At twelve noon, in the male dormitory of A City Third University.
Lu Ren gazed at the chat app on his phone, resting his chin in his hand at the desk.
“Blazing Flame, Meteor, I’ve already arrived near Galaxy Stadium and am resting in a hotel.”
“Everything’s normal so far, no explosion incidents yet.”
Sapphire remained enthusiastic about the Shadow Beast matter, arriving early at the concert venue area to make preparations.
“Sapphire is fast as always… I’m still at home, debating whether to wear formal clothes or not.”
“Even though I’ll have to transform later, so no matter how nice I dress now, no one will notice anyway.”
“But I still want to dress up nicely, so more people notice me.”
As for Meteor, she was just like Lu Ren, still dazing off in her own little nest.
With nothing to do, Lu Ren yawned and began kneading Pandora’s cheeks, teasing the little fox beast.
“Let go, let go! I have dignity too!”
“If you keep slandering me! Believe it or not, I’ll bite your finger and make you get a rabies shot, let you feel what pain really is!”
Listening to Pandora’s novel threats, Lu Ren was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said,
“What’s there to be afraid of? You’re a magic sprite, not some stray cat or dog—where would you even get rabies?” Lu Ren continued to play with Pandora’s soft cheeks.
“But if you’re willing to meow or bark like an animal, I could let go and let you watch the news in peace.”
“You scoundrel! I’ll bite you to death!”
Utterly infuriated, Pandora bared her fangs and bit down on Lu Ren’s finger, leaving a “deadly” wound that didn’t even leave a tooth mark.
In response to Pandora’s attack, Lu Ren immediately fought back.
He flipped Pandora over and rubbed her belly hard with his right hand.
“Lu Ren! You bastard! I’ll bite you to death!”
“Go ahead, come bite me.” Lu Ren teased her.
In this cheerful atmosphere, Xu Wenxing had finished packing his things, slung a messenger bag over his shoulder, and walked over to Lu Ren, patting him on the shoulder.
“Ren-ge, I’m going to grab a taxi to the stadium.”
“Alright, go ahead, I’ll head over tonight.”
Lu Ren turned to look at Xu Wenxing’s outfit, nodded, and replied.
Pandora seized the chance to escape from Lu Ren’s hands, picked a spot farther away, and focused on reading the news on her computer.
“Okay, then I’ll be waiting for you tonight with my camera.” Xu Wenxing patted the contents of his bag with a smile after hearing Lu Ren’s words.
“Oh, right, Ren-ge, did you get a refund for your concert ticket? You probably can’t watch it, right?”
“Already refunded it. As soon as I guessed the third explosion target location, I returned it.” Lu Ren replied. “Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“Nothing, just asking.” Xu Wenxing replied casually. “Well, I’m off, then?”
“Hurry up and go, then I’ll have the dorm to myself.” Lu Ren urged him.
“How would you have the dorm to yourself? Isn’t your magic sprite still here…” Xu Wenxing grumbled, then turned and left the dorm, walking out.
Before leaving, he gently closed the door, barely making a sound.
“…Ah, why can’t I just fast-forward to seven in the evening?”
Looking at the now-empty dorm, Lu Ren sighed, feeling bored.
Pandora heard Lu Ren’s sigh, turned to glance at him, thought about recent events, and slowly spoke.
“Lu Ren, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Hm? What is it?” Lu Ren asked in confusion.
“Actually, the intelligent Shadow Beasts aren’t unlimited; each has their own Number, and the total Number doesn’t exceed one hundred.”
“What?!” Lu Ren exclaimed in shock. “You mean all these intelligent monsters actually have their own Numbers? How can that be, there’s no record of this in other cities!”
“Lu Ren, did you forget? None of the magical girls in other cities have ever successfully handled these intelligent Shadow Beasts, so how would they know about the Numbers?”
“…Damn it, just how many people have died at the hands of these intelligent monsters?”
After Pandora’s reminder, Lu Ren’s first reaction was that he absolutely had to kill all of these intelligent monsters.
If not a single magical girl in any city had ever successfully thwarted their schemes, it meant not a single one of these intelligent monsters was innocent.
They all deserved to die.
Any monster daring to come to City A would not escape him.
“I don’t know the exact number, but I’d guess it’s a terrifying figure.”
“It’s precisely because no magical girl has succeeded before that, upon hearing about this Shadow Beast, I instinctively chose to run away.”
“Sorry, Blazing Flame. I clearly promised to eliminate the Night Demon together, but I was the first to run away.”
Pandora sighed in a very human way, and sincerely confessed to Lu Ren.
Seeing Pandora lower her head and admit her mistake, Lu Ren laughed, flicked her tail upright, and comforted her.
“It’s fine. Knowing your mistake and correcting it makes you a good child.”
“…Hmph, you’re the child, I’m at least tens of thousands of years older than you.” Pandora wriggled free of Lu Ren’s hand.
“Remember, every Shadow Beast with a Number is extremely dangerous. As long as they’re alive, you must attack without mercy.”
“Yeah, I will.” Lu Ren nodded.
“And another thing: the lower the Number, the more dangerous the Shadow Beast.”
Pandora added, “If you encounter one with a Number within the first fifty this time, just run. No one will blame you.”
“Run away? What about the people on the scene?” Lu Ren frowned and asked.
“Don’t worry about the people there. With your current power, just surviving their attack would already be impressive.”
At this point, Pandora seemed to remember something and used her paw to stroke Lu Ren’s Magical Attire Core, her hand glowing with golden light.
“What are you…?” Lu Ren looked at Pandora in surprise.
“I’m upgrading your Sensor so you can check if the Shadow Beast you encounter has a Number, and what that Number is. This is advanced tech that can scan their Core directly!” Pandora explained.
“You really are worried I’ll run into something I can’t handle, huh.” Lu Ren twitched his mouth, helpless.
“Can’t help it. After all, you’re the only magical girl I’ve ever met who doesn’t attack me on sight. I have to keep an eye on you.”
Pandora fiddled with the pendant for dozens of seconds, then pushed it aside. “Alright! Done!”
“So fast?”
“Of course. Do you even know who you’re dealing with?” Pandora said proudly. “With my help, you can go all out, Blazing Flame!”
“…You’re not even a fighter, yet you’re so confident saying things like that. Truly impressive.”
Lu Ren patted Pandora’s head and quipped.