Chapter 310-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
When System first spoke in Ye Zheng's ear and told her "You are the female lead in a shonen action manga," she didn't understand what that meant, nor did she grasp the labels the readers' world had pinned on her.
Ye Zheng was a fast learner. She quickly came to understand the "slang" from that other world. So that was what she looked like in those distant eyes.
A token utility female lead, universally despised, a dead-weight bleeding heart... then a character reversal, controversial fame, a villain with a heart of darkness. Ye Zheng had always brushed off every one of these labels with a smile.
She marched unwaveringly down the path that was hers alone. What did it matter to her whether others called her the female lead, a supporting character, or a villain?
Until this very moment—the grating mechanical voice and the flashing red light hammering home the message: you are not the protagonist of this story; your story must make way for someone else.
Ye Zheng finally understood the true meaning of those labels.
They didn't exist to objectively define her. They were rules—rules designed to constrain her, to suppress her. Like towering walls blocking her path, loftily informing her that the world allotted to her was only this large.
What was even more infuriating was that these rules hadn't been created because of her, Ye Zheng. They had once barred the way of countless women across countless worlds.
Including the readers watching her from afar right now.
Perhaps it was precisely because they refused to accept it that they had given her this power.
The power to refuse meeting the male lead. The power to swap Lucy's heels for flat shoes. The power to seize the Chosen One's identity. The power to shatter the fate that demanded she die for the male lead...
Even across the vastness of space and time, they were tightly, inseparably bound—breathing the same destiny.
If her girls wanted to be the protagonists of their world... then she could become the protagonist of hers!
"System, I want to use Action Points."
Ye Zheng said abruptly, calm on the surface, something immense pressing beneath.
The red light, as if sensing Ye Zheng's defiance, flashed with even greater fury, scrambling her vision and ringing in her ears, severely hampering her movements.
[Warning! Warning!]
[Protagonist death not permitted. System auto-correction!]
Ye Zheng fought to hold herself together and turned toward a certain direction. In the distance, Percy—back from the brink of death—appeared to have finally regained his bearings. The golden light of the sword in his hand blazed so fiercely it cut through the dense red text crowding her vision.
Percy didn't understand what had happened. Why had Ye Zheng, with victory in hand, suddenly stopped using her power? But instinct screamed at him—seize this chance and deliver the killing blow!
[Ye Zheng, there's no story trigger point active—I can't deploy Action Points!]
System's familiar voice broke through the mechanical drone filling her ears, sounding lost and frantic.
"Don't panic. There has to be a way. We triggered Action Points just two days ago."
Ye Zheng tried to nudge System in the right direction. "The story conflict is obvious, isn't it?"
"If the protagonist's rules keep protecting Percy, I have only one ending—"
Between her and Percy, only one could survive. If the protagonist couldn't die, then she was the one who had to.
In the distance, Percy studied her warily. Rather than closing in, he stepped back. Why was Ye Zheng standing there motionless? Another trap? Whether it was overthinking or the cowardice lurking in his heart, he didn't dare advance.
Even without approaching, he was confident he could kill her.
Percy drew a deep breath. Ye Zheng's inaction gave him the time to build up power. Everything aligned as if guided by divine providence. He raised his right arm, fused with the Holy Sword, high overhead. The wind shifted; the clear sky began to warp and darken, as though an invisible vortex churned the heavens.
He stilled his mind and body. Just as the voice of the Hope God had told him through the sword—if he merged completely with the Holy Sword, he could wield power from the divine dimension!
Percy had attempted this many times before, always failing. But this time, he felt an overwhelming certainty—he would succeed!
Boundless power flooded from crown to sole. He was ecstatic. Every past doubt, weakness, and humiliation seemed cleansed in this instant. A hero's glory, a savior's renown, power beyond mortal limits—all within reach.
The hand of a god was tenderly caressing his soul, and that majestic voice spoke once more in his ear...
Across the East District, people lifted their eyes to the warping, distorted sky, a strange unease settling over them all.
Bai Muqing had just entered the East District. The abnormal energy surge struck her head-on, and her serious face creased into a deep frown.
Could an extraordinarily dangerous Demonic Domain be about to descend?
She immediately deployed [Divine Domain] to pinpoint the location.
On the East District's opposite end, Sierra stormed out of a dissipating Demonic Domain, cursing under her breath. Stupid bird—it had flown her straight into that hellhole.
A few steps later, she fell quiet, her expression uncharacteristically grave.
No ability was needed to spot it. One glance skyward revealed a gaping hole in the heavens, pouring down torrents of unnatural golden light like a dazzling golden waterfall.
"...What the hell is that?"
Sierra loathed all gold that wasn't her own hair. It was all an eyesore. She charged toward the golden light, driven by a nameless fury.
Inside a Demonic Domain, Lucy—momentarily distracted—was tackled by a monster. She killed it, then stared blankly at the sky. Wen De and Shu Wan felt a simultaneous surge of restlessness; their strikes quickened, desperate to get out...
At the ruins of Divine Plaza, Ye Zheng took the brunt of the energy shockwave at close range. Her hair whipped into disarray. She barely held her footing, golden light dancing in her dark, somber eyes.
She had already guessed. Vincent—or rather, Wang Tao—was merging with Percy's body from within the Holy Sword. The rift torn across the sky was the gateway connecting the two worlds.
If he succeeded, he would seize full control of Percy's body and wield the power from the other world without restraint!
[I found it!]
In the nick of time, System cried out in excitement.
[There's one critical story trigger point left! It should have been changed with Action Points long ago, but I only just realized—we never actually addressed it. The trigger point is—]
"Ye Zheng's death."
Ye Zheng closed her eyes gently, the words arriving in perfect unison.
"Ye Zheng" was originally meant to die at Sykes's hand in King of the Demonic Domain, fueling a pivotal stage of the male lead's growth—a minor climax, an indispensable turning point.
Killing Sykes didn't mean she'd escaped her death sentence. Even though she was no longer the tragically sacrificed female lead, in a story that belonged to Percy, countless voices still clamored for her death. That was her fate as a villain.
[It's okay—as long as the story constraint exists, our Action Points can do something about it!]
[Let me check how much Popularity and Action Points we need...]
System's excited voice cut off abruptly. Silence.
Ye Zheng opened her eyes. "What is it? How much do we need?"
[No... that can't be right... how is this possible? His influence can't still be this strong...]
The manga creator's influence had been whittled down to almost nothing by Ye Zheng, so why...?
"System?"
Ye Zheng watched the rift in the sky widen. Her brows drew tight.
[One billion Popularity Points. Ten million Action Points.]
System's voice was barely above a whisper.
[Ye Zheng, we need one billion Popularity Points and ten million Action Points to change Ye Zheng's death ending.]
Its voice was utterly dejected.
Ye Zheng blinked, somewhat sluggishly. "If I remember correctly, my current Popularity is just under a million... Ah. We still need a thousand times more."
A thousandfold spike in Popularity overnight was pure fantasy—let alone for a fictional character on paper. Even ten more years wouldn't get her anywhere close to that number...
Confronted with the staggering gap, Ye Zheng's lashes dipped and trembled—then just as quickly, her eyes lifted, wearing their familiar smile.
"All mortals die."
"...If that's how it is, it's not so strange."
The red light and warnings engulfing her dissolved with her words, as if satisfied by her answer. Ye Zheng cradled her aching head and shook it. Her vision finally cleared.
She exhaled, then walked toward the direction where energy surged and golden light blazed—every step through the howling gale slow and deliberate.
All mortals die.
Unless one transcends one's own existence.
One billion Popularity Points was not impossible. Transcending "death" was not impossible either.
Ye Zheng recalled the inspiration she had once received from the "Ye Zheng" of another world. Across the infinite universe, along countless timelines, countless versions of "Ye Zheng" were fighting—and alongside each one, there had to be countless pairs of eyes, cheering for her, longing for "Ye Zheng's" story.
Perhaps, without even realizing it, she had already made a promise to so many people—this will be Ye Zheng's story.
Percy's figure was engulfed in the blinding radiance. Ye Zheng forced her bloodshot eyes wide open. She faced the frenzied golden light head-on and slowly, steadily, reached out her hand.
Her power gathered.
ROAR—
A majestic dragon's cry tore across the entire district, and for an instant, the surging golden light shuddered.
From every direction, people were converging.
*
In a bright study, a girl lay sprawled in front of her computer, phone held aloft in both hands, thumbs flying across the screen.
Tang Mingxi didn't have many worries—especially now, fresh out of high school. Most of her troubles were the happy kind.
For instance: what exactly should they write on Ye Zheng's multi-country LED billboard tribute?
The group chat of several hundred members was buzzing.
[Ye Zheng, you've ruined us all!]
[The world kisses me with pain, and I respond with a rosy complexion, a fit physique, indomitable spirit, and a regular menstrual cycle...]
[You should drop every other fictional character and devote yourself to this one-of-a-kind Zheng Goddess!]
[Ye Zheng, I miss you so much in this real world.]
[At the peak of the zither, sovereign of the world...]
[Kids, stop trolling. Show some respect for our little Zhengzheng.]
[Anyone got a slogan that captures this woman's greatness AND makes the haters lose it on sight?]
After a spirited discussion, the group collectively settled on a single, clean line.
Tang Mingxi looked it over, thoroughly satisfied, and opened her computer to record it.
—Ye Zheng, you were born to be the protagonist of the world.
On the other side of the screen, Li Yixin typed those words, hit send, and felt an inexplicable ache in her chest.
Not a supporting character. Not a female villain. Not the "female lead" in a "male and female lead" duo.
As each label she had once placed on Ye Zheng was torn away, one by one, Li Yixin had suffered confusion and pain—but what followed was an unprecedented lightness, as if the scabs over her heart were being peeled off one by one, letting the fresh skin beneath finally breathe.
I love you the way I love the brave, resolute version of myself I aspire to be.
Your light broke through the boundaries of fiction long ago. I'm so glad—you became the protagonist in my eyes.
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