The Diminished Senior and a Maid’s Dilemma

Liuxia awoke in the early morning, startled by a pervasive ache throughout her entire body.

“Hmm… it seems sleeping on the sofa still proves a bit much, doesn’t it?” the girl mused, yawning as she pushed herself up from the cushions.

To be frank, the sofa itself wasn’t small for Liuxia, whose physique had become significantly more delicate compared to her former male body; rather, it was simply too soft. Liuxia remained accustomed to sleeping on a firm mattress, a preference that persisted even with her now much softer frame.

“It hurts so much…” Liuxia murmured, pressing a hand to her head, which still felt sluggish and heavy.

Suddenly, her gaze sharpened, fixing on something specific. She brought her snow-white, delicate hand closer, scrutinizing it intently.

“Was my hand truly this small yesterday?”

As Liuxia abruptly rose, the oversized male clothing, lent to her by her junior, instantly slid from her shoulders, baring a generous expanse of her fair, supple skin.

“…”

The sight of this sudden change made Liuxia’s head spin with dizzying speed.

“I… I’ve shrunk… How is this possible?”

‘Surely I must still be dreaming, mustn’t I? I only just transformed into a girl a short while ago, and now I’ve shrunk again. Why do such preposterous things incessantly happen to me?’

‘Why… why has it come to this?’

The young woman struggled to reconcile herself with this new reality, yet the incessant waves of soreness coursing through her body relentlessly affirmed that this was no mere dream.

“Dong dong dong—”

Abruptly, the wall clock in the living room chimed.

“Ah, I still need to prepare breakfast and a bento for Chunsheng…” Despite the pervasive ache in her body and her churning emotions, Liuxia instinctively put others’ needs first, temporarily shelving her own distress.

Liuxia hastily secured the loose, slipping clothes around her body, then, in a daze, set about preparing a meal for Li Chunsheng.

Li Chunsheng’s rented apartment was modest in size, with only a few steps separating the living room from the kitchen.

Yet for Liuxia, now diminished in stature, those few steps seemed to stretch considerably, and the entire world around her suddenly appeared several sizes too large.

The abrupt, unsettling unfamiliarity accompanying these changes filled the young woman with a profound sense of dread.

‘Don’t… don’t be afraid, Liu Xia!’ Liuxia mentally chastised herself. ‘Shrinking is utterly insignificant compared to transforming into a goblin!’ Despite her attempts at self-reassurance, her small fists instinctively clenched, beads of sweat seeping from between her fingers.

Her body, it seemed, was growing progressively more painful.

Burdened by both physical and mental distress, Liuxia finally reached the stove, finding those seemingly short steps unexpectedly arduous and protracted.

The young woman extended her hand, aiming to retrieve the spatula that had hung on the wall since yesterday. Her initial attempt, however, proved futile; her instinctively outstretched arm fell frustratingly short of the utensil.

Liuxia’s small nose quivered, a pang of injustice stirring within her, but she swiftly rallied her spirits.

‘…It’s fine,’ Liuxia reassured herself. ‘I just need to fetch a small stool.’ Turning, she headed to the bathroom and returned with a plastic step stool.

With a delicate lift of her foot, the young woman stepped onto the stool and made another attempt.

“No… still a little too far…” Liuxia muttered, her lips pressed together in frustration. Then, with determined effort, she rose onto her tiptoes, resembling a delicate ballet dancer.

At last, the young woman’s slender, jade-like fingers brushed against the spatula.

“I reached it…! The spatula!” A flicker of joy finally ignited in Liuxia’s heart, which had been steeped in gloom since she woke.

Yet, in the very next instant, her brief moment of elation gave way to misfortune.

The forward lean and shift in her center of gravity, a consequence of standing on tiptoes, caused the plastic stool beneath Liuxia to emit a harsh, grating scrape as it slid abruptly from its spot.

The sudden movement sent the young woman tumbling heavily to the floor, her now somewhat slender, snow-white posterior receiving a painful, direct impact from the unforgiving ground.

“Thud!!” A dull, yet remarkably loud, thud resonated from the floor.

“That hurts!” Tears welled uncontrollably in Liuxia’s eyes.

Her fleeting good mood evaporated instantly, replaced by an overwhelming surge of indignation that erupted from her heart, compelling her to curl up and weep.

“Waaah…”

‘Why am I so utterly useless…’

Perhaps the fall had been too severe, for the resounding thud reached even Li Chunsheng in the bedroom.

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong… What happened?”

Li Chunsheng rushed from the bedroom, and upon seeing his senior, now reduced to a child’s size, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

“Oh my god… Senior, how did you… shrink?!”

Where was his imposing senior, that formidable figure? Where had such a prominent senior gone? Li Chunsheng’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief.

Yet, the sight of his senior, now a small, doll-like figure, was undeniably cute… and her tear-streaked face was utterly heart-wrenching.

“No! This is no time for such thoughts!” Li Chunsheng swiftly moved forward, intending to help Liuxia to her feet, but the young woman recoiled from his touch.

Liuxia, her eyes brimming with tears, simply gazed at Li Chunsheng, a profound sense of anguish deepening within her.

‘I’m supposed to be a senior, yet I’ve allowed my junior to witness me in such a humiliating state…’

‘Lately, it’s been nothing but these kinds of misfortunes.’

The very thoughts that had kept her tossing and turning, robbing her of sleep last night, now surged back into her consciousness.

‘I’m just such a useless man… not only incapable of earning gold coins…’

‘I’m still a goblin, not a proper girl who can offer blessings to her junior. All I can do is handle household chores and cook meals for him…’

‘And now, in my current state, I can’t even manage that properly…’

‘I should have already finished making breakfast for my junior by now…’

‘What use am I now, other than to cause him trouble?’

‘Indeed, someone like me truly deserves to be a goblin…’

As Liuxia’s self-worth plummeted further, the pain in her body intensified until, finally, it reached a critical breaking point…!

“Ahhhhhh—” The young woman let out a piercing scream.

Beyond the searing pain, Liuxia registered a disturbingly familiar sensation washing over her body.

‘Ah, ah, I’ve experienced this feeling before—it’s the sensation of degenerating into a goblin…’

Just then, a pair of large hands gently grasped her shoulders. Li Chunsheng looked at her, his face etched with worry, and urgently asked, “Senior, what’s wrong? Are you injured somewhere after all?”

“No… don’t look! Chunsheng… don’t look at my face…” Liuxia cried, burying her face in her hands. She could distinctly feel her ears elongating, pushing through her hair, growing longer and longer.

‘Don’t look at me, don’t look at me… My face must be utterly horrifying now, hideous—just as Chunsheng witnessed before…’

‘Truly, it would be better for someone like me to keep my distance from him. If I remain by his side, I will inevitably draw the attention of the Holy Tower…’

“Please, get away from me quickly… Senior… I fear I might lose my mind again…” Liuxia pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

“…Wait for me,” Li Chunsheng said, his voice suddenly subdued. He then rose and sprinted out of the apartment, his footsteps rapidly receding down the hall.

‘He’s gone to summon the Paladins, hasn’t he?’ Liuxia thought to herself.

“Yes… Chunsheng, you’ve done nothing wrong…” The young woman offered a relieved smile, remaining motionless where she sat, fully prepared for her inevitable disposal.

‘This way, Chunsheng’s future will be preserved… This is for the best, yes, this is for the best…’

After a considerable wait, Li Chunsheng finally returned, though not with Paladins or agents from the Investigation Bureau. Instead, he presented her with a box—he had merely gone to retrieve a package!

“Senior, these are the clothes I bought for you… Please, put them on quickly.”

He claimed they were clothes he’d purchased for her… Liuxia’s expression shifted to one of utter disbelief.

“Chunsheng, what are you thinking?! That’s not the priority right now, is it? You’re standing before a goblin who has evaded the law! If you associate with me, you’ll only invite misfortune!!”

“How could I possibly abandon you?” Li Chunsheng exclaimed, his voice suddenly charged with emotion. “I bought these clothes precisely because I’m prepared to live with you long-term!”

“I’m not afraid, Senior, so what is it that you’re so terrified of?”

“In any case, I’ve already purchased the clothes. Senior, are you implying you want me to waste money? Weren’t you the one who always taught me to make every single penny count?”

Liuxia was momentarily stunned by Li Chunsheng’s resolute demeanor. In this world, where gold coins held such paramount importance, returns were almost unheard of, and her thoughts were momentarily swept along by his logic.

“I… I understand. I’ll wear them…” Indeed, as a senior, she had to set an example.

With the box in hand, Liuxia retreated to the bathroom to change. The moment she saw the garments, the young woman’s face flushed crimson.

“Why is it a maid outfit!?”

‘Oh, Chunsheng, why would you buy clothes like this…?’ Liuxia’s face burned with shame; she couldn’t even begin to imagine how unsightly a goblin would appear in such an attire.

‘But… such fine clothes must have cost a considerable sum, right?’ Despite her profound embarrassment, the young woman dutifully put them on, unwilling to let them go to waste.

This size… A sigh escaped her. If only she still possessed her previous body, they would have fit perfectly.

‘Chunsheng must be eagerly anticipating seeing me in this outfit, mustn’t he? If only I weren’t a goblin right now…’

As she pondered this, Liuxia suddenly felt the world before her eyes seemingly shrink.