Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan spent another day spacing out in her room. There wasn’t anything to do, so she quietly fiddled with the Blood Jade Demon Technique again, reading it over and over.

While she was still reading that day, the door opened. Yuan Yuanyuan looked up—it was the female doctor, holding a bowl of medicine.

“Where did everyone go?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked deliberately as the doctor brought the medicine in. Yesterday, she’d noticed no one else was around. It was just her. The doctor must’ve just returned.

“They’re busy with something lately,” the doctor said with a smile.

Yuan Yuanyuan could tell she didn’t want to say more, but she still wanted to get something, so she continued, “The people here… who are they, exactly?”

“Don’t worry,” the woman replied. “Like I said before, we’re all good people. Even if some of us don’t seem very friendly, we all came here with the same goal.”

“Goal?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked, a little puzzled.

“He didn’t tell you?” the woman blinked.

Yuan Yuanyuan shook her head.

“We… want to make life better for demons,” the woman said softly.

…What?

“Our methods might be a little extreme,” she added, “but we’re still good people. If you stay here a while longer, you’ll understand.”

Yuan Yuanyuan sucked in a sharp breath.

Goddamn it. She hadn’t felt uneasy before, but now she was definitely getting a vibe.

In that moment, a flood of iconic villain quotes surged into her brain:

“Though the world doesn’t understand us, our beliefs are still right.”
“This ugly world… I will be the one to change it.”
“Let the world bask in the Infinite Moonlight… Let’s all dream a beautiful dream.”

…

After the woman left, Yuan Yuanyuan quietly pulled up her blanket and carved a tally mark into her bedframe with her little knife.

I’ll escape someday.

I swear I’ll escape, even if I have to dig a tunnel with a spoon.

She was now fully immersed in what felt like a real-life escape room—and she was getting into character. Meanwhile, on the outside, people had gradually lost interest in chasing Yuan. Their focus had shifted to a recent incident from the latest manga chapter.

People who knew what was really going on were afraid. People who thought it was “just” a comic were thrilled.

The sudden death of that powerful Taoist had sent shockwaves. Sure, Taoists sometimes died while exorcising demons, but not someone of that level. He was a pillar of his sect—people like that weren’t supposed to die, and certainly not so mysteriously.

The Lingxi Sect held a solemn funeral. They had good reason to grieve—among the major sects, Lingxi was one of the weaker ones, and their brightest rising star had just died. It was a huge blow.

This past year had shaken the Taoist world to its core. From the near-destruction of the Sanqing Sect last year, to this recent tragedy, the calm on the surface masked a brewing storm.

Even so, Taoists and demons continued to coexist “peacefully.” Life had to go on. Before anything else happened, no one could say what the future held.

And it all started with that manga. Younger Taoists were all reading it, and now even the older ones had started following along. If you walked into a Taoist headquarters these days, you’d be shocked.

Everyone was reading manga. In the mountains, the comics were stacked one after another—it looked less like a Taoist sect and more like a manga shop.

Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t know about any of this. If she had, she would’ve shouted, I know that guy! Officer, he’s the one who killed that Taoist—Ultraman Tiga! But she was still trapped inside, drawing tally marks every day. At least, internally, things were still calm.

Until a few days later… Ice Face returned.

He brought with him a heavy aura that hit Yuan Yuanyuan like a wave. Goosebumps crawled all over her, but she forced herself to stay silent.

She wanted to ask where the hell they’d been these past days… but then she thought, Am I trying to get myself killed?
The medicine from the lady hadn’t really done much, but the knife wound on her waist had healed up fast.

Yuan Yuanyuan was a survival expert, so as soon as the man entered, she caved instantly, signaling her full submission.

“Fewer people are looking for you outside now… You can go back out,” he said unexpectedly.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked up at him. She’d been counting her days in tally marks, thinking she was a prisoner. And now…

Holy crap. So they weren’t holding me hostage—they were really just giving me a place to recover!?

“But,” the man continued, “the Taoists are still watching you. The monsters won’t let you go either. From what I know… support for you used to outweigh the opposition, but now it’s starting to flip.”

As he spoke, Yuan Yuanyuan felt a wave of gratitude. Honestly, she’d been stumbling around blindly for a while now, crashing into everything. But this…

“When you return, they’ll still come after you,” he added. “You’ll still be in danger. But if you join us, I—”

“You guys…” Yuan Yuanyuan frowned. “Who exactly are you?”

“Oh, right. I forgot to say,” the man replied. “We’re part of an organization. It’s called Mi—‘Secret.’ We want to improve the demon world. We’re not content with this dead, stagnant atmosphere.”

…Yeah. This was bad. Really bad.

These were people with ideals, with vision. Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t dislike them—she actually kind of respected them—but let’s be honest, characters like this never ended well in manga.

Especially with that line from the doctor a few days ago: “Our methods might be extreme, but we’re still good people.” Yeah. Big red flag.

Not that there was anything inherently wrong with trying to change the world… but organizations like this always had some shady twist. And they usually collapsed from infighting or lack of sunlight.

“Make the demon world better?” Yuan Yuanyuan muttered. “Then why do you want me?”

“Because your illusion techniques are strong. And even though you’re old, you’re more forward-thinking than most of the old guard. Honestly, you remind me of us,” he said bluntly. “Before, we didn’t invite you because you didn’t meet our standards. But since the Red Sand Well incident, we’ve noticed your continued research into illusion techniques. That impressed us. So now we’re inviting you to join.”

He set a set of black clothes and a mask next to her. “This is our uniform. If you want to join, take these. But I should warn you—after all you’ve learned staying here, if you don’t join… we probably won’t just let you walk away.”

The clothes were like his—black, embroidered with faint black patterns. The mask was pitch black too, with two red streaks beneath the eyes—just like the others’. Except for one thing.

The mask had no eye holes.

It was the only mask like that—completely sealed.

Yuan Yuanyuan’s mind flooded with theories.
Maybe they’ll carve the holes after you join… Maybe it’s some secret ritual like the Uchiha clan…

But then again, she was probably overthinking it. The only thing that mattered now was how to answer him.

She hadn’t even thought it through—it was an instinctual decision. But thinking of Seventeen, she realized he would probably have more principles than her. So she hesitated for a moment before slowly picking up the mask.

“Hmph.” The man snorted—his first laugh, if you could call it that. He stood and said, “You’ll be sent back soon. Once you’re back, you can go back to your old job… old man.”

Yuan Yuanyuan really couldn’t take this “old man” nickname. But this Ice Block guy seemed to love calling her that. She had no idea what gave him that impression—Did I give off that much of a middle-aged vibe? Is my testosterone off the charts or something?

And that “old” part—tsk.

She shook her head. What a joke. I’m in my twenties. How old are you? You probably existed before you even had a proper human form.

Of course, there was no point arguing. She’d just pretend they were calling Seventeen that, not her.

When she heard “old man” again, she simply shook her head and smiled without arguing. She packed up her things to leave, asking as she did, “Why are you sending me back?”

“We’re all wanted,” the man said. “You’re the only one not officially blacklisted by both Taoists and demons. Plus, you’re the best at this sort of thing.”

Yuan Yuanyuan thought about what he meant.

Goddammit… they want me to be a spy again!

That’s Seventeen’s job! I don’t know how to do this, bro!

But the man clearly wasn’t listening anymore. He turned and left. She knew he was busy.

As he walked away, he lifted the white mask hanging around his neck and put it on. His mask was different—it was white, with two streaks of dark blue that looked like demon markings. Combined with his piercing eyes, the exaggerated expression somehow worked—it screamed “cold” in an instant.

Yuan Yuanyuan turned the black mask in her hands, stared at the eyeless slits, then slowly put it on.

Darkness.

She immediately took it off.

---

“Incredible. I didn’t think Seventeen-senpai’s temper would be so… calm,” said a voice from another room—the one Yuan Yuanyuan had called “Tiga.”

“Seventeen’s always been famous for his good temper,” the female doctor replied. “He’s a very serious, no-nonsense person. Doesn’t joke around.”

“Seriously? That guy is serious?” Tiga was stunned. “He’s nothing like the rumors…”

“Different from what you expected, huh?” she said. “Well, he is head of the espionage unit. Of course he’s good at faking it. But ever since the Red Sand Well incident, he doesn’t really bother pretending anymore. So be careful. Don’t joke with him too much. Even when he was young, he was stiff like those old geezers—stubborn, too.”

“A stubborn, rigid old man, huh?” the guy laughed. “Wow. Who’d have thought our organization would end up with someone like that.”

He waved toward the just-exited Yuan Yuanyuan.

“Senpai! Over here—I’m taking you back!”