Little Pink Starfish

Whether it was Yuan or the tavern owner who had protected the Nursery District—that was an interesting question. But right now, it wasn’t a particularly useful one. There was a more pressing issue for Yuan Yuanyuan to consider.

Last time she had appeared in the Nursery District, she’d been surrounded by most of its residents. She had thought the news would spread quickly, but after three days, there was still complete silence. It was as if Yuan was still dead, like she’d never come back at all.

The information blockade was shockingly effective.

Yuan Yuanyuan had always thought of City C as a bit weak. Its sudden shift to this kind of competence actually made her feel a bit unaccustomed. Upon inspection, the items she’d brought back seemed safe and free of traps, so it was reasonable to conclude that the demons of the Nursery District were still on her side.

As for Lin Gubao… Yuan looked into him after returning, only to realize—he was actually one of the City Lord’s two trusted generals. The moment she made the connection, she realized: she’d met both generals before. One was Lin Gubao, the other was Miss Lian.

Which led her to wonder… did that mean the City Lord was on her side too?

When she brought this up with the tavern owner, they both agreed it made sense. So for now, they decided to ignore the swirling rumors that City C might be collaborating with the Mask Organization.

Still, Yuan voiced her concern: even if the City Lord supported her, there might be other factions in City C that didn’t.

And she wasn’t just being paranoid. For example, the Li family—one of City C’s biggest families. Not to boast, but considering the relationship between the Li family head and Seventeen, if the Lis didn’t stir up trouble, that would practically be a crime against narrative logic.

The tavern owner waved it off with flair, saying that as long as it wasn’t all of City C against them, their organization had nothing to fear.

But was this really okay…?

Whether it was or not, Yuan Yuanyuan couldn’t say for now. Everything was still simmering beneath the surface. While Yuan had stolen all the spotlight in the manga recently, the plot had begun shifting toward Fa Ning and his clash with the Mask Organization.

Fa Ning had started digging into old history—deep, buried truths from the war era. In his current position, he was gaining access to many of the hidden truths. And if he could see it, then so could the readers.

Yuan Yuanyuan found Fa Ning’s inner monologues fascinating. They reminded her of when she first entered the demon world—piecing together clues from stray words and hints to form her own conclusions.

She sometimes thought Fa Ning had it pretty rough too. But, well, she was keeping her distance from the main stage now. She wasn’t in any hurry to get dragged back in. At least give her a few more days to rest.

While Yuan remained the character most readers were obsessed with, the main plot continued to push forward. One day, Yuan grumbled to Fat Cat, “Where’s the so-called twist? It barely said he might be a good guy, and then didn’t explain anything!”

Fat Cat slowly replied, “Relax a little… Don’t other manga have this kind of character too? The ones who go through endless crap their whole life, and in the end all they get is a single sentence—‘They were a hero.’ Doesn’t that make you feel better?”

…No. It made her feel worse.

Yuan sat alone feeling stifled. Sometimes she’d pop up online using Yuan’s identity to stir up some drama. She’d seriously considered whether or not to use that identity again, but ever since she broke her own rule last time, she’d kind of let herself go. No one was stopping her anyway.

Honestly, the way people treated her now was very different. If, before, she was someone everyone wanted to chase down and beat, now people didn’t even seem to know how to interact with her.

For example, just last night she happened to pass through a small alley and saw a group of demons gathered. She paused to look, and they noticed her too.

Back when she’d been a young demon herself, she’d seen scenes like this often—powerful demons bullying weaker ones. Nothing could really be done about it. But when she peeked in that time, everything stopped.

Those stronger demons froze. Surprisingly, the younger ones suddenly got excited.

Yuan didn’t usually stick her nose into other people’s business. And it didn’t seem like the younger demons were in any real danger. So she decided to just leave it alone. She turned and began walking away.

Then, the powerful demons behind her… backed off.

It was comically dramatic. One of them even cast a full-body protective spell like a golden bell shield, then—

As Yuan strolled away, one by one, the demons behind her fell silent. And then, when she was only a meter away, that guy suddenly let go of the smaller demon and bolted.

That seemed to trigger something. The rest of the demons all scattered without a word.

Yuan paused for a few seconds, baffled. I didn’t do anything? Why are you all running? And then, even the little ones turned, gave her a polite bow, and ran off too—without a word.

She stood there like a drama meme, confused and helpless. Okay, I can get why the big guys ran, but you little ones too? What even is this?

The manga Demon Chronicles had drastically reshaped life for both humans and demons. For famous characters, everyone’s impression of them came from the comic—and Yuan was no exception.

Now she didn’t even need to say a word. Just standing there was enough for people to start projecting entire plotlines. The manga had that kind of power—to make people imagine how any real-life moment would look drawn on a page.

Yuan spent days puzzled over why those little demons had run. Then it suddenly hit her.

Could it be because, in the manga, Yuan is portrayed as the silent, no-nonsense type who doesn’t talk much… so they figured they shouldn’t say anything either?

The manga had started to slowly reveal the past—not in explosive plot bombs, but in a quiet, steady trickle.

If you asked Xiaoxi, she’d say: even though Yuan had been “missing” for a long time, his presence was everywhere in the comic. Whether it was an old tale, a book, or a side character’s memory—traces of Yuan were all over the place.

It was like, long ago, he had foreseen everything that was going to happen and planned it all out in advance.

As the story advanced, Xiaoxi grew more obsessed with him. She was drawn to this intelligent, calculating man. In her heart, she was now convinced—Fa Ning’s recent struggles with the Mask Organization probably had something to do with Yuan.

Back then, Yuan had been leaking information from inside the Mask Organization. So while the group looked terrifying, when you really thought about it, they were even scarier now. They were more refined, more united.

In hindsight, during Yuan’s time, the Mask Organization had been full of problems. Now it was stronger than ever. Xiaoxi was frustrated. This was so obvious! Why doesn’t anyone in the story realize it? Are they dumb?

She complained online. Strangers told her to calm down—that this was the difference between God’s-eye view and first-person perspective. The characters in the comic wouldn’t necessarily notice everything.

Xiaoxi sneered. If you can’t even see that much, what good are you? If you’re drawing Yuan so negatively on purpose, don’t you feel the least bit guilty?

Her feelings about Yuan exploded during a particular plot twist: when Fa Ning attempted to destroy the Mask Organization and its allies and ended up in serious danger—seemingly on the verge of death.

Suddenly, one of the Mask Organization’s top generals betrayed the organization.

That guy’s betrayal shocked the fandom. He was infamous for smiling like a fox—just looking at him screamed “not a good guy.”

He had become a popular late-stage villain. So his betrayal drew massive attention. Fa Ning asked him why.

He said, “I’m a subordinate of Lord Yuan.”

Xiaoxi nearly slammed her laptop shut in shock.

Did you see that?! That’s how amazing the old man is! I’m gonna scream his praises!

It was that feeling of nothing being left to chance. Even now, everything had clearly been calculated long ago.

Maybe the only thing Yuan hadn’t accounted for… was his own death.

If he hadn’t fallen mid-air that day, the current situation wouldn’t be this bad.

Xiaoxi sat fuming in front of her computer and straightened the screen she’d nearly knocked over.

Yuan… Yuan…

Where the hell are you? If you’re still alive—please just show up already!

Yuan Yuanyuan, meanwhile, was reading that very scene in the manga and looked thoroughly confused. Wait a minute… that guy who defected… isn’t that—

Wasn’t that the one I personally pulled into the Mask Organization…?

What was his name again…?