“Bro! I can’t hold on, you take over!”
Su Ziling looked at his sister, who had her hands together and was bowing at a ninety-degree angle. He put on a show of sighing and adopted a deep voice:
“People, at every age, have things they must face…”
Before he could finish, a crisp notification sound precisely interrupted his ‘philosophy of life.’
“Alipay payment received, 50 yuan.”
“…” Su Ziling’s throat bobbed, and with a deadpan expression, he extended his hand.
“…Give me the transformation device.”
An iron-blooded man doesn’t bow for three pecks of rice, but fifty yuan can be negotiated.
“Thanks, big bro!”
The mischievous Su Xiaomeng, seeing her scheme succeed, immediately shoved the transformation device into his hand and, as if afraid he might change his mind, scampered away in a flash.
Watching his sister’s retreating figure disappear, Su Ziling shook his head helplessly and turned his gaze to the transformation device in his hand.
The ruby embedded in it clearly reflected his current appearance.
He had to admit: his face took after his mother.
Not only was his name neutral, but his features were also thoroughly androgynous. Even if he wore women’s clothing, there would be no incongruity.
No wonder Su Xiaomeng always teased him by calling him an ‘innate Little Southern Beam Holy Body’ or ‘male mother’ and such.
“Sigh… I’m used to it.”
Su Ziling sighed in resignation.
Perhaps it was a perk of being a transmigrator: Su Ziling had a peculiar ability—he could borrow other magical girls’ transformation devices to transform.
His mother had passed away early, and his father was a gambling addict. Su Xiaomeng was his only remaining family, so spoiling her a bit was fine. Besides, taking on the high-risk job of a magical girl himself was more reassuring.
“Let’s do this.”
His fingertips gently brushed the cold ruby as he mobilized the mana stored within.
The so-called ‘transformation,’ from a sensory perspective, was actually a simple thing.
If forced to describe it, it was as easy as closing your eyes and thinking about what to eat for dinner.
A brilliant flash of light came and went, and standing in place was now a girl with white hair and black clothes.
The entire transformation process didn’t even take a second.
One thing had to be admitted: her height had shrunk quite a bit, but this outfit paired with a young face created a strong contrast effect.
Black tights, a skirt that barely reached the knees, small black leather shoes—the main color of pitch black with a few streaks of dazzling gold unexpectedly exuded an odd, ageless mature sexiness.
Apparently, this spirit garment was modeled by Su Xiaomeng after some children’s anime, but Su Ziling couldn’t help but complain…
This style, no matter how you look at it, isn’t very ‘children’s,’ is it?
Su Ziling bounced on her shoes, getting used to this suddenly shortened height, then looked at her phone. There was a message from Su Xiaomeng.
“Big bro! Location: Ye Bei Street, Woma Supermarket! There’s a monster! I have class soon, please take care of it! (∠・ω< )⌒★!”
“Woma Supermarket…” Su Ziling put away her phone and sat sideways on the floating magic staff.
Whoosh—!
The staff carried her soaring into the sky, turning into a streak of light as it sped toward the target location.
“Huh?”
Flying over Woma Supermarket, Su Ziling was startled to find that a magical girl had already started fighting the monster below.
Though the distance was far, the figure was clearly visible—small, looking only about ten years old.
Her fighting style was even more clumsy and immature. Under the monster’s fierce assault, she was already struggling on all sides and at a clear disadvantage.
Without help from an outsider, this magical girl’s defeat was all but certain.
Seeing this, Su Ziling didn’t stay idle. She leaped off the staff, landing between the two like a hero descending.
The cloud of dust obscured the monster’s vision and blocked his unstoppable offensive momentum.
“Huh?”
Su Ziling heard the stunned voice of the magical girl behind her, and she felt there was some other emotion in that voice.
But she couldn’t worry about that now; fighting was the priority.
“Oh, young magical girl, that’s not how you use mana.”
Su Ziling shook her wrist, but unfortunately, this spirit garment made it hard to roll up her sleeves. Still, at a time like this, rolling sleeves wasn’t really necessary.
“Instead of flashy, wasteful moves like light bullets… it’s better to boost your body with mana directly and then, like a real man…”
As she spoke, she bounced on her feet, her gaze locked firmly on the monster in front of her.
“Engage the enemy in a tense, thrilling hand-to-hand battle!”
With those words, she dashed straight forward. The rapidly surging mana made her speed terrifyingly fast, even creating afterimages.
With just a flicker, she appeared before the monster. A massive amount of mana accumulated in her seemingly slender legs, but the fierce gale around them was not to be underestimated.
This monster also understood this, and he recognized who the monster in front of him was at first glance.
So he dared not take this blow head-on and could only dodge to the side.
“Bang!!”
Su Ziling’s foot crashed heavily into the wall beside her. Even the sturdy concrete was cracked into a web of fissures by her kick.
“It’s you again, Protean Witch…”
“What kind of lousy name did you guys give me?”
Su Ziling was speechless.
And just as she was complaining, the monster took this opportunity to instantly drop a smoke bomb at his feet while throwing three throwing knives at the magical girl behind Su Ziling.
Though she knew the monster intended to escape, in this situation, Su Ziling could only choose to protect the magical girl behind her first.
“Clang!”
The knives were effortlessly blocked by Su Ziling, but unfortunately, the monster had completely vanished.
“Tsk…” Su Ziling clicked her tongue, then turned to look at the young magical girl behind her.
“Are you okay?”
Facing Su Ziling’s inquiry, the stunned magical girl finally snapped out of it completely. Then, like a pet dog, she pounced directly onto Su Ziling’s body, shouting excitedly and affectionately:
“Mom!!”
Putting aside the physical impact, the impact of her words was equally huge for Su Ziling. After steadying herself, she hurriedly pressed the girl’s shoulders and pushed her away.
“Stop, stop, stop! You can say whatever, eat whatever, but you can’t just claim someone as your mom!”
Su Ziling didn’t understand: she had simply transformed into a magical girl, how did she become the mother of a ten-year-old?
And besides, if she was going to claim someone, it should be as a father, not a mother, right?
“Your name is Su Ziling, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Yay! You really are Mom when she was young!”
This magical girl’s jubilant appearance truly baffled Su Ziling. She naturally assumed the girl had mistaken her for someone else.
So she continued to explain.
“Although I don’t want to discourage you, I am not your mom, because I’m a man. If you don’t believe me, just see…”
To prove her gender, she undid the transformation and returned to her androgynous appearance.
Just after transforming back, Su Ziling felt a slight oddity, but she didn’t think much of it. She just patted her chest and said confidently.
“See?”
Su Ziling thought that returning to her original form would dispel the magical girl’s doubts.
But the other girl stared for a long time, then raised her hand very seriously, like a model student.
“But Mom… you don’t have a joystick?”
“Huh?”