Role Playing the Dark Horse Character-Chapter 123 : Chapter 123

Chapter 123: A Certain White-Haired Internet Surfer
“How could you call someone else ‘bro’?” Lulu’s cousin was still grumbling just before going on stage.
“It’s called immersion.” Lulu said to her cousin.
They were standing by the steps behind the curtain, waiting for their turn to go on again.
Li Li had the fewest scenes, so she was happy to stay offstage petting the corgi.
Lulu had just finished her part and came down, only to be cornered by her cousin.
“And,” Lulu pointed at her cousin, then at herself, “what respect does a cousin who tricks his sister out of her New Year’s money deserve?”
“How is that tricking?” Her cousin said confidently, “That’s called financial management. I’m helping you grow your wealth!”
“After all these years, where’s the wealth?” Lulu gave him a ‘who are you kidding’ look, “You took my money and never planned to give it back, did you!”
“That’s just how parents are.”
Jiang Lan, having finished her part, hurried down and chimed in, “They say they’re saving it for you, but the money just ends up in their pockets. I’ve never seen what my parents’ ‘savings’ for me look like my whole life.”
It seemed all parents in the world were cut from the same cloth.
Her family was no different—her mother controlled her New Year’s money, doling out a small portion each month as living expenses before she went to college.
As for the bulk of the New Year’s money?
It was supposedly used to pay for her college tuition.
Her thoughts drifted, and she suddenly connected her mother holding onto her New Year’s money to the popularity points she was currently accumulating.
The popularity points needed to extend her life were deducted daily, just like her mother gave her pocket money month by month.
The remaining popularity points, after the mall became obsolete, were just a string of numbers to her, much like she never knew how much money was in her mother’s savings account.
But the money in her mother’s account would eventually be hers.
The system, however, wasn’t so certain.
Libra was undoubtedly shrewd, caring only about value.
He extended her life day by day but could just as easily cut off that process the moment she lost value in his eyes.
When she was valuable, he helped her survive, keeping her alive.
But once she was worthless, he would discard her, just as he had done to others.
This way, he could maximize the accumulation of popularity points without wasting a single one.
And when she died, Libra could monopolize those points for Himself.
Perhaps he had never intended to let her resurrect.
This was just a hypothesis, but Li Li felt it was correct.
Whether Libra’s so-called deals held up was merely his word, and Qu Ting, who had made a deal with Him, had still been unilaterally abandoned to die by her hand.
The An clan was no different.
Li Li didn’t believe those nobles hadn’t stipulated in their deals that Libra couldn’t harm them.
Yet, in reality, as long as Libra permitted it, the nobles could temporarily break their agreements and turn on each other.
He held the right to unilaterally void any deal.
Her value to Libra existed only until the world’s barrier was stabilized.
After that, she would be worthless to him.
By not helping her, Libra could gain a massive amount of popularity points, which must be of great use to him.
Helping her, on the other hand, would mean losing those points.
Libra didn’t care about worthless people.
Compared to the valuable popularity points, which would He choose when she was no longer useful?
Based on His past behavior, the chance of Libra honoring any agreement was zero.
This was the true Libra—when you were valuable, you earned His respect and were placed on a pedestal; when you were worthless, He would personally push you into the abyss.
This must be why Yu Xiao refused to make deals with Him, Li Li thought.
Making a deal with Him offered no guarantees.
He merely painted a grand illusion, building castles in the air.
And Li Li had never believed His nonsense.
Over there, a few cosers came off the stage.
Jiang Lan waved at Li Li, watching the situation onstage: “Goddess, your turn!”
“Alright.” Li Li responded, patting the corgi’s head and standing to head onstage.
No matter what Libra’s methods were, she was prepared to stand against Him.
She had never trusted Him and had been searching for her own path to survival all this time.
Only by defeating Libra and ascending to SSS-rank could she have a chance at resurrection.
If an SSS-rank Libra could resurrect someone, then perhaps she could too.
She needed to become stronger, she thought.
From the very beginning, it had always been this way—only she could help herself.
The system was unreliable, the mall was unreliable.
Every step to where she stood today was taken by her alone.
As the stage lights shifted to the center, Li Li stepped onto the stairs, ascending to the stage.
It felt different from rehearsals, yet also the same.
For Li Li, performing was as natural as breathing or drinking water.
Adjusting her expression and stepping into the light, she became that Li.
“Aaahhh, male god!”
“So accurate! Who is this coser?!”
“Did a manga character step into reality?! Is this real?!!”
The audience’s excited shouts echoed from below, the stage’s colorful lights reflecting in Li Li’s eyes.
In front of her, Luo Han’s mouth opened and closed, delivering her lines.
“The strong make the rules, the weak adapt to them. You’re so weak you can’t even grasp the hem of his clothes, so weak you can’t even control your own life.”
Luo Han was cosplaying Heige, the role Li Li played in the manga
Extreme Black and White
.
And the words she spoke were ones Li Li had once said, words Li Li as Heige had said to Yiming.
But now, it felt as if they were being said to Li Li herself.
“Either stop here, or keep moving forward and make the world’s rules bend to you.” Li Li took a step forward in the dazzling lights.
Then she asked the performer, and perhaps herself: “Tell me your answer.”
The performer said: “Is there even a choice?”
Li Li said: “Then I’ll change this world.”
Arrogant, confident, brimming with unstoppable courage.
Libra was right—even if she denied it, she cared about her friends in the manga world, the genuine friendships forged beneath a false exterior.
She wasn’t a machine; she had her own emotions.
She was a living, breathing person.
But so what?
Even if the manga world wasn’t fake, even if she had been moved by those sincere, passionate friendships, her goal had never wavered.
Her direction had never shifted in the slightest.
She wanted to live, to return to this irreplaceable world.
To return to her home.
...
“Libra, you said I could be resurrected, right?”
The stage play concluded successfully, and the cosers’ celebration banquet stretched into the late night.
After it all ended, Li Li walked along the nighttime streets, looking up at the stars of this world.
[Now isn’t the best time.] The system’s voice sounded in her ear, [After the manga reaches its climax and you make a perfect exit, you can harvest more popularity points, ensuring a safer outcome. Then, you can stabilize the world and achieve resurrection in one fell swoop.]
“Then give me a few more days of life now.” Li Li said, “How about a month?”
[There’s no need.] As expected, the system rejected her, [Please rest assured, I will extend your life on time every day.]
As expected, Li Li thought.
The manga would conclude in less than a month, and everything would be settled by then.
Spending a month’s worth of popularity points now would be an unprofitable deal for Libra.
Libra had no intention of helping her resurrect.
The system explained: [As you said, I am a god, and a god must protect His world.]
[I’m sorry, but the world’s value surpasses yours.]
[I must be more cautious.] The system said.
Li Li, unsurprisingly, smiled at the expected outcome.
“Being cautious is indeed better.” She agreed.
After all, she was planning to kill a god, the only SSS-rank ability user in that world.
Her phone rang, and Li Li glanced at it.
It was a message from the Manga Artist, asking if she was free in a couple of days to go to another city for voice actor auditions.
[You’ve seemed a bit tense lately. Why not take a break and relax?] The system suggested upon seeing this.
Li Li thought for a moment and replied to the Manga Artist, agreeing.
She had some things she wanted to entrust to the Manga Artist, and she needed to figure out how the manga world and the real world intersected.
Perhaps it was intuition, but Li Li felt this was something she had to understand to ascend to SSS-rank.
...
The Manga Artist was a wealthy second-generation heir, funding the animation himself and planning to personally hire top-tier voice actors to ensure the quality.
The news of
Extreme Black and White
’s anime adaptation had been announced shortly after the Dawn Arc, and due to its popularity, many voice actors came to audition.
The animation studio hired by the Manga Artist was in a different city, so they flew there.
“Bigshot, we won’t look for Li’s voice actor first. Let’s check out the others,” the Manga Artist chatted animatedly on the plane, “See how their voices compare to what you’ve heard, whether they fit the characters. Fame doesn’t matter—they have to match the character design!”
“I’m planning a series, starting small with three arcs, maybe a half-year run...” He had his own vision for the future, eager to make his manga bigger and better.
“You call that starting small?” Li Li thought the Manga Artist was thinking too far ahead, jumping straight to a half-year series.
The Manga Artist said confidently: “I’ve got money!”
Li Li: For the first time, she felt she and the Manga Artist were from different worlds.
Perhaps this was the divide created by wealth, she thought.
“By the way, why did you create Libra as the villain in the first place?” Li Li asked.
There was still plenty of time before landing, so they needed something to talk about.
Their common ground was being unfortunate souls chosen by Libra, giving them plenty to discuss.
“Because He’s good-looking.” The Manga Artist gave a plain and simple reason, “I wanted to create the most beautiful villain.”
Case closed.
Libra’s confidence in His appearance likely stemmed from the Manga Artist.
The Manga Artist counted on his fingers, listing examples, and concluded: “Nowadays, villains have to be good-looking. Only charismatic villains are loved. Without a villain with personal charm, a shonen manga is incomplete.”
“So Libra’s charm is His white hair?” Li Li said jokingly.
The topic was still in a safe zone, and the Manga Artist didn’t shy away, saying: “Not just that, but also His single-minded devotion to the world.”
“Let me put it this way: in His eyes, everything is ranked by value, but the world is priceless to Him, even above Himself.” The Manga Artist said with some regret, “If there was a chance, He’d absolutely die for the world. Unfortunately, drawing the world’s destruction directly wouldn’t work...”
Realizing he might have said too much, he guiltily covered his mouth.
Li Li reminded him: “...He probably knows your plans.”
She even felt Libra knew she didn’t trust Him, but since her resurrection hopes were in His hands, He was fearless.
“Really?” The Manga Artist let out a sigh of relief, then felt he shouldn’t have.
There was nothing relieving about the target of his scheming knowing he’d been plotting against Him.
The Manga Artist quickly changed the subject, laughing awkwardly: “Oh, by the way, bigshot, let me tell you something funny. Libra actually loves surfing the internet. Last time, I saw ‘how to make an author work overtime’ in my computer’s search history...”
“Doesn’t seem that funny.” The Manga Artist deflated, realizing he was the one who’d have to work overtime.
“Good luck.” Li Li was powerless to help in that regard.
She thought for a moment, finding it oddly down-to-earth that Libra would use the Manga Artist’s computer.
His belief that everyone loved white-haired characters probably came from spending too much time online.
“The next update is tomorrow, right?” Li Li calculated the timing.
“I’ll keep working when we get to the hotel tonight.” The Manga Artist declared nothing could stop his overtime. He turned his head, speaking to the air: “I’ll work!”
After saying that, the two waited for a moment, but there was no response from Libra.
“Libra?” Li Li thought He might have zoned out and asked again.
Still no reply.
Li Li and the Manga Artist exchanged glances, encountering this situation for the first time.
The Manga Artist, both excited and uncertain, said: “For real? He’s not here?”
Li Li also found it strange.
She crossed her arms, fingers tapping on her arm, wondering if this was a trap or an opportunity.
Then she looked at the Manga Artist: “Does this plane have Wi-Fi?”
She compared the situation before and after boarding, realizing the only difference was turning off her phone.
They had just mentioned Libra’s internet surfing, so she naturally thought of this.
Some planes have Wi-Fi, but others don’t.
The Manga Artist recalled and said decisively: “The plane I booked doesn’t have Wi-Fi!”
Both of them froze.
Li Li: …
Manga Artist: ...
They exchanged a glance, feeling as if they had stumbled upon something extraordinary.