Chapter 149-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
With exam week approaching, Li Yixin planned to put her ACG interests on hold for a while. Last week, she had received encouragement from "Ye Zheng" on the forum. Amidst her joy, she felt a vague sense of guilt, like she had been caught slacking off. She decided to learn from her fave's initiative and perseverance and work hard to improve her grades.
This week, she received the merch for King of the Demonic Domain. It consisted of badges and standees of Zhao Mei. Her heart was filled with emotion; when she bought this merch a few months ago, she never expected the situation to be what it was now.
Thinking about it carefully, she had simply gone from stanning Ye Zheng's alt account to stanning Ye Zheng's main account. There wasn't much difference.
Li Yixin couldn't imagine how complicated the feelings must be for those Zhao Mei stans who refused to admit that Zhao Mei was Ye Zheng, upon receiving the pre-ordered Zhao Mei merch.
She regretted it a little. At the time, she only bought Zhao Mei's items and didn't buy Ye Zheng's. She didn't know when this batch of merch would be restocked.
Now, the resale price of this batch of Ye Zheng merch on Xianyu had been hyped up to sky-high levels. To the extent that if someone listed it for sale, it would be snapped up by "Mama Zhengs" immediately. Consequently, the merch for the alt account, Zhao Mei, was also being hyped up fervently.
After all, Ye Zheng's popularity was average during the pre-sale period. Now, Ye Zheng's popularity was the top of King of the Demonic Domain. A huge pile of Zheng stans who entered the fandom late were fighting for it. Because of the high prices, it even broke into the mainstream a little, with some people jokingly calling it the "Hot Zheng Sect."
If not for being constrained by her financial strength, Li Yixin also wanted to go on Xianyu to collect one. Fortunately, King of the Demonic Domain recently announced another batch of merch plans. The selected images for Ye Zheng's merch were particularly beautiful and cool. Li Yixin swore she would get them this time.
This merch drop was for the whole cast, but strangely, a brand-new character also appeared in the promotional images.
Wen Xiaoxing. Ability unknown, stance unknown, personality unknown. The character art was quite exquisite and pretty. If she didn't stan Ye Zheng, she might have been interested in this Wen Xiaoxing.
But the sense of déjà vu with this Wen Xiaoxing was too strong. Li Yixin looked left and right; his temperament and expression resembled Yin Kong, and his looks were like Zhao Mei with a different hairstyle and hair color. This level of design-baiting gave Ye Zheng stans a sickening feeling of being left hanging.
However, the response in the forums and reader groups was quite good. Wen Xiaoxing hadn't even appeared in the manga yet, but the exquisite merch and character art were released first, whetting the appetites and expectations of many readers.
Because of his appearance, which had too strong a sense of déjà vu, Li Yixin didn't have any good feelings toward this character. Let alone Tang Mingxi, who had already cursed about him to her for several rounds.
[Where did this bicycle seat face come from, trying to leech off our Saintess?]
[Afraid he'll hurt our Family Zheng's eyes, I'll ride this bicycle seat away first.]
[What does the official team mean by warming up a Frankenstein monster? Do they think Ye Zheng's popularity is easy to replicate...]
[Emperor Percy has already flopped into Loser Percy, why does the official team still want to force-push a Golden Boy?]
Ye Zheng stans upheld good manners and did not attack the new character in public areas like the forum, at most complaining privately.
However, when the update came on Friday, the Ye Zheng stans were almost all bombed out.
Tang Mingxi had already finished her language exams. She planned to study abroad, so her academic pressure wasn't as great as Li Yixin's, leaving her with plenty of time to spend on her hobbies.
Four days ago, she attended her bias's autograph session. Two days ago, she edited another video for Ye Zheng, which had already surpassed 150,000 likes. Today, before opening the update, she was still throwing shade at the new character in Ye Zheng's birthday celebration group. With a contented mood, she clicked into the manga update promptly at 8 PM.
Holding her phone and browsing the latest plot, Tang Mingxi's originally happy expression collapsed after seeing Wen Xiaoxing appear. The further she read, the more indescribable her expression became.
It wasn't until Ye Zheng killed him with a cold face that Tang Mingxi's mood improved a bit, but she felt something was wrong. This kind of character wouldn't go offline so quickly.
Turning to the next page, the dead Wen Xiaoxing was actually standing on the bow of the ship safe and sound, while Ye Zheng had disappeared. It was as if everything just now hadn't happened. Percy walked over, and during his exchange with Wen Xiaoxing, he had actually forgotten Ye Zheng's existence.
"Don't think about it. Listening to the name, it's just an annoying NPC. No need to care at all."
Tang Mingxi looked at the grinning boy on the screen. If this weren't her own phone, she would have wished to punch right through the screen!
At the same time, the forum became lively again because of the new character's appearance and Ye Zheng's disappearance.
[#1: The new character took out your demonic top-tier Ye Zheng as soon as he appeared. What level is this?] [hot]
[#2: The level of an imitation Zheng.]
[#3: Upstairs, don't be too talented hahaha. Calling him a Zheng-droid is giving him too much credit.]
[#4: Old Uncle clearly wants to step on old characters to push the new character to the top. I can only say force-pushing leads to ashes.]
[#5: Zheng stans are so domineering. Your fave also stepped on other characters to get to the top, so why can't you stand seeing a stronger new character appear?]
[#6: According to statistics, 0 people who messed with Ye Zheng have had a good ending. Let's look forward to this new character's way of death~]
[#7: Purely a leeching Golden Boy. I think Old Uncle just wants to push a male version of Ye Zheng. Let's wish him failure.]
[#8: Which eye of yours saw Ye Zheng being taken out? I only saw your Plague-brother getting killed very uglily by Ye Zheng (attached Wen Xiaoxing death screenshot)]
[#9: Oh my god, you Mama Zhengs are too fast. The anti-nickname is served up just like that?]
[#10: The new character is so miserable. He just appeared and is being bullied by Zheng stans. I really feel pity...]
[#11: Ye Zheng is the most miserable one. The little girl was competing properly, and suddenly a lackey of the Pope comes out to harm her in the dark. Does the damn creator dare to treat this little girl a bit better?]
...
[#289: Is no one discussing the plot seriously? What exactly is this Wen Xiaoxing's ability? Ye Zheng's existence was wiped out in an instant.]
[#290: Fate-types are always gimmick bosses. Based on Wen Xiaoxing's previous statements, maybe he sent Ye Zheng to another timeline or world line or something.]
[#291: Not gonna lie, this character's ability is seriously overpowered. Feels even more exaggerated than Percy and Sykes' abilities. Do those two fandoms have no opinion?]
[#292: Those two fandoms are eager for someone to come out and humble Ye Zheng. Someone next door is already shipping Percy and Wen Xiaoxing.]
[#293: Shipping Percy and Wen Xiaoxing is a bit too funny... Could it be the PerMei sisters reanimated? Can they and Percy still not forget those melancholy green eyes?]
[#294: Ahhh stop talking, as a former Zhao Mei stan I really want to join the Wen Xiaoxing fandom.]
[#295: Freshly baked Wen stan here. Came to the forum and found the sky has fallen. Why is everyone cursing this cute little boy?]
[#296: That's what happens when you mess with religious characters. Everyone says Wen's appearance baits Zhao Mei and Ye Zheng, but with the same creator, how can the art style not look alike? It's simply an undeserved disaster.]
[#297: Just a flame bait thread. Mama Zhengs don't get led by the nose, believe that Zhengzheng will return soon!]
[#298: Why are all the recent plot explosions on Ye Zheng? If Ye Zheng takes out this defy-logic new character too, Percy is really going to become Mary Sue Ye Zheng's camera.]
[#299: That's on the premise that Ye Zheng can actually solve it...]
[#300: Lol, those who don't believe Ye Zheng can solve it are all punished to go watch Ye Zheng seizing the sword, Ye Zheng killing Kiran, Ye Zheng beating up Sykes, and other famous scenes. Your Demonic's sole God Zheng isn't just hype, okay?]
[#301: Mama Zhengs are being optimistic too early this time. Look, the official merch even included Wen Xiaoxing. Can he be a character that goes offline in just a few chapters?]
[#302: Upvoted the upstairs. Even if Ye Zheng can break the situation, Wen Xiaoxing can't possibly go offline. This character looks like the next main push at a glance.]
[#303: First time seeing someone sucking a female character's blood to push a male character. I'm saying, could this deliberate flame war thread also be part of hyping up the new baby boy?]
Tang Mingxi read up to #303 and suddenly calmed down from her angry emotions. She thought about it carefully; although the forum often fought, the admins usually deleted deliberate flame war threads very quickly. This thread revealed ill intentions right from the title, yet it had remained until now.
She glanced at the displayed IP; it was in the same place as the manga creator and the platform company. Tang Mingxi even suspected it was official hype.
Surely not? She thought. This is just a manga that's relatively popular on the platform launching a new character, not a major entertainment company launching a heavyweight rookie. There's no need for the official team to go to such lengths.
Tang Mingxi comforted herself not to panic and just wait for the next chapter's update.
Ye Zheng was always able to bring them unexpected miracles. They just had to do their own things well and wait for her return.
Considering that Li Yixin had exams recently, Tang Mingxi decided not to disturb her. She and the sisters in the group created fanworks and made birthday posters while holding an optimistic attitude, looking forward to the upcoming plot.
Ye Zheng's official birthday was set in winter, a pure and biting winter, which fit Ye Zheng's own temperament particularly well.
Tang Mingxi prayed for the plot to be better to Family Zheng; she was just a baby girl about to celebrate her coming-of-age birthday.
However, what Tang Mingxi didn't expect was that she waited for three whole weeks.
Three whole weeks passed, and three updated chapters had no sign of Ye Zheng.
During this period, the official team released a trailer for the anime adaptation of King of the Demonic Domain. The fighting was fluid, the animation was powerful, and it relied on the stunning trailer to go viral, attracting many passersby. But all this had nothing to do with Ye Zheng and the Zheng stans; there were no shots of Ye Zheng in it.
Even though Ye Zheng appeared in the mid-stage, and it was normal for the first season of the anime not to reach her appearance, Zheng stans all sniffed out a bad premonition, and their hearts became increasingly apprehensive.
[Sis, I might really not be able to draw the extra chapter. The end of the year is seriously too busy.]
Fang Jue typed hesitantly. In the last three weeks, the update volume for King of the Demonic Domain had been huge. As an assistant, she was also very busy. Faced with the task where the editor needed her to draw an extra chapter for Ye Zheng, she really didn't have the energy.
Although she liked the character Ye Zheng very much, who wanted to work overtime for no reason? And this time it wasn't a chibi extra, but a serious extra related to the main storyline.
Fang Jue waited apprehensively for the other party's reply. Editor Lin was usually quite good to her and very responsible, but the two weren't close. She didn't have an extroverted personality, plus Editor Lin's standard of living was clearly from a different world than hers. She was a wage earner, while the other party was likely a rich second generation experiencing life; she felt even more embarrassed to try and get close.
Fang Jue waited for a while, and the other party suddenly sent her a number.
[Overtime pay.] The other party was concise.
[O-o-okay!]
Fang Jue almost jumped up. The five-figure overtime pay went to her head, and she agreed immediately. Getting paid a high salary to draw a character she liked—was there such a good thing in the world? She immediately started communicating the content with the editor.
After ending the conversation, Fang Jue thought it was stranger the more she thought about it. This extra seemed like Editor Lin's personal request, not a request from the studio.
Whatever, Fang Jue thought. As long as there's money to take. Besides, Editor Lin is more reliable than that guy Old Uncle.
Inside a certain technology park.
A fashionably dressed young woman stopped in the corridor, looked down to type on her phone, and after a while put the phone away, hurriedly walking into a main control room.
She swept a glance at the densely packed screens on the wall and walked to the side of a large holographic projection table. Leaning her hands on the edge, she smiled and said, "Hi, Hope."
Directly opposite her, a screen cut to black, displaying a smiling emoji and the sentence: "Hi, Lin Zhixing."
Lin Zhixing's smile widened a few degrees, but very quickly, her pleasant mood was interrupted.
"Hi, Cousin. Why didn't you tell me in advance that you were coming over today?"
A young man in a suit and leather shoes, with slicked-back hair, strolled toward her with his hands in his pockets, revealing a slightly greasy, intimate smile.
He first looked around the main control room, as if patrolling his own territory, and then looked at the young woman.
"Rest assured, the mission is progressing very smoothly. Cousin, you can give yourself a long vacation, and conveniently look for a future partner. The main family is very satisfied with your performance. You have already succeeded in making yourself seen; what they give you won't be bad."
Lin Zhixing suppressed her anger. She tried her best to speak calmly, "You can't just let Ye Zheng go offline like this. The readers will sense something is wrong. We packaged that world as a manga to influence it, but that doesn't mean it really is a manga where we can do whatever we want. Furthermore, Wen Xiaoxing's ability doesn't fit the logic of that world at all."
"...Did you violate the rules and mobilize 'Hope's' core technology to assist Wen Xiaoxing's ability?"
Faced with the interrogation, the man spread his hands helplessly. "The invention of 'Hope' aims to let us link to more worlds, worlds of different dimensions. Right now, this world has the highest possibility of linking, but we need stronger observation to let this world completely come 'alive.' This will be the greatest technology of this century."
"Ye Zheng's popularity is far from enough. We must create a more eye-catching character!"
"I specially sent people to hire some famous manga artist, super popular web novelist, to discuss and come up with this character Wen Xiaoxing together. Don't look at how casual his name is right now; he will go from nothing to something, be both righteous and evil, be some crazy villain and also some protagonist's life mentor..."
"Plus the anime and movies released later..."
Lin Zhixing could no longer suppress her mocking expression.
Saying they needed a more attractive character—wasn't it just because he wanted to take Wen Xiaoxing to squeeze out her and Ye Zheng, and claim all the credit for himself?
Her cold voice interrupted the man's fantasy. "You're wrong. The catalyst for this world coming alive isn't the influence of high-popularity characters."
There were many projects under the banner, and plenty of works with more popularity than this manga. Yet only this initially unpromising, inconspicuous project had now become the most hopeful one.
"It's Ye Zheng. Ye Zheng is the key to success."
The man twitched the corner of his mouth in disdain. "That's enough, Lin Zhixing. I know you resent me parachuting in and taking your position, but it is family tradition that the capable occupy the seat."
"Just you wait. My name will shine in this era!"
Lin Zhixing shook her head, looked at this stupid man, sneered, and left.
He underestimated her, and he also underestimated Ye Zheng.
She always had the ability to push Ye Zheng's popularity higher, but most of the time she tacitly permitted the manga creator's behavior of cutting Ye Zheng's scenes. It was precisely because Ye Zheng had too much possibility, and was also too dangerous, that her attitude toward Ye Zheng had always been very cautious.
And now, they were provoking Ye Zheng like crazy. Did they really treat Ye Zheng as a low-dimensional paper person they could manipulate at will?
Even more suicidal was that he exiled Ye Zheng to other world lines. This was basically exposing their core secrets. This technology was unstable to begin with; what if an accident happened?
But now, Lin Zhixing was eager for an accident to happen—for instance, Ye Zheng running out to slap them a few times.
Author's Note: Wanted to write a bit more, up to where Zhengzheng appears, but I am just a little girl easily defeated by the flu...
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