Ye Qingqing leaned in and whispered, “Senior Xue, actually, idol training isn’t that scary. And the extra income is really high. For our team’s last concert merchandise, I personally got this much — “
She held up five fingers.
“Five thousand?” Lin Lu asked.
“It’s 50,000!”
“That much?”
Lin Lu was a bit surprised.
To get that much just from merchandise for one concert was unexpected.
“And you get a cut of the action figures, records, and things like that too,” Ye Qingqing continued to tempt her.
“If they sell well, you get 50 yuan for every figure sold!”
“Well… okay.” Lin Lu thought about it and suddenly felt it wasn’t such an unacceptable thing after all…
“That idol training… when does it start?”
Hoshino Hikari blinked.
“The idol training isn’t urgent. We can wait until you’ve settled your affairs, Senior. The next session happens to start this coming Monday,” Hoshino Hikari said excitedly.
“At that time, professional teachers will teach you singing, dancing, physical form, and so on.”
Next Monday.
That was five days away.
The timeline was fairly relaxed.
“Then can I…” Lin Lu checked the time and asked, “Can I go home now? I have classes tomorrow.”
“Yes, yes!” Hoshino Hikari nodded, “But Senior, you need to collect your gear, register in the communication system, and join the work group first — “
Lin Lu massaged her temples and said, “Fine, fine. Let’s get it all done.”
***
An hour later, Lin Lu finally finished all the formalities.
She had a few more items in her hands: A specialized smartphone (waterproof, fireproof, bulletproof, and heavy enough to be used as a brick), a communication headset, a public cafeteria meal card, and an idol training schedule.
Standing at the building’s entrance, Lin Lu carefully looked over the schedule.
[Monday: Vocal Fundamentals 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM / Physical Training 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM]
[Tuesday: Dance Fundamentals 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM / Media Handling 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM]
Lin Lu stared at the schedule, speechless for a long time.
There were basically different classes to learn every day from Monday to Friday.
‘Well… at least the good news is I don’t have to attend classes at school.’
Lin Lu knew someone would communicate with the school to handle her curriculum there.
Her phone suddenly rang.
It was a message from Zhang Liang.
[Holy crap, where the hell have you been all day? Old Zhang took attendance again today! I covered for you and said you went to the hospital. You better actually show up in the classroom tomorrow, or I can’t save you!]
Lin Lu looked at the message and remained silent for three seconds.
Then she typed a reply: [I actually did go to the hospital…]
[What’s the situation? Did you really get food poisoning? That’s not right, how come I’m fine?]
[Tsk… things are a bit complicated. The school will probably explain it to you later.]
[Fine. Since you’re actually having health issues, get some rest. The teacher shouldn’t give you a hard time.]
Lin Lu put away her phone and looked down at the silver bracelet on her wrist.
“Stupid bat,” Lin Lu whispered, “I’ll settle the score with you once I get back.”
The bracelet flickered, but Lilith did not speak.
Lin Lu sighed and turned to walk toward her home.
Lin Lu walked down the evening streets carrying several bags — the clothes she had bought during the day, plus the heap of items issued by Headquarters.
The night breeze blew, causing her long silver hair to flutter gently behind her.
Finally, she turned into her rented apartment complex, went upstairs, opened the door, and entered.
The moment she closed the door, Lin Lu leaned her entire weight against it and let out a long sigh of relief.
“Ah… I’m exhausted…”
She dropped the things in her hands onto the floor, kicked off her leather shoes, and walked into the room barefoot before throwing her entire body onto the sofa.
Her long silver hair spilled over the armrest, shimmering faintly under the lights.
Lin Lu stared at the ceiling, dazing out for a long time.
She rolled over, raised her left hand, and stared at the silver bracelet.
“Hey,” she said, “Are you awake?”
The bracelet did not react.
“I know you’re awake.” Lin Lu stared at it.
“When we were at Headquarters, I felt you move several times.”
The bracelet still didn’t react.
Lin Lu narrowed her eyes, “Fine, play dead then. I’ll just stuff you directly into the toilet.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” A shrill voice suddenly exploded in her mind.
The bracelet flashed, and a faint light drifted out of it, landing on the floor.
The light gradually condensed into a bat the size of a palm — the same one from last night.
Lilith.
But her current state looked very poor.
Her entire body was semi-transparent, like a mist that could dissipate at any moment.
“How are you…” Lin Lu sat up and stared at her.
“Magic exhaustion,” Lilith said weakly, fluttering her wings to fly onto the coffee table and collapsing there.
“I was supposed to sleep for at least one week, but you woke me up.”
“Oh? Then I’m truly sorry.”
Lin Lu arched an eyebrow.
Though she said she was sorry, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.
She then continued, “Fine, since you’re awake, let’s make things clear.”
Lilith lay there, saying feebly, “Hmph! For the sake of your status as my successor, I shall magnanimously answer your doubts.”
Lin Lu took a deep breath and asked her most pressing question: “Can I still change back?”
Lilith blinked her small eyes and then said slowly, “Of course… not.”
Lin Lu’s heart sank.
“Why not?”
“Because this isn’t a simple gender change,” Lilith explained.
“This is a remodeling of your life form. Your body has been fundamentally reconstructed into the form most suitable for carrying magic. If you were to change back to that inferior male body of yours, there is a 99% probability that you would go ‘pop’ and explode because you couldn’t withstand the massive amount of magic power.”
“So…” she spoke with difficulty, “I’m stuck like this for the rest of my life?”
“Yes, stop dreaming of other unrealistic things.” Lilith nodded.
“Besides, isn’t this skin’s appearance quite good?”
Lin Lu lay on the sofa, staring at the ceiling in silence for a long time.
Only after a while did she speak again, “Fine… then you said you were what thing again…”
“What do you mean ‘what thing’!” Lilith flew over to Lin Lu’s head and flapped her wings against it, saying angrily, “I am the Evernight Witch! The existence that commands the shadows! The ruler of the Night Domain! I am not some ‘thing’!”
“Fine, fine, Great Evernight Witch.” Lin Lu waved her off.
“Then why did you end up like this? And what exactly is the relationship between Witches and Magical Girls?”
“Do you know why Magical Girls and Shadow Beasts exist in this world?”
“How could I possibly know that? I only know what the news says — that Magical Girls appeared suddenly five years ago to protect humanity and fight against Shadow Beasts.”
“No. Magical Girls, Shadow Beasts, and Witches have all existed for a long time. It’s just that you ordinary people didn’t know about it.”
Lilith shook her head and continued, “The true source is a war from 1,000 years ago.”
Lin Lu was stunned, “1,000 years ago? That long ago?”
It seemed… this world was not as simple as she had thought.