Chapter 59: Su Xiaoli

“Ah~ Manager Qian,”
“Praising me behind my back like that… you’re going to make me so embarrassed~”

A lazy, honey-sweet voice drifted in from the doorway—soft, nasal, and utterly unhurried.

Lin Yu instinctively turned toward the sound.
And then—he froze.

At first glance, the silhouette framed by the doorway carried a certain allure.
But when the figure stepped into view, he realized it wasn’t a mature, seductive woman at all.

Standing there was a girl—one who looked even younger than Ye Jun.
Her height barely reached one and a half meters.
A cascade of fluffy, honey-colored curls spilled over her shoulders, the ends naturally curled and soft, glowing with warmth.
She wore a loose beige dress in the forest-girl style, its hem embroidered with tiny white dandelion patterns.

Her eyes curved into two perfect crescents, concealing whatever emotion might have lingered beneath.
Together with the slight upward curl of her pink lips, she looked gentle—almost disarmingly so.

Looking at her, Lin Yu couldn’t help but feel like he was seeing a sleepy little Hakimi stretching lazily in the sun.
For a moment, he completely forgot to wonder who she was or why she was here.
All he wanted was to reach out and pat her fluffy little head.

“Yo, Xiao Su, you’re here.”

Manager Qian’s grin brightened the instant he saw the girl.
He stood up at once, striding forward with eager enthusiasm.

“Come, come! Let me introduce you.”
“This is the one I mentioned to you before—the secret weapon of Group One in Zone C, codename Gray Crystal: Lin Yu.”

He turned toward Lin Yu—who was still lost in dangerously unprofessional thoughts—with the air of a proud mentor.

“And this,” he said, gesturing toward the girl, “is the one I told you about—Leader of Group Two, Zone D.
A B-rank Magical Girl, Comrade Su Xiaoli, codename Nine-Tails.
She’s the top expert in our Xin Hai City branch when it comes to handling contamination of the Curious classification.”
“She’ll be the one in charge of your assessment tomorrow.”

“Ah~ Manager Qian, you’re flattering me too much~”

Su Xiaoli’s voice was a sugary blend of shyness and teasing as she took dainty steps toward Lin Yu.
When she tilted her head up, her face radiated pure innocence, her crescent-moon eyes glimmering with something that made people instinctively drop their guard.

Lin Yu felt his ears heat up under her gaze.
It was as if he were a big golden retriever being studied by an adorable little master, tail wagging helplessly.

“Nice to meet you, Lin Yu-kun~”

Su Xiaoli extended a small, pale hand—delicate and smooth as carved white jade.

“I’ve already heard plenty about you from that blabbermouth Li Qing.
To awaken Intent Overwrite on your second mission, and to even save that walking fortress Chen Bing’s Great Wall skill… hmm~”

She dragged out the sound playfully, the corners of her lips curving higher.

“…You really are just as the rumors say.”
“An excellent… cough, cough, junior.”

(Oh for heaven’s sake… can’t she just use my name? Why the suffix?)
(If I ever transform into a magical girl, she won’t stick another one behind my name, right?)
(Can’t understand this at all…)

Despite the internal protest, Lin Yu put on his best “honored to meet you” face.
He quickly reached out with both hands, carefully taking her soft, tiny one in his grasp.

“Th-thank you, Senior Su.”

Her hand felt warm and pliant—like holding a freshly baked, milk-scented sponge cake.
For a moment, Lin Yu’s mind went blank.
He just wanted to—

No.

That thought made his pulse spike in panic.

Calm down, Lin Yu! Calm down!
She’s a senior! An examiner!
You can’t go thinking things like that about a girl you just met!

Are you even human anymore?!
That’s not affection—it’s lust!
You’re disgusting!

“Well then, Manager Qian,” Su Xiaoli said sweetly as she let go of Lin Yu’s hand and turned back toward the smiling old fox,
“About Lin Yu-kun’s ‘graduation assessment’ tomorrow, I already have a preliminary plan.”

“Oh?” Manager Qian raised his brows, his tone that of a pleased investor hearing a promising pitch. “Let’s hear it.”

Su Xiaoli lifted one slender finger and tapped the air.
At once, a complex network of glowing lines and data branches unfolded in the center of the office—a holographic mind map brimming with logic flows and numbers.

It was a mission proposal.

【Assessment Mission: Mirror Entity Contamination – Secondary Cleanup & Sample Retrieval】
【Location: Restroom, 4th Floor, Teaching Building D, Xin Hai University City】
【Contamination Type: Curious classification – Mimic-type Entity “Mirror Man” (Residual Energy Form)】
【Background: The contamination was first discovered and suppressed by Group Two last week. However, the core entity possesses a unique “Mirror Division” ability, leaving residual fragments embedded in the restroom mirrors—beyond the reach of standard purification procedures.】
【Objective: Candidate Gray Crystal must enter the sealed area alone and purify all residual “Mirror Man” entities without causing physical damage to any real-world structures.】
【Evaluation Criteria: Completion rate, efficiency, spiritual energy consumption ratio, and… creativity in handling “unexpected incidents.”】

Lin Yu stared at the overly detailed proposal, feeling the vein on his temple start to throb.

(Curious classification? Never fought one before… I remember the handbook said they’re not strong in direct combat—just really good at tricking people.)
(And it’s only C-rank… same as the Siren Jellyfish. Shouldn’t be too bad.)
(Residual energy body too? Oh, that’s practically a half-baked ghost. Looks like this exam’s already in the bag!)

“How about it, Manager Qian?”

Su Xiaoli’s lazy smile didn’t waver.
“Isn’t this the perfect test to measure the true potential of our special recruit?”

Manager Qian scanned through the report carefully, the gleam of approval flashing behind his glasses.
“Heh heh… excellent. We’ll go with your plan.”

Then he turned to Lin Yu, his grin widening.
“Did you hear that, Xiao Lin? Your senior designed the perfect graduation test just for you.”
“Tomorrow, do your best. Don’t disappoint Senior Su—and especially not me.”

“Yes, Manager Qian! I’ll complete the mission, guaranteed!”

Lin Yu thumped his chest confidently, vowing silently that this time, he’d clear his name once and for all!

(But wait—Manager Qian did say this Senior Su was an expert in Curious type entities…)
He sneaked a glance at the petite girl.
She seemed to notice and smiled faintly back at him.

For some reason, Lin Yu got the strange impression that she had the aura of an anime loli mom.

(Seriously? She looks so soft and fluffy… what’s she like when she transforms?)
(Can she really fight those savage contaminants?)