He pretended to be a girl so I would be friends with him… and turned out to look like… 

Orcs in the forest from the Witch’s Pie manga come to mind as I write these lines.
Hi, this is Punni. Time for creepy stories about online friendship, deception, and the dark side of the internet.

You may have heard of the Karpman triangle: victim, rescuer, aggressor. This psychological pattern often appears in toxic relationships and online communication.

When a family does not give a child enough love, the child gets used to being “convenient” and hiding real emotions and desires. Later, they become a rescuer in the Karpman triangle, helping others at the expense of their own needs, time, and personal growth.

And I ended up in this role. My habit, which I did not realize for a very long time, was trying to help people online and support internet friends. Usually I would meet someone on a social media platform or in an online game, and spend hours listening to their problems, trying to motivate them and find solutions.

Did it help them? No. People often just want to complain.
Did I have time for my own life, goals, and creative work? No, not at all.

What is the result of this kind of behavior? Years pass, your real-life friends build relationships, families, and careers, your online friends disappear, and you are left alone without progress.

One case was especially creepy and felt like a real horror story from an online game.

In a game, I used to do group battles with one girl. She said she had a difficult life, an alcoholic mother, skipped college, wandered outside at 5 a.m., and was constantly in conflict.
I tried to help her, analyzed her situation, and even convinced her to write a fairy tale for a contest in France, where I created illustrations.

But when I asked for a photo or a voice message, she always refused. Sometimes she became aggressive, I stopped communication, and then she begged me to come back. This cycle repeated several times. We even exchanged gifts by mail. She said she worked at a factory after college.

When my own problems started growing, I gave an ultimatum: show who you are or no more conversations.

In the end, she admitted she was a boy and sent a photo. He had excess weight and severe acne covering his face, even his pillow had stains, and he complained that he could not treat it.

I was genuinely scared, not only because of who he was, but because of how much personal information I had shared. This experience became a serious wake-up call. I even developed a vascular spasm and spent 3 years treating ringing in my ears.

Today, a new generation might say “I knew since elementary school never to trust strangers online”… but they know this because of stories and posts like this.

As an artist and marketing enthusiast, I see that many kids today prefer real life over constant online activity. I often see them outside in groups. The internet now feels like a dangerous place filled with scammers, fake identities, and emotional manipulation.

But the Punni Panda website, your chaotic friend, and the Witch’s Pie manga create a safe online space with storytelling, fantasy worlds, and creative content where you can explore without fear.