The Imitator

Because magical girls' outfits are closely related to their True Form, they reflect the preferences of the person transforming into the magical girl to some extent when they are created. For most magical girls, their magical outfits after transformation represent a certain image that they love or aspire to, so they are undoubtedly pleasing to them.

Based on this fact, the formation of magical costumes has also expanded the scope of manipulation. If a magical girl has a fairly complete idea for her magical costume, whether it is a carefully prepared design or a ready-made garment that she has seen in advance, as long as the direction of that design in her mind is strong enough, it will manifest in her transformed form.

So, strictly speaking, it's not impossible that a magical girl's transformed appearance would highly overlap with a virtual character.

In this situation, all you need to do is say, "I'm a fan of a certain anime, and because I love a certain virtual character so much, I imitated that outfit after becoming a magical girl."

Larkspur knew the two facts: "Magical Girl Gentian is actually a fictional character from a children's animation," and "The design of this character and codename can be said to be entirely Emerald's own perverse sense of humor."

However, she never expected that she would encounter fans of this anime just while waiting for the team list in the examination room.

Even though she used her prepared lines to avoid arousing suspicion about her "fake identity," she couldn't escape being pestered. The two magical girls seemed to have decided she was a fellow enthusiast, so they chatted with her about anime for a long time, and even took a photo with Larkspur in a rather familiar manner before leaving satisfied.

Before leaving, they wanted to ask Larkspur for her contact information, but Larkspur refused, saying that she was using her family's phone to take the exam.

Even after that, a few "original fans" continued to approach and talk to Larkspur.

If Larkspur was initially a little reserved, fearing that her identity would be exposed, as time went on, she realized that no one seemed to think of "Gentian" as a fake identity; they all just considered her a loyal anime fan. She relaxed considerably and became less wary than before.

Moreover, through the chattering of these magical girls, Larkspur was able to extract some information related to the original work. In addition, some settings that Lin Xiaolu had mentioned to her sporadically made her pretend to say a few words that seemed plausible, as if she were really participating in the discussion. Therefore, no one doubted her identity as a "fan of the original work".

And so, without realizing it, a small group of people gathered around Larkspur. However, compared to the candidates who were evaluating each other in teams for the assessment, this place had completely turned into an anime fan gathering, and the content of their discussion was quite unserious.

Of course, still no one came to ask Larkspur to team up with him.

After all, these magical girls gathered here just like the same anime; it doesn't mean they're lazy bums with no ambition for academic success. Any magical girl who wants to achieve good results in the practical assessment is bound to have doubts about whether to choose a teammate who is only 10 years old.

This situation continued until twenty minutes before the team formation process began.

The crowd around Larkspur had solidified into a discussion circle about magical girl anime. A large group of magical girls who loved this genre had gathered here, sharing their experiences of being magical girls while watching magical girl anime.

New magical girls are constantly joining this fandom. Among them, those who like "Sweet Angel" will naturally come to interact with Larkspur. But if you haven't seen it or are a fan of other works who don't resonate with this anime, you can also directly join other people's discussions.

During this time, a magical girl who looked quite unfashionable, wearing a hooded tracksuit, sweatpants, and glasses, appeared in the circle.

Although most of the magical girls around her were dressed in magical costumes that looked gorgeous and flashy, making her seem like an oddity, it was still before the official start of the assessment, so there were no requirements for the candidates' attire, and it wouldn't be strange to wait in casual clothes.

This magical girl, dressed in casual clothes for some unknown reason, wandered around the crowd, listening to the other magical girls' various opinions and views on the anime. Occasionally, she would show a hint of interest, clearly wanting to join in and say something, but in the end, she did nothing.

She walked back and forth in the crowd until she saw Larkspur, who had moved away from the center of the crowd and was sitting under the shade of a tree, and then she paused slightly.

Then, she walked over to the Larkspur.

"Excuse me... Is that Gentian's outfit from 'Sweet Angel'?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes." Larkspur glanced up at her, and this time answered without hesitation, quite bluntly, "Because I really like it, so I subconsciously imitated it when I transformed."

"I knew it! I knew it looked familiar..."

The girl nodded knowingly, paused for a moment, and then continued, "Um, if you don't mind, may I ask you another question that might be a little offensive?"

"An offensive question?"

Larkspur looked at her with some surprise. "You can ask, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer."

"Ah... okay, it's fine if you don't answer."

Seeing Larkspur's casual attitude, the girl smiled awkwardly, "Well, after you transform, you'll be wearing this outfit in front of everyone. Don't you feel... a little embarrassed?"

The Larkspur gazed at her silently.

Even without saying anything, the refusal is already evident in their actions.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to cause trouble!"

Realizing the ambiguity in her words, the girl immediately apologized, "I really didn't mean to mock or provoke you; I was just a little curious."

"Why are you curious about this?"

Larkspur clearly still had no intention of answering her question, but instead glanced at her with a somewhat subtle expression. "Besides, I think even out of curiosity, one shouldn't ask questions that might offend others."

"Sorry."

The girl continued to apologize, "I was too abrupt. Well, I wasn't really just curious; I was genuinely confused and even a little troubled by this issue. So, seeing you sitting here so unconcerned about what others might think, I wanted to ask you for advice..."

"May I ask you something?" Larkspur was still somewhat puzzled.

"Uh, I mean..."

The girl pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and finally showed a determined expression as she reached out to touch the bracelet on her wrist.

Immediately afterwards, she completed her transformation in front of the Larkspur.

She is indeed a magical girl. After her transformation, her appearance is completely different from her previous rustic look. She transforms from a rather plain and gloomy girl into a girl with fiery red hair, wearing an orange-red fringed dress, and looking quite assertive.

However, this image seemed somewhat familiar to the Larkspur.

She was certain that this was not any magical girl she had ever known before, but rather an image she had seen from a more distant and abstract scene.

Although Lin Yun rarely watched children's animation in the past, because her daughter liked it, and because Asō Madoka seemed to have participated in a similar project as a singer, Larkspur suddenly found the source of this image in the cracks of her memory.

"... Rainbow Sky Angel?"

The magical girl in front of him nodded, then smiled slightly, "Ah, that's great, so you know her too."

Clearly, she is also an "imitator" of a certain virtual character, similar to "Gentian".