Chapter 4: The Reluctant Magical Girl

Lin Qingqiu was a third-year vocational high school student.

Actually, this should have been his internship period, but he chose to join the school’s spring exam prep class.

There were four classes, nearly two hundred students. In the end, only about thirty of them chose the spring exam, forming the current class. More than half of his classmates were people he didn’t know or wasn’t familiar with.

Wang Chen was one he’d only met when school started in September.

“Wanna go to the convenience store and grab something to eat?”

“Wait, I need to use the bathroom?”

“Hey, at least respond to me.”

Lin Qingqiu couldn’t be bothered with Wang Chen. Expressionless, he walked into the classroom and sat down by the window.

“Did you do the homework? Let me copy it.”

Wang Chen still tagged along behind him like a happy puppy.

“Yeah.”

He pulled the homework he’d finished during yesterday’s break out of his desk, then slumped over the table. Yawning, he pressed his cheek against the cold surface and stared blankly at the sky outside.

“I’ll hand it in for you later?”

“Sure.”

Lin Qingqiu strongly suspected that Wang Chen only stuck to him because he wanted his homework. This guy rushed to copy assignments every morning.

But this time Wang Chen didn’t just take the homework and leave. He plopped down right next to him.

“You seem down. Something wrong?”

“No.”

Lin Qingqiu stayed sprawled on the desk without moving, radiating an aura of utter apathy.

That was how he always was outside: aloof, cold, a lone wolf. Even if he really was in a bad mood today, he wouldn’t look any different from usual.

Only when he was alone and online did he show his inner freak. He was a classic internet giant, posting lewd pics in game groups all day and flirting with “girls,” while in real life he was just a little lamb.

A strong arm landed on Lin Qingqiu’s shoulder and hooked around his neck. Wang Chen leaned in with a grin. “Did you notice? Several girls in class keep staring at you.”

Lin Qingqiu, who’d been lying on the desk like a dead fish, perked up immediately. Without moving a muscle, he quickly scanned the classroom and sure enough, caught a few girls glancing back at him.

‘No wonder they say good skin boosts your looks~’

He was a nobody in this class, yet all the girls were paying attention to him! Though there were only four girls total.

“Oh.”

He couldn’t suppress the smug delight in his heart, but a second later he slumped back onto the desk.

‘But the cost…’

“Wang Chen!” Someone not far away called out to Wang Chen, fingers shaped like scissors. “Coming?”

“Be right there!”

Even though the school was fairly strict, smoking was still hard to stamp out.

Sometimes during class, people would sneak off to the bathroom for a cigarette. Lin Qingqiu really didn’t get what was so great about the stuff.

He watched Wang Chen leave the classroom, joking and roughhousing with a few classmates, and let out a long sigh.

Unlike him, Wang Chen got along everywhere. In less than a month since school started, he’d won over almost the entire class, while Lin Qingqiu had practically no friends.

Sometimes he really envied people who could just click with anyone. Once Wang Chen entered society, he’d definitely have an easier time than someone like him.

Who knew how that chatterbox had ended up mingling with an introvert like him? Someone in class had even nicknamed them “Brainless and Grumpy.”

“Qingqiu!”

The Black Cat, who’d disappeared earlier, suddenly darted over and jumped onto the windowsill, tail held high in excitement. “Your school has so many hot guys and girls! Especially the class next door!”

Next door was the spring exam class for early childhood education. Of course there’d be lots of pretty girls. There were no guys at all.

“Why don’t you get a girlfriend?” Black Cat asked, unusually considerate.

Lin Qingqiu brushed them off. “I’m busy saving the world.”

“You might not get another chance~ You don’t want to stay a virgin and turn into a girl, do you?”

His breath caught. He turned his face away without expression.

‘Absolutely not! I will never transform into a magical girl again and let magic remold my body!’

‘And I definitely won’t listen to Black Cat and date a monster. That sounds completely unreliable!’

‘At most, I’ll only step in when family or friends are in danger… A few times should be fine.’

The bell rang, signaling the start of morning self-study.

The classroom gradually grew lively. Wang Chen, who’d gone out to smoke, returned to his seat in the back row and buried himself in copying homework. A big dark-skinned guy came panting into the room and plopped down next to Lin Qingqiu, complaining loudly about the dormitory losing power last night.

Lin Qingqiu glanced at his deskmate, shifted his butt, and squeezed closer to the wall.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know his deskmate well. It was that he knew him too well.

The hulking man named Cheng Jianhao had known him for two years. Though not much taller than Lin Qingqiu, he was built like a wall, fat and dark from years of sun, and had often gotten into fights the first two years. No one knew why he’d suddenly decided to study for the spring exam instead of going out into society.

Lin Qingqiu had never been bullied, but he always kept his distance from standard thugs like him. Unfortunately, they were about the same height, so they became deskmates.

“Whoa! How’d you become a pretty boy today?” Cheng Jianhao pulled a workbook from his desk and greeted him casually. “You did the homework, right? Is it with Wang Chen?”

“……”

His voice was loud, his tone always carrying a mocking edge that made Lin Qingqiu uncomfortable. He didn’t answer, just gave a slight nod.

“Damn, I haven’t done homework since elementary school…”

Cheng Jianhao muttered a curse, then lowered his voice. His massive body suddenly leaned toward Lin Qingqiu.

Lin Qingqiu tensed instinctively and lifted his head slightly from the desk.

“How’d you get so white?”

“Huh?”

He froze. He looked at Cheng Jianhao’s rough, dark face, then at his massive frame, arms thicker than Lin Qingqiu’s thighs, like a giant black bear.

‘Whitening?’

‘That’s not a question a bear should be asking.’

“It works so well.” Cheng Jianhao’s voice was unusually quiet, even cautious, tinged with envy. “You feel softer than a woman.”

“That…” Lin Qingqiu didn’t know how to explain. His already cold expression stiffened further.

He suddenly realized: in the future, when the demon realm’s gates open and magic causes some people to awaken as magical girls… would a guy like Cheng Jianhao also turn into a petite, cute girl?

‘That’s just ridiculous!’

“It won’t happen~ You’re the most special magical girl!”

Black Cat seemed to have heard his thoughts and answered from the windowsill.

The sudden words made Lin Qingqiu flinch. He shot an annoyed glare at the windowsill, then guiltily ducked his head, afraid someone would notice Black Cat’s presence.

“What?” Cheng Jianhao glanced curiously out the window, sharply sensing that his deskmate was acting strange today.

The skin on his face was white and glowing, and he looked much more handsome overall. Compared to his usual withdrawn coldness, Lin Qingqiu’s mannerisms and expression seemed to have gained a touch of cuteness?

Cheng Jianhao asked bluntly, “Being a pretty boy is fine, but why have you gotten girly too?”

Lin Qingqiu’s sore spot was hit dead center. His face darkened, and he turned away, ignoring him completely.

‘You’re the girly one!’

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