Chapter 32: I Stay

The midnight street was so quiet she could only hear her own footsteps and the low hum from the streetlights.

Jiang Ciqiu, who was a little afraid of the dark, was wondering whether to sing “Good Luck Comes” or the “Hachimi Song” to bolster her courage when the phone in her pocket buzzed.

She took it out. It was a news push.

[SHTV]: If the spring breeze pities the flowers, may it grant me my youth again. Hongxia’s form is poor, suspected of being sent down!

The girl’s footsteps stopped abruptly.

No way, bro. I just walked out of the Bureau, and news of my break is already out?

She stared at the headline. Her pretty brows knitted slightly.

Did management release this to stop her from slacking off and drawing free pay, hoping to push her back to her peak? There was no need to be so impatient.

Forget it. Check the comments first.

As expected, the official Shanhai TV account’s comment section was a complete circus.

[My youth is Hongxia, forever number one in my heart. Eight witch hunts carried by her seniors. Three times exposed dating a younger boyfriend, breaking yuri fans and toxic stans. Two times fanservice with juniors was taken seriously. One switch to commander. Zero Top 3.]

[“You are a true commander. Our personalities match well too.” “I’ll accompany you when you make your comeback.” “Some team members lack professional ethics.”]

[Holy shit, she really retired? No need, feels like Hongxia still has gas in the tank.]

[The urge to start a harem is rising 🏹 The urge to start a harem is rising 🏹 The urge to start a harem is rising 🏹]

Jiang Ciqiu scrolled the screen. Her mouth twitched.

She had been a magical girl, from magical little girl to magical girl, for nearly ten years now. Some fans seemed to have followed her for nearly ten years too. How could they still recite stale memes from years ago by heart?

Don’t you people have lives of your own? Don’t be worse than a mobile game character!

Just as she closed the chaotic comment section, intending to ignore it, a new message popped up at the top of the screen.

[@Shenshang: Aqiu, did you see the news? Hongxia isn’t really going to retire, is she?]

Jiang Ciqiu blanked for a moment, then understood.

At this hour, thanks to her previous unwavering recommendations, Lin Xia had become a Hongxia fan. Thanks to lying in a hospital bed all year with nothing to do, he was always fast at surfing the internet.

The girl’s typing fingers grew light.

[@Qiuci: I saw it. Relax. Hongxia is an eight-year veteran with merit. She can’t retire so rashly. She’s probably just taking a break.]

After sending that, Jiang Ciqiu looked at the Houtarou Oreki avatar on the screen and suddenly felt a little pity.

In a few days, she would die from heart failure. By then, Magical Girl Hongxia would never appear again. With the vacation notice she had just received, Lin Xia really would not get to see the red magical girl’s heroic figure again.

But… since he looked worried, better give him a reassuring pill first.

She casually tapped the long-neglected red bird icon on her phone home screen.

On Weite, she had her official account as Magical Girl Hongxia. It was mostly used for ads during collaborations. Her last login felt like a lifetime ago.

As soon as it opened, the 999+ private messages in the inbox seized Jiang Ciqiu’s attention. She casually opened a few.

[Daddy, don’t retire 😭! I’ll never spam the shrimp meme again 😭, I’ll quiz you every day 😭, please daddy don’t retire 😭]

[The old thing clinging to life and refusing to die should’ve rolled off long ago. Good riddance, meow 😋]

[Shrimp Sis, before you retire, can’t you put up a fight? The last shot of a debut genius girl’s career can’t be her taking a bullet for a teammate 😩]

Some were curses. Some were filial-fan nonsense.

Hongxia had a huge following for a long time. Not everyone truly liked her, but thinking they would soon say goodbye forever to this magical girl, Jiang Ciqiu still felt a flicker of regret.

If she wanted to soothe their feelings, it was better to post news that she would not retire. Then before dying, she could leave a final note and have her boss release news that she had moved behind the scenes.

In a few years, when a new genius magical girl made a grand debut, Hongxia would gradually be forgotten.

Having made up her mind, Jiang Ciqiu typed the first post of the year on the long-dormant account.

“I stay”

After she pressed send, within seconds she watched the views, likes, and comments explode exponentially. Private message notifications from the backend came one after another.

But she did not look at the crazy inflow of traffic. After muting notifications, she switched back to the chat with Lin Xia.

[@Qiuci: Shared link]

[@Qiuci: See? What did I say? She’s just taking a break. How could she retire?]

This way Lin Xia… no, this way the fans should be reassured.

It’s not like I sent this because I was worried about that guy!

The message went out. She was about to lock the screen.

Just as the screen went dark, a figure was reflected behind her in the black screen.

Jiang Ciqiu’s heart clenched. Before she could turn, a big rough hand seized her wrist. The phone flew from her hand and hit the ground with a crack.

“Little girl, why are you walking alone this late at night?”

A man reeking of alcohol had somehow pressed up behind her. He wore a loose T-shirt. When he grinned, he showed a mouth of yellow teeth.

Jiang Ciqiu’s expression darkened.

Was public security this bad over a decade ago? Could a molester just spawn on the street?

She did not want to tangle with him. Lowering her voice, she deliberately made it sound rougher. “…I’m a guy. Can’t you see I’m wearing a boys’ school uniform?”

The man did not let go of her hand. He looked her up and down with a gaze that made Jiang Ciqiu very uncomfortable, and his grin became more lewd. “A guy? Guys are fine too. With that face, even if you’ve got a d*ck, I can still get it up.”

Tsk. Ran into a pervert.

The girl irritably shook her hand. The thug gripped tighter, enough to hurt.

“Can’t you see the uniform? Go after a student and you’ll ruin the rest of your life!”

“What kind of good student walks the street at midnight? You’re just out to make money. I’ll add a few bills. Just put in some effort later.”

Ignoring Jiang Ciqiu’s warning, the thug spat carelessly, then pulled her toward him with a lewd grin.

“Help… help! Is anyone there?!”

“Don’t waste your strength. In the dead of night, even if you scream your throat raw, only your big brother here will hear you, little beauty!”

Disgusting.

Jiang Ciqiu’s stomach churned. Rage shot straight to her head.

She knew she could not transform on the spot and beat him black and blue.

Once her identity as a magical girl was exposed, endless trouble would follow. Using magic on an ordinary person was dereliction of duty the Bureau would never tolerate.

But the bastard’s hand was already wandering toward her waist.

Rage flooded like a broken dam, instantly washing away her reason.

“I said, get off me!!”

With a furious shout, Jiang Ciqiu flung off the clamped hand and slapped the man in the same motion.

Then she froze.

Crimson flames burned quietly, wrapping her right hand.

As if sensing the girl’s gaze, the flames suddenly went out.

Another flame had caught the man’s clothes from her counterattack and spread instantly.

The thug first blanked at the magical scene, then felt the burning pain and screamed instinctively.

“Fire! I’m on fire! Help! Help!!”

Jiang Ciqiu ignored the bastard rolling on the ground. She stared blankly at her still warm palm, instinctively trying to summon flame again.

But no matter how she cast or chanted in her mind, there was not a single spark in her empty palm, let alone a blazing flame like before.

“Monster! Monster!”

The man finally put out the flames and scrambled away, disappearing around the street corner, not daring to look back at Jiang Ciqiu.

The screams faded. The surroundings grew quiet again. Only she remained, and the phone on the ground with a cracked corner.

The girl bent down and picked up the phone. She looked at the crack in the lower right corner and suddenly found it ironic.

This was the city she protected with all her strength. She transformed into a magical girl for this city, fought calamity beasts, and the civilians she had saved could fill a schoolyard.

But what the city gave back to her was a lecherous pervert like that.

When she called for help, no hero appeared by her side.

“f*ck, why?”

She cursed under her breath.

“Idiot, meow.”

A lazy cat’s meow came from by her feet.

Jiang Ciqiu looked down. The mysterious cat had somehow crouched by her shoe, eyes glowing faintly under the streetlight.

“Though this meow doesn’t want to interrupt your lamenting, there’s something I should remind you of, meow.”

The black cat spoke slowly. “Do you remember what the criteria for a witch is, meow?”

Jiang Ciqiu’s heart skipped.

How could she forget that?

In the Bureau files, a witch was a state where the transformed person was completely overwritten by the magical girl and could no longer undo the transformation. It usually happened to magical girls whose hearts were broken and who had completely fallen to darkness.

Because falling made you ten times stronger, a fallen witch often required several magical girls working together to kill.

If local combat strength was insufficient, the Bureau would even borrow personnel from other cities. Such an extermination was officially called a “witch hunt.”

One core criterion distinguishing a witch from a magical girl was whether magic could be used in normal form.

Jiang Ciqiu suddenly looked down at her palm.

That just now was definitely low-level fire magic, wasn’t it?

“How could I be a witch!” the girl retorted almost instinctively. “You Hachimi, don’t spread rumors!”

Sure, after starting work she occasionally, okay, often muttered about the world ending, but half an hour ago she could still transform normally!

She was still a magical girl recognized by the magic seed. How could she suddenly fall to darkness?

The black cat flicked its tail and yawned. “This meow isn’t that bored, meow. Just reminding you not to get discovered by those Bureau people. They won’t be as reasonable as this meow.”

Leaving that, the black cat vanished under the streetlight without a trace. The street returned to silence.

Jiang Ciqiu stood where she was, looking at the phone with a cracked corner, and suddenly felt very wronged.

The city she protected with her life had scum like that treating her as tasty prey. The teammates she cared for as juniors might treat her as a witch and turn on her.

And she was just an office drone with only a few days left to live.

Her nose stung. Something welled in her eyes.

Just before the tears spilled, the scoldings carved into her bones sounded in her ears.

“A warrior doesn’t cry. What are those tears supposed to do? Can they save Shanhai City?!”

“Cry, cry, cry. Will tears bring back the money I lost? I want to cry more than you do!”

“All you know is crying. Can crying solve the problem?”

Tang Yuanding’s scolding, her future boss’s dirty looks, and her aunt’s lectures from memory tangled together, echoing in her mind again and again.

Jiang Ciqiu lifted her head and forced the wetness back.

She was a magical girl, the hero of Shanhai City. Heroes should not cry.

Just then, a few raindrops drifted down from the night sky, then gradually grew heavier.

Fine rain fell on her face, cool and cold.

The girl stared at the dark night sky for a while, then suddenly tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“…Thanks. Rain that knows when to show up.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Underdog Connection

ChaebolContemporaryObsessiveLove

Read Now →
Not interested