A giant billboard on the street was playing a special program recorded by a magical girl.
“Everyone in Anning City, today is the Lantern Festival. I wish you all a happy holiday~”
Dressed in a gorgeous skirt, the magical girl placed both hands over her left chest to form a heart shape, her smile sweet.
“Hehe, most of the witches have already been eliminated by us. You can relax and enjoy your vacation~”
Su Sheng lowered his head, walking alone through the bustling street.
Magical girls… they probably never have to worry about running out of money, right?
There was no joy of the festival in his heart at all.
After all, this was already his seventh failed job interview.
As a graduate from a notoriously pitfall major at some unknown university, despite doing his best for the past six months since graduation, Su Sheng still hadn’t found a reliable job.
He could only occasionally deliver takeout to get by.
Looking at his nearly empty balance, after paying his younger sister’s university tuition fees, his already strained wallet took another heavy blow.
It was now completely drained.
When he was a child, a fortune teller had told him he would one day wear the yellow robes and feast on big fish and meat every day.
Turns out it meant delivering takeout!
Su Sheng sighed.
“Maybe I should go work in a factory tomorrow. At least I need to survive first.”
Although he was very unwilling to admit it, the options before him were running out.
With worry weighing on his mind, the happy festive atmosphere on the street felt particularly noisy.
Su Sheng quickened his pace into a small alley, intending to take a shortcut back to his tiny home.
As he walked, for some reason, he felt the surroundings growing colder.
Although it was only early March, Anning City was a typical southern city.
Even with a bit of light rain today, the temperature was still in the mid-teens Celsius—a very comfortable range.
“This weather is weird. Why does it feel so damp?”
Su Sheng muttered, not thinking too much about it as he continued forward.
The noisy sounds in his ears gradually faded away until there was complete silence, broken only by the cries of stray cats along the roadside.
Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt like the surrounding light had dimmed considerably.
“Meow~”
At that moment, a young, pitiful cry suddenly came from overhead.
Su Sheng instinctively shifted his umbrella aside and looked up, just in time to see a small white ball slip with one paw and leap down from the rooftop.
Su Sheng instinctively reached out.
The little ball landed perfectly in his arms—a tiny, soft bundle that felt almost weightless.
“Why would there be a little cat with a death wish here?”
Su Sheng let out a surprised laugh, but the small ball in his arms looked unusually anxious, flailing its paws desperately trying to jump out of his embrace.
“Do I really look that unappealing to small animals…”
Before he could finish speaking, he spotted a black shadow appearing on the rooftop.
Long ink-black hair dragged along the ground, surrounded by an ominous black aura that obscured her exact figure and features.
A pair of scarlet eyes stared fixedly at Su Sheng.
More precisely, at the small ball in his arms.
“Witch!”
Su Sheng’s pupils shrank as he recognized the identity of the black shadow.
The authorities had repeatedly stressed that witches were extremely dangerous beings with unknown origins.
They possessed witch domains.
Ordinary people who encountered one needed to immediately flee the witch’s domain or seek help from a passing magical girl.
What? Where could you find a passing magical girl?
Sorry, that’s your problem.
If you really can’t find one, then try communicating amicably with the witch.
With some luck, she might quickly finish you off and spare you prolonged suffering.
“Meow!”
Snapped out of his daze by the cry from the small ball in his arms, Su Sheng finally reacted.
He dropped the umbrella and broke into a sprint.
“Who said most of the witches have been eliminated and citizens can safely go out to enjoy the festival?”
Su Sheng grumbled as he ran.
The witch behind him remained silent, pursuing relentlessly.
The distance between them was closing rapidly.
Her excessively long fingernails nearly brushed against the back of Su Sheng’s neck.
In a moment of desperation, Su Sheng hurled the item in his hand toward the witch behind him.
Of course, it was the tangyuan he had bought, not the unknown white ball.
The witch waved her small hand.
Her sharp nails tore open the packaging, scattering the tangyuan across the ground.
The white dumplings were now stained with dirty water.
Next, with one more swipe, the human before her would be torn apart—along with the delicious little ball in his arms.
To a newborn witch, both were excellent supplements.
“Wu meow!”
At that moment, a powerful hiss came from somewhere unknown.
The witch’s movements stalled, freezing in place.
Seeing this, Su Sheng accelerated toward the main street.
He could already hear the bustling noise from the street ahead, meaning he had reached the boundary of the witch’s domain.
Panting heavily, he felt for the first time that the lively festive noise was actually a good thing.
On a distant windowsill, a black cat groomed its slightly ruffled fur from the hiss, elegantly jumped down, and disappeared into the night with a few graceful steps.
Affected by the black cat’s hiss, the witch’s already chaotic mind became even more muddled.
By the time she regained her senses, the prey she had in hand was about to escape.
She wasn’t anxious.
Black aura surged around her, transforming into black tentacles that shot toward Su Sheng.
The black tentacles were far faster than Su Sheng.
They forcefully dragged him back just as one of his feet had stepped out of the alley.
Additional tentacles followed, quickly binding both Su Sheng and the small ball in his arms together and hanging them upside down in midair.
“Fuck! It can do that? That’s cheating!”
Su Sheng’s face was filled with despair.
He hadn’t found a girlfriend yet, and he still needed to take care of his sister.
Was he really going to die here today?
Speaking of which, with his eight-out-of-ten handsome face, what were the chances the witch would take a fancy to him?
“Mii~” The small ball in Su Sheng’s arms seemed to have accepted its fate as well.
Poor thing—it was just a baby born into this world mere minutes ago.
At this point, there was no use talking.
It was time to go all out.
It curled its body, and a complex pink magic array appeared on its forehead, pressing against Su Sheng’s chest.
With his vision blocked, Su Sheng didn’t notice the change on the small ball.
Feeling its movements, he instinctively hugged it tighter.
Pink light flared brightly.
The tentacles tightly wrapped around Su Sheng seemed to encounter their natural enemy and melted away.
When the light faded…
The original 1.8-meter-tall burly man Su Sheng had vanished.
In his place stood a 1.6-meter-tall pink long-haired girl wearing a pink dress with high-heeled leather shoes.
“It worked? It actually worked, meow?!”
The white kitten that had been in Su Sheng’s arms was now perched on the girl’s shoulder, licking its little paw in disbelief.
As a newborn member of the Contracted Clan, it had just opened its eyes to see a witch reaching out to grab it.
Survival instinct drove it to flee, but it accidentally fell from the rooftop and happened to encounter Su Sheng.
Although Su Sheng’s physical condition wasn’t the best, it had no other choice.
Out of desperation, it had signed the magical girl contract with Su Sheng on a gamble.
Unexpectedly, he really did have the talent to become a magical girl.
At this moment, Su Sheng still hadn’t figured out what had happened.
However, the witch opposite them wouldn’t give the human and cat time to process.
Several tentacles shot out, targeting various parts of the girl’s body.
At the same time, the witch’s main body charged forward, her sharp nails aimed straight at the girl’s neck.
“Don’t just stare, meow! Do something, meow!”
No time to wonder why a cat was speaking with “meow” at the end of its sentences.
Su Sheng blinked her gem-like, beautiful eyes and instinctively channeled her magic power.
In the next instant, a very traditional magic wand adorned with a pink heart and white wings appeared in her hand.
The magic wand swung, carrying an overwhelming surge of magic power that erupted completely.
The charging witch and her tentacles made contact with the magic light far exceeding their limits and neatly dissolved into a pool of black, unidentified liquid, leaving behind only a transparent oval gem.
“Is… is it over just like that?”
Su Sheng blinked, her fair little face full of disbelief.
The witch who had been so murderous moments ago had been taken out with a splat?
Was this the extremely dangerous witch they talked about in the propaganda?
It felt more like a weak minion that couldn’t withstand a single blow.
“Meow?! What a powerful magic outburst, meow? Is this really something a newbie magical girl can have, meow?”
The white kitten tilted its head, realizing it seemed to have contracted someone extraordinary.
Although it had only just been born, based on its inherited memories, with such talent, Su Sheng was undoubtedly among the best candidates to become a magical girl.
As for why a big man like Su Sheng was suitable to become a magical girl? Who could say?
However, as a proper contractor, it had the responsibility to guide the new magical girl.
After checking the contract it had casually signed, the white kitten suddenly perked up.
“Hurry home, meow! You’ve just signed the contract, meow. The price will kick in right after your first use of magic power, meow! The cost of your contract is pretty troublesome, meow. If you stay out here, some weird uncle might pick you up, meow. Don’t forget to take the Witch’s Heart that the witch dropped, meow!”
“Witch’s Heart?”
Su Sheng reached out her small hand, curiously picking up the transparent gem from the ground.
She obediently quickened her pace and ran back home.
She didn’t know anything right now, so it was best to listen to the cat.
After all, the current situation had everything to do with it.
Having just survived a witch attack, Su Sheng also felt much safer heading home, even though her tiny home offered no real protection.
What Su Sheng didn’t know was that behind her, the pool of black liquid that had seemed lifeless began to stir with sentience and seep into the ground.
Soon after, an orange streak of light arrived late to the scene.
As the light faded, a gentle, big-sister type magical girl appeared.
“Detected magic fluctuations from a battle. The witch should have been taken care of, but who did it? Has a new magical girl been born?”