Chapter 17: Better Not Talk About Anomalies at Breakfast

“Who are you?” Ke Xin typed the three characters, but after hesitating for a long time, she still didn’t press send. If she sent it just like that, wouldn’t it be tantamount to directly admitting her identity as a magical girl?

Moreover, the other party was using the avatar and nickname of the virtual idol she promoted herself—it’s hard not to see this as a deliberate move against her.

If she got angry now, she would be falling straight into their trap. Such a small trick wouldn’t fool her.

But on the other hand, the other person was being so direct and confrontational, which clearly indicated considerable confidence and boldness. Even if she refused to admit it verbally, it wouldn’t change the situation.

Indeed, such troublesome matters should be left to the big shots at the Special Investigation Bureau. Thinking this, Ke Xin exited the chat app and opened her contacts, immediately finding the name of Agent Guan Mengyao.

It was possible that Agent Guan was still working overtime at the bureau at this hour, so calling now wouldn’t be too late.

Just as she tried to make the call, a message notification popped up, covering the call button. When she tapped it, it returned to Mchat, and the message was still from this “Shenle Shun Dong” person.

I will provide you with information about anomalies, on the condition that you do not report it to your superiors.

Ke Xin stared at the screen, deep in thought, her expression unusually serious.

Do not misunderstand—I am not your enemy.
If you cooperate, it will be beneficial for both of us.

“Right, like that’s convincing—no one would scam a kid this blatantly.”

It seemed the other party guessed what Ke Xin was thinking and immediately sent another message:

I understand your caution. To show my sincerity, arrive at this location by 6 PM tomorrow, and then you will understand why.

A location was sent immediately. It was in a high-end residential complex in the city center, with prices far beyond what ordinary people could afford. If she hadn’t heard about it from a classmate before, Ke Xin wouldn’t even have imagined such luxury.

Clearly, someone living here was not ordinary.

But the question remained—what was the point of going there, and what exactly would she be doing? Surely there weren’t anomalies there, right?

It was possible. After all, anomalies don’t care about the identity or status of the people they attack.

‘You don’t have to believe me, but if something goes wrong, it won’t be my responsibility.’

After sending this, the person seemed to lose patience and stopped trying to convince Ke Xin.

In reality, Ke Xin was lost in thought and didn’t even see the last message.

The words looked like some kind of crime warning, possibly even a provocation to her as a magical girl and to the Special Investigation Bureau—like a certain phantom thief in white always leaving calling cards for the police officer chasing them.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out how her information had been leaked. There shouldn’t be hackers in the world capable of directly breaking into the Special Investigation Bureau’s archives and decrypting files.

And this hacker would also need to know about anomalies—perhaps even in detail.

Enough thinking!

Ke Xin gave up struggling, tossed her phone aside, and turned toward the bathroom.

The next morning, Ke Xin completely forgot about the messages she received the night before. As usual, she made breakfast for several people. The seniors living in the apartment appeared on schedule, either coming from their rooms or from next door.

Those who often ate with her, besides Qishi and Gu Ruoyan (who seemed not to have returned yet after going out the night before), were Maoqi Xiacao, Huitzu Yue, and Bai Xihan. The latter three were in the same team, and Bai Xihan, a senior magical girl with more experience than Qishi, was responsible for guiding the two newcomers.

Maoqi and Huitzu Yue had become magical girls slightly earlier than Ke Xin and were part of this year’s training batch. The others, after completing their initial training, had returned home.

Since most magical girls were still middle or high school students, the Special Investigation Bureau took the opportunity to gather the newcomers from across the country under the guise of a summer camp for training.

Ke Xin had become a magical girl after missing this batch and had done so unexpectedly, even by the Bureau’s standards.

“Did you go on a mission yesterday? How did it go?”

Bai Xihan immediately asked about yesterday’s events as soon as she sat down. Compared to Ke Xin, who was quiet, Bai Xihan seemed full of energy, and being a fellow glasses-wearer, she was much more enthusiastic than classmate Zhang Ruolin.

“Was it a Beta-class anomaly? Shouldn’t have been too difficult, right? But surprisingly, even though Ke Xin joined last, you’ve already completed quite a few missions.”

For some reason, Ke Xin had scored very high in both the theoretical and practical magical girl assessments, even achieving the highest theoretical exam scores in recent years.

Therefore, while other new magical girls still had to follow their mentors on missions in a supporting role, Ke Xin was already qualified to operate independently.

“It was okay. But even Beta-class anomalies can be dangerous if underestimated.”

“No exaggeration—Ke Xin took down the anomaly in one shot. I didn’t even get to see what it looked like.”

Even though the enemy disappeared instantly, Ke Xin didn’t brag, quietly putting away her results, just as she always did when achieving something good—likely because she had few friends to share things with growing up.

“I get it. After all, the anomaly classification is only our internal standard. It’s very one-sided.”

“This one was a scorpion-shaped anomaly. Its tail could shoot steel-like needles at high speed. A half-second delay could be fatal.”

“An insect-type anomaly, how disgusting.” Just imagining it made Bai Xihan shiver.

Anomalies, by definition, were all kinds of bizarre creatures, but the more abstract ones weren’t necessarily scary.

“Yes, and it was huge.”

“Were there any casualties this time?”

“Yes.”

As a mission participant, Ke Xin had been synchronized with the case information, including the victim’s identity. Although only half the body remained at the scene, DNA analysis was enough to quickly confirm it.

The victim was the owner of a construction materials supplier, usually not living in Dongzhuang Garden, but had gone there yesterday to meet an old friend and was attacked on the way.

Ke Xin avoided explaining too many details during breakfast, so as not to ruin anyone’s appetite. Even if she and others were used to such things, she still avoided looking at gruesome photos when possible.

“So, how did the scorpion anomaly cut the person? With its pincers?” Bai Xihan made a scissor gesture with her hand.

Despite being cheerful and energetic, she didn’t shy away from speaking bluntly.

“Not sure. Anomalies don’t limit themselves to attacks based on their physical forms.”

Using magic, one could conjure a knife out of thin air.

“True, maybe I’m overthinking it.” Bai Xihan still looked thoughtful.

Had she really overlooked something?

Ke Xin began pondering the same question.

“Who are you?” Ke Xin typed the three characters, but after hesitating for a long time, she still didn’t press send. If she sent it just like that, wouldn’t it be tantamount to directly admitting her identity as a magical girl?

Moreover, the other party was using the avatar and nickname of the virtual idol she promoted herself—it’s hard not to see this as a deliberate move against her.

If she got angry now, she would be falling straight into their trap. Such a small trick wouldn’t fool her.

But on the other hand, the other person was being so direct and confrontational, which clearly indicated considerable confidence and boldness. Even if she refused to admit it verbally, it wouldn’t change the situation.

Indeed, such troublesome matters should be left to the big shots at the Special Investigation Bureau. Thinking this, Ke Xin exited the chat app and opened her contacts, immediately finding the name of Agent Guan Mengyao.

It was possible that Agent Guan was still working overtime at the bureau at this hour, so calling now wouldn’t be too late.

Just as she tried to make the call, a message notification popped up, covering the call button. When she tapped it, it returned to Mchat, and the message was still from this “Shenle Shun Dong” person.

‘I will provide you with information about anomalies, on the condition that you do not report it to your superiors.’

Ke Xin stared at the screen, deep in thought, her expression unusually serious.

‘Do not misunderstand—I am not your enemy.’
‘If you cooperate, it will be beneficial for both of us.’

“Right, like that’s convincing—no one would scam a kid this blatantly.”

It seemed the other party guessed what Ke Xin was thinking and immediately sent another message:

‘I understand your caution. To show my sincerity, arrive at this location by 6 PM tomorrow, and then you will understand why.’

A location was sent immediately. It was in a high-end residential complex in the city center, with prices far beyond what ordinary people could afford. If she hadn’t heard about it from a classmate before, Ke Xin wouldn’t even have imagined such luxury.

Clearly, someone living here was not ordinary.

But the question remained—what was the point of going there, and what exactly would she be doing? Surely there weren’t anomalies there, right?

It was possible. After all, anomalies don’t care about the identity or status of the people they attack.

‘You don’t have to believe me, but if something goes wrong, it won’t be my responsibility.’

After sending this, the person seemed to lose patience and stopped trying to convince Ke Xin.

In reality, Ke Xin was lost in thought and didn’t even see the last message.

The words looked like some kind of crime warning, possibly even a provocation to her as a magical girl and to the Special Investigation Bureau—like a certain phantom thief in white always leaving calling cards for the police officer chasing them.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out how her information had been leaked. There shouldn’t be hackers in the world capable of directly breaking into the Special Investigation Bureau’s archives and decrypting files.

And this hacker would also need to know about anomalies—perhaps even in detail.

Enough thinking!

Ke Xin gave up struggling, tossed her phone aside, and turned toward the bathroom.

The next morning, Ke Xin completely forgot about the messages she received the night before. As usual, she made breakfast for several people. The seniors living in the apartment appeared on schedule, either coming from their rooms or from next door.

Those who often ate with her, besides Qishi and Gu Ruoyan (who seemed not to have returned yet after going out the night before), were Maoqi Xiacao, Huitzu Yue, and Bai Xihan. The latter three were in the same team, and Bai Xihan, a senior magical girl with more experience than Qishi, was responsible for guiding the two newcomers.

Maoqi and Huitzu Yue had become magical girls slightly earlier than Ke Xin and were part of this year’s training batch. The others, after completing their initial training, had returned home.

Since most magical girls were still middle or high school students, the Special Investigation Bureau took the opportunity to gather the newcomers from across the country under the guise of a summer camp for training.

Ke Xin had become a magical girl after missing this batch and had done so unexpectedly, even by the Bureau’s standards.

“Did you go on a mission yesterday? How did it go?”

Bai Xihan immediately asked about yesterday’s events as soon as she sat down. Compared to Ke Xin, who was quiet, Bai Xihan seemed full of energy, and being a fellow glasses-wearer, she was much more enthusiastic than classmate Zhang Ruolin.

“Was it a Beta-class anomaly? Shouldn’t have been too difficult, right? But surprisingly, even though Ke Xin joined last, you’ve already completed quite a few missions.”

For some reason, Ke Xin had scored very high in both the theoretical and practical magical girl assessments, even achieving the highest theoretical exam scores in recent years.

Therefore, while other new magical girls still had to follow their mentors on missions in a supporting role, Ke Xin was already qualified to operate independently.

“It was okay. But even Beta-class anomalies can be dangerous if underestimated.”

“No exaggeration—Ke Xin took down the anomaly in one shot. I didn’t even get to see what it looked like.”

Even though the enemy disappeared instantly, Ke Xin didn’t brag, quietly putting away her results, just as she always did when achieving something good—likely because she had few friends to share things with growing up.

“I get it. After all, the anomaly classification is only our internal standard. It’s very one-sided.”

“This one was a scorpion-shaped anomaly. Its tail could shoot steel-like needles at high speed. A half-second delay could be fatal.”

“An insect-type anomaly, how disgusting.” Just imagining it made Bai Xihan shiver.

Anomalies, by definition, were all kinds of bizarre creatures, but the more abstract ones weren’t necessarily scary.

“Yes, and it was huge.”

“Were there any casualties this time?”

“Yes.”

As a mission participant, Ke Xin had been synchronized with the case information, including the victim’s identity. Although only half the body remained at the scene, DNA analysis was enough to quickly confirm it.

The victim was the owner of a construction materials supplier, usually not living in Dongzhuang Garden, but had gone there yesterday to meet an old friend and was attacked on the way.

Ke Xin avoided explaining too many details during breakfast, so as not to ruin anyone’s appetite. Even if she and others were used to such things, she still avoided looking at gruesome photos when possible.

“So, how did the scorpion anomaly cut the person? With its pincers?” Bai Xihan made a scissor gesture with her hand.

Despite being cheerful and energetic, she didn’t shy away from speaking bluntly.

“Not sure. Anomalies don’t limit themselves to attacks based on their physical forms.”

Using magic, one could conjure a knife out of thin air.

“True, maybe I’m overthinking it.” Bai Xihan still looked thoughtful.

Had she really overlooked something?

Ke Xin began pondering the same question.