Chapter 08

“My name is Zhao Mei.. Thank you for saving me.”

Li Yixin clutched her phone, screaming silently. Her eyes were glued to the full-page close-up of that breathtaking face.

Long lashes cast soft shadows over flushed cheeks. Emerald pupils shimmered. Messy black hair clung to delicate features. The faint smile was gentle, mysterious, irresistible.

After basking in his beauty, she opened the comments.

【Ahhhh my destined wife has appeared!】

【Is this a pretty boy?】

【One second ago: Who dragged Xi into danger? Next second: Xi let him go, I’ll protect him!】

【Fated encounter. I’m all-in on this CP.】

【Dragon Aotian* and his delicate wife. Old Uncle really knows how to sell.】

[T/N- Dragon Aotian is common chinese slang word to describe overpowered characters.]

Unable to resist, Li Yixin sent a ten-yuan tip.

A beautiful boy holding a white cat. She stood no chance.

✧✧✧✧✧

Pei Xi recovered first.

“Ahem. I’m Pei Xi.”

He studied the mysterious boy carefully.

“Is this your cat? It’s cute, but you shouldn’t take risks in an Aberrant Realm.”

Zhao Mei lowered his gaze in silence. The cat meowed unhappily. Pei Xi immediately regretted his tone.

“I’m a healing type,” Zhao Mei said softly. “Let me take a look.”

Warm water enveloped the wound. It healed without pain.

Pei Xi froze.

This feeling was familiar. From the church.

“You are…”

The team crowded in, interrupting him.

Zhao Mei smiled calmly.

“It’s healed. Does anyone else need treatment?”

The atmosphere warmed quickly. When he learned they were the Cloud Soarers Team, Chao Mei showed admiration.

“You surpassed the Royal Academy. Truly impressive.”

Blushing, the team protested modestly.

Then Pei Xi spoke.

“Zhao Mei, would you like to compete with us?”

“For the lower district,” he said quietly. “For a future where everyone is equal.”

Zhao Mei’s emerald eyes glimmered. The black-haired boy stood tall beneath the blazing sunlight, dazzling beyond compare.

Zhao Mei’s eyes widened slightly, as though startled by Pei Xi’s words. He fell silent for a brief moment, then slowly extended his hand.

The boy’s smile was radiant, his emerald-green pupils glimmering with light.

“I like your ambition. Let me join you!”

The panel froze on the image of the two boys clasping hands with youthful vigor, while their teammates at the side enthusiastically welcomed their new companion. This scene, brimming with passion and hope, would unsurprisingly go on to become one of the most iconic moments in Throne of the Aberrant Realm.

Of course, the readers following the manga at the time could never have imagined that this celebrated scene would one day be transformed into a funeral tableau.

✧✧✧✧✧

Outside the manga.

Holding her phone, Li Yixin let out another excited scream. Amazing! The new character she had fallen for at first sight had joined the protagonist’s group, which meant there would be plenty of screen time in the future!

After finishing the chapter with lingering excitement, she took several screenshots and eagerly opened the forum to join the heated discussions surrounding the newcomer.

Zhao Mei had appeared for only a single chapter. Aside from his striking looks and overwhelming healing ability, everything else about him remained shrouded in mystery. Was he also from the lower district? Which academy did he come from? Why was he named Zhao Mei? Did his name hold some special meaning?

Li Yixin’s curiosity was unbearable. She practically wished she could lock Old Uncle in a small dark room and force him to draw nonstop every day.

✧✧✧✧✧

『This shouldn’t be possible. Even getting a haircut would count as major OOC* for you, so why did cross-dressing as a man only cost five action points?』

The system complained loudly. Even without a physical form, Ye Zheng could vividly imagine someone pacing back and forth beside her, nagging incessantly.

Ye Zheng had already changed back into her original attire. Her glossy black hair cascaded smoothly over her white dress, making her appear utterly harmless. At this moment, she sat quietly inside the carriage, once again the Saintess familiar to the public.

『Ah, I see now. The manga platform noticed that selling BL generates high engagement, so they added some BL-related KPIs for Old Uncle.』

『No wonder even the female protagonist is allowed to be used to sell BL!』

Ye Zheng, who had been resting with her eyes closed against the soft cushions, slowly opened them. A trace of confusion flickered through her gaze.

“Selling BL. What exactly does that mean?”

『Open the forum and look at the posts about Zhao Mei. You’ll understand soon enough.』

The system suggested.

Ye Zheng took out her phone and opened that mysterious forum app.

【Zhao Mei fans, assemble!】

【New character discussion thread~】

Two posts marked “hot” immediately jumped into view. Ye Zheng’s eyes flashed with surprise. In such a short amount of time, both threads already had hundreds of replies.

She clicked into one of them, and her expression grew increasingly perplexed.

【Look at that face. All the Mommy's in the world are going to come kiss him. (image attached)】

【Baby, you’re a cute little girl!】

【Black hair and green eyes. Like a tiny female ghost. I’m going to haunt Mei-bao* for life…】

[T/N- bao again chinese slang term mei-babe/baby/darling anything could be really.]

【Hug hug, sister-bao!】

Ye Zheng’s brows knitted tightly together. She held her phone as if she were studying a world-class riddle, her expression growing more solemn by the second.

“…Have the readers already seen through my disguise?”

When following the manga’s plot, she could clearly feel its gravitational pull forcing her actions. For instance, when Pei Xi invited her to join the protagonist team, she could only agree according to the plot’s predetermined flow unless she spent sufficient action points to alter it.

She always knew when she was acting within the manga, which allowed her to ensure her cross-dressing would not be exposed.

But why had the readers not only failed to believe her disguise, but also expressed such bizarre affection toward her?

In the original plot, when she followed it exactly, readers had strongly disliked her as a weak, powerless, beauty-only female lead who parachuted into the story.

『Ah, it’s because they think you’re male. That’s why they’re calling you those things.』

『This is called mud-sculpting or Mommy fans. Many people like treating male characters as if they were female.』

The system explained patiently.

Ye Zheng pressed a hand to her forehead. The Saintess who could navigate upper-district nobility with a gentle, harmless façade while effortlessly manipulating riots in the lower district was, for the first time, feeling that her brain might not be sufficient for the task at hand.

She attempted to comprehend the logic of these higher-dimensional readers.

“So because they think I’m male, they treat me like a girl or a younger sister and like me that way.”

“Then why don’t they just like an actual girl?”

Ye Zheng asked a question that seemed to strike at the soul. She reopened the manga app and carefully reread the newly released chapter.

“Other than gender and appearance, this part of the plot is identical to the original.”

The author had not drawn any of her combat scenes at all. There was only Pei Xi’s earth-shaking sword highlight, accompanied by Zhao Mei’s admiring gaze.

“If they like feminine traits, why do they like Zhao Mei more than the real Ye Zheng?”

The system was also momentarily confused. It wanted to scratch its head, only to realize it did not have one.

『Probably because they like a male exterior paired with a female interior?』

『Readers like this often say that treating a male character as female is the highest compliment. What they truly like is not the male character himself, but the gentle soul of the female author project onto him.』

Ye Zheng pointed at the forum, where everyone kept calling the author “Old Uncle,” her expression turning even more incredulous.

“So the readers like Old Uncle’s gentle soul?”

The system was once again rendered speechless by its host. Given Ye Zheng’s limited understanding of the modern world, it was unable to fully explain this bizarre phenomenon either.

She continued scrolling through the forum, determined to grasp the meaning of “selling BL.”

【Old Uncle is selling a new CP again. All-pairing fans of the protagonist are celebrating once more…】

Ye Zheng encountered yet another unfamiliar term. She quietly took a deep breath, mentally bracing herself, and solemnly clicked into the thread.

After reading through hundreds of replies in one sitting, she finally pieced everything together.

“Xi-Yi” referred to the pairing between Pei Xi and his blond teammate Roy.

“Xi-Sy” referred to Pei Xi and Crown Prince Sykes.

The newly emerged “Xi-Zhao” was the pairing between Pei Xi and her Zhao Mei persona. And all of these pairings carried romantic implications.

“So CP stands for couple?”

The system asked suspiciously. 

『The author didn’t include English in this world for convenience. How do you know English terms?』

Ye Zheng smiled without answering and smoothly changed the subject.

“I understand now. Selling BL means using male-male ambiguity as a marketing point.”

“The Xi-Zhao CP seems extremely popular. System, how much popularity do I have now?”

The system casually glanced at the data, then froze in shock.

【Five thousand popularity points!】

【That converts into fifty action points!】

In such a short time, her popularity had increased tenfold, and the numbers were still climbing at an alarming rate. The system was ecstatic. Its host had made an outstanding move.

But its joy was quickly followed by concern. Ye Zheng was merely cross-dressing as a man. She was not truly male. When Zhao Mei’s true identity was eventually revealed, would these fans still accept her?

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Authors Note

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No problem. When the time comes, countless girl-bao moms will come kissing.

(By the way, collections rose really well today. I squeezed this chapter out during breaks in my trip. Thank you, everyone!)