Chu Yuanqing tugged dejectedly at her hem. She really didn't want to train in this every day. Wherever she went, people stared at her. Even now, she could feel their gazes skimming over her thighs and waist, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake.
Her innocent mind didn't assume anyone was a lesbian, and she thought everyone's stares were perfectly normal. Even so, she still found it hard to get used to. Why was it so weird for girls to be around each other?!
Maybe... she could force herself into [Flow State] and try to learn everything in a flash?
A devilish suggestion sprang into Chu Yuanqing's mind, leaving her torn.
If she could enter [Flow State], she'd be at least three times as efficient at memorizing the moves, beats, rhythm, and formations. Even if she was far behind the other contestants to begin with, she could quickly learn most of the routine.
But the key was that entering [Flow State] required total immersion, and being at rest.
The second condition was easy enough to deal with. She just had to concentrate harder and shorten the time it took to enter [Flow State]. It wasn't too difficult to reach that state while moving.
The problem was the first condition.
After all, Chu Yuanqing had been able to enter [Flow State] while studying music theory and singing.
The reason was that singing a sweet song only made her feel awkward at most, not ashamed. She could simply focus on her singing technique and music theory without feeling much resistance.
But dancing candy was different.
It was a sweet, girlish dance filled with adorable little details. Some of the moves even used the twirling of the skirt to create a unified visual effect. And facial expressions were the soul of candy, so she couldn't neglect them.
In other words, to enter [Flow State], she'd first have to twist her male pride, then overcome her shame at wearing a short skirt and acting cute.
She'd have to come to love it and feel passionate about it, maybe even a little excited, before she could adjust her mind to achieve total immersion.
Wait!
How was that any different from making the heroine of an eroge add hearts to her affection meter of her own accord?
Chu Yuanqing snapped back to her senses, feeling a lingering fear. She ground her teeth in annoyance.
Damn red-eyed rabbit. Damn Flash Dance officials. They weren't going to make her willingly use [Flow State] to fall into depravity!
Chu Yuanqing's resolve was firm.
It was fine. Although she'd gradually gotten used to the strange, airy and breezy feeling after dancing in a skirt all day, that was only a tactical adjustment, a stopgap measure she'd resorted to because she had no choice but to escape this misery!
Come on, you can do this!
After giving herself a pep talk, Chu Yuanqing continued dancing with renewed determination.
Her body was already exhausted. The average of eight to nine hours of grueling practice had improved her stamina a little, but honestly, her endurance and strength were still below the average Flash Dance trainee's.
So the farther she got into practice, the more her movements fell apart, and the less efficient she became.
But if she didn't train more while there were fewer people around, she'd have to endure even more stares during the day. She might as well push herself a little harder at night.
Perhaps because she'd adopted this mindset and spent hours dancing under everyone's gaze, she'd grown much more numb to the embarrassment.
As a result, she was even more light and graceful than she'd been during the day. After running through more than a dozen parts, breaking them down and practicing them repeatedly, then performing the whole dance once more, she finally made it through without a single mistake or any stiffness.
—Yes!
Chu Yuanqing felt as if she'd escaped a swamp. She gazed at her flushed reflection in the mirror and let out a long breath. Then the weight of exhaustion swallowed her, and a physical wave of dizziness swept over her.
The girl took half a step back and lowered her eyes. Beads of sweat shook loose from her lashes, breaking into sparkling droplets. Her vision swayed, and the thunderous pounding of her heart echoed in her ears.
It was as if time had slowed. An indescribable feeling of suffocation gripped her whole body.
Then, in another instant,
Chu Yuanqing managed to steady herself. Most of the dizziness faded, replaced by the hollow feeling of having gone hungry for too long. Once she'd recovered a little, she looked around and realized that, without her noticing, everyone else had already left.
The electronic clock in the room read 9:13.
Chu Yuanqing rubbed her cheeks, trying to wake herself up, and muttered to herself,
"Looks like I'll have to eat properly from now on."
Back when she'd worked herself to the bone, her schedule had always been irregular, and her meals even more so. As long as she took care of her daughter, she'd make do with whatever she could grab for herself.
She'd lived that way for seventeen years. After changing bodies, it was only natural that she'd struggle to take care of her health at first.
But...
Wasn't she a Magical Girl now?
Her magic power was practically nonexistent, but she could still use a little magic. Her eyes and hair even looked as if they had special effects, and she had her own Magic Armor that she could switch into at any time, like a transformation.
Why wasn't anything magical happening when this was exactly when magic was supposed to happen?!
Chu Yuanqing grumbled inwardly as she sat down on the floor, resting and spacing out.
The gray glass of the Lantern Pendant grew darker and more shadowy, while several strands of black curled around it and spread.
The girl lowered her eyes and took hold of it. Amid her deep fatigue and rare quiet, she felt a loneliness like seawater slowly rising over her mouth and nose, leaving her unable to breathe.
She suddenly realized that ever since her concentration had improved, she wasn't as muddled as before.
That meant whenever she had nothing to do, she'd find herself recalling things from long ago, like an old person left all alone.
Black threads and golden light shimmered in Chu Yuanqing's clear eyes as her thoughts stretched on.
Actually, becoming a Magical Girl wasn't that bad a deal. In the Old Era, every blessing came with a price and a flaw. There were countless blessings far worse than this one.
For example, [Immortality].
This seemingly invincible power had a condition: she had to truly believe she couldn't die. Its price was the most cruel form of dissociation.
Or [Wall of Sighs].
This summoned wall of pure white possessed absolute defense at the conceptual level. Its activation required randomly sacrificing half of her own flesh and blood.
Its price was that every injury the wall sustained was immediately converted into pain inflicted on her soul. The wall would only break once the pain had made her soul burst apart.
Or [Levatin].
This Mythical Weapon could even wound concepts. It was powerful enough to scorch the sky and boil the seas, burning all creation to ash. It had been one of the most powerful blessings she'd once possessed.
Its activation condition was equally harsh. She had to inscribe an epic onto her soul and bear the karma and sins of bringing about the Twilight of the Gods and destroying the world.
As for its price, only her blood could extinguish the sea of flames it unleashed.
Without [Immortality], ninety percent of her blessings would have been one-use abilities.
That was what blessings were: uncertain powers.
That was also why Chu Yuanqing had chosen to become the Savior. The instant she awakened [Immortality], she understood that some things could only be done by her, and only she could bear the burden.
But even now, what she remembered more vividly than the pain of dying was the faces and smiles of her comrades as they passed their blessings on to her in their final moments.
If her [Immortality] had been the starting point of the New Era, and Charlotte's [Funeral Procession] its end,
then the blessings her other comrades had left behind before their sacrifices had been the bonds that connected everything, turning the impossible into the possible, like a miracle.
As Chu Yuanqing thought of this, she began silently reciting the names that were starting to fade from memory. After an unknown amount of time, when she reached one particular name, she lowered her eyes and sat in a daze for a while before whispering,
"Charlotte."
"I think... I miss you a little."
At the entrance to the practice room,
Tang Liuli stood still, holding a paper bag. Inside were salad, whole-wheat bread, and vinaigrette and yogurt for seasoning. Her emerald-green eyes gazed at the solitary figure in the distance. For a long time, she said nothing.
She'd been able to smell emotions since childhood, and to vividly empathize with them in her mind.
That was why she'd delivered so many iconic performances on the big screen and become a star throughout Great Xia. It was also what had caused her current psychological condition.
And now, this talent had made her the person closest to Chu Yuanqing's heart.
Tang Liuli could smell the sadness filling the room.
It was as thin as mist, as heavy as the sea.
It was so lonely and distant that no one could get close.
Yet even more abstract and bizarre were the many visions she deciphered from those emotions.
Tang Liuli's heart felt suffocated. She was like a boat bobbing on the sea. Clutching the fabric over her chest, she felt mist spread through her eyes, while an odd flush crept across her cheeks. Her expression was dazed, yet tinged with longing and pleasure.
This terrifying power of empathy was turning the emotions she experienced into a flood of inspiration.
Personality models she'd memorized throughout her acting career collided fiercely in her mind like countless puzzle pieces, sinking into her instincts and muscle memory.
—[Flow State].
This was the complete immersion unique to the child prodigy of the past.
If she wished, she could now outshine ninety-nine percent of the actors in the world, delivering countless outstanding performances filled with spirit and a distinctive style.
But why?
Tang Liuli was utterly confused. Her [Flow State] had to be triggered passively.
At first, the slightest stimulus had been enough to make her enter it. After she'd grown out of her childish innocence, she'd needed to find something moving in a high-quality script. The older she got, the more this became the case.
As her age and experience increased, the threshold grew more and more terrifying. In the end, no script could satisfy her, which indirectly led her to quit acting.
It had been seven years since then.
Yet now, just by looking at Chu Yuanqing from afar, Tang Liuli had reached the highest threshold and entered [Flow State] again.
This miraculous accident was like a beam of light falling into the dark, self-loathing parts of her heart.
Tang Liuli greedily empathized with the emotions.
She didn't care whether her acting was good, and she didn't care about [Flow State].
Or rather, she hated acting. Even more than that, she hated this black-hole-like talent that constantly weakened her positive emotions.
But in this fleeting moment of overwhelming emotion, she could feel the freshness and joy of everything in the world. The gloom that had shrouded her mind lifted, as if she'd been given a new lease on life.
—Chu Yuanqing.
Like a saint, Tang Liuli devoutly repeated the name. She recalled how Chu Yuanqing had given her the warmth of a spiritual cleansing when they first met. Her eyes went vacant as she whispered happily,
"Chu Yuanqing."
The words faded away.
[Flow State] finally ended after the immense stimulation.
The intense, climax-like ending made her fingers go limp. The paper bag slipped from her grasp and hit the floor with a loud thud.
Tang Liuli was still standing there in a daze. Mist spilled from her eyes, as if she'd been made to wear a little toy and reduced to tears by the resulting physical stimulation.
A faint rose-colored flush spread across the girl's adorable face. She stared blankly at the other girl, like an idiot, still murmuring her name.
Chu Yuanqing set down the Lantern Pendant in her hand. She didn't notice the flash of pure white inside it. Instead, she felt as if an emotion had suddenly been pulled away from her. She turned around in confusion and saw Tang Liuli standing there like a fool.
The electronic clock in the room had somehow reached 10:40. Had she really been spacing out for that long?
Chu Yuanqing suppressed her confusion and asked,
"Liuli? Did you get worried because I was so late coming back?"
Tang Liuli could no longer hear what she was saying.
In her eyes, Chu Yuanqing looked like a goddess descending from heaven. When those cherry-colored lips pursed, her warm concern was so beautiful.
It was as if the bells of Hagia Sophia were ringing beside her ears. In her mind, she saw the twelve lambs and twelve apostles carved into the church...
Holy, beautiful, majestic, grand.
In the end, a thousand words and countless emotions gathered into a devout answer in her addled mind.
—Qingmen???
"Liuli, Liuli? Are you spacing out?"
Chu Yuanqing's words interrupted her fantasies.
Tang Liuli came to her senses in a daze. First, she was confused about what had happened. Then she was horrified at how perverted she was, unable to believe it, questioning her whole life, falling into despair, accepting reality, and finally feeling a tsunami of shame over what she'd just thought.
The little girl's expression changed incredibly fast, a series of tiny shifts playing across her face. A rouge-like blush spread over her cheeks almost instantly.
Waaah, I'm a pervert. I'm worse than a succubus. Just let me die!
Tang Liuli was so embarrassed she could die. When her eyes met Chu Yuanqing's bewildered gaze, she bolted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, without saying a word.
But halfway through, she ran back in a panic, picked up the paper bag from the floor, shoved it into Chu Yuanqing's arms, and then continued running away as if she could hide what she'd done by covering her ears.
The whole scene was confusing and happened so quickly, like a level-fifteen typhoon that only swept away the fries from a McDonald's.
Chu Yuanqing looked down at the bread, salad, and yogurt in the bag. After thinking it over, all she could conclude was that the girl was too tsundere and too easily embarrassed.
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