It was around the time of popularity poll... according to the readers...the best girl was Zhen Jia Li.
Although people loved Zhen Jia Li.....the person they respected the most was the secondary heroine....as for why is that?
According to her backstory.....the patriarch of Zhong family loved his wife.....but the person he cared and loved the most passed..
It happened when she was giving birth to her third child..... Li Lin..
and because of that...just like every drama novel dad....he starts to neglect her....he never listened to her....he never loved her and always showed her a cold shoulder...
but she never gave up....she always tried to get her father's attention.....but after realising that it will never happen....she gave up..
Soon, her father married another women....and although her step mother gave Li Lin the love that she lacked.....her father never did...
but sympathy was not the only thing that people felt for Li Lin....the other thing that everyone like about her was her sacrifices...
when she was in highschool...she sacrificed her first love for her best friend at that time....and it cost her dearly....but soon, she was saved by her childhood friend Jia Li..
Then she sacrificed her love for Ran so that Jia Li would be happy....
and if that wasn't enough.....even though she knew her love would never bloom...she was ready to sacrifice herself for the one she loved...
In the novel, when Ran faces off against Chen...she noticed that Ran was losing and in order to save him...she herself went against Chen even though she knew she doesn't stand a chance against him....and might have died if Tai Long didn't show up to save them...
She was brave.....brave but foolish....but she didn't allowed that to affect her at all...
No matter how hard of a sacrifice she needed to make....she was ready to do it if it meant the happiness of those she cared for...
Honestly, I always found it full of crap..... I never liked this character of hers one bit....
how can you keep making sacrifices and still be happy for those you made these sacrifices for with nothing in return.....
....but....it was only because her character was liked good friend of mine...that I also started to look at her differently...
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(flashback)
We were on the rooftop of our highschool building as we were discussing about this novel that was popular with these days..
"I still don't get it?? what's even so great about her??!!"
my friend looked at me and said with a smile..
"haha you're only saying this because you haven't even read through the first few chapters...and only read spoilers through the forums and fandom.."
I made a smug face and said..
"haha...still it's laughable how she keeps sacrificing even though it breaks her.."
then their expression became serious..as they said in a calm voice..
"Jake..... it's easy to make fun of people's sacrifices because you don't know their internal struggle... sacrificing to protect something or someone you love isn't foolish...on the contrary, it shows your determination and how much you care about them..."
after listening this.... I yawned..
" That was a really boring speech you know.."
"*sigh*....you know what....why not read the whole thing....and then talk.."
"but I already read the spoilers.."
"hahaha..too bad....but that's on you.."
".....but.."
"if you don't read it then I'm not gonna help you in the next exams."
" okay fine!!!"
(flashback ended)
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I read through the whole thing....and to be honest... at first I was skeptical....but at the end...it was worth it...and even though it was only a little bit...but I was able to connect with the characters...
That was my first villain themed novel...
and as my friend said....even though the characters never show it....they are always having an internal struggles....
Zhong Li Lin's internal struggle was that she was never able to get acknowledged by her father and believed she worth nothing and that's why if she sacrificed herself for others.... because she believed that if she do that....then atleast she would be worth something.....and maybe that's why my friend was able to connect to her so much...
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(present)
"XIN!!! HURRY!!"
Li Lin said this as the Golem was moving closer to us.
"leave this golem to me and pull the lever!!"
but I didn't move, instead, I just looked at her..
"Xin!!! what are you doing??!!! move-"
Before she could finish, I said
"Li Lin....shut up.."
When she heard this...she stopped shouting....then I rest my hand on her head and said..
"going around.....talking about .....sacrificing yourself..."
I then chuckled and said..
"haha.... you....you should really learn how ...to be.....a little selfish.... sometimes.."
"eh!!!"
she was shocked by my action .....well to be honest, even I myself was really shocked with this.....
"we're gonna get out of here together.... whether you like it or not..."
Soon we all noticed that the golem was almost there!!!
"Xin!! that golem!!!"
That's when I took the dagger that I gave Li Lin before and threw it at the golem....and fortunately, it hit it's right eye and got stuck there..
*ROAAAAAR!!!!!*
" bingo!!"
the golem screamed and tried to take out the dagger that was stuck in it's eye..
"Li Lin....that plan... let's do it!! but I'll be distracting it.."
I said as I could finally feel my body starting to get better....
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!???.."
Li Lin shouted as she looked at me with concern..
" don't worry, I can easily do it..."
I said as I stretched my body to show her that I'm totally fine.
After some persuasion, Li Lin finally accepted..
" pull the lever!!"
I said as I charged at the golem who was unaware of my attack..
I jumped on it and grabbed the hilt of dagger, trying to push it further and finally with the help of the hilt, I threw the golem to the wall..
*CRASH!!*
I looked at Li Lin who had already pushed the lever...
"come on Xin!!!"
She was waiting for me infront of the gate....and seeing that the golem is stunned now...she shouted..
"XIN!!! forget distracting!! it's already stunned, just come with me.."
after hearing this, I also moved towards the gate that was closing standing right beside Li Lin.
' finally I....no we can escape...'
we were almost near the gate....and the gate was shutting down.....just when...
'.....but why?'
my mind once again was filled with this question....but this time for a whole another reason....my blood started rushing....and head started getting clouded...
'....Why Should I Escape!!!! WHY SHOULD I RUN!!! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M WEAK!!! I'M STRONG!!!'
' YES!!! I'M NOT WEAK LIKE RAN AND THE OTHER HAREM MEMBERS!!! I DON'T NEED TO RUN AWAY!!! I CAN FIGHT THIS THING!!! I CAN DEFEAT THIS THING!!!!'
before I knew it....NO I DID THIS KNOWINGLY, I GRABBED LI LIN'S HAND AND THROW HER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GATE!! TO SAVE HER FROM THIS DANGER!!
'LIKE A COWARD!!! NEVER!!!'
Soon system realised what was wrong with me..
[ passive skill: MADNESS COMBAT] Activated
"XIN!!!"
The last thing I heard was Li Lin's voice after which the gate got closed and the golem that was stunned for some time finally come back to it's senses...
"FUCK!! I JUST COULDN'T HELP BUT SMILING!!!"
this monster looked a lot more angry now that it has lost one of it's eyes.... looking at me...it roared.
* ROARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!*
"YEAH!!!! FUCK YOU TOO!!!"
I SHOUTED AS I JUMPED ON IT..
-To be continued