Magical Girls Exposed!

"It's okay. There'll be a replay online."

Black Rabbit Youyou comforted her.

There were two kinds of online replays. One was a direct recording of the Sky Screen.

Of course, recordings like that were basically bootlegs, and the sound was nearly impossible to make out. After all, the Sky Screen's nature was such that only those who watched it attentively could hear the voices within. If one did not pay attention to the Sky Screen, one would hear nothing at all.

And recordings were inanimate objects. They could record the Sky Screen itself, but expecting them to record sounds that required subjective awareness to be heard was impossible.

Thus, the second kind of replay came into being.

An animated adaptation.

That meant creating an almost one-to-one 3D model of the Sky Screen above and fully recreating its plot through animation.

This was handled by the authorities. Backed by the government, they had gathered quite a few animation production companies and studios, so the animation was produced remarkably quickly. Often, if it aired that morning, a new episode would be available by evening.

The voice actors for the main characters were all professionals with similar voices.

The authorities had considered having Yu Muqiu and the others voice themselves, but they were students as well as magical girls. On top of that, they had never received voice acting training. Even if they voiced themselves, there would still be discrepancies in their emotions.

So most characters were voiced by professional actors.

Even so, Yu Muqiu and the others could still receive all sorts of profits after the animation aired.

Including, but not limited to, shares of revenue from various anime merchandise, toys made based on their appearances and magic, clothing, and so on...

Wait, how was Xiao Bai's share of the revenue supposed to be calculated?

Fang Ming suddenly realized this. After agonizing over it for a long time, he could only give up regretfully.

Forget it. It wasn't like he lacked money.

He didn't care about such trifling sums!

Right, he didn't care!

"...Then I can only watch the replay."

Song Niandong could only accept reality and nod.

Normally, she would not have gotten up this late either.

When she was home, she had set an alarm. Even though things at school had not been very pleasant, she still went to school on time every day.

Because Song Niandong's grandmother had wanted her to go to school.

Song Niandong had always remembered that.

But... now that she had run away from home, she had no choice but to leave her phone hidden at home so no one could track her through its signal. She had wandered around alone with Youyou.

Her living expenses were still in her bank card, and she had not had time to withdraw cash. Song Niandong did not even have money to buy food.

Under Youyou's "guidance," she had nearly embarked on a life of crime...

Well, come to think of it, locking tens of thousands of people at a lantern festival inside a Magic Barrier as hostages counted as a crime too, didn't it...?

But judging by Song Niandong's expression, she did not seem to care much about that. Was it because no one had been hurt?

Fang Ming pondered as he looked at the still somewhat groggy Song Niandong. In the end, he chose to set that aside for now and asked her instead,

"This episode is over too. Do you want something to eat?"

"Mmm..."

Song Niandong touched her stomach and shook her head. "...I'm not hungry."

When one had just gotten up, unless one was starving, one really would not feel hungry.

Fang Ming smiled at Song Niandong. "You can think about what you want to eat first. By the time we get to breakfast... no, lunch, you'll probably be hungry."

"Then..." Song Niandong hesitated for a while before looking up and asking, "...Noodles?"

"Sure. But before we leave..." Fang Ming pointed at Song Niandong's messy hair and told her,

"Go wash up first. And change your clothes while you're at it."

"...Clothes?"

Song Niandong stared blankly at Fang Ming, seeming not to understand what he meant.

Fang Ming pointed at the oversized shirt and long skirt on the bedside table and told Song Niandong,

"Youyou and I went out to buy them for you this morning. Since I didn't know your measurements, I bought them a little big, but they should fit."

Fang Ming was a "hostage," but he was a very free "hostage."

As long as he did not leave Youyou's designated range or notify the authorities to arrest Song Niandong, he could go wherever he wanted.

It was under those conditions that Fang Ming had found the time to buy clothes for Song Niandong.

After all, Song Niandong's clothes were filthy enough already, and they even faintly gave off a rotten, sour stench.

She was a cute young girl, after all. What kind of state was it for her to wear clothes like that? He was not saying she had to dress beautifully, but at the very least, she should be clean.

But Fang Ming had not expected that upon seeing the clothes he had bought for her, Song Niandong would stare blankly for a long time before finally saying in a faintly trembling voice,

"...Thank you."

After saying that, she hugged the clothes and ran into the bathroom beside them.

Watching Song Niandong's back and recalling her earlier reaction, Fang Ming remained silent for a long time before asking Black Rabbit,

"...I didn't seem to do anything just now, did I?"

He had only bought her some clothes.

"Dongdong probably hasn't received a gift from anyone in a very long time... But I didn't expect Dongdong's reaction to be this intense."

Youyou found it strange too.

She did not think a set of clothes was anything particularly moving. When Fang Ming had bought them, she had not thought much of it.

But seeing Song Niandong's reaction now, Youyou finally realized it belatedly.

This guy Fang Ming had apparently touched Dongdong's heart with just a few dozen yuan and some clothes?

This man... truly was worthy of being the magical girls' cousin.

Terrifying!

Brother

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The sound of a hair dryer rang through the room.

Fang Ming stood behind Song Niandong, holding the hair dryer in one hand while arranging her slightly long hair with the other.

Unlike the other magical girls with their colorful hair, Song Niandong's hair was simply brownish-black.

Or rather, dark brown.

Its quality was fairly good. Even though it had been a mess all day, after washing it and drying it with a hair dryer, it became much smoother.

There were just some malnourished yellowed patches, which were... unpleasant to look at.

Fang Ming gently dried Song Niandong's hair while she simply sat there playing with the long sleeves of her shirt.

After a while, she suddenly looked up and asked,

"...Can I call you Brother?"

"Lower your head. I'm drying your hair."

Fang Ming pressed Song Niandong's little head back down before saying, "You can call me whatever you want. It's up to you."

"Then... Brother?"

"Mm."

"Brother..."

"Mm."

"Hehe, Brother..."

"..." Fang Ming helplessly met Song Niandong's eyes in the mirror across from them and complained, "You don't need to call me that so many times, do you?"

Song Niandong looked away from Fang Ming and refused to speak.

Fang Ming changed the subject and asked,

"Why do you suddenly want to call me Brother?"

"Because... you're just like the brother I imagined."

Song Niandong spoke softly.

Honestly, her voice was so quiet, and the hair dryer was so loud, that Fang Ming had nearly failed to hear her. If he were still an ordinary person and his body had not been enhanced by magic power, he probably really would not have heard her.

After drying the last damp patch of Song Niandong's hair, he continued asking,

"'Imagined'? Why would you have that idea?"

"Because..."

Song Niandong did not continue. She merely raised her hand and pointed out the window.

Fang Ming immediately understood.

It was because of the Sky Screen.

Because the Sky Screen showed the experiences of Yu Muqiu and the others, Song Niandong had imagined that, like Yu Muqiu, she too had close friends she could confide in and family who cared about her.

And a "brother" who would protect them no matter where they were.

So if the person who had come here had not been Fang Ming, but a girl Song Niandong's age, or an older adult of her uncle's generation,

then Song Niandong's request might have become something like, "Can you be my friend?" or "Can you be my family?"

In the end, this was behavior only seen in children lacking "love."

What Yu Muqiu had possessed from birth was Song Niandong's wish and "dream."

"Are you two done yet? I'm starving to death."

Black Rabbit Youyou suddenly said to them.

The Sky Screen's video had begun at ten and ended close to ten-thirty. Song Niandong had then spent some more time getting ready, and now it was already past eleven.

Aside from the few pieces of bread Fang Ming had fed her that morning, Youyou had not eaten anything else. Her stomach had long since started growling from hunger.

Seeing that Fang Ming had finished drying Song Niandong's hair, Youyou finally could not help urging them.

Fang Ming ignored Youyou. After helping Song Niandong comb her hair, he rubbed her little head, then put on the improved Magic Glasses Black Rabbit Youyou had made before telling them,

"Let's go eat."

The place where they ate was not far from here.

Although it was an unregistered "black hotel," it was still a hotel, so naturally there was no shortage of food nearby.

The prices might be a little high, but for Fang Ming, who always kept cash on hand, that amount was nothing.

Unlike Fang Ming's previous life, although many aspects of the Federation were similar to China from his previous life, many things were also somewhat different.

For example, mobile payment was not unavailable, but it was relatively more troublesome.

So Fang Ming usually kept cash on him.

It was precisely this habit that had kept Fang Ming from truly living on air.

Otherwise, if he casually scanned a QR code with his phone, the authorities could pinpoint his location exactly, exposing Song Niandong along with him.

Another difference between the Federation and his previous life was that even though mobile payment had become widespread, green phone booths could still be seen throughout the streets and alleys.

Fang Ming was now making a call from the phone booth beside the noodle shop, while Black Rabbit Youyou sat watching him like a prison guard, waiting for him to finish "keeping watch."

"...I'm just calling my friend and asking him to bring me what I need." Fang Ming looked at Youyou speechlessly.

Youyou sat on the platform beside the phone booth and huffed. "Who knows if you're trying to tip someone off? Make the call already. I'm listening."

"You're tiny, but you sure are suspicious."

"...Be careful, or I'll turn you into a frog with magic!"