Tainted by Foxes

[Mission: Villain's Self-Cultivation]

[Use 10 different methods to pick fights with an official magical girl, 0/10]

[Reward: 2,000 Divine Codex Stones]

Ten o'clock at night.

Having finished writing for the day, Su Tianqing closed her laptop, pulled out the Codex from her magic space, and opened it. There, she saw the newly refreshed mission.

How many methods? How much was the reward?

Su Tianqing rubbed her eyes, thinking that after writing twenty thousand words today, her vision might have gone blurry.

The little fox got up, straightened her nightgown, smoothed the fur on her tail, and went to the bathroom to wash her face before returning to her desk.

She took a deep breath, opened it again, and stared at the mission details.

They were still the same.

Villainous Fox Fox felt that she had encountered the greatest challenge of her life as a fox.

Su Tianqing decided to take a shower first, then think carefully about how to handle this mission.

Warm water streamed down from the showerhead.

Su Tianqing stood beneath it, letting the water rinse the body wash foam from her body.

Washing her body with body wash left her perfectly clean. The truly difficult parts to wash were her hair and tail.

She had to wet them, scrub them clean with shampoo, then carefully tend to them with conditioner and fur-care products. It took at least half an hour.

By the time all the fur on her body had been properly cared for, it was already ten-thirty.

"Use 10 different methods to pick fights..."

Fox Fox held the book and sank into thought.

Thinking it over carefully, she really did not have many methods available right now:

The first was when she had ambushed Hyacinth for the first time, using Enhancement Drug A to strengthen a wild monster into a tentacle monster and successfully catching her off guard.

The second was deliberately luring her into stepping on an Immobilization Trap, then recording a whole set of interaction videos.

And then...

Su Tianqing summoned all the items she currently possessed beside her.

One Magic Power Detector, one Magic Camera, and one Immobilization Trap. There was nothing else.

Oh, right. She still had 500 Divine Codex Stones left.

Fox Fox felt as though her brain was not quite enough for this.

The Magic Power Detector, which detected monsters, was the kind of thing that depended on luck. It was an incredible tool when monsters appeared, but at other times it could only serve as a magical girl tracking map. She could not rely on it completely.

The Immobilization Trap was the same. Besides, Hyacinth had already suffered once from it, so it would probably be hard to trick her into the same pit again anytime soon.

"Mm... mm—!"

Villainous Fox Fox put down the hair dryer, gently pressed the bases of her fox ears, and slowly massaged them.

Thinking really gave her a headache.

Should she ask someone else?

But who could she ask about something like this? She could not exactly transform and randomly interview passersby on the street.

The Hero Association would probably put out a warrant and arrest her on the spot.

Villainous Fox Fox's gaze settled on the Magic Camera.

A wonderful idea appeared in Su Tianqing's mind—what if, instead of conducting random interviews, she let the passersby come to her on their own...?

Su Tianqing glanced at this week's class schedule.

She had no classes tomorrow morning and only two in the afternoon. She had plenty of time, and the night was still long.

Excellent! Time to test her idea! A villain needed this kind of decisive initiative!

Eleven o'clock.

The deep-blue magical girl landed from the sky, her magical senses sweeping across the surroundings.

Seeing no one nearby, she swiftly used a stream of magic power to block the surveillance cameras in the area. Only then did she undo her transformation and reappear as the catgirl Nan Jiayu.

"Phew... I barely got half full again today... I really don't know how much longer I can keep this up..."

"It's already eleven. I need to get back and rest, or the others will start worrying."

After muttering to herself, the petite catgirl silently slipped into the shadows of the buildings, nimbly bypassed the dormitory entrance guard, and darted into the stairwell.

Her dorm was 403.

She took out her key, opened the door, and stepped inside. Three faces illuminated by phone screens immediately looked down at her from the upper bunks, startling the catgirl so badly that her whole body trembled.

"Hm? Jia Yu, you came back so late."

"Sorry... I had a late-night snack outside, and before I knew it..."

Nan Jiayu felt a little awkward.

She had thought her roommates were all asleep. Who would have thought that every one of them was more of a night owl than she was, a catfolk beastkin? They were even wearing face masks.

"Ahem~ Were you really just having a late-night snack~?" Roommate A poked her head out and asked with a mischievous grin.

"Jia Yu, you were wandering around outside all afternoon. Spill it! Did you run into some handsome senior?"

"No, it was a classmate from our class. She knows this area pretty well, so she took me around to look around." Nan Jiayu answered honestly.

"Really? Come to think of it, Jia Yu, do you shed fur and lose hair in winter?"

"I don't, but I'm not sure about other beastkin."

Topics in a girls' dorm always jumped around wildly. By the time Nan Jiayu had washed up, brushed her teeth, changed into her nightgown, and climbed back into her upper bunk, the conversation had already changed five or six times.

They went from harsh comments about their counselor to the quality of face masks, then to skincare after removing blackheads.

Nan Jiayu felt that she could not keep up with them, so she quietly put on her headphones, opened a video site, and prepared to watch a few videos before sleeping.

[A streamer you follow has started streaming: Magical Girl Fox Fox official]

Huh? Streaming at this hour?

Nan Jiayu stared silently at the cursed time of "23:10" for a long while. After hesitating for a moment, she ultimately clicked into the channel.

After all, Heartmoon Fox was a fellow magical girl. She would just go in and see what she was doing to pass the time.

It definitely was not because she had suddenly become interested!

She entered the livestream.

The sight on the screen made Nan Jiayu freeze.

A bright moon hung high in the sky. Rongcheng's concrete forest slept quietly beneath its light, though countless lights still shone in the office buildings.

Car lights flowed back and forth along the streets like throbbing arteries. Even while sleeping, the city still possessed a surging vitality.

And beneath the moonlight, seated leisurely on the edge terrace atop an office building, was a petite and delicate figure.

Her little feet dangled in the air, swinging back and forth. She hummed an unknown song, curling her toes and lightly keeping the beat.

Her fox tail swayed beneath the moonlight, reflecting the bright white glow and casting a faint halo around the little fox.

"So cute..."

Nan Jiayu murmured to herself.

The Heartmoon Fox in the videos was livelier and sharper, with a hint of mischief, but now she looked like a fox angel standing alone beneath the moonlight.

The unknown melody she hummed softly echoed through Nan Jiayu's headphones. Her clear voice flowed into her ears, washing away an entire day's fatigue in an instant.

Which one was Heartmoon Fox's true face? Nan Jiayu was confused.

"So cute."

"She sings so well."

"Fox Fox! Fox Fox!"

Sparse comments drifted across the screen, all praising the unknown song and the little fox singing it under the moon.

Su Tianqing turned toward the camera, reached out to bring it closer, and said with a smile:

"So? This fox is pretty talented at singing, right?"

"But now that I've sung and everyone has enjoyed the scenery, shouldn't you give Fox Fox's question from earlier another thought~?"

As she spoke, the tip of the little fox's tail lightly swept up a circle of golden magical particles beside her, and a row of elegant little words appeared before the camera.

Nan Jiayu stared in astonishment.

What powerful magical control. She could actually make magic power form words. Was she really a newcomer?

But when Nan Jiayu saw the words clearly, her brows furrowed even tighter.

[Leave a comment on the video to unlock more poses from Miss Hyacinth.]

The Golden Fox's signature wicked smile appeared on her face.

"Since everyone knows this fox is a Villain Magical Girl, let's play a game."

"This fox had a wonderful time playing with Miss Hyacinth last time. I wonder whether everyone liked it?"

"If you did, please follow this fox~ If you want to see more videos of Miss Hyacinth, feel free to leave a comment on my newest video~"

Another wave of comments floated by, along with several super chats.

"Want to see Slime."

"Can you hang Miss Hyacinth from the horizontal bar?"

"The climbing toy in a park for little kids."

"Anything soft and floppy? I want to see something sticky."

"I hope next time you can tell us where you're interacting with Miss Hyacinth."

"Can you livestream during the interaction?"

Nan Jiayu watched in horror.

Too terrifying! These viewers!

If they really followed the requests in the comments and super chats, Hyacinth probably would not even last two sessions before the pressure forced her to graduate and retire as a magical girl!

No, no, she could not keep watching. She needed to sleep!

Nan Jiayu turned off her screen, lay flat in bed, and closed her eyes.

But the moment she closed them, that cheerful smile appeared before her. When she opened them, she imagined the magical girl softly humming under the moonlight on the ceiling of her bed canopy.

It made Nan Jiayu miserable.

In the darkness, a pair of azure cat eyes involuntarily turned toward the phone beside her pillow, its screen dark.

She knew she could not keep watching, yet her hands still lifted it again of their own accord.

Just one more look... only one more look!

She opened the video app, and that melodious humming once again sounded in her headphones. The expression on the catgirl's face gradually melted away.

Hehehe, cute Fox Fox, hehehe.

It was not until the stream ended at one-thirty in the morning, with the chat flooding with goodbyes, that the catgirl suddenly realized.

Oh no. It seemed like she had been tainted by foxes.