, having no role is even scarier. You don't want to be a mere extra, do you?]

[In this dangerous world, extras can easily die in the Demonic Domain!]

Ye Zheng sat in the car on her way home, leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed, resting. Even though annoying voices kept ringing in her mind, her face remained gentle and calm.

"Refusing to meet is my part."

"The first meeting with mutual gifts was too ordinary, and I couldn't think of a better way to appear at the moment. It's better to leave some suspense for now."

The system sounded a little unconvinced: [Every panel in the manga is precious. You were supposed to have sixteen panels of plot to gain popularity.]

[No popularity means no action points. A bad start will only make action points harder to get, leading to a vicious cycle of low popularity...]

Ye Zheng, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them and chuckled softly.

"But now I have 3 action points."

The system was startled and quickly checked the backend data.

[Current Popularity: 300]

[Action Points: 3]

[H-how did you get 300 popularity without even appearing?]

[According to the original plot of "love at first sight," your popularity would only be around 50... How is it higher when you didn't even appear?]

The system couldn't figure it out. It was a system specifically designed to assist female protagonists, with rich experience in increasing their presence.

With the advancement of social consciousness, passive, accessory-like female protagonists were no longer popular. Now, more proactive and individualistic female protagonists were in vogue.

Through spoilers and providing items, it allowed female protagonists to no longer be burdensome damsels in distress. They could also participate in the male protagonist's career.

For example, helping the male protagonist manage court affairs, handle business, or search for hidden treasures... On the way, more sparks of love could fly. This kind of strong duo better fit current romantic views.

[This is a male-oriented work—female-oriented works are similar. In short, you need to prove your usefulness to the male protagonist and the readers to be more popular as the female protagonist.]

[This trick of piquing readers' curiosity can only be used once. You need to quickly figure out a way to approach the male protagonist.]

Ye Zheng didn't speak again. She quietly blinked, listening to the system's teachings.

The car smoothly stopped in front of a magnificent mansion. Ye Zheng first gathered her smooth, ankle-length black hair to prevent stepping on it when getting out, then lifted her skirt with the other hand, alighting with graceful composure.

Although it was an awkward posture, Ye Zheng performed it with fluid elegance.

The system felt a little comforted. At least Ye Zheng's beauty was still very impactful in the manga; her iconic black hair left a deep impression even on outsiders. As long as she avoided controversial, burdensome plotlines, her popularity wouldn't be too bad.

The butler at the door welcomed Ye Zheng into the villa, speaking respectfully: "Miss, dinner is ready. Master, Madam, and Young Master are all waiting for your return."

Ye Zheng was a little surprised. After smiling and nodding to the butler, she walked into the dining room.

At the head of the dining table was a stern-faced middle-aged man. To his left was a boy who was beautiful to the point of being somewhat frivolous, and to his right sat a quiet and beautiful middle-aged woman.

Ye Zheng found her usual seat and sat down.

"Ye Zheng, why are you back so late? Did you go to the lower district for charity again?"

The middle-aged man asked, his tone unreadable as to praise or criticism.

Ye Zheng lowered her head slightly, her posture compliant. "No, Father. I met someone I had previously treated who wanted to thank me."

"An ability user from the lower district?"

"Yes."

"You met them?"

"No, Father."

Only then did the middle-aged man show a hint of a smile. "You've always done very well, my child."

"As the Saintess of the Sei Curia, you must both show the Sei Curia's compassion and equality to the public, and maintain its mystery and authority. You have a very good sense of proportion in this regard."

"It's because Father taught me well."

His daughter's obedient demeanor made the dignified father nod in satisfaction. He did not hesitate to offer further guidance.

"Recently, you should reduce your activities in the lower district, especially avoiding contact with ability users from there."

"In the Ability Academy League, there's a team from a bottom-tier academy in the lower district that's gaining a lot of momentum, daring to offend even the crown prince's team."

"The entire lower district is agitated because of that team. Truly unruly commoners, always causing us trouble."

Ye Zheng only picked at her food a few times at the dinner table before putting down her utensils, picking up a napkin to wipe her mouth, and ceasing to eat.

She said, "Yes, people in the lower district only need to follow orders and eliminate Demonic Domain monsters, but high-ranking individuals like Father in the upper district have more to consider."

The middle-aged man, Imperial Minister Ye Fan Jing, sighed, his gaze full of approving affection as he looked at his daughter. As expected, his daughter was sensible and considerate.

Ye Zheng returned her father's smile, then lowered her head again, concealing the sarcasm and mockery in her eyes.

Ye Fan Jing's gaze then fell on his son, Ye Di, to his left. He said sternly, exasperated, "Look at you, idle all day! This year, you can't even get into the royal team's reserves for the league!"

Ye Di looked wronged as he defended himself, "I only just entered the Royal Academy this year; how could I possibly play in the competition already?"

"Besides, the competition locations chosen this year are all at least C-rank Demonic Domains, with extremely high casualty rates. Only those lunatics from the lower district who want to defy fate are desperately trying to participate."

As a privileged child from the upper district, Ye Di rarely encountered Demonic Domains.

A Demonic Domain is a randomly appearing alternate dimension, filled with monsters from another world. Centuries ago, Demonic Domains almost caused the entire empire to perish.

In a crisis, an ability user, powerful almost to the point of being a god, led the empire to eliminate the monsters. He destroyed the most dangerous 3S-rank Demonic Domain and buried the corpse of the boss, the Demonic Dragon, in the very center of the empire.

Strangely, in the burial ground of the Demonic Dragon, Demonic Domains no longer appeared. This is the upper district.

The middle district buried one of the Demonic Dragon's wings, so Demonic Domains rarely appeared there.

However, the largest lower district only received one of the Demonic Dragon's horns, and Demonic Domains frequently occur there.

"Damn it, who thought of including Demonic Domain trials in the competition? It's clearly biased towards those guys from the lower district who deal with Demonic Domains every day!"

The more Ye Di thought about it, the more indignant he became. He was a Level 4 ability user with S-rank talent. According to previous years' requirements, he could at least get into the Royal Academy's reserve team. But now, because he lacked experience fighting Demonic Domains, he couldn't even be a substitute.

The quiet and beautiful woman across the table spoke to comfort him: "Don't be discouraged, Xiao Di. Xiao Zheng often goes to the lower district for charity and occasionally gets caught in Demonic Domains. Ask your sister for some experience, and you'll definitely get in next time."

The beautiful young man sneered, "What kind of experience could sister, an A-rank talent and a Level 3 ability user, who's also a healing type, have? Experience being protected by the Sei Curia guards?"

Ye Zheng smiled sweetly at her brother and nodded. "Yes, I'm always grateful for everyone's protection. The lower district is truly a very dangerous place."

Hearing Ye Zheng's words, Ye Di felt a bit better about himself.

He wasn't some coward who was afraid to go into the Demonic Domain. Once he was strong enough, wouldn't eliminating Demonic Domains be easy?

He just didn't want to be a protected vase like Ye Zheng.

Dinner ended in a relatively relaxed atmosphere. A dignified yet loving father, a docile and obedient daughter, a lively and boisterous younger brother, and a gentle and elegant mother—to anyone, they seemed like a model family from the upper district.

Back in her bedroom, Ye Zheng let out a sigh of relief. She sat at her dressing table, looking at the expressionless girl in the mirror.

Tonight was a rare family reunion. Not to mention her younger brother, who was a long-term boarder at the Royal Ability Academy, even her father, who needed to placate many lovers, came home for dinner.

She disliked such a hypocritical reunion.

Nor did she like the orders her father brought.

"The frequency of Demonic Domain appearances seems to have increased recently. The lower district has suffered heavy casualties; I can't just ignore it."

She would continue her healing work in the lower district.

The girl combed her long, heavy hair that reached the floor, murmuring to herself in the mirror.

The system said reassuringly: [That's right, the next plot point is in the lower district! I'll give you spoilers in advance so you can successfully gain the male lead's and readers' favor.]

Ye Zheng paused in her hair combing. "System, you're very much like my father."

[?]

"Whether it's going to the lower district or not wanting to see the protagonist group, it's all my own will."

"Yet you always manage to use a few words to dissolve my subjectivity, as if I'm always just a supporting character revolving around the protagonist."

"But you clearly told me I'm the female lead."

The system fell silent.

How could it explain that in male-oriented works, and even many female-oriented works, the female lead's existence is merely to fawn over the male lead and record his highlight moments?

It could help her gain as many highlights as possible, but it couldn't change the focus of the entire story.

[Ye Zheng, open your phone. I've installed some things for you.]

[Once you understand the real world, perhaps you won't have any questions.]

Ye Zheng lowered her head and picked up the phone on her dressing table.

Translator Note: Thanks to the 15 ppl who added this novel to their reading list and the one who gave 5 star review, trust me this novel deserve a 5 star! Welcome comments pls~

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