Magical Girl? There's No Going Back!

"Was that really necessary? You find him, and I take him out. Simple as that. I'm not as gentle as Xiao Rou. If I catch him, I'll burn him to ashes in ten seconds." Wu Yan spoke arrogantly.

"My sensory barrier can't possibly cover the entire city. If he's determined to hide, finding him will be like looking for a needle in a haystack." Qi Mo shook her head.

"As long as he's a monster, he won't be able to resist the urge to kill. He'll act again, won't he? We can just drag him out and finish him then."

"Perhaps not. Based on Xiao Rou's description just now, this is a highly intelligent monster. He spent several hours alone in a room with a hostage, yet didn't harm her in the slightest. So I believe he likely has a way to control his urge to kill." Qi Mo stared at the information in her notebook and continued.

"That means he can remain hidden in the city until the day he needs to act."

"It's not the thief you fear, but the thief who has his eye on you." Even Wu Yan understood how troublesome the situation was by this point. She crushed the cola can in her hand and viciously tossed it into the trash. "You know I'm no good at complicated stuff, so just tell me your plan. As long as I can avenge Xiao Rou, I'll do anything."

"My idea is to deploy large-scale barriers throughout the city. Their detection range will be broad, but their precision will be extremely low. I plan to inspect the city one area at a time until we identify the enemy's general range of activity. Then I'll gradually shrink the barriers to improve the precision. This process may take around a month. I hope no one acts on their own during that time, so we don't alert the enemy." Qi Mo looked at Wu Yan.

"Why are you looking at me? I'll behave myself." Wu Yan said reluctantly.

"Also, once we successfully locate the monster, I want us to respond in a two-plus-one formation. Of the three of us, only two will appear before the monster, while one stays hidden in case it tries any tricks. At the same time, we should evacuate civilians as much as possible before engaging, to prevent it from taking hostages again. If we can do that, I believe the monster's direct combat ability will be far inferior to ours." As Qi Mo spoke, she drew a simple diagram on the paper.

"That's roughly the plan. Does anyone have anything to add?" Qi Mo asked.

"I have no objections. But if possible, please let me strike the killing blow when we slay the monster." Xu Rou took a sip of her fruit tea. Qi Mo's plan had given her hope for revenge. At that moment, she had already decided that only revenge could wash away the humiliation she had suffered.

"Fine. As long as it doesn't affect the outcome, I'll do my best to arrange for you to deliver the final blow. That's all for today. I need to prepare the barriers soon, so I'll probably be busy—Wu Yan, please spend more time with Xiao Rou during this period." Qi Mo stood up.

"Don't worry, leave Xiao Rou to me. I love cool, icy beauties the most!" Wu Yan joked as she pulled Xu Rou into her embrace. Seeing them pressed together, Qi Mo couldn't help frowning, though her expression soon relaxed.

"I've already paid the bill, and the private room is booked until two in the afternoon. If you want to..." Qi Mo was about to say something else when she suddenly looked up at the ceiling warily.

"What? Is there a mosquito?" Wu Yan asked.

"No, I keep feeling like someone's watching me... This isn't the first time since yesterday." As Qi Mo spoke, she instinctively tugged down the hem of her skirt.

"Didn't you set up a shielding barrier in the room? Even if we set off a string of firecrackers in here, no one outside would notice, right?" Wu Yan said.

"You're right. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid." With that, Qi Mo turned and left the private room.

Qi Mo's instincts had not been wrong. Li Xuan had watched the entire live broadcast of the three magical girls' strategy meeting from a private room in his own café.

"This girl isn't just a pervert." Li Xuan took a sip of the coffee he had brewed himself and praised her sincerely.

In his opinion, Qi Mo's plan was both clever and reliable. If he had truly been watching a livestream, Li Xuan would have wanted to send her a few gifts.

What Qi Mo did not know was that Li Xuan was not a real monster. His dark energy was entirely granted by the system. As long as he did not use it, even the most sophisticated barrier could not distinguish him from an ordinary person. And because of the Hunting Radar, the magical girls had no way to hide.

Because of this crucial information gap, Qi Mo's plan was already doomed to fail. All Li Xuan had to do was figure out how to use that fact to collect defeat CGs instead.

Just as Li Xuan was lost in thought, someone knocked on the private room door. The manager's voice came from outside. "Boss... Someone's here to interview for a summer job. Do you want to meet her?"

"Didn't I say not to disturb me? Handle trivial matters like that yourself."

Being interrupted while thinking made Li Xuan sound rather displeased.

"She's a very beautiful college student!" the manager added.

"Then hurry up and invite her in!"

A New Maid at the Café

When the door opened, a young woman stood before Li Xuan. Her brows were sharply arched, and her eyes carried a smile. Her long hair was tied up in a bun, with every stray lock apart from her bangs and the hair at her temples carefully pinned in place.

Perhaps afraid of the harsh sunlight, she wore a thin sun-protection jacket over an off-white blouse. Judging from its smooth texture, it was probably made of silk or something similar. Between the second and third buttons of her blouse rose two full, proud peaks. Their astonishing size, something usually seen only in anime, made one wonder whether the buttons were sturdy enough.

The hem of her blouse was neatly tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt. Beneath it, a pair of full thighs wrapped in black stockings was visible, apparently around fifteen to twenty denier. Though she was only a few years older than Xu Rou and the others, her outfit and temperament made her seem poised and intellectual. Unfortunately, the table blocked her calves, making it impossible to see what kind of shoes she wore.

"President Li, may we begin?" the young woman reminded him with a smile.

"Have a seat." Li Xuan smiled and pointed to the chair across from him. "Start by introducing yourself."

The young woman sat down, interlaced her fingers in front of her chest, and looked at Li Xuan. "My name is Li Sijie. I'm a second-year photography student at Qinghe Art Academy. I usually enjoy anime and novels. I don't know much about coffee, but I do know the basic types. Since summer break is coming up, I'd like to apply to be a maid here and earn some spending money."

"Ah, what a shame. If someone this beautiful were also a magical girl, that'd be perfect. I want to see a mature big sister's defeat CG." Li Xuan said regretfully.

"What did you say just now?"

"Ah, nothing. I meant that I like anime too, especially magical girl stories. But never mind that. Did the manager tell you about our pay?" Li Xuan realized he had accidentally said his thoughts out loud and hurriedly changed the subject.

"The manager explained the basic salary, benefits, and job duties. It seems to be a little lower than at ordinary maid cafés."

"That's right. Although our staff dress as maids, coffee is still our main selling point. We absolutely don't charge meat prices for vegetarian dishes. We also don't require our maids to treat customers as masters. A normal attitude is all that's needed. So even though your looks and bearing are exceptional, we can't offer a higher salary." Li Xuan admitted frankly.

"To be honest, the first reason I applied here was because I like the uniforms. The second was because I heard this café doesn't make unreasonable demands of its maids. With my personality, it wouldn't be easy to force myself to act cute and coquettish around customers like some young girl." Li Sijie smiled.

"What? You like our uniforms?" Li Xuan asked, unable to hide his excitement.

"That's right. I think the uniforms here are very tasteful. They look quite covered up, but they use cutout designs in certain subtle areas, making them feel more alluring than uniforms with very little fabric. The color scheme and cut are layered as well. It's clear the designer put a great deal of thought into them. It's just a pity that I searched online for a long time and couldn't find the same outfit anywhere." Li Sijie nodded.

"Of course you couldn't find it. I designed it myself!" If he did not need to maintain his image, Li Xuan would practically have pounced on her and given her a hug. He had poured an unknown amount of effort into that uniform, yet while most people thought it looked good, they rarely praised the right details. Li Sijie's words, however, perfectly expressed his design philosophy, making him feel as though he had found a kindred spirit.

"So you're the designer? How fortunate." At those words, Li Sijie's eyes brightened.

"How about this? Since you like the café uniform, I promise that if you work here for at least a month, I'll give you a set! Of course, that's a personal gift from me, so you can't tell anyone else at the café." Li Xuan instructed.

"No problem. I'll be working here all summer anyway. After all, I need money too." Li Sijie nodded.

"Go get a uniform from the manager. Have her show you around the café, and you can start work when summer break begins." Li Xuan had wanted to talk with her more about their personal interests, but since they had only just met and he did not yet know her personality, he ultimately held himself back.

After Li Sijie left, Li Xuan felt greatly cheered and resumed planning his grand undertaking of collecting magical girls.

Although Li Xuan's dark energy level had already risen to D+, he still was not very confident in a head-on fight. Naturally, he focused his attention on his newly acquired skill, Fallen Blood.

[Fallen Blood: The holder can consume dark energy to generate Fallen Blood, which can be used to create monsters; creatures that directly drink Fallen Blood have a chance of transforming into monsters. Monsters created or transformed through this method will regard the skill holder as their master. (Transformation difficulty depends on system level and the willpower of the target.)]

Having learned from last time's lesson, Li Xuan went alone into the wilderness to test it.

The instant the skill activated, a bright red sphere of blood slowly condensed in front of him. Li Xuan felt more than half the dark energy in his body get drained at once, to the point that he nearly could not even summon his tentacles.

This skill used up so much energy! Could it be useless?

Li Xuan was doubtful. The blood sphere before him was only the size of a fist. Could it really create a powerful monster?

[Fallen Blood activated successfully]

[Current remaining amount: 200 ml]

[Monsters created: 0/10]

[No available template. Please create a new template.]

Following the system prompt, an interface resembling a character creator in a game appeared before Li Xuan. He could freely adjust various attributes such as species, size, and additional abilities, and could even give it a name.

Naturally, the stronger the monster's attributes, the more Fallen Blood it would consume.

"The freedom's pretty high. I'll make something simple first." Li Xuan casually filled in a few settings, then clicked confirm.

[Monster Name: Slime]

[Amount consumed: 10 ml]

[Additional Attribute: Tenacity]

A blue Slime more than half a person tall soon appeared before Li Xuan, bouncing around on the ground like an oversized rubber ball.

"Jump, roll, spin, sing, play basketball, iron mountain lean..."

Li Xuan continuously gave the Slime orders in his mind. It carried out every command without hesitation, but if it received a command it simply could not accomplish or one that was too complicated, its pig brain would overload and it would freeze foolishly in place.

"Now attack me with everything you have." After feeling that the testing was sufficient, Li Xuan gave his final command.

The Slime lunged at Li Xuan without hesitation. Li Xuan stretched out a tentacle and sent it flying with a single lash. Yet after rolling around on the ground a few times, the Slime had somehow suffered little damage.

"Pretty tough, huh?" This time, Li Xuan coated his tentacle in dark energy and lashed the Slime apart, shattering half of its body. Yet the remaining half still continued carrying out his order. It crawled up the tentacle and extended several pseudopods toward Li Xuan.

Li Xuan was startled and quickly raised his hand, firing a dark energy blast that reduced the Slime to pieces.

"Just ten milliliters, and it's already this strong!" Li Xuan smiled in satisfaction. This Slime had remarkably tenacious vitality. At the very least, it qualified as cannon fodder. As for its actual combat performance, he would have to test it tomorrow on some cute magical girls.

Playing with Fire

In a classroom at Qinghe High School, Xu Rou sat listlessly by the window in the back row. Though it was already lunch break, she had neither the appetite to eat nor the desire to sleep. She only stared blankly out the window, lost in thought. Clearly, the psychological trauma from being violated by tentacles was not so easily healed.

Wu Yan burst into the classroom full of energy, carrying a cute lunchbox. She straddled a chair and sat down in front of Xu Rou.

"Xiao Rou, stop looking so gloomy. Come eat with me. I made this myself~"

"Huh? Wu Yan made it herself? But I'm not really hungry..."

"Don't say that yet. Look what I made!" Wu Yan said as she dramatically flipped open the lid, revealing the food inside.

"Ta-da! Your favorite shrimp with soft scrambled eggs!"

Xu Rou asked in surprise, "How did you know I liked this?"

"I happened to hear Qi Mo mention it. Since you always look so gloomy, I learned this dish from my mom just so I could cheer you up at times like this. For all my hard work, could you smile for me?" Wu Yan made a silly face as she used two fingers to pull the corners of Xu Rou's mouth upward, forcing her into a smile.

"Pfft~" Xu Rou really was amused by her goofy expression. When she had first met Wu Yan, Xu Rou had only thought she was always noisy. But after spending more time with her, she began to feel that whenever Wu Yan was not nearby, everything around her seemed too quiet.

"I finally got you to smile! Daily quest complete! Come on, eat. Ah—" Wu Yan said, picking up a piece of shrimp and feeding it to Xu Rou.

All of this was silently watched by Qi Mo, who sat in the corner of the classroom.

"Damn it, I was here first. Why did things turn out like this? I want to feed Xiao Rou with my own chopsticks too, then indirectly kiss her!"

Qi Mo buried her face in a pile of books, hiding her teary eyes. Yet when she thought of that indirect kiss, she could not help having a physical reaction, and her legs rubbed together relentlessly beneath the desk.

Qi Mo and Xu Rou had been childhood friends. They had attended the same schools from elementary school through high school. Wu Yan did not meet them until high school, after which the three became known to outsiders as three inseparable sisters.

However, no one had noticed that Qi Mo's feelings for Xu Rou had quietly crossed the boundary of friendship. Because of that, every intimate interaction between Wu Yan and Xu Rou, though nothing more than an unintentional result of their personalities, made Qi Mo feel as if she were being cuckolded.

"Just wait! One day, I'll make Xiao Rou mine."

At that moment, panicked screams suddenly rang out from the schoolyard.

Qi Mo hurriedly pushed open the window and saw a humanoid monster waving its tentacles as it headed toward the teaching building. From the aura emanating from its body, she could tell that it was the very monster that had captured Xu Rou that day!

"Wu Yan, calm down—" Qi Mo had barely started to warn her when Wu Yan impatiently leaped down from the building.

"Transform!" Wu Yan shouted in midair, taking out a six-pointed-star badge. Scorching flames immediately ignited inside the badge and enveloped her entire body. By the time Wu Yan landed, the flames around her had gradually become a golden-red dress, while the badge in her hand had transformed into two ribbons around her wrists.

"Good! I was worried I wouldn't be able to find you, but you came right to me!" At the sight of Li Xuan, Wu Yan was furious. She swung the ribbons around her wrists, launching a burst of explosive flame.

"Hehehe, I hope you'll still have that much spirit when you're being played with later." Li Xuan dodged the explosive flame with a sidestep, but more than a dozen followed close behind. With nowhere to evade, Li Xuan could only block with his tentacles. More than a dozen tentacles were instantly blown apart, and his main body was sent flying as well.

"Bet you didn't expect this! This was my escape route all along!" Seeing that things were going poorly, Li Xuan turned and ran, using the force of the blast to propel himself away. Wu Yan froze for a moment, then chased after him in a rage.

"Wu Yan! Don't chase him! It could be a trap!" Qi Mo shouted from the classroom, but it was already too late. She and Xu Rou could only transform and jump down to support Wu Yan. Yet the instant they landed, more than a dozen half-human-sized Slimes surrounded them.

"Why are there so many monsters at school?" Xu Rou was startled. She quickly swung her Moonblade Axe at the Slimes, but they were extremely tenacious. Even when chopped in half, they split into two separate individuals and continued attacking. Qi Mo's magic was not suited for destruction either, and the two were trapped there for the moment.

While the two struggled against the Slimes, Wu Yan chased farther and farther away, gradually leaving the city and reaching the outskirts.

"Stop! You think you can just leave after offending me? Not a chance!" A burning anger filled Wu Yan's chest as she pursued him with all her might.

Finally, before a stretch of abandoned factories, Li Xuan stopped running.

"Hmph, finally out of breath? Get on your knees and lick my ** toes now, and maybe I'll let you die a little more comfortably." Wu Yan stood with her hands on her hips, brimming with confidence as though victory were already hers.

"You're still acting so arrogant when death is staring you in the face? Look around. Doesn't this place seem familiar?" Li Xuan asked, spreading his arms.

"This is... where you kidnapped Xiao Rou last time? So what? You think changing locations means you can beat me?" Wu Yan said disdainfully.

"You really are stupid. Just like I guessed, the first one to chase after me would definitely be you." Li Xuan smiled and lightly clapped his hands. Several pale golden tentacles suddenly burst out of the ground, binding all four of Wu Yan's limbs at once. The tentacles bit deeply into her flesh, but Wu Yan showed no hint of panic.

"Hehe, do you really think I'm an idiot? You lured me to a place like this—anyone with half a brain could tell it was a trap. I merely went along with it so I could take this chance to kill you!" Wu Yan sneered.

"You can still say that while you're tied up by tentacles? You really are hopelessly stupid." Li Xuan shook his head.

"If it were Qi Mo or Xu Rou, they might be helpless in this situation. But I'm different! This kind of trap means nothing to me! They're just a few tentacles. Watch me burn them all away in an instant!" Wu Yan scoffed. With a flick of her wrists, a ball of flame condensed around the ruby necklace on her chest.

"I'd advise you not to..."

"Judgment!" Wu Yan roared. A pillar of fire erupted upward around her, and the intense heat warped the air around it.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

The next second, Wu Yan's heart-rending scream rang out from within the flames.

When the pillar of fire faded, the tentacles around Wu Yan had not been burned away. Instead, they had turned a vivid blazing red. If not for the protection of her magic, Wu Yan's skin would likely have already been scorched black. Even so, the searing heat had pierced deep into her bones.

[Monster Name: Fireproof Tentacles]

[Amount consumed: 15 ml]

[Additional Attributes: Hardening, Fire Resistance]

Li Xuan looked at his monster template in satisfaction and slowly approached Wu Yan. "These tentacles have metal in their outer layer and possess extremely high fire-element resistance. If you try to burn them, you'll only turn them into red-hot branding irons."