Chapter 221-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
[New to the fandom — which chapter does Ye Zheng first appear? The earlier chapters are too long and I'm too lazy to catch up.]
[Met two Zhengs at the comic convention today, I'm so happy…]
[What do I do about Ye Zheng withdrawal symptoms (crying emoji)]
[Why is Old Uncle going on hiatus again for a week? Hope he's not actually having health issues?]
[Just celebrated my fave's birthday, and now my fave is about to have their seventh-day memorial — how do I cope?]
Ye Zheng spotted a post with "seventh-day memorial" in the title. That phrase didn't exist in her world, so out of a desire to learn, she curiously clicked on it.
[#2: Can't cope. Already uninstalled the manga app.]
[#3: Say goodnight to little Sykes. He's had such a hard life — leaving his pain behind and reuniting with his mom in heaven isn't the worst ending.]
[#4: …Is the person above a Zheng fan trolling?]
[#5: A Zhengzheng's mom fan in full performance mode — or a SyZheng shipper with a skewed perspective. This kid is already dead, why can't you leave him alone?]
[#6: Who invented the SyZheng ship? Every time I see "who understands the redemption in the moment Ye Zheng killed Sykes," I genuinely can't tell which side the person is on.]
[#7: Seven days have passed so fast. I still haven't recovered from Sykes's death — how do I cope?]
……
[#83: Give your fave a grand funeral — print the main post's big image in black and white, pick up some merch at rock-bottom prices from the second-hand platform, and lay it all out. That's a complete life for Sykes.]
[#84: Don't move on too fast — Old Uncle might drop Sykes's funeral chapter the same day, just like he thoughtfully synced Ye Zheng's birthday arc hahaha]
[#85: Terrifying. I genuinely cannot tell if the person above is a sarcastic Zheng fan or a Sykes stan who's lost their mind.]
The moment she clicked in, she was greeted by a large, neatly centered portrait of Sykes. Ye Zheng realized "my fave" referred to Sykes. She selectively skimmed past certain comments, and combined with the replies about the seventh-day memorial, she quickly pieced together what the phrase meant.
In the readers' world, the seventh day after a person's death was a special day of remembrance — the soul of the departed would return on that day.
Having learned an interesting little fact, Ye Zheng quietly closed the post without leaving any comment.
She had no desire to hurt their feelings. She didn't quite understand the appeal of liking Sykes, but she did feel a faint pang of guilt over making them sad.
[Don't worry — they're just using exaggerated internet slang to express their feelings. Most of them will probably have a new fave before long!]
The System sometimes couldn't comprehend how such icy killing intent and such soft emotions could coexist within Ye Zheng, but it offered comfort all the same.
"Good to know."
"System, what's my popularity score right now?"
[Popularity has surpassed 600,000. After deducting 1,000 action points for Sykes, you have 3,100 action points remaining.]
Ye Zheng blinked in surprise. If she remembered correctly, the last time she'd checked, her popularity had barely exceeded 300,000. She hadn't expected it to double in such a short time.
[It's still rising. It might break one million or even more — depends on when the manga wraps up…]
At the mention of the ending, the System's voice suddenly faltered. Ye Zheng smiled, pressing her right hand over her heart. "I'll do my best to stay alive — I don't want them to grieve for me."
Ye Zheng understood why the System had stopped mid-sentence. She had now survived past the death flag written into the original plot — but as the story's villain, what kind of ending awaited her when the manga finally concluded?
[Quick, click on the middle post — they put so much heart into celebrating your birthday. Top-tier treatment for a 2D character!]
Ye Zheng obligingly tapped into the post: [What do I do about Ye Zheng withdrawal symptoms (crying emoji)].
After scrolling for a bit, Ye Zheng found herself unconsciously leaning closer to her phone screen. Her pressed lips parted slightly without her realizing it, her dark eyes lit up by the screen's glow — she was completely absorbed.
Ye Zheng didn't mind that her originally grand and lavish birthday celebration had been cut short and reduced to rubble. She herself, her family, and her friends had already given her more than enough meaningful gifts for her birthday.
What she hadn't expected was that the readers beyond the screen had carried on the grand, lively birthday celebration in her honor — making her birthday, in every sense of the word, flawlessly complete.
"I look so big and radiant — that building is more than twice the height of the tallest structure in the upper district. I've never seen such beautiful lights."
"They made the desserts in my likeness? If it were me, I'd be too reluctant to eat them."
"They're cosplaying as me? It seems they really do adore me."
Many people in the post had shared photos from Ye Zheng's birthday events, all saying they were suffering from withdrawal symptoms too — gathering together felt like being in another dimension, something beautiful and apart from the world.
Ye Zheng tapped open every photo one by one, exclaiming in admiration with each one she opened — even photos that, in the System's eyes, were extremely low-resolution and entirely lacking in aesthetic value.
[#66: It's okay — next year we'll launch another Zheng Goddess campaign!]
[#67: Who understands the feeling of salvation the moment Ye Zheng appeared on the big screen?]
[#68: The birthday event in City X was really worth it — the organizers were generous and put so much care into it.]
[#69: I always thought King of the Demonic Domain was a niche title, but this woman is actually this popular?]
[#70: There are only five hundred Zheng fans across the whole internet — but every single one of them is seriously talented.]
[#71: Zheng is about to level up to top-tier manga character — friends passing by, please go vote for her in the manga platform's annual popularity poll!]
[#72: Cherish the era when Ye Zheng is still a niche gem. Her popularity has been skyrocketing lately — I have a feeling she'll become mainstream before long.]
[#73: Ye Zheng's fan community now has 91,128 followers — breaking 100,000 is just around the corner.]
[#74: My girl is blowing up and I feel so at ease. Old Uncle, don't be ungrateful — treat your manga's traffic magnet well.]
[#75: By this time next year, King of the Demonic Domain might already be finished — please let a happy ending fall into Ye Zheng's hands.]
[#76: I still can't believe Ye Zheng is positioned as the villain. Is it possible the first two hundred chapters were just an elaborate setup for Ye Zheng's entrance — and this series is actually a story about a female lead all along…?]
[#77: If Old Uncle dares to write Ye Zheng out of the story, I will never forgive him for the rest of my life…]
The thread gradually drifted off-topic as everyone began speculating about possible endings for Ye Zheng and brainstorming a hundred ways to threaten the Creator — until a strangely toned comment cut through the discussion.
Someone went through every post that had shared photos and replied to each one individually, complimenting every single image in a warm and friendly tone. Even a blurry shot of a big screen taken from inside a car earned the praise: "A wonderfully dynamic shot — it makes your eyes swim."
More importantly, the replies were posted under the familiar ID "Ye Zheng."
Many Zheng fans on the forum had grown familiar with that ID. Some greeted her enthusiastically, joking that a "missing person had returned" and that "the great Empress Ye had come back to her loyal forum."
But some Zheng fans were unhappy about someone using Ye Zheng's ID to seek attention. As the fanbase grew, a wider range of voices began to emerge.
[Sis, that's not actually our little Zhengzheng, right? Commenting like this isn't really her style.]
[Probably an official account doing some promo? At least actually understand Ye Zheng before you roleplay as her.]
[I've been meaning to say this for a while — other characters' IDs are all taken, but this "Ye Zheng" ID keeps showing up, and the way she talks is very OOC. It's really strange. Could it be someone internal trying to push the rumor that she's a big-shot OC skin?]
The System had not anticipated this kind of reaction at all — but thinking about it more carefully, a "Ye Zheng" ID that no ordinary person could register was making high-profile appearances, which did look more like internal promotional activity. No one could have imagined just how "internal" this insider really was.
Ye Zheng found it amusing. She laughed. "It seems I need to show up more in the manga's actual plot — otherwise people will say I'm… OOC?"
"Oh, I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing."
Ye Zheng closed the forum and opened the manga app.
Author's Note:
Finally submitted the first draft of my thesis today — now I wait for my advisor's verdict…
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