Becoming a Magical Girl from Scratch

[Brain Storage]

All major characters in this book are adults (?), with no harmful guidance whatsoever.

Real place names may appear in the text, with no implied mapping.

For the protagonist's exact appearance, see the author's note in Chapter 119.

--Divider--

No one knew when it began, but creatures known as "Calamities" had appeared in this world.

Or rather than creatures, they were better described as monsters.

They existed on the dark side of the world, mindless, fond of destruction, and harbingers of ruin.

Of course, where there were monsters, there had to be heroes.

And so magical girls, humanity's saviors and symbols of love and hope, came into being.

"Wait, wait, wait."

"Why magical girls?"

"Couldn't it be some other profession?"

The boy pointed with a trembling hand at the white cat before him.

"I'm a guy!"

"Why did you have to choose me to be a magical girl?"

The white cat tilted its head.

"Do I have to give a reason?"

"Then perhaps..."

"Your talent is just really impressive."

Chen De froze, but quickly wrapped his head around it.

"I'm a guy!"

"How can a guy be a magical girl?!"

The white cat washed its face with a paw, looking as composed as a stray cat sunning itself by the roadside.

But what came out of its mouth was anything but stray-cat-like.

"There's a way."

"And the thing you're hung up on is pretty strange."

"Shouldn't a normal person's first reaction to hearing about Calamities be fear?"

"But you only care about your gender from beginning to end."

Chen De opened his mouth and realized the cat seemed to have a point.

But he would never admit it.

"That's because what you said is way too ridiculous!"

"What magical girl is a six-foot guy?!"

The white cat blinked its emerald-green eyes.

"You're six feet?"

"Five foot nine! Round it up and I'm six feet!"

"That's not how rounding works."

"You're a cat, and you're discussing math with me?"

Chen De felt like he was going insane.

Ten minutes ago, he had still been an utterly ordinary student.

After school, he had been heading home when he passed an alley and heard a cat meow.

Out of humanitarian concern, he had crouched down to see whether a cat had been hurt.

Then this white cat had started talking.

It had even said it wanted to make a contract with him and turn him into a magical girl.

"You think my first reaction to a cat speaking human language shouldn't be to call the police?" Chen De took two steps back.

The white cat sighed.

A cat sighing was already an extremely bizarre sight.

"Don't rush to call the police. Listen to me first."

"No."

"Once I finish, you'll know why I chose you."

"I don't want to know."

"There's a salary."

Chen De stopped walking.

The white cat noticed his subtle change, and the corners of its mouth seemed to curl upward.

Did cats even have mouth corners? That wasn't important.

"For every Calamity you eliminate, you'll receive the corresponding reward," the white cat said lazily. "A low-level Calamity is worth roughly... fifty thousand?"

"RMB?"

"RMB."

Chen De fell silent for three seconds.

Then he crouched down.

"Go on."

The white cat nodded in satisfaction.

"Calamities are divided into five ranks, from low to high—Lesser Calamity, Fierce Calamity, Dire Calamity, Heavenly Calamity, and Final Calamity."

"Lesser Calamities are the weakest. Ordinary magical girls can handle them easily."

"As for Final Calamities..." The white cat paused. "You won't encounter one anytime soon, so I won't explain."

"Wait, that pause makes me really uneasy."

"Relax. Your talent is great, so you definitely won't die."

"You used the word 'definitely,' but why do I feel like you don't have much confidence yourself?"

The white cat ignored his complaint.

"Anyway, as long as you make a contract with me, you can obtain a magical girl's power."

"Then you can transform, fight, and protect humanity."

"And make a little pocket money while you're at it."

"You make saving the world sound like a part-time job."

Chen De rubbed his temples.

He realized his focus really had been drifting further and further off course.

At first, it had been, "I'm a guy, so I can't be a magical girl." Now it had become, "Is that salary before or after tax?"

People truly could not withstand the test of money.

"Wait, I have one more crucial question."

Chen De took a deep breath, his expression extremely serious.

"When I transform... do I have to wear a skirt?"

The white cat tilted its head at him.

"What do you think?"

"I think not."

"Then no. It's standard equipment."

"What kind of garbage standard is that?!"

Chen De shot to his feet.

"Look at all those magical girls out there. Which one isn't a cute young girl?"

"Lace trim, bows, short skirts with thigh-high socks—they look good in that stuff because they're girls!"

"I'm a grown man. How am I supposed to go outside wearing that?"

The white cat narrowed its eyes.

"You know a lot about magical girl outfits."

Chen De's face instantly stiffened.

"...That's common knowledge! Common knowledge!"

"You seem pretty knowledgeable. Lace trim, bows, and all that."

"Shut up! I'm warning you, don't make insinuations like that!"

The white cat let out a soft laugh.

The sound of a cat laughing took the weirdness straight to the max.

"Don't worry. After transforming, a magical girl's appearance and body shape both change."

"Even your own mother wouldn't recognize you."

"Really?"

"Really. And battles are usually at night, so no one can see clearly what you're wearing anyway."

"Then can I not wear a skirt?"

"The outfit is fixed. Once you transform, it can't be changed."

Chen De felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him.

He paced back and forth through the alley, looking like a trapped animal.

"Fifty thousand each, right?"

"A Lesser Calamity is fifty thousand."

"What about Fierce Calamities?"

"One hundred fifty thousand."

"Dire Calamities?"

"Starting at eight hundred thousand."

Chen De's pace noticeably slowed.

Starting at eight hundred thousand.

That really was tempting.

But even if there was money to be made, he needed to stay alive long enough to spend it.

His parents had died in an accident two years ago. He had no other relatives and was utterly alone.

If something happened to him, there would not even be anyone to collect his body.

But on second thought—

Since he was all alone anyway, couldn't he seek out a little excitement?

Still, he had not fully agreed.

"After transforming, do I absolutely have to wear a skirt? There's no room for negotiation?"

"None."

"What if I make the skirt a little shorter?"

"It's already very short."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?! Just how short is this skirt?"

"Fifteen centimeters above the knee."

"That's too much!"

The white cat stood and stretched lazily.

"I advise you not to dwell on that yet. You should be thinking about another question right now."

"What question?"

"It is—"

The white cat looked toward the entrance of the alley.

"What are you planning to do about that Lesser Calamity behind you?"

Chen De's neck stiffened.

He slowly turned around.

Something was writhing in the darkness at the other end of the alley.

A shapeless mass of black.

It had no fixed form, yet Chen De could clearly feel—

That thing was watching him.

"Don't just stand there." The white cat's voice came from behind him, still calm and unhurried.

"Want to make a contract? There's still time if you do it now."

"Did you know this thing was here all along?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe?!"

"So hearing a cat meow when I passed this alley wasn't a coincidence?"

"What do you think?"

"You tricked me here to use me as bait?!"

"Bait is such an ugly word." The white cat flicked its tail. "I prefer to call it—an on-site interview."

The black thing drew closer and closer.

The air turned cold, and every hair on Chen De's back stood on end.

"It's coming."

The black fog suddenly accelerated.

Chen De made the fastest decision of his life.

"Sign!"

"I'll sign!"

"So what if I have to wear a skirt? Worst case, I'll be the toughest magical girl around!"

"Then it's settled. The contract has been formed. No backing out."

A ring of light lit up on the white cat's forehead.

A beam of white light shot out, instantly enveloping Chen De from head to toe.

It was warm light, brimming with power.

He felt as though his body had been woven anew by something.

Power surged through him.

But—

Something seemed a little off.

Why had his line of sight suddenly dropped?

He looked down.

A pure white long robe.

The loose cuffs were tied with bows.

Paired with a short skirt.

And two slender legs, completely unlike his own, wrapped in white thigh-high stockings.

Chen De's brain crashed for a full two seconds.

Then a scream loud enough to send the stray cats on half the street fleeing rang out in the alley.

"You said transformation! I thought you meant a different hairstyle!!!"

"I never said it was only a hairstyle."

"How tall am I now?!"

"Judging by the look of it... around five feet?"

"Where did my five foot nine go?! My rounded-up six feet?!"

"That's not how rounding works."

The Lesser Calamity had already rushed right in front of him.

The white cat's voice abruptly became a little more serious.

"Finish the fight first."

"Make a fist with your right hand and think of the word 'weapon.'"

Chen De gritted his teeth and did as instructed.

Light gathered in his palm and transformed into a gun.

It looked like a custom-made short-barreled firearm, pure white from end to end, with fine patterns etched into its body.

The light still had some lingering energy.

It flew to his left hand.

There, it condensed into a pure white blade.

It was decorated with engraved flowers he didn't recognize.

It was roughly as long as his lower leg.

"Not bad." The white cat nodded.

"I thought you'd make something like a staff your first time."

"...So now I'm blade in the left hand, gun in the right?"

"Correct."

"What does this have to do with magical girls? Isn't this more like a mercenary?"

The Lesser Calamity let out an indescribable howl. The black fog exploded outward and lunged at him.

Chen De had no time to think.

His body reacted before his brain—he twisted aside and pulled the trigger with his right hand.

White light flared at the muzzle.

A bolt of light struck the black fog dead-on.

The Lesser Calamity let out a piercing shriek as a hole was torn open in its body.

But it wasn't dead.

Instead, it became even more frenzied, hurling black fog in every direction.

Chen De leaped back a step, and the blade in his left hand swept out in an arc.

A clean, sharp streak of white blade light sliced through the black fog.

The Lesser Calamity was cut in two.

Then, like smoke, it dissipated into the air.

The alley fell silent again.

Chen De stood there blankly, still holding the pose from his swing.

"...That was it?"

"That was it. It was a Lesser Calamity, the weakest kind." The white cat jumped onto a trash can and looked down at him.

"Congratulations. Your first fifty thousand is in the bag."

Chen De slowly lowered his arm.

His heartbeat began to settle.

He lowered his head and looked at his skirt again.

"...When can I change back?"

"Just put away your weapons and think of 'release.'"

Chen De immediately did so.

With a flash of white light, he returned to being the five-foot-nine boy he was before.

His familiar height, his familiar flat chest, his familiar...

Wait, why was he emphasizing the flat chest?

"How did it feel?" the white cat asked.

Chen De stayed silent for quite a while.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"The fighting part was fine."

"And the part that wasn't fine?"

Chen De took a deep breath.

"Next time, could you tell me in advance what my bust size will be after transforming?"

The white cat tilted its head.

"What do you need to know that for?"

"I'm worried it'll be inconvenient while running."

"Don't worry. You don't have any."

"?"

Chen De felt like he could already see the end of his magical-girl career.

He glanced at the white cat.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"If I have to call myself something, Qubi will do."

"Just two syllables?"

"Mm."

"That's pretty halfhearted."

"Your full name is Chen De, and that's only two syllables too. You've got the nerve to say that about me?"

Chen De rolled his eyes and turned to walk out of the alley.

The white cat followed at his feet, its tail swaying leisurely.

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

"Twenty percent of that fifty thousand will be deducted as a platform service fee."

Chen De stopped walking.

"What platform?"

"Me."

"You're a cat, and you still take a cut?!"

"I provide transformation services, intelligence support, weapon maintenance. Do you think all that comes free?"

"So I only actually get forty thousand?"

"That's right. Forty thousand."

"Why didn't you mention that when you told me it was fifty thousand?"

"Because you might not have signed if I had."

Chen De turned back and stared at the white cat.

The white cat looked back at him, its emerald-green eyes clear and innocent.

"What you did is called deceptive sales under the law."

"But you already signed." The white cat flicked its tail. "The contract is in effect. No refunds."

Church bells rang in the distance.

The evening breeze drifted through the alley.

Chen De suddenly felt that he might have fallen for the biggest scam of his life.