Chapter 35: The Swift Ascent and the Blood Moon Witch’s Unintended Naming

“So, Bai Li is our colleague now?”

“Well done, management, well done! Now we can continue to slack off—no, I mean, our workload will be significantly reduced.”

“Is the workload still high? I’m practically bored with nothing to do.”

Given Bai Li’s formidable strength and exceptional abilities across the board, coupled with her striking good looks, her presence was certainly a welcome one.

Although she often clung to Lin Xi, who wouldn’t enjoy the sight of two soft, fragrant girls affectionately close?

While they called her a colleague, Bai Li was, in fact, a D-rank ability user, a higher classification than most Weichangzhe members present, making her, strictly speaking, their superior.

****

“Still, this kind of situation wasn’t common before, was it? While there have been individuals who skipped their probationary period based on merit, none have done so with such astonishing speed.”

Just as everyone else rejoiced at the new addition, one Weichangzhe member suddenly raised a point of contention.

“What do you mean? Do tell.”

“What I mean is, even the fastest individual to bypass probation in the past was only accepted several days after handling a C-rank Unusual Creature incident. Their ability user rank even required a dedicated appointment for a thorough assessment. Yet, everything was processed for Bai Li in a single day. Isn’t that efficiency a little too exceptional?”

The probationary period itself was flexible; such matters could be decided by the branch offices, let alone the headquarters of an ability user organization. However, an ability user’s rank was an entirely different matter.

Unlike ability levels, which could be measured by instruments, ability user ranks demanded a comprehensive evaluation of one’s strength, taking into account not only their ability level but also their experience, technique, and overall versatility.

To prevent individuals from using connections or underhanded tactics to inflate their ranks beyond their true capabilities, a specialized assessment organization had been established.

The stringency stemmed from past incidents where inaccurate ability user rank information led to grave misjudgments of strength during task assignments, resulting in significant losses. Furthermore, there were indeed those who leveraged fabricated ranks to secure higher positions and greater resources, and the assessment organization was founded precisely to counteract such practices.

For Bai Li to be designated a D-rank ability user in less than a day truly seemed to contradict the rigorous standards of the assessment organization.

At the very least, she should have received a notification to undergo testing first.

****

“Hmm… could it be because of those recent events?”

“What events?”

“You know, what happened last night.”

With that, someone pulled out a stack of newspapers.

Given the current level of technological advancement, most people now consumed news via electronic versions on their phones, making physical newspapers quite rare; however, there were still those who enjoyed collecting such “antiquities.”

“Didn’t a major attack happen last night? Could they believe we need to cultivate more powerful ability users to respond to such threats?”

“Your thought… actually makes sense.”

Those around them focused on the news reported in the newspapers. The attack had monopolized the entire front page, even relegating a certain celebrity, usually a front-page fixture, to mere accompaniment on a later page, a testament to the incident’s profound impact.

“[‘The Unmoving Shield of Tiangong City’] (TL Note: A title or epithet for a powerful individual associated with Tiangong City) is a superhero I’ve known since childhood. In my understanding, when she gets serious, almost no one can harm her. Yet now, her legs were directly broken.”

“It seems there was also a student with her, an intern, I believe? And a genius who awakened as a D-rank ability user right off the bat.”

“Do you think some hostile force, unwilling to see such a genius join us, preemptively crippled her?”

The Weichangzhe members chattered amongst themselves, a cacophony of speculation. Bai Li, the true culprit, listened from the side, feeling a flicker of panic… but no, such a thing was absent.

From the outset, she had no intention of engaging with their discussion, especially since the cognitive interference effect after her transformation was incredibly potent; it was impossible for them to detect her true involvement with their current strength. It was as if someone could lay direct evidence before them, and they would still dismiss it as mere coincidence.

However, the next moment, those individuals mentioned something Bai Li found impossible to ignore.

“Regardless, the strength of this ‘Blood Moon Witch’ is certainly extraordinary; she’s probably at least C-rank.”

“Correction, she’s likely stronger than even a branch manager. You know that barrier? Not even a branch manager could necessarily break it immediately.”

“…What was that?”

The people discussed the attacker’s strength, but Bai Li’s attention was drawn to the peculiar name they had mentioned.

“Hmm? The Blood Moon Witch? That’s the attacker from last night’s incident. That’s their current designation. To be precise, their full name is ‘Blood Moon Witch Announ’.”

“…”

Upon hearing the name, Bai Li fell silent.

While she had anticipated being given an easily identifiable name, she had not expected anything quite so ‘chuunibyou’ (TL Note: A Japanese slang term referring to a ‘middle schooler syndrome’ where one indulges in grandiose delusions of power or importance, often adopting a dramatic persona).

No, speaking of chuunibyou, it was quite possible that the name had been coined by the ‘deep well ice’ (TL Note: A Chinese internet slang term, ‘shen jing bing’, referring to someone who is mentally unstable or ‘crazy’) whose legs she had incidentally broken. After all, there had always been a custom where the first ability user to witness, fight, or defeat a newly emerged special Unusual Creature or enemy had the right to name them.

If only she had hit that person a few more times, to see if she could have corrected their brain or simply broken it entirely.

“Blood Moon Witch… that actually sounds pretty cool.”

Just then, Lin Xi, standing beside Bai Li, unexpectedly offered this evaluation. This caused Bai Li to gaze at her with a shocked expression, wondering if there was something wrong with herself, though her accustomed ‘sanwu’ (TL Note: A Japanese term ‘sanmu’ or ‘kuudere’ referring to a character who is emotionless, quiet, and generally aloof) face prevented any obvious display of her surprise.

“…Xi Xi, you think that name is cool?”

“Isn’t it? It sounds quite fitting for a villain. And rumor has it that the witch has blood-red pupils, appearing like a pure white moon in the darkness or a grim reaper bringing fear and despair. The name is quite apt.”

“…”

Since Lin Xi had put it that way, Bai Li had no further objections.

“…Wait, Xi Xi, how do you know what I… what that witch looks like?”

“Hmm? Wasn’t it mentioned in all the major news reports? It was even recounted firsthand by the victims. However, given that a being of such power wouldn’t so brazenly expose their identity, the description of their appearance is merely a reference, not considered crucial information for finding the witch.”

With that, Lin Xi scrolled her phone to the latest news page and held it up for Bai Li to see.

Consistent with Lin Xi’s words, the reports indeed detailed some characteristics of Bai Li’s transformed state, and even more—it read as if someone suffering from Stockholm Syndrome had begun to worship their attacker.