Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan really felt like she was having a string of disasters this time… and running off in the middle only to come back later just felt weird. If someone asked her why she ran, honestly, she got a little spooked.

She once heard someone say that both the killer and the one being killed experience the same fear… That statement might be a bit of an exaggeration, but for someone as timid as Yuan Yuanyuan, it was pretty accurate—every time she went to attack someone, she was actually more scared than the person she was attacking.

So when someone yesterday suddenly read her mind and said out loud exactly what she was thinking, it completely shocked her. She had never encountered something like that before. Her brain short-circuited from panic, and fearing that she might show some bad emotion, she chose to flee.

Honestly, running away wasn’t exactly a good solution… but Yuan Yuanyuan felt like it was the best option at the time. She figured she’d deal with things later. And then…

Twelve hours later, Yuan Yuanyuan was squatting at the doorway, wanting to slap the version of herself from twelve hours ago. Why did she leave all the problems for later?!

Damn it, the her from twelve hours later hated the her from twelve hours ago! Did you hear that, twelve-hours-ago-me?! Yuan Yuanyuan pointed at the sky and yelled.

But she couldn’t put it off anymore. If she delayed any longer, the her twelve hours from now would hate her current self. So she clenched her teeth and charged into the house.

She thought, This guy… I can’t let him off the hook. All right then, down to hell with you, brother. I’ll send you off with flair.

Then she saw Yuan Yingli packing his things.

“When are you leaving?” Yuan Yingli asked.

“…Huh?” Yuan Yuanyuan looked totally confused.

“Let’s go. Staying here doesn’t make much sense anymore,” the man said as he walked out, glancing back at Yuan Yuanyuan.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought she was supposed to be the one in control, but now she felt like some weird little follower tagging along behind him.

“Senior Yuan,” a doctor asked, “did you come alone this time?” He didn’t mention why Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly ran off the night before—probably sensing she didn’t want to talk about it—so he just changed the subject.

“I came alone,” Yuan Yuanyuan replied.

“Then last night… did you really not want to kill me?”

…Okay, she guessed wrong. This guy really was asking for a beating.

Tsundere, huh… If someone sees through you, it’s not really tsundere anymore. Yuan Yuanyuan never thought of herself as one, but thinking back to what happened yesterday—she really didn’t want this person to die, so she deliberately scared him instead… In that case, was she being tsundere in a roundabout way?

Anyway… Anyway, the mission was complete, right? The doctor wasn’t dead, right? Yuan Yuanyuan knew there were all kinds of ways tsundere characters teased people in manga. She’d once thought that if she ever ran into one, she’d mess with them just for fun… But now, she felt like she was the one getting played.

Must be her imagination…

Yuan Yuanyuan turned her head. After having her identity exposed, she stopped wearing that suffocating mask, so the man could now see her face. She said coldly, “Your life or death has nothing to do with me. If you join the organization, you’d better not act like this again. They won’t treat you like I did.”

Her voice, when she lowered it, actually sounded pretty intimidating—like a man who had been through a lot.

Yuan Yuanyuan had even used that voice to sing karaoke once, all alone in a booth, singing until she was moved to tears. Just listening to her own voice conjured up the image of a weary, world-weary man.

It was a serious, no-nonsense kind of voice. Like a preacher from some other world. Most people who heard it wouldn’t think of cracking jokes—it just wasn’t that kind of voice.

Sure enough, after she spoke, Yuan Yingli didn’t say another word for a long time, which made Yuan Yuanyuan feel a lot better.

She followed the man, preparing to leave. In her hand was a small mirror given to her by the organization. They told her it could only be used once, so she had to save it for the final handover. She poured demon energy into the mirror, and soon, spiderweb-like cracks appeared all over it. Then it suddenly shattered, and the person who had taken her away last time appeared before her again. After a few words, that person took the doctor and left.

“Wait, they’re not coming with us?” Yuan Yingli asked, surprised.

“They’re not coming with us,” the one beside him said, then left without another word, leaving Yuan Yuanyuan standing there, watching the two of them go.

Great—just finished the mission and already abandoned.

Yuan Yuanyuan figured she’d just head home. She scrolled on her phone while walking back. Even though it felt like someone had just pierced right through her last night, she still thought she could salvage things.

She checked the forums—and that really did put her at ease. But then she saw another post, a rant about that mysterious organization. Why did it feel so suffocating?

“Right? They just go around killing demons for fun, even targeting the fringe ones.”

“I don’t get it. Why did the artist have to create this kind of organization? Can’t they just kill them off quietly and not let them show up at all?”

Yuan Yuanyuan sighed. She thought, Yeah, I’d like to know that too. But aside from complaining, most people in the thread were speculating about the organization’s true goal.

Some said it was to gather strange demons and take out mainstream ones. Others thought the organization might eventually turn on humans too.

Yuan Yuanyuan honestly didn’t know either. Even though she was now technically a member… she still felt like the others didn’t trust her. The other mask-wearing members could come and go freely from that “egg” base—but she couldn’t.

Even communication was done through one-way, single-use mirrors.

Yuan Yuanyuan took the bus home, still scrolling through forums. Sure enough, the demon forum had posts on it too, but the tone was very different—there was a subtle tension in the air.

Everyone was starting to worry that the organization might harm them or disrupt their lives.

This is what a grounded forum looks like, Yuan Yuanyuan thought. But soon enough, the students there started arguing. Some said everyone was being paranoid—just a bunch of minor demons, why worry? Others insisted they should be worried—what if things did get worse one day?

“Look at you lot. Have you finished your homework? Taken the mock exams? Can you even graduate?” someone mocked, “If you can’t manage any of that, stop spreading fear over some random organization.”

“Nonsense! Haven’t you read the manga?” someone replied. “What kind of minor organization gets drawn like this? This is clearly some big-deal secret society—might even be the final boss.”

“So what do you want us to do?” someone else chimed in. “No offense… but the organization already said only powerful demons can join. You want in? They wouldn’t even look at you. This is no weak group. People have tried forever to figure out what they’re up to, and no one’s succeeded. They don’t need one more idiot trying to throw themselves at it.”

“So what’s the organization really after? If we want to know, the only way is for someone inside to leak it… But would any of those big-shot demons risk their lives to spill secrets?”

“Why don’t you just study hard, become a top-tier demon, infiltrate the organization, and spill the tea yourself?”

Huh? Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the thread in stunned silence. It was like a light bulb had gone off in her head.

She thought back to the attitude of the organization’s people toward her today—not exactly friendly, more like polite distance. So what the forum said wasn’t entirely wrong. You had to fully infiltrate the organization and reach the upper levels to get any real information.

She stared at her phone for a bit, then went to sleep. A thought flickered through her mind, but she didn’t dwell on it too much.

A few days later, the manga Demon Chronicles updated again… and this time it covered the moment when Yuan Yuanyuan received her third mission.

…

The third mission involved making contact with another fringe demon.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the location—it was finally somewhere not too far from City C. That cheered her up a bit. She had already spent over a thousand on train tickets this month, and the organization wouldn’t reimburse her.

She started thinking about getting some kind of transport… Maybe something like that frog Mount Shantou rode around on.

This new city was right next to City C. Yuan Yuanyuan felt it was kind of familiar, but when she tried to recall why, she couldn’t put her finger on it.

She walked the streets, hands in her pockets, scanning the surroundings for her target.

As she passed a narrow alley, three people emerged behind her—two young men in their twenties, and a middle-aged man around forty. The older guy looked quite kind, with a gentle expression.

They had followed her out almost immediately, but they hadn’t seen who had left just before them. They just kept talking amongst themselves.

“She saw me and wanted to drag me off to do hard labor again?” one of the younger guys complained.

“Don’t be like that,” the middle-aged man patted his head. “Your sister said to send you down the mountain, and you actually went. So stubborn, just like your dad.”

“Well, I’m not a part of Sanqing anymore. Why drag me over there?”

“Come with me to check out that demon,” the man said. “A famous bloodline like that… it took forever just to find its trace. Now that we know it’s hiding here, we might not get another chance to see it.”