It's Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead

Translated by Eve

Edited by Wuxian

After [Lone Wind Wan Yi] and Sui Yuan’s chat, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt that his world views had completely toppled over. As a 21st century youth, he naturally knew about homosexual love and held no prejudice against it. However, this did not mean that he was familiar with the concept nor did it mean he understood it. To the current him, homosexual love was just an interesting forum post and what the fujoshis in his guild liked to talk about. When he felt inclined, he’d skim through it as if reading an interesting story. When he wasn’t interested in it, it had nothing to do with himself.

[Lone Wind Wan Yi] had never thought that so many gay people would unexpectedly pop up beside him. Each one of them was his good brother—one of them was even someone he felt a faint, indescribable feeling of worship for.

[Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt like he was floating....

Thus, when he heard [Wind-Like High Official] complain about people randomly pairing him and [Hua Xinlei] up as a CP, against [Wind-Like High Official]’s expectations, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] didn’t agree with him in ridiculing this matter. Instead—

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：Are you and Hua Xinlei really not involved?

【Wind-Like High Official】：..................

——[Wind-Like High Official] and his friend were simple stupefied!

【Wind-Like High Official】：Wait a second, what do you mean?! You think that Hua Xinlei and I are actually in an inexplicable love/hate relationship?!

After realizing that he had absentmindedly said something wrong, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt a bit apologetic and awkward.

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：No, that’s not what I meant. Sorry, I was recently made confused.

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：I had just suddenly discovered that the fujoshis’ fantasies don’t all seem to be baseless, that some of them are actually founded on truth. So I couldn’t help but be a bit....

【Wind-Like High Official】：...Founded on truth? For example?

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：...For example, that thing between you, King of Hell, and Hua Xinlei?

Obviously, [Wind-Like High Official] had not expected [Lone Wind Wan Yi] to know about his dark history of having been cheated on by that scum gong. Only a long time later did his attention return.

【Wind-Like High Official】：Who told you this?

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：Sorry, I didn’t pry too much into your personal affairs. I just didn’t want to see you and King of Hell be on bad terms because of Hua Xinlei. I wanted King of Hell to personally stop Hua Xinlei. Afterwards, King of Hell told me about what happened between you guys.

【Wind-Like High Official】：...I didn’t expect him to tell you. What did he say?

Hearing [Wind-Like High Official] ask him this, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] muttered to himself for a while and then told him the truth. After all, [Disdaining the King of Hell] had not warned him not to tell other people. Furthermore, he wanted to confirm the truth by hearing the matter from the other party involved.

[Lone Wind Wan Yi] had a strong sense of justice. He knew that it was immoral for [Disdaining the King of Hell] to two-time. But at times, emotions would affect a person’s judgement. Towards friends, the majority of people would always be more lenient. [Lone Wind Wan Yi] was naturally no exception. [Wind-Like High Official] was his friend, but so was [Disdaining the King of Hell], and compared to [Wind-Like High Official], [Disdaining the King of Hell] was more special to him.

Since he was young, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] had always been ’the other family’s kid.’ He was outstanding in every aspect: his family was well-off, he was handsome, he had outstanding grades, and he was multi-talented...even when playing a game, he easily attained great popularity as a ’great god’. It could be said that for all of his life, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] had very rarely ever tasted defeat—and then [Disdaining the King of Hell] appeared.

When he first saw [Disdaining the King of Hell]’s gameplay, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] could only think of the word ’stunning’. It was precise, gorgeous, and completely without flaw. It could even be said to have toppled over his understanding of how one should play the game. It was the first time that [Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt that he was inferior to another—he was no match for [Disdaining the King of Hell]. He was absolutely no match.

As [Lone Wind Wan Yi] was still a graduate student who had yet to leave his ivory tower, the first thought that came to mind when faced with this person who made such a great impact on him was to chase after him. He admired the other and wanted to become even stronger. He even did things he had sworn impossible to do in the past—shamelessly nagging the other, begging to get closer to the other man.

As the so-called saying went, ’the reluctant woman will eventually fall’ (?) , [Lone Wind Wan Yi] eventually got his wish fulfilled. Although the other wasn’t too willing to acknowledge him, he had finally given a tacit approval of his existence.

After becoming friends, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] naturally came to understand other things about [Disdaining the King of Hell] aside from his skills. For example, his personality and conduct. It had to be said that [Lone Wind Wan Yi] really admired [Disdaining the King of Hell]. He liked his unconstrained magnanimity, the confident and haughty way in which he never took anything to heart. He also thought that the occasional display of endearing silliness was quite fascinating in another way. The only stain on him was the matter between him, [Wind-Like High Official] and [Hua Xinlei].

Although he felt rather apologetic towards [Wind-Like High Official], when faced with the stain between his friend and his idol, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] subconsciously wanted to find an excuse for his idol. For example, it was only to be expected that the trust between them would be influenced after having his requests for video calls and photos rejected so many times; or how [Disdaining the King of Hell] had immediately broke off things with [Wind-Like High Official] after getting together with [Hua Xinlei], so, technically, it wasn’t considered two-timing; or how there were so many people on this planet, who wouldn’t have any sort of flaw? Emotions, this kind of private matter...one needn’t pay too much attention to it.... Furthermore, what [Lone Wind Wan Yi] hoped for was that this whole thing was nothing but a misunderstanding, and that [Disdaining the King of Hell] was still the unblemished and immaculate [Disdaining the King of Hell].

It was a pity that he was destined to be disappointed.

【Wind-Like High Official】：I didn’t think that he would tell you the truth. The relationship between the two of you is really good.

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：...It’s real?

【Wind-Like High Official】：Yes.

[Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt that it was a great pity that his friend/idol inevitably could not be washed white. Only, after seeing [Wind-Like High Official]’s sigh of sorrow, this feeling of pity ineffably turned into happiness.

The self-aware [Lone Wind Wan Yi] had always thought that [Disdaining the King of Hell] really disliked him and was unwilling to interact much with him. Now, he suddenly discovered that the other’s attitude towards him was actually not all that terrible, and the world seemed bright once more.

【Wind-Like High Official】：Then, is he willing to personally go out and stop Hua Xinlei from annoying me?

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：...Sorry, he said that he isn’t able to control what Hua Xinlei does.

【Wind-Like High Official】：I knew it’d be like this.

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：So, you and Hua Xinlei aren’t having an affair?

【Wind-Like High Official】：Absolutely not!

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：Then what about with Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves?

When he saw [Lone Wind Wan Yi]’s two questions, [Wind-Like High Official] simply wanted to kneel!

【Wind-Like High Official】：Of course not! We’re friends, just friends! Just because I’m gay, doesn’t mean I’ll like just any guy, ah!

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：...Then...Elegant and Humble and King of Hell...?

【Wind-Like High Official】：Could it be that you’ve been brainwashed by those fujoshis? There’s nothing going on between Elegant and Humble and Disdaining the King of Hell! Even if you’re starting to have delusions, this has nothing to do with us!

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：...You should go look at the newest HOT posts on the official forum’s player interactions section.

【Wind-Like High Official】：......？？？

【Lone Wind Wan Yi】：You’ll understand when you see it.

[Wind-Like High Official] silently switched out of the game and opened up the forums. He immediately saw the post that had the HOT tag on it.

Once he opened up the post, [Wind-Like High Official] felt a bit blinded.

The original post practically did not have any superfluous words. It consisted of only one sentence that said: ’let it be known that Laozi had taken a screenshot of the dating holy land without paying attention’. After that, there was a series of 233333 which required no explanation....

The attached picture that came after...regardless if it was the photography skill or the retouching skill, it was of excellent quality. It was beautiful and pleasing to the viewers’ eyes. It was just that the two main characters within the screenshot made [Wind-Like High Official]’s heart fall into chaos.

The one with a formidable, imperious air was [Disdaining the King of Hell] and the one with a free, easy, and romantic air was [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves. The two people did not deliberately make use of the game’s expressions or actions but for some reason, there was a dense, intimate and sweet atmosphere around them, making even [Wind-Like High Official] who had a pre-installed skeptical person BUFF, be unable to help but think that there was something fishy about the feeling between the two people.

There were some pictures where the two of them were just standing side by side, some where they sat on the ground together, and some where they were chasing each other around and PKing. In the last screenshot, [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves] was sitting cross-legged on the ground, both hands playing the zither. Meanwhile, [Disdaining the King of Hell] stood at one side, brandishing his inelegant dual swords—this series of screenshots made viewers unconsciously feel warm, and agree to the original poster’s final words which was a modified line from a poem: "It is rare for one to reach an old age in this world. One can only envy these lovers who are akin to a pair of mandarin ducks that can grow old alongside one another, hand in hand."

——The once most renowned photographer Zhao Xihe would like to say: these are just a few screenshots, that’s all. Don’t make this too easy for me!

The original post was especially warm and the discussion below was buzzing with activity. In the past few days, the rather lively HellWan club was being completely counter-attacked by the HellAutumn club. Everyone selectively ignored [Hua Xinlei]’s title of ’Guild Leader’s wife’ and happily pushed him towards (Wind-Like High Official). Afterwards, in order to spread the word of the AutumnHell affair far and wide, they even revived the old post to use as proof, where [Hua Xinlei] inserted himself between the couple DisdainingHighOfficial and entered this mutual love, mutual hate relationship with the latter.

[Wind-Like High Official] who was CP’ed: ".................."

After [Disdaining the King of Hell] and [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves] were determined to be a couple and [Wind-Like High Official] and [Hua Xinlei] were forcefully determined to be a couple, some people said: What about Great God [Lone Wind Wan Yi]? Did Great God Wan Yi want to get in between HellAutum or WindHua? Very quickly, the two sides fought it out, each believing in their own conjectures. All sorts of ’evidence’, true or not, and brilliant and varied inferences popped up, giving people a feast for the eyes.

[Lone Wind Wan Yi] who was being taken as a person trying to step between people’s relationships: ".................."

After closing the post and returning to the game, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] and [Wind-Like High Official] both expressed that the pair had no idea what to say....

For the first time, [Wind-Like High Official] seriously pondered over whether or not he should leave the game, and [Lone Wind Wan Yi] felt conflicted. He didn’t know if he should listen to [Disdaining the King of Hell]’s suggestion that he temporarily keep his distance from some of his good brothers. Although he had always believed that ’the innocent party is innocent even if he does not defend himself and that the guilty one is guilty even if he does not admit to it’—that he only had to maintain his silence and do his own thing—and the matter would pass, right now, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] was a bit uncertain....

After all, he was innocent—hadn’t done anything wrong. However, the other four people were not at all innocent, ah! Affairs were being incessantly dug up. Every few days, there’d be a new, hot thing making waves. [Lone Wind Wan Yi]’s hope of being regarded as ’innocent’ was getting further and further away from him because of his pig teammate’s screw ups....

——Really makes one’s heart pained....

Although [Lone Wind Wan Yi]’s heart was pained because his ’innocent’ image was destroyed, when he thought of having to stay far away from [Disdaining the King of Hell] and being unable to bother him for PK matches, he felt especially gloomy, as if someone had forcibly dug something out of him, leaving him desolate and helpless.

Right now, all of his attention was placed on [Disdaining the King of Hell]. If you took that away, he simply did not know what he should do in game.

After a moment, [Lone Wind Wan Yi] thought that he should just go along with it. If he stopped PKing because of these rumours, it would seem like he had a guilty conscience and was trying to bury his hand in the sand. Worst case scenario, if people gossiped in front of him, he’d just beat them to death. As for what people said behind his back...he’d just pretend he didn’t know about it. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Regardless of [Lone Wind Wan Yi]’s and [Wind-Like High Official]’s moods after seeing those posts, at least Zhao Xihe, who had made that post, felt particularly happy.

And when Sui Yuan saw it, he expressed that he wanted to flip the table and rage quit!

Originally, [Disdaining the King of Hell] and [Lone Wind Wan Yi] were being pushed together as a CP. Their departure from the plot has already been bad enough. What resulted was that Zhao Xihe went and added fuel to the fire and stuck a foot into the matter, pushing the [Disdaining the King of Hell] and [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves] CP’s popularity to the heavens. Sui Yuan simply did not know what expression to make when faced with this messy, twisted relationship web.

——He knew it! The damned matter of him being taken away by Zhao Xihe in the beginning to take screenshots at the dating holy ground was not a good thing at all! He definitely should not have indulged him nor cooperated with him!

"You’re asking me why I did that?" Upon hearing Sui Yuan’s question, Zhao Xihe raised an eyebrow in real life and spoke especially self-confidently, "Because I was unhappy seeing the gossip about you and Lone Wind Wan Yi all over the forums."

Sui Yuan silently stroked the desk in front of him, wondering how much strength he would have to use in order to flip it into the air and look dashing while doing so.

"Of course, there’s another reason as well," Seeing that Sui Yuan was about to puff out in anger, Zhao Xihe promptly changed his expression and appeased him, "It was to guide the public opinion."

Sui Yuan temporarily put a stop to his plan of flipping the table and raised his head, face full of skepticism.

"Lone Wind Wan Yi and Wind-Like High Official are the main CP. Isn’t it a good thing for the sex scandal between your Disdaining the King of Hell and Lone Wind Wan Yi to pass by quickly and become decent? If a rumour is repeated over and over again, people will start to believe it. If Lone Wind Wan Yi actually develops feelings he shouldn’t have towards you, then your score will flap away! Zhao Xihe leaned against his swivel chair, both hands folded to his chest, "So, I made you and Elegant and Humble Leaves into a pair, so that Lone Wind Wan Yi could disengage himself from this ahead of time and not think too much about things he shouldn’t think about it. Moreover, so that he will quickly go and respond to the masses called for him to get together with Wind-Like High Official. Isn’t this a matter of course?"

Sui Yuan was stunned. When he followed along with Zhao Xihe’s train of thought, he suddenly discovered that what the other said was very reasonable. He was unexpectedly persuaded!

"But..." Sui Yuan struggled, grasping onto something that was not quite right, "But wouldn’t it be better for you to use Hua Xinlei? Originally, Hua Xinlei and Disdaining the King of Hell were a pair. Their relationship would justifiably settle the buzzing rumour regarding Hua Xinlei and Wind-Like High Official. Thus, it would be a better method of guiding the public opinion in supporting Wind-Like High Official and Lone Wind Wan Yi. Wouldn’t it be killing two birds with one stone?"

"...Fine, I admit it. This was because of my selfish motives," Zhao Xihe didn’t expect that Sui Yuan would unexpectedly become a bit difficult to coax. He had no choice but to tell the truth, "I don’t like to use Hua Xinlei’s account. It’s fine to use it occasionally to flirt with you, but I can’t bear using it in the long term. Moreover, every time I use Hua Xinlei’s account to be with you, everyone thinks that I’m a girl and that I’m your shou. This made me feel uncomfortable."

"What happened to ’I don’t care’, huh... Sui Yuan quietly mumbled to himself, but he still accepted this reasoning. Anyway, he didn’t care about [Disdaining the King of Hell]’s ’innocence’ at all. He was originally a scum gong who was stepping on both [Hua Xinlei] and [Wind-Like High Official]’s boats. Right now, to also step on [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves]’s boat was also keeping in line with his scum setting, making him even scummier.

—–It was just that once he saw Zhao Xihe’s proud appearance, Sui Yuan felt that he wanted to take revenge.

Therefore, a moment later, he dug out a voting poll post and then turned his monitor to face Zhao Xihe.

The poll was made by a little sister. The purpose of it was to see whether the people supported [Disdaining the King of Hell] X [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves] or if they supported [Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves] X [Disdaining the King of Hell] — it was a fight for who was the gong and who was the shou, a fight that was an absolutely indispensable part of CPs. At present, the poll’s results showed that [Disdaining the King of Hell]’s formidable, imperious image, and his superb gameplay made him the gong in the majority of people’s hearts.

Zhao Xihe：".................."

Sui Yuan："So, regardless of whether you use Hua Xinlei or Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves, you’re unable to escape being the shou."

Zhao Xihe："...Hehe."

The next day, when Sui Yuan struggled to crawl out of bed with a sore waist and back, silently cursing Zhao Xihe’s demented actions last night, the person he was cursing carried his laptop into the bedroom looking immensely proud of himself. He sat down next to him and indicated for him to look at the screen.

Sui Yuan：".................."

It was <Jianghu Online>’s player interactions section. It was also the post that had ’infuriate’ Zhao Xihe yesterday, and had made him unceasingly try to prove himself of his gong status. Only, the poll’s results had completely reversed.

【Cute Leader is the gong?! Don’t even! Even if he has that formidable and imperious image and splendid gameplay, he can’t cover up his silly cute shou nature! 】

【Reportedly, every shou has a bit of a gong’s heart. Because he can’t be a gong in real life, he chose to make his character the complete opposite of his true self.】

【Hehe, why use the character’s appearance to decide who’s gong or shou? That’s simply too LOW! We have to look at their aura! Aura! Elegant and Humble Autumn Leaves’s aura is obviously more formidable than that of Cute Leader, OK?! As someone who has been in contact with them before, I know it all!】

【This is clearly a case of a beautiful gong and a strong shou, OK! Elegant and Humble Autumn LEaves is the beautiful gong and Cute Leader is the strong shou!】

【...Damn, I have suddenly been persuaded, what to do? Can I change my vote? Or maybe we should make a new poll?】

【Indeed. I used to think that the HellAutumn CP felt a bit wrong. It turns out it was because the gong and shou positions were wrong! 】

Sui Yuan："........................"

Zhao Xihe smiled while closing the laptop, rubbing Sui Yuan as one would a dog in a placating manner: "The eyes of the masses are forever sharp."

Sui Yuan: "...You absolutely must have used some kind of shameful method! You b*stard! QAQ"