Chapter 222-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
After reading the latest chapter, Ye Zheng found that the Creator had cut far too much of her story — the readers didn't even know that Sykes had been "killed" by her once in the banquet hall. It was only after reading the chapter that she learned Percy had witnessed the moment she slew Sykes in his demon dragon form from not far away. At the end of the new chapter, Percy was taken away by a Royal Knight — presumably on the Emperor's orders.
Ye Zheng read the new chapter a second time. The first time through, she had focused on plot information, but having read many manga updates by now, she had gradually come to understand "manga" as an artistic medium and could precisely sense the effect and intent behind each panel the Creator chose to draw.
Looking back, certain details in the manga felt slightly off in terms of their presentation. For instance, in the sequence where Percy stepped forward to face Sykes in his demon dragon form, she could feel from the Creator's brushwork that he had been in high spirits while drawing it — as though he were deeply excited and eager about what was about to happen. That sense of anticipation didn't match the outcome where she was the one who ultimately killed Sykes.
Perhaps it was an artistic technique — making her own entrance in the next panel feel more impactful. Ye Zheng stared at the image of herself on screen, hands clasped together, and couldn't shake the feeling that the Creator's brushwork carried an indescribable undercurrent of dejection and despair.
[The Creator was simply drawing from Percy's perspective. Don't read too much into it.] The System spoke up at just the right moment.
Ye Zheng tilted her head. Whenever the System told her not to read too much into something, it meant there was definitely more going on beneath the surface.
Thinking it over carefully — ever since "Ye Zheng" had appeared in the manga, her scenes had been almost entirely opposite Percy and Sykes. Beyond that, she had virtually no presence at all, let alone the inner monologue that most characters received at least occasionally. The Creator had never once depicted her psychological state.
Was it because he disliked her and didn't want to give her more story? Or was it… because the Creator simply didn't know?
Percy and Sykes were the perspectives most frequently shown in the manga. Flipping that around — those two characters were like the Creator's eyes. It was as though he were observing and depicting this world through them, faithfully rendering what he saw under the company's strict requirements.
"Is the Creator sick?"
Ye Zheng asked out of nowhere.
[Yes — so the manga is going to be delayed again.]
"Is it because he was hurt by Sykes's death?"
[…Sykes died, so how would he be hurt — it's not like you strangled him…] The System's tone carried a barely perceptible note of something strange.
"What I mean is." Ye Zheng pointed to her own heart, a faintly mischievous smile on her lips. "Hurt here — emotionally. After all, Sykes was a character he loved dearly. I've upset him so badly he's collapsed."
[Perhaps. Human psychology is always so complex and fragile.]
Ye Zheng rested her cheek on one hand, an eyebrow arching lightly. "By the way, will the company still update my side story? The assistant handling the spin-off shouldn't be upset enough to collapse over me."
[I'm sorry — I'm unable to give you an accurate answer on that at the moment.]
The System fell silent for a moment before responding.
Ye Zheng's eyes flickered. She had so far confirmed two clues about the higher-dimensional world: the Creator's will could influence the world she inhabited — what the System often called "plot gravity" — and the medium through which it acted was most likely Percy and Sykes.
According to the Creator's ideal, the original plot was the trajectory he had hoped for.
At first, the original plot's grip had been overwhelming — even cutting her hair had triggered fierce resistance. But as she disrupted the plot more and more and her popularity climbed higher and higher, that grip had loosened considerably. Killing Sykes, a character of such importance, had cost only 1,000 action points.
Now that Sykes was dead, the Creator's influence had been drastically weakened. Only Percy remained as an anchor, sustaining his hold over this world.
The second clue: the company held a perspective even higher than the Creator's — and her side story was proof of that.
The company's intentions remained unclear for now. Ye Zheng sensed that their attitude was also inconsistent — the out-of-nowhere appearance of Wen Xiaoxing and the sudden update of her side story felt like two moves working at cross-purposes. Perhaps the people of the higher-dimensional world were simply curious. But regardless, the existence of such a presence was unsettling.
Ye Zheng suddenly furrowed her brow. She was confident she could defeat any enemy in her own world — but faced with the vague, intangible higher-dimensional forces behind the System, she couldn't even identify a concrete target, let alone act against them. It left her with a rare, faint sense of frustration.
"Are the people of the higher-dimensional world as complex and fragile as we are?" Ye Zheng asked.
The System seemed to think of something and hesitated strangely for a moment before answering.
[Are you referring to physically or emotionally? In my view, both are quite fragile — one careless slip on a wet floor and they could die…]
Hearing the System's exaggerated example, Ye Zheng took it as a form of comfort. She gave it the courtesy of a small laugh, then dropped the subject and buried herself in official business.
*
Outside the manga's world.
Fang Jue had no overtime today.
The lead Creator had fallen ill recently, and Editor Lin Zhixing hadn't given her any extra work. She had almost nothing on her plate — yet was still getting paid. This was when she was most satisfied with her job.
Ordinarily, with the lead Creator out of commission, she as his assistant should at least go visit him out of courtesy. But she and Old Uncle had no real relationship to speak of — she'd only met him a handful of times and had no particular impression of him.
After some thought, she reminded herself she was a working adult now and ought to know how to navigate social niceties. So she typed up a brief message of concern and sent it to the Creator. She waited a few minutes — and, as expected, received no reply.
"What a strange man."
Fang Jue sent another message to the editor to ask about the situation. She was enjoying the downtime, but she didn't want to suddenly find herself out of a job one day.
It wasn't unheard of for artists to die young from sudden illness — and Old Uncle wasn't exactly young anymore. She'd rather not have him quietly pass away at home without anyone knowing.
[Don't worry — he won't die anytime soon. This manga is going to be drawn all the way to its ending, complete and intact.]
Editor Lin Zhixing replied.
Reading that reply, Fang Jue was startled — had she been that obvious? And what did "won't die anytime soon" even mean? It sounded like a joke on the surface, but reading it twice gave her a strange chill.
"Drawn all the way to its ending, complete and intact…"
Fang Jue rubbed her smooth forehead. As his assistant, she had absolutely no idea how King of the Demonic Domain would end. To this day, she had never seen a main script, outline, or anything of the sort — she'd always just worked according to the editor's instructions.
If King of the Demonic Domain weren't a popular title, and if the manga platform weren't backed by one of the world's top companies — one that had driven countless major hits across film, television, and manga alike — Fang Jue might genuinely have wondered whether she'd stumbled into some strange organization.
[Editor Lin, is there anything else you need me to handle?]
[Not at the moment.]
[Ye Zheng's been really popular lately — a lot of readers are hoping for more of her side story.]
[Hahaha, is that you being a hard worker or just getting addicted to drawing Ye Zheng?]
[Ye Zheng's popularity is already very high. We don't need to do anything extra for now.]
Lin Zhixing stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, sent her reply, and looked up with an expressionless face, gazing out over the glittering cityscape below.
A faint trace of unease lingered between her brows as she murmured the name "Ye Zheng" under her breath.
Ye Zheng's popularity was rising even faster than she had imagined — and it wasn't drawing shallow admiration. Ye Zheng's spirit had genuinely bridged two worlds, sparking a unique resonance with the people of this one.
Though this was the outcome they had hoped for, Lin Zhixing had always felt it was dangerous. She admired Ye Zheng and wished her well in her own world — but everything needed boundaries.
She, Lin Zhixing, would be the one to hold that line.
The young woman looked down at her phone. On the screen was a panel from the latest chapter of King of the Demonic Domain — the Emperor pleading with Ye Zheng to spare the barely-breathing Sykes.
Greed only brings disaster. The reward for exploration is not always treasure — sometimes it is Pandora's box.
When all was said and done, what was the difference between her world and Ye Zheng's? Both were fragile, teetering on the edge — rather than building stability from within, they were trying to bore through the outer walls and pin their hopes on an unknown force.
*
In recent days, Wen Xin and the others had been quietly spreading word of Pope Ye Zheng's feat of slaying the great dragon that resembled a demon dragon. Their intention was to reinforce Ye Zheng's prestige — but to their surprise, the public had spontaneously given rise to an even more dramatic version of events.
The apocalyptic disaster foretold in the prophecy was none other than the dragon that had appeared in the Imperial Palace. The Pope had, just as the prophecy described, vanquished it like a chosen champion of the God of Hope — she was practically the God of Hope reborn. The Empire had been delivered from the threat of annihilation!
This version of events began to spread, and for a time, the prices that had surged across the city due to the apocalyptic prophecy began to ease.
The story gained traction not only because Ye Zheng had slain a great dragon at her birthday celebration, but also because ever since the Demonic Domain that had descended upon the upper district was resolved, the residents of the middle and lower districts were astonished to find that fewer and fewer Demonic Domains were appearing — a complete reversal of the increasingly frequent trend from before.
It was as though the Demonic Domains were beginning to withdraw from the Empire. A fragile, intangible hope began to spread far and wide.
Ye Zheng was not optimistic about this. Even knowing that she had, in a sense, slain a world-ending demon dragon — Sykes had been the final apocalyptic boss in the original plot — the most critical issue remained.
The Demonic Domains had been brought into this world by the dragon born from Queen Margaret five hundred years ago, like a curse. They were drawn here continuously by the dragon bones she had left behind.
Dragon Bone could not be carved, could not be destroyed. Ye Zheng had tried every method she could think of to obliterate a palm-sized fragment of Dragon Bone, and every attempt had failed.
As long as Dragon Bone existed, the Demonic Domains would never disappear. Sooner or later, a truly apocalyptic-level Demonic Domain would be drawn to this world.
Ye Zheng had intended to spend the day studying the demon dragon's "human bone" she had recently acquired — but she received an invitation from the Emperor.
He invited her to the detached palace to discuss certain matters.
Ye Zheng held the fragment of white bone in her hand. It had been extracted from Sykes's body. The Emperor must have noticed its absence when examining Sykes's remains and guessed it was in her possession.
She lowered her gaze and considered for a moment, then decided to keep it on her person — just as she had done throughout these past days. She couldn't feel at ease leaving it anywhere else.
Though she had yet to discover what made this particular bone different from ordinary Dragon Bone, Sykes's exceptional nature had already proven it was significant — it surely held some major secret about the demon dragon.
Ye Zheng made a few quick preparations, brought two Knights with her, and set out discreetly. She was curious — just how would the Emperor explain all of this to her?
…And hopefully, she wouldn't run into that Bai Yi. She was afraid she might temporarily lose sight of what mattered most.
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