Except Me, Everyone Else Is the Protagonist

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Song Nanshi arrived in a cultivation world composed of three novels, where everyone in the sect except her was a protagonist.

The Eldest Senior Brother was a reincarnated protagonist who withdrew from his marriage early on. He possessed a jade pendant and was known in the martial world as Long Aotian. He used a broken sword to build his foundation and killed the boss of the Nascent Soul realm.

The Second Senior Sister was a stand-in who was betrayed in a crematorium. After being reborn, she became enlightened and had both her cold master and her former fiancé lining up at the crematorium.

The Youngest Junior Sister was the female lead of a sweet novel. She raised a demon prince who could transform into a human in her cave. She was regularly pinched at the waist and pressed against the wall affectionately by the jealous prince.

Song Nanshi became the Third Senior Sister, who had the least presence in the sect. Not only did she lack any special plotlines, but she also, having been an atheist in her past life, became a professional fortune-teller in this life, using a turtle shell every day to tell fortunes.

Faced with the fate of being involved in the main storyline as a background character in her daily life, Song Nanshi, who considered herself the only ordinary person in the sect, chose to be indifferent.

Eldest Senior Brother: “Junior Sister, does being born lowly mean I have to accept my fate?”

Song Nanshi took out the turtle shell and comforted, “Senior Brother, your fate is in your hands.”

Eldest Senior Brother: “!”

Second Senior Sister: “Junior Sister, he has done so much for me. Should I forgive him? But I feel unwilling!”

Song Nanshi took out the tarot cards, shook her head after a series of operations, and said, “Delayed affection is inferior to grass.”

Second Senior Sister: “!”

Youngest Junior Sister hesitated, “Third Senior Sister, he said he wants to propose to me, but… he’s a demon, and I’m human.”

Song Nanshi looked up at the gloomy sky, “I have observed the celestial phenomena at night; you two are definitely a match made in heaven!”

Youngest Junior Sister: “!”

Eldest Senior Brother/Second Senior Sister/Youngest Junior Sister: She understands me so well!

In the original work, Song Nanshi, out of jealousy towards her fellow disciples, conspires with the antagonist and is eventually killed.

This time, she encountered a pitiful antagonist who had just been betrayed by his family.

After a moment of silence, Song Nanshi chose to take out her treasure, the turtle shell, and said sincerely, “Brother, do you want a reading? It’s only ten spiritual stones.”

Associated Names
One entry per line
除我之外,全员主角
Related Series
N/A
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Recommendation Lists
  1. [2] fml
  2. Badass, capable, intelligent FMCs I absolutely ADO...
  3. parody and deconstruction
  4. CN/KR Romance I will never get over
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Latest Release

Date Group Release
11/10/24 Story Seedling c146
11/07/24 Story Seedling c145
11/06/24 Story Seedling c144
11/05/24 Story Seedling c143
11/04/24 Story Seedling c142
11/03/24 Story Seedling c141
10/31/24 Story Seedling c140
10/30/24 Story Seedling c139
10/29/24 Story Seedling c138
10/28/24 Story Seedling c137
10/27/24 Story Seedling c136
10/24/24 Story Seedling c135
10/23/24 Story Seedling c134
10/21/24 Story Seedling c132
10/20/24 Story Seedling c131
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Review
22 Reviews


srrrahim
New srrrahim
May 03, 2025
Status: Completed
I really love this

If you are bored of the regular cultivate to ascend story, you should try to rea this parody

The plots are so funny. Every single chapter makes me laugh

... more>> The romance is slow but steady. There's no love at the first sight, because love build with trust, friendship, and time

The author didn't only focused on MC and ml, but also all the side character

So, MC will meet some regular protagonist in cultivation world, such as :

1. Eldest senior brother : Long aotian protagonist, that kind of protagonist people will look down, and then they will prove them wrong. All kind of plot like having broken engagement, ghost old men, and sudden power boost is his plot

2. 2nd senior sister : the crematorium female lead. I really love her strong mentality. And her character development is really satisfying. She become her 3rd sister (our mc) shipper lol. She ship her sister with our male lead from the beginning

3. Youngest junior sister : the sweet pet female lead. She was afraid of unfamilliar people and will get 3x power boost everytime she faced opponent with human face lol. She is so OP, that she end up turning her own male lead into a strong body after numerously accidently destroy his bone and flesh lol

4. The young junior from the early chapter that the MC and her 2nd sister talk about will later appear, and his love story is quite wild lol

5. The female cultivator from another sect with harem plot

6. The buddha from budist sect. Has handsome appearence, but when he open his mouth you will end up want to kick him lol. He avoid his love flag unknowingly because of his dense brain lol. He is directionally challanged and so funny lol

Etc

There's a lot of usual cultivation plot that usually serious, but end up being funny in this novel <<less
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shiro_neko7656
shiro_neko76
Feb 27, 2024
Status: c2 part3
This is actually a pretty hilarious novel. Its like that manga called “A man defies the world of bl” where the MC is aware his in a bl world and avoids triggering bl scenes. Song Nanshi is just like that MC. XD

Also, this girl have bad luck. But it’s explained why. Cuz of her occupation, a mortal that dares to spy on heaven’s secret must have one of the five misfortunes and three lacks: widowed, lonely, orphaned, disabled, or short of wealth. What she got was the worst one- short... more>> of wealth.

Everyone’s worst nightmare 😖😖😖 At least she wasn’t born with bad luck. <<less
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wolikethat
wolikethat
Jun 03, 2024
Status: c41 part3
"She understands me so well!" -protagonists

"She couldn't help but think that they were also people who could cry and laugh, full of life, not just paper characters representing symbols in a book." -mc

These two statements really sum up what MC brings to story and why she's so important to/for the OG protagonists. In most cultivation novels, the protagonists have to be cool, aloof, and perpetually dignified; but real humans aren't flawless and can't be perfect at all times. Our MC, Nanshi, helps the OG protagonists and villain embrace their human... more>> sides. Partly by creating space and confidence for them to reveal their less-than-dignified aspects. Partly by being able to use modern concepts to make more complex psychological states understandable to themselves and others. And partly by diffusing melodrama with her pragmatism and sense-of-humor, turning dark situations into lighter ones.

The main characters, again thanks in part to MC's lens and interactions, feel like fully fleshed out individuals all with their own unique strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and growth. I also appreciate that, with or without the MC, none of the OG protagonists are undeserving of their hero/heroine title. It's not that they would have been "bad" people without the MC, it's just that they would have been very generic cookie cutter cultivation novel leads. MC turned them from charicatures to humans.

Most of all, I love the dynamics between the main characters. Not just the relationship between the OGs and the MC, but the OGs with each other. They really feel like a quirky group of siblings and they all sincerely care about each other.

The relationship between MC and the OG villain ML is also uniquely fantastic. They really like each other, which seems like it should be a given for the MC & ML in any novel, but isn't. In so many stories, the romance between the leads is based on (a) MC being "different" from other women and ML being the uber-handsome wealthy alpha male or (b) MC saves/heals the ML and their affection is essentially a trauma bond. Not to say that those things are unrealistic motives for a romance to sprout, but it does make one wonder whether the MC & ML would still be together if they were poor and ugly or if ML would have loved a different woman if she were the one who just happened to save/heal him.

In this story, it really is the MC's personality that hooks ML and it makes sense. After experiencing so much pressure and expectation, followed by so much much betrayal and pain that he became a demon in the OG story, it makes sense that he would fall in love with a person who could make him laugh and banter in the middle of seemingly hopeless situation.

Speaking of laughter, this novel is laugh-out-loud hilarious. There were several times when I had to put my phone down because I was laughing too hard. One of the funniest scenes so far was when
Spoiler

MC, ML, and MC's Senior Brother (one of the OG protagonists) were trapped in an illusion space. The illusion space had latched onto MC's psyche so anything she imagined came to life there. MC couldn't stop thinking about dumb modern things. First she imagined Sadako from The Ring complete with horror movie music, then she turned Sadako into a hula dancer. But the peak of that scene was when she went to sleep and ended up dreaming about the show Inuyasha and the ML was so interested that he stayed up all night watching the illusion and she woke up the next morning to him asking "is Kagome really Kikyo's reincarnation?" I lost it. I have tears of laughter in my eyes just remembering it.

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I highly recommend this novel. It's a gem. <<less
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Sheddy
Sheddy
Mar 20, 2024
Status: c118
It was great read at first due to the comedy. It was hilarious, but the comedy slowly died down the more you read, and even if there were still some comedic scenes, they were hit and miss.

ML is sometimes very dislikable, I don't know what's the deal with the author, everytime they wrote about kissing scenes, it was always written as if the ML is some kind of a s*xual predator, forcibly grabbing the MC's head and ravaging her mouth until there's pain, there's not a single romantic vibe from... more>> the kissing scenes.

I dropped it at chapter 118 because it was getting too exhausting to read.

I liked the author's other work more, maybe because there's fewer romance there so it wasn't very nauseating to read. <<less
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08phamann
08phamann
Sep 09, 2024
Status: Completed
The first quarter to half of the book was entertaining, however it started to really lose steam and lack direction. The MC's character was entertaining and her frugality and love for money was a defining part of this, but because she loves money so much and it's constantly a trope in the plot, I feel like it's her only defining characteristic and overshadows her as a person. And the money gags are funny in the beginning but it just keeps going on and on, she earns money and then loses... more>> it, earns money somehow by righteously conning someone and then going into debt again. It loses it appeal very quickly and as her strongest character point, is not very attractive.

Romance was cute in the beginning. MC turns ML into a money grubber as well. Throw out your expectations for cold and aloof ML, he's out there with MC also earning that bread (although less intensely than her).

I liked the relationship between MC and her senior and junior siblings and I wish they got more character development as they remained the same throughout the novel. <<less
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Maisike
Maisike
Mar 10, 2024
Status: c140
I've completed the novel to the end by machine translation and I can honestly say that this novel is a gem. It takes on a parody of common tropes in cultivation word and it does it well. Our MC is honestly super funny and the development of the male protagonist is also hilarious. It's amazing novel to read if you are bored and want something lightheaded. The antagonists reasons make sense as well and in the end, almost everything is explained.

I reccommend.
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Silverdragon
Silverdragon
Jan 27, 2025
Status: c146
This story has quickly become one of my absolute favourites. It's so funny, I couldn't stop laughing out loud and had to stop reading it in public because I seemed unhinged.

The characters are well fleshed and defy stereotypes. The relationship between the main couple is so cute, it takes time to get started but it's so believable and their devotion to each other is *chef's kiss* The relationship of the MC with her martial siblings is also developed.

The story follows "tropes" but in such an original way. I can't recommend... more>> reading it enough. <<less
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En-Jay99
En-Jay99
Dec 05, 2024
Status: Completed
Story itself is fun. Criticism is that it should've been shorter. That entire section with the Bee Queen for example didn't need to be that long. For a story that's mostly a comedy, it's easy to get tired and since the plot is pretty solid, cutting down the sections a bit would've enhanced the whole story a lot. But it's not that bad, overall the story is still very good.

My least favourite was probably the 'love story' with Jiaojiao and the demon rabbit prince. While it is hilarious and amazing... more>> that the youngest of the group, a dainty and delicate looking girl became a body cultivator capable of smashing demons with one tiny fist, her beating up the rabbit became quickly unfunny to me. For a long time she thinks the rabbit is just a spiritual beast and constantly 'accidentally' hurts it. If it wasn't demon prince, the rabbit would've died. And even later, violence against your domestic partner is not funny and it made no sense that the prince liked Jiaojiao when we don't actually see them getting along. We just constantly see the rabbit being beaten to the point of his bones breaking. And we just get the MC's thoughts about how the OG story was supposed to go, but overall Jiaojiao had the least character moments and development and was often just the punchline of: little girl punches hard. Which is a shame because overall, I really liked the group of friends.

The main cast is very fun and I liked them all. Some got more development then others, but they were all so good and I loved that they're all 'protagonists' of their own novel but have no airs or arrogance and welcome the MC and back her up, even when she initially didn't treat them that well. Their bond becomes unbreakable and it truly was friendship that changed their fates for the better. The slowburn of MC and ML was nice too and fit the finale really well, because of course that trust that we see being built overtime mattered because these are both very private and haughty people, but they love the other wholeheartedly.

I am concerned about a comment claiming this was translated with AI. Considering they take money for their translations (this novel was free) and seem to be churning out novels all over the last few months, I hope that comment was wrong but was unable to find any proof either way. Don't give someone money whos just gonna use AI for the task. Why bother. <<less
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Cimul
Cimul
Dec 04, 2024
Status: Completed
I love the story a lot. FL is smart and funny. I laughed a lot. She has good and hilarious martial siblings as well.

First few chapters are so so, but be patients, it gets better!
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Mai09
Mai09
Nov 19, 2024
Status: Completed
A GEM!

my stomach was hurting from laughing so much while reading this. The protagonist was hilarious and all the side characters were just as hilarious as her! The romance was also very good. The ML was a super duper green flag! I definitely will re-read this in the future. Anyways give this a try and you won’t regret it!

By the way the side stories at the end was also very good. Sad I finished this already🥺.
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Eeria
Eeria
Jul 18, 2024
Status: Completed
Rarely do I fall on books that are hilarious to read but this one got me to chuckle multiples times.

The story is great and well written but at the same time the tone is very light hearted although it touches on dark themes.

The FL is a complex character and not an obvious FL but it’s hilarious how she is the FL with the halo from the reader perspective when from her perspective everyone one else is a main lead around her.

I think the different layers of the novel makes it... more>> so appealing and how absurd but at the same time how it makes sense the unfolding of events are. Definitely on my reread and favorites list. <<less
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hobbes
hobbes
Feb 16, 2025
Status: c110
This was really good in the beginning. All characters and comedy and story line everything was good. But as story progresses some characters go down the drain.

The FL is too money minded. It was funny in the beginning, but sometimes I just felt FL was very cold hearted. ONE of the reasons she agrees to be with the ML because he has good fate with money. Her donkey/spirit also saves her many times and she is so stingy to even buy him some good food and also cons him... more>> of the money which he deserved. In every situation money becomes an important aspect (fighting with villain, speaking to very senior master spirit, speaking to heavenly dao...) like every scene, I am pretty sure there is no chapter without the mention of money.

The reason I stopped at 110 is because of "Youngest Junior Sister". She is this innocent pure heroine paired with a demon lord. Her character was tolerable in the beginning, but it gradually became unbearable. She also practises a kind of cultivation that makes the body strong, but as a result, she keeps hurting others all the time, especially the demon prince who is hurt and weak and has to stay in his rabbit form to gain strength. EVERYTIME she squeezes him so hard that his bones break, she throws him around as some kind of rag doll. She keep crying "Oh, I hurt him..." but NEVER tries to learn to fix her cultivation methods. This entire dynamic is supposed to be comedic, but I didn't find it funny at all. Worse, others behave as if this is normal and CONSOLE her that its ok.

I hate people like her - people who keep hurting others and crying, yet nobody blames them because she didn't mean to and I don't even want to talk about how the FL thinks and reacts when this happens. It was inhumane.

I have no idea how the demon prince can love her when she tortures him every day. He has helped them many times when they were in trouble, yet nobody cares to thank him or protect him from her. The FL even considers handing him over for his bounty, and the so-called pure junior sister thinks the same. WTF?! He has saved and protected her so many times, yet she doesn't even feel guilty about hurting him repeatedly. She still thinks about turning him in for money? I was speechless. This isn't comedy. At least, I didn't find it funny at all.

I like the other supporting characters, and I wouldn't have minded reading their stories as main stories instead. Her eldest brother and second senior sister were far more better characters then FL. Its unbearable for me to read any more about the FL's obsession with money or the pure girl who keeps torturing the demon prince. So I'm stopping here. <<less
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Thinker1357
Thinker1357
Nov 26, 2024
Status: c119
Hella funny, only issue was that it started feeling a bit repetitive by c100 so I had to drop it.
Spoiler

They keep meeting the same villain in different fonts then ruin his plans/make him go broke, only for him to eventually run away.

[collapse]
If it weren't for this I probably would've continue.
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iamyourdaddy
iamyourdaddy
Jun 23, 2024
Status: c25.1
ch25.1

Really funny! It made me laugh out loud, but the story felt slow and some jokes were too repetitive for my taste. It got annoying to read in one sitting as I felt that the pace was too slow and I didn't really know what the MC's purpose was. I might continue to read this later as I haven't giggled this much in a while. This might be one of those novels that I can't binge read, but just enjoy in small bites once in a while.
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WoonaOnTheMoon
WoonaOnTheMo
Apr 21, 2024
Status: Completed
One of the novels that genuinely had me rolling. Honestly, its the jokes got a little less funny towards the end but overall a fun read. I really liked the FL's relationships with her seniors/junior. It's not often you see supporting female characters not only being used as FL's followers or competition. And they didn't shovel in the part where every male supporting character is secretly in love with her. They're like one big found family.

ML and romance didn't feel that necessary to this novel. The friend group dynamics were... more>> so fun that he felt a little bland in comparison. I missed their earlier relationship when they were two business partners trying to scam each other before ML became just the guy who was in love with FL. Some jokes got a bit too milked too. I feel they should have eventually dropped the gag with the junior sister constantly unintentionally beating up her love interest due to being a body cultivator.

Otherwise it's still one of the better Chinese novels translated here. <<less
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Uruchan2009
Uruchan2009
Apr 19, 2025
Status: Completed
I would rate it 5 star if it's only for the comedy part!!

The comedy part was very very good!! I had a very hard time held back my laugh when I read it at midnight.

But, for other things... it's not bad but not really good either. Perhaps because it's written in god's perspective view (where the reader had the whole perspective of the world). So, it kind of lack something exciting since we already knew what would happened.

But after all, I didn't regret reading it and even don't mind another... more>> rounds just for the laugh. The comedy was that good. <<less
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Sasha.cat
Sasha.cat
Jun 13, 2024
Status: Completed
I absolutely adore this story.

I love how the author writes the MC and how they write every characters of this story.

Kinda light reads and less angst which I find very nice especially when you just want to digest a story that is well writen and not be stab in feels too too much.

I especially love when the author writes how real it was for them to fall in love with each other. It wasnt quick, it start as fondness, then a sense of belongings and friendship. They grow stronger with... more>> each other. They both lack somethings but with each other their imperfection seems endearing in their eyes.

While some say that the ML seems too possessive with the MC but in my view he has every right to be afraid of losing the one person that keep him from the bad ending in the original story. <<less
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Qi_z_q
Qi_z_q
Feb 20, 2025
Status: c1 part1
Fun to read and a comedy good light novel.

It has a satisfying ending and conclusion, though MC's love for money is a bit over played (wish the author have her a break in that regard) whenever debt is mentioned, it doesn't come across as annoying or irritating.

The ML is a great match for MC. You can clearly see how he changes for the better from his past and from the "book life" with Song Nanshi in his life. I also really like his personality, he has great chemistry with her,... more>> and with the supporting cast as well.

The other "protagonist" and side characters, the development and relationship with the MC and ML is great, not one overshadows the other and I really appreciate that fact. <<less
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Yayayayaya
Yayayayaya
Aug 11, 2024
Status: --
Really funny and enjoyable, especially in the beginning.

The FL is a joy, she's greedy but not s*upid, fair and just but not afraid of cheating people a little bit. The villains are comically incompetent, but in a way that isn't annoying and makes sense for the story. The ML is great in the beginning as a foil or straight man (the key to the jokes), but kind of devolves into a yes-man later, which is a shame. The extra stories were nice but a bit tropey.

4 stars for a great... more>> story, fun FL, and cohesive plot. -1 star for the slide toward the end. <<less
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RKADE 14
RKADE 14
Jul 26, 2024
Status: c69 (nice)
This story is hilarious, if you've read a story of a Cannon Fodder who firmly believes he's the Protagonist, it's like that in a way, while the world is dark, the MC fixes all of this and saves people sort of making their misfortunes into a joke or gimmick that is used ... more>>
Spoiler

like how everyone hates the eldest brother so they started selling the people who came to fight him to their second sister...

[collapse]

The stories fun, I've literally been squealing in bed and laughing so I think this is good.

Oh yeah, and the MC's poor, like really poor. <<less
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CaliJo
CaliJo
Jun 18, 2024
Status: c47 part2
The characters are really interesting and its fun to see their relationships develop! Very funny with elements of mystery too!
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