The moonlight filtered through the glass and window screen, casting a silver beam onto the girl near the wall. The room, lit by starry lights, felt like a world out of a fairy tale—dim and tranquil.
“…W-Wuhua.”
Catching a glimpse of someone’s arrival out of the corner of her eye, the girl seemed to steel herself and called out softly. At the same time, she shook the rattle in her right hand.
“Come to Mama. It’s time—”
Accompanied by the muffled drumming sound, she fought back her shyness and her flushed face, whispering.
“For the good baby to go to sleep, okay?” Her left hand patted the cradle in front of her, which was hung with toys and stuffed with pillows and dolls, producing a crisp jingling sound.
Noticing that there was no response from over there, she looked confused, stood up, and slowly walked toward me.
“Or maybe…”
She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pulled down the straps of her dress, revealing her pale collarbone, shoulders, and the budding flower still in its early bloom.
“…Do you want a little snack first?”
…
My name is Wuhua. “Wu” as in mist, “hua” as in flower.
I was originally a male college student in his early twenties, having graduated from and attended school in my hometown.
In this society where special beings like Magical Girls exist, I lived an ordinary yet not-so-ordinary life, believing that such days would go on forever—
Until, in just a few days, after accepting an important assignment arranged by the company I worked for.
I unexpectedly regained a new body and appearance—that of a seven-year-old.
And I now had a girl named “Lianying” as my “mother.”
What’s more, she was just a fifteen-year-old high school student.
And on top of that, she was a Magical Girl in secret.
…Yeah, explaining from here gets complicated. Let’s start from a week ago.
I have to admit, the perfectly ordinary Friday I’d imagined did not include turning myself into a seven-year-old girl.
.
.
.
Located southwest of Haizhu City, District C is famous for its high-density residential buildings, well-equipped surrounding communities, large shopping malls, and various pedestrian streets.
In the early evening, lights were bright, crisscrossing streets were bustling with endless crowds, and under the glow of neon lights, today was still filled with undercurrents.
At that moment, in a forgotten corner of the city that no one would ever notice, an abandoned train station overgrown with all sorts of plants.
Something lurking in the shadows, like bamboo shoots after rain, seized the opportunity to poke its head out.
Its entire body was pitch black, as if covered in a layer of mud, leaving a murky secretion wherever it passed. Its height and build were several times larger than an average adult man.
From its mouth came a low, repeated growl: “Weekend, overtime, change the plan, no clients.”
Overall, it looked like a monster straight out of a fantasy. If such a thing appeared on the streets, it would certainly cause an uproar and panic.
.
“Heh heh, that’s far enough!” Suddenly, a clear voice came from above.
Following the monster’s gaze upward, there appeared—
Three girls of similar age, dressed in somewhat exaggerated and eye-catching outfits like cosplay. The exposure wasn’t high, but the clothes were very bright, as if emitting a faint glow at all times.
They stood on the high ground of the overpass, looking down at the monster frozen in place.
“To protect everyone’s love and justice in their hearts—” Following that, the one in the center, a girl with peach-blossom-pink long hair.
“As members of the Cat Garden, we must stop you here.” She shouted in a righteous tone, calmly composed.
Only, this feigned demeanor and expression didn’t last as long as she’d imagined.
“Ah—I’ve wanted to shout that for a long time!” Soon reverting to her true self, she twisted shyly on the spot.
“…Hey, you’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?” The girl on her left, with sky-blue long hair, couldn’t help but glance at her helplessly.
“Alright, it’s a good thing Lianying is taking initiative positively.” The orange-yellow-haired girl on the right, on the other hand, laughed gently and optimistically—
“But before that, let’s take care of business first.” She advised her two companions softly.
“Yeah, Xicheng is right.” The girl named Lianying, having been reminded, adjusted her state and summoned a short-sword-like weapon in her hand.
“Let’s go, Qinglan!” As soon as she finished speaking, Lianying charged ahead.
“…Okay.” The girl named Qinglan responded weakly.
But she obediently held a longbow and, coordinating with Lianying’s attack, provided cover and shots from behind.
Soon, a fierce battle erupted on the spacious ground. Colorful lights flashed, chaos reigned.
.
Meanwhile, dozens of meters away.
In a corner where no one should have passed, a tripod and a camera aimed forward were oddly placed.
“Click!” With a crisp shutter sound, the confrontation between the Magical Girls and the monster was clearly captured on film, unnoticed.
“…That should be enough to go back and report.” Following that, an adult man hidden in the shadows appeared under a streetlamp that was old and flickering.
“Thanks for your contributions. You’ve really helped me get that promotion and raise.” Leaving behind such an ambiguous statement, more like a hope spoken to himself, he disappeared into the thickening night.
The battle on the other side also came to an end with the girls’ victory.
…
.
Some time later, in the office of the supervisor at a certain media company’s office building. A man and a woman were alone.
“So, Wuhua. What kind of garbage did you shoot?”
Faced with the subordinate’s photos of the Magical Girls, taken at close range after lurking for a long time and risking exposure.
The adult woman sitting in the chair barely glanced at them. She tossed them onto the desk in front of her like trash.
The carefully selected photos spread out. Each one showed the Magical Girls’ heroic poses during battle, even their momentary expressions clearly visible.
They were surely worthy of high praise—but the more ideal the dream, the crueler reality could be.
“…Um, Miss Mingji. May I ask what’s wrong?” The man named Wuhua didn’t even dare to lift his head, hunched his shoulders, standing in a corner of the room.
His cowering demeanor was completely different from the confidence he’d had when he first walked in.
“Oh, there is! Of course there is! Didn’t I tell you before—” The woman named Mingji said, unable to help standing up from her chair.
“Shoot something visually impactful, something that grabs people’s eyes and attention, something that sparks online topics and widespread discussion, with broad reach!”
She gestured with her hands and even slapped the table a couple of times, as if she were about to give Wuhua a thorough scolding.
“Th-these are really interesting, I think.” When it came to topics he was interested in, Wuhua quickly argued back.
In his opinion, nothing was more beautiful or captivating than the courageous and selfless posture of the Magical Girls during battle.
“That’s outdated! Nobody likes watching fights anymore, the clichés of justice and evil.”
Mingji sighed and held her head, with an expression that said, “I can’t deal with you.”
“Listen. In this day and age, if you want traffic and buzz, you’d better focus on the personal gossip, rumors, and private lives of these girls—
Even if the only thing real are the photos and everything else is made up from thin air, internet users and viewers lap that stuff up.”
“The private lives of Magical Girls? Th-there’s no way I could shoot that!” As an ordinary person who had nothing to do with Magical Girls and didn’t even have many female friends—
Just hearing that made his head spin. Wuhua immediately retorted and complained.
“Yes, of course. I’m well aware of that more than you.” Changing her tone, the aggressive female boss.
Suddenly seemed to soften, her voice and attitude becoming gentle. This gave Wuhua a bad feeling.
“Follow me.” She stood up from her seat and gestured with a finger for him to follow. “The company has a very important plan to assign to you.”
“To me?” Wuhua asked with some worry, frowning. “Can I ask what it’s about roughly?”
Often, these grand narratives with big promises didn’t turn out well. Even a newbie to society understood that.
“Hmm… You know this kid, right?” Mingji took a certain close-up photo out of her pocket.
As a professional paparazzo and stalker, Wuhua recognized it at a glance—
“I know of her, but she doesn’t know me.” Wuhua nodded, and the girl’s image surfaced in his mind. He replied:
“Her name is Lianying, a Magical Girl. The leader of the secret organization Cat Garden. Optimistic, a bit reckless and careless, cute and full of justice—a high school student.”
“Correct. And what you need to do is simple.” Mingji turned around, staring seriously at Wuhua.
The neon reflections of the city’s skyscrapers were projected onto her dark pupils through the transparent floor-to-ceiling window.
“Become her foster daughter, and an official member of their organization. As an insider, help me and the company get some exclusive scoop that other competing media would envy.”
Facing Mingji’s description, which sounded like talking in her sleep, Wuhua was dumbfounded, frozen on the spot.
“Become Lianying’s daughter? No, no, what are you even saying? First of all, I could be her older brother, and more importantly, I’m a guy.”
Every word Wuhua understood, but when strung together, he couldn’t comprehend it.
“Don’t worry about that. We’re already prepared.” As she spoke, Mingji took a brightly colored reagent out of her pocket.
“Relax, it won’t hurt. Just like sex reassignment surgery—snap, and it’s done in an instant.”
“W-wait, you can’t be serious—let me prepare fiAAAAGH…?!”