I Became a Cannon Fodder Lost Love!

Ding dong.

The phone on the desk, currently charging, emitted a special notification sound.

Lin Qianshuang was seated in front of her computer, having just sent the completed design proposal to her team leader. Taking advantage of her break time, she picked up her phone and opened it, seeing a notification from Weibo. Jinjiang’s¹ recommendation account had posted an update.

Lin Qianshuang felt a surge of excitement as she saw the long-awaited update from the previously inactive account. Being a avid bookworm, she had been reading online novels for six years. In her free time after work, she loved to scroll through novels on her phone. Her reading speed was astonishing - she could finish a 600,000-word novel in just three hours. Lately, she had been struggling to find worthwhile novels to read. Originally a fan of modern urban stories, she had begun to explore other genres as well.

Jinjiang’s recommendation account was known for posting reliable recommendations, and Lin Qianshuang had found many excellent works through their posts. With an hour to spare before the team leader responded, she eagerly clicked on the latest update from the account.

The newly updated Weibo post was a book recommendation for a yuri² cultivation novel called “The Conquest of the Four Realms.” The post described a captivating story of a strong female lead, chronicling her journey from a weak cultivator to a powerful god with a trail of success and love behind her.

Lin Qianshuang’s lips curved into a small smile. The summary seemed a bit cheesy, reminiscent of those overly dramatic stories found on lesser-known websites, but she had a soft spot for strong female leads, and the lily genre was right up her alley.

Having been starved for new content for a while, Lin Qianshuang couldn’t contain her excitement and immediately clicked on the link to check out the novel. But to her dismay, she found that the link provided by the account was no longer working. To add insult to injury, the post itself had been deleted.

Refusing to let go of her curiosity, Lin Qianshuang performed a quick search for the novel’s title on Baidu. Surprisingly, she found the complete text available for download, but it wasn’t on her usual reading platform, Jinjiang, but rather on an unfamiliar literary website.

Undeterred, Lin Qianshuang quickly downloaded the full text, eager to start reading. As she opened the document, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of grandeur and intrigue when she saw the magnificent cultivation world described within its pages. The unique plot and diverse cast of high-intelligence female supporting characters further piqued her interest.

However, her excitement turned to disappointment when she came across a description of her favourite junior sister in the novel, Xiao Lanle. In the first-person perspective, the novel portrayed her in a lewd and objectifying manner, undermining the traits and strengths she had exhibited until then. Lin Qianshuang’s face contorted with disappointment, realizing she had stumbled upon another generic male-centered harem cultivation novel, and worse, it was narrated from the perspective of the male protagonist.

Unsurprisingly, the girls in the story, who were intelligent and fierce fighters quickly became soulless puppets in the arms of the male protagonist. What’s more, they easily turned a blind eye to his polyamorous relationships.

As she soon discovered, the novel’s male protagonist, originally a lazy mama’s boy confined to his home, had acquired the ability to cultivate and traveled back in time. Now, armed with a golden finger³, he was hailed as a genius without having put in much effort. In addition, the male protagonist’s only love interest was a woman who had died many years ago, yet he kept stringing along the other female characters without showing them the respect they deserved.

What a shame that such a good plot setting crumbled into such a repulsive, cliched mess.

This blatant disregard for the wonderfully established female characters outraged Lin Qianshuang, whose own reader’s sensibilities and feminist values were deeply offended. She couldn’t bear seeing the powerful female supporting characters, who were capable of becoming the protagonists of their own stories, reduced to mere playthings for a male lead with an inflated ego.

Lin Qianshuang felt frustrated when she thought of these capable girls being repeatedly manipulated by domineering men. Why did such skilled women allow themselves to be controlled like that? It was clear they could be their own heroes. Without the male protagonist, these women would be unstoppable forces, conquering their own destinies.

Feeling nauseated, Lin Qianshuang nevertheless persisted in reading, knowing she had already paid for the full text. She gritted her teeth and carried on until reaching the extra chapters, where all the female characters tragically died to further the male protagonist’s advancement to godhood.

Unbelievable…

Frustrated by her own poor judgment and the wasted money, Lin Qianshuang decided to find the author’s Weibo account. To her dismay, she discovered that the author was a self-proclaimed male chauvinist who often resorted to degrading women and relished in glorifying domestic violence. The comments under his novel were full of vulgar and explicit messages from legions of male fans, fueling negative sentiments toward the original work and the author’s lackluster portrayal of women.

Feeling utterly foolish for having fallen into such a trap, Lin Qianshuang couldn’t help but leave a negative review and express her disdain for the mistreatment of the female characters she had come to admire. In a rare burst of anger, she penned a lengthy three-hundred-word comment, defending the strong female supporting characters and condemning the male protagonist for his manipulative behavior.

Just as Lin Qianshuang posted her comment, a bright red response suddenly appeared beneath it. It was an unexpected reply from the author himself.

Author: If given the chance, would you be willing to save them?

Lin Qianshuang rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Did she read that right? The response came too quickly and was completely different from the vulgar comments she had seen before. Curious, she read the following message from the author.

Welcome to [The Harem Rescue Project]. Help guide the characters from the novel return to their rightful positions. In twenty seconds, you will be transported to your destination.

Confused by these replies, Lin Qianshuang was momentarily distracted by a notification from her team leader. She quickly closed her novel interface and opened the chat window, expecting to see feedback on her design proposal. However, she found no such feedback. Instead, she saw a countdown displayed, starting at twenty and gradually decreasing. Was the team leader telling her to meet him in his office in 20 seconds?

Lin Qianshuang was taken aback, suspecting that her team leader had summoned her urgently. Without hesitation, she rose from her seat, adjusted her crumpled dress, and grabbed her documents. Just as she reached the door and turned the doorknob, she heard a beeping sound.

“Information implantation complete. Welcome, Lin Qianshuang, the chosen candidate for ‘Conquest of the Four Realms.’ Have a pleasant journey.”

Confusion washed over Lin Qianshuang as she pondered whether she had been overwhelmed by the harem cultivation novel, causing the sudden hallucination. As she opened the door to her team leader’s office, her vision went black, and she felt as though she had lost her sight.

Could it be due to low blood pressure from skipping breakfast?

Lin Qianshuang found herself puzzled by the sudden blackout, contemplating the possibility of a low blood pressure episode. Within moments, however, the brief darkness dissipated, and she was greeted by a breathtaking panoramic view of an infinite blue sky. Ethereal clouds floated gracefully in the untainted azure sky, while rays of sunlight pierced through the lush layers of forests below. Startled birds fled the branches, their movements echoing in the crisp, untainted air.

With each breath, the rich scent of iron permeated the air, mingling with the refreshing coolness. Aggressive roars reverberated some distance away, shaking the earth itself.

Lin Qianshuang found herself lying on the ground, her eardrums ringing. The sheer pressure from the roars rendered her almost physically immobile. She could only cover her ears and try to block out the ear-splitting noise.

The sound of heavy animal hooves slowly moved in her direction, each step sounding like a rock falling to the ground, making a resounding thud.

Lin Qianshuang felt a surge of pain coursing through her limbs. She discovered that her body was covered in bloody wounds, while her dress had been torn to shreds, leaving only a light, flowing material.

Confused, she wondered when her clothes had changed. These were not the business attire she had worn before.

Lin Qianshuang struggled to sit up, taking in her surroundings. Corpses lay strewn across the desolate landscape, accompanied by burnt-down houses and spreading flames. It became apparent she was in a village that had recently witnessed a devastating catastrophe.

Thump… thump… thump…

The unmistakable sound of hooves grew nearer, their vibrations shaking the ground under Lin Qianshuang’s feet. Panicking, she turned around only to face an enormous creature covered in ash-gray scales, its sharp fangs dripping with viscous fluid.

Lin Qianshuang was struck by the astonishing sight of the gigantic beast, reminiscent of a creature from a Hollywood blockbuster. She had no choice but to dismiss the possibility of being in a dream.

As Lin Qianshuang scanned her surroundings, a sense of unease gripped her. The corpses and charred village were unmistakable results of the massive creature’s rampage. Now, as it inched closer, its intentions to kill became frighteningly clear.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar conversation.

“Please, save my senior sister. She’s still in the village!”

“Fellow Daoist, your senior sister is trapped within the magic formation meant to kill the Canglan Beast. There’s no way she can be saved.”

“But my senior sister ended up in the magic formation because of me! I beg you, I, Liang Jingxuan, a disciple of Penglai Immortal Sect, kneel before you!”

“I dare not accept such a thing, there is simply little we can do. We share your grief, Fellow Daoist.”

…

Upon hearing the name Liang Jingxuan, Lin Qianshuang’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be the male protagonist from “The Conquest of the Four Realms”? Her gaze shifted towards three figures suspended in mid-air, holding their swords gracefully: Sage Xuanji with a flowing beard, the ethereal Fairy Miaoyin cradling a qin, and a young man with bloodshot eyes and gritted teeth kneeling before them.

This was the opening scene of the entire novel.

Liang Jingxuan had traveled across worlds, becoming a novice disciple in the Penglai Immortal Sect. His days had been filled with aimlessness and lack of ambition until he was taken in by Elder Tianshu for his innate talent and potential. It was there that he met a beautiful and kind-hearted senior sister who bore an uncanny resemblance to his first love.

During an expedition outside the mountain, the seal of a ferocious Canglan Beast was broken, leading to a massacre in the village. Penglai Immortal Sect urgently sent a message for the disciples to apprehend the beast, and due to her efforts to protect her useless junior brother, the senior sister found herself trapped in the magic formation and died a tragic death.

The senior sister, a nameless cannon fodder character that had only been described briefly with fifty words, had become the white moonlight⁴ in Liang Jingxuan’s heart and served as the motivation for his future pursuit of love.

Lin Qianshuang clearly remembered the male protagonist’s declaration at the start of an intimate encounter with any female supporting character, “You resemble her so much. It must be fate that has brought you before my eyes. I owe her my life, and I owe you for that. I will spend my entire life making it up to you, my beloved.”

Upon hearing the responses of the two revered figures, Liang Jingxuan felt that saving his senior sister was now impossible. With a heavy heart, he left alongside them. As he cast one final glance at the woman trapped within the formation, his eyes were filled with a mixture of regret and sorrow.

To meet such a like-minded girl, only to have her life cut so short — they had been in love for so long, and he had even planned to request approval from their master a few days later for her hand in marriage.

Liang Jingxuan clenched his fist. It was his own lack of strength that had resulted in the loss of his loved one. He vowed to become stronger, yes, much stronger.

As Lin Qianshuang recalled the details from the original text, a wry smile crept onto her lips. A man like Liang Jingxuan was hardly a match for that senior sister.

Suddenly sensing something amiss, Lin Qianshuang wondered why the creature was eyeing her. Shouldn’t it be focused on the senior sister?

Right now, she was the one trapped in the magic formation. Had the male protagonist been pleading for her sake?

As the realisation dawned on Lin Qianshuang, her right eye started to twitch uncontrollably. This couldn’t be happening—she had become the cannon fodder white moonlight who died at the beginning of the book!