Chapter 64: Luo Shaotian’s Corruption

When the pollutant was finally purified, the warped world dissolved.
The suffocating distortion peeled away—
and Lin Yu’s vision snapped back to reality.

She was standing once again in her own living room.
Furniture overturned, curtains half-burnt, floor littered with shards of shattered glass.

But before she could even catch her breath,
a figure appeared in front of her—
so out of place it almost made her question if the battle had truly ended.

“Y–You?!”

Lin Yu froze.
Of all people, the last person she expected to see here was Su Xiaoli,
the petite, doll-like senior she’d met only that morning.

“Su… Senior Su?! Why are you here?!”

Even as the question left her mouth,
her eyes involuntarily drifted down—
to that outfit.

(What… what on earth is she wearing?)

Lin Yu had seen plenty of battle uniforms before.
Her own cheap, mass-produced blue combat gear.
Ye Ye Ying’s dark gothic armor—a seamless fusion of mystery and cool.
Chen Bing’s heavy-duty tactical skirt—pure practicality turned fashion.

But Su Xiaoli’s attire was on a completely different level.
No, it wasn’t combat attire at all—
it was like something straight out of a high-budget fantasy anime or a shrine maiden festival.

A creamy off-white kimono-inspired ensemble,
stitched with bright red silk embroidery in swirling cloud patterns.
The upper half—a loose, short top with wide bell sleeves flowing like silk waves.
The lower half—a short crimson pleated skirt, barely thigh-length,
its design reminiscent of a shrine maiden’s hakama, but daringly modernized.

And then—
the most unbelievable part—

A fluffy, ash-blonde fox tail swayed gracefully behind her.

(Wait—tail?! Is that thing real?! Or some kind of holographic projection?!)

Lin Yu’s hand twitched. She almost reached out to touch it just to make sure.

“Now, now, Gray Crystal Beast~” Su Xiaoli drawled lazily,
her tone light, teasing. “No need to look so nervous.”

(Great… she’s actually calling me that.)

Her smile was that same languid crescent as always,
eyes half-lidded like a cat too content to care.
Ignoring Lin Yu’s stunned stare completely,
she walked with slow, elegant steps toward the shattered dressing mirror,
and plucked a shard of glass from the floor with dainty fingers.

“I’m here, of course…” She turned the shard,
letting the broken reflection of Lin Yu’s confused face glimmer in it.

“…to give you a little pre-exam test.”

“Pre-exam… test?” Lin Yu blinked.

“Mm-hm~”

Su Xiaoli lowered the shard and turned back,
her foxlike eyes gleaming with quiet amusement and sharp insight.

“Actually, I’ve been observing you for a long time now.”

Her tone was playful, yet there was something unsettling beneath the words.

“From your one-month White Lotus training in the simulation room…
to when Obsidian called you hopeless,
to when Red Fox and Black Iron took you under special training,
and even those little… ‘dates’ you had after transforming into a magical girl—
I’ve seen everything, you know?”

(…WHAT?!)
Lin Yu’s spine prickled. A chill ran down her back.

Su Xiaoli’s grin deepened, catlike.

“Then, by pure coincidence, I discovered you’d moved into this building.”
She shrugged lightly.
“And I also happened to know there was a very interesting little mouse hiding here.”

“So I tweaked a few things—”
she twirled her finger lazily, “—say, disrupted the voltage just a tad…”

Her smile sharpened.
“…and that mouse got a little more active than usual.”

“My goal was simple.”

She took one unhurried step after another, closing the distance between them.
Until she was right in front of Lin Yu—so close she could see her own reflection
in those sly, golden eyes.

“I wanted to see, with my own eyes,” she said softly,
“just how far our company’s only male magical girl—
the one both Manager Qian and Director Bai have such high hopes for—
could go when faced with a Curiosity-class pollutant.”

She reached out,
and lightly poked Lin Yu’s cheek with one finger.

“Results show…” she said, stretching lazily,
her tail swaying in rhythm with her motion,
“…the process was chaotic, your tactics were a mess,
and you nearly got yourself killed—”

Her smile curved.
“—but you passed. Barely.”

“B–barely?!” Lin Yu’s expression darkened.
“This counts as passing?!”

“Of course.”

Su Xiaoli pointed at the unconscious Luo Shaotian,
smiling as if lecturing a child.

“You didn’t even protect the innocent civilian.
That’s like, rule number one for magical girls who protect the city~”

Lin Yu wilted instantly.
Her head drooped, shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry, Senior… I messed up…”

And then, before she realized it—

A pastel-pink emote bubble popped above her head with a soft “pop!”

(‘I’m sorry!! Please forgive me!!!’)

Automatic. Reflexive.
A perfect apology emote sequence.

Su Xiaoli blinked. Then—

“…Pffft.”

A silvery giggle spilled from her lips.
Her foxlike eyes curved into delighted crescents.

“Oh, my~ how adorable.”

Her voice softened—gentle, coaxing, almost affectionate.
“Alright, alright, don’t pout. I was teasing you.
For a first encounter with this kind of entity, you actually did really well.”

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“After all, everyone’s first time is bound to be a little awkward… isn’t it?”

Then she leaned in, close enough for Lin Yu to feel her breath by her ear.

“And besides…” she whispered, playful and low,
“…the way you apologized just now was super cute~❤”

Lin Yu’s brain froze.
(She… she just called me cute?)
(Wait—doesn’t she know I’m a guy?!)

Her face burned. She tried to feel indignant—
but for some reason, deep inside, she also felt… a tiny bit pleased?

(No, no, no. That’s not right. That’s so not right!)
(Am I really getting mentally rewired from all these transformations?!)
(What’s next—filming crossdressing videos for side cash?!)
(Lin Yu, get a grip! Your mom still wants grandkids!!)

While his mind spiraled into chaos, Su Xiaoli’s tone shifted again.

“Alright, Gray Crystal-chan~ jokes aside,” she said,
pointing at the pile of shattered mirror shards.

“This time, luck was a huge factor.
The girl serving as the pollutant’s core—
her will had already collapsed. She wanted to die.
That’s why she left clues in her paintings,
and even stopped resisting near the end, exposing her hiding place.”

Her tone darkened.
“If it had been a stronger Curiosity-class entity,
one that wanted to survive…
you’d have been dead before you even realized it.”

Her voice turned firm, her teasing smile replaced with authority.

“So remember this, Gray Crystal.”

“The first thing you must learn is patience.
You can’t just charge in with courage and brute force.
You need to think like a detective—observe their traps,
analyze every clue they leave behind.”

“And the second thing—”
She paused, eyes softening.
“—is empathy.”

“If you can’t overpower them,
then understand them.
Find out why they exist.
Most pollutants aren’t born evil—they’re born broken.”

“When you can see through the lies hiding their pain—
that’s when they falter.
That’s when you strike.”

Lin Yu stood in silence,
the weight of her words sinking deep.

(Patience… Empathy…)
(So being a magical girl’s basically being a detective now?)

Annoying or not, she had to admit—Su Xiaoli was right.

Her thoughts were cut off by a faint groan.

“Ugh…”

Luo Shaotian.
Still unconscious,
his face flushed unnaturally red, cold sweat dripping down his temples.

“Hey—” Lin Yu turned quickly, panicked.
“Senior, what about him?! Should we call an ambulance?!”

Su Xiaoli crouched beside him, frowning slightly.

“…Troublesome,” she muttered.

Her white-and-crimson skirt spread around her like a blooming flower
as she leaned closer.
She plucked a dried fleck of blood from the wound on his shoulder,
brought it to her nose—
and sniffed.

For a brief second,
her foxlike eyes flashed with predatory sharpness.

“…So that’s it.”

“What is it?!” Lin Yu asked nervously.

Su Xiaoli stood, brushing imaginary dust from her skirt.
Her expression softened—but her words were grave.

“This guy’s far worse than that ghost you fought.”

Lin Yu froze. “W–what do you mean?”

“I mean,” Su Xiaoli said slowly,
“that raw power he unleashed—when he tore the pollutant apart—
wasn’t adrenaline. It was corruption.”

Her tone turned low.
“I can feel it. There’s a faint but violent psychic current in him.
Dirty, chaotic…
The same kind we’ve seen from Terror-class contamination.”

“The source?” She shrugged.
“Probably exposure to some subspace residue—
or secondary contamination from a high-level outbreak.”

(Subspace residue… wait—could it be… “Subspace Dust”?)
(No way—did he get infected when he was injured back then?!)

Su Xiaoli sighed. “Anyway… his condition’s unstable.”

“Think of his body like a glass cup with cracks inside.
From the outside, it still looks intact—
even reinforced by that foreign power.
But the moment he’s exposed again to our dimensional field…”

Her gaze darkened.
“…that subspace force will hammer those cracks deeper,
until his soul shatters.”

Lin Yu’s heart sank. She didn’t need her to finish the thought.

“So, Gray Crystal,” Su Xiaoli said softly.
She rested a hand on Lin Yu’s trembling shoulder.

“Listen to me carefully.”

“From now on—stay away from him.”

“Don’t involve him in our world.
Don’t even let him see it again.”

“Let him return to the side of reality—
the one governed by order, by law.”

Her smile curved,
beautiful and bittersweet.

“That way… he won’t be swallowed whole by the power that doesn’t belong to him.”

She leaned closer, voice dropping to a whisper—
gentle, and haunting.

“…And you, little Gray Crystal—”
“—you’ll be safe too~❤”