Two sausages without sauce

Just as he was at his wit’s end, fate seemed not to have abandoned Axin entirely. A scream pierced the air, and the children who had run off now returned.

“M-monster!”

“Ah… here we go again.” The appearance of monsters was nothing new. These things, seemingly sprouting from the earth, could appear anywhere, at any time, though many possessed no combat ability.

Just like this one now…

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! I am the [Meta Card Monster]! I love the meta environment! And I especially love powerful, high-rarity meta cards!”

Its head resembled a gashapon machine, its body a massive display cabinet. Two enormous mechanical arms appeared mighty and imposing, yet its fingers were unusually slender.

“Ah, no!”

Protesting was useless. Cornered, a giant hand swept down, snatching the card directly from the boy’s grasp. Without hesitation, it opened its gashapon machine head and devoured the card.

“Delicious!”

“Waaah!” cried the little boy.

“No!!!” Axin’s lament.

Compared to the boy’s sadness, Axin’s reaction was far more intense, his heart aching even more acutely.

‘30,000! How long would it take to earn something like that?!’

‘Damn it, I can’t take this anymore!’

He dashed! Bolting into the women’s restroom, he slammed the door shut and began his transformation. With a sweep of his arm, a silvery-white glow materialized into a key of magic, which he inserted into his chest and twisted. No wand was needed for this style of transformation; a magic-infused wand would appear in his hand only after the change was complete.

Creamy long hair, a light and adorable Western-style dress, a frilly skirt. A gem, condensed from magic and adorned with ribbons, appeared on his chest. His face and figure transformed instantly. Compared to his initial appearance as an elementary school girl upon first transforming, he had grown considerably, no longer flat-chested but now possessing curves. While not voluptuously sexy, he appeared nimble and charmingly cute.

‘Though calling myself “cute” is perhaps a bit abnormal.’

“Magical Girl Xin-chan, making a cute entrance~❤️”

Magical Girl Xin-chan could feel herself entirely transformed into a girl; both her appearance and voice had undergone a drastic change. Even after being a magical girl for so long, looking at her adorable reflection in the mirror still evoked a sense of incongruity within her.

There was no time to dwell on it, however. Patting her cheeks to steel her resolve, she immediately burst out of the restroom.

“More! More cards!” roared the monster.

“Then spit out those cards!”

With the magic-infused wand in her hand, she delivered a powerful blow to the monster’s head. A dull thud echoed as its massive body instantly tilted, then crashed straight into the wall.

[Bang!] Like a gravely wounded creature spitting blood, a pile of cards spewed from its mouth. These were, without a doubt, the cards it had snatched from others, which it consumed to gain power and upgrade itself.

Monsters were precisely such beings: twisted abominations born from humanity’s wicked desires, whose power increased by devouring objects symbolic of their own sins.

‘No problem! There’s still time!’

Axin, now transformed into Xin-chan, had already formulated a plan. If she could just defeat this guy, it looked like many rare cards would drop. If she could get her hands on two unwanted ones and sell them, she might just solve her food expenses for a day or two.

‘Though I can’t help but feel utterly pathetic…’

[Attention! Robber-class monster detected! Robber-class monster detected! All citizens, please protect your personal property and await rescue.] The alarm blared on a loop.

As a monster class just above ‘Thief-class,’ it indicated they were no longer afraid of humans and possessed a certain degree of armed threat.

The monster, now pulling its head from the wall, was utterly enraged.

“Damn you, Magical Girl! I endured humiliation to evolve from Thief-class to Robber-class; I won’t be pushed around by you heroes anymore! Behold my ultimate move! Card Shuriken!!”

“Treat those cards with respect, you bastard!”

Before it could even unleash its ability to harden cards into thrown shuriken, it was met with a punch to the head. The gashapon machine head, already severely dented and deformed by the wand, spun like a top before detaching from its body with a “splat.”

“My head!” screamed the body, frozen in place.

“My body!” shrieked the flying head?

‘Wow, what kind of cheap toy monster is this? Practically trashed after two hits.’

“Then let’s finish this quickly.” Xin-chan poised herself.

“It’s not over yet, Magical Girl!”

The headless body stood up. It seemed the head was merely decorative; though it could emit sounds and possessed consciousness, it was nothing more than a facade.

But none of that mattered. A surge of magic now erupted from within the monster, making Axin instantly perk up. Like an exhibitionist uncle, it pulled open its cabinet-like doors, revealing a transparent space within.

It was a wind-powered lottery machine! Many might have seen one in arcades or malls, where various prize tickets fluttered about inside a transparent mechanism, propelled by air. Indeed, the monster’s interior was constructed in exactly this manner, with countless shrunken cards swirling within it. At its very core, one card stood motionless, radiating light!

‘It’s my signed card! Though it wasn’t signed by me!’

Even if it wasn’t hers, seeing the card still intact made Axin even happier than the little boy. However, everything the monster did was not for appeasement, but for—battle!

“Card Storm Blade!”

With a single burst, it unleashed hundreds of cards from its body. Each card not only reverted to its original size but also had its density magically enhanced to a metallic level. The dense swarm of cards descended like a torrential downpour, even severing streetlights, their fierce onslaught directed straight at Axin.

“Whoa.” Her small body deftly dodged the assault, but the cards, like a conscious swarm of locusts, turned their attack around upon missing, reorganizing their massive offensive to charge again.

“Oh no, Xin-chan is in danger!”

“Haven’t the other heroes arrived yet?”

“Hoo hoo, it’s alright.”

Suddenly, a chubby otaku appeared from seemingly nowhere, camera in hand, panting loudly, his face flushed.

A bewildered passerby immediately asked, “Are you also a he—”

“If an attack lands, wouldn’t Xin-chan be in danger of having her clothes torn off?! Her tiny body shyly covering her important parts! Just imagining her blushing face is so cute! Uhohohoho~”

“Brother, let’s take a trip to the station together in a bit.”

Afraid to retaliate, after dodging yet another attack, Axin noticed the cards inside. Many, even encased in multiple card sleeves, had been absorbed into the monster’s body. Their unique rarity and holographic finishes further highlighted their original owners’ reverence for them.

‘And if I attack… if I attack!’

‘I’ll be made to pay for them!’

Thinking about his monthly salary of only 3,000, which had to cover utilities, daily food and drink, and even rent! He scrimped and saved every day, barely eating proper meals! If he were to pay compensation for these cards just to defeat the monster…

‘I’ll have nothing left! So, some other rich hero, please come save me!’

“Oh no, Xin-jie is in danger!”

“Look, isn’t that its weakness?”

The other two boys hid, secretly observing the battle. The situation had now devolved into a one-sided chase, with the monster standing inert, its core a single floating card radiating power to sustain its body.

“It’s that card, alright! If we destroy it, the monster’s finished!”

“No, that card is my 30,000…”

“But isn’t the real Xin-chan right in front of you?! And there are other people’s precious efforts in there too! They’re being used as weapons, completely disregarded!”

“I… I…” The boy hesitated. He didn’t know how many excellent grades he would need to earn this card.

“So wishy-washy! Xin-jie! You have to attack its core to defeat it! Hurry and finish it with a light blast!”

‘Like hell I will! That’s ten months of my salary! I’ll be ruined paying for that!’

Rather than ending the battle, it was far more sensible to stall until some other rich hero arrived. Eliminating monsters didn’t pay much, but compensation was something a low-level worker like him could never afford.

But just then, another voice rang out.

“Xin-jie! Use your ultimate move on the monster’s core!” shouted the boy who originally owned the card.

“Alright.”

‘You said it! Since it’s the owner’s request! I won’t take any responsibility for this later!’

With that thought, Xin-chan shed all hesitation. Twisting her body, she sidestepped the attack like a matador, then charged towards the monster’s main body with a brisk stride.

“Oh… oh no.” Its massive body was too slow to dodge. Without its head, it was merely a sluggish minion, its core exposed!

“Shining Ray!”

“No!!! I still wanted… I still wanted more cards!”

A brilliant golden-white light surged forth from her wand, piercing the air. The monster’s body was instantly enveloped in the radiance, then exploded into fragments, and the myriad cards that had been swirling about returned to their original forms, fluttering to the ground.

“Yay! My cards are back!”

“Whoo! Grab the cards!”

“Damn! Those are my cards! Give them back!!”

Watching the chaotic, jubilant crowd, Xin-chan felt a touch awkward. Though she was so impoverished she longed to get a piece of the action, she could only dream of it. Instead, the boy in the corner caught her attention.

She understood the feeling of losing an important card, so Xin-chan approached him.

“Um… could I see your deck, big sister?”

“Mm…” Listlessly, he handed his deck to Xin-chan.

Opening the deck, she indeed found a second card modeled after herself. Though its name and effect text were identical, its rarity was several tiers lower, and it bore no signature.

Shrinking her wand into a pen, she smoothly signed her name, then returned the card with a gentle smile.

“Here you go. Now you have a signed card again, and it’s a unique one at that.”

‘Come to think of it, this is my first time signing a card, isn’t it?’

For some reason, she felt a flicker of excitement, and the boy’s eyes, too, sparkled once more, a smile gracing his lips.

“Your handwriting is ugly.”

‘Don’t you dare complain about a card signed by hand!’

‘Besides, those previous signatures weren’t even mine; they were probably signed by proxies hired by those big companies, and their handwriting would naturally be better than mine!’

Anger welled up, but she held back her thoughts. Xin-chan merely managed a strained smile, as she still had something to ask of him.

“If you could, um…”

“Could I borrow two yuan?”

It was incredibly embarrassing, so much so that she couldn’t even bear to look at his expression.

Subsequently, the little brat and his friends left, leaving her to bid an awkward, forced-smile farewell in the autumn wind, clutching only the two yuan bus fare she had borrowed from a child.

She tried to think positively. Perhaps this would at least get her to work without a problem.

Speaking of which, what about the return fare?

It seemed… she hadn’t thought that far ahead.