Unfortunately, if you write 2[star][star]123456 in a HN comment, the HN software will decide that this means a 2, then an emphasized empty string, then 1234

Unfortunately, if you write 2[star][star]123456 in a HN comment, the HN software will decide that this means a 2, then an emphasized empty string, then 123456, and the results will be indistinguishable to readers from the much smaller number 2123456.