Chapter Summaries

Chen Xiao accepted kisses from Ram, Elf Yamada, and Ruri Gokou as the figurine girls competed to get closer to him. Elf Yamada then gathered talented writers and artists to help launch a webnovel venture, and Chen Xiao agreed to buy more equipment.

• Chen Xiao kissed Ram, who thanked him and returned to the display cabinet beside Rem.
• Elf Yamada and Ruri Gokou each kissed one of Chen Xiao's cheeks, then Elf announced that she would write a novel called "Supreme Throne".
• Elf Yamada summoned Sagiri Izumi to illustrate her novel, and Sagiri agreed to help.
• Muramasa Senju arrived to write a novel of her own, while Eriri Sawamura and Mashiro Shiina offered to illustrate.
• Chen Xiao welcomed the girls' plans and said he would buy more computers and equipment the next day.

Chen Xiao went to collect computers and drawing equipment, then ran into his former classmate Ding Jiafang in the shopping district. Ding Jiafang explained that he planned to perform at a Comic Exhibition but wanted to find someone to sing in his place.

• Chen Xiao called his friend, ordered several high-spec computers and drawing tablets, and left the villa after telling Mahiru Shiina he was heading out.
• Chen Xiao ran into Ding Jiafang, who was surprised he had stayed in Magic City and asked whether he was really giving up enrollment at Shenzhou Nova Academy.
• Chen Xiao and Ding Jiafang joked about their school days, then acknowledged that they might see each other less once the term began.
• Ding Jiafang told Chen Xiao he was taking part in a Comic Exhibition, but wanted someone else to sing onstage because he could not get the songs right.

Chen Xiao reconsidered letting the figurine girls become known to the world and agreed to ask one of them to perform at Ding Jiafang's convention. He then collected a large order of computer equipment with Ding Jiafang and a computer-shop friend, while still putting off buying a car.

• Ding Jiafang begged Chen Xiao to find a replacement performer after missing rehearsal, and Chen Xiao thought of a famous singer he knew.
• Chen Xiao reflected on his fears about exposing the figurine girls and tentatively decided to open another little gap by asking one of them to perform.
• Chen Xiao's computer-shop friend called to say his equipment was ready and offered to deliver and install it because it would not fit on Chen Xiao's scooter.
• Ding Jiafang drove Chen Xiao to the shop, where they found a mountain of equipment that barely fit in the car.
• Chen Xiao's computer-shop friend offered to ride Chen Xiao's scooter to his home and install the equipment for free, and Ding Jiafang asked why Chen Xiao still had not bought a car.

Chen Xiao’s friends helped set up his computer room while Ding Jiafang searched the spotless villa for signs of a live-in girlfriend. He found a pink apron and a refrigerator full of ingredients, and left convinced Chen Xiao was hiding a relationship from Lin Qi.

• Chen Xiao brought his computer-shop friend and Ding Jiafang into his villa to set up equipment in the computer room.
• Ding Jiafang and Chen Xiao discussed Black Rock Shooter, and Ding learned that Lin Qi had witnessed the superpowered incident.
• Ding Jiafang noticed the villa was unusually spotless and suspected Chen Xiao had a live-in girlfriend.
• Ding Jiafang checked the shoe cabinet and shared bathroom but found no evidence there.
• Ding Jiafang spotted a pink apron and a refrigerator full of ingredients, then decided Chen Xiao was hiding a girlfriend from Lin Qi.
• Chen Xiao noticed Ding Jiafang looking ready for battle and wondered what was wrong.

After finishing the computer room, Chen Xiao decided to help Ding Jiafang at the Magic City Comic Exhibition by choosing a singer from his figurine collection. Ikuyo Kita was selected, while Nina Isari protested, leaving the bands arguing over who was cuter.

• Chen Xiao finished setting up five computers and told Ding Jiafang he was planning to start a studio.
• Ding Jiafang urged Chen Xiao to attend the Magic City Comic Exhibition in three days and bring a friend.
• Chen Xiao considered which girl to send to perform at the exhibition and chose Ikuyo Kita from Kessoku Band.
• Nina Isari objected to being passed over, but Chen Xiao explained that the performance was a solo act.
• Chen Xiao made Nina and Kita pose cutely, and Momoka ruled that Kita won, prompting Nina to erupt in anger.

Chen Xiao prepared for Ikuyo Kita’s anime convention performance, upgrading his computers with Nymph and gathering Kessoku Band for the trip. He drove the group out of his villa district in a borrowed car, while the neighborhood guard suspected he was hiding a girl.

• Chen Xiao brought Nymph out to upgrade the computers for Elf Yamada and the others, but the effort drained much of his mana and left her leaning against him.
• Three days later, Ikuyo Kita discovered that Nijika Ijichi, Ryo Yamada, and Hitori Gotoh were joining her on the trip and playfully demanded compensation for her emotional distress.
• Chen Xiao rejected Ryo Yamada’s idea of piling everyone onto his electric scooter and instead borrowed a black sedan to drive the group to the convention.
• The group hid in the car when Chen Xiao passed the villa district’s security guard, Uncle Liu, who let them through but grew suspicious after they left.
• Chen Xiao and the others relaxed once they had driven away, while Uncle Liu concluded that Chen Xiao was hiding a girl.

Chen Xiao brought Nijika Ijichi, Ryo Yamada, Ikuyo Kita, and Hitori Gotoh to the Comic Exhibition, where they explored the venue and prepared for Ikuyo Kita’s performance. When Chen Xiao introduced the girls to Ding Jiafang backstage, Ding Jiafang reacted with murderous jealousy.

• Chen Xiao comforted Hitori Gotoh after the crowds at the Comic Exhibition overwhelmed her.
• Chen Xiao led the four girls through the exhibition, turned away requests to photograph them, and watched an anime-themed comedy sketch with them.
• Ding Jiafang messaged Chen Xiao that his turn was approaching, so Chen Xiao took the girls backstage.
• Nijika Ijichi and Ryo Yamada encouraged Ikuyo Kita as she grew nervous about performing.
• Ding Jiafang saw Chen Xiao arrive with four beautiful girls and glared at him furiously.

Chen Xiao introduced Ikuyo Kita and the other members of Kessoku Band as the performers he had invited for Ding Jiafang’s event. Just as Kita was called onstage, the venue’s backing-track equipment failed, leaving her to choose whether to sing without accompaniment or cancel.

• Ding Jiafang was surprised when Chen Xiao arrived with Nijika Ijichi and three other beautiful girls, and Nijika introduced them as Chen Xiao’s friends.
• Chen Xiao introduced Ikuyo Kita as the guest singer, then explained that she was the lead singer in a band with Nijika Ijichi and the others.
• Ding Jiafang received a message that his act was coming up and hurried everyone backstage, where Ikuyo Kita confirmed she was ready to perform.
• The host announced Ikuyo Kita’s performance, but the backing-track equipment stopped working, and he asked whether she would sing without it or cancel.

When the stage’s playback equipment failed, Chen Xiao and Nijika Ijichi arranged for Kessoku Band to perform live instead. The band introduced itself to the convention audience and made its debut, though Hitori Gotoh remained terrified of the crowd.

• Chen Xiao and Ding Jiafang found that a mouse had chewed through the stage’s audio cable, leaving the performance without a usable playback setup.
• Chen Xiao spotted a rival content creator, [Today's Flower City Rich Boy], acting suspiciously, but focused on finding a way to save the performance.
• Nijika Ijichi asked Chen Xiao to find instruments so Kessoku Band could perform, and he agreed.
• Hitori Gotoh panicked at the thought of going onstage, while the staff brought out a drum kit and connected the equipment.
• Ikuyo Kita, Nijika Ijichi, Ryo Yamada, and Hitori Gotoh introduced themselves as Kessoku Band and prepared to perform.

Kessoku Band stunned the convention crowd with a performance of "Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet," after Hitori Gotoh overcame her stage fright with a dazzling guitar solo. Their skill drew a growing audience and livestream viewers, leaving the musicians who lent them their instruments in disbelief.

• Hitori Gotoh panicked when the audience stayed silent after Kessoku Band introduced themselves, but Chen Xiao encouraged her from the crowd.
• Hitori Gotoh launched into a fiery guitar solo, breaking the silence and astonishing the audience and the musicians who had lent the band their instruments.
• Ikuyo Kita introduced Kessoku Band's original song, and the group performed it in standard Shenzhou speech rather than Japanese.
• The audience cheered as the band's performance drew a larger crowd, while livestream viewers and video recordings spread the moment online.
• The long-haired guitarist and the portly drummer watched Nijika Ijichi and Hitori Gotoh play and marveled at their exceptional skill.

Kessoku Band’s debut performance impressed the audience so much that the organizers let the girls play a second song, leaving other musicians humbled. Afterward, the band celebrated backstage with Chen Xiao and returned the borrowed instruments.

• Ikuyo Kita finished “Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet,” and the audience erupted in cheers while the rival band’s members left, shaken by Kessoku Band’s skill.
• The hostess announced that other performers had withdrawn, giving Nijika Ijichi and the others time to play another song.
• Kessoku Band performed “Seishun Complex,” won over the audience, promoted the band, and returned backstage.
• Nijika Ijichi asked Chen Xiao for his thoughts, and he praised the performance while Ryo Yamada joked about how much money they could have made charging admission.
• Ding Jiafang arrived backstage, congratulated Chen Xiao, and privately suspected he was involved with all four girls.
• Ikuyo Kita, Hitori Gotoh, and Ryo Yamada returned the borrowed instruments, and the long-haired guitarist wistfully praised Hitori Gotoh’s touch on his guitar.

[Today's Flower City Rich Boy] tried to take revenge on Ding Jiafang and the four performers by controlling rats, but Chen Xiao tracked him into a mysterious alley and confronted him. The rich boy summoned another swarm, only for Chen Xiao to stop it with his remote.

• Angry after Ding Jiafang's success, [Today's Flower City Rich Boy] used a leaf melody to send rats after Ding Jiafang, Nijika Ijichi, and the others backstage.
• A door slammed and knocked the rats away, and a teasing voice caused him to lose control of the remaining rats.
• [Today's Flower City Rich Boy] tried to leave the convention but wandered into a dark alley, where Chen Xiao appeared and demanded to know if he had sabotaged the sound equipment.
• After recognizing Chen Xiao as Catnip's friend, [Today's Flower City Rich Boy] summoned countless rats with a flute and sent them attacking.
• Chen Xiao pressed a button on his remote, instantly stopping the swarm.

Chen Xiao used Mental Out to control rats and force Gao Chen to confess that his flute’s rat-controlling power came from black magic. After learning Gao Chen had been recruited by the Black Magic Society, Chen Xiao questioned him about his victims.

• Chen Xiao used his remote to send the rats back to their nests and immobilized Gao Chen with Mental Out.
• Chen Xiao forced Gao Chen to admit that he had sabotaged the sound equipment to anger Catnip and sent rats to attack Catnip and the girls for revenge.
• Gao Chen revealed that his rat-controlling ability was black magic called The Pied Piper of Hamelin, activated by a magical flute.
• Chen Xiao recognized the spell from Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They? and suspected Gao Chen of spreading the plague, but Gao Chen insisted he had only learned the spell while studying abroad.
• Gao Chen explained that he was the youngest son of the wealthy Gao family, had found the flute in Europa, and had been recruited by the Black Magic Society after it failed to sever his connection to it.
• Chen Xiao asked how many people Gao Chen had had rats bite, and Gao Chen admitted that he could not remember.

Chen Xiao tortured Gao Chen for targeting Nijika and the others, then fought the evil spirits unleashed by Gao Chen’s bone flute and destroyed it. He left Gao Chen alive, altered his mind, and ordered him to confess, while relying on Information Erasure to conceal himself.

• Chen Xiao beat and injured Gao Chen, silencing him with the remote and blaming him for endangering Nijika, Ryo, Bocchi, and Kita.
• Chen Xiao used Spirit Seeing Eyes to discover that Gao Chen’s flute was covered in tiny skulls and black sludge.
• The flute released evil spirits and bound itself to Gao Chen, but Chen Xiao used borrowed shrine maiden powers and Demon-Sealing Needles to destroy the spirits and shatter the flute.
• Chen Xiao healed Gao Chen enough to keep him alive, then used the remote to alter his mind and ordered him to turn himself in and confess.

After Chen Xiao took Nijika Ijichi and the others away from the Comic Exhibition, Gao Chen publicly turned himself in, and Ding Jiafang began to suspect Chen Xiao had caused it. Ding Jiafang wondered why Chen Xiao would forgo Nova Academy if he had awakened a superpower.

• Chen Xiao reunited with Ding Jiafang, Nijika Ijichi, and the others after they escaped the crowd backstage, then left with the girls to take them home.
• Ding Jiafang warned Chen Xiao not to let an unresolved relationship become trouble, and Chen Xiao thought of Lin Qi before departing.
• Ding Jiafang learned that Today's Flower City Rich Boy had posted a video of himself turning himself in at the Magic City Police Station.
• Comic Exhibition attendees watched Gao Chen's surrender video and speculated that a mind-controlling superpower had forced him to confess.
• Ding Jiafang connected Gao Chen's surrender and the mention of rat-controlling magic to Chen Xiao's long absence, then wondered why Chen Xiao would reject Nova Academy if he had a superpower.

Chen Xiao recovered from using multiple borrowed powers with Kalifa’s help, then returned home with Nijika Ijichi and the others. Days later, the Gao family sought revenge through the impaired Gao Chen while Liu Yaowen watched.

• Kalifa appeared and caught Chen Xiao as he collapsed, helping him recover by letting him borrow her strength.
• Kalifa explained that Miss Mari had opened a Boundary Gate, and Chen Xiao told Nijika Ijichi and the others that he had defeated Gao Chen to avenge them.
• Kalifa drove the group toward home after reading a manual, but Chen Xiao took over when her driving frightened everyone.
• Days later, Liu Yaowen learned that a Gao family representative had come to the Anomalous Incident Management Bureau.
• The elderly representative told Liu Yaowen that the Gao family wanted revenge and could find their enemy through Gao Chen.

The Gao family hired the Daoist Qing Xuanzi to investigate Gao Chen’s attacker, while Liu Yaowen and Huang Qingque watched. Qing Xuanzi traced a karmic connection into a poisonous-fog city, where a white-haired figure attacked him and left his fate uncertain.

• The Gao family pursued revenge against Gao Chen’s attacker to restore its reputation and business interests, and Liu Yaowen allowed the family to proceed.
• Liu Yaowen introduced Qing Xuanzi to Huang Qingque, who recognized him as an unorthodox practitioner and challenged his ability to uncover the attacker.
• Qing Xuanzi examined Gao Chen and discovered that his three souls and seven spirits were intact, but his mind had been irreversibly made pure.
• Qing Xuanzi used a secret art to follow a karmic link from Gao Chen into a strange city filled with poisonous fog.
• A petite, white-haired figure rushed at Qing Xuanzi and wounded him before he could react.

Qing Xuanzi failed to identify the person who attacked him, while the Gao family elder investigated several suspects and dismissed the leads closest to the truth. The chapter then flashed back to Chen Xiao’s return home, where Shokuhou Misaki greeted him with an embrace and he kissed her in front of the others.

• Qing Xuanzi returned from his soul projection injured and claimed he needed half a year to recover, though he secretly expected to heal in a week.
• The Gao family elder investigated Gao Chen’s recent whereabouts and dismissed Ding Jiafang, Chen Xiao, and Nijika Ijichi and her companions as suspects.
• The chapter flashed back to Chen Xiao returning home, where Shokuhou Misaki threw herself into his arms and demanded a kiss.
• Chen Xiao kissed Shokuhou Misaki passionately, while Orihime Inoue, Kalifa, Nijika Ijichi, and the others watched.

Chen Xiao paid the prices for borrowing several girls’ abilities, receiving kisses and spending time with Jack the Ripper. Reimu Hakurei’s materialization ended soon after he paid her, while Reimu planned to save her money for a future date with him.

• Shokuhou Misaki and Orihime Inoue kissed Chen Xiao as payment, while Kalifa thanked him for giving her a new life before returning to her figurine.
• Reimu Hakurei charged Chen Xiao fifty yuan for a basic service and kissed him, then began turning transparent after her price was paid.
• Chen Xiao realized that paying a price could take priority over the mana cost of materialization, but that the mana drain returned once the price was paid.
• Jack the Ripper asked Chen Xiao to hold her and watch television with her, and he agreed.
• Yukari Yakumo teased the figurine Reimu Hakurei for saving money, while Reimu imagined using her savings to invite Chen Xiao on a date.

Tsugumi warned Chen Xiao that materialized figurines lacked legal identities and revealed she had created official records for Kessoku Band. The chapter ended with her claiming the records looked convincing unless authorities investigated in person.

• Ikuyo Kita and the other Kessoku Band members returned to figurine form, and Nina Isari learned they had performed at the Comic Exhibition without her.
• Nina Isari angrily blamed Chen Xiao for missing out, while Rupa comforted Hitori Gotoh.
• Tsugumi summoned Chen Xiao to the computer room and raised the problem of the girls having no legal identities.
• Tsugumi explained that public attention around Kessoku Band's performance and the rich boy's confession could lead authorities to investigate attendees.
• Tsugumi told Chen Xiao she had used Angeloid's AI system to alter the population records and create identities for Nijika Ijichi and the other band members.