“It’s getting late, we should head back,” Yuhua glanced at his phone and spoke softly.
“Yeah,” Anpelin nodded, her tone tinged with a hint of reluctance, “If we stay any later, we’ll miss the Dormitory curfew.”
The two of them held hands and strolled leisurely out of the Park, catching the late-night subway back to Shuicheng University of Technology.
At the base of Anpelin’s Dormitory building, Yuhua watched her silhouette disappear into the building before finally turning to head back to his own Dormitory.
When he pushed open the door to Dorm 404, he was greeted by a meaningful look from Liu Shixing.
“Yo? Back so early?”
She sat on the lounge chair, turning her head to scrutinize Yuhua, her tone heavy with implication.
“What do you mean, ‘so early’?”
Yuhua retorted, annoyed, “It’s almost curfew, alright?”
Seeing Liu Shixing’s knowing expression, he quickly added, “Peilin and I are just ordinary, normal, pure boyfriend and girlfriend, so keep your unhealthy thoughts to yourself.”
“Tsk… Boring.”
Liu Shixing curled her lips, then turned away and resumed her daily in-game routine.
Yuhua couldn’t be bothered to respond further, and his gaze subconsciously drifted to Lin Ling’s seat.
He was still sitting at his desk, focused intently on drawing Shui Hua with his Digital Drawing Tablet, paying no mind to Yuhua’s return, completely immersed in his own world.
No one could tell whether he had indeed taken Shui Hua’s hairband and was plotting something big, or if he really hadn’t done anything at all.
After washing up, it was soon time for bed.
Yuhua climbed onto his bunk, pulled the bed curtains shut, wrapped himself in the blanket, closed his eyes, and left everything to Fate.
“Yuhua, wake up…”
In a daze, Yuhua felt someone gently nudging him, the voice sounding very close.
He rubbed his eyes and woke from his dream, forcing his eyes open.
By the faint moonlight drifting in from the window, he saw that Lin Ling had at some point pulled open his bed curtain, now standing beside the ladder with a grave look on his face.
“What is it…”
“This is yours, right?”
Lin Ling raised the sky-blue butterfly hairband in his hand.
Yuhua’s drowsiness was instantly cut in half by fright; he recognized it at once.
That was the very Magic Hairband he used to tie his hair after transforming into Shui Hua.
“N-not mine.”
He denied almost reflexively, then blurted out the excuse he’d prepared in advance, “T-that, I bought it for my girlfriend to use as a Cosplay Prop.”
“Really?”
Lin Ling leaned in closer, the moonlight illuminating half his face, making him look unexpectedly menacing and grim, “Then do you want to take a look… at what you look like right now?”
“My… what I look like…”
Yuhua instinctively lowered his head.
What he saw was that familiar Magical Girl dress.
She hastily reached up to her head—her temporary hairband had already dissolved into magic, her hair on one side loosened, all but confirming it was her hairband.
“Wait, let me explain… What are you doing, I’m a man with a family now.”
Shui Hua’s voice, without her realizing it, took on a girlish panic and pleading.
She reached out to push Lin Ling away, turning to try to escape.
But this feeble resistance seemed to have the opposite effect.
Instead of retreating, Lin Ling’s eyes shone even brighter after being pushed aside.
Brilliant golden light surfaced on his body, instantly transforming into his Golden Form.
The power of an S-Class Hero left her utterly unable to resist; her wrist was pinned, her whole body pressed against the wall.
“Can we settle this peacefully?”
Shui Hua’s voice was tinged with sobs, making a last-ditch plea.
“Right now, you must be joking.”
The silhouette of Golden Form blotted out the light, shrouding her in shadow.
Shui Hua shut her eyes in terror, unable to imagine what would happen next…
TypeError: ‘NoneType’ object is not callable.
(Error: ‘NoneType’ object not callable.)
Yet, due to his lack of relevant knowledge, Yuhua’s brain failed to render any of the restricted scenes that should have followed.
With his mind caught in an error, he suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Yuhua gasped for air, heart pounding wildly, a fine sheen of sweat covering his forehead.
He quickly sat up and felt his body—he was only wearing ordinary pajamas, not the Magical Girl outfit.
He hurriedly craned his neck to check Lin Ling’s bunk; the bed curtain hadn’t been pulled open, and it was clear he was still sound asleep.
“Why am I still having dreams like this…”
He let out a long breath, trying to steady his still-racing heartbeat.
Picking up his phone by his pillow, he checked the time—it was 3 a.m.
After such a scare, his sleepiness had vanished without a trace.
The dream had felt so real, he couldn’t help but feel it was some kind of premonition.
Yuhua thought it over and finally decided to check if Lin Ling had secretly taken Shui Hua’s hairband—otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to sleep in peace.
He quietly crept down the ladder from his bunk.
His feet had just touched the floor when his ears caught a faint, unusual noise.
Looking toward the source of the sound, he could barely make out a figure in the dim light filtering in from the window, someone was climbing up the ladder to Liu Shixing’s bunk.
A sudden bad feeling seized Yuhua.
He quickly took a few steps back and switched on the Dormitory lights.
The blinding white light flooded the previously dark room.
Yuhua squinted, adjusting to the brightness, and soon saw the intruder’s face clearly.
That Jinfa Nüren was startled by the sudden light, whirling around, her blood-red eyes glaring viciously at Yuhua.
The instant he saw that face, Yuhua recognized her—she was the Disseminator he’d seen previously on the surveillance footage.
But right now, Yuhua was only in his pajamas, his Transformation Device was still in the pocket of the coat in the wardrobe, and there was no time to transform.
Even if he became Shui Hua, he knew he could never defeat this Disseminator.
He could only speak some utterly unconvincing nonsense, glancing at Lin Ling’s bunk out of the corner of his eye.
His only hope was Lin Ling, but Lin Ling’s bunk remained still and silent.
“Uh… So… you two were secretly doing this at night, huh?”
He pointed at the Jinfa Nüren, then at Liu Shixing, who seemed to still be sound asleep, pretending to be a clueless roommate who had just barged in, “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt… I-I didn’t see anything, you guys go ahead… Just keep it down, alright…”
But the Disseminator did not drop her guard.
She jumped down from the ladder, a Blood Dagger formed in her hand at some point, which she toyed with as she slowly advanced on Yuhua.
“Lin Ling, wake up!”
Realizing his ploy had failed, Yuhua gave up all pretense and shouted with all his might.
This cry thoroughly enraged the Disseminator; in an instant, she was in front of Yuhua.
He tried his best to dodge, but to her, it was as if he was moving in slow motion.
With a flick of her hand, the Blood Dagger plunged into Yuhua’s chest.
Agonizing pain erupted, his vision went black, and Yuhua’s body collapsed helplessly to the floor.