“……Forget it. I’ll just stick to the old ways and adapt as things change.”
After thinking it over for a moment, Lu Ren decided not to reveal himself to the authorities or deal with them directly.
He really didn’t know what attitude the Monster Response Department held toward him, so to be safe, it was better to stay cautious.
After all, Lu Ren was well aware that his situation was quite unusual.
Without a Magic Fairy, he was somehow able to use the Magic Girl Attire—and without any rejection symptoms.
No matter how he thought about it, it felt strange.
In short, until the authorities discovered his true identity, he would just take things day by day.
Lu Ren turned on the faucet, cupped water in his hands, and splashed it on his face before exhaling deeply, feeling much more awake.
After washing up, Lu Ren turned and left the restroom, heading toward the second floor.
By the time he returned to the corridor, the second class was already in session, and the hallway was nearly empty except for the two of them.
“Ren-ge, why did you take so long washing your face?” Xu Wenxing waved at Lu Ren.
“I was just watching some videos in the restroom for a bit. What’s up?”
“Nothing, it’s just… um, Ren-ge, want a drink? My treat.”
Hearing Xu Wenxing’s familiar words, Lu Ren squinted slightly.
“You want me to help with a difficult gaming event again? Don’t you have all the characters maxed out? Why not just look up a Strategy Guide?”
“Ah, I don’t like playing while reading guides. It’s annoying and bad for my eyes.”
“Nonsense. You just look at the guide for ideas, not to copy everything. Fine, get me a Red Bean Milk Tea, the usual place.”
“Got it! I knew Ren-ge was a good guy! Red Bean Milk Tea, no problem.”
“You really are a pure lazy dog…”
Lu Ren watched Xu Wenxing practically bouncing in excitement and shook his head helplessly, not understanding what there was to be so happy about.
……
A few hours later.
After lunch and helping Xu Wenxing finish the game event, Lu Ren leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed seriously on the black-and-white manga on his screen where men and women were locked in intense combat.
“Damn! Flipped it! Told you to pick EZ! Die! Take them down, take them down, take them down!”
Xu Wenxing, freshly victorious, was as excited as a monkey, eyes glued to the hard-earned victory screen, hands pounding the keyboard.
Once all opponents had quit after being taunted, Xu Wenxing stood up to take a breather and head to the restroom.
“Ren-ge, why aren’t you playing? What are you watching…”
Curious, Xu Wenxing glanced at Lu Ren’s screen as he passed by—and was so shocked he couldn’t say a word.
“What’s up? Weren’t you going to the restroom? Why are you standing there frozen beside me?”
Feeling the motionless figure behind him, Lu Ren turned around with a puzzled look, wondering what kind of performance art Xu Wenxing was putting on this time.
“Damn, Ren-ge. You actually like this kind of manga? You should’ve told me earlier—I’ve got a few recommendations for you.”
Xu Wenxing looked excited as he peered closer at Lu Ren’s screen, hands twitching as if sparks might fly.
“Who said I liked it?”
Lu Ren flatly denied Xu Wenxing’s assumption.
“Hm? If you don’t like it, then why are you watching this kind of manga?” Xu Wenxing asked, confused.
“Look closely at the text in this picture and you’ll understand why,” Lu Ren replied casually before diving back into thought.
“What’s so special about the text?” Xu Wenxing was a bit puzzled but obediently glanced at it. “Hm? Why is the left side translated but not the right? Did you miss something?”
“No missing parts. The other sentence has a proverb. I’m thinking about the best way to translate it.”
Lu Ren’s unexpected answer stunned Xu Wenxing.
Suddenly realizing something, Xu Wenxing burst out loudly.
“What?! Ren-ge, you actually translate manga? Do you charge for it? Or is it free?”
“It’s definitely free. If I charged, I’d be in trouble,” Lu Ren smiled and retorted.
“Damn! Internet Saint! I salute you!”
Xu Wenxing stood at attention, adjusted his clothes, and saluted Lu Ren, showing his utmost respect.
“Cut that out. I’m just doing it for fun. If I lose interest someday, I’ll stop.”
Lu Ren gently elbowed Xu Wenxing, then rested his head on one hand and continued staring at the manga, pondering how to translate it.
“I get it, a hero driven by passion. That’s familiar.”
Knowing Lu Ren was working on something great, Xu Wenxing stretched and turned toward the restroom.
After the sound of flushing, Xu Wenxing returned to his seat, leaning back and staring silently at the plaster ceiling.
Meanwhile, Lu Ren, having thought of the right phrasing, tapped away on the keyboard, then clicked around the screen to embed the sentences he had just come up with into the dialogue box.
“Oh, by the way, Ren-ge, speaking of manga, did you know that our A City’s Sapphire has manga too?”
Xu Wenxing suddenly said, striking up a conversation.
“Yeah, I know. I saw it yesterday.”
Hearing “Sapphire,” Lu Ren’s fingers lightly grazed the keyboard as he momentarily put aside the manga he was working on.
“You’ve seen it? What do you think of the quality? I think it’s top-notch. Not only is it full-color, but it has lots of pages and variety. The anatomy hasn’t fallen apart once. It might be the best manga of the year,” Xu Wenxing asked curiously.
“Yeah, the artwork is pretty good, but the plot isn’t great. I think it’s pretty average,” Lu Ren nodded and gave a completely opposite opinion.
“Ren-ge, do you really care about plot in manga? Besides, Sapphire’s plot is all old-school classics. Why don’t you like it?” Xu Wenxing was puzzled.
“Of course I care about the plot. I’m not just translating any manga for netizens,” Lu Ren sighed. “As for why I don’t like Sapphire’s manga, it’s simply because I don’t like the concert part.”
“Huh? The concert part is the best! The Magic Girl on stage dancing as an idol, and the male lead pressing mysterious pink switches in the crowd—isn’t that super useful? How can you not like it?”
Xu Wenxing couldn’t understand Lu Ren’s thinking.
“Because the whole idea of a Magic Girl as an idol just feels weird. Call me old-fashioned. Anyway, I can’t accept Magic Girls being idols, even in manga.”
“Alright then, I’ll just go back to gaming.”
Even though he couldn’t understand, Xu Wenxing chose to respect Lu Ren’s personal views and awkwardly ended the topic.
After the conversation ended, Lu Ren glanced at Xu Wenxing, sighed softly, then turned back to click open the previously minimized image and resumed his great work on the internet.
I agree with Lu Ren, idols don’t fit the heroes magical girls are supposed to be and countless stories have shown the bad results of that, one of them namely being loss of focus or drive toward fighting against evil and its easier for their real identity to get exposed.