Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

She had shown up repeatedly when players needed her the most, fighting by their side, guarding their backs. Players were more than happy to leave their safety in her hands.

Wen Qingyu was introduced as a side quest character. Players had been gradually guided to a path where they would fall completely for her. Without a doubt, they accepted the fact that the Nameless Swordswoman would be the last boss. Now that she was going to kill the righteous protagonist Yan Qingmeng, there was no better opportunity to claim your spot as the hero!

That’s right; nothing was more satisfying for a male player than it was to be a hero. Ironically, they chose to fight the woman who had once saved them for the sake of another woman. For their first love Deity Yan, they turned against the Nameless Swordswoman

“Sighed. I really want to kill Zha Feng now. Why would he make her the leader of the bad guys? Now it would definitely end up in a boss fight. Do I have to kill in the name of love?” Wu Shun gasped.

He was right, the next fight was a boss fight. It was the toughest fight in the game ever. Of course, she was holdingback. She could not forget the past that they had shared, albeit briefly. The fight would have been impossible if that was not the case.

The boss fight commences! Cue epic soundtrack!

As epic as it was, it was neither fast-paced nor adrenal. It was melancholic. Led by a vertical flute, the music conveyed a feeling of grief and disillusionment in fate and life. It grabbed hold of the players’ hearts and crushed them.

There was no question about this. This was the doing of Zhao Youyue, or rather, Chu Luoxun. She had composed the song on the premise of a friendship turning sour and ending up in the exchange of blows. Only her musical talent could produce such a masterpiece!

“Eyes on me, people! Witness me wiping the floor with this brainless final boss! Those who are having trouble can watch and learn. After all, I am an honest guide maker.Do not forget to follow my channel, also my newly established Sina Weibo” Wu Shun bragged. It was one of those crucial techniques that could win you viewers. Even if people thought he was arrogant, they would remember his name.

Then it was over.

“Who am I, where am I, what am I doing why am I dead again?” Wu Shun murmured to himself. He was confused by the words on the black screen – ” load the latest save file”!

He had been so confidently prepared to face the beautiful swordplay of the Nameless Swordswoman. As a player, he surveyed the game from God’s eye. No matter how good his character’s relationship seemed to be with this woman, she was the final boss, so she had to be slaughtered. He did not expect the background music to throw his emotions out of whack.

Players were cruel in the game. They could kill anyone and anything in the game for a good reward.

Wu Shun was interested in the beautiful sword in the Nameless Swordswoman’s hand. It couldn’t just be an ordinary sword

Wu Shun had everything planned out. He equipped his character with the best shield he had and paired it with a zanbato. [1] First, he would weather the Nameless Swordswoman’s onslaught and then initiate a counter-attack. It was a sure-win method in his dreams!

Wu Shun did not expect the Nameless Swordswoman to roll behind him as he lifted his shield. A single strike from her sword took away half of his health bar!

She was the final boss, alright!

Wu Shun was not fighting a scripted NPC. She had to be a real person!

While watching his back, he quickly used his regenerative potions. He saw an opening and thrust his zanbato. It was quickly deflected with a swing of her blade, followed by a pommel strike that stunned him! He was nothing but another slice of the beautiful sword

A computer-generated scene triggered. The sword had slit his throat!

The Nameless Swordswoman did not resort to any fancy skills. She only depended on a common block and hit style. Very effective!

Usually, a computer-generated scene would only be displayed if monsters were killed in a second. Wu Shun was now that monster that had been killed in a second. Wu Shun went mad in his broadcast, mocking Zha Feng for being off his rocker. Suddenly he had this thought, “If I had killed the boss when she was wounded, how would the story have proceeded?”

The audience responded to his question. Could he even defeat a wounded boss. Has that latest defeat robbed him of his sanity?

Wu Shun was left suffering for a long time. His flawless tactic of counterplaying with a shield and zanbato was totally useless against the master of the Anonymous City. His equipment made it far too heavy to keep up with her agility, he was just like target practice

When fighting a boss, forget honor. Anything goes. Wu Shun plotted using his ultimate weapon of blood-letting, the Zhuge crossbow![2]

He would bleed the master of the Anonymous City to death!

He almost cried after that attempt. No matter how he let his arrows fly, she merely tumbled beneath them. In this game, tumbling granted you momentary invincibility.

Timing was all it took to master tumbling. Most of the bosses had a tell before their skills were released. A player simply had to time it and dodge at the precise moment. If your character happened to straighten up just as the skill lands, you’ll be in a world of pain

“Damn it! How do I even do this! Even if she seems open and harmless, she’s a flawless fighter! I can’t touch her at all!” Wu Zhun roared.

Translation Note:

[1] Zambato, or known as zhanmadao (Chinese: ; pinyin: zhnmdo; literally: “horse chopping sabre”) was a single-bladed anti-cavalry Chinese sword. It originated during the Han Dynasty (206 BC 220 AD) and was especially common in Song China (9601279).

[2] The repeating crossbow (Chinese: ; pinyin: Lin N), also known as the magazine crossbow, or the Zhuge crossbow (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhg n, previously romanized Chu-ko-nu) due to its association with the Three Kingdoms-era strategist Zhuge Liang (181234 AD), is a Chinese crossbow that appeared in ancient times. The repeating crossbow combined the actions of stringing the bow, placing the bolt and shooting into a one-handed movement, allowing for a higher rate of fire than a normal crossbow. A top-mounted magazine containing a reservoir of bolts fed the crossbow through gravity, and the mechanism was worked by moving a rectangular lever forward and backwards.