Chapter 247-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
The King of the Demonic Domain anime Episode 10 preview: Cloud-Soaring Squad had earned their spot as the lower district's representative in the tournament's second stage, while the Crown Prince had claimed first place in the upper district with overwhelming dominance.
The people of the lower district buzzed with excitement about the Ability Tournament on every street corner—until a pristine white figure, flanked by towering knights, strode into frame. The chatter paused. Faces broke into smiles of admiration and longing.
"It's the Saintess…"
"The Saintess is here for another free clinic in the lower district."
"She truly looks like a noble and kind soul."
The crowd watched the Saintess's retreating figure as she entered the cathedral. She maintained a mysterious silence; viewers outside the screen could only see her white dress and black hair.
In the preview's final frame, the enigmatic Saintess finally turned around. A faint smile graced her lips. Her long black hair lifted gently as she closed the cathedral doors—a fleeting glimpse of her face vanishing behind the ancient wood.
The screen went black. The preview ended.
[Where the dream begins]
[!!! A new hot-button character is about to appear!]
[There are people watching KotDD who don't know Ye Zheng?]
[Kids, THIS is KotDD's real breakout star—Ms. Scorching-Hot Zheng herself, making her grand entrance!]
[Just get into the fandom already. One search and you'll see nothing but oceanfront property merch…]
[Am I dreaming? Zheng is actually debuting early?]
[Ahhh is she the one who killed Sykes? I can't accept this!]
[(applause emoji)]
Tang Mingxi stumbled upon the Ye Zheng clip in the preview. The sound she made resembled a boiling kettle—a shrill whistle—before she immediately spread the good news across the internet.
At least the anime team had the sense to know who King of the Demonic Domain's real cash cow was, and moved up Ye Zheng's debut.
They might even fill in content the comic had skipped—like how Ye Zheng had grown step by step during her time as Saintess, and what schemes she had been hatching in secret.
The anime's level of detail couldn't match the comic, but seeing Ye Zheng in motion gave Tang Mingxi a feeling different from reading the manga.
It was as though Ye Zheng were drawing closer to them. Closer and closer.
Before encountering Ye Zheng, Tang Mingxi had never understood people who obsessed over fictional characters. Pouring your emotions into something imaginary, never receiving a real response—what a pointless exercise.
Now she understood. Compared to real people, fictional characters could embody a more idealized arc.
—And yet, she had always believed Ye Zheng was different. Ye Zheng possessed an unparalleled idealized image, yet she was no unreachable mirage. She had warmth. She breathed. She was looking at you… and she would say "I love you."
"Oh, honestly."
Tang Mingxi patted her cheeks. She was supposed to be a steadfast career-fan and mama-fan. She must have been reading too much Steam Empire content lately. Time to punish herself by reading a few more self-insert fanfics.
Her phone buzzed nonstop. The Zheng stan group chat had hit 99+. Compared to the public forums, the internal Zheng-stan chatter was even more ferocious.
[Anime Saintess Zheng is so commanding—anime team, you've outdone yourselves!]
[Literally where the dream begins. I'm a looks-first stan who got into the fandom purely for Ye Zheng's appearance, and then I just kept going further down the career-fan rabbit hole…]
[I have a feeling cons are about to be flooded with Ye Zheng cosplayers. Please don't turn my girl into a fashion accessory.]
[I've already seen normies in the comments of Ye Zheng edits calling her "hubby." I'm losing it…]
[Girls, "hubby" has a stinky energy to it. Even Ye Zheng would be repelled by that word.]
[Please no male-gaze shots or shoehorned romance arcs. I have anime PTSD, who understands?]
[Anime team, protect the original Creator's vision!]
[Some Zheng stans have already left polite reminders in the official comment section, right at the top. Everyone go boost those comments!]
[Someone's saying Zheng stans are restricting the anime team's creative freedom and aesthetic freedom. So textbook it made me laugh…]
[And people are still mourning Sykes? KotDD's one and only incel icon—who'd even go near that?]
[Sykes's greatest contribution was actually giving Ye Zheng her "cold and serene buddha" image.]
[Whoever came up with "cold and serene buddha" is a genius (Ye Zheng hands-clasped comic screenshot)]
[She's already debuting early in the anime—dare we dream of a spin-off comic? A spin-off movie? (starry eyes emoji)]
[Don't worry, sis—stan Ye Zheng and you shall have it all!]
[With Zheng antis acting up again lately, it might actually happen. Giving popular characters their own series isn't exactly unheard of.]
Tang Mingxi switched over to the forums to survey the discourse. The forums were equally surprised by Ye Zheng's early debut, though not in total shock—her popularity and momentum were undeniable. One male character after another backed by a hit anime couldn't even beat her numbers. The anime team giving her extra screen time was hardly newsworthy.
Still, threads like [Respect KotDD's REAL protagonist!!!], [0 people want to see the MC suffer], and [After watching the anime plot, the comic plot feels like such a letdown?] lingered on the forum.
Tang Mingxi didn't even bother clicking in. She scrolled around and noticed that Sierra-stan threads had grown noticeably.
In the latest chapter, Percy had squared off against Sierra. Although Sierra had seemingly lost and fled, the fight scenes were undeniably cool. Her wild posture astride those dragons carried serious impact, and her popularity had gotten a bump.
[#1: Baby, you're a golden retriever beagle!]
[#2: I bet when Sierra finds out she was used by Ye Zheng again, she'll literally bark with rage lol]
[#3: Can't help it—the girl's a dropout. When you don't read enough, it's easy for a clever woman to run circles around you. Cute.]
[#4: She was still thinking about Ye Zheng showing up before fighting Percy… Ye Zheng, you're guilty of puppy abandonment!]
[#5: The comic barely gives Sierra any screen time. Based on the little clues we get, I think Sierra and Ye Zheng actually struck a deal during the West District incident, but then they fell out (I'm guessing Sierra unilaterally broke it off).]
[#6: Things are looking up for us Sierra×Zheng shippers. Who even remembers the despair of accidentally clicking into the Sykes×Zheng tag…]
[#7: THIS is a proper unhinged villain. I genuinely don't understand how that other one got so popular.]
[#8: This world is still way too kind to toxic masculinity. Thank goodness Ye Zheng doesn't indulge it.]
[#9: If a certain male character were still around, his stans would probably be barging in here to stir trouble just from reading the title. Ye Zheng truly does public service both in and out of the comic (nodding).]
[#10: I had my eye on Sierra from her very first appearance. I figured she'd be a throwaway minor villain—turns out she keeps getting better. Go, golden retriever puppy, conquer the world!]
[#11: Stanning female characters in early KotDD was truly suffering. Male-character stans would steamroll us constantly. Making it to today hasn't been easy.]
[#12: As a Lucy mama-fan, I'm quietly falling apart. My daughter's been sidelined. Is a cheerful, energetic young girl really that unpopular? (crying emoji)]
[#13: Lucy at least showed up as background this chapter. My Bai Muqing has gone completely MIA—does she even have a chance of joining the main plot?]
[#14: I have a feeling Sierra's screen time is only going to increase. She genuinely attacks everyone equally—whoever gets in her way gets punched. Love her energy!]
…
[#55: The Creator pours all the ink on Ye Zheng. Only Ye Zheng is the golden child—of course every other female character gets sidelined.]
Spotting someone who couldn't keep it in any longer, Tang Mingxi rolled her eyes hard and started typing at lightning speed.
[#56: Gee, I wonder—is Floor 55's real darling a male character or a female one?]
[#57: Reeks of male-stan energy. Another boy-daddy crawling into the girl-mama threads (nose-pinching sticker).]
[#57: If KotDD didn't have Ye Zheng, who'd dare stan female characters in this testosterone-soaked comic?]
[#58: Fact is there are still too many male characters. THAT's why the girls get sidelined. I vote for Ye Zheng to take out a few more.]
[#59: I'm dying laughing. Zheng haters only dare to fish in muddy waters inside other female characters' threads. Bet they didn't expect the girl-mamas of KotDD to be this united.]
[#60: If Floor 55 cares so much about female characters, then join me in campaigning for King of the Demonic Domain to go all-female.]
[#61: All-female works only appeal to men, duh. Girl-mamas just treat female characters like a dish to be consumed. Without male characters, who'd even care about this series?]
[#62: Last I checked, the hottest titles in male-targeted web novels, comics, and anime are overwhelmingly male ensemble casts—with female characters as decoration and fan-service at best. The "better" ones have one or two decent female characters sandwiched between a dozen fully fleshed-out men, and that's apparently enough to market it as "respecting women" and "pro-girl."]
[#63: Male readers will literally rage the moment they find out a book's written by a woman. If they loved female characters even half as much as female-targeted works love male characters, the bestseller lists would be nothing but female-lead novels.]
[#64: I really hope the above is being sarcastic. A woman hating stories about women that much—truly baffling.]
[#65: @YeZheng, time to summon Lady Zheng to make our wish come true.]
[#66: Once Ye Zheng wipes out all their faves they'll shut up. Cry louder when it happens so I can enjoy the show.]
[#67: Speaking of which, @YeZheng hasn't shown up in a while.]
[#68: Zheng-zheng must be super busy right now. After dropping the Dragon Bone bombshell, she's probably striking while the iron's hot to deal with the Royal Family and consolidate more power. No time to spare.]
[#69: Sis, you're so in-character lol. @YeZheng truly living the most on-brand moment.]
[#70: I bet the person behind the account is prepping for college entrance exams and just doesn't have time.]
[#71: Could be high school entrance exams too.]
[#72: Could also be out grilling barbecue.]
…
While readers bickered and bantered, Ye Zheng—in another world entirely—truly had no time to pick up her phone and interact. Just as they had guessed, revealing the truth about Dragon Bone was merely a prelude.
The delayed sound from the radio echoed through the palace hall. Commotion erupted at the entrance, followed by a sharp bang as the door was shoved open. Bai Yi stood in the doorway.
Ye Zheng, having just finished her address, leaned back in her high-backed chair in a relaxed posture, sipping from a glass of water.
An uninvited guest had barged in, yet she didn't even look up. She drained half the glass, soothing her throat, then unhurriedly set the cup down and regarded him at her leisure.
*
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