Sacrificing the "high popularity character card" would not be as simple as casually selecting any world one wants to enter into. Essentially, the chosen world must be of the same energy level as the world the high popularity character card originated from.
This brings to question of what energy level did "The 4WD God" actually have?
On the surface, it looked like a slice-of-life world, but if you take a closer look, you will spot the abnormalities. Whether it's the magical physical strength of the mini 4WD car racers, or the "deadly moves" of the cars themselves, such things do not occur in reality.
Therefore, generally speaking, such worlds that appear to be perfectly normal as a whole, while actually possessing a mysterious side, should be on equal standing as those "blood sports" driven worlds.
There are such works in this world, such as "Captain Tsubasa," "The Prince of Tennis" and so on, but both of these have been completely released. In the former, the male protagonist, "Tsubasa Ozora"[1] was unquestionably an iconic character, and the female protagonist in the story would not trail too far behind in terms of popularity. Unfortunately, no one would remember her name. She would only be identified as the captain of the cheerleading team. In fact, everyone would only remember her as the 'golden partner'[2] of "Tsubasa Ozora."
"Tsubasa Ozora" and his 'golden partner' has a special move where they would kick the ball together towards the goal, at the same time. Such an overpowering force would be impossible, for even the best goalkeepers to handle. In reality, can this move really be pulled off?
"The Prince of Tennis" is another iconic piece. Unfortunately, almost all the well-known characters were male, so it became a favorite of many fujoshi readers. As it neared its finale, the work started picking up another name - "Blood Tennis"[3]. How strange...
Since iconic works like "Captain Tsubasa" and "The Prince of Tennis" already existed, other "blood sports" stories would be inevitably overshadowed. Of course, Stephen Chow's "Shaolin Soccer" stood in another class of its own. It was a prime example of "blood sports." In "Shaolin Soccer," all the characters would kick the soccer ball as if they were engaged in lethal martial arts combat. In the final match, a goalkeeper was almost literally pummeled to death by soccer balls that were sent flying in his direction. Only when a goalkeeper with Tai Chi[4] skills, played by Zhao Wei[5] appeared, the situation was reversed.
It is said that "Shaolin Soccer" became quite a hit at the Japan box office. Japan really loves their "Blood Sports."
This world also has a "Shaolin Soccer" movie, but it was released many years ago.
Regardless of whether it is "Captain Tsubasa,""The Prince of Tennis," or "Shaolin Soccer," they have all been completed, so there is no chance of entering those worlds. If Zhao Youyue wants to, she could enter the various forms of doujins derived from those titles, but how many iconic characters would actually emerge out of a Doujin?
In short, worlds that revolve around sports and tournaments are usually dominated by male characters. The female characters in these worlds would remain as side characters. Even if there is a romance in the plot, it would not necessarily be a man and a woman falling in love. The love and relationship between two men might be comparably more entertaining and popular than one between a man and a woman.
Recently, there's a "Kuroko's Basketball" that is enjoying a fair bit of popularity. However, it was also nearing completion, and there was not much room for manipulation.
Moreover, the environment in "Kuroko's Basketball" is ill-suited for the creation of an iconic female character. In addition to that, Zhao Youyue could not see any ability worth taking from that world.
She did not want to enter worlds that revolved around combat and sports. What could she do with those mysterious deadly moves, even if she gets them?
Other than the "blood sports" category, "The 4WD God" would also be similar to another category of worlds, which was the world of "light-emitting cuisines." Works under this category include those like "Chuka Ichiban" and "Shokugeki no Soma." The former was already complete, while the latter had no characters of unique talents. Zhao Youyue started feeling helpless...
Zhao Youyue believed that Su Li would be the ideal illustrator for "Shokugeki no Soma." This work was catered for people who enjoyed immersing themselves in the beauty and taste of each delicacy, and it was well aware of its purpose. Having a clear direction meant that it did its job particularly well. It excelled in the parts where characters would look extremely satisfied after eating the magical, aphrodisiac dishes. Maybe she can be the pioneer of food comics.
Purely from a trendsetter's point of view, "Shokugeki no Soma" could be considered innovative. In this world, the character Miss Erina Nakiri has the "God's Tongue." She could be considered a character that Zhao Youyue could use to her advantage. Due to the popularity of "Shokugeki no Soma," Zhao Youyue would get a headstart, if she possesses this character, so it would not be difficult to create an iconic character.
However, in this world, "Shokugeki no Soma" had been going on for several years!
Well, it could not be helped. A manga as popular as this would be on the same note as webnovels. The longer a series gets, the more popular it gets. Then, the storyline would be milked to its limits, without a conclusive end. Milking here might not be an accurate term, as the plot is really that long...
Zhao Youyue deeply despised the fact that she neither had a talent for creating works nor did she have an eidetic memory. If she could wholly recall the entire plot of "Shokugeki no Soma," she would work together with Su Li and replicate it.
Wait, if things are this way, wouldn't this mean that the creator of this manga would be her?
If so, can she enter her own work and cause trouble?
She suddenly felt like trying it out!
After all, when she causes trouble, the changes and fresh information from her efforts would not be transferred to the creator in real-time. The creator's "inspiration" mode is not concurrent to her every action in those worlds. In fact, the creator would only receive the information after she is done making trouble. Only when fed a constant stream of that information, would he or she enter an "intoxicated" state.
What would happen if she is both the creator and a character in her own work?
This made Zhao Youyue extremely curious, but the crux of the problem remained. She simply did not have the talent to create works of her own...
However, she had the "Two Dimensional Gate."
This would be something worth experimenting with in the future.
Considering how difficult it is to make an iconic character, Zhao Youyue earning 3 of them in such a short period of time was quite an achievement. She had been incredibly lucky, yet she was still constantly complaining about how the "Two Dimensional Gate" was messing with her. Clearly, this illustrated how greedy she is.
If she were to make an iconic character without going through the cheap use of a tragedy, the process would take considerably longer. Zhao Youyue did not find such a method cost-effective. Deep down, she would willingly direct the life of a female character to a tragic end, so tragic that it would herald the coming of a comet.
This is typical gambling psychology.
Even so, with so many ill-fated characters resting in pieces, she would have to be ingenious in her next attempt. Otherwise, the new character would also experience the same, boring fate of being fatally ill and end up dead before realizing the peak of their dreams, just like Yu Shengfan and Chu Luoxun. If the new character dies the same way again, the readers would stare at the outcome blankly, and might even start laughing morbidly...
Oh, another terminal disease.
Oh, another death.
Oh, another of Su Li's characters.
Why get sad over these ill-fated characters, it is quite the entertainment.
When an ill-fated character can only do so much as to draw a chuckle or two, what is so iconic about it?
Translation note :
[1] In "Captain Tsubasa," the main character is Tsubasa Oozora. The name literally translates to "Extensive Sky Wings." You can guess how it would sound like when literally translated in Chinese, so we opted for his original Japanese name.
[2] In "Captain Tsubasa," Tsubasa's golden partner is Taro Misaki. Together, they form the "Golden Combi."
[3] In "The Prince of Tennis," many of the characters have special techniques that they can use while playing tennis. The anime is also known as "Blood Tennis" because these special techniques sometimes hurt or injure the user's opponents severely.
[4] "Tai Chi" is an internal (soft) Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits. The term "Tai Chi" refers to a philosophy of the forces of yin and yang, related to the moves.
[5] "Zhao Wei" is a female actress in China.