Little Pink Starfish

After seeing those passerby comments, Gao Ling thought to herself: Maybe this is gonna work… There weren’t many of them, and some were getting flamed, but—hey, it was just the first test run, and someone actually accepted the idea?

She hesitated, then shut off her screen. Honestly, she wasn’t asking for much—she just wanted to soften the chaos a bit before the truth exploded.

Even if she seemed chill on the surface, inside, she was deeply anxious. Historically, whether it’s a girl revealing she’s actually a guy or vice versa… they almost never end well.

What if Yuan somehow survived the final battle, only to tragically die later in a popularity poll?

That’d be way too cruel.

---

Yuan Yuanyuan sat at the table, lost in thought. What she was really worried about was… if Fa Ning won, what was she supposed to do?

If Fa Ning won… then the manga was basically over.
If he lost… then it was also over.

Either way, this story was headed for an ending.

Whether it was a happy ending or a tragic one—that was the question.

If it was a happy ending, great—everyone wins.
If it was a tragic one, well… they all go down together.

Those giggling little readers cackling “hehehe” over the plot? Let them all go to hell together.

Yuan Yuanyuan found herself weirdly looking forward to a tragic ending. She was… oddly curious about what that might look like.

In most manga, the tragic supporting male character always ends up shouldering something for the main character’s safety. Itachi passed on his legacy before dying. Snape passed on his memories.

If Yuan “died,” what would she pass on?

She thought it over seriously, drawing from years of reading various tragic buddy-buddy manga. She figured she needed to leave something behind too.

After all, she and Fa Ning had another layer to their relationship: master and apprentice. In manga, that dynamic is always mystical and loaded. It’s never just about teaching some moves and calling it a day. When was the last time a teacher-student bond was as chill as Monkey King and Patriarch Bodhi? These days, the teacher is always used for emotional impact.

Yuan Yuanyuan thought hard. A “fake death” was still a death, and she wanted something at least thematically appropriate. Given how far things had come, her expectations were pretty modest, but even that was hard to pull off.

Right now, the worst part was that she had to stay in bed. Not because she couldn’t move, but because the tavern hostess was watching her like a hawk.

To be fair, she was recovering well. She wasn’t really Yuan, so that parasitic worm didn’t do as much damage to her as it would’ve to the real Yuan.

If the real Yuan had taken that hit… Yuan Yuanyuan imagined he’d probably be half-dead again by now. That worm wasn’t playing around. Judging by how the story had developed, it made the most sense for her to lie in bed and pretend to be weak.

But then how the hell was she supposed to save anyone? She couldn’t follow Fa Ning secretly. What was she supposed to do, have Fa Ning come to her mid-battle?

Yuan Yuanyuan got into bed, snuck in a bottle of Coke, a bag of chips, and her phone. Wrapped in her blanket like a little rat, the room soon filled with quiet crunch crunch crunch sounds.

Living like this forever actually didn’t seem half bad. As long as she didn’t have to constantly watch her back, it was super comfy.

Halfway through snacking, she heard someone enter. She immediately tossed the chip bag under the covers and pretended to sleep.

“…Please speed up her recovery,” came the tavern hostess’s voice, faintly. Another voice replied, “Yes, I understand. Please inform her.”

Yuan Yuanyuan lay silently behind the curtain, feigning weakness as she heard the two approach.

It was Fa Ning. Yuan Yuanyuan found it amusing—speak of the devil, and he appears. She’d just been thinking about him, and here he was.

From behind the curtain, she asked curiously, “Are you about to set off again? Why’d you come back?”

Fa Ning sat down. His expression was… off. He looked toward the curtain, studying her for a moment, and suddenly said,
“I’ve always been… curious about your appearance.”

He glanced behind, checking if the hostess had returned. “I… I even thought about sneaking a peek before.”

“…I know.” Yuan Yuanyuan answered strangely. “You’ve thought about it several times. I’m aware.”

“You… you knew?” Fa Ning sounded guilty. Surprised, too.

He seemed to get even more flustered, lowering his voice. “Since you knew… why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“…Would it have made a difference?” Yuan Yuanyuan stayed in character, coughed a few times, then sipped some orange juice from her bedside cup. “A lot of people are curious about my face. You’re not the only one.”

“If… if I wanted to see you, would you let me?” Fa Ning asked softly.

“Why do you want to see me?” she replied.

“…I don’t know. Just curious.” Fa Ning said. “I realized… if I leave this time, I might not come back. So I wanted to see you once.”

Yuan Yuanyuan sat up too fast, nearly rustling the covers. She hurriedly propped herself up.

Now she was torn. Fa Ning was the protagonist. Should she grant his wish—or not?

Which option would better fit Ji Qiu’s expectations?

Nervously, she glanced at the mirror nearby, checking for any lipstick stains. Nothing. Totally clean.

Usually, there’d be some hint. Maybe Ji Qiu had given up on those subtle cues and was letting her mess around.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked toward Fa Ning. After a moment, she said,
“…I probably can’t grant your request.”

“Oh…” Fa Ning nodded slowly. He didn’t look shocked. More like… he’d expected it. But her next words made him freeze.

“…But if you come back alive this time… maybe I’ll let you see what I look like.”

“…Huh? Huh??” Fa Ning stared at the curtain, dumbfounded.

Then the hostess’s voice echoed faintly in the background. Fa Ning jolted, stepped back quickly, and distanced himself from the curtain.

“Are you done?” the hostess asked. “If you’re finished, come on out and let her rest.”

“Okay.” Fa Ning got up. Just before leaving, he suddenly remembered something. He turned and asked the hostess,

“Do you know what illness she has? Was it from the injury last time? I can try to find some skilled human doctors… Maybe the human side has treatments that can help.”

Before Yuan Yuanyuan could reply, the hostess clapped Fa Ning’s shoulder. “Enough, enough. This is an old condition. We’ve seen famous doctors—nothing’s worked. Don’t worry yourself.”

The hostess all but shoved Fa Ning out. Then she told Yuan Yuanyuan to get some rest, and not to think or do anything strange again.

Yuan Yuanyuan lay there, thinking gloomily: Welp. That’s the death flag raised.

…Why does it feel like everything’s been so precisely arranged that there’s nothing left to worry about?

As she stewed in confusion, her phone buzzed. She fished it out from under her butt and looked.

It was a message from Fei Mao. She opened it casually—it was a link to the forum she and Fei Mao used to frequent.

She clicked in and realized—it was a new doujin strip. And surprisingly popular. Tons of comments already.

As she scrolled, Yuan Yuanyuan’s expression gradually changed. She read the replies, her face growing more and more confused.

These reactions… they weren’t fake hype. Even though their forum was niche, it had a high reputation. Despite its small audience, it had spawned many legendary posts—some that accurately predicted future plot points. Among die-hard Monster Chronicle fans, it was practically iconic. All the veterans knew it.

Now this thread was pinned. Anyone who logged in would see it first.

Yuan Yuanyuan browsed through it, thinking: Wow… people are surprisingly open-minded these days. So different from when she first discovered Fruits Basket—back then, she sobbed her soul out.

Ahem. She made herself forget those dark memories, then went back to reading the comic thread’s comments.

Suddenly, she noticed the exact psychological hook readers were falling for.

To get readers to accept something, all you really need… is one thing:

A pretty face.

She looked in the mirror at her own reflection, thinking back to how she felt reading Fruits Basket. Aside from the world-shattering twist, what stayed with her most was the feeling of betrayal—like her ideal guy had been defiled.

Of course, she hadn’t really interviewed male readers who went through Fruits Basket. That series wasn’t really aimed at them anyway. But she suspected guys might actually be more chill about this kind of thing.

Now that the reveal was coming, sure, some guys would instantly flip from fan to hater.

But she had one advantage Yuki didn’t:

She had two identities.

With an established alternate persona, maybe the backlash would be less harsh.

Maybe… even if she lost the guys, she could rally the girls. Count on them for votes.

And maybe… with the girls’ votes secured, she could still snag a few—

cough cough—a few fujoshi-friendly guys’ votes too.