Chapter 3: Let the Hero’s Story Begin

Since ancient times, transforming heroes have needed a memorable transformation pose, a fact even recorded in morning children’s shows.

‘Experiencing being a tokusatsu protagonist could count as a form of research,’ Ren Huazhi thought.

The scariest part was that he couldn’t tell if this thought was his own genuine idea or simply born of desperation.

It all happened so suddenly that he couldn’t think of a cool, crisp, and powerful pose in the moment. In the end, he just stood there numbly at the entrance of the funeral home after everyone had left, clutching the gunblade as if it were the very avarice that was cursing him, and muttered the word, “Transform.”

Grayish-white hexagonal nano-units surged out from the belt, spreading and clinging tightly to Ren Huazhi’s body, simulating pectoral muscles and a six-pack that didn’t actually exist.

When the units reached his mouth, Ren Huazhi subconsciously held his breath, letting them form a mask in the style of medieval knight’s armor on his face, finally topped off with a hood.

—Transformation complete.

“That’s it…?”

As a first transformation for a tokusatsu hero, it was utterly lame.

Ultimately, it wasn’t Ren Huazhi’s fault.

Taking Meng Qiuxu’s direct offer of the belt as the starting point, the typical first-episode progression should have involved an initial refusal. Then, on the way home, he would have coincidentally run into this series’ villain—a Nightmare, to be specific—attacking a random passerby.

Amid the cries and pleas for help from a child, the previously hesitant protagonist would finally undergo a change of heart, steel his resolve, and accept the belt to transform—that would have provided the proper emotional build-up.

Ren Huazhi stood there, waiting for Meng Qiuxu’s critique, but she just wore a matter-of-fact expression, as if this was all to be expected, tapping and refreshing something on her smartwatch.

“What are you looking at? Say something.”

“Looking for a starter dungeon for you.”

“Searching on the spot? Isn’t there some kind of convenient, ‘catalyst for becoming a hero’ type of plot device?”

Meng Qiuxu shot him a look. “You’re not a magical girl, what’s with all the idealism?”

With his expression hidden by the mask, Ren Huazhi spread his hands. “Hard to say. Aren’t tokusatsu heroes just the male version of magical girls? The pursuit of heroism is essentially the same.”

“Talk all you want. Just don’t wet your pants when you face the Nightmare later. But rest assured, even if you do, it’s fine. The armor has a self-cleaning function.”

‘It seems this doctor has it in for me. So even if I piss myself silly, I won’t be let off the hook…’ Ren Huazhi despaired.

This time, he had truly given up. He tried to heft the gunblade that he could barely drag with both hands earlier and found he could lift it with ease. He swung it around a few times and shouldered it without any problem.

“…It really does enhance my body.”

“Of course it does! Hey, guess what? A humanoid type just spawned in the suburbs, a new post from a minute ago.”

“You’re not going to say—”

“You just finished your first transformation, and it spawned right after. Isn’t this the fateful arrangement you were looking for? The location is just off by a dozen kilometers or so.”

The girl, holding her overcoat, smiled.

Through the one-way visor, Ren Huazhi could see the redness at the corners of her eyes and the unshed tears.

“Let’s go. We won’t repeat The Flower Arranger’s mistake. This time, I’ll be watching over you.”

The suburbs of Nancheng.

A black, vaguely human-shaped silhouette wandered slowly on the four-lane concrete road.

A one-kilometer radius around it had been evacuated. Agents from the Nancheng Police Department’s Nightmare Countermeasures Division were on high alert behind their police cars, which served as temporary cover. Each held a long spear, a weapon that seemed out of place in this era.

“So that’s a Nightmare… It’s my first time seeing one in person. It just looks like a stick figure from a doodle…” a young, new agent whispered.

“Ow!” He was lightly rapped on the head with a baton and ducked back down from the car roof, clutching his head.

“Stay alert,” Officer Si glared at him.

The young agent, now crouched by the car again, reported, “Yes, sir,” but his eyes were still darting around. His gaze swept over his comrades, the residential buildings, and finally landed on the police car right beside him.

‘Why are the words “锟斤拷” printed on the car door?’

In the moment he was dazed, the stenciled black characters flickered and changed before his eyes to “烫烫烫.”

“The characters…”

“Recite the three main characteristics of the Anti-Civilization Field.”

Officer Si’s voice rang out again, pulling him back to reality.

“Y-Yes, sir! They are mechanical failure, signal jamming, and textual distortion, essentially a powerful form of memetic contamination!”

The sophisticated technology that humanity prided itself on was useless against these illogical monsters from the dream world. The more sophisticated it was, the more useless it became. That’s why they couldn’t even be equipped with crossbows, for fear the mechanism would suddenly fail and injure a comrade. They could only use the most primitive of weapons: long spears.

It was impossible to fight these monsters on equal terms with such primitive weapons.

That’s why magical girls were needed.

And in the Nancheng Police Department’s more highly classified documents, there was another sentence following the one the young agent had just recited:

Magical girls gain the blessings of the God of the Wilderness by praying to the dream world, which is, in essence, another form of memetic contamination.

Officer Si glanced at the hourglass timer on his wrist. “It’s about time. All units, once the magical girl arrives, provide appropriate assistance… but you haven’t forgotten your primary mission, have you!”

“””Yes, sir!”””

The primary mission of the Nightmare Countermeasures Division was to observe and study the existence of magical girls themselves—

Creak… creak…

“What’s that sound?”

Under the gaze of many, a yellow shared-use bicycle slowly approached from the end of the road.

The rider was a person completely encased in ivory-white armor, their identity concealed by a hood.

“Nearing the target, I see the cops… Does this have a voice modulator? Ah, ah… okay.”

Ren Huazhi’s voice, processed by the mask, became ethereal, like a ghost from the underworld. He parked the bike on the side of the road and took out his phone to return it, only to find he was in a no-signal area.

“…Damn QR code bike returns!”

‘It used to be as simple as just closing the lock. Every extra step requiring an internet connection within an Anti-Civilization Field makes success even more remote.’ Ren Huazhi calculated in his head: it took half an hour to ride here, leaving half an hour before the next billing cycle. If he could finish this quickly, he wouldn’t have to pay extra!

An agent shouted at him through a paper megaphone, “Who are you? There’s a Nightmare here! Unrelated personnel, evacuate immediately!”

Ren Huazhi raised his hands and replied:

“I can be a magical girl, I can! That’s right, I’m a magical girl born just half an hour ago!”

“Which faction? What’s your codename?”

“Owl! My codename is… uh, I haven’t thought of one yet!”

[“…Owl?”] Meng Qiuxu’s voice from the earpiece was choppy due to the signal interference.

Ren Huazhi didn’t respond to her garbled question, as the agents had already cleared a path for him—they recognized the Magical Hunting Gear on his back. Magical girls came in all shapes and sizes, but as long as they carried the Hunting Gear, it meant they had the doctor’s approval and could be entrusted with dealing with Nightmares.

He walked to about fifty meters from the stick-figure-like Nightmare, and the earpiece communication cut out completely.

“No atmosphere at all…”

The old friends from the Nightmare Countermeasures Division were all serious, and the evacuation had been done well. No crying children pleading for help in sight.

“It’s not often I get to play a tokusatsu hero, so I must have a cool pre-battle line. Let’s see…”

He took the hastily strapped gunblade from his back and flicked off the safety with his thumb. A humming sound started. The cylinder and the magic-conducting rail lit up with the red magical light of its original owner.

“—Well then, let the hero’s story begin.”