Little Pink Starfish

Fat Cat had been gone for quite some time. Yuan Yuanyuan remembered that before disappearing, he had once said he didn’t want to appear in the comic because he thought being in the comic was just too much trouble.

Yuan Yuanyuan figured Fat Cat was one of those rare clever cats. Cats as laid-back as him were almost nonexistent these days.

She herself also felt that being in the comic was a thankless task, even though many people saw it as a great achievement.

As the saying goes: “You plant flowers intentionally and they won’t bloom; plant willows unintentionally and they’ll grow shade.” Fat Cat had somehow made an appearance and left an impression… Yuan Yuanyuan glanced at his little tail. A lot of readers in the comment section had noticed it and thought it was some kind of Easter egg the artist had hidden.

…Right, could Yuan Yingli and Fat Cat still talk? Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly remembered something and opened her phone, checking a certain group chat and tentatively asked:
【Have you two been busy lately?】

The reply came almost instantly: 【Not busy at all. What’s up?】

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the time. Five in the morning—should’ve been bedtime, yet they replied within seconds. What were they even doing at this hour?

【Circle, how are you doing lately? You’re actually replying?】 Black-Red texted back, sounding very surprised. 【I heard something happened at your tavern? All the monsters inside have disappeared, and no one knows where they went. I thought you’d gone missing with them. We couldn’t reach you at all.】

Crap, she slipped up. Yuan Yuanyuan’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly calmed herself. She hadn’t been to the tavern in a long time anyway—she could make something up.

【Something happened to me, so I haven’t gone to the tavern lately. I’m recovering from some injuries. I don’t know where the others went either.】

Another message came in right away: 【What happened? You got hurt? When?】

【During the chaos in City C last time. I got caught up in something after work.】 Yuan Yuanyuan replied.

Soon, Fat Cat also came online, and the three of them chatted for a long time. Both Fat Cat and Black-Red kept asking how Yuan Yuanyuan was doing and what exactly had happened at the tavern.

The two teased her, saying she was a big shot now and they should cling to her coattails. Yuan Yuanyuan internally grumbled—Could you two be more obvious about your alter egos? You sound so fake…

【How does it feel to have escaped?】 Black-Red teased. 【After seeing the comic, doesn’t it feel like you survived a near-death experience? Can’t believe you used to work somewhere that dangerous.】

【Ah…】 Yuan Yuanyuan replied vaguely. 【But now that I think about it, it kind of feels like you two already knew what kind of place the tavern was. You both asked me about it a few times before, like whether anything strange had happened, or whether anyone had come out of it…】

…

The chat fell silent for a second.

【Hey, I’m going to sleep now. Not chatting anymore. Been feeling unwell lately—need to rest and recover.】 Yuan Yuanyuan sent that message, then shut off her phone and tossed it aside.

After putting the phone down, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Fake! You want to act? Like I can’t act too?

She had no idea what Yuan Yingli and Fat Cat had been up to lately, but she was this close to transforming into a mysterious boss and creepily voice-chatting them like, “What exactly have you two been doing in that deserted place recently…” If she wanted to mess with them, she could give them a Ji Qiu-style cryptic answer when they asked who Circle was.

Downstairs, the tavern still attracted a steady stream of people. Though they weren’t customers, the foot traffic hadn’t decreased.

Yuan Yuanyuan stared and felt vaguely irritated, like a private garden she’d always guarded had suddenly been discovered by outsiders.

Humans and monsters came alike. No one knew exactly what the tavern had become. She’d heard that the government had sealed it off, forbidding visitors from taking anything from inside.

It wasn’t until the next comic update that Yuan Yuanyuan saw what the tavern currently looked like.

It still appeared relatively clean and tidy, but some things were inevitably lost. The fish tank that usually had goldfish swimming around now only had a few left.

The once-glorious tavern looked dull and lifeless.

In the comic, a monster was shown leading a group of little monsters on a tour, saying, “This used to be the anti-war organization’s base—the place that had the incident a few days ago. No one knows where the people inside went, but the tavern itself remained.”

A group of tiny little beans nodded solemnly. Yuan Yuanyuan stared, fuming with nowhere to vent, until she slowly faded into silence.

…Why did this feel like a kindergarten field trip?

Yuan Yuanyuan deadpanned at the group of tiny tots and the “teacher”—no, the monster—guiding them through the tavern. The little ones were poking around until the older monsters stopped them.

【“Don’t touch that stuff. It’s over a hundred years old. There might be mechanisms hidden inside. It could be dangerous,”】 the monster warned.

【One little bean looked around the tavern and said, “This place is so big!” Another asked,】
【“Teacher, what’s this place called?”】

Oh god, he really is a teacher… Yuan Yuanyuan was speechless.

【“Qiu Ying.”】

…

【The little beans then followed the teacher deeper inside.】

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the comic. Every facility felt so familiar—without realizing it, she had walked through the entire tavern in her mind.

And it was still wine. Some readers, upon hearing the name “Qiu Ying,” felt it sounded familiar, though they couldn’t place why.

Until one commenter suddenly burst out with: 【Yuan’s sister!】
Then disappeared just as quickly.

【Right! I totally forgot! That’s Yuan’s sister’s name!】

【Aaaah! So that’s what it was!】

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the comic, remembering the name “Qiu Ying.” Actually, most regulars didn’t know what the tavern was called. It wasn’t that they were completely unaware—it was just that they thought the “Ying” referred to “Ying” as in “hero.”

Only insiders like her knew that “Ying” meant cherry blossom.

That’s why no one had ever really questioned the tavern’s name before. Plus, it had existed for so long that everyone just assumed it would go on forever, making the recent events all the more shocking.

The comic included flashbacks to the tavern’s Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) events. Qiu Ying was stunningly beautiful—gorgeously decorated interior, beautiful monsters… every detail was just beautiful.

Yuan Yuanyuan still remembered the first time she witnessed it—she had been utterly awestruck.

…Honestly, these people were still the same as ever. Most of them came from that kind of background anyway. So aside from work, they didn’t really have any other forms of entertainment.

The tavern, once plain and modest, had undergone a week of extravagant transformation. Now it was dazzling, gaudy, flashy—pure, unfiltered flamboyance.

Yuan Yuanyuan had recently overheard them secretly planning to bring all the tavern’s things over and set them up in this space…

You guys really dare to mess around like this.

Yuan Yuanyuan had seriously considered embracing that style. If not for the current strict regulations on the tavern, she probably would’ve done it by now.

On the day Demon Chronicles released its Monday update, the boss lady returned.

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at her, visibly thinner, and felt incredibly distressed. She had always been a sucker for good looks. So even though the boss lady was heartless and always teased her, seeing a glamorous queen reduced to this made her genuinely upset.

…She looks like a C-cup shrunk to a B. Damn. Yuan Yuanyuan thought if she ever got that skinny, she might just die of sadness.

Despite clearly having lost weight, the boss lady’s first action upon returning was to check on Yuan Yuanyuan’s injuries. That made Yuan Yuanyuan alternate between guilt and unease.

“I’m sorry. I failed to protect the tavern,” Yuan Yuanyuan finally admitted, her guilt spilling over.

“Don’t feel too bad.” Surprisingly, the boss lady was very understanding. She patted Yuan Yuanyuan and said, “This was a trap from the start. Even if I hadn’t gone, they would’ve found another way to target the tavern.”

Even so… Yuan Yuanyuan still didn’t feel much better. She started thinking about what to do with the tavern now. After all, there were so many people depending on it.

The daily expenses alone were enormous. Even though the tavern had a solid foundation, she still worried about burning through their reserves.

The boss lady wasn’t just pretty and glamorous—she had one trait that nearly all boss ladies shared.

—She was stingy.

“Why don’t you look into City C?” the boss lady suddenly said. “I noticed their attitude toward us is relatively friendly. If something comes up, I think we could reach out to them for help.”

It was like a sudden revelation to Yuan Yuanyuan.

Right… don’t we still have allies?