Chapter 3: The Hunters Among Us

Kazami Jin’s mind utterly crashed.

The four characters for “magical girl” pierced her eardrums like four ice picks, stabbing deep into her skull, bringing with them a sharp ringing and a bone-chilling cold.

She could even feel the color draining from her face at a visible rate, her limbs turning cold and stiff, her very fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Xia Yue… Lin Wan…

Of course, it all made sense now.

No wonder Xia Yue was always so “reliable,” a natural at sports, effortlessly handling any situation, occasionally revealing a keenness and decisiveness far beyond the norm—it wasn’t merely the aura of a born prodigy after all.

No wonder Lin Wan possessed an abnormal abundance of energy and ridiculously fast reflexes, playing games as if she could foresee the future—that was clearly no mere esports talent.

How could she have not realized?

It was truly the darkness under the lamp, a blind spot right before her eyes!

She had spent two years carefully hiding, only to discover that the greatest threat had been by her side all along, among the people she trusted most and was least guarded against!

“You… you all…” Jin’s voice was as dry as sandpaper rubbing together.

She swallowed with difficulty, only to feel a searing pain in her throat.

“…The disbandment… it was fake?”

“No, the disbandment was real, oh.” Xia Yue replied, maintaining her flawless, gently apologetic smile.

Stepping forward, she naturally linked her arm through Jin’s stiff one, gently guiding her, half-resisting, into the room.

Her touch seemed soft, yet it carried an undeniable force.

Lin Wan, clutching her Rilakkuma plushie, bounced in after them, then deftly closed the door with a soft ‘click,’ completely sealing off any light or sound that might have escaped.

With a cheerful grin, she added, “It was merely a disbandment and a restructuring!”

“The old ‘Silver Cross Star’ organization was too loosely structured, and its efficiency couldn’t keep up with the times.”

“The higher-ups decided to integrate resources and establish a more professional, systematic new organization—the ‘Star Guardians.'”

Restructuring?!

A more sophisticated organization?!

Jin’s vision swam with black spots.

This was even worse than a direct disbandment!

It meant that future pursuits would be far more rigorous and efficient!

And she, this former witch who had just exposed herself due to foolish optimism…

“So… you’ve come to…” Jin’s voice trembled with despair.

“…Purify me?”

She could almost picture brilliant magical light erupting in her small apartment the next second, utterly annihilating her, this “dark existence.”

“Pfft—Xiaojin, what are you thinking?!” Lin Wan burst out laughing, holding her Rilakkuma plushie up to her face and pointing its paw at Jin.

“Purification? That’s ancient history!

The new era calls for new methods!”

Xia Yue also smiled faintly, her other hand gently caressing Jin’s shoulder, her fingertips, through the thin fabric of Jin’s pajamas, sending a shiver down Jin’s spine.

“We were quite surprised when we realized it was you.

To think that the ‘faint witch reaction’ we had been searching for all this time belonged to our best friend.”

Her tone was soft, yet it felt like a serpent’s tongue, flicking against Jin’s nerves.

“What surprised us even more was that as soon as the news of the disbandment and restructuring was released, you… so eagerly jumped out.

The faint magical fluctuation on the back mountain this afternoon, though inconspicuous, was as clear as a firefly in the dark to us, especially with our newly updated monitoring system.”

Jin’s heart sank to her stomach.

It was indeed because of her own impatient probing!

“What… what do you want?” she asked, almost gritting her teeth, her body trembling slightly from fear and anger.

Lin Wan leaned closer, tilting her head, her large eyes sparkling with cunning excitement, and whispered in a breathy voice, “You wouldn’t want your ‘little secret’ reported to the new organization, would you?

The ‘Star Guardians” rules for dealing with anomalies are… much stricter than the ‘Silver Cross Star’s’.”

A threat!

A blatant threat!

Xia Yue took over, her voice still gentle, but her words plunged Jin into an icy abyss.

“Jin, we don’t want to hurt you.

After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?

It’s just… we need your cooperation, as a new ‘proof of friendship’ between us.”

Her fingers slowly slid up Jin’s shoulder, lightly caressing her cheek.

Jin flinched violently, as if struck by an electric current.

“Co-cooperate with what?” Jin’s voice was laced with a whimper, a deeply ominous premonition seizing her.

Lin Wan’s smile grew even brighter, tinged with a hint of ambiguity, as she swayed the Rilakkuma in her hand.

“It’s very simple~ For example… starting today, you’ll be my exclusive ‘body pillow,’ sleeping with me at night, and no running away!”

Xia Yue leaned in slightly, her warm breath caressing Jin’s earlobe, her voice low and magnetic.

“Or… when I need to ‘recharge,’ you’ll obediently let me hug you, kiss you… things like that?”

“After all, Xiaojin is so cute, we’ve actually wanted to do this for a long time,” Lin Wan eagerly added, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Jin.

“We just had to maintain the distance of comrades and ordinary friends before, and it was absolutely stifling!”

Xia Yue sighed softly, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness yet brimming with underlying meaning.

“Indeed, seeing you walk around in front of us every day, yet having to diligently restrain the urge to hold you tightly and watch you make more interesting expressions… it truly was a sweet torment.

We never expected you to ‘jump out’ so proactively today, even testing your magic with such a happy expression… it’s truly the first time we’ve seen you so ‘lively,’ which finally gave us… a reason to stop holding back.”

Yuri… things like that… and they had been for a long time…

Kazami Jin’s mind exploded with a resounding ‘boom.’

This was a hundred times, no, a thousand times more terrifying than being directly purified!

Beneath the veneer of friendship, such dangerous desires had long been lurking!

They had been enduring, and her foolish actions today had inadvertently become the perfect excuse for them to unleash those desires!

“You… you’re perverts?!” Jin’s face flushed crimson with shame and indignation, as she struggled to break free from Xia Yue’s grip.

Yet, the other girl’s arm, despite its slender appearance, was as firm as an iron band.

The realization that they had harbored such thoughts about her for so long, keeping them hidden, filled her with double the fear and shame.

“How can you call us perverts?” Xia Yue blinked innocently, though the undisguised possessiveness in the depths of her eyes sent a chill down Jin’s spine.

“This is merely a necessary step to enhance our ‘friendship.’

Or… would you prefer us to handle this officially and report your existence?”

Lin Wan nodded vigorously from the side, making a pitiful expression while hugging her Rilakkuma, but her gaze was astonishingly fervent.

“Xiaojin~ just go along with us!

We promise we’ll be super gentle with you!

And look, with us covering for you, the new organization definitely won’t find you—how safe is that?!”

Safe, my foot!

This was clearly escaping a wolf’s den only to fall into a tiger’s lair!

And not just any lair, but one inhabited by two lecherous predators who, under the guise of “friendship,” had long harbored ill intentions toward her, and had now finally shed their disguise!

Kazami Jin gazed at the two sweet, approaching faces before her, etched with “long-planned” and “bound to succeed,” her heart filled with a desperate wail.

Not only had she exposed her identity, but she had also willingly leapt into a trap woven specifically for her, disguised under the name of “friendship.”

Was her life as a reincarnated witch truly destined to lead down a path of no return, under this strange coercion, having been targeted for so long?

“I… I…” She opened her mouth, caught in a fierce struggle between “death before dishonor” and “humiliating survival.”

Yet, the thought that they had harbored such intentions toward her for so long, patiently enduring, and now finally revealing their true colors, brought an even deeper sense of powerlessness.

Xia Yue’s fingers gently squeezed her arm, conveying an undeniable message.

Meanwhile, Lin Wan’s eyes sparkled with the long-suppressed excitement of finally being unleashed.

Ultimately, under immense pressure for survival, Kazami Jin, with tears of humiliation in her eyes, broke down and squeezed out a single word in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz:

“…Fine.”

No sooner had the word left her lips than she saw Xia Yue’s smile deepen, a look of profound satisfaction at a long-laid plan finally coming to fruition.

Lin Wan, even more elated, let out a cheer, tossing aside her Rilakkuma and lunging forward with open arms.

“That’s great! Xiaojin is the best!

Come on, let me hug you first—!”

“Wait, wait a minute! Lin Wan, don’t—!”

Her protests were swallowed by the enthusiastic and possessive embrace of the flaxen-haired short-haired girl.

Beside them, the girl with the blue ponytail watched the scene with a subtle smile, her gaze deep and fervent, as if admiring a beautiful, bewildered butterfly, long marked, finally ensnared in her net today.

Kazami Jin was held stiffly by Lin Wan, feeling the aggressive warmth emanating from the magical girl’s body, along with Xia Yue’s now undisguised, overwhelmingly oppressive gaze from nearby, and she closed her eyes in humiliation.

Her witch’s dignity… along with what little integrity she had left… declared utter bankruptcy today.

What filled her with the most despair, however, was the chilling realization that the hunters had been lurking by her side all along.