The Three Monster Girls' Innocence Was Gone

The real world.

Outside lay the streets of Round Clam Town.

Unlike the dim, damp lair, the town was sunny and the air was fresh. Houses lined the streets in neat, staggered rows, but most were empty, giving the place a lonely feel.

Li Dan walked down the street and soon reached the other end of town, where a detached villa of simple design came into view.

This was where Hachishaku-hime, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Xuexu lived.

As monsters, they had their own way of life.

To be honest, though, the way these three lived was rather different from what he had expected.

He pushed open the villa's front door without bothering to conceal his presence. The smell of fried chicken and sweet cola mingled with a soft feminine fragrance and washed over him.

The living room was softly lit. The curtains were half drawn, and sunlight spilled through the gap, casting golden patches across the floor.

Three figures occupied separate corners of the living room, each slumped in the classic couch-potato pose.

Hachishaku-hime sat in the middle of the large sofa, hugging an enormous stuffed rabbit. On the coffee table before her sat a half-eaten serving of fried chicken and a glass of iced cola. Her eyes were glued to the television, where a melodramatic soap opera was playing. The tearful heroine was accusing the male lead of betraying her.

Tamamo-no-Mae sat in an armchair nearby, wearing pink lace pajamas, her nine fluffy fox tails sprawled across the seat.

One tail had even curled around a piece of fried chicken without her noticing. A laptop sat in front of her, its screen showing the latest episode of an anime she was following. A dab of sauce clung to the corner of her mouth as she watched, utterly engrossed.

Xuexu sat on