“Another new case. Only one hand was left of the victim’s remains, and the Monster’s body was almost completely destroyed. Maybe someone was eliminating a potential rival?”
“Residual Magic Power particles have been detected in the air, and they’re interfering with electronic equipment. This had to be the work of that serial killer!”
Earlier that morning, the Public Security Bureau had sealed off the scene.
A woman in a blue Public Security Bureau uniform crouched in one corner, examining a scrap of flesh she’d pried from the wall with tweezers.
The remaining flesh was gradually disappearing as the Magic Power dissipated.
This trait of Abyssal creations had always been a headache for humanity.
There was no chance to dissect them; in less than a day, the Monster’s remaining limbs would vanish completely.
Looking at her colleagues around her, the woman sighed.
“This was clearly done by a Monster. There are Magic Power readings everywhere. The earlier examination of the crime scene confirmed the serial killer was an ordinary human. Since when could ordinary humans attack Monsters? Even if they could, why would the killer target a Monster? Before, he’d only gone after women of ill repute.”
Ignoring her colleagues’ opinions, the woman continued examining the scene on her own.
Lu Yingshi was one of the first security officers to arrive, but unlike her colleagues, she hadn’t come early to take credit.
She simply knew that if she didn’t get there early, there’d be nothing left for her to do.
As a rookie who’d just joined the Criminal Investigation Division, it was difficult to get anything done in the seniority-driven Sanshan Public Security Bureau.
“Why? There doesn’t have to be a reason. You’re just inexperienced and making a fuss over nothing.”
Before Lu Yingshi could get a good look at the flesh in her hand, the older man beside her snatched the evidence bag from her.
“When I first joined the force, I dealt with Monsters and Abyss-worshipping lunatics every day. Those lunatics changed their minds all the time. Why should it matter if they changed their targets?”
The ornate badge on the older man’s chest gleamed, far surpassing the silver badge on Lu Yingshi’s.
It was proof of seniority.
The Public Security Bureau had different uniforms and badges for different divisions and ranks.
The older man was Lu Yingshi’s superior, and he was also the head of the Criminal Investigation Division, which had long been understaffed.
“But there are clearly remnants of a Monster’s flesh at this scene. There was at least one Monster here. We should contact the APB immediately.”
Before Lu Yingshi could finish, her superior stepped forward and fixed her with a hard stare, his eyes mismatched in size.
“And what would you suggest, Detective?” the man asked, his voice thick with impatience.
“This case involves a Monster. It might have nothing to do with the serial killings. We should contact the APB. This is beyond—”
“This case was committed by the serial killer.”
Her superior rudely cut her off before she could finish.
“Don’t act like you’re so clever. You think graduating at the top of your class from the Public Security Bureau Academy and getting into the Criminal Investigation Division faster than anyone else means you know everything? You’re just an inexperienced rookie here! The higher-ups have already decided this was the serial killer’s work. Don’t contact the APB. Don’t make trouble for yourself!”
As he spoke, her superior pointed toward the sealed perimeter.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered beyond the cordon.
The brightly dressed security officers looked out of place among the old, poorly maintained residential buildings.
“Why do you think we’re here today? The Public Security Bureau normally can’t even reach this area. You think it’s just because someone filed a report? We get plenty of reports every day. People die every day, and plenty of deaths don’t even get investigated. And this place only has the bodies of those Monsters. Normally, the Public Security Bureau wouldn’t bother with it at all.”
The man tapped the metal badge on Lu Yingshi’s chest, speaking in a low, vicious voice.
“But we need to wrest authority from the APB. So it doesn’t matter who really did this or whether it was a Monster. This has to be the serial killer’s work. It must be. Do you understand?”
When Lu Yingshi nodded, the man straightened his tie and returned to his normal volume.
“Officer Lu, don’t make trouble for your future or your colleagues. If you’ve got extra energy, work on your shooting scores instead. Honestly.”
With that, her superior entered the scene and directed the security officers to continue their investigation under the assumption that the serial killer was responsible.
Watching these people completely disregard the facts and make a mess of things, Lu Yingshi only stared coldly.
Her hand, hidden in her pocket, clenched tightly around a purple transformation Gem.
If there was no legal way to deliver justice, then she, Lu Yingshi, would have to do it illegally.
In the afternoon, close to the end of the school day, the sky outside the window was pitch-black, like the dead of night.
The wind battered the windows, howling like a ghost.
Ever since learning that her Sister was all right, Chen Qinyao had let out a long sigh of relief.
Once the tension inside her finally eased, it felt as though the whole world had welcomed her back.
The girl sat on the toilet lid in a girls’ bathroom stall, idly looking at the object in her hand.
She was supposed to be at evening study, but ever since she’d gotten this crystal, her mind had been elsewhere.
The object kept reminding her that what had happened last night hadn’t been an ordinary nightmare.
She really had become an Esper.
And someone really had found a way to save her from the Monster.
Who could it have been?
Was it her Sister?
Chen Qinyao didn’t know.
She only knew that her Sister seemed different.
But could a change in personality alone have been enough to save someone from a Monster?
The little girl couldn’t think of an answer, but when she remembered that she was a Magical Girl now, she broke into a goofy grin.
Who hadn’t dreamed of it?
Who didn’t want a little more fantasy in their life?
She’d imagined she was one of a kind, imagined that a helicopter would suddenly land outside during class and a pair of suited men in dark sunglasses would come to the door and ask her to save the world.
But after her family fell apart, childhood fantasies had quickly been smashed to pieces by reality.
Nobody was special.
The world would keep turning no matter who was gone, and no superhero would come to save her.
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
The girl unconsciously clenched the Gem.
The wish she’d always wanted seemed to have come true, hadn’t it?
Her Sister seemed to have changed for the better.
At least since she’d recovered from her fever, she hadn’t been beaten again, and she could even eat meat.
Not only that, she also had this Gem and could transform into a Magical Girl.
But ever since last night, the Gem seemed to have turned back into an ordinary object.
No matter how hard she squeezed it, it didn’t budge.
It wouldn’t break, and nothing happened.
What was going on?
Could she only use it under certain conditions?
That’d be such a rip-off.
The little girl sat on the toilet lid and raised the Gem above her head.
She squinted at the faintly translucent red crystal under the light.
It was called a Gem, but wasn’t it more like some kind of… crystal?
It felt heavy in her hand.
She shook it, but it made no sound.
When the light shone through it, the faintly translucent Gem became crystal clear, and she could see the red inside shifting as she turned it.
So how could she transform whenever she wanted?
Was she supposed to shout some kind of catchphrase?
Like in the cartoons?
No way.
The girl made a disgusted face at the thought.
She liked watching Magical Girl cartoons, but she found the ones where they shouted catchphrases to transform pretty embarrassing.
But what if that was how she could transform whenever she wanted?
She hated doing something so embarrassing, but she couldn’t resist the appeal of being able to transform whenever she wanted.
The only way to know was to try.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Qinyao decided to give it a shot.
It wouldn’t cost anything to try.
The girl stood up, mimicked a pose she’d seen in a comic, and suddenly shouted, “Clow Card, return to your original form!”
Nothing happened.
Was she doing the pose wrong?
“Magical Girl Transformation!”
“Autobots, roll out!”
“Avada Kedavra!”
As expected, no miracle happened, and no Cybertronians appeared.
“What the heck?”
Putting the Gem back in her pocket, Chen Qinyao sat back down on the toilet lid, feeling dejected.
She was sure she was doing something wrong.
The dispirited girl simply took out her phone and decided to search for some keywords online, hoping to find a tutorial on transforming into a Magical Girl.
Students had been allowed to bring phones to school ever since the first Monster invaded the school.
They were allowed to bring them, but they still couldn’t use them freely, so Chen Qinyao could only sneak around and use hers during evening study.
“Tap.”
A sudden sound of footsteps outside made Chen Qinyao quickly turn off her phone screen.
She curled up, hugging her knees on the toilet lid.
At this time, all the students were supposed to be studying.
Had a teacher come?
Then she heard a voice she hated.
“Chen Qinyao, I know you’re hiding in there.”
Even in a world where Monsters existed, school bullying couldn’t be eradicated, and children were always the most thoughtless of all.
Her Sister had arranged for her to attend this school.
With no parents and a Sister who didn’t care much about her, Chen Qinyao had become an outcast among the students.
Children were good at reading people.
Bullying someone else might be risky, but bullying her wasn’t.
She’d fought back once, picking a fight with the girl who’d said nobody wanted her.
The school called her Sister in, and then her Sister chewed Chen Qinyao out, shoved her head down, and made her apologize to the other girl.
She even made Chen Qinyao do the girl’s chores so they could pay less in medical bills.
Nobody could protect her, so there was no harm in bullying her as much as they wanted.
“Chen Qinyao? If you hear me, quit pretending you’re dead!”
The voice outside grew louder, and soon another girl’s voice came from the bathroom.
“Maybe she’s really not here?”
“Where could she have gone? She used to hide in the bathroom all the time.”
The girl outside kicked a stall door.
Maybe the cleaners had been slacking off, because several stalls were locked.
If nobody answered, there was no way to tell which stall had someone inside.
For the past six months, Chen Qinyao had not only worked to help support the family, she’d also occasionally been beaten by her Sister.
Just being able to come to school was good enough.
She didn’t have the strength to argue with these girls.
Whenever something like this happened, she’d curl up like this and hide if she could.
As long as she didn’t make a sound, they wouldn’t find her and would leave.
“Who knows where she ran off to this time?”
“Come on, let’s go back. The teacher’s going to take attendance before dismissal.”
‘Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and leave,’ Chen Qinyao thought, hugging her knees.
“Crash—!”
It was the sound of a bucket of water being poured into the stall from above.
The water splashed onto the toilet and dripped down.
They hadn’t left.
Not only that, they poured the water from the nearby mop bucket into the first stall.
“Pour some in every stall. If she’s in there, she’ll come out on her own.”