Ren Man

Biodata

Background

Ren Man told Ren Yi that their race had only two members and that he had grown up alone. When asked where they came from, he claimed that they had “popped out of a rock” and maintained that he was serious 12.

He raised Ren Yi as his younger brother in the Alliance. Ren Man worked organizing books and documents at a library and attended monthly follow-up appointments with the community doctor, Lin Xinyan 1 10.

Appearance

In human form, Ren Man is a somewhat thin young man. He is introduced wearing a white shirt and leaning against an electric scooter 1.

• Expression: His gaze is often vacant, but becomes calm and gentle when he looks at Ren Yi 1.
• True form: Ren Yi perceived it as vast, silent darkness that filled the room. Later, he found himself unable to describe it adequately 4 45.

Personality

Ren Man is quiet and often appears absent-minded. Ren Yi is accustomed to doing most of the talking while his brother listens. Ren Man has mild autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and is skilled at looking after both himself and Ren Yi 1.

He is gentle but protective of his brother. After Ren Yi’s awakening, Ren Man reassured him and helped restore his human form; when a mirror endangered him, Ren Man destroyed it and confronted Doctor Lin 4 10 11.

Ren Man also expects Ren Yi to learn independence. He refused to keep reshaping him when his energy became unstable, though he later helped him load a mouth module and gathered his scattered fragments during practice 6 7 12.

Abilities & Skills

Darkness and Reshaping

Ren Man enveloped the room in darkness and compressed Ren Yi’s newly awakened body back into human form. He later restored Ren Yi’s form again before taking him outside 4 8.

• The pressure left Ren Yi unable to move or resist while his body was reshaped 4.
• Ren Yi’s restored body retained his clothes and no longer felt dizzy or exhausted 4.

Shadow Storage

Ren Man can place an object into his shadow. At the furniture store, he set a replacement chair on the shadow, and it sank soundlessly inside 10.

Relationships

• Ren Yi — His younger brother and the only other known member of their race. Ren Man raised him, guides him through awakening, and serves as his guardian. Ren Yi concluded that Ren Man’s happiness supplied the positive emotions for his first advancement 1 12 14.
• Lin Xinyan (Doctor Lin) — The community doctor responsible for Ren Man’s monthly follow-ups and Ren Yi’s guardianship check-ins. Ren Man struck him after the mirror incident and told Ren Yi to punch him as well 10 11.
• Lu Qing — Ren Man arranged for Ren Yi to accompany her on the Three-City World harvest because he lacked the qualifications to enter himself. He believed Ren Yi would be safer with her 24.

Story Role

• Ren Yi’s awakening: Ren Man found Ren Yi hiding after his body transformed, calmed him, and restored his human appearance. He then revealed that there were no humans in the Alliance 3 4.
• The mirror incident: While shopping for a replacement chair, Ren Man broke a mirror when Ren Yi’s reflection moved. He checked Ren Yi for harm and later confronted Doctor Lin over the danger 9 10 11.
• Learning to grow: Ren Man supervised Ren Yi’s practice at maintaining human form and explained that weirds feed on energies. When Ren Yi unexpectedly reached E-Rank, Ren Man took him to Doctor Lin to identify his food 12 13.
• Internship and harvest: Ren Man allowed Ren Yi to take a summer job after reaching E-Rank, dropped him off for his first Instance, and waited to take him home afterward. For the subsequent Three-City World operation, he arranged for Ren Yi to go with Lu Qing 12 15 23 24.