Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Surprising Bad News

It was not like Zhao Youyue had never gotten a "high popularity character card" before. "Yu Shengfan" was originally a high popularity character card, and "Yu Shengfan" was clearly of better quality than "Zhou Chun." After all, the "Zhou Chun card" is only valid for less than a year, whereas the "Yu Shengfan card" was valid for ten years. This made it clear that "Yu Shengfan" was a lot closer to becoming an iconic character compared to "Zhou Chun."

The only reason Yu Shengfan could become an iconic character card was because the author Rosemary had dropped the pan. He unintentionally made Xiao Yu an iconic character, and seared her onto everyone's memories.

However, the popularity of Zhou Chun was far shorter-lived. She was popular during the broadcast of the anime. She still is fairly popular now, but it was clear that her popularity will only last for a short duration after the final episode is released. It would be fairly difficult for her to be immortalized as a face of anime.

When Zhao Youyue obtained the "Yu Shengfan card," she had also studied the character card thoroughly. At that time, she could not sacrifice the character card in exchange for an item from that world. Now, however, this new ability is available. Was this strictly world-specific?

It might be due to the fact that everything in this anime world revolved around mini 4WD cars. The mini 4WD cars in the anime world were very different from those that exist in the real world. This is especially prevalent with regards to the "black technology" that exists in the anime world. It allowed the mini 4WD cars to comprehend the human language, and have special functions…

Then, Zhao Youyue realized that if she were to exchange the card, the only items she could choose from were limited to mini 4WD cars. This should be the "specialty" of that world. This might be due to the fact that a lot of people from the audience were familiar with 4WD cars and the power that these cars have been infused with. However, once they are exchanged and brought into the real world, the power of these cars would remain unscientific.

Recently, as Zhao Youyue had grown to truly love 4WD cars, and she almost impulsively exchanged her card in return for the male protagonist's mini 4WD car, "The Last Saber." However, she could not bear to do it. She realized that even if she brings this "black technology" mini 4WD car into the real world, there would no opportunity for her to showcase its uniqueness!

In the real world, no one would possibly host a mini 4WD car racing competition. Moreover, it is unlikely for any magical racing venues just like in the anime to exist…

Therefore, if a mini 4WD car from the anime is brought into reality, it would have no justifiable use. It would be like "a hero with no place to display his prowess."

In the real world, mini 4WD cars were more well-suited for collection purposes. Playing with them once in a while, during recreational hours, is more than enough.

Zhao Youyue did not forget her plans. She had aimed to sacrifice this high popularity character card to be able to choose a new world, or directly enter a world with a higher difficulty level so that she could visit the option of obtaining superpowers for real. As long as it happens in the world, she should be able to make something out of it.

Howsoever, Zhao Youyue believed that even if she does not sacrifice the character card, the difficulty level of the subsequent worlds will still increase. In other words, the scope of the "Two Dimensional Gate's" randomness would expand. The next world could be a perfectly normal world, or it could be a world where "blood sports"[1] exist. The latter is of similar nature to the world of mini 4WD cars, where special moves could only be used during competitions, and not in daily life situations.

The world of "The 4WD God" was not a perfectly normal world, no matter how you looked at it. The mini 4WD cars in it had magical powers, which even black technology could not fully explain. The fact that Zhao Youyue had randomly gotten such a world this time might be a sign that the difficulty level has increased.

Zhao Youyue tried to use the "Zhou Chun card" for fun. However, she realized that she should not use it too frequently. If she uses it too often, there was a chance that she might end up being silly and sarcastic. She would end up like those people who try to act cool but end up failing miserably.

However, when the character card is activated, it had its uses of transforming the exterior of her mini 4WD cars, or drawing up new mini 4WD car designs. She would grow more skilled at painting the exterior of her mini 4WD cars and turn them into works of arts. Then, she can upload their pictures onto Tieba[2] or any other internet forum, so that people will think of her as a genius.

Zhao Youyue took advantage of the Zhou Chun card, and made big changes to all of the mini 4WD cars she owned while the card was still activated. All of her mini 4WD cars' exteriors were now magnificent wonders of the world, which made them perfect for showing off.

The mini 4WD cars turned out so beautiful, that Zhao Youyue felt she could easily become a mini 4WD car designer if she chose. Xiao Chun was clearly a genius in 4WD design. Even so, her designs were not focused on increasing the track performance of those mini 4WD cars, but on how they looked.

The most useful thing about the Zhou Chun card, is without a doubt, the magical physical strength that comes with it. Of course, this special ability which enables the user to have unlimited stamina while running, came with an explanation.

If nobody cared enough to carry out a thorough analysis, infinite stamina would be a given in the anime world, especially when you are able to run after your mini 4WD car for a long time during a race and not get tired.

However, the card did not exactly grant her that. While running, an energy bar will pop up to indicate your current energy level. It will gradually deplete, but it can be supplemented by ingesting food or drinking sports drinks. As long as the energy bar does not drop to zero, she will not feel tired at all, and will be able to continue running. However, once the energy bar reaches zero, she will instantly get so exhausted that she would flop to the ground.

This would be something like that so-called eternal youth. A girl who has it will always have the alluring look of a young lady as long as she lives. At the moment of her death, all of her years would catch up to her, and she would visibly age, complete white hair and wrinkles.

Zhao Youyue felt that this ability was not particularly useful, as she did not have much need of running. However, in the event that she has to run, she would just need someone to constantly prepare food and drinks for her. When her energy bar is close to zero, she would have to chomp down on something, and her energy will immediately recover. It would not be a gradual increase, but an instant one. After she eats, all form of fatigue will disappear.

Zhao Youyue believed that the "Zhou Chun card" worked similarly to the energy system of a character in a game. In some games, the characters are usually able to run continuously until their energy bar reaches zero. Once their energy bar reaches zero, they would only be able to walk. However, in games, the characters do not have to do anything to replenish their energy. They can just walk a few steps, and their energy bar would be back to full, then they can continue to run.

In any case, Zhao Youyue's original plan was to obtain a consumable character card. Now that she has achieved it, the ability of the character card did not really matter. The card is going to be sacrificed, anyway. She was already tired and fed up with the randomness of the "Two Dimensional Gate."

Now, she plans to start looking for stories that would capture her interest. It is best if she finds something that is of good quality, and already has some reputation as well as popularity. If the work is already popular to begin with, there would definitely be room for Zhao Youyue to operate. These would grant her "easy victories"…

However, the class representative had suddenly informed Zhao Youyue that the 800m and 1500m races which will be held tomorrow had been assigned to her. In addition to that, she would also have to take part in the 3000m race on the day after tomorrow!

Zhao Youyue was so shocked that she had completely forgotten about the Zhou Chun card. In the back of her head, the Zhou Chun card had already been classified as a single-use consumable product. When she heard the surprising "bad news," she was caught off guard and instantly blurted out, "Why me? I don't remember signing up for anything. I obviously have not prepared to participate in any running events!"

Translation note :

[1] "Blood sport" is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting and some forms of hunting. Activities characterized as blood sports, but involving only human participants, include the Ancient Roman gladiatorial games and the modern mixed martial arts (cage fighting).

[2] "Tieba" is actually Baidu Tieba ()(literally: "Baidu Paste Bar"). It is the largest Chinese communication platform provided by the Chinese search engine company, Baidu. It is an online community bound tightly with internet search services. The website functions by having users search or create a bar (forum) by typing a keyword, and if the bar has not been created before, it is then created upon the search.