A mysterious realm descends, and I defy fate in comics.

Chapter 237 The Screenwriter's Journey

The assistant glanced at the text on the computer screen and asked his boss with some curiosity.

"Teacher Xiao, don't you dislike Jiang Xingni?" the assistant asked.

Upon hearing this, the screenwriter, referred to as Teacher Xiao, raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at his assistant.

Xiao Tingwen—the comic book writer—did not mention his preferences for the characters he created before being hired, but his assistant could clearly tell from his observations over such a long period of time.

The boss really didn't like Jiang Xingni.

To be precise, she didn't like any of the characters she created except for Xiao Jiming, but her attitude towards the other main characters and supporting characters was more utilitarian.

Consider their popularity and their public image.

Based on these analyses, Xiao Tingwen then planned out the subsequent plot.

Characters with significant roles certainly wouldn't die in obscurity.

To satisfy his own fantasies, Xiao Tingwen could only create a new character, and then kill her before she could gain the readers' favor.

In his treatment of He Jingtong, Song Juexiao—in fact, Xiao Tingwen's treatment of Shan Qing was no different.

If the plot requires them to die, Xiao Tingwen will arrange their deaths without any reluctance or sadness.

But Jiang Xingni is different.

The assistant was momentarily unsure whether this was a good thing or not.

—After all, among so many characters in the comic, only Jiang Xingni received the Creator's true feelings, even though those feelings were genuine hatred and jealousy, they were still feelings nonetheless.

The assistant's thoughts had already gone completely off track, imagining Jiang Xingni, who had stepped out of the comics, facing her creator who hated her, turning her affection into hatred, having a major mommy issue erupt, and finally going out of control in the direction of twisted love.

The screenwriter was completely unaware that although her assistant was looking at her, her thoughts were already on Jiang Xingni and her GL (girls' love) couple.

Listening to her assistant's words, she replied confidently, "Yes, I just don't like Jiang Xingni."

"She's a character I created, don't I have the right to dislike her?" the screenwriter retorted.

The assistant's wild imagination was abruptly pulled back by Xiao Tingwen's words, and she asked cautiously.

"...But why?" the assistant asked.

"I thought all authors and screenwriters liked the characters they created."

The screenwriter glanced at his assistant with surprise.

"Yes, I like him—I like Xiao Jiming. Xiao Jiming is the protagonist of my comic, isn't he?"

"But why should I like Jiang Xingni? I don't see every author liking every character they create, do I?"

The assistant opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

As for why he dislikes Jiang Xingni, the reason is actually quite simple.

The screenwriter doesn't need to come up with many reasons for themselves and then argue them one by one, saying that they dislike Jiang Xingni because of these and these reasons.

At first, it might have just been because of a certain plot point, when encountering Jiang Xingni, that I suddenly got stuck, or perhaps I wasn't drawing Jiang Xingni as smoothly as I should have.

The frustration with the progress being stuck transferred to Jiang Xingni, causing characters who hadn't done anything wrong to be implicated in the lower-level narrative.

This is where the irritation begins.

Then she learned what kind of positive reviews her character, which she didn't particularly like, received in the community.

If this is a character that you created with care, then so be it.

However, this character was the one the screenwriter disliked. He never intended to develop her character properly and only hoped that readers would criticize her for forcibly adding her to the main cast, and that she would disappear from his writing altogether.

The screenwriter now dislikes Jiang Xingni even more.

In a sense, when she saw Jiang Xingni, what came to mind was her own failed attempt at character portrayal.

The characters who were carefully written with backstories and biographies were not well-received, while an unknown extra received a lot of praise.

The more popular Jiang Xingni became on the forum, the more irritated the screenwriter became.

Popularity can often be converted into money, but Jiang Xingni's appearance just happened to coincide with the fact that the copyright for the merchandise had already been sold once before.

So the screenwriter could only watch helplessly as Jiang Xingni's fans spent money on her, but that money never reached the screenwriter's own hands.

Not a single penny of the money generated by those fan fiction platforms, commissioned works, and the entire industry chain that arose because of Jiang Xingni's popularity went into the pockets of the screenwriters themselves.

Xiao Tingwen, who actually loves money: (fuming with anger)

At this point, the annoyance and dislike have transformed into genuine and heartfelt disgust.

The author's preferences can be fully discerned from between the lines.

Jiang Xingni's fans can naturally sense the screenwriter's dislike for their favorite character.

The preference for a character doesn't necessarily transfer to the creator, so the screenwriter's dislike for Jiang Xingni actually earned him the dislike of fans.

A series of events occurred one after another, and old and new grudges were successfully accumulated.

Furthermore, with the second round of merchandise rights for the comic about to be sold, the screenwriter only plans to kill off Jiang Xingni, then capitalize on Jiang Xingni's current popularity to make a quick buck and finally give himself some peace and quiet.

Ultimately, what caused the screenwriter to genuinely hate a character she created, across the dimensional barrier and through her own words, was the supernatural event she had experienced.

The screenwriter was well aware that her feelings for Jiang Xingni were complicated, but she didn't intend to delve into it too much. She didn't want to explore how much of her feelings were jealousy, disgust, fear, or regret.

Anyway, once Jiang Xingni dies, everything will return to normal.

There's absolutely no need to delve into this matter.

"Actually, I quite like Jiang Xingni." The assistant nervously watched his boss's expression and spoke cautiously. "Boss, does she really have to die?"

What she didn't say was, if you hate her so much, why did you create her in the first place? And now that you've created her, why can't you give her a happy ending?

The screenwriter's gaze slowly shifted to the assistant.

She repeated her assistant's words: "You like Jiang Xingni."

The assistant nodded.

Xiao Tingwen was so angry she laughed.

"Why do you like her?" She took the question back as soon as it left her mouth. "Never mind, you don't need to tell me, I don't want to know."

There is no obligation to pay the fans of people you dislike.

The screenwriter thought viciously.

Then he handed his resignation letter directly to his assistant.

"You're fired."