“I can explain what happened to you.”
Professor Yuan cleared his throat twice, then stepped forward, meticulously recounting his hypotheses to Huang Xiu.
“Wait, this transformation…” Huang Xiu gestured to herself, “Is it a side effect of my own superpower?”
“It’s not truly a side effect,” Professor Yuan corrected them. “More accurately, it’s a completion, a physical evolution.”
“It’s the result of your ability resonating with your physical body.”
“No, this is absolutely a side effect!” Huang Xiu cried out, tilting their head back in a long sigh.
He cared nothing for evolution or resonance; he only knew he had transformed from a boy into a girl.
So why had things taken such a turn?
He had finally gained the superpower he had always yearned for, seizing the chance to live an extraordinary life.
Two joyful events had converged.
How could it possibly have come to this?
“Can I change back?” Huang Xiu gazed directly at Professor Yuan.
“As things stand, there’s no turning back from this physical completion,” Professor Yuan admitted, already beginning to perspire under the intensity of the question.
He had taught many cohorts of students and encountered all manner of situations, but Huang Xiu’s case was entirely unprecedented.
“Heh.”
Huang Xiu crossed her arms, a bitter sneer twisting her lips, her heart sinking into utter bleakness.
His life—the existence of an ordinary high school sophomore named Huang Xiu—had irrevocably ended.
Having spent years surfing the internet, she had even come across TS literature (TL Note: Transgender or Transformation literature, often involving gender-bending themes), understanding precisely what such a sudden transformation implied.
She could no longer return to her high school classroom, nor could she game with Shi Lei, or hear her classmates’ affectionately teasing calls of ‘Brother Xiu.’
Gone too was the quiet comfort of watching Fang Miaoging’s back in the classroom, or exchanging peaceful greetings with her each day as she once had.
Damn it, this was all she had ever asked for! Why was even this being cruelly snatched away from her?
Huang Xiu clenched her fists tightly.
Her sharp nails instantly dug into her palms, but the piercing pain made her instinctively loosen her grip.
Was even her sense of pain so much more acute than before?
Or was it…
A powerful surge of injustice welled up within her, and her eyes instantly clouded over with a misty film.
They said women were made of water, prone to tears, but she was not; despite her altered biological s*x, her heart remained that of a man.
She would not cry!
Huang Xiu tilted her head skyward, the mist blurring the world before her, while a sharp, acrid sensation in her nostrils threatened to unleash sobs.
Yet, she ultimately held them back, lowering her head once more, her eyes now calm, save for a faint redness.
Her long black hair, swaying with her movements, finally broke free from its confines.
A few strands fell into her collar, then brushed along the soft curves of her cheeks, leaving a faint tickle.
Huang Xiu instinctively reached up and gently swept the hair behind her ear.
It was a perfectly normal gesture…
For a woman, that is.
The moment Huang Xiu realized what she had done, she completely exploded.
“Aaaah!” She clutched her head, shaking it with impotent fury, much like a frantic marmot.
It was too feminine!
How could she have made such a gesture!
Her masculine heart must not waver!
“I’m going to shave it off! Shave my head bald!” Huang Xiu declared, embodying the tragic resolve of a hero departing for a perilous journey from which they would never return (TL Note: An allusion to a famous line from the ancient Chinese text ‘Records of the Grand Historian’, describing Jing Ke’s farewell before his assassination attempt on the King of Qin).
“Ahem, ahem.”
Professor Yuan’s brow was furrowed with exasperation; he knew he couldn’t let Huang Xiu stew in her distress any longer.
Something would inevitably go wrong if he did.
He shot a meaningful glance at Yun Ning, and the young man, understanding immediately, stepped forward.
“Student Huang, now that you’ve successfully awakened, you should be able to use your ability, shouldn’t you?”
“Why don’t you try it out first?”
“Ability, right, there’s still an ability.” Huang Xiu’s teeth ached with vexation at the thought of this power.
She was eager to see what kind of bizarre ability it was, one that had transformed him into her on the spot.
According to Professor Yuan, once awakened, a gifted individual would instinctively understand how to use their ability.
It would be as simple as swallowing or breathing.
Therefore, she merely needed to feel, and her body would provide the answer.
Slowly, she closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering subtly.
‘What exactly is my ability… and how do I use it?’
She delved deep within her mind, searching for the method to wield her power.
With her eyes shut, darkness enveloped her vision, save for a faint reddish glow filtering through her eyelids.
After an indeterminate period, suddenly, in one precise moment, even that subtle red light vanished.
Within the profound darkness, a sphere of intertwined red and green light slowly emerged, like a rising sun.
Huang Xiu instinctively reached out, her fingertips making contact with the luminous orb.
Gradually, she began to comprehend everything!
****
After a long while.
Huang Xiu opened her eyes and looked at Professor Yuan, “I understand how to use my ability now, but it requires a specific location and plants.”
“That’s easily arranged,” Professor Yuan said, gesturing around them. “Student Huang, take a look—where do you think we are?”
Only then, prompted by Professor Yuan’s words, did Huang Xiu truly notice the strangeness of her surroundings.
It resembled a hotel lobby, yet lacked a front desk or seating areas, and there were no stairs or exits.
Instead, countless elevators were arranged in orderly rows.
A quick glance revealed at least a hundred elevators on the wall directly opposite Huang Xiu alone.
Each of these elevators was active, their red digital displays constantly cycling through numbers.
“Is this the Myriad Realm Transfer Station?” Huang Xiu murmured, finally grasping her location.
It seemed that while she was unconscious, the elevator had successfully ascended all the way to the top floor, reaching the Myriad Realm Transfer Station.
“Indeed, this is the Myriad Realm Transfer Station, a place that connects all the myriad Void Realms,” Professor Yuan confirmed, spreading his arms wide and turning in a slow circle.
“From here, we can journey to any known or unknown Void Realm.”
“Where do we go next, then?” Huang Xiu asked, temporarily pushing the vexation of her transformation to the back of her mind.
She refused to dwell on it any longer, for the more she thought, the angrier she became, her entire body trembling with rage.
“Come with me,” Professor Yuan instructed, leading them both towards the nearest elevator.
“Those who possess an elevator card can engrave three fixed Void Realm locations onto it.”
As the three stepped into the elevator, Professor Yuan offered a slight smile. “The Void Realm I’m taking you to is an exceptionally beautiful one.”
“A beautiful Void Realm?” Huang Xiu shook her head, utterly unable to envision any beauty within such a place.
Her impressions of Void Realms were consistently grotesque, terrifying, imbued with an eerie, chilling atmosphere.
Places like the Endless Corridor or the Flesh World…
Sensing Huang Xiu’s thoughts, Professor Yuan swiped his elevator card and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
“As I mentioned before, the formation of Void Realms is linked to the mental fantasies of sentient life forms. The emotion most easily generated by most sentient beings is fear, which is why there’s an abundance of terrifying and grotesque Void Realms.”
The elevator doors closed, and a downward arrow appeared beneath the red digital “7” indicating the floor number.
In contrast to their ascent to the Myriad Realm Transfer Station, all elevators descended when departing.
“However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t beautiful, peaceful Void Realms,” Professor Yuan countered.
Within mere seconds, a soft chime echoed through the elevator car.
“Ding, fifth floor.”
The elevator doors slowly parted, revealing a brilliant sea of flowers that burst into view.