The next day.
Zhou Huanan startled awake, sitting upright in his bed. He looked around his familiar room.
He gasped, as if waking from a terrifying nightmare. Reaching up to touch his face, he found everything intact.
He was still alive.
‘What happened?’
Zhou Huanan distinctly remembered seeing the beautiful, fleeting carousel of his life. He had even arrived in the Underworld, where he found the old woman guarding the bridge, selling soup.
Lost in despair, he was about to drink the soup when the old woman suddenly refused to sell it to him.
The next thing he knew, Liu Li was standing before him. Unable to control himself, he had pulled her down into the water.
‘In the water…’
Zhou Huanan’s eyes lit up. If his memory served him right, then Liu Li must have been the one who brought him home.
A small flicker of hope ignited within him.
Could it be that Liu Li was still at his house?
He wasted no time lingering in bed. Zhou Huanan slipped on his slippers and rushed down the stairs, instinctively glancing towards the kitchen.
It was empty. The coffee table offered no leftover breakfast from anyone.
He felt a pang of disappointment. Yet, he quickly dismissed the thought. Zhou Huanan furrowed his brow.
It was the kind of treatment only a protagonist in a fantasy novel would receive—the girl he’d been searching for suddenly appearing in his moment of crisis, only to vanish into thin air.
If an ordinary person encountered such an event, they would likely have confused it with a dream.
But…
Zhou Huanan still felt that Liu Li was real. The smooth touch of her delicate body was real, as was her furnace-like warmth and the soft, honey-sweetness of her lips.
Perhaps Liu Li had been by his side all along.
Scratching his head, Zhou Huanan still felt groggy, as if a crucial piece of a puzzle was missing before the full truth could be revealed. The thought made his head ache.
‘My hair…’
Zhou Huanan stood at the stairwell, rubbing his scalp. His brow furrowed in confusion, then relaxed, only to crinkle even deeper.
‘What the heck?! Where’s my hair!?’
It took considerable effort for Zhou Huanan to accept the reality of his lost hair.
The strong man wept.
Returning to his bedroom in a dejected state, Zhou Huanan managed to contact Dr. Zhuge on his phone, finally learning what had transpired the day before.
He had been rescued by Magical Girl Grey Moon. Zhou Huanan was deeply grateful to the doctor.
He didn’t ask why Grey Moon, of all people, had come to save him.
It was Magical Girl Violet’s ‘Curse of Ages’ that had caused his hair loss. Dr. Zhuge, however, reassured him, saying she could simply invent a hair growth serum when she had time.
Zhou Huanan finally felt a great sense of relief. Holding his phone, listening to his superior speak, even the half-dead static in her voice sounded much more pleasant.
“That’s how it is.”
“After Magical Girl Violet turned dark, her abilities changed. Her original power was to rewind time, restoring objects to their state five seconds prior, and a miracle that could return living beings to their peak condition. She was the ‘Healer of the Century’s Gold.’”
“But after her transformation, this ability seems to have shifted to accelerating time.”
“Magical Girls’ magic can resist this effect.”
So, that meant Magical Girl Grey Moon had saved him, right?
Zhou Huanan told the doctor he understood. Thinking of Grey Moon’s face, he felt a bit ashamed. He had done such an outrageous thing to her, yet she was still willing to save him.
That person truly was gentle.
So much like someone else.
“Are you listening?” Dr. Zhuge called out to the distracted Zhou Huanan.
Zhou Huanan: “Yes, yes, I am.”
“Good. Did you give Magical Girl Grey Moon the item I gave you earlier?”
‘What item?’
Zhou Huanan instinctively almost asked, then remembered a beat later that Dr. Zhuge had instructed him to give the Magical Girl’s Heart to Magical Girl Grey Moon.
“Not yet.”
“Then you need to hurry. You do have Magical Girl Grey Moon’s contact number, don’t you? Scarlet gave it to you. Remember to give her the item.”
‘So, what *is* that thing?’
Zhou Huanan questioned inwardly, but Dr. Zhuge had already hung up. He sighed, saying, “Alright, then.”
Zhou Huanan then looked at the numerous messages from his teachers and class monitor at school. He knew if he didn’t go to school soon, his parents would beat him.
He had no choice but to show his face at school first. It was already ten in the morning, meaning he was long past tardy.
He hadn’t slept well for days and finally had some free time to sleep. He had originally intended to lie down in his own room, but as he went upstairs, Zhou Huanan turned his head to glance at Mu Xi’s room.
She hadn’t messaged him or made any noise these past few days. He wondered what she was doing.
Feeling a little worried, Zhou Huanan pushed open Mu Xi’s door.
The house had long since been repaired by the Banjao Damage Control Association. Even the Magical Girl figurines in Mu Xi’s room had been replaced. However, there was an unusual girlish scent in the blue room.
Zhou Huanan hadn’t seen his sister, Mu Xi, for some time. He noticed the scent was different from his sister’s usual smell.
His attention was entirely drawn to the Magical Girl Grey Moon figurine, which now sat on her bedside table, the one he currently cherished the most.
Zhou Huanan bowed to the Magical Girl Grey Moon figurine, thanking her for saving his life.
Then, he turned his gaze to the bed.
The bedding showed signs of being slept in. Zhou Huanan, suspecting nothing, decided to do some housework for his sister. Although, he was curious when Mu Xi had started using perfume; a pleasant fragrance lingered on the bedding.
It stirred something within Zhou Huanan, a craving to inhale the scent again. But the moment he remembered he was holding his sister’s blanket, he quickly shook his head.
He admonished himself, reminding himself of the fundamental reproductive isolation between humans and hominids, that such thoughts were sacrilege.
He set the bedding down and neatly folded it. Done with his task, he returned to his own room, found his school cap, put it on, and after confirming nothing was missing, he grabbed his backpack and left for school.
On his way to school, he saw yesterday’s news playing on a large screen by the roadside.
The familiar but unnamed female reporter was still diligently reporting from a helicopter.
The screen showed Magical Girl Glimmering Yellow, Emerald Magical Girl, and Magical Girl Azure Bloom pummeling a small Magma Demon in the city center. In reality, Emerald Magical Girl was taking the hits and healing, Glimmering Yellow was dealing damage, and Magical Girl Azure Bloom was exaggeratedly slacking off.
The female reporter’s voice narrated from behind the footage: “This station’s reporter has confirmed that the Great Demon is a member of the infamous Three Weather Great Demons, known by the moniker Berserker.”
The scene then cut to an edited sequence. Berserker, unable to defeat Glimmering Yellow, attempted to flee.
However, Glimmering Yellow anticipated his move, dealing a heavy blow to his head before he escaped.
Next, the new Magical Girl Tri-color arrived in the suburbs and encountered Magical Girl Violet, who was locked in a fierce battle with Sword King.
“Although Violet had recently given Emerald Magical Girl a severe beating…”
“Magical Girl Emerald Magical Girl, putting aside past grudges, still healed Magical Girl Violet, who was fighting Sword King!”
The next segment showed the four Magical Girls battling Sword King. Emerald Magical Girl was responsible for tanking damage and healing, Glimmering Yellow for distraction and sneak attacks, Violet for dealing damage, and Magical Girl Azure Bloom remained the cheerleader, slacking off.
Sword King held his own.
He even managed to overpower the four Magical Girls.
The four Magical Girls were already barely holding the line. But when Fortress, another of the Three Weather Great Demons, joined the battle, the situation worsened.
Even though Violet recklessly drew all the enemy’s fire, abandoning her defense to attack, Emerald Magical Girl strained to keep Violet from dying.
On the screen, Sword King removed the bite guard from his mouth, his eyes red as he began to tear at his own arm. Large, vibrant drops of blood scattered into the air, then surged towards Sword King.
If the real world had visible health bars, Sword King’s health bar, which the Tri-color Magical Girls had barely managed to reduce, would have instantly refilled.
How could they fight someone who could heal themselves?
Fortunately, Glimmering Yellow had previously gravely injured and forced the retreat of Berserker, the sub-leader of the Three Weather Great Demons, who could seal Magical Girl abilities.
Otherwise, facing the fully powered Three Weather Great Demons would have been an impossible fight.
Despite this, the Magical Girl Tri-color could use their abilities without restraint against Sword King.
Yet, the Magical Girl Tri-color still displayed expressions of despair, especially Emerald Magical Girl, whose stress was nearing its breaking point.
The news reporter chimed in at this opportune moment.
“Compared to the adults of the current Magical Girl Tri-color, they must also be wondering where Magical Girl Grey Moon has gone!!”
“Now is the moment Magical Girl Grey Moon is needed most!”
“But no matter how the city’s citizens, reporters, or even the Magical Girls called out Grey Moon’s name, Grey Moon ultimately did not appear.”
However, at the Magical Girl Tri-color’s most critical moment, Violet suddenly regained consciousness.
She healed the critically injured Emerald Magical Girl. Relying on the outrageously high healing output of the two Magical Girls mutually healing each other, the Magical Girl Tri-color finally managed to stall long enough for the Absolute Power support team to arrive.
But as Sword King retreated, he unleashed a hidden ultimate technique, directly attacking the unsuspecting Absolute Power team and killing one of the Magical Girls.
This battle ended in the bloody sacrifice of a Magical Girl.
“This station’s reporters and the city’s citizens express their deepest condolences.”
Yesterday was undoubtedly a crushing defeat for them. Zhou Huanan watched the news footage, seeing countless citizens laying flowers for the Magical Girl of the Absolute Power team who had fallen yesterday.
He offered no opinion.
He arrived at school around noon and slipped into the classroom.
Just as Zhou Huanan sat down in his seat and let out a long breath, Victoria, who was sitting in the front of the classroom, was having a serious conversation with Genbu Omori.
Her peripheral vision caught Zhou Huanan entering. Her fist clenched instantly, and her spiral drill even bounced slightly.
“Zhou Huanan—”
Victoria slammed her hand on the desk and stood up, the sound startling Zhou Huanan, who had just sat down. But Victoria didn’t care.
She desperately wanted to ask.
She really, really wanted to ask!
Where had Zhou Huanan taken Liu Li (Grey Moon) yesterday?! Why hadn’t she joined the fight??