Little Pink Starfish

There were a lot of people inside the anime convention. When Yuan Yuanyuan reached the entrance, she paid for Liu An’s ticket out of her own pocket.

It was still pretty cold today… After all, it hadn’t been long since the New Year. Yuan Yuanyuan came in wearing a black down jacket, so she wasn’t feeling too cold. But the cosplayers were all wearing thinner and thinner outfits, with bare thighs and arms everywhere.

“They’re really cosplaying with their lives on the line…” Yuan Yuanyuan said, touching Liu An’s clothes. “Look at our clothes — thick materials, good craftsmanship. Don’t you feel warm?”

“…Yeah,” Liu An turned his head, looking at the white, thick fur around his collar. He wasn’t sure what kind of fur it was made from — anyway, the boss often used some really mysterious materials to make clothes.

Yuan Yuanyuan glanced over at a few girls dressed in kimono-style costumes. They were all looking this way while holding cups of milk tea from a booth.

“Which anime are they cosplaying from…” Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t watched Japanese anime for a long time, and was still thinking about it when she noticed the girls suddenly turn around and start whispering to each other, laughing as they spoke.

“Those girls over there…” Liu An looked at them and felt a weird chill. “What are they doing?”

“Ah…” Yuan Yuanyuan looked totally knowing.

She wrapped an arm around Liu An’s shoulders and whispered in his ear, “They’re probably complimenting how handsome you are. Usually at conventions, when girls react like that, it’s because they’ve spotted a handsome guy… Didn’t you notice? On the way in, a lot of girls were staring at you. Even the ticket girl looked at you a few times.”

“Really…” Liu An sounded a little unsure.

Yuan Yuanyuan wandered through the venue and bought herself a cup of milk tea.

She hadn’t been to places like this for a long time — mostly because she hadn’t had money. But ever since the Li Family head gave her a bunch of gold bars, she wasn’t so stingy anymore.

“Hey, look at that guy cosplaying Sesshōmaru,” a girl next to Gao Ling kept poking her, pointing toward the fenced-off area. Gao Ling glanced through the barriers.

“You mean that guy with the ridiculously expensive-looking costume?” Gao Ling said after taking a look. “The outfit looks expensive, sure, but he didn’t wear a wig. Totally not authentic…”

“But he’s handsome,” the girl next to her said. “I even saw someone cosplaying Faning walk past earlier. This con actually seems pretty decent. Should we go ask for a photo before we leave?”

“How are we supposed to take photos… you need to buy a ticket to get in,” Gao Ling said. The girl replied, “Then let’s at least get a closer look at that cosplayer’s face.”

Since a couple more people from the group wanted to go over, Gao Ling didn’t resist too hard and got dragged along.

They walked up to the fence, saying they’d just take a quick look and leave. Everyone pulled out their phones to snap pictures. Gao Ling also peeked into the venue. That Sesshōmaru cosplayer really stood out — his powerful outfit made him look majestic.

Next to him stood a guy in a down jacket, holding milk tea. Gao Ling glanced casually at him once, then twice — and then froze.

Before she could even say anything, everyone around her suddenly shouted in unison, “Holy—!!”

Their collective reaction was almost tear-inducing.

…

Yuan Yuanyuan finished her milk tea in about ten minutes. She shook the empty cup in her hand.

No wonder conventions made money… fifteen yuan for a milk tea, and it was just milk tea powder and a bunch of additives.

She glanced at the fried noodle booth nearby. The vendor was a cute girl wearing a down jacket and an apron. Yuan Yuanyuan was thinking about buying a plate for lunch when she saw the girl suddenly start flailing around nervously.

…Was she a rookie?

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the panicked girl and then raised her head for a closer look. The girl kept her head down, frantically scooping noodles — the metal spatula clanging loudly against the iron griddle, like it was about to snap.

“Boss… could you stop staring at her like that,” Liu An said.

“Huh… ah?” Yuan Yuanyuan snapped out of it and turned to him.

Liu An looked at the poor girl, who was panicking so badly her head was practically smoking. Honestly, before Yuan Yuanyuan showed up, the girl had been frying noodles perfectly… very skilled, like a seasoned worker from a hot food stall.

Now the customers waiting in line were all holding back their laughter, watching the girl almost burn the noodles — one guy even sneakily took out his phone to film it.

Liu An thought for a good five minutes before—

He glanced sideways at his boss. Having spent a lot of time with her, he was used to it now, but when they first met, Liu An had been completely stunned by Yuan Yuanyuan’s face.

Eighty percent resemblance. If she just wore black clothes, she’d be almost identical. Normally it’s rare for 2D and 3D to match so well.

Of course, Liu An figured it was fine if only he knew. After all, just earlier today, a cosplayer dressed as Yuan had walked right past them…

Even though that cosplayer was in full makeup and costume, the boss still looked more like Yuan… Liu An broke into a cold sweat. It really wasn’t easy to find two people who looked this similar.

“That guy over there… hey, come look!” Gao Ling whispered to the others. “That guy… is he wearing makeup?”

“Doesn’t seem like it… looks pretty natural.”

“But look at those eyes — how can you get that without eyeliner?!”

“Those eyes… they look sharper than real double eyelid makeup.”

“It really doesn’t seem like makeup. I’ve been doing makeup for years. If it was, you’d still see some signs — I stared for half a minute and didn’t notice anything.”

“Then how did he draw his eyebrows like that… seriously, Yuan’s eyebrow shape can actually exist in real life? I kinda want to copy it for cosplay.”

Gao Ling’s cold sweat grew heavier and heavier. She watched as the boss wandered around looking for snacks. After gathering an armful, he walked off with the guy dressed as “Sesshōmaru.”

She finally understood why that “Sesshōmaru” cosplay looked so weird… Was he even cosplaying? Maybe he just threw on a random outfit.

Ah… so that’s it.

Gao Ling gave an awkward little laugh. Then she realized — the boss wasn’t even wearing a cosplay outfit. Yet no one found it odd…

Probably because Yuan Yuanyuan’s black down jacket looked exactly like Yuan’s outfit in the comic — Yuan always wore either a black dress shirt, a black coat, or a black sweater…

He never wore anything else. In Yao Ji, where most big monsters wore flashier and flashier outfits, Yuan’s style stood out — simple and subdued — almost like he wasn’t some ancient monster at all.

The people around the fence were still craning their necks to look. Earlier, some said they would just glance and leave. Now no one moved. Some even whispered about buying tickets just to get closer.

“Why… why would you come to a place like this…” Gao Ling muttered, dripping cold sweat. “Don’t you have any self-awareness at all? Everyone’s been whispering about you and your buddy’s weird vibe. You guys look like you’re here to crash the event… You don’t even need makeup to cosplay Yuan… Could you not show up to mess with humanity’s fragile little hearts?”

“That cosplayer…” someone said quietly. “My god, even random candid shots of him look amazing…”

“Fine, fine,” Gao Ling said helplessly. “If you guys really want to go, let’s just buy tickets and get in. Let’s not keep sneaking peeks from outside like creeps. I’ll call the group leader and let them know.”

“YOOOO~” the others cheered and rushed off. They were all in their twenties, so this kind of thing was pretty exciting for them.

In their chat group, only one guy was over forty and one was over fifty — the rest were all under thirty.

“Hmm?” Yuan Yuanyuan lifted her head and glanced toward them.

“What’s wrong?” Liu An asked. He was keeping a close eye on his boss… mostly because the boss hadn’t noticed anything weird yet. Seeing a bunch of people sneaking glances but not daring to approach, Liu An felt that at least the boss could still scare some people off… even if she acted lazy, her face was enough.

Seeing Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly look up, he got a little nervous.

“Over there…” Yuan Yuanyuan squinted in that direction, then lowered her head again.

“Where?” Liu An followed her gaze.

“There’s someone over there with very strong spiritual energy,” Yuan Yuanyuan said.

Even though she wasn’t great at telling demons apart, she could easily sense people with strong spiritual energy — like snow standing out against mud.

Following that strong energy, she casually glanced around — and realized that there were a few other people nearby who also had strong spiritual energy… just better hidden.

“What did you see exactly?” Liu An asked.

“…Nothing.” Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head and lowered her head again to pick out a candied hawthorn stick from a nearby stall.