Chapter 54: Appointment
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Among the black histories, there was one chatting record that stood out the most—
“Dear Sect Master, don’t you worry, do I look like the type of mangaka who will fiddle with the readers and give them c.r.a.ppy stories? If I do that, I will eat c.r.a.p myself! For the developing plot, I will keep you guessing, but for the ending of this t.i.tle, I can guarantee all of you now that it will definitely be a happy ending. After all, nothing is as promising as an old veteran writer like me!”
Since Su Li had sworn that “she would eat sh*t if the readers were being fed sh*t”, hasn’t she been feeding sh*t to her readers with the ending where almost everyone was dead?
It would be better if she was not so full of herself at that moment, but she had never thought that she would end up drawing such an ending. Even when she was reading it herself, she felt this mangaka was completely insane and out of her mind!
Su Li never thought that she would be drawing an ending, being misunderstood by some readers as a tribute and respect to Urobuchi Gen. Besides, there was one screenshot from her Weibo that was very conspicuous—
“I’m not Okamoto Lynn, a psychopathic artist who loves to torture the girls in the story. I’m also not Urobuchi Gen, who always loves to give popular characters their death flags and creating an all-dead ending. ‘Pure Romance’ is my maiden work, and the style will be absolutely healing and relaxing. Now I am tormenting Xu Jing a little, but there’s a saying that ‘the rainbow comes after the rain and storm’. I also love Xu Jing’s character; In fact I am in favour of her. Therefore, she will have a good ending. At the same time, the ending for this story is going to be a big reunion as well. Everyone will obtain their own happiness. Tragedy? It doesn’t exist! There’s no need to worry!”
In the end, after what Xu Jing had gone through, she did not get to see the rainbow after the storm. Instead, she walked right into the sea…
Moreover, there were several short videos of Su Li appearing on television shows. She was giving her guarantee to the readers that the ending would be a good one. However, when the ending came out, the readers realized all the main characters were having their reunion in the afterlife. Everyone died in the end.
Such a reunion ending, she did keep her promise after all, in a way….
Zhao Youyue even uploaded the pictures to the group photo alb.u.m, as a valuable resource for the black history. Meanwhile, the fans in the group were over the moon.
“What a relief! Youyue you are so awesome! This is a wonderful screenshot!”
“Can it be that Youyue has already seen through Su Li’s trick from back then? Has Su Li been planning to toy with us from the very start? This is indeed terrifying…”
“This is so hilarious! I just want to know Su Li’s expression right now! Will she be embarra.s.sed after seeing these photos?”
“Su Li, are you surprised? Are you shocked? Are you happy?”
“You cannot simply stand your flag after all. Su Li you a**hole, you keep milking yourself and till death.”
“Su Li, Su Li, I have sh*t that is freshly made, do you want to have a taste of it?”
“Hurry and come out now @artist Su Li. Please tell us what is in your mind right now!
“Come out now and do a live show of yourself eating sh*t! Open a group video call and start performing! If you eat it well, I will double click the b.u.t.ton 666 and give you a huge rocket!”
All Su Li wanted was to dig a hole and crawled into it right now, or just leave the group. Unfortunately, she was the group master, and all her loyal fans and Sect Masters were in the group, so it was impossible for her to leave everything behind. After all, her new work still needed the continuous support from her fans!
Actually she was more inclined to publish her new work through Qidian manga site, as she was a hit sensation on the internet right now. Some of her characters from the comics were even changed into emojis, and became very popular on the internet. Her instinct was telling her that webcomic was the path of success in future. What was more, Qidian manga site had Tencent as its backbone, thus providing a lot of pathways to choose from and the manga could be easily animated. The most important part was that the tip would be split in half, instead of a quarter.
That was also why she never renewed her contract with “Wind Manga”. In any case, she had contributed to “Wind manga”. “Pure romance” had increased the sales of “Wind Manga” by a few percent at the very least. The ending which brought up an overwhelming response from the readers had also caused the sale of “Wind manga” for this quarter to increase drastically. Thus, she felt that she had done more than enough to repay the grat.i.tude.
If the person who uploaded the black history of Su Li was not Youyue but other unfamiliar member from the group, then she would definitely hold a grudge against that person. She would record it in a small notebook, and removed that person from the group if she ever had a chance. But since it was Youyue, then of course she would have to … forgive him!
She actually felt very honoured as this person was actually a huge fan of her. If not, why would he save all the flags she made, even videos of her attending shows?
He could not have known that the ending for this story was going to be a pit hole right?
Of course it was impossible!
This was because, even Su Li herself could not have predicted that she would draw such an ending and lost herself in the process!
At this moment, Su Li suddenly recalled an explanation she used to ridicule at. Some authors explained that it was never their intention to create such a sad ending, but they just could not control the plot’s development. The characters from their work had their own will, and they chose to face their own stories, which inevitably led to a tragic end…
This explanation can never be wrong!
Those authors were not blaming others after all, such situation was indeed possible!
Therefore, she decided to reply all her fans in the group and stated that she did not draw such an ending out of her own will. The truth was that she respected her character’s will from her manga, and let “Xu Jing” acted on her own, which eventually led to that tragic ending. Thus, this was all Xu Jing’s fault!
She even found a few similar examples and had successfully joined with the authors who claimed that they had no control over the ending. She supported their explanation greatly that they were helpless against the tragic ending. It was all because of the characters in the story. The free wills of theirs were the root of all problems!
After explaining in the group and Weibo, she continued to put the blame on other’s shoulder. This in turn triggered a new round of criticism from the readers. Most of the readers could not accept her explanation since it was too mystical. There were some authors who retweeted Su Li’s Weibo and supported her theory. There were times when the ideas just flooded in and you just lost yourself in the process. All you wanted to draw was a happy reunion ending, but you realised it did not fit into a character’s personality. Hence, you could only deduce how it should be based on the character’s personality. Consequently, all you had was a tragic ending…
Time will heal all wounds. In any case, the ending of “Pure Romance” had earned Su Li a great reputation. No matter good or bad, it was still a reflection of how popular she was. Deep down in Su Li’s heart, she was truly satisfied with the twisted ending.
Practising the words “Readers, I am your dad” was awesome!
As for Su Li, she kept blaming Xu Jing for everything. She even made the line “It was all Xu Jing’s fault!” to become a famous punchline in the world of Otaku. Surprisingly, this had even made Xu Jing more iconic than ever.
Lastly, Su Li private messaged Youyue who was already a friend, and found out both of them lived in the same city. She decided to ask him out and thanked him face-to-face, while trying to improve their relations.h.i.+p.
It was Zhao Youyue who manipulated the others and they had to thank her in return. She really was one of a kind.