Magical Girl

Midtown Avenue, a ready-to-wear clothing store called "Magical Girl."

Located in a bustling district, the shop was lavishly and elegantly decorated. All kinds of clothes and accessories that made girls' hearts flutter hung in the display windows, while full-length fitting mirrors seemed filled with magic, allowing every girl to reveal her most beautiful pose before them.

"This is Messer City's finest ready-to-wear shop. We create the most beautiful appearances for every girl. From the color of every strand of hair to the choice of ankle bracelet, we can provide services best suited to your needs. Just walk into Number Five, Champs-Élysées Side Street, Midtown Avenue, and you will witness the transformation of a Magical Girl."

As Sally read aloud from an exquisite card behind him, Tang Qi had already pushed open the shop's glass-and-polished-wood door.

Ding-a-ling!

Accompanied by the crisp, pleasant chime, Tang Qi and Sally both took in the shop's layout.

Aside from the dazzling array of clothes and accessories, the most eye-catching features were undoubtedly the exquisite mirrors and the classically styled Fitting Rooms. After just one glance, Tang Qi could not help praising it inwardly.

After all, he was a soul that had experienced the fashion explosion of Previous Life Earth. Tang Qi's aesthetic sense might not have been especially outstanding, but being a little ahead of Origin Blue Star's was no problem.

But now, Tang Qi could find no fault with this shop.

A store that perfectly combined exquisite classical charm with a girl's splendor!

Tang Qi silently gave his assessment.

At that moment, he was no longer surprised that this shop had earned such a considerable reputation among Messer City's upper class.

Of course, if it had not been so, Tang Qi would not have brought Sally here.

The gift he intended to give this sweet, gullible girl was a makeover service.

With his current discerning eye, he could naturally see that Sally's own qualities were not bad at all. The reason she had become the target of those vicious girls' bullying, aside from the unfortunate boost from the name Unlucky Sally, was her rustic and timid appearance.

Boys did not want to approach her when they saw her, while vicious girls wanted to bully her. She was practically born to be picked on.

Though Tang Qi was very confident in his own taste, personally creating a new image for a girl was always inappropriate.

Coming here was the most natural choice.

Although Sally was not part of high society and normally could not discuss fashion with other girls, she had occasionally heard the name "Magical Girl." Combined with the introduction on the exquisite card in her hand—

The service here would be excellent, but the prices would probably be terrifying too.

The girl thought silently to herself.

"Tang Qi, h-how about we forget it?"

Sally tugged at Tang Qi's sleeve and gathered her courage to speak.

But since Tang Qi had already brought her here, there was no way he would give up halfway.

Tang Qi gave the girl a faint smile, and his gentle gaze helped calm her somewhat.

As a ready-to-wear shop beloved by the noble young ladies of high society, it naturally gathered many beautiful girls. Every one of them was pretty and fashionable, dressed to the nines, their lovely youthful energy rushing toward them.

Compared to them, Sally looked like an ugly duckling.

If Tang Qi had not been standing in front of her, the girl would probably have fled in panic already.

At that moment, a sales attendant came over to greet them.

Unexpectedly, the person receiving them was not a young, beautiful, sweet-looking girl, but a kindly old lady.

The old lady had taken excellent care of herself. Though she wore a uniform, she exuded an air of dignity. There were quite a few wrinkles on her face, but judging from her rosy complexion and still-delicate features, she must have been a great beauty in her youth.

The old lady approached them and smiled at Tang Qi and Sally. "What can I do for you two young customers?"

Tang Qi glanced at the nameplate on the kindly old lady's chest. He paid little attention to the "manager" suffix, returned her smile, then pulled Sally forward from behind him. "Mrs. Hudson, this girl needs help. She needs some outward changes to make her more confident."

As Tang Qi spoke, Mrs. Hudson's gaze was fixed on Sally.

Her eye was naturally even sharper than Tang Qi's.

Almost immediately, Mrs. Hudson's eyes lit up. With great delight, she took Sally's hand, and her gentle, soothing voice entered Sally's ears.

"What a beautiful little girl. Seeing you reminds this old lady of what I looked like when I was young—just as inexperienced, just as lovable. But poor Miss Hudson was not as lucky as you back then. She did not have such a young gentleman to protect her."

"Come, lucky little girl. Relax a little. You are my Magical Girl now."

When it came to handling girls, this Mrs. Hudson was clearly eighteen streets ahead of Tang Qi.

Sally, who had been extremely nervous just a second ago, soon followed the old lady into one of the private Fitting Rooms.

Tang Qi followed in with a faint smile. This was another distinctive feature of the shop.

Its layout was astonishingly spacious. Every customer had a private fitting room, each one like a small living room, with an actual changing area and space for the customer's friends to chat and eat snacks. Chairs and sofas were all provided.

With experience from his previous life on Earth, Tang Qi naturally would not foolishly sit around waiting for the new Sally to emerge. Instead, he chose a small sofa, sat down, took out Monster Files, and began reading it.

To others, it was an absurdly massive tome from start to finish, but to Tang Qi, it possessed immense appeal. Most of its contents concerned the Twelve Saints and the various monsters they had slain.

Those were also what interested Tang Qi the most.

Before long, he was immersed in it.

Who knew how much time passed? Tang Qi had just finished reading an account of Martin Sims, one of the Twelve Saints, also known as The Penitent, slaying a Two-Headed Demonic Eagle atop Black Sand Mountain when the ornate door nearby, which had remained closed ever since—

Suddenly creaked open.

When Tang Qi instinctively raised his head, an unbelievable figure entered his sight.

Sally was carefully shuffling forward in a pair of high heels.

Her head was slightly lowered, as though she had not noticed at all how enormous her transformation had been.

Her messy bird's-nest-like golden hair had somehow been made smooth by Mrs. Hudson, falling softly around her shoulders in strands. A flower crown rested atop her head, fully revealing her nearly perfect youthful face.

Her baggy pants and loose sweater had vanished, replaced by a gauzy dress of interwoven gold and white, like the attire of an elf. Beneath the soft sheer fabric, her fair skin, almost luminous, could be vaguely seen.

Perhaps she was too shy, for a faint blush gradually crept up and dyed her cheeks and her crystalline earlobes red.

Even someone as picky as Tang Qi could only marvel at the sight.

He dared say that if Sally entered St. Thorn High School looking like this, the entire school would erupt. And Angela, the cheerleader captain also known as the blonde girl Angela, would probably be driven mad with jealousy.

Mrs. Hudson, who supported Sally as she emerged from behind, was equally satisfied. But her naturally exacting professional attitude prevented her from immediately declaring the job finished. Instead, she first helped Sally to the huge full-length fitting mirror. Just as Sally gathered her courage and raised her head to admire her new self—

Mrs. Hudson reached toward Sally's exaggerated black-framed glasses, apparently intending to remove them and complete the final step of the makeover.

Those black-framed glasses truly were the final obstacle.

Once they came off, Tang Qi could imagine it: a girl almost like an elf would appear before them.

Yet for some reason, as Tang Qi watched Mrs. Hudson's movement, his mind suddenly seemed to explode with a roar. Every hair on his body stood on end, his scalp tingled, and an unprecedentedly intense warning of danger surged madly through him.

"Wait—"

"Ah—"

Just as Tang Qi's warning left his mouth, Mrs. Hudson had already removed the black-framed glasses.

Buzz!

The abrupt change happened in an instant.

Tang Qi and Sally met each other's gaze. No, more precisely, he met Sally's gaze in the mirror.