The name Gu Xiaonan—no matter how you think about it, it can’t be unrelated to Gu Xiaobei, especially since both of them have such strikingly similar bright yellow hair.
They’re probably from the same hometown.
But Su Mu was definitely never going to be interested in track and field.
Even though her physical abilities had improved, she still didn’t want to do anything that would attract too much attention.
After all, she needed to keep her identity well hidden.
That last incident had already spread in such a bizarre way that she guessed someone had started to suspect she was a Magic Girl.
If anyone really found out, she’d have no choice but to use the Big Memory Disappearance Technique.
Come to think of it, Su Mu had only recently realized that all her efforts to compress and conceal herself had been completely unnecessary.
Tang Nai had already altered all her social identities.
Now, even the 10086 service texts addressed her as Ms. Su Mu.
And silly Su Mu had only just noticed this, but fortunately, Tang Nai hadn’t asked her for any payment for it.
Not that she would have paid anyway.
But the thing that troubled Su Mu the most was the matter of her mother at home and the one in her dreams.
Something so strange—there had to be a witch behind it, but Su Mu had no idea who to consult about such a problem.
In theory, Tang Nai should be an authority on this, but Su Mu’s issue also involved family, making it all the more complicated.
How could you expect a sharp-looking boss to help you solve parent-child relationship problems?
With the matter of her dreams put aside for now, Su Mu sat in class, listening to the teacher drone on hypnotically through the PPT, bored out of her mind as she pulled out her handheld console.
[Magic Girl Forum, activate!]
As soon as the screen lit up, Su Mu saw a message from Mi Xian.
[“You guys, who exactly is that Magic Girl named Motes? Edma has gone missing again, just like last time.”]
‘Did she win?’
Su Mu couldn’t help but think of that jarring dream, her heart trembling.
‘Looks like Edma is about to be educated into a proper little loli this time. Shen Moleng really is a woman full of hidden depths. Turns out that fanfiction I wrote actually hit her sore spot. A powerful Magic Girl with a side nobody knows, easily handled a B-Class Monster King that even Irina found tricky.’
She looks so gentle and delicate, like a shy white flower, but who would have thought the reason she doesn’t bloom is to lure in her prey?
Who would have guessed she’s a carnivorous plant?
Su Mu still didn’t really have a sense of just how strong B-Class was, but she was well aware of Motes’ power.
Back when she saw Motes stabilizing a building on TV, Su Mu was secretly amazed, until later when Ye Wanqing, playing a game, couldn’t help but complain.
“Damn, fire control powers can’t create anything solid. That Fire Wings was just for show; I was actually holding the building up with my own hands. Nearly killed me.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but wave her fist.
“If there hadn’t been people inside, I wouldn’t have bothered. One sweep of Fire Feathers and the whole building would’ve been dust.”
It was just venting, really.
Causing that much damage would be way too much, but Ye Wanqing’s expression as she spoke was completely serious, not bragging at all.
She really could do it.
With doubts in her heart, Su Mu went to ask Luo Jialan, and got this answer—
“Destroying a building isn’t actually that hard. If I had a hammer big enough, I could smash it right back to the foundation.”
Our little friend Luo Jialan is clearly a physics white belt.
At only 48kg, how could she possibly lift a hammer that big? But that’s not the point.
From their descriptions, a rough estimate suggested that even a C-Rank could completely destroy a city.
And Luo Linglan, who was B-rank, had once taken out over a hundred C-Ranks in a single night.
It was hard to even imagine what she could really do.
No wonder they fought in dreams.
If they did it in reality, even the shockwaves alone could probably trigger disasters like landslides and earthquakes.
‘But why is it that D Rank is so weak for me?’
Su Mu squeezed her fist softly, but felt nothing special at all.
‘So annoying, I don’t want to be a small fry.’
‘Seriously, how did Mi Xian get to be C-Rank? She can’t even get crossplay right.’
While Su Mu was grumbling to herself, she suddenly remembered something unfinished.
Right, it was time to teach Mi Xian the Anti-Impersonation Technique, so she could spread it among the monsters.
After taking care of the anal jaw on the way to the beach, Su Mu had this idea and started drafting a document.
And just a short while ago, this forbidden text was finally completed, but Su Ya’s issue had distracted Su Mu, and she’d pushed it to the back of her mind until now.
That’s right, monsters don’t have to fight to the death to gain dark magic power, though it does require giving up something important in exchange.
[“Mi Xian, since you’ve helped me pass on messages so many times, I’ll teach you the Anti-Impersonation Technique.”]
— [Anti-Impersonation]
[“Se-Senpai, can I really open this?”]
[“If you don’t want it, I’ll just withdraw it?”]
[“No, no, I’ll read it right away, thank you so much nya!”]
Seeing that satisfying “nya” at the end, Su Mu nodded in approval.
Well done, Mi Xian, you’re already a qualified net catgirl.
***
Meanwhile, lying in her dorm, Lu Shan glanced around warily.
Making sure no one was watching, her eyes lit up as she eagerly tapped open the file.
What greeted her was a line of bold text.
“If you wish to master this art, you must first abandon your driftwood.”
As a crossplayer, just protecting your own account is hard enough—who could possibly keep their household registration book safe too?
Even if you go around calling people mom in games, it probably still wouldn’t be enough to crossplay once.
But thinking of her dear parents, Lu Shan couldn’t help but frown.
‘N-no, I can’t give up something that important.’
[“Senpai, I can’t do it.”]
Reading Lu Shan’s message, Su Mu was puzzled.
[“Can’t do what?”]
[“I can’t abandon my parents. They’re really good to me…”]
Su Mu felt a pang in her heart.
Wounded the mouse’s heart.
Who would have thought Mi Xian was such an honest kid?
But maybe she didn’t know, that the Mi Xian Shan account had already lost more driftwood than she could count online.
[“Let me ask you: when you’re arguing with people online, has anyone ever said ‘I’ll test your code’?”]
[“Yeah, and because of that, I cursed him out for ages before he finally blocked me.”]
Tsk, so fortunate.
Mouse can only crawl in the darkness of the net all day, and the moment she sees this kind of warm light, she gets so jealous she can’t even hide it.
[“Then you’re not allowed to learn!”]
[“I’m sorry, Senpai, I’m just too cowardly…”]
Su Mu’s fingers squeezed the handheld so hard they turned white.
‘So don’t bring it up again!’
[“Here’s what: at 3 p.m. today, come to the Hotpot Restaurant. I’ll explain it to you in person.”]
[“Really? That’s great, Senpai, thank you so much.”]
[“Just so you know, you’re treating.”]
[“Okay, okay!”]
Su Mu grinned, revealing a wicked smile.
With such a happy Mi Xian, your living allowance must be pretty generous too.