If someone asked what it feels like to go from being the Version Protagonist to becoming a sewer-class profession, Xie Feiran, as a game character, could answer that question.
Xie Feiran: Thanks for asking. Damage is just scratching the surface, long-term Warehouse Manager, extremely painful.
Not only that, but he also had to endure players joking about him.
“Master Ran, is there anyone in this world whose damage is ten times yours?”
They’d post screenshots of other characters’ huge damage numbers.
“This world’s problem isn’t Master Ran, it’s the Ice-element one-handed sword. Ice-element characters are underlings, and one-handed sword users are underlings too.”
The game’s combat power measurement unit — Master Ran.
Xie Feiran couldn’t help but put on a pained expression.
He had pretty much seen through these big pig-hooved players.
At the very start of the game, it was he who accompanied them through the early stages; before the other characters appeared, he was the one who completed hunting, sewing, cooking, blacksmithing, and alchemy.
Now that all his life skills were maxed out, these players still wanted to kick him aside — the very definition of ungrateful.
“We promised to travel the vast lands of Tina Continent together, but once the favor gauge fills, it’s like handing over a marriage certificate,” Xie Feiran grumbled about these fickle players.
Just as he was about to return to the warehouse as Warehouse Manager, his character box suddenly opened.
Xie Feiran looked excitedly at the bright light.
Could it be that the players finally remembered him and were ready to bring him into battle?
So, Xie Feiran held his five-star one-handed sword Wind and Snow’s Song before him, adopting the elegant posture befitting a knight, waiting for the players to add him to the team.
The white-haired youth before the screen was elegant and handsome, with a hint of reserve, his gaze gentle as he looked at the player.
There was no denying that, as a five-star character, Xie Feiran’s appearance was striking: white hair like fresh snow, eyes like glazed glass — just looking at him was enough to feel the beauty of the world.
After admiring him for a moment, the player clicked into Xie Feiran’s character page.
Xie Feiran smiled; all his skills had been maxed out, so the player clicking into his page surely meant they intended to add him to the team.
But in the next moment, his smile froze.
The player stripped away all his equipment and weapons, then, right before his eyes, equipped those gear and weapons onto other characters — and even tossed him a beginner’s Iron Sword as a consolation.
Xie Feiran stared blankly at the Iron Sword in his hand. Not only was he not being taken along for dungeons or PvP, but now even his weapons and gear were being stripped from him?
The player glanced at Xie Feiran’s maxed skills page and sighed: “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have upgraded your skills. What a waste of my gold and materials.”
As those words fell, Xie Feiran’s vision darkened; the warehouse closed, and the player began a new day with a fresh character.
In the darkness, Xie Feiran looked at the Iron Sword in his hand and said, “One day, I will become the strongest Main Carry once again.”
With that, he threw the Iron Sword aside and began connecting to the game Forum.
The game Xie Feiran belonged to was called Legend of Tina, and as a game character, his only connection to the outside world was through the game Forum.
When Xie Feiran entered the Forum, he expected to see players mocking his lack of strength again, but what he found instead was the term “C Position Debut” flooding the screen.
In the real world outside the game, talent shows appeared endlessly, with countless boy and girl groups bursting onto the scene. Paying fans frantically voted, while capital and platforms reaped huge profits.
As the industry grew prosperous, its internal competition became intense.
This summer, three major platforms launched boy group talent shows simultaneously, with three hundred boys waiting to be picked — fierce competition indeed.
Game Forum
[Girls, did you hear? Polar Bear Video is going to livestream the entire talent show.]
1st Floor: Livestream the whole thing? How daring! They claim it’s unscripted from start to finish.
2nd Floor: While the other platforms are still editing, Polar Bear’s already started livestreaming. No wonder they’re crushing the other two platforms.
3rd Floor: Polar Bear: We’re pros at talent shows!
4th Floor: Wonder how Star Fruit Video and Seafood Video will respond. Will they switch entirely to livestreaming too?
5th Floor: I only care about the handsome faces. Whichever looks best to me, that’s who I’ll watch.
6th Floor: Upstairs, have you forgotten the pain talent shows bring? The three major platforms treat us fans like pigs to be slaughtered — too cruel. I feel like I’ll never love again.
7th Floor: So why chase stars at all? Paper-thin characters are best.
8th Floor: No, you don’t get it. Watching your little idol work hard to claim the C Position Debut is an incomparable feeling of accomplishment! Of course, I hope my paper-thin character can also join the talent show. I’ll definitely vote for them.
Xie Feiran, browsing through the Forum, wasn’t too interested in these girls’ chatter, but the phrase “C Position Debut” caught his attention.
He put on his Forum disguise and asked, “What does C Position Debut mean?”
Seeing Xie Feiran’s question, the girls in the thread assumed it was a player unfamiliar with the entertainment industry asking, so they kindly explained with a game example.
256th Floor: Reply to upstairs — C Position Debut is like the Main Carry defeating all other Main Carries, becoming the one and only top Main Carry; in game terms, the T0 Character.
Xie Feiran instantly understood upon reading this.
A T0 Character was the strongest in the tier — the Version Protagonist of the game.
With this understanding, Xie Feiran resolved that he had to participate in this talent show no matter what. If he couldn’t be the Version Protagonist in the game, could he still become the Version Protagonist in the real world?
The only problem was: how could a two-dimensional character participate in a three-dimensional talent show?
Before Xie Feiran could come up with a plan, the game version update began.
All players logged off, waiting for the update to finish.
At that moment, Xie Feiran stepped out of the game warehouse. He wandered through the game world, watching the NPCs come and go, feeling out of place among them.
They could only endlessly repeat the system’s preset routines, while he possessed his own thoughts. Though he didn’t know why this was so, he believed it was a gift from the Light God.
Finally, as the Head of the Knights Order of the Light Church in the game, Xie Feiran stood before the church.
He looked up at the solemn statue of the Light God and said, “Merciful Light God, please allow me to go to the real world and participate in the talent show.”
He really, truly wanted to return to being a T0 Character, to become the Version Protagonist.
The next moment, a flash of white light appeared, and the Head of the Knights Order of the Light Church, the Light God’s chosen, Xie Feiran, vanished from Tina Continent.
Six hours later, the update completed. Players crawled out from their beds and launched the game.
Someone noticed that Xie Feiran was missing from the character warehouse.
“Damn! This trash game — even if Master Ran’s strength is questionable, we never asked you to outright delete him!”
Those players who had previously said it would be better to just delete such a weak character were speechless.
At this moment, in the real world, Xie Feiran opened his eyes.