Xia Liang often wondered if the life she led every day was truly the one she wanted.
She drifted aimlessly through school, laughing and joking with those "friends" who had a bad reputation, and after school, she'd go to the so-called "internet celebrity hotspots" to check in. Then, she'd go ho alone, pretending on social dia that her life was quite fulfilling and singing praises of it.
Was she happy? Probably.
She had learned to apply makeup, to dress well, to be fashionable. She had made friends and beco the focus of the boys' attention. Shouldn't she be happy with such a life?
Yet, she often felt that the smile on her face didn't belong to her. The more she kept up the charade, the more cynical she beca, and the more the emptiness inside her grew unbearable.
In her desire to fill that void, she craved attention, craved recognition.
She knew that her "friends" didn't actually like her.
They felt they lost their shine standing next to her, felt she stole the attention that should've been theirs, and more importantly, she wasn't really one of "them."
The reason was simple: Xia Liang refused to partake in "work."
No matter how much they boasted or urged her, Xia Liang was always unwilling to join. She felt that real friends shouldn't be like that.
But this resistance was being eroded over ti.
If she accepted the "work," would her "friends" accept her more?
If she accepted the "work," could she seek a closer relationship?
After entertaining such thoughts, Xia Liang's stance beca less firm.
So today, after school, upon receiving another invitation from her "friends," she finally figured everything out.
That's that then.
She agreed.
She followed her "friends" to the electronics district, heading to the eting place they had ntioned.
Giving up aningless perseverance and pride, forgoing unnecessary principles and illusions, she could pursue a more practical, more real love.
She felt ready, having made up her mind.
—But then she saw a cat.
A pink cat, flying in the air.
It was following a girl who looked sowhat petite, wearing the sa uniform as hers, with a ponytail, sneakily trailing behind them.
What was this about?
Her inherent strong curiosity made it impossible for Xia Liang not to pay attention to what was happening behind her.
What was more, as soon as she saw the pink cat, she felt as if she had received so kind of call, a desire to get closer.
In that instant, a voice erged in her heart, telling her she should go, she should find that pink cat, she could obtain sothing very important for herself.
So, she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the street.
Walking in the middle of the group, her sudden halt made the other girls imdiately notice her unusual behavior, and they asked with so confusion, "What's wrong?".
Xia Liang turned to them, uncertain whether she should ntion seeing a flying pink cat and wanting to go check it out.
She noticed the girl walking at the front, the usual center of their little circle, also turning around and glancing at her with a sowhat inexplicable look.
"I..."
She hesitated to speak, but during this process, she slowly made up her mind, "I just rembered I have sothing to do, I might have to leave first today."
Then she smiled, showing a sowhat apologetic expression, waved her hand, and said to the others, "Have fun, okay!"
Having said that, she was about to trot away.
"Xia Liang."
The girl in front called out to her at that mont.
With her phone in hand, her fingers adorned with long nails tapping rapidly on the screen, her gaze not returning to Xia Liang, she said, "If you leave today, then don't bother coming back afterward."
Xia Liang's steps faltered.
She turned around to look at the girl, then slowly looked to the side at her "friends."
Perhaps she was hoping that everyone would laugh it off with their usual frivolity, cursing and ignoring her, allowing her to leave.
But this ti, each of them looked at her with a sowhat strange gaze.
No, it wasn't a strange gaze after all. She knew it well—her daily life at ho had long acquainted her with such looks, she couldn't be mistaken.
—That gaze was called indifference.
Maybe she really couldn't blend in with them.
It wasn't until this mont that Xia Liang recognized this reality.
No matter how much she smiled forcibly, no matter how much she flattered, she could never be one of them, she was never ant to be their companion from the start.
The strange call from afar was still intense, as if urging her to co quickly.
The cracks she'd covered and ignored in her daily life now ford a deep chasm, separating her from the girls before her.
Xia Liang finally put away the smile she had always worn, and looked seriously at her "friends." She nodded:
"Okay."
Without any further words, she turned around and left quickly without looking back.
What she hadn't expected was that, ten minutes later, this sentence would take her to the rooftop of a tall building.
Kneeling on the ground, her heart racing, she also had to listen to the girl nad "Erald Sparrow" spouting what sounded like fanciful nonsense.
"Magical Girl?"
She had heard of them, she knew what Magical Girls were.
Magical Girls are a profession often found in children's cartoons, typically representing love and justice, battling various villains.
At the sa ti, Magical Girls are also the Guardians of this world, fighting against Remnant Beasts that occasionally appear in the city, real warriors indeed.
Perhaps, for many young girls, becoming a Magical Girl was a dream, even though they knew it involved facing dangerous battles, they would still long for the glittering self in gorgeous attire.
But for the general public, Magical Girls are too distant and mysterious.
If it was a normal day, upon hearing soone claim to be a Magical Girl, Xia Liang would likely take them for a fraud or treat the statent as a joke, laugh it off, and swiftly change the subject.
But now was different, she had just been caught by the girl in front of her and experienced the sensation of flying through the sky.
Whether it was the other party's abrupt change of clothes, the ability to ascend into the air, or the anomalous flickering particles when they moved, everything told Xia Liang that she had encountered the real deal.
"So, what do you want from a Magical Girl like ?"
She had never been on a plane before in her life and her very first flight experience turned out to be being carried up into the sky by soone, which was all too much for her heart to bear, causing her to feel sowhat dazed.
Therefore, she could only follow the other person's logic in asking questions, without any reason to object.
Then, she heard sothing that made her even more bewildered:
"Do you want to be a Magical Girl?"
Beco a Magical Girl?
Could she really beco a Magical Girl?
Xia Liang had never even considered this question.
She was just an ordinary girl who was never paid attention to, who had never really been noticed; she never thought she could be sothing so special.
Even during those nights spent relying on fantasy and prayer, she had never thought she could beco a Magical Girl.
The term was too dazzling; she felt it would scorch her if she got too close.
"I need to make it clear to you beforehand, becoming a Magical Girl is not as wonderful as the public imagines,"
Erald Sparrow said seriously, cautioning her: "There will be danger, fatigue, and annoyance. The only advantage is that, compared to ordinary people who can only sit and wait for doom when facing Remnant Beasts, you will have the power to counter the danger."
"...Will the clothes be as cute as yours?" Xia Liang suddenly asked.
Unlike her sowhat whimsical question, no one noticed the sparkle in her eyes.
Her question caught Erald Sparrow off guard, but she quickly recovered and nodded, replying, "The outfit of a Magical Girl is just as you imagine."
"Can I brag to others that I'm a Magical Girl?" Xia Liang continued to ask.
"Not unless it's an ergency."
"Even though there's danger, at least I'll be taking action with you all, right?"
"Until you grow stronger, I will be responsible for ensuring your safety," Erald Sparrow nodded in promise.
"Then there's also..."
—"Ah, seriously, despite finally finding soone talented, why does it have to be this frivolous girl!"
Not far away, Lin Xiaolu, who had changed into a pale blue dress and now sported golden twin ponytails, interrupted Xia Liang's question with indignation: "I do not want to be companions with this kind of person at all!"
"Don't be willful, Bai i."
Erald Sparrow glanced at her: "This girl's talent may be very strong and could beco a significant asset."
"But..."
Lin Xiaolu paused at those words, looking sowhat aggrieved towards Erald Sparrow: "Her frivolous attitude doesn't look anything like a Magical Girl—"
—"I want to be one, you know."
Xia Liang suddenly spoke.
After the series of questions before, she had adjusted to the discomfort of suddenly flying up and had gotten to her feet; she was now walking to the edge of the rooftop.
In fact, since she said goodbye to her "friends" and chose to follow the guidance of her heart, she had already made her choice.
She glanced at Lin Xiaolu, lifted her hand to her earlobe, rubbed it vigorously for a mont and then let go, her hand now held two shiny objects that she flung down to the ground without hesitation.
She took out her phone, swiftly selected over a dozen nas from her contacts list, and brought up the editing interface. After a mont's hesitation, she resolutely hit "delete."
"I've decided. If everything you've said is the truth, then all these things don't matter at all, and it's fine to let them go."
Setting down her phone, she spread out a smile, her eyes shimring with expectation as the wind on the rooftop tousled her shoulder-length black hair:
"But anyway, I want to be a Magical Girl!"
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