Chapter 69-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
[Ahhh, you've changed a ton of plot points again! Just by hiding that huge dragon bone, you lost another 80 Action Points!] the System cried out in distress.
[Luckily, Serra was fated to escape in the original plot anyway. Otherwise, letting go of such a dangerous villain would have cost you another huge chunk...]
"The consumption this time was indeed excessive. It seems I'll have to be more restrained next time."
Ye Zheng blinked her eyes in disappointment, but her tone held not a trace of remorse. It only sounded like she was a bit regretful that she couldn't do whatever she wanted next time.
[Yeah! We only have a little over two hundred left now!]
"Ah, only that little left... Huh?"
"If I remember correctly, before entering this Demonic Domain, I didn't even have two hundred Action Points, did I?"
Ye Zheng narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion.
How come the more she used, the more she had?
[Because of the plot in the last Demonic Domain, your popularity as Ye Zheng was already growing. Plus, with both Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng having their highlight moments in this Demonic Domain, your popularity has been skyrocketing.]
[Especially in the last two chapters, the popularity growth for both Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng has been astounding!]
"That's great news."
Ye Zheng's tone became light again, and the System sensed her relief at being able to continue stirring up trouble.
The youth stood at the edge of the crowd. After greeting Percy and the others, he left. The Cloud-Soaring Squad was used to Zhao Mei's mysterious nature, and with the explosive news of the Saintess's disappearance, no one paid particular attention to the youth's departure for a while.
"Ye Zheng" had to disappear. Otherwise, she wouldn't have enough time to properly handle that massive skull and Serra.
[Although the popularity growth is considerable right now, we also have to consider the popularity situation after your identity reveal. We should still save up.] the System reminded her tactfully.
"Since 'Zhao Mei' and 'Ye Zheng' are both very charismatic, if they merge into a single character, the popularity won't be low, right?"
The youth walked through the narrow city district, her figure concealed, responding to the System in her mind with a casual air.
[Hmm... The popularity situation after an identity reveal is hard to predict, but the readers will definitely explode!]
[After all, the forums are already in a heated battle. I can't imagine what the Zhao Mei stans and Ye Zheng stans will feel when they find out their faves are the same person after fighting for so long...]
"Wait a minute." Ye Zheng tilted her head. "You said, who is fighting with whom?"
While Ye Zheng was busy in the Blood Flower Demonic Domain, three more chapters of the manga had been released.
As a Zhao Mei stan, Li Yixin, and as a Ye Zheng stan, Tang Mingxi, had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions these past three weeks.
First, they were so excited about their fave's appearance and impactful highlight moments that they recommended the manga everywhere. The two girls praised each other's favorite characters and enjoyed the wealth of content from fellow fans. And then... they somehow became rival fans?
In the first week, Li Yixin opened the new manga chapter and was thrilled to find that there was finally news about Zhao Mei. Everyone agreed to enter that high-risk Demonic Domain together, and Zhao Mei, seemingly knowing something in advance, specifically reminded his teammates to bring certain special supplies.
However, upon entering the Demonic Domain, everyone was randomly teleported to different locations. Percy searched for his teammates while exploring the strange domain. On the first day, Percy found everyone except Zhao Mei.
Seeing this, Li Yixin grew worried, afraid that something had happened to Zhao Mei. He was just a strong yet fragile healing-type character.
It wasn't until the second day that the Cloud-Soaring Squad found the Crown Prince's camp and met Yu Tianming. This noble youth from the Crown Prince's faction explained the situation to the Cloud-Soaring Squad with a surprisingly gentle attitude, informing them that the Crown Prince had been captured.
What was more shocking than the arrogant Sykes being captured was that Zhao Mei had appeared beside Yu Tianming, and the Prime Minister's son's attitude towards this mysterious youth could be described as respectful.
The bullet comments exploded into a fierce discussion.
[Wait, is Yu Tianming's character collapsing?]
[What's Zhao Mei's background? Is his status even more noble than the Prime Minister's son?]
[Babe-Mei is giving off such strong dom vibes...]
[Creator, how did our Sykes get captured? Didn't you officially confirm he's the strongest in terms of combat power?]
[Yu Tianming's character is supposed to be the type who only bows to Sykes. My favorite monarch-subject ship is collapsing, sob sob sob.]
However, when the next page turned to Yu Tianming's flashback, the bullet comments surged even more.
Just as Percy and the others were puzzled by Yu Tianming's attitude, the departing Yu Tianming recalled a scene from the previous day.
The black-haired, green-eyed youth had one hand around his throat, pinning him against a tree trunk. The usually quiet and gentle face revealed, for the first time in the manga, an expression that could be called cold.
In the close-up shot, the youth's green eyes were exceptionally beautiful, carrying an alluring luster amidst their coldness. Yu Tianming's first-person perspective made the scene incredibly immersive, as if the youth was right in front of the reader, enunciating softly:
"Listen to me, and I will get everyone out safely. Including you."
"Just listen to me."
The chapter ended like this, with just a few panels of a fragmented memory that brought a powerful shock to the readers.
Less than half an hour after the update, several hot threads about Zhao Mei shot to the top of the forums.
[Serious Discussion: What is Zhao Mei's true identity?]
[Ahhh, Zhao Mei, you little rascal, are you secretly a sadist?]
[The biggest aggressive top of our King of the Demonic Domain has appeared...]
Even some trolls on the forum started a poll: [Showdown! The Peak of King of the Demonic Domain's Tops! (A pun where 'miner' in Chinese sounds like 'aggressive top')]. Zhao Mei's votes surprisingly soared past all other male characters, surpassing even Percy and Sykes, the two most popular ones.
Li Yixin wasn't very surprised that Zhao Mei had a "white on the outside, black on the inside" attribute. After all, Zhao Mei had always been so mysterious, his gentle appearance hiding a faint sense of detachment. According to the analyses by the forum experts, he likely had a hidden noble identity and immense power—
But this was too black!
Zhao Mei, who had always blended in with the protagonist's group with his gentle and healing pretty-boy persona, when faced with someone outside the Cloud-Soaring Squad, just so delicately grabbed the other's neck and smilingly ordered the Prime Minister's son to obey him?
Seeing her fave's character take such a drastic turn, Li Yixin wasn't disillusioned. Instead, her heart fluttered even more!
Who would have thought that the quiet and gentle, cat-like youth would be such a ferocious beast towards those outside his circle of companions?
Since that chapter was released, discussions about Zhao Mei dominated the forums for a whole week, temporarily ending the debates about Ye Zheng. One group of people screamed about Zhao Mei's plot for a week, while another group discussed the secrets behind him.
Zhao Mei was so mysterious that even readers who were indifferent to his appearance and character design were at least curious about his yet-to-be-revealed origins and strength.
Along with the massive discussions came a flood of new fans, fan art, and fan fiction. Li Yixin spent a blissful week like this.
In the second week, she opened the update again with high expectations. Zhao Mei didn't have many scenes this time, but the shock it gave her was no less than Zhao Mei threatening Yu Tianming in the previous chapter.
Zhao Mei led the Cloud-Soaring Squad and Yu Tianming's knights to rescue Sykes. A mysterious blonde girl had taken control of Sykes and the mutant plant, and everyone was thrown into a fierce battle.
This chapter was filled with one brilliant fight scene after another. The Cloud-Soaring Squad faced the controlled Sykes. At a critical moment, Percy finally used his long-hidden second ability—[Death Rewind]—and survived Sykes's [Destruction].
Then, it suddenly started to rain in the manga. Bai Muqing, who had been on the sidelines because her ability was nullified, finally recovered her powers. She intercepted the rampaging Sykes and pointed out the true core of the problem for everyone.
Although Yin Kong had mentioned that Bai Muqing's ability was very strong when she first appeared, her performance had been mediocre so far. It seemed she only had a strong, cool-headed persona, like a classic stoic and silent girl from a male-oriented manga.
However, this time she actually blocked Sykes all by herself. The two of them practically tore down half the forest fighting!
Li Yixin guessed that the hot topics on the forum this time would probably be Bai Muqing and Percy. Both had displayed extraordinary strength. In a hot-blooded shonen manga, although everyone loves shipping, discussions about power levels are always a hot topic.
However, when Li Yixin saw the Saintess in white appear again, her figure nimbly coordinating with Bai Muqing to suppress Sykes, not only did she immune Sykes's [Destruction] at the nick of time, but she even pushed Sykes's head into a puddle formed by the heavy rain!
"Time to wake up, Your Highness."
The Saintess held down the frenzied prince, her calm face slightly furrowed, as if scolding a disobedient dog.
Li Yixin's jaw dropped when she saw this. As a former Xi-Sai (Percy/Sykes) shipper, her feelings were extremely complicated—that was Sykes, once considered the most charismatic character in King of the Demonic Domain!
Even though she was now a Zhao Mei solo stan, she still felt that Sykes shouldn't be treated like this. Given his arrogant and cruel personality, if he woke up and found out someone had done this to him, he would probably want to kill Ye Zheng, right?
But watching this scene, she couldn't deny Ye Zheng's charm, just like when she saw Zhao Mei choking Yu Tianming. It was a charm born from extreme contrast!
Her good friend who stanned Ye Zheng, Tang Mingxi, was ecstatic. In their phone call, she said, "Excellent! My girl has the Crown Prince under her heel. Who wouldn't say she's the true queen! Her rule over the empire is just a matter of time!"
Li Yixin was deeply shocked by her friend's ambition. It was the first time she had seen such an extreme career fan of a female 2D character—but there was no way Ye Zheng could go down the path of ruling the empire, right? Li Yixin just took it as her friend's exaggeration.
Opening the forums, it was, as expected, another week dominated by Ye Zheng.
[I genuinely feel bad for Sykes...]
[Is anyone going to discuss Bai Muqing's ability?]
[What are your thoughts on Ye Zheng in the new chapter?]
[Please include our Ye Zheng in the next "Peak of the Tops" showdown, okay? Okay.]
Some of these hot thread titles didn't even mention Ye Zheng, but clicking into them revealed an extremely high Ye Zheng content in the comments, with fans and haters fighting in a tangled mess.
In terms of popularity, Ye Zheng was definitely not as high as Percy, Sykes, or even Zhao Mei. But in terms of discussion volume, Li Yixin felt this woman was the queen of controversy.
Li Yixin was shocked by the intense fanwars surrounding Ye Zheng. Percy's fans already had a problem with her, and this time, Ye Zheng had directly offended the fans of the other top-tier male character in King of the Demonic Domain, Sykes.
Good heavens, was she trying to offend the stans of every popular male character in King of the Demonic Domain?
At that moment, Li Yixin naively thought, thankfully Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng have no interaction. Otherwise, if their fans also started fighting, it would be awkward for her and Tang Mingxi.
However, Tang Mingxi, as a Ye Zheng stan, still felt great. She said that watching the Sykes stans get triggered was her greatest joy recently.
Tang Mingxi read through all the hot threads on the forum, especially enjoying the drama in the "I genuinely feel bad for Sykes..." thread.
[#1: I genuinely feel bad for Sykes... He was supposed to be the strongest, the undying sun of the empire, the biggest villain and rival in King of the Demonic Domain. Is it really appropriate to treat him like this?]
[#2: Someone finally said it. Sykes was so proud and dazzling in the first and second stages of the competition. How did he become... sigh, in the third stage.]
[#3: Heh, Sykes and his stans get to enjoy the treatment of the main villain outside the manga, but in the manga, he's treated like a clown. Any random girl can bully him. I have nothing more to say about this trash plot.]
[#4: Xi-Sai is giving me feels again. Being bullied by the same character is also a kind of destiny.]
...
[#107: Are you Sykes stans seriously this cringey? Who on this forum usually dares to badmouth Sykes? The one who truly receives villain treatment on the forums is someone else.]
[#108: Something weird has slipped into this thread. It seems we villain stans are really the lowest of the low. Anyone can come and step on us?]
[#109: Our Sykes is doing so well now, he can even go head-to-head with Ye Zheng.]
[#110: To be fair, only Ye Zheng's healing ability can immune Sykes's ability. Although holding his head in the water was a bit much, it was reasonable to wake him up. And I think it's a bit... hot...]
[#111: Creator, if this goes on, our Sykes is really going to become the fanservice duty and comic relief role. Doesn't your conscience hurt turning a potentially charismatic villain into this, Old Uncle?]
...
[#296: Heartbroken Sykes stans can go read the 3,000-word character analysis of Sykes by the creator next door. Our Sykes is a really deep character! If the creator doesn't love him, we still do!]
Tang Mingxi clicked her tongue in amazement. The most complex thing about Sykes was his looks, right? She hadn't seen any profound inner depth in him at all.
Also, why did some of the comments in this thread seem so familiar? It felt like they were copying the statements her fellow Ye Zheng stans used to protest against the creator.
Watching the Sykes stans being passive-aggressive towards Ye Zheng on the forums didn't make her angry. Instead, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
She deliberately went into this Sykes stan thread to make a direct, in-your-face comeback, leaving a comment—
[#476: The most righteous chapter yet. My girl can beat up your precious boy whenever she wants, what's wrong with that?]
It was a fact. In the new chapter, Percy went all out to fight Sykes, and these people didn't get this triggered.
Ye Zheng woke Sykes up, so Ye Zheng is good!
Not only did Sykes himself not kneel in gratitude, but his stans even had the audacity to rebel and make snide remarks about Ye Zheng. They're all villains!
Tang Mingxi knew she would be swarmed by Sykes stans, so she immediately made a run for it. She returned to a hot thread started by Ye Zheng stans and happily posted a meme sticker she made from a screenshot of Ye Zheng in the new chapter.
[I'll-pretend-to-heal-you-while-beating-you-to-death.jpg]
The image was from the new chapter where Ye Zheng was pushing Sykes's head into the puddle, a faint, friendly smile on her face.
Although the aggressiveness was so strong that Tang Mingxi felt it was a bit OOC (Out of Character), there was no denying it was really effective!
As soon as the new meme sticker was released, many Ye Zheng stans immediately equipped it. Whenever an ungrateful Sykes stan made passive-aggressive remarks about Ye Zheng, this image of Sykes being pushed into the water could quickly make them get triggered.
Author's Note: LMAO, it's not OOC at all. I haven't finished writing about the forums today. Considering I have to wake up early on Monday morning for the students' morning reading session, I've decided to give myself a break and continue writing tomorrow...
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