Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Breaking The No Animal Training in China Paradox

Zhao Youyue found the ability to morph into a cat interesting. In other words, with such a character in "Dog Days," it would certainly be much fascinating than merely a story with Xia Qingqing. Its popularity might outshine even the male protagonist. Readers would love "Hua Xiaomao," but not "Su Qing."

Cats were living creatures that behaved coldly, under normal circumstances. The rare occasions of their adorable antics only became all the more rewarding, that way. In this era of "Cat slaves," not "Dog slaves," apparently cats were born to be bosses. Countless men devoted themselves as their dung cleaners.

At worst, "Hua Xiaomao" might not make it as high popularity character. However, Zhao Youyue was interested in the experience of being a cat in the novel's world. Would that not be an exciting episode?

The "Two Dimensional Gate" enabled Zhao Youyue to experience different people's lives. If she used it conservatively without breaking any rules, that would be too dull. To her, rules were made to be broken, and life only mattered when it contained broken rules.

It was just like how she dominated the world as Lee Yunlong, a young female Eirei. She craved for the excitement of destroying worlds. It was unlike any other plain old, cliched novel.

However, terminating such actions were more frustrating than anything else. They ended like unfulfilled dreams. But such things had to be stopped, or things could cause trouble for the authors. Usually, rational authors would "harmonize" with her destructive behaviors by assuming that it was an outcome of frenzied imagination or excessive drinking. They treated their work seriously, such abnormal storylines were unacceptable, and had to be altered accordingly to avoid any adverse effects.

The only concern was that some authors might just descend into a suicidal state. They would, for lack of a better word, end their novels with an explosion. As Zhao Youyue's destructive actions start to fit into the puzzle, or rather, get shoved into spaces that do not fit them, the creators would clamp them in place and move with the flow, ending their own work in a jaw-dropping, sensational way.

That was precisely what the creator of "War Heroes" did. His actions later made him an idol of war-fighting drama series. As a result, characters of this drama became the Bilibili Kichiku All-Stars.

The characters designed by Zhao Youyue caused most of the world collapsing incidents. When their abilities started to exceed the power of the author's level of depiction, readers would start to sense the vast disparity. Her destructive acts often had the potential to kill off all the original protagonists

"Dog Days" contained special abilities. But, why would only the male protagonist possess a special ability, while other characters did not?

It was only logical for a character with the ability to morph into a cat to show up. Perhaps some other character who could morph into a cockroach had yet to make itself known. That would be disastrous, just like Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Franz Kafka's novel, "The Metamorphosis." [1]

Regardless of it being a cat or a dog; they survived by being an adorable pet. Once they became a vessel of a human soul, they could perform various facial expressions and animated antics. These could be used to break the traditional idealism of "No Animal Training is allowed in China." Some would love to be the cute animals from "Cats Planet" or "Dogs Planet" who were capable of morphing into humans. If, by chance, their owner is some "National Husband," they would live a life with no worries, a life that was way better than being a human!

However, someone morphing into a cockroach or insect would most likely be crushed by a shoe or something. They could never be a pet

Zhao Youyue curiously wondered. If she obtains "Hua Xiaomao's" character card, and used that card in real life to morph into a cat, what would happen?

She could not wait to use this character card in real life

Nevertheless, 'the powers that will be' always made modifications for elements of different worlds to coincide. For example, when she activated the character card of a young female scholar, "Wen Qingyu," she did not actually eat the book. In other words, she was only imagining herself eating the book. When others looked at her, they would only see a girl, so deeply engaged in her book that her mouth would repeat their contents, as if she was memorizing them.

She had managed to achieve the same effect in both worlds. By imagining herself eating famous classic novel, she had been able to memorize the book. Her recollection of it was not simply limited to words, but in every other aspect. Savoring the flavor of various masterpieces had all been a pleasant process. She was able to relive the emotions those authors felt at the exact moment when those words were formed.

The young female scholar Wen Qingyu was the perfect reader; she was able to comprehend the messages and feelings that those authors attempted to convey.

Zhao Youyue was the perfect reader, in the hearts of professional writers and illustrators. She was far too generous!

Now that she had Wen Qingyu's ability to "eat books," she was an existence that could probably be replicated, only when the planets were aligned. No living human would be able to accept such a combination

In a truly advanced technology world, it was possible to use procedural methods to create a phenomenon that was seemingly magic or divine in nature. This was an undeniable truth. Some web novels used science to explain magic and powers. They described the method of walking into the magical world, or the path of becoming a god as if it was a very real phenomenon. If magic, abilities or powers existed in the real world, they were unacceptable and irrelevant. Science just could not explain them.

Of course, this was the perspective of those who believed that science could explain everything. On the day when Zhao Youyue conjures up a fireball in the real world; they might even convince themselves that she merely made a unique flamethrower of sorts. They would only accept the most rational, logical explanations.

Zhao Youyue was now a firm believer of mythology, as she possessed the "Two Dimensional Gate." She did not believe that science could explain everything, or provide her any understanding of her imaginary powers. Yet, "Two Dimensional Gate" had been able to do that.

It could not be helped. She was not a rational thinker nor a scientist. She was not a great, patriotic person who prioritized on the greater good. She would have announced her possession of "Two Dimensional Gate," and cooperated with national researchers to analyze and dig into every unknown potential of the "Two Dimensional Gate."

Zhao Youyue would never do that. She kept this all for herself, hoping to improvise every skill, gradually. Someday, she would fabricate a character card similar to "A Great Scientist". She could perform research on herself, by herself!

Zhao Youyue picked the passer-by character, "Hua Xiaomao." Unhesistantly, she entered the novel "Dog Days." She immediately took control of the character, and started to program her behavior and abilities.

Translation Note:

[1] The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. Gregor is the main character of the story. He works as a traveling salesman in order to provide money for his sister and parents. He wakes up one morning finding himself transformed into an insect. After the metamorphosis, Gregor becomes unable to work and is confined to his room for most of the remainder of the story.