This is Forced Consumption

Angell had already seen everything he wanted to see.

So the moment his puppet's head fell off, he turned without lingering and went back to Cecilia.

The fermentation of Magical Girl☆Maya didn't stop there, though. Discussions about it grew fiercer, and for the next six months, it remained hot content in major newspapers and film magazines.

These discussions reached Cecilia's citizens before the movie itself did.

After all, the film's actual release still needed time, but information traveled ahead through newspapers and radio.

Cecilians found themselves itching from all those film reviews, and from time to time, someone would drop by Magic Gear to ask about the movie.

Angell certainly wasn't going to let this wave of opportunity slip by.

"It's about time to start warming up."

Ever since returning from Xiesse, Angell had said this to the Mithril Cat.

The warm-up Angell meant wasn't for the movie itself—he'd left all the film's promotion entirely to Sir Mandela, since that was the professional's domain—but for the merchandise.

While shooting the movie, he'd already been planning a series of commercial rollouts afterward. But post-production had taken longer than he'd expected, and he couldn't exactly run over to Xiesse to supervise, so he'd shelved the matter.

Now Angell felt he could begin.

So one dark, moonless night, Angell took the Mithril Cat outside the workshop and waved his wand.

The wand Angell used was, of course, not a Pseudo-Wand, but the Alchemy Staff exclusive to the owner of Magic Gear.

This staff wasn't as flashy as a Pseudo-Wand, but its construction was absolutely complex. Its tip bore an intricate pattern of stars, moons, and suns—the stars were magic crystal gems, and the vertical lines representing the sun's rays were magic circuits. All of them were movable; through gears in the back, the positions of these gems and circuits could be adjusted to form different magic arrays.

With such a staff, an alchemist could skip the process and get straight to the result.

In that sense, a Pseudo-Wand was less like a real wand and more like an Alchemy Staff—both were intermediary tools that fixed spell runes or magic arrays to output fixed spells.

This was also the biggest difference between mages and alchemists.

Mages had complete functionality on their own; they didn't need a wand to stabilize, amplify, or magnify their spells—they could cast without one. But at the same time, they were limited by their own functionality (talent), only able to learn spells in a certain direction.

Alchemists, on the other hand, were incomplete. They had to rely on external tools to achieve spell effects, but they weren't bound by functionality (talent). As long as they had enough materials and steps, they could get the result they wanted—even create miracles greater than what mages could produce.

Take the workshop in front of them, for example.

When Angell inserted the Alchemy Staff into the floor tiles beneath his feet, enormous alchemical patterns emerged under the entire workshop storefront. Different magical patterns flowed across the building itself. Between walls and floors, between brick and brick, everything floated loose, becoming like building blocks, ready to be disassembled and rearranged at will.

Angell pulled out the prepared fourth floor and placed it under the first floor, turning the original first floor into the second. Then he pulled out the fifth floor and set it above what was now the second floor (formerly the first-floor storefront), making it the third. The two floors above shifted up in turn: Rune Studio became the fourth floor, and Angell and Enlise's bedroom moved to the fifth.

"Isn't this a bit too tall?" Angell complained. "Going back to my room every day feels kind of inconvenient."

"You're fine—you can Teleport. For Enlise and the Rune Masters, though, it really is a bit high." The Mithril Cat rarely agreed with Angell's complaints.

"Next time we renovate, I'll install an elevator in the storefront," Angell mused.

"No, aren't you going to consider living in the workshop owner's main residence, meow?" The Mithril Cat gave him an odd look.

Even employees had dormitories, and of course the workshop's successive owners had their own residence. Angell just found it too big to clean, so he'd always lived above the storefront.

Now that the workshop had turned a profit, Angell could afford to treat himself better.

But as a Black Robe mage, Angell had a different view of "treating yourself better" than ordinary people.

"The main residence! I could definitely put that to use. Once I make a good profit at the end of this year, I'll convert that building into a Mage Tower... a research lab, I mean! That way I'll have my own research space." Angell calculated.

...A research lab? You clearly said Mage Tower, didn't you?

The Mithril Cat shot Angell a sidelong glance.

Still, it could understand how Angell felt.

Every mage wanted their own Mage Tower, but only High-level Mages had the qualifications to build one, so an Intermediate Mage like Angell could only dream. Now that he had money and wanted to make a knockoff Mage Tower to satisfy his craving, the Mithril Cat wouldn't object.

As long as he didn't throw money into a bottomless black hole like a Mana Base Station and affect the workshop's normal operations, the Mithril Cat didn't care about its owner's quirks or hobbies.

Besides, among all the past owners, Angell's way of rewarding himself was already pretty socially valuable.

*

How Angell wanted to spend his money was his own business. Angell's "wallets" just had to pay up.

When Magic Gear's members came to the workshop the next day, they noticed the changes.

They found that the game tables they usually played on had all been moved to the second floor. The first floor had become an open merchandise store, complete with a members-only section where certain limited magical items could only be bought by members.

The customers didn't have much objection to this.

They didn't realize this floor of merchandise would become an inescapable nightmare for the rest of their lives. They still thought they could control their spending urges. Only a handful of well-off customers took home a few Four Seasons Game Table plush toys as a show of support. Most people kept a cautious attitude while browsing the wands in the members-only section, not even tempted by the 20% pre-order discount.

What really stirred the customers up was the arena on the second-floor game zone.

This arena had received great praise ever since it was introduced on Magic Gear's reopening day, but it had never been promoted into a main game mode, and there were reasons for that.

The first reason was the old problem: controlling the characters required too much mana. Most players couldn't pull off impressive Ultimate Skills at all, and most of the time they were just putting on a show of two noobs flailing at each other—naturally, it wasn't very playable. That was Angell's opinion, anyway. In reality, most of those noobs were having a blast; they had no idea what an "Ultimate Skill" even was.

The second reason was that development was too difficult. Having Angell single-handedly design the appearances, fighting styles, and Ultimate Skills for N different game characters was too mentally draining. Angell felt he'd be better off spending his energy on something that yielded quicker returns, so he'd shelved the arena's development.

That day, when members came to the second floor of the Alchemy Workshop, they saw the arena placed at the entrance to the third floor.

Around the arena coiled a ring of golden chains. These chains spread outward, winding all the way up the third-floor staircase railing, forming layer upon layer of obstacles. At the very top of the stairs hung a large lock.

"What's the meaning of this?"

The guest George asked, "Is this thing not allowed anymore?"

George was one of the rookie guests who had a particular fondness for the Magic Arena.

He had registered as a Magic Gear member on the day it reopened, and after half a year, he was considered an old hand. But George looked down on the Game Table as a "sissy" toy, choosing only to fight "manly" battles in the Arena with Miss Cecilia and the Magic Wolf.

So even though George had already become VIP5 just from his Carbonated Water consumption, his magic level was still F.

Half a month ago, George finally earned his first achievement icon, "Stubborn King."

Over a hundred others had also earned this icon, and the number looked like it might keep growing.

Angell couldn't understand the gaming spirit of this group.

But not understanding was one thing; guests were still guests, so a Receptionist Cat immediately replied:

"Of course you can play, meow!"

"Just do what you normally do."

"Then why did you guys hang a weird chain here?" George said discontentedly, walking over to the Arena's player seat and dropping in a coin.

Across from George, another guest stepped up to the player seat.

It was a small guest, looking only eight or nine years old, not even as tall as the seat. The Receptionist Cat had to help bring a stool so he could properly fiddle with the buttons on the seat.

George got angry as soon as he saw him. "Kid, don't mess around! This isn't for you!"

"I paid, so why can't I play?!" Little Bolo shouted back without fear.

Little Bolo had only recently become a Magic Gear member.

He lived on the edge of Cecilia City. For a nine-year-old boy, going alone from the edge of the city to the center was nothing short of an adventure.

But the Charity School Little Bolo attended was a pilot school for the Mana Base Station.

After repeatedly trying to stay and play games (X) learn magic, only to be chased off by the old gatekeeper, Little Bolo finally learned about Magic Gear. Then, on a day off, he traveled a great distance to this Alchemy Workshop, hoping to see if he could "learn magic" around Magic Gear.

The area around Magic Gear was indeed possible, but Little Bolo was captivated by the Magic Arena.

A real man should have a hot-blooded fight!

Little Bolo instantly forgot his dream of becoming a worker. He felt that being born in the Magic Era meant he must be a brave warrior.

On this day off, Little Bolo came to the Workshop again.

Since Little Bolo had made this "long journey" to get here, he wasn't about to back down. He taunted his "enemy," "Old man, you're not scared of losing to a kid like me, are you?"

"Whoa! You've got guts!"

"Old George, show this kid what's what."

The onlookers stirred things up, eager for chaos.

George's face turned red. "You just wait!"

He quickly pressed the buttons, "summoning" the cute Miss Cecilia, then controlled her as she raised her Magic Wand at the Magic Wolf Little Bolo had summoned.

George had been playing this game all along, so his controls were naturally familiar.

Little Bolo, on the other hand, was a bit clumsy.

The few times he'd come before, he'd only watched others play. This was his first time operating it himself. The Magic Wolf failed to dodge an attack, took a heavy hit, and a big splash of blood bloomed from its head.

"Hahaha, kid, go back to your mommy's arms and suckle!" George laughed.

The crowd kept up the ruckus:

"Finish him!"

"Kid, this isn't your place!"

"Show him what's what!"

The chaotic shouts mixed with some foul language, drawing a few Receptionist Cats to stop and watch.

Lately, the user base for the Magic Arena and Game Table had been growing, becoming more and more unsuitable for children.

The Receptionist Cats watched carefully, determined to drag that human cub out before things got out of hand.

But that cub was calmer than anyone expected.

Despite being surrounded by abusive language, Little Bolo didn't panic. He maneuvered the Magic Wolf to dodge the opponent's second attack, fumbling with the keyboard controls, slowly getting the hang of it.

Then, the gap in their magic levels gradually became apparent.

Though Little Bolo was young, he had been receiving proper (?) magic education for the past half year. Not counting the "extra lessons" he'd fought for, he diligently did his daily Meditation Class, always feeling like he couldn't get enough. His game rating at Magic Gear had reached C-level, enough to play the Game Table normally.

George, on the other hand, was the opposite.

He was the most common type of ordinary person with no magic talent. Since he had no interest in the Game Table, he naturally had no other meditation opportunities. So after controlling his character for a few attacks, his movements slowed down.

George needed a long rest to recover even a little bit of magic.

If he were up against another rookie like himself, the two would fall into a typical standoff. Usually, the characters on the Arena would stand still, while the players in their seats would try to out-shout each other—if they got really worked up, they'd even challenge each other to a fight in the park—until the game was forcibly ended for inactivity, or they were booed off the Arena by other players.

Little Bolo naturally wouldn't let go of the "weakness" George had exposed.

His Magic Wolf charged straight at Miss Cecilia and bit her neck in one go.

"You bastard!" George slammed the buttons frantically.

But what use was it? His Mana was already spent.

Blood blossoms kept popping above Cecilia's head.

"Your button's broken!" George roared angrily.

Before the Receptionist Cat could reply, the crowd jeered:

"You're just too pathetic!"

"Take your loss and shut up!"

"A spineless loser who can't even beat a kid!"

The onlookers were perfectly "fair"—they always sided with the strong and mocked the weak.

George didn't have Little Bolo's composure. Furious, he smacked the button:

"Fine, you do it then!"

The crowd booed.

A few actually said "I'll take that challenge," but maybe because it was a weekend morning and the strong players were still asleep, not one managed to beat Little Bolo.

By the time Little Bolo won his thirteenth round, the Magic Wolf, after killing Miss Cecilia, didn't strike its usual victory pose. Instead, it took a few steps toward the stairs.

"Hero, if it's you, perhaps you can save this woman from her tragic fate."

"Are you willing to accept this challenge?"

What was this?

An adult would have asked that question.

But Little Bolo was just a nine-year-old boy. He felt it was only natural that the Magic Wolf, which had fought so long for him, would make such a request—after all, he'd already proven his strength!

Little Bolo answered excitedly: "I will!"

The Magic Wolf nodded, its entire body turning into a Silver Light Orb that landed on the chains around the arena. The chains on the stairs clattered down, and even the top lock clicked open with a snap.

It made a huge noise and burst into brilliant light, drawing the attention of nearly every player on the second floor.

A Maine Coon wearing boots hopped onto the now-open stairs and said to Little Bolo:

"Follow me, Hero."

Little Bolo followed the Maine Coon toward the Third Floor.

"What's that?"

Other players naturally wanted to follow out of curiosity, but as Bolo climbed the stairs, golden chains layered behind him once more, sealing the path.

The Maine Coon's voice drifted down from above:

"Only the Hero who passes the trial is worthy of entering the Third Floor!"

"What is this? A new event?"

"Is the Third Floor opening a new game?"

"I'm VIP9—let me go up and see!"

The other players crowded around the arena and quickly learned the rules from the Receptionist Cat:

"Win thirteen consecutive rounds;

"Or use an Ultimate Skill;

"When five players have passed the trial, the second-floor arena will be removed, and all players can enter the 'Illusion Arena' on the Third Floor."

Naturally, the player base for the Magic Arena swelled several times that day.

Even players who weren't interested in the arena jumped in for a few rounds out of curiosity about the Third Floor.

And so, people noticed something they'd overlooked before: the more often players used the Game Table and the higher their Mana level, the more agile their controls were in the arena—though that didn't rule out hopeless Clumsy Players like An XX, who couldn't be saved no matter how much Mana they had.

"You're forcing us to spend!"

George and other scrub players, after being slaughtered countless times, cursed and trudged over to the Game Table.

*

Little Bolo knew nothing of the commotion below.

He followed the Maine Coon to the Third Floor, but instead of leading him through the big door that looked like a Theater entrance, the cat took him down a long corridor to a small room with five full-length mirrors.

Little Bolo walked past the five mirrors. Only one reflected his image.

Curious, he looked at that mirror and saw himself wearing a Jazz Hat.

Then he touched his head—and actually pulled a hat off it.

"This is your prize," the Maine Coon said. "Only the first Hero to pass the trial gets this equipment for free."

"Dear master, I am the Hat of Wisdom, and I will guide you in battle from now on," the hat said.

"Free... meaning I can spend money?" Bolo asked oddly.

He seemed to have a meticulousness unusual for a nine-year-old boy: "I saw a similar hat in the membership area of the first-floor shop. It's merchandise, right?"

But Angell would never make such a mistake.

"No, no, no, this hat is special!" The Maine Coon paused at Bolo's questioning, surprised the child would ask such a sharp question, but quickly replied, "See the blue ribbon on top? That's exclusive to you. You'll find it has a special use in battle, and your Membership Token will have a Hero Badge that belongs only to you."

By this point, the Maine Coon was deeply impressed by Angell.

Why was the master so thoughtful?!

Even the customer's desire for exclusivity had been calculated into the prize!

But the Maine Coon was a bit mistaken—Little Bolo wasn't really concerned about "exclusivity"; he was just confirming whether the item in his hand was the same magical artifact from the first-floor counter.

Now that he had confirmation, Bolo happily put the hat on his head.

And with that motion, his reflection in the mirror and the mirror itself vanished, revealing a door behind.

"The journey ahead must be taken by you alone," the Maine Coon said, placing its left paw on its chest and bowing.

"Leave it to me!"

Little Bolo puffed out his chest and walked through the door.

Behind it was a massive arena, floating alone in midair. Looking down, he saw layers of Mage Towers, their spires standing like trap needles, making him fear falling.

But this arena wasn't for Players to fight on—the door Bolo passed through led to a Player seat.

Without hesitation, Bolo placed his hand on the panel and input Mana.

A Magical Girl, primarily blue in color, appeared before Bolo:

"Magical Girl Lisa, answering your call."

"Guide me in battle, my partner," the Magical Girl said.

On the opposite side of the arena, a group of little Monsters jumped out. If Bolo had seen the Movie of the Magical Girl, he would have recognized these as the Monsters from the film, but even without seeing it, the game went on.

Little Bolo quickly began controlling Magical Girl Lisa to fight the little Monsters.

But just as the battle reached its peak, he heard his hat suddenly speak: "My clever master, why are you fighting in such a clumsy way? Lisa could clearly use much stronger moves."

"What should I do?" Little Bolo asked.

The hat recited a series of spells: "Use this magic—it will help you!"

Little Bolo repeated the spells aloud, and the Magical Girl began chanting in sync. They successfully defeated the Monster.

But...

At that moment, the game no longer mattered.

At least to Bolo, it didn't matter at all.

Little Bolo didn't start the next round immediately. Instead, he asked the hat a very peculiar question: "How do you know all those complicated spells?"

"I'm a Magic Hat with an excellent memory!" the hat replied.

"If I asked you to remember other things, could you do that?" Bolo pressed.

"If you have enough Mana, of course I can remember."

"Including all the textbooks?!"

Little Bolo's eyes began to dart around slyly.