An Encounter During Practice

"Magical girls have idol ranks?"

At an abandoned construction site devoid of people, Zhou Mo transformed into Magical Girl Molis. Her face was full of confusion.

Before the formal training began, Rabi explained the magical girl rankings to her:

"That's right. A new-generation magical girl's strength is tied to her number of fans. The more fans she has, the higher her magical power. Based on fan count, they're broadly divided into the following ranks."

"Those with fewer than ten thousand fans across the internet are considered insignificant, commonly known as bottom-tier. One hundred thousand fans makes a third-rate magical girl, one million makes a second-rate magical girl, five million makes a first-rate magical girl, and over ten million makes a Top Tier magical girl."

Rabi pulled out its phone and showed Zhou Mo its following list on social media.

After scrolling down for more than fifty pages, the list was densely packed with accounts belonging to active magical girls.

Zhou Mo was stunned. Just how many magical girls were there in this city?

"Across all of Cloud City, there are currently 5,789 active magical girls spread across its thirteen districts. Ten percent have over one million fans, while only twenty-three have reached Top Tier."

That was what Rabi said before spreading its paws.

"Above them are the Annual Top Ten Magical Girls. Through the once-a-year Magical Girl Shining Stage Competition, ten Annual Top Ten Magical Girls are selected from among all first-rate magical girls and above."

Hearing this, Zhou Mo suddenly remembered one of the Annual Top Ten Magical Girls she had seen on the big screen yesterday, the one called Illya.

"I see. So what does this have to do with me?"

Zhou Mo asked.

"Now that you've become a magical girl, having a goal will help you work harder."

Rabi stood atop a pile of construction materials, looking down at her.

"First, set a small goal: become one of the Annual Top Ten Magical Girls within a year."

"?"

Zhou Mo slowly put up a question mark.

"You call that a small goal? Then what the hell is a big goal?"

Rabi stared at her without replying.

Seeing Rabi remain silent, Zhou Mo looked at it suspiciously.

"Don't tell me there really is some big goal?"

"...You aren't qualified to come into contact with it yet."

The Bai cat before her said only that before changing the subject.

"Training begins now."

Under Rabi's meticulous guidance, Zhou Mo practiced singing, dancing, rap, and basketball all over again.

In just three short hours, Zhou Mo had mastered Iron Mountain Lean.

"This song..."

During the final singing practice, Zhou Mo heard a familiar yet unfamiliar melody playing from the speaker beside Rabi.

It was unfamiliar because she did not know its name, yet familiar because she had heard it before.

It was the song that pink-haired magical girl had sung onstage on the first day.

"Ah... ahem..."

Zhou Mo cleared her throat and began singing along.

Her graceful, lively voice rang out. Even without systematic vocal training, Zhou Mo's voice in her magical girl form was enough to be called heavenly.

Rabi watched the results of her practice and nodded in satisfaction.

"What excellent talent."

While Zhou Mo practiced the song, nearby, a pink twin-tailed girl darted between the buildings.

A little pink fairy followed beside the pink-haired girl, flapping its wings vigorously as it spoke to her.

"The target is roughly three hundred meters away at two o'clock, fleeing toward the left."

Pink-haired magical girl Xia Ya nodded slightly, bent her legs, and leaped forward. With only a few strides, she crossed the three-hundred-meter distance and found the Monster under the fairy's guidance.

It was a scrawny Monster, less than half the height of an adult.

When the Monster looked back and saw the magical girl behind it, fear immediately appeared on its face. It turned and tried to flee again in a puff of dust.

"Trying to run?"

The pink twin-tailed girl snorted coldly and raised her wand high. A ball of light gradually condensed.

"Hunting Light Bullet!"

With a swing of her wand, the pink-and-Bai sphere shot toward the Monster like a baseball.

The Monster was instantly terrified. It zigzagged through the buildings, trying to use the terrain to evade the light sphere's attack.

Yet the sphere seemed to have eyes, following the Monster's path and swiftly catching up to it.

Boom!

The sphere exploded upon contact with the Monster. When the smoke cleared, the Monster had already fallen to the ground, turning into particles of light and gradually vanishing.

The pink-haired girl and fairy arrived where the Monster had been destroyed and let out soft breaths.

"Finally got it. It clearly had no fighting power, but who knew it would be so good at running?"

The pink fairy put its hands on its hips and pouted as it complained.

"But what a shame. There weren't any spectators around when we defeated it, otherwise we could've gained some emotional energy."

The pink-haired girl did not mind.

"This is better. Eliminating the Monster before it can harm anyone else is the best outcome."

"What's wrong with fighting Monsters in public? Isn't there a barrier to protect bystanders?"

The pink fairy muttered quietly.

The pink-haired girl glanced at it and said seriously:

"That also consumes magical power to maintain. If we encounter an evenly matched enemy, it would be dangerous."

"Okay, okay, I get it. That's exactly why you gain fans so slowly." The fairy sighed helplessly.

"Sigh, that's the combat style of classical magical girls. The usual process is to let the Monster bully ordinary people a little first, then make a heroic entrance at the end to reap a huge amount of emotion. And An Xia's fights should be more spectacular too. Look at you—going head-to-head with Monsters. You're basically some muscle-bound freak girl. How are you supposed to attract fans..."

Seeing the pink fairy ramble on again, the pink-haired girl shot it an irritated glare and flicked its forehead with her finger.

"Use my magical girl name while working. And how slowly am I gaining fans? Don't I have seventy... eighty, ninety thousand fans already?"

"Got it, Xia Ya-chan~"

"..."

An Xia was about to leave when her ears suddenly twitched. A graceful, captivating singing voice drifted over from afar, immediately stopping her in her tracks.

"This song..."

Her eyes widened slightly. That familiar melody was her debut song.

Upon hearing it, An Xia unconsciously started walking, then ran toward the source of the singing.

"Huh? Where are you going, Xia Ya-chan?"

Seeing An Xia suddenly leave, the pink fairy hurried after her.

After turning a corner, An Xia arrived at an abandoned construction site.

Before her stood a silver-haired girl in a blue-and-Bai dress beneath the moonlight. The way the other girl sang instantly captivated her.

An Xia quickly walked over.

"Wah—That sounds way too good!"

"Huh?"

Zhou Mo was still focused on practicing when a voice suddenly rang out beside her, startling her.

Only then did she see that it was the pink twin-tailed girl.

The pink-haired girl suddenly rushed forward, grabbed Zhou Mo's hand, and looked at her with starry eyes.

"You sing so beautifully! It's practically heavenly!"

"Will you sing with me? Let's become Magical Idols together!"

"...Can someone explain what's going on?"