Chapter 145-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ability Competition Final. Location: Demonic Domain 47 - Amber Lake. Participating teams: four.
Competition content—kill the core monster, the Deep Blue Giant Eel.
Final reward: ownership of part of the demon dragon remains.
Ye Zheng followed her teammates into the rest room. A tall and thin short-haired woman turned her head upon hearing the noise. Her gaze passed through Sykes and the others, looking towards Ye Zheng. A trace of teasing flashed across her deep purple eyes.
Ye Zheng was surprised for a moment, then smiled and nodded at her.
It was Wu Shu.
The last time they met was in the Blood Flower Demonic Domain. She hid the whole time and finally used her space ability to kill the Blood Flower before Percy, winning a large amount of points and allowing the mediocre Middle District team to squeeze into the front ranks.
But as far as Ye Zheng knew, people didn't agree with Wu Shu's methods, including her teammates and the residents of the Middle District.
People looked forward to seeing a powerful and kind new generation representing the Empire's future and hope in the Ability Competition, not ambitious schemers relying on plots and tricks.
Not only in this world, but on the forum at that time, many people also scolded Wu Shu, thinking she was despicable and stole the honor that should have belonged to the Cloud-Soaring Squad.
Wu Shu's hair seemed shorter. She wore neat black clothes with a short jacket. She turned her head to look at Ye Zheng approaching slowly, looking relaxed, and winked her right eye quietly.
Seeing this, Ye Zheng knew that she herself wasn't much affected by those comments.
"Long time no see, Your Highness the Crown Prince, Lady Saintess."
Sykes nodded slightly with a blank expression, responding to Wu Shu's greeting.
There were only two teams in the rest room. To avoid premature conflict between teams, the other two teams were arranged in another direction.
Originally, the Divine Academy's points ranked fourth. After Yin Kong disappeared and Bai Muqing withdrew due to affairs, the Divine Academy forfeited the competition. So the Upper District First Academy advanced automatically. Ye Zheng remembered that the relationship between the Cloud-Soaring Squad and the Upper District First Academy team was quite good; they had helped each other before.
Ye Zheng raised her eyebrows slightly. This distribution was interesting, like factions assigned according to the story's heroes and villains. She and Wu Shu were undoubtedly the two female characters most hated by readers.
She suddenly remembered something and knocked on the System in her heart, asking, "System, you seemed to have said that in the original plot, Wu Shu would become the most popular female character, but the ending wasn't very wonderful."
[Wu Shu is the kind of character who appears as a bad woman at first, is gradually moved by the male lead, and finally sacrifices herself for the male lead. This contrast between bad woman and good woman makes readers scream.]
[Especially male readers love to keep mentioning her, saying things like 'You are ultimately not my Wu Shu (bitter smile)', 'A truly good woman', and so on.]
[By the way, readers will often drag you down to praise Wu Shu. Your story is thinner than Wu Shu's, and you wear more clothes than Wu Shu, so in the original plot, your popularity and degree of breaking out of the circle are completely incomparable to Wu Shu.]
Ye Zheng looked up at Wu Shu who was talking with her teammates, then stared at the floor tiles in confusion and thought. She couldn't quite understand the System's words.
[They are just that unhinged. You don't need to try to understand. Now they are all complaining that Wu Shu dressed like a hardcore butch, and they want the creator to return Wu Shu's original attire.]
Ye Zheng didn't understand what the "good woman" in their mouths was. She felt that Wu Shu's current "bad woman" appearance must be what she herself liked.
Perhaps it was because Wu Shu shared a similar fate with her in the original plot that Ye Zheng cared about her. She didn't want Wu Shu to fall into the original ending.
Ye Zheng took a step towards Wu Shu's direction. Suddenly, a dazzling light flashed before her eyes. Ye Zheng closed her eyes in pain, then opened them to look forward. It turned out to be a reflective mirror hanging on the wall. She stared at the mirror intently, recalling a strange thing.
Wen Xiaoxing shouldn't have appeared outside just now. The rest room where the Cloud-Soaring Squad was located was far from here. Did he come specifically to ambush her, just to say hello and provoke her?
Ye Zheng shook her head. She fixed her eyes on the mirror on the wall again. The mirror reflected the figures of the contestants in the rest room. Ye Zheng saw her own inconspicuous shadow in it.
She unconsciously approached the mirror until her face occupied the mirror surface. Her widened black eyes reflected a concentrated face.
There was nothing wrong. Ye Zheng observed for a while. She slowly backed away, and the "Ye Zheng" in the mirror also backed away.
Suddenly, a black shadow flashed across the window in the mirror. Ye Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head quickly. However, there was no one outside the window, only withered yellow leaves slowly drifting down.
Maybe someone passed by, Ye Zheng thought. She felt she was being overly careful and concerned. This was strange.
Was it the sudden appearance of Wen Xiaoxing and Wu Shu's tragic original ending that scared her? Making her subconscious more vigilant?
Ye Zheng found it funny. She had experienced so many things; a Wen Xiaoxing of unknown origin was not worth her being timid.
"Lady Saintess? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
Wu Shu called out to stop her.
Ye Zheng then remembered that she originally wanted to talk to Wu Shu. She suppressed the doubts in her heart, looked at Wu Shu's concerned face, and showed a relieved expression. "Thank you for your concern, Wu Shu."
"No need to call me by honorifics. The title of Saintess weighs on your head all the time; even I would feel heavy."
Wu Shu's smile deepened. "Alright then, Ye Zheng."
Ye Zheng pulled Wu Shu's arm without saying a word. Wu Shu was a bit surprised but still followed her. The two walked towards the open door.
Sykes, who was waiting for the competition to start, noticed the movement of the two. When Ye Zheng passed by him, he lowered his voice and warned her gloomily, "Know your place, Ye Zheng."
Ye Zheng turned a deaf ear. She led Wu Shu straight to a secluded corner. The two were of similar height and stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Wu Shu sensed that something was wrong with Ye Zheng. She put away her smile. "Did something happen?"
Hearing Wu Shu's voice, Ye Zheng quickly came back to her senses. For some reason, her mind wandered just now.
She shook her head. "Nothing... nothing should have happened yet."
Wu Shu looked even more confused hearing her answer, but Ye Zheng's next words made her expression immediately serious.
"Wu Shu, do you want to win?"
"...Of course. Coming this far, who doesn't want to win?" Mentioning victory, Wu Shu's expression became somewhat indifferent.
Ye Zheng stared earnestly and continued to ask, "Even if the result of winning isn't necessarily what you want?"
The Dragon Bone reward was a lie through and through. This competition itself was full of irony.
Wu Shu's eyes darkened, the smile in her eyes disappearing without a trace. She said slowly, "I have won many times, and not once was there a good result."
Her voice was cold, carrying indifferent self-mockery.
"I defeated the academy's most acclaimed excellent senior in a one-on-one arena match and won the position of captain, but the team's results were mediocre. They thought I didn't deserve the captain's position."
"Even though the results I led the team to achieve exceeded the average level of previous years."
"I used clever tricks to earn the team the qualification to compete for the championship, yet they criticized me for only knowing dishonest practices and ruining the school's upright reputation."
Ye Zheng said, "Even so, you still want to win."
Wu Shu replied, "I must win until the end, otherwise everything about me will be completely denied."
If she couldn't bring the Dragon Bone back to her hometown, couldn't bring the best honor to the academy, she would only be labeled with negative tags like "incompetent" and "crafty", then leave sadly and walk into the common ending for female ability users.
"You are the Saintess, Ye Zheng. I know I am far less noble and flawless than you. I am cunning and slick, unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath as you—"
"But you must understand me. The halo on your head is too heavy. You cannot make a single mistake. Like me, you must win until the end."
A trace of fierceness flashed in Wu Shu's eyes, her gaze compelling.
She rarely opened her heart to people because the vast majority wouldn't understand her, let alone nodding acquaintances like Ye Zheng; they had only cooperated once.
Perhaps the Saintess naturally had an affinity that made people let down their guard. Wu Shu didn't understand why she poured these words out to Ye Zheng.
"Ye Zheng, although compared to your glamorous Royal Squad, I, a B-rank, am not worth mentioning."
"But you'd better guard against me."
Wu Shu's face returned to a generous smile. She patted Ye Zheng's shoulder and was about to step away—
"How about I help you win the competition?"
Wu Shu stopped immediately and opened her eyes wide to look at Ye Zheng.
"The Royal Squad's victory or defeat has no meaning to me, so you don't need to worry that I am scamming you."
Wu Shu still narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I am not some devout believer of the God of Hope. There is no reason for the Saintess to 'protect' me so much."
Ye Zheng stood in the corner with her hands behind her back. The shadow of the eaves covered her. She revealed a sly smile, like a snake poking out from a branch.
"It doesn't matter whether you believe in the God of Hope or not."
"Believing in me is enough, Wu Shu."
Wu Shu's pupils shook, staring for a long time at Ye Zheng who calmly uttered such shocking sentences.
From the conversation just now, Ye Zheng understood why Wu Shu in the original plot would slide into that kind of ending.
Wu Shu was outwardly enthusiastic and free-spirited, inwardly strong and cold, but deep down she extremely lacked recognition and craved respect.
This wasn't her fault. The harsh gazes around her artificially shaped this weakness of Wu Shu.
She didn't know how Percy in the original plot gained Wu Shu's true trust, but Ye Zheng thought, since she wanted to win, she would give her the victory she wanted most.
"You will win, Wu Shu, but I hope you can enjoy the purest, most carefree pleasure brought by victory."
Not winning to the end for others' approval, but because victory itself was an extremely meaningful thing.
Wu Shu blinked rapidly in discomfort. "Of course, but the reward for victory is equally exciting."
Once she won on behalf of the Middle District, her hometown would be free from Demonic Domain intrusion, and she would also leave her name in the history of the Middle District, even if the Middle District had always been ignored.
What reason did she have not to fight desperately for victory?
Seeing Wu Shu's expression, Ye Zheng knew she hadn't figured it out for a moment. It didn't matter; they both had a long time to grow.
As long as no accidents happened midway.
"You have to think carefully, Ye Zheng. You help me, but I seem unable to give you any benefits."
A trace of dejection flashed across Wu Shu's expression. Ye Zheng and her teammates were powerful enough and had authority.
Ye Zheng concentrated and pondered for a while. "No, Wu Shu. I might really need your help."
Wu Shu raised her eyebrows in some surprise, looking at Ye Zheng with a questioning look.
The two got closer and communicated for another five minutes or so. Realizing the competition time was approaching, they lifted their feet and walked towards the rest room.
Ye Zheng pushed open the door of the rest room. She told Wu Shu the place where the Deep Blue Giant Eel was most likely to appear, and the people who needed special attention.
Ye Zheng knew her battlefield was not in the competition to kill the giant eel.
She stepped into the rest room one step behind Wu Shu, turned to close the door, but suddenly faced a mirror.
It turned out there was also a mirror hanging on the door.
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