My figures came to life!

Bzzzz...

After leaving the café, Chen Xiao rode his little electric scooter leisurely home.

Magic City in this life was much like it had been in his previous one, but with the "setting switching to urban supernatural," the city had gained quite a few advertisements about superpowers.

[If your child's body stretches unnaturally and he keeps talking about becoming the King of XX, please don't panic. He may have awakened a superpower.]

[If your child suddenly starts scaling walls and leaping across rooftops, saying he'll bring XX back even if he has to break XX's bones, please don't panic. He may have awakened a superpower.]

[If your child constantly has trouble hearing what other people say and wanders around carrying a kitchen knife, please don't panic. He may have awakened a superpower.]

[If your child suddenly stands on his desk and shouts, "My fate is mine to decide, not heaven's," please don't panic. It's normal for children to be a little melodramatic. A good spanking should sort him out.]

It was honestly hard to keep a straight face.

As for how superpowers worked in this world, Chen Xiao had initially assumed it followed the spiritual energy revival formula: everyone used to be a Muggle, then suddenly awakened as something like the spiritual energy of heaven and earth grew more abundant.

But after watching all sorts of superpower videos in his daily scrolling, along with the official explanations, he realized things weren't as simple as he'd imagined.

Most supernaturals were far too eager to show off, as though they'd been holding back for ages and could finally let loose. They didn't look like people who had only recently awakened at all.

Two years, three years...

Or even longer ago?

They acted like newbies on the surface, but who knew? They might have secretly mastered an entire combo long ago, just waiting for this chance to show off in front of the Muggles.

There were also demonstration videos that perfectly blended superpowers with martial arts.

Afterward, the Daoist priest in the video solemnly declared, "You have to believe in science," then stepped into the air, rode the wind, and flew away right in front of everyone.

You're telling me that was really a newly awakened superpower, and not the result of some cultivation technique?

For some reason, it reminded Chen Xiao of a Chinese animated series he'd watched in his previous life.

The Outcast.

The supernaturals in it-Outcasts-could either awaken innately or develop their abilities through training. They were defined as people who could perceive and use the energy within their bodies: Qi.

At that thought, Chen Xiao couldn't help suspecting that this world had possessed a supernatural side from the very beginning, but the authorities had kept it well hidden, just like in The Outcast.

Which raised a question.

Why were governments around the world revealing this hidden world?

And they weren't merely revealing it. They were integrating it into the ordinary world, making superpowers common knowledge.

Their urgency practically screamed: Something big is coming!

"Whatever. If the sky falls, the tall ones can hold it up."

Chen Xiao shook his head, clearing away his tangled emotions.

Generally speaking, transmigrators were the tall ones who stepped up when the sky fell. Given a little time, they became beings capable of taking down the whole damn world single-handedly.

But he had neither a cheat system nor an innate superpower. Aside from memories of his previous life and the [anomalous entities] that had appeared around him, he was basically no different from an ordinary person.

I couldn't hold up a damn thing!

A simple life is what really matters.

I, Chen Xiao, am going to live a peaceful life with my "wives"!

At that thought, the corners of Chen Xiao's mouth lifted. He gave the throttle a gentle twist with his right hand, speeding up his little electric scooter, and soon reached the villa complex where he now lived.

When he returned home, the aroma of delicious food drifted out of the kitchen. Even though Chen Xiao had just eaten something at the café, it still stirred his appetite.

In both his previous life and this one, Chen Xiao had lived alone in this house. Even his family would let him know before coming over.

In theory, there shouldn't have been a second person using the kitchen.

If it had been a stranger, Chen Xiao would already have warily pulled the baseball bat out from under the sofa. Instead, he headed toward the kitchen looking completely relaxed.

"Oh, welcome home, A-Xiao."

Hearing him at the doorway, the petite figure in the kitchen turned around. When she saw Chen Xiao, a sweet, angelic smile bloomed across her face.

"...Yeah. So it's you today, Mahiru."

Chen Xiao felt his heart skip a beat. It took him a moment to recover, and his reply sounded a little awkward.

His gaze drifted aside for a moment, only to be drawn involuntarily back to the beauty before him.

Her long flaxen hair lay loosely down her back like flowing honey. A trace of concern hid within her amber eyes, and her features were as delicate as a porcelain doll in a shop window, yet held a warmth and vitality no doll could possess.

She stood straight and elegant, with the poise of a well-bred young lady.

Even in simple house clothes with an apron hanging in front, dressed like an ordinary homemaker, she couldn't conceal that pure, flawless air of perfection.

Like an angel descended to earth!

"Ugh, if you stare at me like that... even I get embarrassed, A-Xiao."

Perhaps Chen Xiao's gaze was too obvious-too heated. The angelic girl suddenly blushed and turned her head aside, curling her little hand into a fist to tap his chest lightly.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry..."

After administering that tiny "punishment" to Chen Xiao, the girl named Mahiru didn't turn back to preparing dinner. Instead, she moved closer and asked, "A-Xiao, that childhood friend of yours asked you out to talk about enrolling, didn't she?"

Chen Xiao paused at her question, then nodded.

"You turned her down?"

"Yeah."

Mahiru's brows first drew together, then relaxed. She stepped forward and hugged Chen Xiao of her own accord, but their height difference left her entire face buried against his chest.

"You really didn't have to go this far for us."

Chen Xiao: -!!!!

Even setting aside the irresistible warmth and softness in his arms, the girl's warm breath seeped through his clothes onto his skin. That hot, tingling sensation nearly made his expression change completely.

Fortunately, having lived two lives, he did possess a little willpower. At least he didn't turn into a creep on the spot.

A moment later, the girl pulled out of Chen Xiao's embrace on her own and took two steps back to put a little distance between them. He couldn't tell whether the unnatural flush on her face came from being smothered against his clothes.

"Dinner will be ready soon. I'll call you when it is."

With that, Mahiru turned back toward the stove. As her hair swayed, he caught glimpses of ears as red as her cheeks.

She didn't scold Chen Xiao for his decision "not to attend school." She was touched, but also felt a little guilty.

If he hadn't needed to protect them while they were still weak, Chen Xiao could have distinguished himself on the academy's grand stage and carved out a place of his own. He wouldn't have had to give up such a promising future.

"Ah..."

Only after standing there for quite a while did Chen Xiao come back to his senses. Looking at Mahiru's back as she stood before the stove, he couldn't help saying, "With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?"

"Y-you smooth talker!"

They were close together, and Chen Xiao hadn't lowered his voice. Hearing his words, Mahiru jolted as if she'd been shocked, then snapped back at him in a fluster.

Chen Xiao laughed and left the kitchen.

On his way back to his bedroom, he paused briefly as he passed a room with its door half-open.

Looking inside, he could see piles of tools and raw materials, along with half-finished models and assorted failed creations.

"I'm not in the mood today. I'll get back to it in a few days."

Chen Xiao stepped forward, shut the door, and went straight back to his bedroom.

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a huge display cabinet that occupied an entire wall. It was filled with little figures in all sorts of poses, every one exquisitely crafted.

But the display compartment labeled [Mahiru Shiina] was empty.

"I'm home~"

Out of habit, Chen Xiao greeted his figures.

Although he didn't hear anything like seven gourds calling out "Grandpa," Chen Xiao could faintly sense them responding to him. The gloomy mood left by turning down Lin Qi's persuasion eased considerably.

Then he flopped onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

It had all begun.

Four years ago, when Chen Xiao was still in high school.

One day, his deskmate started talking about an anime he liked. It featured a white-haired, little-girl-looking elven mage who really appealed to his tastes. She was powerful, too, and her age contrasted sharply with her appearance.

At the time, Chen Xiao had instinctively remarked, "Isn't that Frieren?"

His classmate had looked utterly baffled.

"Who's Frieren?"

Only then did he remember that this world had no Japan, only Yingzhou Province.

The anime and related industries from his previous life had taken much longer to flourish in this world. As a result, the fictional characters he'd loved in his previous life didn't exist here!

After returning home, he began slowly recalling his previous life in his spare time, recording the characters he remembered in a document.

He even spent some time learning to draw specifically for that purpose.

And just as cross-dressing was something you either never did or did countless times...

After drawing the characters he'd once loved, Chen Xiao stopped being satisfied with portraits. He began learning to make figures, even going out of his way to consult an expert figure maker at his school.

Finally, in his first year of university, he successfully completed his first figure.

But what happened afterward got strange.

Could you imagine it?

Late at night, just as you were about to go to the kitchen to make something to eat, you discovered a tall, mature beauty with purple hair tied in a high ponytail standing with her back fully exposed to you, wearing nothing but an apron over her bare body and a black-and-purple thong.

It had scared the hell out of Chen Xiao, and he'd quickly retreated from the kitchen.

But then he realized something.

Isn't that Saeko Busujima from Highschool of the Dead, one of the reigning heroines of early anime crossover fanfiction, the girl from that classic scene where a bullet passes between her bouncing breasts?

In early anime crossover fanfiction, Saeko Busujima was practically guaranteed to appear-just as Hannah Abbott was guaranteed to be the first name called out for the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter fanfiction!

But why...

Why is she in my kitchen?

When Chen Xiao got his emotions under control and returned to the kitchen to investigate, all he found there was a Saeko Busujima figure.

What on earth is going on?

At first, Chen Xiao had thought it was a superpower he'd awakened.

But he hadn't felt any awakening of his Superpower, and his physical abilities hadn't changed in the slightest. The results of a later test at school also showed that he hadn't awakened yet...

Then why do these figures turn into real people?