Lu Ren nodded slightly in response, but his mind was elsewhere.
By the time Xu Wenxing returned after finishing his meal, the latest news broadcast had just ended.
After confirming that Xu Wenxing truly couldn’t see Pandora’s figure, Lu Ren stood up to eat dinner, leaving Pandora in the dormitory to wait for his return.
On the way to the dining hall, Lu Ren recalled the words Pandora had said earlier.
Shadow Beast, Night Demon, Purification Shard…
So all along, he had been fighting fragments of the Night Demon?
The names sounded impressive, but the battles weren’t difficult at all.
Studying hard to be a good student by day, and transforming into a Magic Girl to eliminate Shadow Beasts and uphold justice by night.
This kind of life was truly relaxed and easy.
Gazing at the warm yellow lights under the night sky, Lu Ren couldn’t help but daydream about his beautiful future.
…………
In the following days, Lu Ren continued living leisurely.
He would wake up early to quickly wash up, then head to the classroom for his 8 a.m. classes.
After class, he’d return to the dormitory to rest.
If he had no afternoon classes, he’d play some games, then study English to prepare for the CET-4 exam.
If there were classes, he’d attend them.
In the evenings, he’d translate novels he liked or pursue other interests.
When the time was right, he’d turn off the lights to sleep, ensuring he woke up without fatigue or stress.
His days were quite regular.
Before he knew it, it was Friday morning.
Inside Dormitory 321 in the male dormitory building at A City Third University, Lu Ren sat at his desk, playing today’s news at a very low volume.
“…By the way, Lu Ren, we installed an abnormal magic sensor on your Magic Girl Attire,” Pandora said, eyes fixed on the morning news on Lu Ren’s phone. “Now you can sense multiple abnormal magic sources at once with this sensor.”
“What about the sensing ability built into my attire? Ever since you appeared, it’s been heating up constantly. I feel like I’m carrying a bomb every day,” Lu Ren said, stroking Pandora’s small hand.
“That’s unavoidable. The sensing device is connected to the attire’s core, and I can’t modify that,” Pandora said somewhat helplessly. “If I accidentally caused your attire to fail, that would be too dangerous. I don’t want to do anything risky.”
“Alright, you’re right,” Lu Ren nodded helplessly. “But do you have any way to stop my attire from overheating? It’s getting too hot to touch.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll just add a cooling magic effect on its surface,” Pandora replied.
“Okay, then I’ll leave it to you.” Lu Ren said, handing the Red Star Pendant to Pandora.
“No problem. I’m free now anyway, might as well pass the time,” Pandora said nonchalantly as she took the pendant. “Besides, it’s your attire that’s having problems because of me, so this is me making up for it.”
“Where did you learn such polite talk…” Lu Ren twitched his mouth.
“From watching TV. How about that? I’m a genius, right? Mm… Done!” Pandora’s small hands fumbled over the pendant, then pushed it aside.
“Done?” Lu Ren asked.
“Yeah, now your pendant won’t heat up randomly anymore. If it suddenly heats up like before, it means the sensor has detected a Shadow Beast nearby. At that moment, you should transform quickly and fight the evil little monsters!” Pandora said excitedly.
“…Where did you learn those words again? From a novel?” Lu Ren took back the now cool Red Star Pendant and clipped it onto his dormitory keychain, teasing her. “But it’s good that the sensing ability is back to normal. I’ve been a little nervous these past few days, afraid some monster might suddenly appear.”
“Don’t worry. If a Shadow Beast appears suddenly, I’ll let you know. After all, I have the ability to sense Shadow Beasts too,” Pandora said, as if recalling something. “Oh, right. I added something like a Communication Device to the sensor. If a Shadow Beast suddenly shows up, I’ll notify you through it.”
“Got it.” Lu Ren nodded and glanced at the time on his phone. “It’s almost class time. I have to go now. Stay in the dormitory; I’ll come back after class and show you some videos.”
“Okay… Hurry back,” Pandora said with a hint of reluctance in her voice.
After Pandora jumped onto her bed and lay down with her eyes closed to rest, Lu Ren walked over to Xu Wenxing’s bed and patted the bed frame loudly.
“Hey! Get up, stop sleeping! We only have two classes this morning! Hurry up, brush your teeth, wash your face, then eat breakfast and get ready for class! After class, we’re off for the weekend!”
“…Ren, what time is it?” Xu Wenxing opened his eyes with difficulty, his voice weak.
“Seven-thirty in the morning. We still have half an hour before class,” Lu Ren replied.
“Seven-thirty…” Xu Wenxing sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I want to sleep five more minutes, but I feel if I do, I’ll probably sleep until ten.”
“Then why don’t you just get up?” Lu Ren laughed. “I have to remind you that both classes this morning are taught by the Professor. You know what kind of person the Professor is.”
“…Damn!”
As soon as Xu Wenxing heard the word “Professor,” he instantly perked up.
He threw off the blanket and hurriedly scrambled out of bed, quickly putting on slippers, then rushed to the balcony to brush his teeth and wash his face, clearly agitated.
“Don’t rush, the Professor won’t eat you. Take your time,” Lu Ren frowned and said.
“No can do. The Professor takes attendance two minutes early!” Xu Wenxing replied while washing his face with a towel. “Plus, his lectures are fast and straightforward, all knowledge points, super boring! I’m afraid if I don’t eat breakfast, I’ll faint during class.”
“Oh, so you’re actually planning to eat breakfast,” Lu Ren smiled. “I thought you usually skip it, saying you’re saving room for lunch and just drink pure milk in the morning.”
“I’m not stupid. I won’t skip breakfast for the Professor’s class.”
After finishing his routine, Xu Wenxing rushed to his seat, pulled out his sneakers from under the desk and changed into them.
Then, he looked at Lu Ren standing beside him and said, “Ren, stop standing there. Just grab the textbook and we’ll head out.”
“Stop rushing me. My stuff is already on the desk; I can grab it in a second,” Lu Ren said as he returned to his seat, picked up the textbook and phone he had placed earlier, and nodded toward Xu Wenxing. “Let’s go. I’ve got the keys.”
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Xu Wenxing tossed the dormitory key and phone into his pocket, held his textbook in hand, and followed Lu Ren out of the dormitory toward the dining hall.