It's Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead

Translated by Eve

Edited by Wuxian

"Do you think we can kill him this time?" They would soon come face to face with the Destroyer—although he was muddle-headed when he saw him a few times in the past, Sui Yuan was still a little nervous.

"Quite likely, but it is not for certain," Zhao Xihe, who was hidden on the roof beams alongside Sui Yuan, slightly lowered his head gazing at the Nightmare Beast who had transformed into Ning Ze and was holding a book in his hand in a noble manner, as well as the Crystal Beast who had the appearance of Nan Gongyi and was lying on the desk, looking bored and drowsy.

It had to be said, perhaps it was because their original aura was rather fitting, but the two creatures’ disguise was hard to distinguish from their real counterparts. In all likelihood, they would successfully deceive the Destroyer.

"What you’re saying is that he could possibly escape? Escape to where?" Sui Yuan was puzzled.

"Escape from this world," Zhao Xihe grabbed hold of Sui Yuan’s shoulder and pulled him in, so that Sui Yuan’s rigid-from-nervousness body could lean against him, before massaging his shoulders in passing, "The Destroyer’s consciousness is more formidable than an Actor’s. It does not need a system’s support and can straightforwardly use their own power to tear apart the barrier between worlds. This is also the way in which they transmigrate between worlds after losing their systems. However, this method is very dangerous and requires an ample supply of energy and a steady environment. If they don’t have enough energy or are disturbed, it is extremely probable that they will be unable to maintain their consciousness’ stability and will die. Or, they will be stuck in the gap, forever unable to free themselves."

"If the Destroyer discovers that they can’t beat us, they’ll desperately try to flee. However, the price of escaping is steep, while the chance of survival is quite low, huh? Sui Yuan made a sorrowful expression on behalf of the Destroyer, "I feel that no matter what the Destroyer does, it’s going to meet a bitter end...."

"That’s because you know that I can deal with them. If you didn’t have me, the one who would have a bitter time would be you," Zhao Xihe snorted with discontent.

Knowing that he had misspoken, Sui Yuan forced a smile and wrapped his arms around Zhao Xihe’s neck, rubbing against him in an endearing way, solemnly expressing that he was only sympathizing with the enemy because he believed in his teammate!

The corner of Zhao Xihe’s lips rose and he decided to take note of this account first and settle it later.

"If he comes, you must hide further away and protect yourself well," Sweeping an eye over Sui Yuan, Zhao Xihe patted his head with a bit of dislike, "If you rashly charge out and I can’t help you in time, you’ll just drag me down, ne!"

Sui Yuan：".................."

——Although that’s true, please be more tactful! QAQ

While Sui Yuan was holding a moment of silence for his level five strength, (link to vid from TN) Zhao Xihe, who was behind him, suddenly loosened his hold on Sui Yuan’s arm. Sui Yuan immediately put up his guard and lowered his head to check up on the situation with the Crystal Beast and Nightmare Beast.

Two fine cow-hair like needles pierced through the window paper, directly shooting toward the skulls of the two transformed beings. At the same time, Zhao Xihe disappeared without a trace.

Peng, peng. A white mist appeared before the two people who were about to be pierced in the head. In an instant, they shrunk into two little beasts. Sui Yuan hopped off the beams and stared at the needles that had completely stabbed into the walls and couldn’t help but feel rather speechless. The needles were suffused with a blue halo and were most likely coated with poison. If it was a real person, no matter how great their martial arts was, they would most likely still be unable to avoid being assassinated.

The Crystal Beast shook out its fur and jumped onto Sui Yuan’s shoulder, responsibly and diligently protecting its family’s weak host. Meanwhile, the Nightmare Beast pounced out the window, bringing a joint offense against the enemy.

Although he was told to ’hide further away’, Sui Yuan could not watch with folded arms and let Zhao Xihe face danger all on his own. He urged the Crystal Beast to envelop his body in a protective barrier before pushing open the door to leave the room. As soon as he left, he saw one small and two big silhouettes clashing and parting, their battle quick and violent.

Although An Qi had already made use of the ashes and attained an inner force equal to a hundred years of cultivation without actually cultivating, Zhao Xihe used props he had obtained from other worlds. Put that together with the Nightmare Beast who he had a mental connection with, he was not in the least in a disadvantageous position.

Sui Yuan let out a sigh of relief and decided not to recklessly enter the fray for the time being. Who would have expected that as soon as he had retreated a step with intentions on leaving the battlegrounds, he would suddenly meet An Qi’s gaze. He couldn’t help but stiffen.

An Qi gathered up internal energy and then released it, leaping onto a treetop, light as a feather. Zhao Xihe noticed An Qi’s interest in Sui Yuan and did not chase after him. Instead, he bolted to Sui Yuan’s side, blocked him and vigilantly watched the enemy’s every move.

An Qi sized up Sui Yuan, his gaze still without even a shred of malice. On the contrary, his tone was full of kind regard when he spoke, "Hi, we meet again. What’s your name?"

Sui Yuan stared blankly. He could not quite understand what was happening but still replied politely, as was his nature, "My name is Sui Yuan. Hello."

An Qi couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing Sui Yuan’s reply, "So alike. Even the way you give such a silly reply when you don’t quite understand the situation is so alike."

"Like....who?" Sui Yuan glanced at Zhao Xihe and only when he noticed that he only narrowed his eyes but did not stop him, did he hesitatingly ask.

"Like my friend—a really important friend. Although we have only interacted with one another in one world," An Qi’s manner was very good when replying, as if he did not think that this kind of idle chatting was out of sorts at all, "Don’t you think it’s painful? Always having to be other people’s stepping stones, always having to work hard for the sake of other people, always having to sacrifice yourself for the sake of other people. One world after another—even when you reincarnate, there is no way of freeing yourself."

"I don’t find it painful..." Sui Yuan’s reply was a bit feeble because ever since he had met Zhao Xihe, he had made other people into his stepping stones instead. Except that, even when he was used as a stepping stone, if he was able to complete the plot in the end, it still made him happy, no? For him, to be unable to be made into a stepping stone no matter how hard he worked for how much he wanted, was probably another kind of pain? Sui Yuan did not know why An Qi had said such a thing to him—was it to turn him into a Destroyer like him? He could only follow his heart, "I’m happy to preserve the plot, ah. If I can continue on like this forever, then it’d be good," Sui Yuan subconsciously hooked his fingers with Zhao Xihe’s. Of course, this ’forever’, included him.

When he heard the implicit meaning within Sui Yuan’s words, even though the situation was dangerous, Zhao Xihe couldn’t help but smile. His mood became infinitely better.

Sui Yuan’s response, which was light years apart from a Destroyer’s thinking, did not make An Qi feel any disdain or anger. He fixed a profound gaze on Sui Yuan, seeming to want to see someone else within him and slowly lamented, "Truly alike. Even this kind of strange response is exactly the same."

Sui Yuan was stunned and Zhao Xihe subconsciously furrowed his brows.

"When I had just met him, he was still a novice Actor. He was very young and inexperienced. I was dissatisfied with living as a supporting lead and cannon fodder for the rest of my life, bearing the pain and sorrow. I couldn’t even get a slightly normal ending for myself," An Qi’s expression darkened, but his lips were slightly raised, "I nearly fell apart, but he saved me. He was so pure, as if nothing dirty could ever pollute him. As long as the plot proceeded as set, his eyes would shine from happiness, much to the bafflement of other people. But even so, people could not help but be attracted to him. It was with his help that I could pull myself together and find the will to continue on. We exchanged communication numbers, but I never saw him again. But it’s like he’s still by my side...."

Sui Yuan didn’t know what to say. This story sounded warm and encouraging, but obviously, if the tale had a happy ending, the person before would not have become a Destroyer.

"Then, he died," An Qi directly said the story’s ending.

Sui Yuan：".................."

——Indeed, what should he say now....

"He was not killed by a Destroyer, but by the Original World. I don’t know why the Original Word did so—he was obviously the most suitable Actor I’ve ever met— but he indeed died," An Qi’s expression was gloomy and frantic, "I want revenge for him. I’ve been waiting all this time, playing as an Actor all this time, until the day I could get my revenge—I’ve forgotten how many worlds I’ve experienced—until recently. A while back, I finally had my wish fulfilled when I met a Destroyer. Then, after reporting the Destroyer, I was able to receive the power I’ve always yearned for."

Sui Yuan couldn’t say that what An Qi did was wrong. If Zhao Xihe were to one day disappear, he could not say for sure that he wouldn’t become the second An Qi. But right now, An Qi and they were enemies.

——He could sympathize with him, understand him, but could not leave him alone.

"Actually, when I discovered that you were an Actor, I anticipated that I could not achieve my goal in this world," An Qi gradually restrained his mood and seemed to shrug his shoulders, relaxing, "One versus two. One strong, while the other was weak. Thus, my best strategy would be to capture you and use you to threaten him. However, I did not do so because you resemble him too much. I could not hurt you who resembled him. I hope that you will live on well in his place."

Sui Yuan opened his mouth. Just as he was about to respond, he was stopped by Zhao Xihe.

"Alright. It’s time to put an end to this idle chatter. Have you forgotten what we must do?" Zhao Xihe’s expression facing An Qi was no better compared to before the latter had begun recounting his story. He looked as vicious as a male lion whose territory was about to be invaded, and mate about to be snatched. Unrestrained hostility emanated from Zhao Xihe, signalling that he was just itching to immediately annihilate An Qi.

An Qi arrogantly looked at Zhao Xihe from the corner of his eye in disdain and sneered at him coldly. He viewed Zhao Xihe with as much hate as the other did to him. Perhaps it was a clash of similar personalities. However much An Qi liked Sui Yuan, his hate and jealousy of Zhao Xihe was just as much. In his eyes, Zhao Xihe was a winner who was showing off his own happiness and glory before him, the loser. This made people completely want to destroy everything.

Unfortunately, he could not do this now. He could not watch Sui Yuan, who was so much like his friend, show an expression of despair.

"Actually, I had known that this was a trap. In all likelihood, I would not be able to achieve any benefits. I just wanted to come see you and speak with you for a bit," An Qi looked at Sui Yuan with a profound look, as if he wanted to turn him into the person from within his memories and then engrave him into his heart. Soon after, he raised his hand and quickly waved, "I hope that you will remember my name. My name is Mo Ziyou."

The last three words almost dispersed in the wind. Sui Yuan felt the world warp in all directions as an immense gravitational force caused him to stagger forward. His consciousness was nearly pulled out of his body.

"Wanting to escape?!" Zhao Xihe completely did not expect that An Qi—rather, Mo Ziyou— would suddenly plan a direct retreat with how dangerous it was. In a moment of desperation, he could only condense the consciousness-destroying power into a long sword and launch it towards Mo Ziyou. Meanwhile, he used his body to protect Sui Yuan, stabilizing his spirit.

When the sword went puchi as it stabbed into a body, the warped area became a ball of bloody mist from the splattered blood. When everything became peaceful once more, all that remained was the ruins of a broken wall and the evenly distributed blood on the ground.

"...What about Mo Ziyou?" Sui Yuan inquired as he poked his head out from Zhao Xihe’s embrace. Although it was not deliberate, still, he did deeply remember that name, "Did he escape or did he die?"

"For the time being, he’s escaped," Zhao Xihe’s expression was dark. He painstakingly tried to suppress his ire from having his treasure being lusted after, "However, I injured him, and he wasted an incredible amount of energy to escape, so the possibility of his death is very high."

"...But I feel like he didn’t die," Sui Yuan rubbed his chest, feeling that there was a peculiarity—it felt a bit painful somewhere. After examining it carefully, the feeling disappeared.

"Hmph. It’s very regretful but I also have the same hunch," Zhao Xihe gritted his teeth and agreed.

5237 looked at Sui Yuan with hesitation, as if it wanted to say something. In the end, it gave up. It didn’t want Sui Yuan to shoulder too great a burden, although Mo Ziyou was truly a bit pitiful....

"Then, does this count as completing the mission?" Sui Yuan looked at Zhao Xihe anxiously, face full of gloominess.

This was the first time that Sui Yuan’s constant thought on the plot had made Zhao Xihe happy. He made a gentler expression and with extreme fierceness, nailed 17/18 nails onto the name ’Mo Ziyou’. Then, he proceeded to throw it onto his blacklist and began to comfort his family’s sweetheart who had once again failed his mission. "Although the Destroyer was not exterminated, at least, the world has been saved. For the time being, we’ve accomplished the majority of the mission. Moreover, even though the Destroyer has changed the plot beyond recognition, in any case, the ’war triggered by the fight over the ashes’ still occurred. In addition, the feeling between the protagonist gong and shou isn’t bad. The final score shouldn’t be too shabby."

Sui Yuan’s eyes glimmered and he grabbed onto Zhao Xihe’s hand, smile glittering. Zhao Xihe stroked his hair and couldn’t help but kiss his limpid eyes, holding him tightly against his chest.

Sui Yuan, this fool who didn’t care much about anything outside of the mission, would never imagine it. But Zhao Xihe, who knew of Sui Yuan’s identity, was clever and had already guessed what was the relationship between Sui Yuan and the person Mo Ziyou had mentioned.

——However, no matter who it was, no matter what their reason for wanting to steal what belonged to him was– and disrupt his and Sui Yuan’s life– he absolutely would not let them off! Mo Ziyou, if they ever met again, he would never let him continue living! He needed to eliminate this danger before Sui Yuan noticed....