Chapter 34-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Yu Tianming adjusted his glasses. He had already recognized the woman in the distance and the team behind her.
Wu Shu, the only female captain among the ten teams that advanced to the third stage. Despite her unique gender as a captain, the team she led from the Middle District Academy was not very eye-catching.
Over the years, the Middle District had been the ones to accompany the Upper District teams, serving as a stepping stone for the Upper District Academy teams—as for the Lower District, they had never even had the right to be a stepping stone, and this year was the only exception.
Yu Tianming was accustomed to having all information at his fingertips. Even if they were people he looked down on, as long as they were in this game, they could bring variables to the situation.
Therefore, after Wu Shu showed a surprised expression as she approached them, Yu Tianming gave a friendly smile and greeted her first, "Is that Captain Wu of the Middle District?"
Wu Shu was tall and had a dashing aura. After her initial surprise, she nodded with a generous smile. She first looked at the Crown Prince, whose presence was commanding, and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness."
Then, she looked at the gentle-looking boy with glasses and replied, "I've long heard of Senior Yu's reputation. It's a privilege to be able to compete alongside the experts from the Royal Academy."
Compared to the confident and poised Wu Shu, her teammates behind her looked much more constrained. Some of them even had the word "unlucky" written all over their faces.
Encountering the Royal Academy team in the Demonic Domain basically meant their trip was a wasted effort. Everyone except Wu Shu couldn't help but look dejected.
Ye Zheng stayed on the periphery of the team, quietly observing this new character.
Wu Shu's face was on the sharper side. The corners of her eyes slanted upward, giving her a distant, alluringly cold look when she wasn't smiling. But when she smiled, it softened this coldness. Combined with her graceful and poised speech and behavior, she gave off the impression of being easy to get along with.
"And this must be the Saintess. I've always heard stories about you. The Saintess of the Sei Curia is a role model for all the girls in the Holy Sei Empire."
The girl in the white dress had a pure demeanor and a serene expression. In this hot and dry environment, she was like a refreshing orchid, a sight that made people feel comfortable.
Wu Shu looked at the girl, the smile in her eyes becoming a little more genuine.
Ye Zheng gently shook her head, humbly saying, "Miss Wu is too kind. Compared to me, your experiences are more admirable to girls."
"I've always heard from people around me that there's a powerful captain in the South City Academy of the Middle District, who has led the Middle District to their best results in ten years. Seeing you today, the rumors are true."
Wu Shu let out a wry laugh, the corners of her eyes turning up even more. "People around you... must be your butlers or maids. I didn't expect you to care about these things. In front of the Royal Academy, these words are truly an overstatement."
The Saintess in front of her was right. She did have some fame in the Middle District, but in this competition, with the overpowering Royal Academy team above and the once-in-a-century dark horse, the Cloud-Soaring Squad, below, a person like her, a team as ordinary as hers, would only get attention from people in the Middle District, or a cunning fox like Yu Tianming who kept an eye on everything.
"My sisters at home told me about you. They would be so envious of me today for meeting their little idol."
Wu Shu was stunned by Ye Zheng's answer. Then, she smiled faintly. It wasn't the open, confident smile she had when facing the Crown Prince and the others, but it seemed more sincere.
"You are the one who truly lives up to the rumors, Saintess."
If the Lower District was the empire's shield and the Upper District was the sweatshop, the Middle District was the Upper District's backyard, providing high-quality services—attendants, butlers, lovers... They usually came from the Middle District, and a particularly successful one might be able to get a small-to-mid-level position in the Upper District.
Even with Yu Tianming, who was the first to greet her, Wu Shu could see the arrogance in his eyes. How could people who were served by the Middle District every day respect them?
This Ye Zheng... was she a pure, flawless unicorn, or a fox even better at disguising herself than the Prime Minister's son?
"By the way, Captain Wu, you came from that direction. Did you find anything?"
The increasingly hot weather made Yu Tianming interrupt the two girls' conversation. There was no time for useless pleasantries between girls. He didn't want to die of heat here.
Wu Shu withdrew her gaze from the girl and shook her head at Yu Tianming. "There were only a lot of disgusting bugs there. I originally wanted to check in this direction, but it seems there's no need to now."
A hint of disappointment crossed Yu Tianming's face. Besides her great figure, this Wu Shu didn't seem to have anything special about her.
"However," Wu Shu paused, pointing to the southwest. "We just met the Cloud-Soaring Squad. They were heading this way very anxiously. Maybe they found something."
The long-silent Sykes finally raised his eyes. The gloominess in his expression, caused by the heat, eased a little. He looked thoughtfully in the direction Wu Shu was pointing.
"The Cloud-Soaring Squad, huh? They always have some lucky encounters."
Seeing Sykes's murderous expression finally soften a little, Yu Tianming also breathed a sigh of relief. After getting the answer he wanted, he was about to dismiss the team in front of him, but the other party was very understanding.
"I hope you can win the points this time. We will take our leave. This competition is no longer suitable for our team."
Wu Shu sighed, as if she had sized up the situation and finally gave up the struggle.
Yu Tianming pushed up his glasses, unsurprised. Any normal person would know they had no chance of winning.
Sykes was already impatient. He walked toward the southwest without looking to the side. The others followed him immediately. Only Ye Zheng was a few steps behind. As she passed by Wu Shu, she asked softly, "Without the Demonic Domain being destroyed, you can't get out either. Have you really given up?"
Ye Zheng seemed not to need an answer. After leaving a light, almost inaudible laugh in Wu Shu's ear, she caught up with her team and left.
Wu Shu turned to look at the figure in white who was gradually walking away. There was no smile on her face, and her demeanor had become cold.
"C-captain, where do we wait now?"
Wu Shu sneered. "You guys find a place to wait."
As for her, with her ability, when two tigers fight, maybe she could be the monkey that benefits in the end.
In this ability competition, everyone had forgotten about the Middle District, and she was going to bring the ultimate glory to her hometown.
"System, I think I'm starting to get it. Wu Shu is indeed different from the other female characters who have appeared so far."
Ye Zheng pinched her fingers. "She seems to have more depth."
Among the female characters who had appeared, her own label was the gentle healing Saintess, Lucy was the lively girl-next-door, and Bai Muqing was the cold, aloof nun. These were the labels they had since their first appearance.
But Wu Shu was full of contradictions. Ye Zheng found it hard to use a single label to describe her. She was definitely not the kind of confident and enthusiastic woman she appeared to be on the surface—
Although Wu Shu was about her age, Ye Zheng couldn't connect her with the word "youthful" in terms of appearance. "Young adult" or "woman" was a more fitting description.
[She's the classic "mature woman" character in male-oriented stories. Her appearance is definitely more mature than a pure goddess-type like you.]
Ye Zheng thought back and said tactfully, "Her figure is a bit... I was too embarrassed to look for long."
[This manga is already drawn conservatively. Some manga are even more exaggerated. Those aren't bodies human women can have!] The System's voice was exaggerated, as if it had been corrupted by those kinds of manga.
"Besides her mature appearance, her character isn't a particularly righteous one, is it?"
Just from her flawless greetings in their first meeting, Ye Zheng could be sure that Wu Shu was far more ambitious than she let on. Later, she voluntarily revealed the location of the Cloud-Soaring Squad to them. Ye Zheng was even more certain that Wu Shu was different from her and Lucy; she had her own plans.
This surprised Ye Zheng a little. It turned out that the manga creator wasn't just going to have female characters serve his sons. There were also female characters who would secretly stab the male lead. Ye Zheng felt a strange sense of relief.
But Ye Zheng wasn't sure. Based on her research into reader tastes during this time, would female villains also be popular? The System had said that Wu Shu was once the most popular female character in this manga. Although Ye Zheng guessed that the overall popularity of female characters in this manga was far less than that of male characters, Wu Shu definitely had some exceptional quality that made readers like her.
"System, if I were to target Percy and the others in the Crown Prince's team, would my popularity also be high?"
Ye Zheng tilted her head, imagining the possibility of going against the protagonist team.
The System immediately interrupted her fantasy.
[What are you thinking? As the female lead, if you go against the creator and readers' beloved son, be careful. The day after the manga update, your fan community will be completely destroyed, and people will be saying particularly nasty things...]
[Wu Shu was also harshly criticized in the early stages. Don't even compare it to Sykes's treatment; it was far worse than Ryan's. It wasn't until later on—oops.]
The System paused mid-sentence again. Ye Zheng frowned, but her tone became even softer, trying to get more plot information out of it. "System, since my goal is to get more popularity, isn't Wu Shu an excellent case study worth learning from? Tell me quietly."
After all, it would only be in the "black room" for a little while, Ye Zheng thought mercilessly.
The System was silent for a moment, then finally stammered.
[That excellent case study of Wu Shu... the creator already referenced it in your original plot...]
Ye Zheng blinked, her pupils widening slightly, and she said with hesitation, "The original plot... you don't mean the one where I die for Percy, do you?"
The System remained silent.
Ye Zheng had gotten the answer she wanted, but there was no trace of joy on her face.
[Anyway, you get it now, right? It's very difficult to follow the villain path without the right looks and gender. The path of a little angel who is helpful to the protagonist is much safer and won't go wrong.]
[Wu Shu's popularity comes from that kind of contrast. Who can refuse a bad woman who ultimately dies for you? All the previous criticisms turn into guilt and pity. That's why the creator also tried to arrange that for you, since your popularity was so low...]
"So Wu Shu died in the original plot."
Ye Zheng thought that such popularity and pity were meaningless to Wu Shu. All her ambitions and aspirations dissolved with her death.
She stopped in her tracks, looking back at the vast wasteland. The figure of the girl in the black dress was no longer there.
"Are there really no female villains with super high popularity?"
[There are some female villains who become hugely popular, but the conditions are very strict. Their looks, intelligence, and power all have to be on a crushing level. But even so, a villain is a villain, and they always meet a tragic end.]
Ye Zheng listened and made a small "oh" sound.
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