Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan never imagined that one day, someone would actually call her “a powerful figure.”

All she did was laze around every day, going to and from work like a salted fish, occasionally getting whipped by Sister Li Zi’s little cane… her life was relatively relaxed now. Compared to how things used to be, this was a major upgrade. Once a person has money, the anxiety kind of disappears.

“Li Zi-jie, I’m warning you—if you come one step closer, your brother’s getting wrecked, you hear me?” Yuan Yuanyuan squatted behind Si Qun, with only her eyes peeking out.

“Si Qun!” Sister Li Zi yelled. “Grab the person hiding behind you!”

The back kitchen wasn’t big anyway, so they could mess around all they wanted. Even if it got wrecked, it wouldn’t be hard to clean up.

Eventually, Yuan Yuanyuan got caught. Sister Li Zi dragged her upstairs to keep practicing…

Well, at least there was food to eat. If there’s food, Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t too scared of anything else.

Back when work wasn’t so busy, Yuan Yuanyuan used to wash glasses and scroll on her phone at the same time. Life was pretty sweet. But now? Not nearly so chill. Even checking her phone had to be squeezed into tiny breaks.

Today, Li Zi-jie went out front to handle some things, and Yuan Yuanyuan finally got a chance to breathe. She pulled out her phone and started checking things.

First, she checked if anyone had called her. Then she flipped through QQ and WeChat. Finally, she habitually opened the Mengman app to check on updates. She was scrolling casually when suddenly—one comment caught her eye.

[Thank you for today, Black-Clad Man.]

Yuan Yuanyuan… stared at the screen in confusion.

She thought, that “Black-Clad Man” should be referring to me, right? But… why are they thanking me?

She looked at the timestamp—just ten minutes ago. The commenter was a fan artist account. Not a super famous one, but clearly someone who’d been around for a while. An old, reliable user.

Yuan Yuanyuan… looked even more confused.

Why were they thanking her? Because Ji Qiu had drawn her especially good-looking recently, and the artist got inspired and came to thank her?

She couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she thought. But before she could ponder further, Sister Li Zi returned, and she had to stash the phone again.

That comment was quickly thrown to the back of her mind. The next morning, she was busy as hell, running around nonstop. By then, she had completely forgotten the whole thing.

When she got home, she found the place tidied up. Though something about the layout looked slightly off—probably Xiao Ying and Li Xin had stayed late the night before.

Yuan Yuanyuan tossed her bag on the couch and collapsed straight into bed, falling asleep in her clothes.

Time passed, just like that.

…

“You two better behave tonight,” Yuan Yuanyuan warned as she fried food in the kitchen. “Don’t touch the gas stove while I’m gone. Neither of you knows how to use it.”

It was nearly the weekend again. Lately, Xiao Ying and Li Xin had practically moved into her tiny apartment to do homework. Yuan Yuanyuan even cooked for them now. Luckily, Xiao Ying’s mom had started buying groceries for three people, so Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t have to spend her own money.

Honestly, she didn’t mind having the kids around… she was just really curious why they liked her shabby little place so much. It wasn’t better lit than Xiao Ying’s home, nor better furnished. The whole place just screamed “single-person bachelor pad,” and had zero appeal.

“It just feels cozy,” Xiao Ying explained. “If I ever move out on my own, I want a place just like this. Just a bed, a fridge, and a stove is enough.”

“You say that now, but it won’t be fun when you actually move out,” Yuan Yuanyuan said with a laugh, flipping the pan. “You’ll miss your mom’s meals soon enough.”

She figured the girls were just into the novelty. Once the excitement wore off, they’d head back to their own places.

“Oh right, Yuanyuan-jie, did you see the results of the first elimination round on Mengman?” Xiao Ying asked, looking up from her workbook.

Yuan Yuanyuan replied, “Yeah, the online voting one, right? One account, one vote.”

“I can’t collect votes anymore,” Xiao Ying sighed. “Swapping them around is such a hassle… if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just register more accounts.”

“Stop that nonsense. You’re in high school—focus on your studies.” Yuan Yuanyuan set the dishes on the table.

“You don’t get it, Yuanyuan-jie. Ji Qiu is seriously twisted,” Xiao Ying said. “Last time, five people got eliminated in the prelims, and he killed off three of them in the manga. If someone loses this round, I bet they’re getting killed off too.”

Yuan Yuanyuan, of course, knew how twisted Ji Qiu was. In fact, she probably knew better than Xiao Ying. But even she had no good solution. She could only play it by ear.

She’d been racking her brain lately trying to figure out how to raise her popularity. Popularity in the 2D world was such a fickle thing—some characters were noble and upright but totally forgettable, while others were shameless clowns with armies of fangirls.

There were times when Yuan Yuanyuan wanted to confront Ji Qiu directly and ask what he wanted from her.

She often thought she was just a walking tragedy. If Ji Qiu wanted to show how depressing life could be, he could just depict her actual life—no embellishments needed.

Still, all of that could only be thought, not said.

“Hey… Yuanyuan-jie, maybe you should get a different job. You’re always going out late and coming home at dawn—it’s dangerous,” Li Xin said as she helped set the table.

“It’s fine. I work indoors.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Li Xin said. “I mean the commute. Lately there’ve been reports of creeps hanging around. Someone even died in the alley near here the other day.”

“Yeah, seriously.” Xiao Ying chimed in. “Stick to the main roads. Don’t cut through alleys anymore. It’s just not safe.”

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the two girls and nodded without saying much.

After she stepped outside, she glanced back at her door, suddenly overcome by a strange feeling.

If these two found out she lived among demons, they’d probably be scared out of their minds.

She shook her head and headed to work. She had clocked in a few hours earlier than usual because tonight was important—

Tonight was the Hundred Demon Parade.

Most of the previous parades had been small-scale, but tonight’s was a big one. Demons from the whole district were coming out.

Last year, when she’d first arrived, she was just a clueless newbie. She’d watched from her window for half an hour before realizing she probably should’ve gone outside. But by then, the parade was already halfway over, so she’d stayed put.

This year, she still didn’t have to march, but as a bar staff member, she’d be busy pouring drinks and serving behind the scenes… support crew, essentially.

After weeks of training, she could finally pour drinks properly and no longer got smacked by Li Zi-jie. That was a small win.

But today was also important for another reason—it was Saturday.

A new Demon Notes chapter was dropping.

Unfortunately, Yuan Yuanyuan wouldn’t get to read it immediately. With how busy the bar would be, she probably wouldn’t get a chance until tomorrow morning.

The bar was packed tonight, and Yuan Yuanyuan sighed heavily. The district boss was taking his goons for a “sky cruise” first… afterward, they’d all be heading here, which meant she wouldn’t get to leave early tonight. On the contrary, she’d have to stay all the way till dawn.

Ugh… kill me now.

Bundled up in layer upon layer of costume, Yuan Yuanyuan stood there, face expressionless.

Only now did she realize—compared to this, her usual outfit was positively light. Wearing the full get-up was enough to crush a person.

“When I call you later, just come out,” Li Zi-jie instructed before walking out, leaving Yuan Yuanyuan alone in the room.

Bored, Yuan Yuanyuan pulled her phone out of her sleeve and opened the Mengman app. There were only a few hours left until Ji Qiu’s update, so the readers were buzzing. The comments section was flooded with “Waiting for update!” and “Ready to snipe first comment!”

She scrolled further and, sure enough, saw a bunch of oddball commenters sneaking in their usual antics:

[Do you guys think there’ll be any more ~suggestive~ scenes in this chapter?]

[No idea, but I feel like the story’s heading in my favorite direction…]

[What direction? You’re being super vague.]

Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t even finished reading when she noticed—her phone had no signal.

She toggled airplane mode and back. Nothing.

The phone was dead. Like a brick.

Outside, the sky was slowly darkening, thick clouds rolling in like waves, cloaking the city in shadows…