Little Pink Starfish

【Aaaaahhhh holy sh*t this man in black is so… so… SO something!!!】

【Oh my god, does anyone even know what this guy’s name is? We’ve been calling him “man in black” this whole time!】

【He didn’t show up for two issues in a row — I thought he was just some background filler, but turns out Ji Qiu was saving up for a big move!!】

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the comments under the manga with her face still frozen stiff.

She reread the latest chapter several more times, her expression staying just as strange and bewildered.

…Who the hell is this guy in the manga?

…

Hmm… Judging by the time, location, and the surrounding terrain… I think… probably… that guy is… me?

Yuan Yuanyuan’s expression slowly morphed from stiff confusion into what could only be described as the “grumpy grandpa riding the subway” face.jpg.

With this face, utterly offensive to the eyes, she stared at the manga depiction of the “man in black.”

Still dressed all in black — except this time, without the trench coat. She’d worn a plain shirt and kept the jeans and sneakers combo.

She remembered practicing in front of a mirror the night before, imitating her male idol — down to the poses.

Her idol was the classic quiet, black-haired, black-eyed, brooding type — the kind you find in tons of works. You know, the classic “grumpy” from the iconic duo of “dimwit and grumpy.” That “grumpy” guy always looks like this.

Black hair, black eyes, icy-cool expression, doesn’t talk much, ridiculously handsome, super popular with the ladies, but kind of emotionally dense — and occasionally, a tragic backstory to boot. Yuan Yuanyuan could rattle off five or six of these characters without thinking.

Notable examples? Second Brother (Er Zhu), Senior Disciple (Shi Xiong), Chuan Feng, Bite-Kill (Yao Sha)…

Yuan Yuanyuan, a veteran of the 2D world, had many male idols. But her top favorites almost all shared the same traits: black hair, black eyes, and a frosty cool-boy vibe.

When she realized this, she paused in silence for a few seconds. It was embarrassing, sure… but then she started rolling around on the floor in excitement.

Cough cough… Look, it’s no different from people who love sailor-uniformed anime girls. Some preferences are just embedded in your DNA. You can’t change them.

Yuan Yuanyuan knew her tastes were kinda cringe, but that shame only made her more hyped.

So after a whole night holed up in her room, she decided on a character design based entirely on her ideal type — black-haired, black-eyed, cool as ice, emotionally awkward, and mostly silent.

She had the black hair and eyes, and she looked decent enough. The only things missing were the “ice-cold cool guy” and “stoic to the core” traits.

But those were easy — just talk less, emote less, act colder.

Sure, the man in black had saved a girl once, but so what?

People can have niche hobbies, okay? Bite-Kill liked keeping little yellow birds, didn’t he?

With that mindset, Yuan Yuanyuan had stepped onto the streets. When facing that demon, she was super cautious — barely said a word — all to protect her carefully constructed cool-guy persona.

And now…

Now she stared at her phone, expression still searingly cringe.

…What the hell.

Ji Qiu’s manga was like a magical truth-revealing mirror. Before this, the “man in black” had only appeared in a few sparse panels, with barely any description.

As the saying goes: the more you show, the more chances there are to mess up. A small-time celeb who only appears once a year might get a “hey, not bad” reaction. But once they start appearing regularly, their every flaw gets exposed. Eventually, people realize they’re not that different from all the other stars.

Yuan Yuanyuan felt just like one of those small-time celebs. When she had little screen time, she could still keep up appearances. But in this new issue — where half the chapter was about her — she couldn’t hide anymore…

For example…

As a girl…

Even after turning into a guy…

…

Some of her movements… still had a faint, subtle femininity to them.

…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

Yuan Yuanyuan rolled under her blanket again, flailing.

That kind of femininity wasn’t something you’d normally see in men (duh). In all her years, she’d never seen a guy with that kind of vibe — not even on TV.

She clutched her face in despair.

Why did I come out looking like this? This is NOTHING like what I imagined!

Where’s my dream man — the black-haired, black-eyed, icy-cool little heartthrob?

My life’s already miserable enough — no stable job, always on the run, no time to date, and no one setting me up. Can’t I even have a harmless fantasy where I ogle myself on screen?!

In her emotional meltdown, Yuan Yuanyuan accidentally revealed some questionable thoughts…

She rubbed her face and stared at her phone.

There it was — her carefully transformed face, emotionless, totally cool-looking — definitely worthy of “ice prince” status when not smiling.

But then came the close-up.

Under those long, narrow eyes were two red markings — trailing from the corners of her eyes all the way up to her temples.

They were demon markings — the kind seen in lots of works. Think “Lord Sesshomaru’s under-eye stripes,” yeah, exactly that kind of edgy stuff.

When she first discovered them, Yuan Yuanyuan went through a full-blown phase of anime cringe. But after encountering more demons, she’d learned to ignore them completely.

No choice — everyone had them. Some demons had markings so bright they could blind you. Yuan Yuanyuan had seen so many that she could now dead-fish-eye her way through them.

For a person with chronic anime syndrome, the fastest cure is discovering: “Oh sh*t, *everyone* has this.”

The appearance of her markings wasn’t under her control. They’d always shown up mid-battle. The first time she saw them was when she got home after a fight and caught a glimpse in the mirror.

They scared her a bit back then. These days, she could suppress them in daily life, but early on, she had to wear heavy makeup every day just to hide them.

Yesterday, in the heat of battle, she hadn’t paid attention — and they had popped up again. It had been so long since her last intense fight that she’d totally forgotten…

Last time they showed up was three years ago.

When she was still in her female form, those markings didn’t seem out of place — delicate and a little flirtatious.

But what she hadn’t expected was that when she transformed into a guy… the markings didn’t change.

So now, on this supposedly cool guy’s face…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Get lost!! We had a deal — different markings for guys and girls! I worked so hard to create that handsome, icy male face! You girly little demon markings, stop ruining my whole aesthetic!!

Yuan Yuanyuan was losing it. She wanted to strip down and streak through her room just to release her emotions…

…

On her bed, her phone still lay open with the Meng Man app page lit up. Ji Qiu’s artwork really was beautiful — and his attention to character detail was top-notch.

He often included internal monologues in his manga that felt incredibly real. Yuan Yuanyuan even suspected that those thoughts might actually be pulled from the subject’s real mind…

Her phone screen continued to glow faintly, showing that scene.

In this issue, Ji Qiu had included lots of inner dialogue — oddly enough, all from the demon she’d beaten up that day.

“Who’s out there?” he wondered. “Another demon? Does he want in too?”

He walked out, the girl behind him still bleeding. Her blood dripped from her waist to the ground, pooling into a small crimson puddle…

Expecting to see some unfamiliar demon, he looked up — and saw a figure in black.

That figure stood silently, back turned, short hair rustling in the wind.

“Who are you?” he called out, thinking, “I’ve never seen this one before… is he new?”

Just then, the figure slowly turned around — revealing a face.

…

He stared, dumbfounded.

He’d never imagined… that a man could look like that.

Ji Qiu devoted an entire large panel to the demon’s point of view.

To the demon — and the readers — the man had short, messy black hair with a few strands blowing across his face. His black eyes were deep and intense, with upturned corners hiding who-knew-what inside.

His skin was pale, nose high, lips red — the kind of clean, delicate face that should’ve been pure and innocent. And yet… the red markings beneath his eyes gave him a strangely alluring charm.

Even as a 2D illustration, many people stared at that panel for a long time.

Holy sht…*

He stood there as the wind lifted his shirt — Ji Qiu had drawn the folds in exquisite detail. The soft, thin fabric clung to his lean frame.

A rare and striking androgynous beauty radiated from him. Many readers had never imagined a man like that could exist.

…This stranger stood there and calmly said, “Fight.”

“…Huh?”

He stood there, stunned, and suddenly thought, “This voice… so nice to listen to.”

If a man looked like this, even women would cry.

…

Yuan Yuanyuan was still running around her room naked in sheer existential crisis.