Cake Tastes Good

When Huali woke up, it was still dark outside.

He struggled up from the sofa. The room was pitch-black.

His body felt sticky with sweat. Not knowing what time it was, he planned to get up, turn on the lights, and take a shower first.

As he put his feet on the floor and stood up, he suddenly felt an intense soreness in his legs. They were limp and weak, barely able to support him.

He was not someone who enjoyed exercising, and he had never imagined that he would one day become a Magical Girl. Naturally, he had never done any physical training.

He must have overexerted himself.

That was what he thought.

"Grrr!"

His stomach lodged an indignant complaint.

He was hungry!

He had eaten dinner before the battle. Although he had eaten quite a lot, the training and fighting had already drained all his energy.

A Magical Girl's battles consumed both magic power and physical strength. Magic power did not appear from nowhere. There had been plenty of research into restoring magic power; for example, the Special Incident Response Department had long developed methods of using Black Crystal to restore magic power.

As for exactly what happened when Magical Girls naturally recovered their magic power, there was still no perfect research conclusion. What could be confirmed was that when a Magical Girl's human body got healthy, effective sleep, it could rapidly restore magic power.

And healthy, effective sleep could not do without a satisfying meal. The sense of satisfaction brought by carbohydrates could effectively improve sleep quality.

Magical Girls did not need to worry too much about gaining weight. The intense exercise of a qualified Magical Girl made it difficult for fat to accumulate, and magic power's adjustments to the body would not allow fat to become excessive either.

Magical Girls' Apartment provided large quantities of free cake. High-calorie, high-carb food might be the chief culprit behind weight gain for other girls, but for Magical Girls, cake could replenish sugar, restore energy, and improve their mood. It was practically a treasure. Especially those adorable little cakes—they could nourish the hearts of Magical Girls, who already loved cute things. They were simply perfect.

Of course, some Magical Girls preferred things like beef noodles and fries, and Magical Girls' Apartment provided those as well.

Huang Xing had previously told him where he could get free little cakes. He felt his way to the wall and turned on the light, then looked at the clock hanging nearby. It was four in the morning.

...The clock somehow seemed bigger.

The switch on the wall seemed higher too.

Gurgle.

His stomach growled again.

As his consciousness cleared, the feeling of hunger became especially intense.

He clutched his stomach, pushed open the door, and staggered outside step by step. After only a few steps, he frowned and tugged up his pants.

His pants were drooping onto the floor, making it hard to walk.

Were his pants always this long?

It was not just his pants. His sleeves seemed a little long too.

Yet these abnormalities did not make him feel that anything was wrong. The hunger in his stomach was too intense, forcing him to focus all his attention on wrestling with his legs.

Damned legs, move already.

He felt as though he were dragging his own legs along. The legs that should have carried his body forward now dawdled like thousand-pound weights; even lifting them was difficult.

The fifth floor was not particularly high. Magical Girls' Apartment had everything except an elevator.

The place that provided little cakes was a separate room beside the first-floor lobby, run by an auntie who had once been a Magical Girl.

After retiring as a Magical Girl, she had volunteered to stay here because she loved making cakes. Every day, she made pastries for the Magical Girls, and she had done so for more than thirty years. The Magical Girls called her Cake Sister.

The trip downstairs was somewhat long, and his mind gradually became much clearer.

Looking at the hand pressed against the wall, he saw slender, fair fingers and pink nails showing a hint of flesh tone. He vaguely felt that his hands should not have been this pretty.

After pulling up his pants, he also discovered why his footsteps felt so heavy. It seemed related to his feet becoming smaller. His shoes were slightly loose, so he had to drag them as he walked.

Halfway down, he stopped blankly and lowered his head to examine himself again.

But he soon started walking again.

It was hardly strange for his body to change. He had known this day would come sooner or later.

Besides, there were no mirrors on these stairs. The urgent priority was to get some little cakes first.

Cake Sister was naturally already asleep, but two other Magical Girls were sitting in the room. When they saw him, they giggled and ran off.

There were Magical Girls who went out on patrol at night too. Judging by how they were dressed, they had probably just returned.

The cakes were in the freezer beside them. After an entire night, only a dozen or so cakes remained.

He did not care about that. He opened the freezer, grabbed two, and stuffed them into his mouth ravenously.

The sweet, rich flavor filled his mouth. When the tip of his tongue touched the sweet cream, his eyes suddenly widened.

Since when had cake tasted this good?

After quickly finishing the two cakes, his gaze fell on a third.

The cakes were not large, about the size of a little girl's fist. A family of three adults could finish one.

The cakes were exquisitely made, most of them shaped like little animals. Huali stuffed them into his mouth, and he could eat one in two bites.

After wolfing down more than ten cakes, he finally felt somewhat full. Looking at the last cake left in the freezer, he considered it and decided that since it had been made yesterday anyway, it would be better to help finish it. So he ate the last one too.

He patted his stomach and contentedly prepared to leave the little room, only to see two tall girls walk in.

He knew he had eaten quickly, and cream still lingered at the corner of his mouth. He became terribly embarrassed. "Um, I ate all the cake..."

His throat seemed a little hoarse, and the way he breathed while speaking felt slightly strange, making his voice inexplicably soft.

He cleared his throat, only to see both girls burst out laughing. The girl on the left, dressed in a white skirt, smiled and said, "Your face is covered in cream. Hurry up and wipe it off. You're so cute. Are you new here?"

"Yeah," he answered.

Cute?

That adjective felt a little unfamiliar.

"Little sister, I'm Cake Sister. If you haven't had enough, shall I make you more?" the girl in the white skirt asked with a smile.

"Ah?! You're..." He covered his mouth, only to get cream all over his hand.

"Do you want more?" Cake Sister tilted her head.

He shook his head repeatedly. "I'm full."

"Then come again anytime."

"Mm, okay."

That Cake Sister, who should have been nearly forty already, looked so young?!

His hands were covered in cream, and he was unbearably embarrassed. He quickened his pace, wanting to leave, when he faintly heard Cake Sister say, "A pink Magical Girl. That's so rare."

Pink?

How did she know he was pink?

...Wait, could it be?...

He suddenly noticed that the strands of hair hanging before his eyes were, for some reason, actually pink.

He suddenly realized that it was not that he had failed to notice his pink hair earlier. Rather, after becoming a Magical Girl, his hair was pink, so seeing pink hair had not made him remember that anything was wrong.

But he had not transformed, had he?