Chapter 303 |
After Yuan Yuanyuan handed over the whistle that day, she didn’t pay much attention to it. She’d been hoping to catch some clues in the manga—what Fa Ning and the others planned to do with the whistle, and what exactly the whistle was. But since nothing new came out, she could only put it aside for the time being.
Instead, recently, Fat Cat had shared with her a new fan-made comic strip from a forum. Yuan Yuanyuan found it quite entertaining. It told the story of Yuan and the mirror demon—how they grew up together, became friends, and eventually went their separate ways.
What Yuan Yuanyuan found most intriguing was that the author had chosen to depict the story from the perspective that the mirror demon was the one who betrayed him. These days, fan creators having wild ideas was nothing new, but pulling it off this precisely? That was rare.
“I’ve been watching this ID for a while,” Fat Cat said. “She’s always had wild ideas and can come up with incredibly creative plotlines.”
“Like what?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked.
“She was the first one online to make a fan comic depicting Yuan as a spy,” Fat Cat said. “And that was before his real identity was even revealed.”
“No way. That’s impressive.” Yuan Yuanyuan immediately remembered a fancomic she had read a long time ago. She looked at the artist’s name again—it was the same person.
That instantly piqued Yuan Yuanyuan’s interest, and she leaned in to read more on the computer.
As she kept reading, Yuan Yuanyuan suddenly went “huh?” She seemed to have noticed something odd. “Hey, Fat Cat, how did you know the mirror demon was the traitor?”
“…You guessed that?” Yuan Yuanyuan was instantly shocked.
“Of course.” Fat Cat said smugly. “If it were someone like Lelouch sacrificing family for the greater good, I might believe it. But Yuan? No way. That guy’s great at everything except that—he’s always been bad at choosing duty over sentiment. If he had understood the whole ‘greater good’ thing, he wouldn’t have suffered so badly back then.”
“Ah… so that’s how it is?” Yuan Yuanyuan scratched her head doubtfully and thought for a moment. It was true. If Yuan had cut off his friend earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have been betrayed so badly… though perhaps the Li family head’s disguise was also just really good?
Either way, Fat Cat had guessed the truth, so Yuan Yuanyuan decided to trust him for now. But it made her a bit uneasy—if he had figured it out, surely someone else had too. So why was no one saying it?
On Sunday, Yuan Yuanyuan wandered the streets alone, eating a popsicle. It was full-blown winter now, and probably no one but her would be eating ice cream in this weather. The people passing by gave her strange looks—even she felt a bit odd about herself.
So much chaos had gone down over the summer that she never even got to enjoy summer. In past years, she’d be sweating bullets while delighting in cold desserts. But this year, it had all just flown by. Realizing this, she got a little sentimental—and bought the popsicle out of impulse.
Shivering and chewing her popsicle, she passed by a newsstand and spotted the newest issue of Dream Manga. She went over to take a look and noticed the issue was surprisingly thick.
Normally Dream Manga was about thick enough to swat a mosquito. This issue? Frog-squashing thick.
What the heck? Yuan Yuanyuan thought. Is it some anniversary edition or something? But since the magazine was wrapped in plastic, she couldn’t flip through it.
She paid and brought it home. As soon as she stepped inside—before she could even look at it—Fat Cat snatched it.
“Hey! I haven’t even opened that yet!” Yuan Yuanyuan said.
“I’m just taking out the voting card!” Fat Cat shouted back.
Yeah, right. Yuan Yuanyuan silently mocked. Sure enough, ten minutes passed, and he still hadn’t returned it. She figured he was reading.
She quietly pulled the door open a crack and peeked in. As expected, Fat Cat was lying there, a chubby blob sprawled across the manga.
Yuan Yuanyuan tiptoed in and said in a soft voice, “Must be hard turning pages with those paws, huh? Want me to do it for you?”
Fat Cat, clearly a veteran of many such battles, calmly replied, “No thanks. I’ve got paw pads. They’re perfect for page-turning.”
“Can you not tell I’m being passive-aggressive?” Yuan Yuanyuan nearly lunged for him. They scuffled for a bit, scratched each other up, and ended up gasping, both equally worn out.
“What’s in there? Why’s this issue so thick? Extra content?” Yuan Yuanyuan gave up arguing and just asked.
Fat Cat flopped back onto the magazine and deftly flipped a page with his paw pad. He turned to her and said, “There’s a bonus issue of Monster Chronicles. Feels like a side story. Not gonna lie, it’s really fun—has a bit of a fanfic vibe. If it didn’t say it was by Ji Qiu, I’d think it was some really well-done fan piece.”
“Bonus issue? Why didn’t they just put it on the official site? What, did they take the wrong meds?” Yuan Yuanyuan asked.
“Maybe because it’s not as formal,” Fat Cat said. “Normally even fan stuff goes on the site. This one was print-only. Who knows, maybe Ji Qiu just made himself a little indulgent side comic.”
Yuan Yuanyuan got itchy with curiosity. What the heck did the Big Boss draw this time? She’d always assumed Ji Qiu stuck to ‘canon’—maybe he’d gotten bored of it and decided to have a little fun?
She went over, and Fat Cat said, “You’re gonna love this. I always figured that guy had a strange brain. Today proved it.”
Yuan Yuanyuan hadn’t even finished a page before she turned to look at Fat Cat.
“What?” he asked. “Just keep reading.”
“Okay.” Yuan Yuanyuan lowered her head and flipped the page. Fat Cat kept muttering, “But with the way he drew it… now I’m not even sure if Yuan is alive or not. Why so vague? It used to be so clear. Now I don’t know what to believe…”
“What are you mumbling about? Make sense, would you?” Yuan Yuanyuan said, eyes still on the manga. She flipped a couple more pages—then suddenly froze. Her eyes blinked rapidly, unable to process what she was seeing.
“Well?” Fat Cat teased. “Scared now? And you called me mysterious? Who’s mysterious now?”
“Holy—!”
“Cool side story, right?”
Yuan Yuanyuan didn’t answer either of Fat Cat’s comments. She couldn’t sit still. She jumped up, grabbed the manga, and ran straight into the bathroom, leaving Fat Cat dumbfounded on the bed.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Fat Cat shouted. “I can’t go in there!”
Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the manga in shock. It depicted the time not long ago when she had gone to that convention. The whole comic was from the perspective of the guy who had been standing next to her—the story of a regular guy who dressed up as a cosplayer and suddenly ran into someone who looked exactly like the real character. They struck up a conversation and went to the convention together.
Her mind reeled with internal cursing, but in the end, only one thought remained:
You stupid cat—this is not a fanfic! Ji Qiu doesn’t draw fanfics! He draws real stories!
Even if this looked like fiction… it wasn’t.
The reason people were calling it “fanfic-like” was because the entire story was weirdly sweet—saccharine to the point of being unsettling. The original manga always had a grounded, tragic tone, so something this fluffy raised all kinds of red flags.
The whole story radiated a suspicious pink aura… and the guy who became the main character—Yuan Yuanyuan felt her worldview crumble just a little.
【Did you guys read that new bonus chapter? It’s so CUTE!!】
【This is cheating. The real Yuan would never be this adorable. Him pointing at a lucky bag and asking what the giant head on it was—no way that’s real! Yuan is a master spy! He’s not some clumsy cutie!】
Yuan Yuanyuan read the online comments and thought, Crap… did I overact that day?
…But why did everyone seem to be lying to themselves about how much they liked this bonus?
Yuan Yuanyuan opened her drawer and looked at the fox plushie from that day. When she went to the convention, she’d never imagined that moment would be turned into a comic. It was just a running gag—a moment of self-indulgent fun. But apparently, the joke was too good, and it ended up getting canonized.
She admitted it was weirdly well-done—just like Fat Cat said. But for some people… this was no joke.
Take, for example, the guy who had stood next to Yuan Yuanyuan that day. He was currently staring at his screen, face pale, knees shaking.
That guy from that day…
【Dude! Your cosplay was so good! A great cosplayer doesn’t just look like the character—they act like them too!】
【Bro! Your Yuan cosplay was amazing! Wanna join our cosplay club?】
Oh God! What had he even said that day?
The guy buried his head in agony on his desk.
He’d talked to Yuan!
He’d grabbed Yuan’s sleeve!
He even made jokes that probably reopened emotional wounds!
The guy was dying inside and wished he could sleep forever. Just then, someone knocked on his door. He opened it to find his clubmates coming to get him for rehearsal. One of them was just about to speak when he lunged at them in despair.
“BRO! I’M GONNA DIE! SAVE ME!”
His friend: “…What the heck happened?”