At 9:00 PM, Shui Hua and Liu Jin were stuck on the Round Mountain Road, nearly 200 kilometers away from Shui Cheng.
Outside the window was an endless stream of traffic and a pitch-black wilderness.
“Young ladies,” the driver in the front seat said as he turned around to face them, “the navigation shows there’s a small hotel nearby with decent reviews. How about I drop you off there on my way? Just remember to leave me a good review.”
Shui Hua didn’t answer immediately.
She turned to look at Liu Jin beside her.
“Liu Jin, has your Magic Power recovered at all? Can we just fly back?”
Liu Jin shook her head gently.
“My recovery speed is quite slow. Right now, I can’t even fly one-tenth of the way.”
“Or maybe we could fly over the landslide section and then find a way to hail a taxi?”
Shui Hua asked, making a final attempt.
“The landslide section is still more than 10 kilometers from here. Besides, this whole area is nothing but mountain roads; it won’t be easy to catch another ride,” the driver kindly reminded them.
Shui Hua weighed her options — the road ahead was blocked, they couldn’t fly back, they were in the middle of nowhere, and it was already late.
It seemed there really wasn’t a better choice.
She nodded in resignation.
“Then I guess we’ll just have to make do with that hotel for the night…”
The hotel the driver mentioned was located on a nearby mountainside.
Following the road back and turning up a dirt side path, they came upon a three-story building.
It sported a triple-threat sign advertising itself as a hotel, farmhouse, and mahjong room.
It had likely been built specifically because of the frequent traffic jams in the area.
Shui Hua let out a soft sigh as she pushed open the hotel’s glass doors.
The front desk was small, with only a middle-aged woman sitting behind the counter watching a tablet.
Shui Hua walked up to the counter.
“Hello, I’d like two single rooms, please.”
Shui Hua had expected the classic trope of ‘only one room left.’
However, the woman simply looked up and answered normally, “We have single rooms. How many nights?”
“That’s good. One night for the two of us,” Shui Hua said with a sigh of relief. Reality wasn’t that dramatic after all.
“Alright, take out your Identity Cards for registration.”
Since she was currently in her Shui Hua form, she didn’t have a so-called Identity Card.
She could only explain, “Uh… I don’t have my Identity Card on me.”
“That’s fine,” the woman said, seemingly used to it.
She pointed to a small screen with a camera attached.
“We’re connected to the Face Recognition System here, so we can authenticate you directly. Here, look this way.”
Shui Hua leaned her face toward the camera.
The recognition box on the screen scanned her for a few seconds before a red **[X]** appeared along with the words **[Verification Failed]**.
“Hmm? Is the machine acting up?”
The woman patted the device as if trying to appease the machine spirit, but the screen remained stuck on the red **[X]**.
“Uh… it’s actually not a machine problem. I’m a Magical Girl, and my current appearance is a result of my Transformation. The system doesn’t have any data for this face.”
“Oh, a Hero! I thought you were just doing some kind of cosplay.”
The woman’s realization sparked a much warmer attitude.
“Then why don’t you perform a Transformation Release and scan your face in your original form?”
“Uh… I’m out of Magic Power, so I can’t change back for now.”
“That makes things difficult,” the woman said, frowning.
“All guest registrations have to be uploaded to the Public Security System in real-time now. Plus, since Pseudo-humans started appearing after the Meme Infection Wave, regulations have become even stricter. Without valid identity information, I can’t open a room…”
She looked at Liu Jin behind Shui Hua.
“How about your companion tries?”
Shui Hua quickly pulled Liu Jin in front of the camera.
Liu Jin looked calmly at the lens.
Since she had just processed a new Identity Card a few days ago, her facial data was already in the system.
After a few seconds, the screen showed a successful verification.
“Alright, this young lady is good to go.”
“Can we open the rooms now?”
The woman looked conflicted.
“Technically, using one Identity Card to open two rooms… it’s possible in principle, but operating the system for that is a huge hassle. I’d have to write an extra explanation, and it would likely trigger an inspection.”
“Since you’re Heroes who’ve run into trouble, I don’t want to make things too hard for you. How about this? Use this blonde girl’s Identity Card to open one room, and the two of you can stay together. I’ll only register one person in the system, which keeps the paperwork simple. You’re both girls anyway, so staying in one room is fine, right?”
Shui Hua opened her mouth to argue, but seeing the ‘I’m already breaking the rules to help you’ look in the woman’s eyes, she swallowed her words.
Asking for more would be ungrateful.
“Alright then.”
She instinctively glanced at Liu Jin.
Although there was no obvious expression on her face, her eyes were clearly sparkling with secret joy.
After all their wandering, they had ended up in the classic scenario of sharing a room.
“If you don’t want to stay with me, how about you stay here and I’ll try to find another place to register?”
Liu Jin asked, seeing Shui Hua’s unhappy expression.
Hearing those words only made Shui Hua more annoyed.
Liu Jin was clearly playing a part, thinking she could actually get the better of her.
‘My Magic Power should recover enough for me to transform back by around 11:00 PM. If she tries anything while I’m sleeping, I’ll just reveal my identity and turn back into Yuhua. I’ll use my robust physique to punish her thoroughly and let her know who the only man in the dormitory really is.’
“One room is perfectly fine. Let’s just take one.”
In the end, they were given the key card for a room with a large bed.
As Shui Hua took the card and looked at Liu Jin, she felt that Liu Jin was the one who was actually in danger of being devoured.
They pushed the door open to find a familiar hotel layout: a large bed occupying the center of the room, a desk with various amenities, a television that almost no one would watch, and a bathroom with a frosted glass door.
“Shui Hua, is it okay if I shower first?”
As soon as they entered, Liu Jin took off her Magic Costume boots and stepped into the bathroom wearing the hotel’s disposable slippers.
“Yeah, you go ahead.”
A wave of deep exhaustion washed over Shui Hua.
Not caring about much else, she sat straight down on the bed.
A Magical Girl’s Magic Costume had a self-cleaning function, so she wasn’t worried about dirtying the sheets.
She eventually just lay down on the bed.
The pitter-patter of water soon echoed from the bathroom.
She instinctively turned her head toward the sound.
Behind the frosted glass door, a blurred yet slender silhouette was visible.
Looking at the suggestive outline against the glass, a sense of guilt welled up within her.
Shui Hua turned back sharply as if she had been burned and slapped her own cheeks.
‘I’m a man with a girlfriend, yet here I am sharing a hotel room in the middle of nowhere with another woman. Even if it’s not for that kind of reason, it still feels way too unfaithful.’
Shui Hua immediately pretended she hadn’t seen anything and focused her attention on her Mobile Phone, trying to clear her mind.
The sound of water lasted for a long time before finally stopping.
A moment later, the bathroom door pushed open, and Liu Jin walked out, surrounded by a cloud of steam.
“Shui Hua, I’m finished.”
Liu Jin’s long blonde hair was draped wet over her shoulders, the tips still dripping.
Her cheeks were flushed from the heat, making her look less stiff and more soft than usual.
As she spoke, she walked over to the Chair by the desk and picked up the hairdryer, which began to emit a loud *whirring* sound.
Shui Hua finally looked away from her screen.
She noticed that Liu Jin was no longer wearing her Magic Costume, but rather a set of golden silk pajamas.
“Liu Jin, where did those pajamas come from?”
“I wove them with Magic Power. It’s the same principle as weaving a Magic Costume,” Liu Jin answered naturally.
Shui Hua narrowed her eyes, catching a key detail.
“I thought you said you were out of Magic Power?”
Liu Jin was silent for 2 seconds.
The flush that had just started to fade from her face rushed back.
“Because it’s temporary, the consumption isn’t actually that high.”
“You were definitely just coming up with an excuse, weren’t you?”
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