[On an ordinary day in some unspecified year and month, deep in a remote mountain village in Central Province, a hunter stumbled upon you while out hunting.]
[Believing you to be a mountain spirit’s blessing, he took you in as his own. From that day forward, you had a legitimate identity in this world.]
[With a hunter as your adoptive father, your childhood wasn’t lacking in nourishment. This gave you a clear advantage over your peers.]
[While others were working the fields, you could lie on the grass with a dog tail weed between your teeth, basking in the sun.]
[But even then, you knew you were different from the other cowherd boys. It felt like your life wasn’t meant to be this ordinary.]
[Still, when you heard your adoptive father calling you home for dinner from not far away, you smiled. This simulation… maybe a quiet, peaceful life isn’t so bad.]
[That tranquil life continued until the year you turned ten—when a man claiming to be a physician arrived in the village, looking for an apprentice…]
***
Su Bai had just finished his college entrance exams and was sprawled comfortably in his cozy bed at home, fully engrossed in a fantasy webnovel on Pineapple Bun when a notification popped up on his phone.
A small banner announced the successful installation of a new app, and several lines of teaser text followed, interrupting his good mood.
Looking at the game—barely 10 megabytes in size—Su Bai couldn’t help but complain: “This thing’s probably a virus.”
Su Bai, male, 19 years old, former student council president of Wanquan Yongxing Academy’s high school division.
He had just taken the national college entrance exams a few days ago and was now enjoying life as a full-time couch potato.
He pressed down on the icon of the newly installed game and hesitated for a long time before deciding not to delete it.
Instead, he opened the forum thread from the user who had gifted him the game.
[Qingtian Baizhi: Hey OP, you said this life simulator was a 5A-grade game with immersive experiences and top-tier xianxia fantasy. But it’s only 10 megabytes?!]
“Geneva Convention, I want my refund!”
[ShitIt’sAVineMonsterNotTentacles: I wasn’t trying to scam you. Just play it—you’ll see. Oh, and I already spent your fifty bucks on cotton candy, no refunds~~]
Su Bai: …
Just a while ago, bored out of his mind, Su Bai had been browsing the forum and trolling random threads when he came across a post recruiting beta testers for a new game.
Acting on impulse, he clicked the link and paid a fifty-yuan beta fee.
And now… here he was.
Now, staring at the so-called life simulator that had cost him fifty yuan yet wasn’t even 10MB in size, Su Bai went silent for a moment before snapping a screenshot.
Fine, the fifty bucks were probably gone for good—but he couldn’t just swallow his frustration! As a former student council president, he wasn’t someone to take this lying down!
Geneva Convention or not, he was going to call this person out!
Just as he finished gathering evidence and was about to make a post exposing the scam, his phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
[ShitIt’sAVineMonsterNotTentacles: Oh right, I sent you two redemption codes. Just click to claim. You can embed them in your character slots. Have fun playing, big bro~]
Su Bai was about to scroll past when another red notification dot popped up.
[And one more thing—I’m heading off to Mianmian’s training camp soon, so I won’t be online. If you have any game feedback, keep it for later.]
‘Great. Took my money and ran.’
Reading the last few messages, Su Bai was so pissed he could practically taste blood.
At that point, he didn’t even feel like calling the guy out anymore.
Judging by the tone, the scammer was already in the process of deleting their account.
‘What was the point of reporting them now?’
Muttering a few curses under his breath, Su Bai shifted to a more comfortable position.
Despite everything, his fingers obediently tapped on the redemption codes.
What else could he do now? Might as well try to salvage the situation.
But before he could resume cursing the guy’s family tree, his phone screen suddenly flashed with light—and two items materialized on the screen.
One of them was a square object, about half a foot thick, bound in a green cover.
On the front, four bold black characters were inscribed: Sunflower Manual.
If you looked closely, you could see a line of fine print beneath the title: Perfect Edition – No Need for Castration.
Another object took the shape of a golden ring.
Its surface gleamed with an unnatural radiance, and just looking at it made an invisible pressure crash down like a wave.
Su Bai’s hair stood on end.
***
Mustering all his courage, he picked up the two items.
As he recalled the supernatural events he had just experienced, countless fantasy novels flashed through his mind.
His heart raced with a mixture of excitement, panic, anticipation, and dread.
After quite a while, he managed to calm himself down.
He was just about to pick up his phone and apologize to the forum thread creator for his earlier attitude when—
[Ding! Sunflower Manual (Flawless Edition) detected. Would you like to learn it?]
[Ding! Named Supporting Role Aura” detected. Would you like to equip it?]
A new message popped up on his phone screen.
Still trembling with adrenaline, Su Bai hesitated only a moment before pressing confirm.
[You have learned the technique: Vine Monster’s Hand-Rubbed Golden Finger, Sunflower Manual (Flawless Edition)]
[The sun rises in the east, and I alone remain undefeated! Once famed across the land by one man’s hand—will you restore its former glory? from the mildly resentful Vine Monster.]
[Your money was well-spent on cotton candy, but your greetings, especially those directed toward the Vine Monster’s family, made it quite angry. As a result, the technique has been slightly… modified.]
[You have equipped: Named and Noteworthy Supporting Character Aura]
[You’re not a nobody, nor are you cannon fodder—you’re a named and noteworthy supporting character! Grin while you can.]
[As long as you don’t meet the main character, you are the protagonist! Things like tragic backstories, group wipeout triggers, frequent run-ins with major events—sure, those might happen. Oh, and sometimes the aura brings a few… minor side effects.]
***
Su Bai silently read through the messages.
He pinched his arm.
Yep—he wasn’t dreaming.
Gulp.
He swallowed hard.
After a brief moment of mental preparation, he clenched his teeth and muttered, “To hell with it. If there’s a trap, I’ll fall into it headfirst. It’s the bold who feast, and the timid who starve.”
Cultivation Simulator, continue!
***
[An old man with the appearance of a common healer. Unremarkable in every way, but in a remote mountain village with scarce medical resources, such a person is a priceless treasure. If he could train a few disciples, it would be a blessing for the entire village…]
[And so, the former village chief, now in his seventies, had his son—the current village chief—gather the villagers and line them up.]
[However, just as the villagers had gathered, a dark and sinister aura surged from the old healer’s body. Crimson phantoms shot from his hands into the villagers, then burst back out and returned to him.]
[With every phantom that re-entered his body, the old man grew stronger, while each villager collapsed into a shriveled corpse. In an instant, the village was drowned in bloodcurdling screams.]
[Within moments, all 300 villagers had turned to husks. All except for you. The moment the old man made his move, you had hidden yourself among the corpses and quietly began circulating the technique that had recently appeared in your mind.]
[By luck or fate, the old man never noticed you. After the slaughter, he didn’t leave. Instead, he sat down and began meditating, absorbing the surrounding blood mist.]
[Then, a sword light suddenly streaked down from the sky—swift and sharp, beheading the old man in one strike. A man and a woman descended from the heavens. As they surveyed the devastated village, a trace of sorrow flickered in their eyes.]
[They began to speak. From their conversation, you learned that they were cultivators from a righteous sect.]
[They had descended the mountain to find new disciples and had been tracking this demonic cultivator, who just so happened to pass through their sect’s territory. They had pursued him all the way here.]
[Just as they were preparing to cremate the corpses with a spell, you leapt out. When asked how you survived, you fumbled out a vague explanation.]
[To your surprise, they believed you—and even said you had exceptional talent and invited you to join their sect. In that moment, you felt an epiphany—this must be the power of the supporting character aura.]
[You didn’t stop them from burning the corpses. But before that, you dragged one body from the pile—a man in a hunter’s garb. That was your adoptive father. You buried him with your own hands, then boarded the flying vessel with the two cultivators.]
***
Onboard the flying vessel, you looked around at the crowd of young boys and girls about your age.
A thousand thoughts ran through your mind.
Oh, right—you had also chosen a name for yourself.
You were Su Bai—Bai, as in “white” from the bright blue sky.
Bro everytime I hear the word white for Bai I get giggly I hate it even more than Bai for bone I mean bone is white too and sharp.