Little Pink Starfish

【Which character do you think “yuan” refers to?】

【No idea… It’s not even written out, not even in pinyin.】

【I feel like it should be “缘” (fate)…
【That’s a weird pick. I think “渊” (abyss) sounds cooler.】

As soon as Yuan Yuanyuan logged into her Penguin chat group, she saw them discussing something extremely sensitive to her right now. Her heart skipped a beat. She scrolled up through the chat history and discovered they had been talking about Demon Notes for over half an hour.

What the hell? Even the Penguin group is talking about this? It’s like overnight, Demon Notes suddenly blew up.

Yuan Yuanyuan frowned at the screen. It wasn’t her imagination—just a few days ago, hardly anyone mentioned the comic, and now ever since Monday’s issue, it was everywhere. Suddenly, she couldn’t not see people discussing it.

It was like a fanbase had been simmering in the background, and now the topic just exploded into mainstream.

She kept reading the chat. Some people were analyzing the artist’s drawing style, others were arguing about CP (character pairings). It was all the usual chatter you’d expect in a fandom, except this was her cosplay costume-making group—a bunch of people particularly plugged into the anime and manga subculture. The fact that they were all talking about Demon Notes meant it had officially broken through. It wasn’t niche anymore—it was on its way to becoming a full-on phenomenon.

Nearly twenty people were chatting about it at once… that was no small hype. This was big. Really big.

Then she saw someone share a high-res screenshot of the black-clad man. Underneath were comments like “Thanks, OP!” and “You’ll live a long, happy life!” Yuan Yuanyuan felt an odd sense of unease… and before that feeling even had time to fade, someone else posted another picture—

A very NSFW one.

“Holy sh*t!” Yuan Yuanyuan yanked her eyes away, but the image had already been burned into her retinas. A pale, half-naked figure.

No… no no no no no—STOP drawing this kind of thing! If you’ve never seen it in real life, don’t make it up!

【Today’s top P-site recommendation】, the girl who posted it said. 【Not sure which “Big Horn Bug” drew it, but apparently they used to do full-on smut doujin.】

【yooooooooooo~】

【Those abs though… damn. Why cover the lower half with hair? What a waste.】

【The original file is 20MB, anyone want it?】

Yuan Yuanyuan once again felt the vast, unbridgeable gap between human and demon society.

Okay… she had collected some of this kind of art before, because every fandom has its top artists. But now that she knew these characters were based on real people (including herself), it suddenly felt very, very wrong.

STOP DRAWING THIS STUFF! YOU’RE GONNA GET SOMEONE KILLED!

She was trembling as she watched one terrifying demon after another, rendered stark naked in the group chat. She sat there like someone staring at a ticking time bomb, wanting to say something but not knowing how to start.

Then it got worse.

Because the next picture was of a very familiar face.

…

It was a highly seductive pose—half-covered, half-exposed, lying under a red maple tree. Messy hair scattered around the face, demonic markings drawn with incredible detail.

Ha… you people are so dumb. I’m not even that ripped… My muscle definition is clean, thank you very much. Clean.

Traumatized, Yuan Yuanyuan shut the chat window and glanced over at Siqun, who was still quietly stacking cups. She hesitated several times, wondering if she should say something.

The other day, Li Zi Jie had gone out looking for Faning and came back empty-handed. She hadn’t been in a good mood since.

Yuan Yuanyuan had been personally approached by Jiuqiu once. She didn’t know if Siqun had ever been targeted, but judging by the comments… it was very possible he had just “won the lottery.” A bad one. The kind you win when your life is cursed for eight generations.

And honestly, he kind of had it coming. Always acting like a fragile little maiden, then suddenly turning into an absolute beast when fighting. She was terrified that Jiuqiu had taken notice.

“…Siqun,” she finally blurted out.

Siqun, who had been stacking cups, froze immediately, ears perked like a startled rabbit.

“I was wondering if recently…” she began, planning to ask if anyone strange had approached him. But before she could finish, the kitchen door slammed open.

Her head snapped toward the door with such force it almost wrenched her neck. She didn’t even glance back at Siqun, acting like she’d never spoken at all.

“Siqun!” It was Li Zi Jie, entering in a rush with an oval stone tablet in hand. “I’ve been thinking, you’d better not go out for a while.”

“He never goes out anyway… his home’s basically that cabinet under the sink,” Yuan Yuanyuan muttered.

Neither sibling responded—they were too focused on each other.

Once she’d scolded her little brother, Li Zi Jie turned to Yuan Yuanyuan and tossed the stone tablet at her. “Here, take this. You clearly don’t know anything. Study it. Be careful these days.”

Yuan Yuanyuan caught it, surprised at the weight and the smooth, rounded texture—almost like a polished river stone.

“This is something Siqun used when he was little,” Li Zi Jie explained. “If anything confuses you, ask him.”

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at Siqun. When his sister mentioned her, he briefly looked up at the stone in her hand, then quickly looked away.

That small glance made the stone feel ten times heavier.

She’d heard that demon magic wasn’t usually shared… it was a guarded thing, passed down in families. So for Li Zi Jie to lend her this—it was no small gesture. It was a massive favor.

She rubbed the surface of the stone, feeling the faint carvings.

Such a simple-looking stone… she’d always wondered why demons used these things for records. Now she guessed it was for convenience—easy to carry, easy to etch.

So among demons, stones were the most common tool for recording magic. She’d even seen ones made from leaves—delicate patterns etched into large, preserved foliage. Others used jade…

Wait—jade?

That reminded her. She had a jade piece hanging on a chain around her neck. The one she’d barely ever looked into. The content inside had always seemed ominous, so she’d only peeked once and then never touched it again.

Still… she hadn’t thrown it away. Just in case.

Who knew what could happen in the future? Having a backup path was better than none, even if she didn’t want to walk that path.

Even though Li Zi Jie said it wasn’t a big deal, Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t dumb enough to just leave the stone at home and risk losing it.

That same day, she went out and bought two small notebooks. She stayed up all day, painstakingly copying every inscription from the stone, marking the ones she didn’t understand, and began memorizing them.

One line… two lines…

The scratching of her pen echoed through the day.

By the time the sun was setting and it was nearly time for her shift, she finally rubbed her tired eyes and looked at the densely packed notes.

459 entries.

There were 459 commonly used basic demon spells.

Yuan Yuanyuan’s neck was sore from bending over. All of the inscriptions were in traditional characters and classical Chinese, but they were still easier to understand than the ones stored in her jade pendant.

Apparently, her grueling high school cram sessions hadn’t been for nothing—she got right back into study mode like it was second nature.

She looked at the setting sun outside the window, and for a moment, she felt like she was back in high school—sitting in class, scribbling notes while the teacher droned on.

She used to love going downstairs for milk tea after school. Loved hearing people say, “Look, that kid’s such a good student.” Loved sneaking peeks at pirated novels on her ancient cell phone.

It had been exhausting… but also simple.

Yuan Yuanyuan rolled her stiff shoulders and got ready for work.

When she returned the stone to Li Zi Jie, the older woman was shocked. “You finished it all in one night? How many did you actually learn? Look, most demons don’t even bother with these because they think they’re too basic. I didn’t like them either, but my mom forced me to learn. I still memorized over 200.”

“It’s fine, sis,” Yuan Yuanyuan smiled. “I copied them all down. I’ll learn them slowly.”

“You… copied them all?” Li Zi Jie was stunned. “Why? You just need to learn a few basics… no one memorizes the whole thing!”

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t say much—just waved and went to change into her work clothes.

This was the first real demon spell she had access to… and maybe the most reliable one she’d get for a while.

And for someone used to being broke like her… having something—anything—was a good thing. She knew these weren’t impressive spells, but to her, it was like a girl who’d never had lipstick collecting red candy wrappers, wetting them to stain her lips.

She was determined to memorize every word of it—like she once memorized ancient poems and English vocab.

Her first spell?

Remote Object Summoning. She had absolutely no idea how to use it.

Her notebook was spread open in front of her. As she washed cups, she repeated the incantations silently, ten times each, one by one.

The kitchen was dimly lit. The only sounds were the gentle clinking of dishes and the rustle of turning pages.