Chapter 11: I Became a RoFan Female Lead's Friend
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 11: I Became a RoFan Female Lead's Friend
If someone were to ask me what my hobby was, I’d tell them it was reading webnovels. I read them that much.
It all started with webtoons.
I was working the night shift at a convenience store, and since it was out in the sticks, there were absolutely no customers.
Having unintentionally become a "time billionaire" with nothing to do but watch YouTube, a friend recommended a webtoon to me.
– Watch this. It’ll make time disappear.
They said it was a popular webtoon these days, that it was a total time-sink, and that I should trust them and give it a shot.
"Is it really that good?"
So I watched it, and it was more fun than I expected. I got hooked instantly.
Eventually, I caught up to the latest chapter.
"Wait for free, huh?"
It was the latest chapter, but that didn't mean there wasn't more to the story. It just meant I had to wait a week for the next one—unless I paid to see the advance chapters.
"I mean, it'll come out eventually if I just wait, right?"
I was only watching it to kill time at work anyway; there was no need to waste money on it.
"Ugh."
But I was dying to know what happened next. Looking at it, a rental was only 200 won.
"I'll just watch this one..."
So I spent the money and binged the advance chapters.
But once I finished those, I was told to wait another week.
"I should've just waited."
I was sad that I couldn't see more even if I paid, but the comments on the latest chapter tempted me.
– This is chapter 78 of the original novel! Chapter 83 is a total legend!
"……Ah, I hate reading text, though."
I wasn't a big fan of reading.
But they said it was a "legend."
They say one webtoon episode covers about one to three chapters of a webnovel. That meant I’d have to wait anywhere from two to four weeks to see the next part in webtoon form.
And so.
"I'll just read up to that part."
They said it was a legend. I’d just read that far and then go back to waiting for the webtoon.
That’s what I thought.
And that choice was a mistake.
"Yeeun, good job today."
"Ah, yes."
When I snapped out of it, it was morning.
After switching shifts with the manager, I arrived at my studio apartment in a daze and let out an involuntary exclamation.
"That was good……"
I thought I’d only read four chapters.
By the time I came to my senses, I had binged the entire thing to the end.
I even heard that the webtoon skipped some parts, so I went back and read everything from chapters 1 to 78 as well.
Frustratingly… it was just as good as the webtoon.
Actually, it was even better.
I guess I’m better at reading than I thought.
Once I cleared that first hurdle, I started spending all my free time reading novels as much as webtoons.
"This one’s good too."
And so, during the dead of night, I guarded the convenience store alone, consuming webtoons and webnovels.
Male-oriented fantasy, Murim, alternate history, and so on. I didn't really care about the genre, except for a few minor ones. But perhaps because I started with a RoFan, about half of the ten series I’d be reading at any given time were RoFans.
As I read one novel after another.
"Haa."
I finally encountered a "love-hate" masterpiece.
The title was Like a Flower Blooming in Barren Land.
"Fuck."
It started as a bright and energetic Academy story.
Then, the plot suddenly took a "pitfall drift" into depressing territory.
Once they graduated from the Academy—maybe it was just my imagination—the battle scenes started becoming more frequent than in male-oriented novels.
But I could endure it.
Because this damn author was actually a really good writer.
Plus, unlike most RoFans that end quickly, this work was becoming a super-long epic.
It pissed me off every time I read it, but the charm that kept me clicking the next chapter prevented me from dropping it.
"You son of a bitch author!"
But when Part 4, the Demonic Realm Arc, began, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Ha, haha. Seriously. This is bullshit. A plunder marriage? Are you insane?"
I was half-delirious, letting out a hollow laugh at a mere novel.
The guys at the Academy barely managed to get a single kiss from the female lead after over a hundred chapters.
Fuck, there were even some losers who couldn't even get a kiss before leaving the Academy!
But this bastard called the Demon King, who appeared in Part 4, kidnapped the female lead and slept with her within thirty chapters of his debut.
Then he had the audacity to declare her his wife.
"Fuck!"
Maybe it was because it wasn't explicitly R-18.
Or maybe the author wanted to make an excuse later like, "No, I just gave off that vibe. They haven't actually done it yet."
The actual scene didn't appear, but there was a conversation when they woke up in the morning that heavily implied it.
"I’ve been uneasy ever since that bastard on the Part 4 cover turned out to be so damn handsome."
I’d been rooting for Prince Esid since the beginning, but I wouldn't have been this angry if she’d ended up with one of the other male leads.
But fuck, not like this.
It’s not just about screwing over everyone who supported the other pairings for over 400 chapters.
It’s ridiculous enough that the final boss of Part 4 suddenly appeared as a male lead candidate.
But you make the other male leads look like eunuchs for over 400 chapters, only to have the newcomer sleep with the female lead within a single volume?
Fuck, I can't stand this.
5,700 characters? Not even close. Even double that, 11,400 characters, wouldn't be enough to express my rage right now.
If you're going to send me into the novel, then just do it.
Burning with rage, I began to set the comment section ablaze.
"Are these people for real?"
Then I saw some people who, just based on the cover, were happy that the handsome Demon King slept with the female lead.
Did these people even read the same novel as me?
I watched all that nonsense since the Academy, and they like the development where a suddenly appearing "hot" final boss forces himself on her?
They say you should respect people's tastes, but I can't respect this.
I immediately started picking fights with all the pro-Demon King comments.
I had no regrets.
I had to relieve this shitty feeling somehow.
Until the moment my shift ended.
No, until the moment I got home and fell asleep.
With the heart of a loyal subject offering sincere advice, I left a long comment for the author.
And with the heart of a patriot striking down traitors, I engaged in a keyboard war with the Demon King faction.
And when I woke up.
"Fuck, what is this?"
I had become a supporting character in the RoFan novel I’d left hate comments on—the legendary trope itself.
Since it was the classic "possession as an extra" beginning.
I followed the typical route.
"Hi!"
I became childhood friends with the "Golden Capybara," who, with her irresistible charm, unintentionally seduced countless men, including the Imperial Prince.
"It's a dangerous world. You should learn at least some self-defense magic just in case."
"Is that so?"
I couldn't bear to see her get kidnapped by the Demon King again because she couldn't protect herself despite being the Saintess, so I worked hard from a young age to draw out Daisy's magical talent.
"These and these are fun."
"Wh-what? Mom said I shouldn't watch stuff like this!"
Furthermore, since the progress between the male leads and the female lead was agonizingly slow, I force-fed Daisy romance novels in hopes they would help.
I was certain it would be faster to make Daisy more "aware" than to wait for those useless male leads to make a move.
"I passed the Academy entrance exam!"
"Me too."
And thanks to her stats being higher than in the original, we safely entered the Academy.
It’s finally starting.
With a fluttering heart, I was contemplating how to handle the bullshit events that were about to unfold.
"I heard the Minor Sword Emperor from the Swordsmanship Department lost?"
On the first day of classes, a rumor spread quickly. Ah, the original story is finally beginning.
Or so I thought!
"They say it was Adam Smith?"
"……What?"
Without realizing it, I grabbed the person spreading the rumor and asked back.
"Wh-who did you say?"
"Adam Smith?"
The person looked startled because I’d suddenly grabbed them, but I was the one who was more bewildered.
Why the hell did the "Invisible Hand" suddenly pop out and take down the Minor Sword Emperor?
The one who’s supposed to beat the Minor Sword Emperor is Ellen, the Prince of Leon and a fellow sub-male lead!
He’s the strongest swordsman in the world-building, a guy who could even slice up the Part 4 bastard Demon King if it came down to a pure sword fight.
A crucial part of the Academy arc was Daisy comforting the Minor Sword Emperor after he fell into despair before that massive wall.
That’s why Prince Ellen felt a bit like a villain in the beginning, and Asran, the Minor Sword Emperor, was pushed as a strong male lead candidate alongside Prince Esid.
But that whole setup was shattered from the very start.
"What's going on?"
I wondered if a variable had occurred and Prince Ellen hadn't entered the Academy, but that wasn't it.
Because the person who eventually took down that Adam Smith was Prince Ellen.
"What on earth is happening?"
I was suspicious.
But nothing was certain yet.
So, I stayed close to Daisy and watched to see if events would proceed according to the original.
"How about the Flower Arrangement Club?"
She smiled and invited the Imperial Prince, whom no one dared approach, to join a club.
"What are you doing there?"
She seduced the Minor Sword Emperor, who was uncharacteristically sulking in a corner, nursing the sorrow of defeat.
"Do you happen to know a lot about flowers too?"
While out buying flowers for club activities, she even hooked another guy.
Watching the male leads fall one by one, I thought, Okay, the original plot is holding up.
"I think you can do it like this?"
"Ah, I see."
But Prince Ellen was the problem again.
What the fuck?
Why is only this part of the story a mess?
What kind of character was Prince Ellen?
Along with Gerard, the second son of the Rias family and guardian of the Demonic Realm, he was a character who fit the "Northern Grand Duke" archetype of RoFans.
Cold, strong, yet warm only to "his woman."
Of course, that only happens much later.
At this early stage, it was normal for him to be unable to open his heart while still hovering around the female lead because he was interested.
After all, Gerard was doing exactly that.
But Prince Ellen was different.
Where did he throw away that Northern Grand Duke-style chilliness?
He was smiling next to Daisy, learning how to arrange flowers.
"……"
No, you're not that kind of character.
You're supposed to spend the entire Academy arc as a mere "sub-male lead" presence, doing absolutely nothing until graduation.
The part where Gerard and Ellen turn into "cheetahs" and start sprinting is Part 3—after Academy graduation.
Gerard was staying still as per the original, but Prince Ellen was already running.
"That guy is definitely the culprit."
It was easy to find the culprit.
A character who didn't exist in the original was by the side of the changed Prince Ellen.
He might have been an unmentioned extra, but there was no way he was an extra from the moment he beat the Minor Sword Emperor.
There was only one problem.
"What if he's a regressor?"
The essential elements of webnovels: Regression, Possession, Reincarnation.
If he was a possessor like me, it would be one thing, but if he was a regressor, I might be meddling unnecessarily.
"Considering how the story went to shit, regression is a possibility."
While some crazy people supported the Demon King as the male lead, any sane reader would have to admit the development was garbage.
To have a character suddenly appear and take the female lead's first time—which had been teased for so long—through kidnapping and confinement?
To change such a broken plot, one would need to regress.
Though it didn't make sense for a new character to do it instead of one of the male leads.
"…As if the Demon King's sudden intrusion made any sense."
Knowing the author's mental state, it wouldn't be strange if the world ended around Part 5 and a new male lead candidate regressed.
Therefore, I couldn't rule out the possibility of regression.
"Ah, whatever."
But thinking about the events to come, I had to quickly confirm whether he was an ally or not.
So, unlike the original, I asked the energetic Prince Ellen for a favor and summoned Adam Smith to the rooftop of the Old Church building after club activities, when no one would be around.
But what should I say?
Regression? Possession? Reincarnation?
No. I should be a bit more indirect.
"Do... Do you know Like a Flower Blooming in Barren Land?"
Fuck.
I blurted out the question.
I intended to subtly hint at it with the novel's title.
Why did "Do you know" suddenly come out?
"Do... Do you know Kimchi?"
Fuck.
Whether it was because he knew the original title or because he saw a crazy woman blabbing nonsense like "Do you know," the guy looked a bit flustered. I threw out a code that only someone from my world would know.
That damn "Do you know" came out again, but this time, there was a clear reaction.
"Do you know Ko... ah, shit. You're from South Korea, aren't you?"
I canceled the "Do you know" that was about to come out again and just went for it.
"…That's right."
I ended up meeting an unexpected fellow countryman from my previous life.