Thick curtains blocked the afternoon sunlight from outside the window.
Only a narrow beam of light slipped into the dim room, illuminating the floating dust particles in the air.
Click.
The bedroom door was gently pushed open a crack, and a small head poked inside.
“Sister, we’re going to the mall. We want burgers for dinner tonight. Is that okay?”
On the bed, Xia Qing—having just detransformed from Qinghai Starlight—quickly steadied her breathing and put on her signature gentle smile.
“Of course. Remember to look after your younger brothers and sisters.”
“Got it! Sister is the best!”
The little girl cheered softly and closed the door behind her.
Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps and children’s playful chatter came from the staircase.
“Hurry up! Sister said yes!”
Xia Qing closed her eyes and collapsed weakly onto the bed.
The forced spirit she had been holding up instantly drained away as the children left…
This apartment in the heart of the city had been purchased with the money Xia Qing earned as a magical girl idol.
The seven or eight children living here, aside from the girl just now, were not related to her by blood.
Most of them were orphans who had lost their parents during monster attacks.
She was their big sister, their guardian, and their only pillar of support.
Tuition fees, living expenses—the entire heavy burden rested on her shoulders alone.
“Pant… pant…”
Xia Qing suddenly jolted awake, clutching her chest tightly. That suffocating, drowning sensation washed over her once again.
She had had another nightmare.
The moment she closed her eyes, her consciousness was dragged back to that dark basement, filled with the powerless feeling of being toyed with by that monster.
I’m so tired…
Deep in her mind, a voice seemed to sigh softly.
If I had really died there that day, wouldn’t everything be easier?
But if I had really died there, what would happen to the children?
Qinghai subconsciously countered in her heart.
Yet that thought had already taken root like wild grass in her mind, growing wildly out of control.
It’s going to happen sooner or later anyway. Might as well let go now… The feeling of drowning is actually very quiet and comfortable, isn’t it?
Xia Qing shook her head vigorously, trying to fling the terrifying thought away.
What’s wrong with me? How could I think something so depressing?
She took a deep breath and shakily grabbed the phone beside her pillow, hoping to regain some sense of security through work.
She skillfully opened the video app.
The top trending video was the promotional film Flowing Light Remains, which she had recently shot in cooperation with the General Bureau.
“As long as I’m still here… I will never allow you… to take another step forward!”
Qinghai Starlight’s resolute voice rang out from the video.
In the scene, she was covered in battle damage, barely holding up a crumbling shield against a sky filled with monsters.
“Senior, you’ve already done more than enough. The rest… leave it to me!”
Following that was Amber Flowing Light’s energetic and confident voice.
The video’s plot was rather cliché.
Qinghai Starlight, the predecessor from the old era, collapsed from exhaustion.
Amber Flowing Light, the new generation’s hope, descended from the sky to take over the battlefield.
“Dispel the long night! Grand Ceremony · Opening!!”
The special effects were pushed to the maximum.
With one devastating ultimate move, Amber Flowing Light instantly purified the horde of monsters.
Under the sunlight, Amber Flowing Light reached out her hand toward Qinghai Starlight, who lay on the ground.
Qinghai Starlight smiled with relief and took the hand, using the support to stand up.
A timely voice-over played as the screen transformed into a red recruitment poster:
T City General Bureau is now recruiting! You! Could be the next idol!
Comments flooded the screen like a tidal wave.
“Wife is so beautiful!”
“I love you, Qinghai!”
But more and more comments shifted focus:
“Amber Flowing Light is so cool too!”
“Feels like Qinghai is really falling behind the times.”
“Yeah, it’s time for her to step aside and let the more talented newcomers take over.”
“What the hell are you guys saying? This is a scripted video! It’s all scripted!”
Watching these comments, Xia Qing’s already cold fingers grew even stiffer.
She inexplicably opened the comment section and scrolled down mechanically.
Past the praise and admiration, until…
—Is it just me, or does Qinghai seem off lately? She looks so exhausted in the video. Is she tired?
—True. Qinghai has been active for so long. It’s about time to nurture the next generation and let her retire and rest.
It was merely one concerned comment.
But Xia Qing’s scrolling finger suddenly stopped.
See? Everyone thinks the same.
That gentle voice echoed in her mind again, blending with her own thoughts until they became indistinguishable.
You’re old. You’re useless now.
Just retire. Once you retire, you won’t have to pretend to be strong anymore.
But… if I retire, what about the money? What about the children?
Xia Qing gripped her phone tightly in pain.
It’s not your fault. You’ve already done your best, haven’t you?
The voice was gentle and delicate, like the most caring best friend or the most loving mother, softly guiding her.
Being replaced by newcomers and abandoned by the old era—this was never your fault.
Just give up. Stop thinking. Stop everything, and the pain will disappear.
Just sink into the deep sea… where you don’t have to worry about anything…
Fear.
Not the fear of death, but the fear of losing her value.
The temptation to “give up” in her mind was so sweet it made her tremble.
That line from the video—“Senior, you’ve already done more than enough”—no longer sounded like respect. It sounded more like… a lullaby gently coaxing her toward destruction.
Xia Qing put down her phone and buried herself deeper into the pillow.
She didn’t realize anything was wrong with that voice. She simply thought it was her own weakness surfacing.
She felt so worthless.
She just wanted to fall asleep like this and never wake up.
If it were a normal day, Peachfluff would have flown over and rubbed her fluffy face against her.
But that little fellow had been busy lately and hadn’t been around these past few days.
She was alone.
In this deep sea called “responsibility” and “self-loathing,” she continued sinking deeper, following the guidance of that voice.
Buzz—
Her phone vibrated again.
The contact name on the screen read: Qiong Ling.
“I was thinking of saying some pleasantries first, but I decided to just get straight to the point.”
Qiong Ling’s lazy voice came through.
“Actually… I’m not feeling too well today…”
Xia Qing’s voice was hoarse. She wanted to hang up.
“The kid you’re looking for is currently on her way to the General Bureau.”
“!!!”
Xia Qing’s previously dull eyes suddenly lit up.
The whispering voice in her mind urging her to give up was forcefully shattered by those words.
That red-haired girl who had torn through darkness and despair—the powerful, cold, yet life-saving figure.
If… if…
If she could team up with her, if she could recruit her to become an idol together?
Xia Qing didn’t know why this idea came to her first, but it felt like the last piece of driftwood for a drowning person.
If she could hold onto her, perhaps she wouldn’t need to “retire.”
Perhaps she could silence that voice in her head telling her to give up!
Xia Qing immediately got out of bed, even though her legs were still weak.
“Don’t rush. Listen to me first.”
Qiong Ling’s smiling tone came through the receiver.
“She’s quite impatient, so I sent her straight to Window 3.”
“Window 3?! That’s…”
Xia Qing let out a soft gasp.
“That’s right. It’s the window managed by that snobbish person. The kid is a black household with no guarantor. If you don’t want her to demolish the General Bureau hall on her very first day, you’d better hurry over and stage a ‘hero saving the beauty’ moment~”
The call ended.
Xia Qing took a deep breath, slapped her cheeks hard, and the dejection in her eyes completely disappeared.
For this family, for the children, she had to pull herself together.
With a single thought.
A brilliant magic circle swept across her body.
The perfect, flawless magical girl idol.
Qinghai Starlight was back online.