Choice

Xia Liang often wondered whether the life she lived every day was really what she wanted.

She drifted through school in a daze, laughing and joking with those "friends" who had poor reputations at school, then went to so-called "internet-famous hotspots" after class to check in. After that, she went home alone and praised life on social media as if her days were full and fulfilling.

Was she happy? Probably.

She had learned makeup, learned how to dress, learned fashion, made friends, and become the focus of boys' attention. Shouldn't someone like her be happy?

Yet she often felt that the smile on her face did not belong to her. The more she smiled at people, the more carefree and cynical she acted, the harder it became to smooth over the emptiness inside her.

She wanted to fill that void, so she craved attention and recognition.

She actually knew that her "friends" did not like her.

They felt they lost their shine standing beside her, felt that she took away the attention that should have belonged to them, and more importantly, she was not one of "their own."

The reason was simple: Xia Liang refused to take on "work."

No matter how much they bragged or urged her, Xia Liang had always refused. She felt that true friends should not be like that.

But that resolve had been eroded by time.

If she accepted the "work," would her "friends" accept her more?

If she accepted the "work," could she find more intimate relationships?

After those thoughts arose, Xia Liang's attitude became less resolute.

So today, after school, when she received another invitation from a "friend," she finally figured everything out.

Fine. Let it be this way.

She agreed.

She followed her "friends" to Electronics Street, heading for the "meeting spot" they had mentioned.

She would give up meaningless persistence and reserve, give up those unnecessary principles and fantasies. She could pursue a more practical, more genuine kind of love.

She felt ready. She had already made up her mind.

—But then she saw a cat.

A pink cat flying through the air.

It was following a ponytailed girl who looked somewhat petite and wore the uniform of the same school as her, sneaking along behind their group.

What was this?

Xia Liang had always been intensely curious by nature, and she could not help paying attention to what was behind her.

More importantly, the moment she saw that pink cat, she felt as though something was calling to her, drawing her closer.

In that instant, a voice appeared in her heart, telling her that she should go over there, that she should find that pink cat, and that she could obtain something very important to her.

So she stopped in the middle of the street.

She had been walking in the middle of the group, so the moment she stopped, the girl traveling beside her immediately noticed her unusual behavior and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Xia Liang looked at her, unsure for a moment whether she should say that she had seen a flying pink cat and wanted to go take a look.

She noticed that the girl walking at the very front, the usual central figure of their little circle, had turned around as well and was looking at her with an inexplicable expression.

"I..."

She hesitated as she spoke, but gradually made up her mind. "Something suddenly came up. I might have to leave first today."

Then she smiled, put on a slightly apologetic expression, waved at the others, and said, "Have fun, okay!"

With that, she was about to jog away.

"Xia Liang."

The girl in front called out to her at that moment.

She held her phone, her long acrylic nails tapping rapidly across the screen, her gaze never returning to Xia Liang. "If you leave today, don't come hanging around us again."

Xia Liang stopped.

She turned back to look at the girl, then slowly looked to the side at these "friends" of hers.

Perhaps she had hoped that everyone would, as usual, laugh and curse in their flippant way, ignore her, and let her leave.

But this time, every one of them was looking at her with a rather strange expression.

No, it was not a strange look. She knew it. She was very familiar with that look. She had seen it every day in her own home before. She could not be mistaken.

—That look was called indifference.

Perhaps she truly could not fit in with them.

Only at this moment did Xia Liang recognize that reality.

No matter how hard she forced a smile or fawned over them, she could never be one of them. From the very beginning, she could never have become their companion.

That strange summons in the distance remained strong, as though urging her to hurry over.

The cracks she usually tried so hard to hide and ignore had now become a deep chasm, leaving her and the girls before her on opposite sides.

Xia Liang finally put away the smile she always wore and looked seriously at her "friends" as well. She nodded.

"Okay."

Without another word, she turned around again and strode away without looking back.

What she had not expected was that ten minutes later, that single word would bring her to the rooftop of a high-rise building.

She knelt on the ground, her heart pounding wildly, while listening to the girl called Larkspur say things that sounded like delusions.

"Magical Girl?"

She had heard of them. She knew what Magical Girls were.

Magical Girls were a profession that often appeared in children's cartoons. They usually represented love and justice, fighting all kinds of villains.

At the same time, Magical Girls were also the guardians of this world. They fought the Aberrant Beasts that appeared in the city from time to time. They were warriors who truly existed.

Perhaps Magical Girls were also a childhood dream for countless girls. Even knowing they would have to face dangerous battles, they still longed for the version of themselves that shone in gorgeous outfits.

But to the general public, Magical Girls were far too distant and mysterious.

Under normal circumstances, if Xia Liang heard someone tell her that she was a Magical Girl, she would probably take that person for a liar, or treat it as a joke and laugh it off before changing the subject.

But things were different now. She had just been grabbed by the girl in front of her and experienced what it felt like to fly.

Whether it was the other girl's abrupt change of clothes, her ability to rise into the air from nowhere, or the abnormal flickering particles that surrounded them as they moved, everything told Xia Liang one thing: she had encountered the real deal.

"Then what does a Magical Girl want from me?"

She had never even ridden the high-altitude attractions at an amusement park before, yet her first flight experience in this life had been getting grabbed and taken into the sky. The shock to her heart had been so great that she still felt dazed.

So she could only follow the other girl's train of thought and ask questions, with no reason to argue.

Then she heard something that made her even more dazed.

"Do you want to become a Magical Girl?"

Become a Magical Girl?

Could she actually become a Magical Girl?

Xia Liang had never even considered that question.

She was merely an ordinary girl whom no one had ever cared about, someone who had never truly received attention. She had never believed she could become something so special.

Even during all those days and nights she had gotten through with fantasies and prayers, she had never imagined that she could become a Magical Girl.

The term shone too brightly. She felt that getting too close would burn her.

"I need to make this clear beforehand. Becoming a Magical Girl is not as wonderful as the public imagines."

Larkspur looked at her and warned seriously, "There will be danger. It will be exhausting. You will grow tired of it. The only benefit is that, compared to ordinary people who can only wait helplessly when they encounter Aberrant Beasts, you will possess the power to fight against danger."

"...Will the clothes be as cute as yours?" Xia Liang suddenly asked.

Unlike her somewhat airy question, no one noticed the light in her eyes.

The question caught Larkspur off guard, but she quickly recovered and nodded. "A Magical Girl's outfit will be as you imagine."

"Can I show off to others that I'm a Magical Girl?" Xia Liang continued.

"Not unless it's an emergency."

"Even though there'll be danger, I'll at least be acting with you, right?"

"Until you grow stronger, I will be responsible for protecting your safety." Larkspur nodded in promise.

"Then there's also..."

—"Seriously, we finally found someone talented, and why did it have to be such a frivolous girl?"

Not far away, Lin Xiaolu, whose clothes had changed into a pale blue dress and whose hair had become twin golden tails, interrupted Xia Liang's question with an indignant expression. "I don't want someone like her as a companion at all!"

"Don't be willful, White Rose."

Larkspur glanced at her. "This child may be very talented. She could become an effective source of support."

"But..."

Lin Xiaolu choked on her words and looked at Larkspur with some grievance. "Someone as frivolous as her doesn't look like a Magical Girl at all—"

—"I want to."

Xia Liang suddenly spoke.

After their earlier exchange, she had adjusted to the discomfort from abruptly flying up and was already on her feet. At that moment, she walked to the edge of the rooftop.

In truth, from the moment she had said goodbye to her "friends" and chosen to follow the guidance in her heart, she had already made a choice.

She glanced at Lin Xiaolu, raised a hand, and grabbed her earlobe. After rubbing it for a moment and releasing it, two glittering objects were in her hand. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she threw them directly onto the ground.

She took out her phone, tapped through her contacts, selected more than a dozen names at once, and opened the editing screen. After her finger paused for a moment, she decisively pressed "Delete."

"I've decided. If everything you said is true, then none of these things matter. I can give them all up."

She put down her phone and broke into a smile. A certain expectation gleamed in her eyes as the rooftop wind stirred her shoulder-length black hair.

"But no matter what, I want to become a Magical Girl!"