Bad chips, "fat otaku happy water," a powerful little fan bought for 9.9 yuan with free shipping, and several empty instant-noodle containers filled the secondhand desk she had scavenged from Xianyu.
A cheap phone stand made from two pieces of wood held Hua Xin's eighth-hand tablet and her Da Mi phone, half its screen shattered, upright before her.
The tablet was playing her favorite anime, but the worried Hua Xin could not summon even the slightest interest in it.
She scrolled down once more, dragging the webpage all the way to the bottom before leaning back in the creaking chair and letting out a heavy sigh.
"Can doing it too much cause gender reassignment?"
"How should I find my little buddy after it ran away from home?"
"Is it normal to wake up and turn into a girl?"
"How do I join the Super-Mysterious Natural Investigation Group?"
"Do supernatural phenomena really exist?"
"How many stars of monsters do I need to Synchro Summon God?"
Overlapping webpage windows filled the monitor. With a look of utter hopelessness, Hua Xin placed her hand on the slime.
She squeezed it absentmindedly.
(Soft...?? It feels really nice...)
But she suddenly let go as if electrocuted, and her face visibly flushed red.
"Hua Hua Hua, Hua Xin..."
"What have you done!"
The girl stood up from the chair with an angry look on her face, and the slime bobbed up and down along with her movement.
She clenched both fists.
Then, in a fit of rage, she got angry for a moment.
But she had to admit that touching it felt completely different from touching a man's ??.
Sigh...
This short-sleeved shirt had been a little tight before, yet now it was loose and oversized.
Hua Xin silently straightened the oversized shirt, sat back down, and sent her fingers flying over the keyboard marked with the words "Qinghua Tongfang."
"A girl's ??? really is limitless..."
Smack!
She slammed her hand onto the Delete key.
"What am I even doing?"
Hua Xin buried her head in her hands, looking utterly hopeless.
The gender on her ID card had not changed, and neither had the one in her household register...
But why was she the only thing that had changed?
Since supernatural power had not altered those things, that meant she had become like this purely because her little buddy could not take it anymore and had run away from home.
"Ugh..."
The girl tugged at her hair, still unable to accept reality.
Why had a plot that could only happen in novels appeared in her life?
She had not picked up any strange stones, touched any strange cards, or made a wish to a god to become a beautiful girl!
She had only done what every man did!
??????
"My brother??..."
What was she supposed to do?
The internet only told her that she had terminal illnesses and delusions. It offered no useful information at all.
"It's over..."
"Am I still a...!??"
In nineteen years, she had not even held a girl's little hand, much less experienced the Maple Forest Evening parking spot she had always longed for.
Well... it was not as if anyone could possibly like her in this form anyway.
Hua Xin gave a self-mocking laugh.
She had always been like a sewer rat, only able to spy on other people's lives.
Slumped in the chair, she found that becoming a beautiful girl did not seem quite as difficult to accept as it had at first.
The little fan whirred as it blew on her, and her hair drifted gently with the moving air. Hua Xin raised a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, just like the girls in videos and anime.
"So this is what having long hair feels like..."
Hua Xin nodded.
It's not much different from short hair.??
"What should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do..."
The girl listlessly propped both legs on the desktop, spread out her lotus-like arms, and completely gave up.
She should first sort out what had happened.
1. She had done it four times last night.
2. Her little buddy had disappeared today.
3. She could not think of anything else.
All right, investigation complete. A textbook case of a genuine miracle.
Wait... a miracle?...
"System!"
"Main God!"
"..."
Hua Xin suddenly shouted with a solemn expression, but nothing happened.
Haha, this time she was completely screwed.
The girl tilted her head and gave up struggling entirely.
In a world where even animals were not allowed to cultivate into spirits, something like this had suddenly happened. Five whole hours had passed since morning.
There had not been the slightest progress.
Nor was there the slightest hope of returning to normal.
Wait! Return to normal...
A blind spot! You found it, Watson!
Hua Xin suddenly perked up, and a bold plan sprang to life in her mind.
Looking at the pair of fair, straight legs before her eyes, and the small jade-like feet crossed together, sweet and delicious as ice cream...
She reached out and touched them.
The smooth, slippery skin was impossible to stop touching.
Gulp.
The girl swallowed.
If a pair of such perfect legs really appeared before her, she would charge forward and lick them without hesitation.
Unfortunately, they belonged to her now.
Hua Xin lowered her legs, moved the chair back beside the computer, and sat down.
The clatter of typing filled the room as the girl opened Tieba, where she was most likely to receive help.
She searched for the "Transformation and Marriage Novels" forum.
"Discussion Thread" "What would you do if you guys did it four times, then woke up as a beautiful girl the next day?"
She clicked Post.
Sigh...
Did she really have to do this?
It would probably take a long time for the post to receive replies. Before getting an answer, she had to test her own theory first.
Since she had lost her ???? and become a girl because she had done it four times...
What if she did it four more times now?
"I really might be a genius.??" Thinking this, Hua Xin could not help laughing smugly.
She checked that the curtains were properly drawn. The tissues needed for battle had remained dutifully stationed beside the bed, ready to clean up the battlefield once the war ended.
She placed a cushion at the head of the bed and leaned it behind her. The soft touch steadied her mind somewhat.
It was fine...
It was not as if she had never done this before. This was merely a different method now.
Get it done first...
Hua Xin let out a long breath, her expression resolute yet carrying a trace of curiosity, and took off her oversized boxer shorts.
Hiss...
She could not see the other side.
Still... this really was the kind of layout she liked in a house.
Hua Xin's lips twitched. When something she liked appeared on her own body, the feeling was impossible to describe.
Despair mixed with delight.
Joy mixed with sorrow.
She calmly took out her phone. With a blank expression, the girl snapped a picture.
She enlarged the photo and examined it carefully...
Oh.
????????
This was too much.
Hua Xin made her chest heave twice, then took two furious, deep breaths while staring at the photo on her phone.
Why...
Why was it so perfect?
Hua Xin closed her eyes and tremblingly extended her right index finger.
Her heart raced as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
"Eek!??"
What was this feeling?
This was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad...
"Hah..." Trembling syllables escaped her mouth, and a layer of pitiful mist seemed to cloud Hua Xin's eyes.
"There... there are still three more."
She would definitely, definitely turn back.
Right?
??(?)??
Before you continue