“Heh… Little guy, you want to get in the way too?”
Xiran’s voice was ice-cold, laced with a hint of annoyance at being interrupted.
She didn’t seem to regard the little fox as any real threat.
Her gaze swept past A’Li and locked onto Bai Linlin once more as her fingers continued reaching forward.
Just as her fingertips were about to brush against Bai Linlin’s trembling collar—
“Wuu!”
The pink little fox blocking the way, A’Li, suddenly let out a short, sharp cry different from its previous warning growl.
It sounded like a trigger signal.
In the next instant, a drastic change occurred!
A point of pink light burst forth without warning from the center of A’Li’s tiny body.
The light wasn’t blinding, but it was incredibly rich, like a drop of pink dye blooming in clear water and spreading instantly.
The glow rapidly expanded, forming a light cocoon with A’Li at its center.
When the edge of the cocoon touched Bai Linlin, who was slumped on the floor, the light acted as if it had found its destination.
It spread up her ankles, calves, and arms like a living thing, gently but irresistibly enveloping her as well.
The dim, cluttered storage room was instantly filled with this sudden, dreamlike pink radiance.
Xiran’s movements froze completely.
She narrowed her eyes, irritated by the unexpected light. Even more aggravating was the repulsive energy fluctuation contained within it.
“What is this…”
She muttered, her voice growing even colder.
Without further hesitation, her empty left hand slashed through the air.
An invisible force carrying icy malice shot toward the pink cocoon, attempting to disperse it.
However, upon contact with the edge of the light cocoon, the force was silently repelled as though it had struck a soft wall.
It only caused a faint ripple across the surface.
Xiran’s brows knitted slightly.
The pink light lasted roughly ten seconds before rapidly contracting and dimming, vanishing just as abruptly as it had appeared.
Once the light faded, the storage room fell back into darkness.
Yet the sight before her left even the usually expressionless Xiran momentarily stunned.
The little pink fox, A’Li, had vanished.
The spot where it had stood was now empty.
And Bai Linlin, who had been sitting collapsed on the ground… had transformed.
She was no longer the “Bai Linlin” wearing the standard St.
Maryanna Girls’ Academy uniform with slightly disheveled pink hair.
What appeared before Xiran was a figure as if it had stepped out of an ultra-luxurious fairy tale stage or the most exquisite dress-up doll display case.
The centerpiece was a pure white dress of overwhelming complexity.
Countless layers of ruffles cascaded from the shoulders and cuffs down to the hem, creating an exaggerated, voluminous silhouette full of the ultimate sweet extravagance of Rococo style.
A golden clasp at the chest sparkled faintly, while a ring of pink trim around the collar heightened the sweetness.
A soft light pink cape draped over the dress, its fabric looking light and delicate.
She wore pure white opera gloves that reached her upper arms, their cuffs adorned with fluffy pink pom-poms that trembled with her slightest movement.
Her legs were covered in two-toned vertically striped pantyhose with a bold pattern.
On her feet were white heeled ankle boots with delicate ruching at the openings.
The most striking feature was her hair.
What had been loose long hair was now styled into high twin-tails with curled tips.
Each tail was tied with an enormous pink-and-white butterfly bow.
In her slightly trembling hands, she held… a magic wand?
The wand was slender, topped with a translucent pink gem that emitted a soft glow.
The entire look pushed the concepts of “sweet,” “gorgeous,” and “dreamy” to their absolute limit, creating an absurdly surreal contrast with the dark, dirty storage room.
Bai Linlin herself was utterly dumbfounded.
She looked down at her ridiculously elaborate outfit, then reached up to touch the massive butterfly bow on her head.
Feeling the somewhat heavy magic wand in her hand that seemed to carry a faint warm flow of energy, her brain completely crashed.
This is… a transformation? Because of A’Li?
But this wasn’t the time to worry about fashion or embarrassment!
She snapped her head up to look at Xiran.
Xiran had clearly also been stunned by the incomprehensible transformation. She was staring thoughtfully at Bai Linlin’s new appearance, her gaze especially lingering on the magic wand.
Opportunity!
Bai Linlin’s survival instincts surged once again.
Ignoring how much the voluminous skirt and high heels hindered movement, she used the magic wand like a cane to push herself up from the ground, scrambled to her feet, and dashed toward the slightly open iron door!
Crunch!
The high heels stepped on debris on the floor with a sharp sound.
The noise snapped Xiran out of her daze.
She watched the petite figure in the absurdly luxurious outfit desperately fleeing.
After a brief moment of surprise, a far more twisted, burning light erupted in her pitch-black eyes.
It wasn’t anger.
It was the kind of extreme excitement one felt upon discovering a fascinating new toy—one that had just revealed an unexpected side.
“Heh…”
A soft chuckle escaped her lips, quickly turning into a delighted sigh.
“How interesting…”
“Linlin…” she murmured softly as she watched Bai Linlin frantically push open the iron door and vanish into the corridor light.
“…you’re really adorable.”
She didn’t rush after her. Instead, she walked out of the storage room at a leisurely pace.
The steady, unhurried sound of her high heels on the corridor floor suggested that the hunter already knew where the fleeing prey would end up and was simply savoring the chase.
Bai Linlin had never run so miserably in either of her two lifetimes.
The heavy skirt kept tripping her. Layers of ruffles scraped against walls and door frames.
The high heels were a complete disaster—she had no idea how to walk in them!
She nearly twisted her ankle multiple times.
The magic wand in her hand showed no magical properties whatsoever and was nothing but dead weight, but she didn’t dare discard it. It might be her only weapon.
Her mind was in total chaos.
What happened with A’Li?
What’s with these clothes and the wand?
What am I supposed to be now? A magical girl? You’ve got to be kidding me!
Yet the thought I have to survive to find out kept her moving.
She couldn’t stop! She couldn’t let Xiran catch her!
In her panic, she instinctively charged into the denser, more secluded wooded area behind the building.
The darkness and trees might offer some cover.
Xiran followed like a cat toying with a mouse.
Just as she was stumbling deeper into the woods, lungs burning and steps growing more unsteady—
“Ugh!”
A sharp pain suddenly pierced the back of her neck!
An intense paralyzing sensation instantly spread throughout her body.
Her vision went black.
All strength left her in an instant.
She didn’t even have time to cry out before her body collapsed limply forward.
The gorgeous skirt spread across the cold forest ground like a flower that bloomed brilliantly only to wilt away.
In the final moment before darkness swallowed her consciousness, at the edge of her blurry vision, she caught a glimpse of an approaching figure.
It wasn’t Xiran.
It was a tall silhouette dressed in a style completely different from the St. Maryanna Girls’ Academy uniform.
The most noticeable feature was that head of golden hair, which reflected a faint shimmer under the sparse moonlight.