Chapter 156-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Tang Mingxi clicked on the side story with a heart full of excitement and happiness.
Before clicking in, she expected the content to be a face-slapping story about how Ye Zheng traveled through multiple worldlines, discovered the loophole in Wen Xiaoxing's ability, and then counter-killed him.
But after clicking into the side story, Tang Mingxi's gaze became more and more serious. The smile on her face faded at some point. By the end, her eyes felt inexplicably sore, and she blinked hard.
Only after reading this side story could one understand the weight of Ye Zheng's return in the main story.
It turned out that Wen Xiaoxing's ability was not as simple as sending Ye Zheng to another worldline. Once Ye Zheng tried to struggle, Fate Singularity would send her to an even worse worldline. Ye Zheng didn't give up; she patiently and repeatedly explored within the malicious vortex of fate.
The cooperation with Wu Shu was not a whim. Before the competition started, Ye Zheng had a bad premonition after meeting Wen Xiaoxing. She proactively approached Wu Shu and promised to help her win the competition; Wu Shu responded with a promise to protect her. It wasn't the "one-sided exploitation" that those slandering Ye Zheng claimed.
Ye Zheng possessed a mysterious means of contacting other worlds. The side story didn't depict it clearly, but Tang Mingxi had a strange, strong premonition that this was a foreshadowing—a very important one.
What shocked her most was that after Ye Zheng and Wu Shu used Percy's ability to crush Fate Singularity, Ye Zheng was actually teleported to a world resembling a manga!
[My name is Ye Zheng.]
[Now, I seem to be inside a book.]
Seeing this, Tang Mingxi felt as if she had been struck in the heart. She covered her mouth in disbelief. She knew this "manga world" was just a setting, like the meta elements common in 2D culture mentioned by Li Yixin—it was the creator's intentional way to create the impact of breaking the fourth wall.
But she watched Ye Zheng on the screen calmly narrating the situation, her quiet black eyes carrying a strange, comforting power, as if she were looking at her across the screen and telling her not to worry.
But how could Tang Mingxi not worry? Ye Zheng became a "paper person" in the manga; what way was there left to win?
When she saw Ye Zheng use her talent to draw from the Amber Lake of the 2D world, wetting the entire world with water, and twisting the paper world into a Moebius strip—raising the world's dimension like a true deity—Tang Mingxi's mind went blank with shock.
When Tang Mingxi came to her senses, Ye Zheng on the screen was walking on the Moebius strip with lowered eyes, looking like a deity trapped in endless loneliness.
But in the next shot, Ye Zheng raised her eyes and revealed her usual smile, as if saying this world was nothing more than that.
Tang Mingxi's hand involuntarily touched the screen. How strange; Ye Zheng had won and escaped the predicament, so why did she outside the screen feel a strange heart-tremor and soreness?
She suddenly remembered her reason for stanning celebrities. In middle school, she was in a rebellious phase. Her parents were busy with work and had no time to accompany her, so she spitefully spent her generous allowance to stan celebrities, even traveling to other cities to follow their schedules just to get her parents' attention.
Tang Mingxi didn't get her parents' attention as she wished, but she gained a lot of attention on the internet due to her high-intensity stanning. To remain noticed, she always only followed high-popularity celebrities, enjoying the sense of power and the halo of being a big fan within the circle.
She wasn't ashamed to admit this. Whether chasing 3D female idols or chasing Ye Zheng, the blood-storm (controversial) public opinion environment wouldn't make her retreat; instead, she fought more bravely because it made her presence feel more important, like a heroic and fearless warrior.
But at this moment, the soreness at the tip of her heart told her she wasn't a warrior, just a minor girl who loved escaping into someone else's halo.
She was nowhere near as smart, strong, or omnipotent as Ye Zheng. More than her supporting Ye Zheng, it was Ye Zheng's image supporting her parasitic existence on the internet.
Reality was bad. The weight gain and acne breakouts of puberty once made her unable to face herself in reality. So she fell in love with a female idol of the same age. That idol was very famous, very beautiful, and lived a life with the world's attention and countless love. Looking at her, Tang Mingxi felt her own life gained a kind of compensation, though she occasionally felt an unspeakable sense of inferiority.
What about loving Ye Zheng? Tang Mingxi thought carefully—it seemed to be when Ye Zheng said she would save everyone in front of the shelter.
How strange. Ye Zheng is just a 2D paper person; why would she have such complex emotions for her?
Tang Mingxi was silent for a while. She browsed the side story again from the beginning. When Ye Zheng entered the fourth worldline, Tang Mingxi stared at the screen and discovered that Ye Zheng had also shown a look of confusion.
For a moment, Tang Mingxi felt that Ye Zheng was truly a girl of the same age living in another world. Removing the halo and legendary experiences, their hearts resonated at many moments across the thin screen.
Tang Mingxi stared at Ye Zheng's fleeting look of confusion in the manga for a long time, and she suddenly felt relieved.
If her original intention was just to enjoy a sense of existence on the internet, she could have chased more popular male stars or liked Zhao Mei, who was more popular at the time.
The strong and vibrant images of female idols were so dazzling—dazzling enough to occasionally sting her. But this stinging made her perceive her own existence through them. From then on, she was no longer lonely and had a direction to run in.
[#1 Ye Zheng, being near you is being near pain, but being away from you is being away from happiness...]
[#2 My mood is so complex after reading the side story. On one hand, I feel pained for Zheng having to go through so much, and on the other, I'm in awe. Ye Zheng's real value is still rising!]
[#3 Sometimes I think if Zheng had been born male, Ye Zheng-stans wouldn't have so many problems. But then I think if Ye Zheng were a man, I wouldn't like her this much. I can only ever empathize with female characters.]
[#4 After finishing the side story, I only have one feeling: it's over, I'm really going to be Ye Zheng's dog for the rest of my life!]
[#5 How did he think of a Moebius strip? Ye Zheng can even return to the original world from the manga-within-a-manga. I feel like Ye Zheng coming to our world is also just around the corner!]
[#6 This meta element is brilliant. I have a feeling my girl is truly going to break the dimensional wall. It makes me want to rescue Ye Zheng from under creator Old Uncle's pen (crying emoji).]
[#7 Wen Xiaoxing's ability is so malicious, yet not a word was mentioned about it in the main text. Some people really thought Ye Zheng relied on a cheat to break through easily. Old Uncle, you've done so much evil!]
[#8 Don't say anything. Someone has already deleted their post. Before deleting, they were still stubbornly saying things like "Ye Zheng being able to contact Wu Shu is just relying on a cheat." I'm laughing so hard I can't stop.]
[#9 This person, suspected to be a Wen Xiaoxing-stan who started a trend and then wanted to delete the post—well, this fandom drama queen has the same name across the whole internet. Everyone has already found her other social media accounts. Looking at her true self, she's actually a Zhao Mei toxic solo stan!]
[#10 Case closed. The clown OP turns out to be a twisted stan of Ye Zheng.]
[#11 Percy-stans were mindlessly following her to curse at Ye Zheng. Look back—this Zhao Mei and Wen Xiaoxing toxic solo stan has mouthed Percy and Percy-stans plenty on other platforms too.]
[#12 Fellow Anti-Zheng travelers were actually trading with a tiger for its skin (a dangerous deal). Once things got hard, they realized everyone was throwing stones down the well (slang: kicking someone when they're down). Should Percy-stans still not break ties with Wen Xiaoxing-stans?]
[#13 Why do Wen Xiaoxing-stans love acting like clowns just like Wen Xiaoxing?]
[#14 Before reading the side story: "How could Ye Zheng possibly defeat Fate Singularity?" After reading the side story: "I'm sorry Wen Xiaoxing didn't let Ye Zheng have enough fun".]
...
[#74 I just scrolled back to the comments when Ye Zheng first appeared. At that time, everyone was still calling Ye Zheng useless, refusing to have Ye Zheng as the female lead, and refusing Percy's romance line. Ye Zheng truly shut everyone's mouths step by step with her actions. She's so Zheng-qi (slang: a pun on her name meaning determined)!]
[#75 My god, I was one of those who disliked Ye Zheng back then. At that time, I naively thought Ye Zheng's appearance was to push the romance line. Then I became a Little Steam.]
[#76 Ye Zheng pushed my romance line; how does that not count?]
[#77 Actually, looking at the atmosphere in the early chapters, creator Old Uncle might have really wanted to treat Ye Zheng as a romantic female lead. But Ye Zheng seems uncontrolled, going further and further down the path of a villain...]
[#78 It's rumored that Old Uncle has been giving Ye Zheng Chinese medicine (trying to fix/adjust her to a heterosexual/men lover) to condition her into a male-attracted type, but Ye Zheng secretly swapped the medicine for an Iced Americano.]
[#79 After seeing the interaction between Ye Zheng and Wu Shu, I can confirm: Ye Zheng, you definitely didn't drink the Chinese medicine.]
[#80 Now that the side story is out, the boy-baby-stans don't dare to wear the skin of Wu Shu-stans to hit Ye Zheng anymore, because Wu Shu truly wants to snatch the championship from the boy-babies!]
[#81 If they keep wearing the skin of Wu Shu-stans, it'll be awkward. If Wu Shu wins the championship next week, changing faces instantly would be too funny...]
...
[#203 I can only say it hasn't been easy for Ye Zheng and the Zheng-stans along the way. But unreasonable outside denunciations only make us more united and make Ye Zheng's existence more precious. I never regret liking Ye Zheng.]
[#204 The info in this side story is huge. I'll organize it and post a plot theory thread later. Although everyone knows Ye Zheng is strong now, her power truly has no upper limit. She will only get stronger.]
[#205 Ahhh! Caught the Milk Tea No Sugar sama floor above! It's great that you writes Dream-Girl (self-insert fanfiction) content while also doing plot analysis. Zheng-stans can't live without you!]
[#206 Every time someone says Ye Zheng's plot is a forced power-up or unreasonable, I want to laugh. Several characters have cheats that big, but people selectively think those are "of course".]
[#207 Creator: "Ye Zheng, your ability is the water-controlling Stream. It can heal and control~ pretty strong, right?" Ye Zheng: "That's great. And my opponents?" Creator: "Your opponents? Just average. One can destroy anything he wants; one can turn any object into metal and manipulate it while also being able to rewind time; and another can throw people into worldlines made of countless trash." Ye Zheng: "..."]
[#208 Those who understood the floor above are all like Chongqing noddles(crying so hard their face is a mess). The opponents are more cursed one by one. But so what? Zheng will crush all of you!]
[#209 Liking Ye Zheng is hard, but the spiritual power she brings me makes me want to advance triumphantly with her. Saintess-Sama, please keep winning forever!]
TN: Doing forum chapter is painful, the author just pour tons of meme and puns in the forum conversations and some of them is unknown for me(had to check paragraph comments for what Chongqing noddles is. Orz)
But Forum part is one of the core element of the novel, all the annoying comments, discourses, fandom battles can be found in the real Internet, this is really how ppl treat female characters, or even female celebrities.
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