Chapter 8: Unexpected Encounters and a New Resolve

He Yao himself wasn’t sure why he ultimately agreed.

Personally, he felt that someone as socially awkward as him shouldn’t have accepted such a mission.

After all, he hadn’t even been able to help the girl named Zhang Xiao, who was still laid up in bed with a cast. He found it difficult to call what he did ‘help’ or ‘salvation’.

Yet, his thoughts kept returning to Teacher Lin and Liu Xingyue.

He remembered Teacher Lin’s past kindness, and Liu Xingyue’s unwavering resolve as she transformed, pushing against the current.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that perhaps he could do *something*.

He was merely a high school student, and the idea of doing anything at all might seem arrogant. But then again, weren’t many Magical Girls just girls?

If girls could accomplish such feats, why couldn’t a man like him?

Even if his transformation presented him as a Magical Girl, he believed he possessed the spirit of a true man. He had a teacher who embodied manliness, guiding him to uphold justice.

Even if it was just a small deed.

With his resolve firm, the transformation into Magical Girl Ink Crystal was undone.

He Yao assessed his condition, relieved that his mental state hadn’t been affected by the transformation.

A great sigh of relief escaped him.

Just two days prior, while watching *Filial Piety*, he’d seen a middle-aged man transform into a Magical Girl and fall in love with his son-in-law. This had unnerved him, making him fear adverse effects from his own transformation.

Now, it seemed his fears were unfounded.

That was excellent news.

After all, reality was reality, and fiction was fiction.

What was written in novels couldn’t be taken seriously.

Besides, for a character like him, who else was there in his life? He didn’t have any childhood sweethearts.

Burdened with these thoughts, the young man drifted into slumber.

****

Early morning.

He Yao walked along the street.

Today was the weekend. Normally, he would spend his Saturdays and Sundays lounging at home, playing games, watching anime, or reading novels. However, having chosen to become a Magical Girl, it only made sense to patrol the streets for any signs of strange demons or monster threats.

Stepping out on a weekend after so long, under the clear sky, gave He Yao the distinct feeling of becoming a ‘normie’ for a day.

He still had a good amount of money, so he decided to simply stroll around, looking for anything he might want to eat or buy. Typically, he ordered everything online for home delivery, rarely venturing out.

It was time to take a good look around.

“Wow, so many couples. How sickening. Is romance the only thing on these people’s minds? Life is long; there’s so much more to do, isn’t there? Truly shallow individuals.”

As he mentally slandered others, he walked down the street, enjoying the scenery. He felt as if everyone else was drunk on life, while he alone was sober.

“Humans truly are creatures driven by primal urges all year round… Hmm?”

He Yao’s disdainful, world-weary gaze vanished abruptly as he keenly caught sight of something else.

“Teacher?! Teacher Lin and Teacher Liu?!”

The young man’s eyes widened instantly.

Instinctively, he ducked behind a nearby street sign, watching Lin Han and Liu Yun walk side-by-side, with Liu Yun trailing slightly half a step behind.

Liu Yun, their homeroom teacher, was a cool and elegant woman, the object of many boys’ fantasies in class. Yet, seeing her walk with Lin Han now, He Yao found it surprisingly harmonious.

Lin Han was known for his wit and humor, and Liu Yun, at this moment, wore a faint smile on her face.

‘That’s the rotten stench of love!’

‘You sly old Lin!’

‘He always claimed he’d be single at thirty, that love would eventually find him, but he actually managed to win over ‘the Queen’? That’s quite impressive!’

From the looks of it, Liu Yun even seemed subtly submissive, consistently walking half a step behind Lin Han and gazing at his profile.

‘This is clearly affection.’

‘But Old Lin… Teacher Lin is clearly a middle-aged ‘ghost flame’ biker. How could he possibly win over someone as proper as Old Liu?’

‘Could Old Liu possess a hidden ‘moe’ side? It’s hard to imagine…’

Lost in thought, he decided to follow them.

‘After all, as a Magical Girl who hadn’t even made her debut yet, I have no specific patrol route. I’m just wandering the streets, trying my luck.’

‘Following them is as good as following anyone else, isn’t it?’

He pulled out his phone.

‘Heh heh, if I take a picture, won’t I be able to blackmail Teacher Lin later?’

But it was true that Teacher Lin never had much money; any he got went straight into modifying his ‘ghost flame’ vehicle.

‘That thing was an absolute money pit.’

****

“Teacher Lin, thank you for coming out with me today,” Liu Yun said with a smile. “I’m moving today, but the movers said they don’t handle bringing things down from upstairs… so I could only ask for your help.”

Lin Han shook his head. “It’s nothing, just a small matter. Manual labor is my specialty—besides, aren’t you going to treat me to a meal, Teacher Liu?”

Times hadn’t been easy lately; he’d been living on instant noodles for days. But then again, He Yao had treated him to hotpot yesterday, and it seemed Liu Yun planned to treat him to a buffet today… his meals were surprisingly good.

Once Zhang Xiao’s situation was resolved, he should receive a subsidy. Then he could buy some parts and stock up on instant noodles…

“That’s only right! If I asked for your help with moving and didn’t even cover your meal, that would be incredibly thoughtless of me.”

Liu Yun’s demeanor was completely different from how she was at school, though it was understandable.

At school, as a homeroom teacher, she naturally had to maintain her authority. But outside of school, with Lin Han, who was also a teacher, they interacted as equals—just two ordinary people.

“By the way, Teacher Liu, why are you suddenly moving recently?”

Liu Yun sighed. “It’s because of the monster disaster! There was a monster attack in my old neighborhood, wasn’t there? During the battle between the Magical Girl and the monster, the community wall was completely destroyed. Many other areas were also damaged.

“It’ll take some time to repair, and my lease was ending anyway, so I just decided to move somewhere else.”

Lin Han said with a touch of helplessness, “That’s quite unlucky, then.”

“Exactly,” Liu Yun said, looking quite regretful. “If my house had been directly destroyed, I could have received some compensation. But since it wasn’t, it just created a lot of hassle in my life.”

As a tenant, she would have been entitled to a substantial sum in compensation if her property had been damaged by a Magical Girl or monster battle. Of course, the landlord would have received even more.

Naturally, the ‘disaster assessment’ process was extremely strict; false claims were highly unlikely to succeed.

“Are you talking about that ‘Regenerator’?”

“Yes, that monster called Regenerator fought Magical Girl Amethyst near our neighborhood some time ago, didn’t it? And then it escaped. It’s truly a powerful monster, and I wonder when it will finally be defeated.

“I heard it has incredibly strong regenerative abilities. Amethyst almost destroyed it several times, only for it to instantly regenerate.”

Lin Han asked, a touch of curiosity in his voice, “Were you present during the fight, Teacher Liu?”

“No, I just heard about it from others,” Liu Yun sighed. “But there’s no use dwelling on it. I just hope the Magical Girls can defeat this monster soon. I hear it’s incredibly vicious.”

Trailing behind them, He Yao hadn’t expected to overhear such a conversation.

‘But they probably haven’t noticed me.’

‘I truly am an introvert; my ability to hide myself has reached its peak…’

‘Perhaps I should temporarily name it “Shadow: Hidden, Traceless”?’

The monster named Regenerator was one she had also heard of.

Monsters weren’t like Magical Girls; when Magical Girls were filmed, they would appear pixelated. Monsters, however, didn’t have this effect.

Thus, images of the “Regenerator” actually existed online.

To be precise, it was “a mass of flesh.”

A pulsating mass of flesh writhing on the ground. It was difficult to call it “human.” Yet, it was undeniably a monster, possessing clear intelligence and will—a being that consumed the flesh and blood of other creatures to grow, and was incredibly difficult to kill.

She had heard that Magical Girl Amethyst had been tracking this entity for one or two months.

Amethyst hadn’t been able to defeat it, but thanks to her efforts, the Regenerator also found it difficult to emerge and harm people.

‘I wonder how Amethyst compares to my own Ink Crystal?’

Though she wasn’t sure of her own strength.

‘But then again, black signifies nobility!’

‘One must remember, in various settings—not just in *Filial Piety*—black and white are always significant colors for important characters!’

‘Either the main villain or the protagonist!’

‘As Ink Crystal, possessing the power of pure black, I’m practically protagonist-coded! My strength shouldn’t be weak, though Magical Girls can grow stronger, so it’s hard to say for sure.’

‘Will I have to prove myself in actual combat eventually?’

“Watch out!!!”

Lin Han’s sudden roar jolted He Yao back to reality. He saw Lin Han tackle Liu Yun to the side, embracing her.

Moments later, a tendril of flesh slammed into the ground, cracking the pavement.

“The Regenerator?!”

He was instantly alarmed.

Seeing Lin Han, who had rolled twice on the ground while holding Liu Yun.

He turned and ran.

He immediately dashed into a deserted alley nearby.

“Magical Girl Ink Crystal! Transform!”

There was no room for hesitation.

She knew full well that the “Regenerator” was not an ideal opponent. She had no prior experience fighting monsters and almost no combat training. Facing a monster that Magical Girl Amethyst, a veteran of several years, had pursued for months and failed to defeat in multiple encounters, would likely prove extremely challenging.

But there was nothing else to say.

Teacher Lin and Teacher Liu were there, in grave danger.

More than ever, she felt fortunate to possess the power of a Magical Girl, and more certain than ever that choosing to become one was the right decision.

She was even more grateful that she had come out today,

and encountered her two teachers.

This way, she could protect them.

Lin Han held Liu Yun tightly, his eyes fixed on the Regenerator.

‘I need to get Liu Yun to safety, and then…’

But then what?

A pitch-black Magical Girl descended before him.

“Magical Girl Ink Crystal! Has arrived!”

Wielding the Ink Crystal Sword, the Magical Girl, clad entirely in black, stood before the two.

“Regenerator! Your opponent is me!”

So she declared.