Chapter 28: The Deceptive Encounter

“Bang,” “Bang-bang,” “Bang.”

As the gunshots rang out, several small holes instantly appeared on the moving circular target.

Counting that all seven bullets had been fired, Baoyu gently pulled out the revolver’s cylinder.

She allowed the seven spent casings to slide effortlessly to the ground.

Then, using her magic, she conjured new bullets, refilling each chamber.

With a decisive motion, she pushed the cylinder back into place, locking it securely.

As the target-setting device ceased its movement, Baoyu observed the distribution of bullet holes.

One shot landed in the nine-ring, two in the eight-ring, and the rest were scattered between the seven and eight-rings.

Overall, this round of shooting was quite decent.

It also subtly indicated that her marksmanship had now stabilized, a significant improvement from when she first began, where her shots would haphazardly spread across a stationary target.

However, the current results still fell short of Baoyu’s own expectations.

The target’s present speed was comparable to that of a moving person.

She aspired to achieve even greater precision in her shooting.

Regardless of the circumstances, she yearned for her bullets to unfailingly strike the exact spot and target she aimed for.

Still, such things couldn’t be rushed.

Steady progress, one deliberate step at a time, was all that mattered.

****

Ever since becoming a Magical Girl and forming a team with Asherah and Polaris, Baoyu had officially begun the various training regimens arranged for her by Polaris and the Magical Guardians Department.

These included theoretical lessons with video explanations, as well as practical training sessions like the one she had just completed.

Given her uncommon use of firearm-type magical equipment, the Magical Guardians Department had even enlisted an army instructor to occasionally guide her on how to practice with her enchanted weapon.

Despite being officially registered as a Magical Girl, Baoyu had not yet been assigned to any further missions to hunt Corrupted Entities (TL Note: Negative Erosion Bodies, creatures born from negative emotions and corruption).

She didn’t necessarily view this as a negative development.

Only by building a solid foundation could she stand firm in battle.

Regardless of how much utility she could offer in combat at her current stage, she certainly didn’t wish to become a burden to others.

This was the shooting range within the First Training Ground of the Magical Guardians Department headquarters.

It was nearly a quarter the size of a football field.

Unlike Xirang’s rudimentary training ground, crafted from magic and soil, the First Training Ground was a substantial training facility, built with considerable funds genuinely approved by Jingping City.

The facilities here were comprehensive and diverse, allowing almost every Magical Girl to undertake training suited to their individual needs.

Not only could they exchange experiences with senior Magical Girls from other teams, but Baoyu, as a student still attending school, could also receive professional academic tutoring in addition to her training.

It was akin to having a complimentary full-subject home tutor, which further alleviated Baoyu’s concerns that her Magical Girl duties might adversely affect her academic performance.

Perhaps the only drawback here was that Magical Girls couldn’t unleash their full firepower without restraint, unlike in Xirang’s training grounds.

However, for a novice like Baoyu, this was clearly not a pressing concern yet.

The hour hand on the wall clock was nearing nine.

The young girl calculated that it was almost time to head home.

Returning late every day would undoubtedly raise suspicions, even from the zombie residing in her house.

Consequently, she filled out the day’s training room usage form, neatly gathered the discarded targets, and then took a peppermint candy from the unattended counter.

Slinging her school bag over her shoulder, she switched off the lights and exited the training room.

After waving goodbye to the staff member at the main entrance, Baoyu ascended into the darkening sky.

Through many days of familiarity and practice, she had fully adapted to flying.

Her former fears had vanished like smoke, and now she could begin to revel in the convenience and sheer joy of soaring through the air on her own power.

It was, without a doubt, an experience she felt she would never grow tired of.

The summer night wind carried a pleasant coolness.

Sometimes, Baoyu would quietly pause, gazing down upon the brightly lit city sprawling beneath her.

The bustling streets, the throngs of people, the buildings adorned with lights… this unique and private vantage point always left her deeply satisfied, a taste she savored to her core.

“Ding-ding—”

The notification chime in her ear prompted Baoyu to retrieve her phone from her school bag.

She was well-acquainted with this sound; it originated from an internal program developed by the Magical Guardians Department, designed to promptly report the appearance of Corrupted Entities within the city.

Should a Magical Girl accept a mission, their participation details would also be displayed there in real-time.

Opening the application on her phone, Baoyu saw a newly posted alert.

“A Proximal-grade Corrupted Entity (TL Note: The lowest and weakest class of Corrupted Entity).

With my current strength, I should be able to handle it easily.

Plus, this location is quite close to me right now…”

Attached to the alert was a photo, albeit a very blurry one, likely snapped by someone mid-escape.

It vaguely showed a grayish-black humanoid figure, a typical characteristic of a Proximal-grade Corrupted Entity.

Completely black, yet retaining the basic human form, such a body possessed no obvious weaknesses but was inherently low in strength.

With only slightly greater power and speed than an average person, coupled with unremarkable attack methods, it was perfectly suited as an opponent for Magical Girls to acclimate to actual combat.

However, whether due to the poor photography or some contaminants near the shooting location, the photo also showed some peculiar stains on the ground around the Corrupted Entity.

If it was merely a Proximal-grade, she could easily manage it herself.

Yet, Polaris had previously instructed her to report every action and gain her approval before proceeding.

After all, despite having watched numerous video combat records of Magical Girls battling Corrupted Entities, she had yet to experience true live combat.

But if this immediate incident were to cause greater loss and harm due to her hesitation and inaction… she would be held accountable.

After a moment of deliberation, Baoyu still pressed the ‘Accept Extermination’ confirmation button.

Simultaneously, she sent a message to Polaris, her senior.

Without waiting for a reply, she swiftly flew towards the Corrupted Entity’s location.

****

Three minutes later, a sprawling urban village, encircled by towering buildings, appeared before Baoyu’s eyes.

Locating a specific spot within such a complex and chaotic environment in a short time was no easy feat.

Thus, Baoyu descended, simultaneously sensing the Corrupted Entity’s magical energy and observing the movements of the crowd below.

After all, if a Corrupted Entity appeared, people nearby would surely panic and spontaneously organize a swift evacuation.

As expected, following the dim lights, Baoyu could see people scurrying through the low, crowded buildings.

Therefore, the direction opposite to their escape should be where the Corrupted Entity had emerged.

A strange noise rang out in her ear, and Baoyu instinctively rushed towards its source.

However, she overlooked one crucial detail: a Proximal-grade Corrupted Entity, by conventional standards, should not be capable of creating such a significant disturbance.

Consequently, when Baoyu landed in front of an internet cafe and saw a massive circular hole in the wall, she finally sensed that something was amiss.

However, the increasingly close and clear magical energy signature left her no time for further contemplation.

She unslung the shotgun from her back, leaped onto a rooftop, and began tracking the direction of the magical energy’s movement.

Beneath the dim yellow light, a dark, black stain stretched continuously across the uneven ground.

Within it, muddy, splash-like substances were plastered against the walls, as if something foul had exploded.

A battle… seemed to have already taken place here?

Had someone arrived before her?

Following the stains on the ground, Baoyu eventually tracked them into a narrow alley.

Stepping over the widespread debris, she finally spotted a grotesque, writhing shadow at the very end.

Contrary to the intelligence report, the Corrupted Entity before her was almost unrecognizable as humanoid.

Its entire body oozed a viscous, black, gelatinous substance, squirming and twisting at a nauseating speed, immediately bringing to Baoyu’s mind a creature found only in fantasy: a slime.

Despite her burgeoning doubts, Baoyu confirmed at once that only this Corrupted Entity was present at the scene.

Without hesitation, she swiftly raised her shotgun, aimed at the entity before her, and pulled the trigger.

A burst of blue flame instantly erupted in the dark alley.

The shot undeniably struck the Corrupted Entity, and as the explosion sent up a cloud of smoke, copious amounts of black liquid splattered outwards, accompanied by an unnatural, inhuman shriek.

Just as Baoyu was reloading her shotgun, preparing for a more powerful subsequent shot, an unexpected voice suddenly emerged from the shadows and smoke.

“Stop! Stop! Don’t hurt me!”

A human? How could that be?

She had clearly seen no one just moments ago.

As Baoyu stared in astonishment, a hand reached out from the shadows.

“I’m human, stop, please stop…”

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Baoyu vaguely discerned the somewhat corpulent upper body of a young man in the shadows.

His face was etched with anxiety and panic, and his shirt was tattered.

He appeared terrified by the sight of her holding the gun.

‘Where did this person come from? Strange…’

One of the Magical Girl’s tenets was to prioritize human life and safety at all times.

Considering that she couldn’t abandon the individual in such a perilous environment, Baoyu slowly lowered her gun, preparing to approach and check on their condition.

“You’re not hurt, are you? It’s dangerous here; please come with me quickly.”

“Thank you so much.

If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what that monster would have done to me.”

‘Monster…’

Suddenly, Baoyu, who had been completely drawn in by the plea for help, halted her steps.

An alarm blared in her mind.

‘No, something was wrong.’

‘The Corrupted Entity’s magical energy hadn’t vanished… it was still alive, right before her eyes.’

That single instant of thought and physical pause was all the hidden malice needed to bare its fangs.

Two streaks of black light suddenly flashed before Baoyu’s eyes.

Immediately, the world spun violently, and her body was uncontrollably flung backward.

With a dull “thud,” the young girl’s back slammed hard against the cold, unyielding wall.

A potent sense of danger forced her to suppress her fear and panic.

Amidst a wave of dizziness, she reached out, attempting to grope for her shotgun that had fallen nearby.

However, as her limbs strained, an unprecedented surge of pain clawed at her nerves.

“Urgh…”

A piercing agony, as if she had been impaled, simultaneously erupted from her right abdomen and left shoulder.

With every breath, the pain relentlessly tore at Baoyu’s sanity.

She clenched her jaw, forcing back tears and stifling a whimper, using her still-mobile right arm to prop herself up and look ahead.

Her shotgun lay about three meters in front of her.

And seven meters beyond that, she beheld a sight that belonged only in nightmares.

The boy who had called out for her help earlier, only his exposed upper body retained a human appearance.

From the waist down, he was a mass of black gelatinous substance.

At this very moment, countless slender, elongated tentacles extended from that amorphous blob, resembling a fully unfurled sea urchin.

‘Was this a human, or a Corrupted Entity?’

“I don’t want to die either.

I’m sorry.”

Accompanying his cryptic murmur, several black tentacles intertwined and merged, swiftly coalescing into a sharp spear aimed directly at Baoyu.

‘What was he saying?’

‘How could such a Corrupted Entity exist?’

‘She had never heard of it; that there could be Corrupted Entities capable of masquerading as humans and communicating like them.’

The magical energy signature was intensifying, a clear sign that this was an enemy far beyond her capabilities.

The intelligence was wrong; this was no mere Proximal-grade Corrupted Entity.

The areas where she was struck were numb and powerless.

‘Did those tentacles contain a magic similar to poison?’

‘At this distance, there was no chance to retrieve her shotgun.’

‘With a handgun, it would take several bullets to bring it down.’

‘Where should she aim?’

‘No, before that—’

‘She would be impaled by that spear.’

Baoyu herself hadn’t anticipated that even in such dire straits, she could still think with such clarity and coherence.

‘Was she not afraid? No, of course she was terrified.’

Her breathing grew increasingly rapid, and her heart pounded violently at an uncomfortable pace, as if trying to burst from her chest.

The more she thought, the deeper her despair became; against such an absolute disparity in power, her struggles seemed utterly futile.

Yet, even so, she drew the revolver from her waist with the utmost speed.

The Corrupted Entity, noticing her movement, simultaneously thrust the spear towards her.

How ironic; this time she clearly saw the opponent’s attack, but her body was already incapable of evasion.

She could only watch as the sharp tip steadily grew larger before her eyes.

An nameless fury seized Baoyu’s mind, making her glare defiantly at her opponent in the moments before her impending defeat.

Without a trace of fear, she fired her last bullet at the monster before her.

Unwavering conviction could not imbue the bullet with any additional power.

The bullet Baoyu fired plunged directly into the amorphous, gelatinous body, passing straight through.

Meanwhile, the thrusting spearhead became a line tearing through the air, reaching Baoyu’s face in the blink of an eye.

“—”

A deafening roar echoed through the narrow, desolate alley, before an eerie silence descended once more.