Chapter 2

‘Power and Majesty’ had four main male characters.
When names like Jiang Yi, Jian Yuheng, and Shao Jingyu began flooding social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo, countless self-proclaimed “Madam Jiang,” “Madam Jian,” “Madam Shao,” and “Madam Nan” seemed to emerge overnight. Yan Yiming had initially thought another idol group like TFBoys had debuted, only to discover it was just a mobile game.
No matter how much Yan Yiming criticized the game for its lack of integrity or found its dialogue unbearably cringeworthy, she still ended up diving in.
There was only one reason: her favorite voice actor had voiced one of the characters.
‘Power and Majesty’ was a historical romance game featuring four distinct male leads that countless girls were willing to spend money on: the domineering emperor Nan Gongxuan, the charming nobleman Jian Yuyan, the exceptionally talented chief Chancellor Jiang Yi, and the young general Shao Jingyu, who rose to fame in a single battle.
Yan Yiming’s favorite voice actor was the one who voiced Shao Jingyu, the young general who had made a name for himself in battle. On the promotional poster, the young man in black armor had unruly black hair with dark red tips, as if stained with blood, and a long spear that had slain countless enemies. Though feared as a god of war by his foes and praised as a victor by many, he would shed his murderous aura when standing before the female protagonist without his armor. His handsome features would soften with a look of indulgent affection and innocence.
With dashing brows and starry eyes so handsome it made her weak in the knees, paired with an incredibly captivating voice and an endearing maternal aura, Yan Yiming fell head over heels at first sight and quickly became one of Shao Jingyu's devoted fans.
However, the good times didn’t last long. As the first domestic otome game, it was far too poorly made. No matter how well-designed the male leads were, there were still plenty of flaws that left players endlessly complaining.
For instance, Yan Yiming only wanted to pursue Shao Jingyu, but the game forced her to flirt with three other characters to progress. A domineering emperor? Wasn’t that just plain chuunibyou? A charming nobleman? Wasn’t that just a player? As the saying goes, “In the eyes of a lover, their beloved is a beauty.” To a woman in “love,” all other men were nothing but scoundrels.
Moreover, as a gacha game, it showed no mercy to paying players. Yan Yiming had spent over ten thousand yuan but had only drawn a few SSR cards, none of which were Shao Jingyu.
Domestic otome games were still in their infancy, and the developers clearly hadn’t grasped the essence of the genre. It was no wonder Yan Yiming felt frustrated.
What finally pushed her over the edge was the female protagonist’s character design. At first, Yan Yiming found the heroine too naive and clueless, but as she delved deeper, she began to suspect there was more to her. Upon further exploration, Yan Yiming finally realized:
Flirting with four men at once, leading each of them on with ambiguous affections, the heroine in the game was nothing but a high-grade green tea bitch.
So, after yet another failed attempt to draw Shao Jingyu from the gacha, mocked by countless whales, and coincidentally reaching a story arc where the heroine, after tearfully embracing Shao Jingyu and vowing, “I’ll wait for you forever,” immediately snuggled up with that flirtatious nobleman under the same blanket, tickling and laughing, Yan Yiming snapped.
From a player’s perspective, the scene was set with sheer curtains, flickering candlelight casting a warm glow over the room. After the heroine fell asleep, the nobleman even gently kissed her forehead.
Romantic? Heartwarming?
Not at all.
Yan Yiming was so infuriated by the heroine’s two-faced behavior that she nearly had a heart attack. It felt like ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through her mind, leaving nothing but a field of green in their wake.
She had tolerated not drawing the cards she wanted. She had tolerated having to pursue four male leads simultaneously. But this was the last straw. In a fit of rage, Yan Yiming posted a lengthy blog titled “The Biggest Trait of a Green Tea Bitch and a White Lotus Is Their Unawareness of Their Own Sluttiness,” tagging the official Weibo account of ‘Power and Majesty’ and its planner, Little A.
[Let’s talk about this game. A friend recommended it to me, and the storyline isn’t bad, though the historical accuracy in the planning is a bit off. In an ancient setting, a girl flirts with four men, hugging in public and kissing in private, nothing too outrageous, right? In real life, a girl stringing along four guys would be universally despised, but in the game, she’s everyone’s sweetheart. After all, reality is harsh, so it’s understandable to let loose a bit in a game. People always have their desires, so many handsome men revolving around you, liking all four of them, acting promiscuous in reality while pretending to be pure, maybe that’s what the planners dream of too.
The biggest trait of a green tea bitch and a white lotus is their unawareness of their own sluttiness. Even if I toy with men and use others, I'm still pure, kind, and unworldly, I'm just naive and innocent, indecisive and inexperienced...]
In a sprawling essay of over a thousand words, Yan Yiming, as a student of Chinese language and literature, fully leveraged her professional expertise. With elegant yet sharp language, she thoroughly and pointedly mocked the developers of ‘Power and Majesty’ from every angle, then went to bed feeling immensely satisfied and slept soundly until morning.
Perhaps it was because the recent plot of ‘Power and Majesty’ had been particularly grating. The next day, when Yan Yiming opened Weibo again to see if her friends agreed with her masterpiece, she discovered that her message notifications had already surpassed 999+.
[I want to give ten thousand likes for the description of the female lead, if I could, I’d smash that like button. Too bad I can only click once.]
[I’m so torn. I want to keep playing, but I just can’t immerse myself. I hate her so much I can’t stand it for even a minute. How can there be such a hypocritical, yet always cluelessly naive, 'pure and innocent' character?]
[Oh my god, blogger, you’re so adorable! I’m going to give you a round of wild applause!]
[Talking about moral values in a game, you must really have too much time on your hands.]
[If you don’t like playing, then don’t. It must be so hard for you to force yourself through it every day.]
Comments exploded, likes exploded. Yan Yiming quite agreed with her friends’ teasing, she had gone viral.
Ignoring the comments defending the female lead’s virtue, Yan Yiming found the source of her sudden fame with mild interest.
Sure enough, Little A, the straight-male developer of ‘Power and Majesty’, had reposted her Weibo with a haughty and cold two-word caption:
Heh.
Little A had probably intended for ‘Power and Majesty’ fans to tear Yan Yiming apart in the comments. Instead, due to the recent absurd plot twists, Yan Yiming remained unscathed while Little A himself was bombarded with curses from countless players.
What followed was a heated back-and-forth with Little A, which need not be detailed here. Yan Yiming didn’t dwell too much on why this ridiculous game had a real-world context. When an enraged Little A challenged her, asking if she dared to make a bet, Yan Yiming raised an eyebrow.
Of course, she dared.
“Enter the game and compete fairly with the female lead.”
That was the main premise of the challenge.
Steal the male leads from the heroine. If the male leads genuinely shifted their affections away from the female lead, Yan Yiming could rewrite ‘Power and Majesty’s ending however she pleased, even if it meant all four male leads died and the heroine was left a widow.
With too many frustrations in real life and some recent free time on her hands, Yan Yiming found the conditions quite enticing. She didn’t think too long before agreeing.
It was only after entering the game system that she learned the catch: if she failed to complete the strategy, she could never log out. By then, it was too late. Yan Yiming cursed Little A’s entire lineage eighteen generations back in her mind, swearing she’d settle the score with him once she got out.
The system, which had been hiding in the shadows, too intimidated by the host’s fury to make a sound, finally trembled and reminded Yan Yiming, “...Um... Host, it’s time for you to choose your strategy target. Oh, and allow me to introduce myself, I am your cooperative system, iPhone100...”
“It's all because Little A has to draw such clear distinctions,” Yan Yiming clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Choose a character to pursue?”
“Of course, it's my little general.”
The suddenly renamed Little A: ...
“Ahem... Host, it's not about who you want to pursue. There are rules for everything.”
Yan Yiming glanced around the empty surroundings, raised an eyebrow, and signaled for Little A to continue.
Seeing that Yan Yiming had reined in her temper, Little A mustered the courage to go on. “Just like in a game, you need to draw cards first. Only with the cards can you choose your target. The better the card's stats, the easier it is to pursue them.”
‘Power and Majesty’ was an otome game and also a gacha game. To pursue the male leads, players needed cards of the male characters. In the game, the four male leads each had three different card rarities: R, SR, and SSR. Naturally, SSR cards had the highest stats. A single SSR card could clear a storyline that might require three R cards to complete.
Yan Yiming understood this and nodded, signaling, “Then bring me that 'Song of the Long Journey' card.”
“Song of the Long Journey” was an SR card of Shao Jingyu. Though not an SSR, its stats were explosive, making it one of the best SR cards.
“...”
“What's wrong?”
“Host... because you've entered the system and not the game itself... all the content from your previous account has been wiped. Everything has to start over...” Little A's voice grew softer and softer.
Yan Yiming fell silent for a long while before her eerie voice slowly emerged. “So you're telling me all the cards I worked my ass off for are gone? All the money I spent is gone? With skills like yours, why don't you go catch sheep in Green Green Grassland?”
Little A curled itself into a ball, trying to minimize its presence and avoid directly facing the host's anger. After all, the host had been a big spender before. After a while, it timidly comforted its host, “As compensation, I can offer you a special feature...”
Yan Yiming shot Little A a look that said, “If you don't satisfy me, I'll make you regret it.” Little A shuddered and stammered, “You can customize your face however you want!”
Yan Yiming chuckled in surprise. This was truly an unexpected delight. In the game, the female protagonist's face was fixed, but in this real-world version, she could decide what she looked like.
Being able to freely design her appearance could indeed yield many unexpected effects.
With that in mind, Yan Yiming unhesitatingly accepted the gift.
So, Little A watched as the host spent over half an hour meticulously crafting a face that bore some resemblance to her original self but was breathtakingly beautiful, a face of devastating allure. Her beauty was like spring plum blossoms blooming in snow, her spirit like autumn orchids veiled in frost. Her eyes were pools of autumn water, with a tiny red mole at the corner, adding an enchanting, picturesque charm. A single glance from her was endlessly provocative.
Little A suddenly felt its own face grow warm.
Although the host was already very pretty, now she was stunningly beautiful, impossible to look away from.
Yan Yiming examined the face with satisfaction. On account of such beauty, she finally let go of the account wipe incident.
Having finally placated its host, Little A signaled that Yan Yiming could start drawing cards. “These are ten card vouchers from the beginner mission, which means you can draw ten times. From now on, every time you complete a stage, the system will reward you with more vouchers.”
“Hmm,” Yan Yiming lightly tapped her slender finger, and ten card vouchers lined up in a row in the air. After a flash of golden light, the card backs revealed their fronts.
In the past, Yan Yiming had spent tens of thousands on in-game purchases without ever drawing Shao Jingyu's SSR card. Now, starting over with the system's zero-spending policy, she once again showcased her impeccable “luck”.
Out of the ten card vouchers, not a single SSR, only one guaranteed SR, with the rest all being R cards!
This SR card was titled “Dragon Roaming the Curved Marsh.” The moment she saw the word “dragon,” she knew it wasn't the long-awaited Shao Jingyu but the imposing and domineering emperor, Nan Gongxuan. “Dragon Roaming the Curved Marsh” indicated that he had not yet ascended the throne and was still the crown prince.
The card's stats were as follows: Intelligence 99, Action Power 87, Decision-Making 178.
Emotional Intelligence, only 22.