At Last, I Have a Mouth

Su Chu and Gu Qi have rather hastily chosen names, but they really are the protagonists of a novel.

Their usual job is to follow the novel's script, acting it out until the story ends.

But stories are never quite the same.

Take popularity, for example.

Since Jinjiang City's energy supply is fixed, popular story protagonists receive the best treatment so that resources can be used as efficiently as possible.

By contrast, unpopular protagonists might not even have a complete set to work on.

As it happens, Su Chu and Gu Qi are the forgotten leads of a flop novel.

To be fair, they can understand the rules governing Jinjiang City's fixed energy supply.

For protagonists like them, whom hardly anyone reads, it's perfectly normal for nonessential things to be left unrendered to save energy.

For instance, the energy-saving pixels below the neck, or the ██ inside the ██ vanishing... In any case, in the utterly wholesome city of Jinjiang, those things make no difference whether they are there or not. Their sudden disappearance or becoming impossible to see doesn't affect them much.

But one day, Su Chu and Gu Qi suddenly discover that even their mouths have been energy-saved.

Wait... Isn't it going a bit too far to make their mouths disappear?

How could protagonists following a plot possibly get by without mouths?

The two furious protagonists open their scripts, only to find page after page of inner monologue.

Whenever a misunderstanding arises, one says, "It's not what you think," while the other says, "I won't listen. I'm upset."

After one misunderstanding after another, nothing gets cleared up. Instead, their mouths get energy-saved.

Su Chu and Gu Qi look at the script, then at each other. The two newly minted mutes don't know what to say for a long while... Though, at this point, they can't say anything anyway.

Protagonists in stories like theirs can survive without eating, but the problem is that as forgotten leads, they can't afford any expensive hobbies. Eating is the only pleasure they have in life.

Now they've lost their mouths too. What's the difference between a life without pleasure and being dead?

The two forgotten protagonists grow more and more indignant, and their long-dormant ambition is rekindled.

They'll find a way to make their mouths useful in the story from here on out.

No matter what, they have to find a way to grow their mouths back!

Theme: Keep your imagination alive