"Brother Lin!

What are you doing here?!

Quickly go away, or else Old Steward Qin will punish you again!"

The panicked voice came from Zhang Wei's co-worker, Bao Wei.

To no surprise, Bao Wei was the one who had the title of 'Side Character'. His body shape was circular, to say the least, he had black hair and green eyes, and he usually walked around with a silly smile on his face making him look quite wholesome.

Zhang Wei would have had to be blind not to realise that this guy was the embodiment of the 'friendly fatty' that appears in Xianxia novels.

The protagonist, surnamed Lin, waved off Bao Wei's concerns and replied in a relaxed tone,

"Big bro Wei, I've come to give you a hand with this so we can both get lunch together.

As for that old mutt, Qin Gou?

Hmph, I'd like to see what he could do to me.

You of all people should know that I, Lin Fan, despise such two-faced bootlickers!

To think he was shameless enough to target the people around me just to please that stupid young master of his, otherwise, why else would you be stuck doing something as menial as cleaning?!"

Bao Wei seemed touched by Lin Fan's words and said with a bitter smile,

"I'm truly blessed to have a brother like you but, for my sake, I want you to get out of here right now!

You've offended young master Wang recently, so I'm sure that this is a scheme to get you into trouble. They want you to do this so that they can argue that you've broken the rules and interrupted me whilst working, and consequently you'll be punished for it!

Quickly go!

And I'm younger than you, so stop calling me 'big' brother because of my heavier physique, you rascal!"

Lin Fan also seemed to be touched, as he began talking again.

"Brother Wei..."

On the sidelines, Zhang Wei was speechless whilst watching the entire thing.

T-These guys...They're so cringy!

Do they think they're enacting some sort of drama here?!

Not only that, what does that MC b*astard mean by saying my job is menial? I'll have you know, if nobody cleaned then you'd be rolling around in pig sh*t!

Disrespectful dog.

But besides ranting, Zhang Wei also noticed something peculiar about the scene.

Normally when people are talking as loud as they are and creating such a commotion, someone nearby would turn around, even if only for a brief moment, to check it out.

But this didn't happen!

There were around four more people in the courtyard cleaning, all of them were 'Background Characters', and not a single one bothered to stop and check on the two guys putting on a performance.

It was as if Lin Fan and Bao Wei were in a world of their own!

It was bizarre, to say the least. However, in fairness, wasn't a background character meant to be a space-filler?

As Zhang Wei thought of this, he gained a slight understanding of what a 'Background Character' truly was.

Anyways, back to the action.

As if on cue, a few moments later the doors to the courtyard opened once again. This time though, rather than one person coming through, it was a group of four men led by one old man with a hunchback.

The one leading the group had a sinister smile on his saggy, wrinkly face and he wore a tidy dark blue robe that had a more elegant style as compared to the plain yellow servant robes- Clearly, this old guy had a higher status.

Meanwhile, the group of bulky men behind him also had nasty expressions but wore servant robes and looked exactly what you'd expect goons to look like- They were ugly, some had bald heads, and one even had a scar on his face!

Another thing to note was that through Zhang Wei's perspective, all these people had red text floating above their heads spelling 'Antagonist', but interestingly, the lackeys had a much dimmer and diluted red as compared to the old man.

Through common sense, it could be deduced that the old man played a more important role than the guys behind him.

As soon as the old man spotted Lin Fan his grin widened, causing his dark yellow teeth to show, and he instantly spat out in a mocking tone.

"Oh well if it isn't Lin Fan, fancy seeing you here!

This old steward here was just coming here for a routine inspection, but to think I'd catch a troublemaker on the go!

Lin Fan, rule ten of the servant's compound states that if someone disturbs others during working hours they get locked up in detention for a week. And from what I see, you are distracting Bao Wei from accomplishing his cleaning duties, hence, I ask you to follow us nicely to the detention centre."

Lin Fan was about to retort angrily, however, Bao Wei suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted,

"It wasn't Lin Fan that broke the rules, but me instead!

I was the one that called him here and talked to him, therefore neglecting work. I sincerely apologise to Steward Qin and will accept punishment!"

After Bao Wei finished speaking, almost everyone's expression changed.

Lin Fan's words seemed to be stuck in his throat as he looked at the kneeling Bao Wei in shock.

Steward Qin and his lackeys all had frowns on their faces, seemingly dissatisfied with this result.

Zhang Wei's eyes also widened, as he thought,

Wow!

That self-sacrifice was a two-hundred IQ play!

Not only would the MC be protected from the scheme, but Bao Wei would also escape cleaning as this punishment would make it clear that he isn't suited for it!

But... what do these people have against cleaning?

Sure, it might be a bit boring and the pay isn't all that good if you compare it to other things. However, it's laidback and a risk-free source of finance!

After snapping out of his daze, Lin Fan couldn't take it anymore and shouted,

"Qin Gou you b*stard, stop with the nonsense!

It's obvious I wasn't distracting him, and you've never done any routine checks before this!

This is clearly a scheme!"

Steward Qin snorted and replied,

"Servant Lin, I advise you to scurry off whilst we are being nice!

We have an important job to do, and that is to punish this wrong-doer.

Yi, Er and San, hurry up and grab Bao Wei!"

The three men simultaneously said, "Yessir!"

Then they walked toward the kneeling Bao Wei at a fast pace. Just as they were about to grab Bao Wei, Lin Fan stepped forward and blocked the way!

Although the lackeys were all taller than Lin Fan, he still stood in front of his friend with a fearless attitude worthy of a protagonist.

With a disdainful look in his eyes, Lin Fan shouted valiantly,

"If you want to get to my brother, you'll have to go through this Lin first!"

Zhang Wei, who was still at the side being treated like air, was anticipating this moment.

From the moment all the 'Characters' appeared, he had a rough idea of what was going to occur. And up until now, the flow of the events basically went according to his predictions.

Some stuff he didn't expect, such as Bao Wei turning himself in, but this obviously wasn't a Xianxia story so it was to be expected that there will be deviations from the usual plot.

According to his predictions, Lin Fan would finally unleash his true strength here and defeat these people until they cry for their mothers!

What was so exciting about this?

Naturally, because it may give a hint to what type of cheat this guy has- To qualify as a protagonist you have to have a cheat!

Zhang Wei already realised that he couldn't be a 'reincarnation of an immortal emperor' type as he was way too impulsive and rash.

He also didn't seem like someone with a grandpa in a ring, as he didn't have a ring.

So what was he?

Soon he would find out! And that info could possibly help him with his 'assistance' in the future!

As Zhang Wei guessed, after a few minutes of pointless taunting, old steward Qin had enough of Lin Fan's bullsh*t and ordered the lackeys to beat some sense into him.

They happily did as they were told and San, who was the closest to Lin Fan, raised his fist and let out a swift punch!

As Zhang Wei saw this he jokingly contemplated,

What's Lin Fan gonna do now?

Let out a punch of stronger force and send lackey no.1 flying like a badass?

Possibly kick him back through the courtyard entrance?

Maybe even use the forbidden technique, and cut off any hopes for offspring?

*SMACK*

*THUD*

"..."

It was a shame no one bothered to pay attention to Zhang Wei's change in expression, as it was quite comical.

He was slack-jawed, and his eyes were so wide open that they looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets!

The outcome of lackey no.1's punch was plain and simple.

A K.O!

However, it was not from Lin Fan's counterattack as Zhang Wei thought.

But due to lackey no.1 getting a clean hit on to Lin Fan's face- The left cheek to be specific!

Zhang Wei looked at the unconscious Lin Fan lying on the ground, with a big bruise on the area of impact, and couldn't help but ask himself,

Is this really a protagonist?!

I'm more inclined to believe the sparkly golden text above his head is false advertisement!

Suddenly, however!

Just when the antagonists started sniggering over Lin Fan's presumptuousness and began dragging the raging Bao Wei away.

Lin Fan stood up again!

His face, though, was expressionless, and the look in his eyes was cold and sinister- He seemed to have turned into another person!

Without any blabber or hesitation, the 'new' Lin Fan dashed forward at a surprising speed and approached the unsuspecting lackey no.1.

Once he got in range of a few inches, he ruthlessly and skillfully roundhouse kicked the bewildered lackey no.1 right on the temple!

lackey no.1 got sent flying, and without pause, Lin Fan proceeded to continue his assault by striking the other two lackeys that were carrying Bao Wei away.

In just a couple of moments, somehow, Lin Fan wiped the floor with the lackeys and also hadn't forgotten to give Steward Qin a taste of his punch and kicks.

After a few minutes had passed, the scene in front of Zhang Wei was where all the antagonists were walking away miserably with bruises and bright red slap marks on their faces.

Finally, Lin Fan seemed to be muttering to himself, something along the lines of,

"That cursed brat!

Can't he take care of his own body for once, goddamn it!

Now that I'm finally awake again, I'll teach him some common sense!"

He then passed out again and collapsed onto the ground, causing Bao Wei to run over worriedly.

...

And what was Zhang Wei doing during all this?

Lamenting over the fact that he, and the other unfortunate background characters, will have to break their back working overtime in order to clean up the mess left behind.

As for his opinion on the battle?

How was he supposed to comment on anything?

It wasn't like he was some martial arts guru!

All he could say was that the protagonist had done what protagonists do best...

Win.

...