Chapter 25: Su Yuan Is a Good Person

Being interrupted by a classmate’s phone call while fantasizing about her beloved caught Bai Shimo off guard, leaving her somewhat flustered.

She struggled up from the sofa, straightened her top, and reluctantly set down the photo of Miss Succubus before answering Su Yuan’s call.

“Hello?

Shimo?”

It was Su Yuan’s voice.

“It’s me.

What’s up, Xiao Yuan?”

“Sh-Shimo!”

Su Yuan’s voice sounded hesitant.

“I just… saw the news push—it said that in C7 District, near the night market, there was a werewolf outbreak last night…”

“The location isn’t far from your neighborhood… Are… are you okay right now?”

Bai Shimo was surprised—Su Yuan had called out of concern for her.

“I’m fine…”

After a pause, Bai Shimo said quietly, “Thank you for worrying about me.

More importantly, you didn’t encounter any danger on your way back, did you?”

“No, I just happened to take a different route, so I stayed away from the dangerous area,” Su Yuan replied on the other end.

“By the way, Shimo, your voice sounds a little weak—are you okay?”

“D-does it?”

“Yeah, you sound pretty worn out.

What were you doing just now?”

Bai Shimo’s face flushed, her heart suddenly racing with panic.

She gripped the hem of her still-messy skirt with both hands.

“Nothing!

I wasn’t doing anything!

Just… a bit tired today… cough, cough!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Su Yuan sounded puzzled.

“Really!”

Bai Shimo’s answer was firm and decisive, her ears burning hot.

Fortunately, Su Yuan didn’t press further—just a soft “Mm.”

“Then… get some rest early, Shimo.

See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Xiao Yuan.”

A few seconds later, the call ended.

Bai Shimo let out a long sigh of relief, set her phone back on the coffee table, and sank into the sofa.

Her feelings toward Su Yuan had shifted in a subtle way.

When Su Yuan had caught her crying, Bai Shimo had feared that Su Yuan would look down on her for being so vulnerable, or that she would tell others her secret.

But unexpectedly, Su Yuan had not only kept her secret—she had also genuinely treated her as a good friend, walking her home and worrying about her safety.

“Su Yuan… she’s really a good person.”

Gazing at the photo of Miss Succubus, Bai Shimo thought quietly to herself.

She knew that despite her popularity, she had very few people in this world she could truly call close friends.

If—just if it were possible—

Could she and Su Yuan become even closer in the future?

***

On the other side.

Su Yuan stared at the darkened screen and finally let out a long, relieved breath.

After escaping back home, she had sat collapsed on the floor for several minutes before managing to pull herself together.

The night wind slipped through the window crack, chilling her sweat-soaked back and sending a shiver through her.

“Huff…”

Su Yuan changed out of the “Nana” outfit and walked to the bathroom mirror to inspect her injuries.

Magical girls were ranked by strength: Gold-rank, Silver-rank, Bronze-rank, and unranked trainees.

The one who had attacked her tonight, Azalea, was publicly known to be around Silver-rank by the Security Bureau’s ratings.

If measured by demon standards, a Silver-rank demon hunter (including magical girls and human special forces armed with weapons) could, in most cases, take on a near-high-rank demon independently.

But that was an idealized scenario based purely on power estimates—because rank didn’t determine everything.

In actual combat, the battlefield was ever-changing.

It was entirely normal for a weaker party to overcome a stronger one through varied spell techniques, advanced spellwork, or elemental advantages.

Azalea was clearly one of the stronger individuals on the human side.

Though Su Yuan had escaped Azalea’s binding barrier through skill, the damage from the barrier had still dealt her a heavy blow.

She sighed and pulled open her collar in front of the mirror.

Below her collarbone, on her pale skin, was a dark red, triangular burn mark with irregular edges.

The blood had only just begun to clot and dry—a gruesome sight.

Su Yuan tried to focus her mind, casting the most basic healing spell and the restoration spell specifically for repairing tissue damage.

But wounds caused by magic were entirely different from ordinary injuries.

Even with all her concentration, even expending nearly half her mana…

The dark red wound remained stubbornly etched into her skin, its color not even slightly faded.

Worse still, a faint trace of toxicity seemed to linger deep within the wound, slowly consuming the mana circulating through her body.

Like a tiny parasite.

“Ugh…”

Su Yuan let out a pained whimper, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

It seemed that ordinary methods couldn’t neutralize the poison in this wound.

If the situation became critical, she might have to seek help from headquarters.

She stumbled back two steps, her back against the cold wall, and slowly slid down.

Now, she bore two marks—one was the scar left by Azalea, the other the secret imprint left by Bai Shimo.

A wave of grievance washed over Su Yuan.

Being a little succubus was just too pitiful…

Every time she dealt with magical girls, she ended up hurt.

Was this the inescapable fate of a villain?

With no other choice, Su Yuan endured the pain, cleaned the wound, and disinfected it the human way.

That night, she fell into a deep sleep.

But when she woke the next morning, she felt even weaker.

The devouring effect of the wound’s toxicity was more powerful than she had anticipated.

Normally, a night’s sleep would replenish her mana fully—but now, only about eighty percent remained.

With the poison in her body, her mana recovery cap had been locked.

Su Yuan had considered taking a leave of absence from school to visit the demon black market and ask acquaintances for a cure.

But then she remembered falling out with Sinor, and that she had gotten Sinor’s two werewolf subordinates captured by the Security Bureau (even though they had attacked first).

She felt that going to the gathering place wasn’t a good idea—it was full of Sinor’s connections.

Oh well, looks like I can hold on a little longer.

I’ll just go to school first.

Reassuring herself, Su Yuan went to school as usual.

After enduring morning language and arithmetic classes—

She hadn’t expected that the third period would be switched to PE.

On the sports field, the sunlight was blinding, baking the rubber track and releasing a faint smell of rubber.

A sharp whistle pierced the air.

The PE teacher stood in the center of the field, his voice booming:

“Classes Six and Seven!

Assemble here!

Same routine—three laps around the track to warm up, then we’ll do calisthenics!”

The students shuffled out of the teaching building’s shadow in twos and threes, forming a ragged line.

Su Yuan blended in, her small frame trying to stay at the back of the crowd.

Unlike the others, Bai Shimo—serving as the lead runner—was full of energy.

She swiftly tied her tea-brown hair into a high ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead, and turned to flash her signature bright smile at the class.

“Let’s all do our best!”

With that, she turned and started running along the track with her long, straight legs.

Su Yuan lagged at the very back, matching the group’s pace.

As noon approached, the sun grew fiercer, beating down mercilessly, heating the deep red track until it was scalding.

Before completing half a lap, beads of sweat were already forming on Su Yuan’s forehead, and her breathing grew rapid.

Her true form was frail.

Running three full laps was honestly a struggle.

In the past, she could have discreetly channeled a bit of mana to circulate her energy, relieving muscle fatigue and easing the strain on her heart and lungs, so she wouldn’t fall too far behind.

But today, something felt different.

One lap, two laps… halfway through the second lap, the finish line wasn’t far ahead.

Su Yuan began to feel unwell.

Her vision darkened slightly.

Her limbs grew weak.

Her chest felt weighed down by a stone, and breathing became unusually difficult.

She instinctively concentrated, trying to summon that familiar power within her…

Hmm?

Something was wrong!

The mana that should have flowed smoothly through her meridians like a gentle stream was now frozen solid like an icy river—unresponsive to her will!

Startled, Su Yuan’s steps faltered.

She focused again, trying to sense the mana flowing within her.

Still nothing.

Damn—is this because of that wound?!

“Su Yuan, don’t fall behind!”

From ahead came Bai Shimo’s concerned reminder.

She seemed to slow down, glancing back.

Su Yuan barely managed to lift her head, about to respond—when her legs suddenly gave way!

A dull ache throbbed from the wound on her chest.

Her left leg somehow caught on her right—her balance lost in an instant—

THUD!

With a muffled thud and the soft gasps of nearby classmates, Su Yuan hit the rubber track hard, her elbows and knees stinging from the rough scrape.

She tried to struggle up, forcing her eyes open—but the world in her vision grew dimmer by the second.

Only then did Su Yuan realize—

Without the support of mana, this ordinary human girl’s body… was now apparently suffering from heatstroke.

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