Chapter 2: Steamed Buns?

When Lin Guanqi opened her eyes again, she found herself in another world—and…

“I’ve really become a Magical Girl?”

Her voice was soft and sweet. She wore a red dress, her face looked even younger, and most notably, the two mounds on her chest were no longer prosthetics, but the real deal.

So, she’d truly turned into a soft, fragrant girl?

At the same time, a Magic Wand appeared in her hand. This must be the weapon of a Magical Girl, right?

And this world didn’t seem much different from the one she’d come from. Before arriving, she’d thought it would be filled with flying ships.

Just as Lin Guanqi was still pondering, suddenly, a girl grabbed her from behind. “What are you doing! Wushen Xie Zhu is here! Hurry, we have to resist the monstrous beast!”

Before she could react, a surge of pink energy wrapped around her whole body. When the barrier dispersed, she was already somewhere else. Before her stood a gigantic monster!

The creature was covered in black liquid, writhing like tentacles.

[Wushen Xie Zhu]

[Level: Nudao Level]

[Traits: Entire body composed of black liquid, can morph into tentacles to attack, extremely high defense]

“Which Magical Girl are you from? Just joined?”

This girl wore green and had twin ponytails.

“Me? I just arrived.”

Lin Guanqi felt awkward. She wasn’t just new—she didn’t even know how to use her skills.

“My name is Ling Xue. For now, it’s just the two of us here—we have to handle this monster, or it’ll be a disaster if it invades the Min District!”

“You probably don’t know how to fight yet, so just support me.”

With that, Ling Xue charged at the Xie Zhu and unleashed a skill.

A huge beam of energy slammed against Xie Zhu’s chest—but it was useless. The black liquid simply swallowed her skill completely.

Suddenly, Wushen Xie Zhu’s body trembled and seemed to grow even larger.

Ling Xue retreated to Lin Guanqi’s side.

“This monster… is at least Nudao Level. Looks like it’ll be a tough battle for us two!”

“By the way, what’s your name? I don’t think I know yet.”

“I… I’m Lin Qi’er.”

Lin Guanqi hesitated for a moment, deciding to give herself an alias.

“Then I’ll call you Qi’er! In a moment, let’s attack together from both sides. That way, Xie Zhu will definitely take damage!”

She wasn’t actually afraid to fight—she just didn’t know how to use her skills at all.

System! Hurry up and tell me, how do I use my skills?

[When a Magical Girl uses a skill, she must imagine it vividly!]

Lin Guanqi pictured her first skill. Instantly, a searing fireball appeared in her hand, which she hurled at the Xie Zhu. Unfortunately, it didn’t cause any damage.

Wushen Xie Zhu roared again, growing even more enraged. Its body expanded once more!

Then, it unleashed black liquid tentacles to retaliate against them. Ling Xue, a battle-hardened veteran, deftly dodged the tentacles’ pursuit.

But Lin Guanqi wasn’t so lucky. Despite struggling, she was soon completely wrapped up by the black liquid.

And these tentacles were Corrosive.

A tentacle wrapped around Lin Guanqi’s thigh, quickly dissolving the white stockings at her upper leg and exposing her skin.

The black liquid tentacles squeezed her tighter and tighter, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

And her clothes continued to dissolve. The liquid oozed over her body, making her skin crawl.

“Qi’er!”

Ling Xue hurriedly used her strongest move—a massive boulder suddenly appeared overhead, which she sent crashing down. But she’d underestimated a Nudao Level monster.

Several tentacles blocked the falling boulder.

With her outfit dissolved, the body of a Magical Girl was rapidly losing function, until she was nearly drained dry.

“Heh… System! Save me already!”

“If I die, who’s going to do your missions?”

[Since this is your first mission and you’re inexperienced, I’ll help you just this once as an exception]

Boom!

Suddenly, fierce flames erupted from Lin Guanqi’s body, engulfing her whole form and burning the tentacles binding her to ash!

[Watch closely—this is the true power of a Magical Girl!]

At once, she lost control of her body. Lin Guanqi slowly raised her right hand, and an enormous fireball began to form, its shadow soon dwarfing even the Xie Zhu itself.

Wushen Xie Zhu recoiled, as if sensing fear.

Pa-ta, pa-ta…

The fireball crackled and sparked…

Ling Xue stood by, dumbfounded. She muttered, “It’s the Fire God!”

Lin Guanqi hurled the fireball down, and instantly the flames engulfed the Xie Zhu. The fire seemed to have a mission; it wouldn’t stop until the Xie Zhu was completely incinerated.

Roar! Roar!

Amid Wushen Xie Zhu’s howls, it was finally reduced to ashes in the vast blaze!

“Th-That was terrifying… How much magic did that burn through…”

Ling Xue stared at the heap of charred remains before her, unable to believe this was once a Nudao Level beast.

The flames swirling around Lin Guanqi gradually faded.

[Too much energy consumed… Body entering fatigued, weakened state…]

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Suddenly, her vision went black. She could no longer feel her limbs. Just before collapsing, it seemed she fell headfirst into something soft…

Battle Academy.

“You’re saying this person inherited the Will of the Fire God?”

“Yeah! I saw it with my own eyes—that fireball was as big as the entire Academy! It landed right on Wushen Xie Zhu!”

“But, the last Fire God hasn’t appeared for ages. Could this mean a new cycle has begun?”

Lin Guanqi slowly opened her eyes, and the faces of two girls appeared in her view.

Wait, who are these two?

“And you are?”

“Me? I’m Ling Xue! I just changed my appearance, and you didn’t recognize me?”

Ling Xue pointed at herself. Her hair had turned pink in an instant—no wonder she hadn’t recognized her right away.

And who was the one in the white lab coat?

“I’m Bai Zhi. Right now, you’re in my Laboratory. There’s an unstable energy inside your body.”

She looked down at herself again. She was now dressed in a white dress.

Wait? Did someone change her clothes?

“Oh! Right, right! I almost forgot to tell you—your clothes were… completely corroded. You’re wearing mine now.”

Did that mean… she was naked, and Ling Xue saw everything?

A wave of embarrassment rushed to her face, dyeing her cheeks pink.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! I—I didn’t look! I totally didn’t realize you were… uh, so soft!”

Now she’d suffered total social death. Not only did Ling Xue look, she probably inspected her very carefully. How could she even face her again?

Bai Zhi couldn’t bear to look anymore. She pulled Ling Xue aside.

“Now, I need to ask you a question. Which Academy are you from?”