Magical Girls Exposed!

(Aren't Xiao Qiu and the others alive and well right now?)

(That may be true! But I'm still worried!!)

(It's fine. Xiao Bai will step in. She looks much stronger than Xiao Qiu and the others, so everything will definitely be okay with her around!)

(Speaking of which, why is Xiao Bai so much stronger than Xiao Qiu and the others? She doesn't even look much older than them...)

(She's a senior, after all! It's normal for her to be stronger!)

The discussion thread quickly shifted its focus from the Demons to "Magical Girl Xiao Bai."

Although most people guessed that Xiao Bai... in other words, Fang Ming, was a veteran Magical Girl, a small number of people still had doubts about Fang Ming's strength.

Judging by her appearance, Fang Ming looked about the same age as Yu Muqiu and the other two. In fact, she even seemed shorter than Chen Xiaoxia.

That was only because Fang Ming was wearing thick-soled boots.

She did not look very old, and since she had said, "Rock City is my territory," that proved she was probably a local. So, she should not have been a Magical Girl for very long.

Yet she alone was stronger than the three girls combined. That was undeniably strange.

According to Nino, no matter who it was, a Magical Girl's total magical power would not be particularly high when she first transformed.

To become stronger, she had to hone her magical power.

The better her talent and the greater the potential of her own Emotion Seed, the faster her magical power would improve.

But there would never be a Magical Girl who was overwhelmingly powerful from the very beginning.

In Nino's eyes, Yu Muqiu's talent belonged to the very best tier. Even in the world where Nino's hometown was located, it would have been considered exceptional.

Chen Xiaoxia and the others were the same. Their strength had improved rapidly, and in just two months, they had already reached a level close to Lesser Demons.

In short, if "Xiao Bai" was a veteran Magical Girl, then it made sense.

But if she was a newly awakened Magical Girl, then her power was clearly abnormal.

"Of course it's abnormal. If I didn't have a cheat, I wouldn't even be able to summon my scythe."

As Fang Ming read the discussion thread, he mocked himself inwardly.

As mentioned before, Fang Ming had a cheat.

That cheat was a progress bar that allowed him to see his learning progress. As long as he studied diligently, the progress bar would keep rising.

And even if he stopped studying related knowledge in the future, the progress bar would not fall.

That was what they meant by "once certified, always certified."

Before this, Fang Ming had learned many things with the help of the progress bars.

Putting aside ordinary subjects like math, physics, and chemistry, he had also learned quite a few miscellaneous skills.

Only after coming into contact with magical power did Fang Ming discover another use for the progress bars.

[Progress Conversion].

It meant Fang Ming could consume progress from other progress bars to advance progress bars related to supernatural power.

For example, when he first came into contact with magical power, Fang Ming's magical power was [LV0], representing a beginner's level.

That level was not even as high as Yu Muqiu's when she had first become a Magical Girl, so naturally, he could not have been a Demon's match.

But after gaining the ability of [Progress Conversion], Fang Ming directly converted the progress bars for several low-level, rarely used skills he had learned before, such as "car repair," "appliance repair," and "pastry making," into magical power progress.

Only after consuming more than a dozen level-one and level-two skills did Fang Ming manage to raise his magical power to [LV2].

By his estimation, that should have been the level of a Lesser Demon.

Combined with the fact that he had caught his enemy off guard, Fang Ming had set a trap in advance and bound the Speed Demon's body with Chains, allowing him to kill it in a single blow.

The same had been true when he dealt with Yu Muqiu later.

In places where they could not see, the Chains had already drawn near. Only after they realized what was happening did Fang Ming immediately bind them with the Chains.

But even so, those Chains had failed to withstand the power Yu Muqiu unleashed.

That proved Yu Muqiu's magical power had also been at LV2 at the time.

"But now I'm LV3... and so are my other spells."

During the final battle more than a month ago, Fang Ming had already been at LV2 and close to LV3.

After more than a month of training, Fang Ming's magic level had successfully broken through to LV3.

That was probably the level of a Mid-Tier Demon.

It was the same rank as the Demon Fang Ming and Yu Muqiu's group had fought before, the one formed from six Nightmare Seeds gathered together.

"Level zero to one takes 10 proficiency points, level one to two takes 100, level two to three takes 1,000, and now..."

Looking at the 68/10000 progress bar behind his magical power level, Fang Ming narrowed his eyes.

From level three to level four, the progress bar required ten thousand points.

And the further he went, the more difficult it became to raise the progress bar.

He had spent more than a month earning those 68 points, averaging almost two points per day.

Unless he sacrificed progress from other ordinary skills to boost it, it would probably take more than ten years to reach LV4.

Still, there was no need to rush for now.

Yu Muqiu and the others' magical power was probably only at the peak of LV2. Without a visible progress bar like Fang Ming's, who knew how long it would take them to break through to LV3.

If no more Nightmare Seeds appeared in this world, it would probably take them a very long time to make any progress.

After closing the discussion thread, Fang Ming went back to the website to check his profile.

First, the name field had changed from unknown to "Xiao Bai."

The alias field beneath it had also gained titles such as Xiao Bai and Senior Xiao Bai.

At the bottom, in the character introduction, after skipping past the earlier information, he found that the plot of episode five related to him had also been added.

[...In episode five, she dealt with the Nightmare Seed before Xiao Qiu, then handed the Nightmare Seed to Xiao Qiu while questioning why Nino had allowed Xiao Qiu and the others to become Magical Girls.

Judging from her tone, she was suspected to be a veteran Magical Girl.

After arguing with Xiao Qiu, she tossed out, "Rock City is my territory," then turned and left, leaving Xiao Qiu alone to watch her departing back in sorrow.]

"Pfft! What the hell is 'watching her departing back in sorrow'?!"

By the time he reached the end of the introduction, Fang Ming, who had been about to drink some cola, nearly sprayed it out in one mouthful.

The person compiling this website's entries clearly had something seriously wrong with their head!

Fang Ming had only appeared in one episode, yet it felt like they were already trying to pair him up with Xiao Qiu as a couple.

Xiao Qiu was his younger sister!

Though she was some extremely distant cousin whose relation was so far removed he did not even know how many generations separated them, she was still his younger sister!

How could he possibly be paired up with his own sister?!

And besides, Xiao Qiu had not looked sorrowful at all! She had only been disappointed because she failed to make a friend!

Don't write nonsense when you don't understand anything!

As Fang Ming looked at the website's introduction, he suddenly realized that if he let others write whatever they wanted, who knew what rumors they would spread.

After thinking it over, Fang Ming picked up his phone and called the Magical Girls Headquarters... no, the Federation Department of Supernatural Power Investigation.

"Hello? Director Liu? This is Fang Ming. It's like this, I have something I'd like to ask of you... It's nothing major. I just want editing access to the official Magical Girl Website... Yes, after all, I count as a 'literary and artistic worker' too."

Fang Ming spoke to Director Liu on the other end of the line with a cheerful smile.

He intended to get administrative control over the Magical Girl Website, so those troublesome netizens would not write whatever nonsense they pleased!

Long Time No See, Brother Fang Ming

The plot of episode five came to an end.

Setting aside the heated discussion online for the moment, Yu Muqiu instead gathered with Chen Xiaoxia and Xiao Chun to discuss the events of episode five.

"So Xiao Bai had actually been worried about me back then..."

Yu Muqiu repeatedly watched the replay online and murmured softly.

Beside her, Chen Xiaoxia gulped down cola. Only after letting out a long, satisfied breath did she say to Yu Muqiu,

"What concern? Wasn't she just acting all bossy because she's a veteran Magical Girl?"

Because things had gone very badly between Chen Xiaoxia and Xiao Bai, Chen Xiaoxia always argued against anything Xiao Bai did.

Even now that she knew Xiao Bai's intentions had been good, Chen Xiaoxia still stubbornly insisted on saying bad things about her.

Yu Muqiu could only feel helpless about that.

Xiao Chun had a different opinion from Chen Xiaoxia. She hesitated before saying,

"No matter what, judging from what the Sky Screen has shown so far and how Xiao Bai has always treated us, she really only didn't want us to be put in danger..."

"So when she met me, she beat me up?!" Chen Xiaoxia snapped angrily.

"...That was because you provoked her first, wasn't it?" Xiao Chun sounded even more helpless. "And it seems like you were the one who attacked first."

Chen Xiaoxia looked at Xiao Chun in disbelief. "Xiao Chun! Whose side are you on?!"

Xiao Chun blinked but said nothing.

After Chen Xiaoxia put on an act of being "heartbroken" for a while, she asked Yu Muqiu,

"By the way, Xiao Qiu, you met that girl?"

"Ah... yes. When I went to Rock City to see Brother Fang Ming... I met her."

"What did she say?"

"She refused to come, and she also said..." Yu Muqiu recalled her exchange with Xiao Bai that day and sighed. "...she said we should just obediently be idols."

"Here she goes again!! That tone like she's our elder!! Damn it!! She clearly looks the same age as us, but she always talks to us like that! I hate it!!!"

The words Yu Muqiu relayed immediately made Chen Xiaoxia furious.

Yu Muqiu did not know what to say and could only give an awkward smile.

Xiao Chun pondered aloud from the side,

"Then does that mean she is certain the Federation will not be able to find her through the Sky Screen?"

"Ah..."

"?"

Yu Muqiu and Chen Xiaoxia froze at the same time.

Neither of them had clearly considered that possibility.

Xiao Chun was not surprised by this. She merely explained, "The reason we were exposed was, first, because there was not much difference between our appearances before and after transforming. Second, because our true identities were shown on the Sky Screen.

"So we had no choice but to seek the Federation's help."

The Magical Girls had been exposed on the Sky Screen, and their family and friends had appeared there as well. To protect them, and to protect themselves in their everyday forms, the Magical Girls could only seek the Federation's protection.

But Xiao Bai seemed to be different.

"But Xiao Bai... seems to have never exposed her true identity." Xiao Chun continued, "If that were all, it would still be possible to find her through her transformed appearance. Silver hair is very rare, after all, and a thorough search would eventually uncover clues. Yet now..."

The Federation had found nothing at all.

After hearing Xiao Chun's analysis, Yu Muqiu understood what she meant.

"Xiao Chun, are you saying that perhaps Xiao Bai's appearance before transforming... differs greatly from how she looks afterward...?"

"And it is probably a difference far beyond anything we would expect."

Xiao Chun came to her conclusion.

"That's why she isn't worried about being exposed! Wait, how does she know the Sky Screen won't reveal her true identity? Could it be... that the Sky Screen is actually her magic!?"

For some reason, Chen Xiaoxia had thought of that possibility.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Chun shook her head. "That's impossible to say for sure, but... the chances of her being the mastermind are low."

"Why??"

"Because although she has not exposed her true identity, she herself has appeared in it. No matter what, that is risky. If I were her... I would not have done that."