Little Pink Starfish

In front of him was a mirror, over two meters tall and more than a meter wide, carved from a single piece of crystal. It was crystal-clear, spotless, and flawless… Wait a minute, doesn’t this description sound a little familiar?
Never mind, that’s not important. What’s important is that the reflection in the mirror was detailed down to the finest strand of hair, every feature perfectly captured.

Those naturally green eyebrows…
Those lips, red without any rouge…
That snow-white skin…
That long hair, like ink poured onto silk…
That… that perfectly flat chest, that tightly cinched waist, and that colorful long dress—

Who the hell is this sissy in the mirror?! _{[T/N: Starting off strong with slurs.]}

Ziche Shubai stared expressionlessly at the stunningly androgynous reflection in the mirror, sinking into an indescribable sense of worry.
Should he be relieved that what shouldn’t be there was indeed not there, while what should be there was still intact? Or should he just scream “I’m so damn unlucky” for ending up in another new body?

——Let’s rewind things a bit.

As someone who had long since adapted to his new name and spent millennia holed up in his city with his borderline-world-sacrificing-maniac of a partner, Ziche Shubai had grown bored after thoroughly exploring every corner of the Lingwu Continent.
So, as the almost perfect better half (flawless in everything except personality), Qiguan Rui—who had already received modern education—suggested that they honeymoon in another world to add some spice to life and rekindle that fresh-in-love feeling.

Ziche Shubai agreed.

What happened next was obvious.
Having reached Wu Zun level over the past few millennia, Ziche Shubai and Qi Guanrui shattered the void together—something that should have been simple. But for some unknown reason, Ziche Shubai suddenly lost consciousness, and when he woke up… he was someone else.

And along with that came the news that the maniac was missing.
Yes, the room was empty. Not only was his original body gone, but Qi Guanrui was nowhere to be found either.

#ThisIsASadStory#

Back to the point. Ziche Shubai had initially decided to just go with the flow, figure things out, and reunite with the maniac later. So he casually checked the mirror—only to be met with the horrifying sight of a cross-dresser about to glue two fake breasts onto his chest!
In that instant, Ziche Shubai’s brain short-circuited.
And then, memories from this body came flooding in.

One minute later.
Ziche Shubai clutched his forehead.
Damn it, this can’t be good. He’d transmigrated again!

He thought to himself: I’m such an idiot. Really. I knew I’d transmigrated, but who would’ve thought it’d be into Wei Liang’s infamous novel?! Damn it, besides him, which other harem novel god would randomly throw a cross-dresser into their story?!

This body’s identity was as follows:

Name: Shangguan Yu (→ Cross-dressed as Shangguan Yuer)
Gender: Cross-dresser (→ Only revealed to be male right before dying)
Status: A genius from a branch family of the Shangguan clan, sent to the main family at a young age
Hobby: Hunting down the protagonist
Strength: Always 1–X levels higher than the protagonist

Recalling this, Ziche Shubai covered his face again.

Everyone knew that in Shidian novels, there were always a few arrogant cannon fodders—bullies, troublemakers, and self-important morons—who just had to pick fights with the protagonist. Their strength was usually unimpressive, serving only to provoke the protagonist into trouble. And of course, once they were taken down, bigger problems would follow—most classically, “defeating the small one brings out the big one.”

And yes, Shangguan Yu was the big one.

As a tragic youth who had lost his parents young and grown up with only his younger brother, Shangguan Yu was taken to the main family due to his exceptional talent. Meanwhile, his less-talented younger brother, still a child, was left behind and raised into a second-generation rich brat, enjoying a carefree life.
But no matter how useless his brother was, he was still Shangguan Yu’s only family. So when the brat picked a fight with the protagonist, got himself killed, and enraged the protagonist beyond forgiveness, Shangguan Yu embarked on a relentless path of revenge.
At any cost.

Of course, when Shangguan Yuer first appeared, no one knew he was actually the older brother rather than the older sister.
This cold, stunning beauty approached the protagonist to avenge her brother, slowly earning his trust. When the truth of his schemes was finally exposed, the protagonist couldn’t bear to kill him outright. But despite this, Shangguan Yu continued plotting against him, nearly costing the protagonist his life multiple times…
Though the protagonist had countless romantic interests, it was this one—this beautiful soul linked by both deep understanding and irreconcilable blood feud—that left the deepest mark on his heart.
For a while, the cries for Shangguan Yuer as the true female lead were deafening—

Until the protagonist finally caught up in strength.
By then, the cold beauty, perhaps realizing revenge was hopeless, escalated their conflict further, engaging in endless clashes filled with both battle and… unresolved tension.
The story’s climax was tragic—after much suffering, the protagonist’s many lovers banded together, and Shangguan Yu met his end in the protagonist’s arms.
It should have been a heartbreaking, poignant moment…

But then, at the last second, Shangguan Yuer smirked coldly and—BOOM—self-detonated.
Well, almost. The self-destruction failed, but his clothes sure didn’t survive.

And then came the twist.

Protagonist: “……”
Protagonist’s harem: “……”

That perfectly flat chest…
He’d been a guy all along!
And if they’d just accepted that fact, things might’ve been fine—no, who were they kidding?!

The comment section erupted in wails.
Otaku readers everywhere screamed in disbelief—How could the beautifully tragic heroine turn out to be a dude?! This makes no sense! There were no hints at all!

But no matter how much they raged, Ziche Shubai’s dear friend, the harem writer Wei Liang, had already made a name for himself with this book, launching his career into stardom.
——And if you thought it ended there?
Heh.

From then on, every one of Wei Liang’s novels featured a cross-dresser.
This cross-dresser could be a minor cannon fodder, one of the protagonist’s lovers, or even—God forbid—the protagonist’s adoptive mother.
The readers who’d fallen into his trap time and time again eventually found themselves playing a new game: Guess the Trap.
Over time, the masochism set in, and they got used to it.

Back to the present.

Ziche Shubai had never minded Wei Liang’s cross-dressing obsession before. After all, his own companions were full of weirdos—gender confusion was no big deal!
But if he had known he would one day become one of those cross-dressers, he would have grabbed Wei Liang by the collar and shaken him three hundred times while screaming, “FIX THIS NOW, DAMN IT!”

…Too late.
Ziche Shubai took a deep breath.

Based on this body’s memories, he was currently on his way to reunite with his only brother, who had just been retrieved from some “small place.”
In about an hour, he would arrive.

And the most important thing right now—
He had to! Quickly! Restore! His male body!

But… after being a cross-dresser for so long, what kind of excuse should he even use?!
He wanted to claw at the walls in frustration…

---

Pinky says: Ah the guide to crossdressing the universe