After the onset of winter, the weather became dry and cold.
Usually, during this season, most students would choose to put on their long johns and cotton-padded jackets early.
But as you walk through the school, there are always two or three girls who insist on showing off their long legs.
It’s hard to tell if they’re showing them to the wind or flirting with winter.
Fang Wei wasn’t in the mood to look at girls’ legs today; he was feeling rather listless.
Because of what happened yesterday, he had been on the phone with a deeply worried Xia Yuanhua until midnight.
After all, in his sister’s eyes, he had always been a pure white lotus who was prone to being bullied.
Thus, the situation involving a group fight actually made sense from that perspective.
Across the screen, Xia Yuanhua’s mother had pulled out the files of those student bullies from her drawer, a dark, mischievous smile playing on her lips.
Fang Wei knew that the university lives of those few individuals were about to become very unpleasant.
Pretending to be oblivious, he put on his headphones and drifted off to sleep to his sister’s soft, whispering voice.
Although Xia Yuanhua strongly requested to visit him, he politely declined since he had a date with Qi Qiancao today.
Additionally, there seemed to be quite a few busy activities at the school recently, which gave Fang Wei time to maneuver between the two women.
No, it was three women now.
‘Why do I have to play the younger brother, boyfriend, and savior of Magical Girls all at once?’
In his chat window, Zhuge Yu had sent the information about Qi Qiancao as promised.
Most of it was actually quite normal.
Zhuge Yu talked about how she met Qi Qiancao and various details of their lives together.
Since Zhuge Yu first met Qi Qiancao in junior high, “Little Cao” had been the most popular child in class.
In junior high, high school, and university, she won first place in every competition she entered.
Her grades were at the top of the school by a massive margin.
She even anonymously donated her scholarships to impoverished children in mountain areas.
Her entire student career could be described as nothing short of perfect.
Because she was so outstanding, other students didn’t even feel jealous of the brilliance Qi Qiancao radiated.
Instead, they felt as if they had encountered the Virgin Mary, finding a sense of healing and redemption.
This was why Qi Qiancao had so many fans at school, to the point where they spontaneously formed a fan club.
Aside from being sweet and cute, the fundamental reason was that she possessed a noble soul.
The words “beautiful inside and out” seemed to be tailored specifically for her.
As a result, a certain evaluation circulated among her high school classmates:
“The highest mountain in the school’s century-long history!”
‘Wait, are we really talking about the same girl?’
Fang Wei rubbed his eyes.
‘Is the girl you’re talking about the same Landmine Girl who suffers from severe sexual suppression, has masochistic tendencies, struggles with Erotomania, takes drugs, and is constantly self-destructing and self-harming?’
He felt like he had bought *Hogwarts Legacy* and excitedly put on the Sorting Hat, only to be asked if he wanted to go to Kivotos, Teyvat, Solaris, or Heimdall.
What?
You say you want to go to Warhammer 40k? Fine, fine.
‘Are you saying that before she met me, Qi Qiancao was actually a perfect, normal girl?’
‘Is it my fault then?’
Fang Wei thought about it some more.
Qi Qiancao did seem to participate in many club activities in university; she was active in the student council and was a member of the literature club.
Fang Wei had even found a video on Nantong University’s website from last year’s orientation where Qi Qiancao, dressed in a traditional gown, was the lead dancer on stage.
The key was that she was a Computer Science major… No matter how he looked at it, she was too much of an all-rounder.
However, it was precisely because she was so flawless that it gave Fang Wei a surreal sense of unreality.
Furthermore, the gap between this perfect Qi Qiancao and the one Fang Wei was currently dealing with was so vast that it seemed even more bizarre.
Though high school and university are periods of transformation, Qi Qiancao’s metamorphosis was no less extreme than a Digimon evolution.
Or was it that she had bottled things up for too long, leading to extreme sexual suppression that eventually mutated into Erotomania?
That was just too ridiculous.
Fang Wei still didn’t have an answer.
He wondered if it was necessary to take Qi Qiancao to a hospital.
He did know a very high-level psychiatrist who used to be a Brainwasher for the Kashu organization.
The organization had sent him abroad for specialized training, but after the old leader finished watching the Showa-era Kamen Rider, the plan for brainwashing cyborgs was scrapped.
That psychiatric doctor became unemployed the moment he returned to the country.
He later buckled down at a hospital and was now a specialist at the Capital General Hospital.
His thoughts had wandered a bit.
Coming back to his senses, the bus announcement signaled that they had arrived at the stop.
Looking out the window, he saw a girl in a brown plaid skirt.
Her overall style was that of a sweet, campus-type girl, and she was currently looking around.
It seemed Qi Qiancao had also prepared meticulously for today’s “date.”
Of course, Fang Wei was prepared too.
For instance, he was ready to obtain information about Qi Qiancao’s magic, background, and identity today.
He suddenly felt like a gacha player who had to piece together the fragments of the Magical Girl he had pulled.
Today, he would enter the dungeon with the Magical Girl.
If a “date” was happening, then dating was war!
—
Meanwhile, inside a dark room in an apartment building.
Little General Yu was curled up under her covers, staring intently at a glowing screen.
The light from the screen cast a deathly pale hue over her pretty face.
She turned off her phone, dragged her bedsheet and teddy bear, and climbed onto a chair.
On a computer screen filled with cracks, six or seven small windows were floating.
They ranged from the chat page of this apartment’s landlord, school forums, and the campus confession wall, to Qi Qiancao’s fan groups and various gossip chats.
Several pages also featured photos of Fang Wei secretly taken by classmates.
‘Don’t underestimate the intelligence network of an internet expert.’
‘You guy, you really are Xiao Cao’s boyfriend, aren’t you?’
‘To think you even kept it from her…’
Zhuge Yu bit her lower lip.
If it weren’t for this relationship, she wouldn’t have shared everything about Qi Qiancao, even if it meant selling her soul.
But if that were the case, didn’t this guy become even more annoying? He was clearly Xiao Cao’s boyfriend, yet he still… he still…
‘Hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you hate you…’
Clutching her hair tightly, Zhuge Yu’s petite body almost vanished into her oversized down jacket.
To be honest, her head was a mess.
Although it had been a mess before, it had never been like this.
The time Little General Yu felt most lost in her life was when she wandered the streets aimlessly because she couldn’t find any Magic Beasts to vent on.
This was a close second.
“Look on the bright side. At least this handsome young man doesn’t have any ulterior motives for approaching Xiao Yu, right?”
Along with the voice, a small figure appeared outside the window blocked by curtains.
The locked window was then opened.
A gray ferret hopped into the room and used magic to close the window again.
The moment Zhuge Yu saw this “dead rat,” her complicated expression was replaced by a cold mask, and all traces of her internal struggle vanished.
“Didn’t I say I don’t need you anymore?”
“Aya, this ferret ran into some small problems while looking for new Magical Girls. So, thinking about it, Xiao Yu is still the most reliable.”
The ferret scurried up onto the computer desk.
Glancing at the boy on the screen, it immediately changed the subject.
“Think about something happy! This boy actually protected Xiao Yu and even stood up for her. At the very least, he’s not some evil, creepy villain cadre. He couldn’t possibly possess despicable magic like hypnosis or mind control. And he’s certainly not a pervert whose head is filled with dark, filthy, and twisted thoughts while he wears a gentle smile.”
Yes, the ferret had followed Zhuge Yu and the boy the entire way yesterday.
From what it saw, although the boy was two years younger than Zhuge Yu, he had the reliable aura of an older brother.
His smile was gentle, his manner of speaking was easygoing, and he had a pleasant voice.
The key point was that he was very, very handsome.
Especially when he held Xiao Yu’s face and said things like “you are the most perfect and outstanding.”
Not only would he protect Xiao Yu, but he would also use his actions to help her regain her confidence!
In short, he was exactly what you’d expect from the male lead of a Magical Girl story.
If he didn’t have a penis, the ferret would have wanted to form a Magical Girl contract with him.
No, it would rather just have sex with him.
It had seen on human message boards that people tended to feel that way when they were interested in someone.
“Xiao Yu, is your head full of this boy right now?”
“What are you talking about?”
Zhuge Yu’s slender shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly as she muttered under her breath, “He is Xiao Cao’s boyfriend.”
“What does that matter? Just go up and suck it; he won’t be able to take it…”
Clang!
The sound of a Tang sword being unsheathed.
This was exactly why Zhuge Yu hated this dead rat.
It was truly a spirit with no sense of boundaries who fancied itself a comedian.
With a personality like that, it was no wonder no Magical Girls liked it.
“However… at least you’re right about one thing.”
Since Corporal Wei and Qi Qiancao were boyfriend and girlfriend, if he were a monster or a cadre, Xiao Cao would have definitely informed her.
That’s right.
He was just an annoying ordinary person.
Therefore, from an ordinary person’s perspective, her contact with him was merely fulfilling her duties as a best friend.
‘For Xiao Cao’s sake…’
‘I’ll keep watching you watching you watching you watching you watching you…’