Lady Ziwei Fan Festival

Two kilometers away, the glow dissolved in a dark alley.

Su Bai braced himself against a brick wall and slid to the ground. His stomach felt frighteningly empty, and his vision kept going black.

"Master, those six energy bars you bought this evening were a complete waste," Kabi said weakly from inside his collar. "Condensing that core for the girl drew on your own essence. You can barely walk straight now."

"Home." Su Bai pushed himself up against the wall. "Xiaoxiao made braised pork."

"How do you know?"

"She sent eight messages this afternoon." Su Bai waved his terminal feebly. "The last one said if I didn't come home for dinner, she'd break my legs."

"...Then we'd better go home."

Xingfu Li Residential Complex, apartment 703.

The moment he unlocked the security door, the smell of braised pork rushed out to greet him.

Su Bai's stomach roared so loudly it could be heard across the living room.

"Bro?" Su Xiaoxiao sat cross-legged on the sofa, her hair in twin ponytails. Without looking up, she kept tapping furiously at her tablet.

Three bowls of rice and a huge, still-steaming basin of braised pork sat on the dining table.

"Wash your hands," she said, typing away. "I made the pork to celebrate. I dare you to leave even one piece."

Su Bai had barely finished taking off his shoes before he was at the table.

He grabbed his chopsticks and demolished half his first bowl of rice in three bites.

"Slow down!" Su Xiaoxiao looked up from her tablet. "Did you just escape a famine?!"

"I started taking orders right after school," he mumbled around a mouthful of rice. "I'm hungry."

"Deliveries made you this hungry?" She narrowed her eyes and leaned in, looking him up and down. "Bro, you've gotten so thin lately your face looks different. Your eyes are sunken."

"Growing boy."

"You're still growing?"

"Second puberty."

"Yeah, right!" Su Xiaoxiao snatched up a cushion and threw it at him.

Su Bai caught it with one hand without pausing his chopsticks.

"Hey, save me some!" She lunged over to guard the pork. "I made this to celebrate the Fan Support Club!"

"Celebrate whose club?"

"Lady Ziwei's!"

"Then I'll eat her share."

"Her share?!" Su Xiaoxiao laughed in exasperation. "Who do you think you are? Lady Ziwei could swallow a whole Monster in one bite. You think she needs your braised pork?"

Su Bai picked out the biggest piece and put it in his mouth.

Whether he deserved it or not, the pork was delicious.

"Forget it. I won't argue with you." Su Xiaoxiao picked up her tablet again and raised her voice. "Bro! Huge news! The Fan Support Club passed five million followers today!"

"Oh."

"Don't just say 'oh'!" She shoved the tablet in front of him. "Look at this! 'Lady Ziwei Saves a Damsel on Campus.' It was uploaded this afternoon and hit a million views in two hours!"

A shaky video played on the screen.

A purple-and-gold figure stood at the edge of a balcony and swept her Great Scythe through the air.

Three hundred meters away, the railings along the stands broke clean through, and three black-clad agents tumbled into a heap with their guns.

"See that?" Su Xiaoxiao slapped the sofa in excitement. "One strike! Just one! She drove back an entire Monster Hunting Bureau team! Snipers, Night Watchers, command vehicle—one swing sent them all running! She's a god! The god of Magical Girls doesn't even need to fight!"

Su Bai kept picking at the pork.

"That's made up."

"Huh?!"

"I was there." He swallowed his rice. "Our teaching building was locked down all afternoon. The class chat was full of videos from the scene. That Magical Girl never fought anyone. She just stood there and swung her scythe once. She cut the railing, and the Monster Hunting Bureau withdrew on its own."

"This whole 'drove back an entire team' thing is something you delusional fans made up."

Su Xiaoxiao's face visibly reddened.

"What do you know?!" She slapped the coffee table and stood up. "That alloy railing could withstand a D-Rank Demon's charge! She cut it into three sections with one swing from three hundred meters away! Why did the Monster Hunting Bureau withdraw? Because they couldn't beat her!"

"That's winning without a fight, a hundred times more impressive than actually fighting! Hajige, you deliver food. What do you know about tactics?"

Su Bai nearly choked.

Fine. I really don't know anything about tactics.

"And another thing!" Su Xiaoxiao sat back down in a huff, then suddenly leaned toward him again, her eyes unusually bright. "Bro, I've spotted a pattern."

"What pattern?"

"Lady Ziwei spent the whole day at your school today."

She counted on her fingers. "The girls' dorm was sealed off this morning, and the teaching building this afternoon. She was behind all of it! I strongly suspect Lady Ziwei's real identity is a female student at Tianqiong University!"

Su Bai's chopsticks paused for half a second.

"So?"

"So!" Su Xiaoxiao slapped her thigh. "I'm sneaking into your school! Isn't there an open day next week? I'll go in as a visitor and stake it out! I'm eighteen. I could easily pass for a freshman!"

"Our security guards specialize in catching suspicious people like you."

"Hmph. I'll find a way."

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.

"Ningning's here!" Su Xiaoxiao bounced off the sofa and ran barefoot to open it.

Xia Ning stood outside with her schoolbag on her back, still wearing her uniform.

"Xiaoxiao, that badge you mentioned on the phone—"

"Come in, come in!" Su Xiaoxiao pulled her inside and held up the tablet like a treasure. "Look! I spent all afternoon drawing it!"

A badge design filled the screen.

It had a purple-and-gold background, a Great Scythe in the center, and a ring of stars around its blade. Beneath it, small letters read: Star Team.

"What do you think?" Su Xiaoxiao planted her hands on her hips. "Our team emblem!"

"Team?" Xia Ning blinked.

"Yep! Star Xia Squad! I've got it all figured out. Lady Ziwei is the captain, and I'm the Saintess, responsible for conveying the will of the god of Magical Girls!"

"Once I awaken as a Magical Girl, I'll be Lady Ziwei's right-hand woman. Then Mint and the others will all answer to me!"

A strange look crossed Xia Ning's face.

"...You'll be in charge of Mint?"

"Of course!" Su Xiaoxiao noticed nothing. "Mint may be a Magical Girl, but I've been around longer! I was Lady Ziwei's first believer! Don't worry, Ningning. Once I'm the Saintess, I'll make you a guardian!"

Xia Ning opened her mouth, then swallowed what she had been about to say.

"...Then I'd better thank Your Holiness in advance." She paused and added quietly, "But I don't think you'll get that right-hand position."

"What do you mean?"

"Just a hunch." Xia Ning smiled mysteriously.

"What hunch? Explain yourself!"

Su Bai heard every word from the dining table, bowl in hand.

Mint herself is standing right here, and you still want to be her boss.

He lowered his head and shoveled in more rice, his shoulders shaking twice.

"What are you laughing at, Bro?" Su Xiaoxiao glared at him.

"The braised pork is delicious." Su Bai raised his bowl to hide his face. "I'm moved."

"That's more like it!"

As Xia Ning changed her shoes in the entryway, her gaze swept over the three empty bowls on the table, then over Su Bai.

"Su Bai, your appetite's much better than usual today."

"All those deliveries."

"Oh..." Xia Ning nodded and asked no more.

Su Bai finished his third bowl and set down his chopsticks.

"I'll wash the dishes."

"Did the sun rise in the west?" Su Xiaoxiao stared at him.

"I ate three bowls. I should do something."

He carried the dishes into the kitchen and turned on the tap. The rushing water drowned out the sounds from the living room.

His terminal lit up in his palm, opening the Star Communication Network.

The Public Fund Pool's balance sat at the top.

Su Bai glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.

"Master, more than four hundred thousand came into the pool since this afternoon," Kabi said, leaning over to look. "It's all from that Fan Support Club your sister runs."

"What event brought in that much?"

"Read the announcement."

Su Bai opened the pinned event post.

"[Crowdfunding] First Lady Ziwei Offline Fan Festival · Venue Fundraiser"

"Goal: 200,000. Raised: 460,000."

"???"

Water rushed from the tap.

He stared at the screen for three seconds, forgetting to rinse the suds from his hands.

In the living room, the two girls huddled together, growing more animated as they talked.

"I've already picked out the venue. That creative arts park by the river costs eighty thousand a day!"

"Eighty thousand?" Xia Ning gasped. "Where are we going to get that kind of money?"

"The support fund!" Su Xiaoxiao lowered her voice. "I posted a fundraiser this afternoon. Guess how much we raised? Four hundred and sixty thousand! The fans are so enthusiastic!"

"But... but..." Xia Ning sounded uneasy. "Lady Ziwei doesn't even know about this offline event. Won't she be angry if we go ahead with it?"

"Don't worry!" Su Xiaoxiao thumped her chest. "A god loves all people! Lady Ziwei couldn't even be bothered to fight the Monster Hunting Bureau. Why would she hold anything against her true fans? Besides, we're spreading her fame. It's a good thing!"

"But what if—"

"There is no what if!"

The water stopped running in the kitchen.

Su Bai came out, drying his hands.

Su Xiaoxiao turned, saw him, and grinned as she held her tablet high.

"Bro! I've got incredible news!"

"The first Star Magical Girls Lady Ziwei Offline Fan Festival!"

"Is about to make its grand debut!"