Lin Xingyao staggered through the alley, fleeing. A shard from an explosion was lodged in his abdomen, and blood kept pouring from the wound. Exhausted, he could no longer keep going and collapsed at the corner of the alley.

But his enemy gave him no chance to catch his breath. Dust billowed up ahead, and several of the smaller houses on either side of the alley collapsed.

“Boom!”

A tremendous impact shook the ground as a five-meter-tall giant spider dropped from the sky in front of him, smashing a huge crater into the ground. As the dust from its landing cleared, the creature came into view. Its lower half was a spider’s body, but its upper half was the curvaceous figure of a woman—the sort of spider-monster girl plenty of people probably imagined. If only the woman’s head weren’t a spider’s face...

Lin Xingyao had just started to get up and run when one of the giant spider’s legs lunged at him. Luckily, he managed to dodge the attack as he rose, and the spider leg pierced the wall instead.

But before he could react, the thick spider leg swept along the wall. The impact sent Lin Xingyao flying from the alley corner and out into the street.

Lin Xingyao hit the street and rolled across the ground several times. The shard of shrapnel in his abdomen dug even deeper into his organs. Even if the spider monster in front of him didn’t eat him, he’d probably die of internal bleeding.

“What a familiar way to die. Just like last time...” Lin Xingyao pressed a hand to his abdomen, his mind racing for a way out.

But he didn’t have time to think. The spider monster was slowly approaching, as if it planned to toy with its dying prey.

“Damn it! Is this it for me?” After finally getting a second chance at life, was he really going to die here today?

A strange voice came from behind him. “Young man!”

A gray-white, catlike creature emerged from Lin Xingyao’s shadow. It stood upright while floating in the air, holding a strange piece of paper in its hands.

“Didn’t I tell you? Sign a contract with me, and you’ll be able to defeat that monster! Otherwise, we’re both going to die here!” Its voice was as childish as a little kid’s before his voice broke. It frantically waved the contract in its hands as it shouted at Lin Xingyao.

“If you can do that, then help me fight this monster!”

“I’m just a mascot! If I could, I’d have jumped in myself already!”

“Damn it!”

There was no time to think. Lin Xingyao snatched the contract from the mascot and quickly wrote his name on it with his bloodstained hand.

“That’s it! Now press your thumbprint down and make a contract with me to become a Magical Girl, young man!”

Watching the monster draw closer, Lin Xingyao reached out toward the contract.

Why... did things turn out like this...

Let’s turn back the clock a little.

……

12:00 p.m.

Shangdu First High School, Class 1-2

Lin Xingyao sat by the window on the right side of the classroom, quietly watching two students confessing their feelings downstairs.

The boy looked embarrassed as he waved his arms around, stammering through his confession. He reminded Lin Xingyao of what he’d been like in his previous life: a pure-hearted virgin.

The girl seemed to say something, then bowed to the boy. His face fell, and he walked away.

Did his confession fail...?

“Lin Xingyao! Someone’s confessing to your wife again. Aren’t you worried?” His good buddy Wang Yu slung an arm around his shoulders and greeted him with far too much enthusiasm.

“Cut it out!” Lin Xingyao pushed him away.

“Xiao Qian’s just my neighbor. Don’t go making things up!”

“You two have been childhood friends since you were little! You’re so close, don’t tell me there’s nothing between you!”

“There really isn’t. I swear!”

Of course, deep down, Lin Xingyao had to admit that when he was a kid, looking after Su Xueqian had felt a little like raising a cute little girl. But mentally, he was a mature twenty-seven-year-old man! How could he ever make a move on a little girl?

The two of them had been very close as children, but after starting high school, they’d gradually grown apart. These days, Lin Xingyao could even tell that Su Xueqian was avoiding him, whether she meant to or not.

“Damn! You’re not interested in a school beauty like Su Xueqian? You must be gay! You’re scaring me, bro. Boo-hoo.”

“Shut up! I’m straight!”

In his previous life, Lin Xingyao had dated three girls. He’d even gotten close to marrying one of them, but in the end, they broke up because of his personality. How could someone like him be gay?

Besides, his buddy Wang Yu wasn’t exactly handsome. He wasn’t ugly, just ordinary—apart from his physique, maybe. He played basketball on the court a lot, so although his skin was a little dark, he was in great shape. The muscles he’d built through all that exercise made Lin Xingyao feel a strange stirring in his body...

Wait...

“Smack!” Lin Xingyao slapped himself hard, cutting off that strange thought.

“Bro, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just need to see a doctor.” Lin Xingyao had just slapped himself, but his face remained expressionless as he did his best to stay calm.

“Huh?”

Lin Xingyao didn’t answer. He thought he really should make another appointment with that psychologist. After a few sessions with her, his mental illness had improved a lot.

At least now he no longer felt an uncontrollable urge to go do the hula with every muscular man he saw.

As a man in his forties when you added together his ages from both lives, Lin Xingyao knew his mental state had been extremely abnormal over the past month. At one point, he’d even started doubting his sexuality. It turned out he was straight; he just couldn’t control himself around muscular men for some reason, then felt disgusted afterward. It was obviously a sign that something was wrong with him. In the end, he used the private savings he’d earned from writing novels to see a psychologist.

At first, the doctor said he was perfectly healthy, aside from being a little introverted. Then she saw how he couldn’t control himself...

In the end, the doctor treated Lin Xingyao with several sessions of hypnosis. His mental state felt much better than before. At least he no longer had to worry about losing his dignity in this life before anything else.

“Oh, right. I’ve suddenly gotten really interested in opera lately. Lin Xingyao, wanna join the drama club with me?”

“Yeah, right. You’re interested in the girls performing in the opera, aren’t you?”

Although the name “Xingyao” could be translated as “starlight,” probably no one in this other world would get the joke. He’d much rather go home early, rewrite some novels from his previous life, and earn a little money to support himself.

“I’m done talking to you. I’m going to the library later to borrow a copy of Selected Poems of the Ancient Holy Spirits so I can pass the drama club’s entrance test.”

“Oh.”

Seeing that Lin Xingyao really wasn’t interested in opera, Wang Yu shook his head and left.

Lin Xingyao might not have been interested in opera, but he knew quite a bit about Selected Poems of the Ancient Holy Spirits. The book’s descriptions were useful for understanding the history of this world.

The planet Lin Xingyao lived on was called Blue Star. In ancient times, it had also been known as the Continent of Fate. Oceans covered eighty percent of the planet, with land making up the remaining twenty percent. Aside from that, its size, climate, and mass were basically the same as Earth’s in his previous life.

Even its technological level was similar to Earth’s at the same point in history. But there was one major difference... This world had once had magic. It was now a technological society, but some books did describe magic. The planet was also home to elves, dwarves, and orcs—the familiar races from traditional RPGs. Blue Star had a population of around 3.6 billion: 2.7 billion humans, 500 million elves, and the rest dwarves and orcs.

Besides that, monsters from strange, evil laboratories and the superheroes who fought them appeared in society from time to time. As far back as Lin Xingyao could remember, there had always been news reports about these monsters and heroes, and the public had gotten used to them. Society wasn’t like the worlds in some comics, where everyone was a hero. People still went to work as usual, and heroes were mostly government employees. Unless there was a rare large-scale disaster, their lives had little to do with ordinary people.

Among all the heroes, the Magical Girls were by far the longest-running group. They’d been through several generations over the decades, and people said they’d existed since his grandmother’s generation. They had a huge fanbase in the empire. The current active duo were Magical Girl Blue Butterfly and Magical Girl Yellow Knight.

Lin Xingyao had done some research on the Magical Girls, mainly because he’d always been interested in the “magic” in this world. It definitely wasn’t because he was obsessed with pretty girls!

By the way, his favorite was Hongyin, a Magical Girl who’d been active more than a decade ago.

Ahem. Anyway, the historical records for this world were quite limited. It was now the year 2022 of the Holy Spirit Calendar, but the earliest confirmed history they could trace went back to the second century AD. After a long period of wars and medieval rule, humans discovered electricity for the first time about two hundred years ago, and technology began advancing at an explosive rate. There was very little information about anything before the second century AD. The only descriptions of “magic” were in plays and unofficial histories. More detailed historical records seemed to be kept by the government and weren’t made public.

So although Lin Xingyao had been interested in magic for more than a decade, he hadn’t found any reliable information about it. The only thing he’d come across that was connected to magic was the term “Magical Girl,” and even then, he didn’t know if they used magic or some innate ability like elves and orcs did.

In fact, Lin Xingyao knew very well that supernatural forces really did exist in this world. He’d personally experienced a strange paranormal incident once. In fact, that incident was the very reason for his current mental problems. An organization calling itself the Containment Facility had even invited him over for a chat. Afterward, they used something like a flashlight to erase his memories of the incident—or at least, they thought they’d erased them. In reality, he remembered everything clearly.

Lin Xingyao had racked his brain trying to avoid attracting the so-called Containment Facility’s attention again while also dealing with his mental problems. There was no doubt that seeking help from “magic” seemed like the most effective solution, but he’d made no progress so far. He also had to keep his search discreet, in case the Containment Facility came knocking again.

“Wooo-ooo-ooo—”

Just as Lin Xingyao was lost in thought, the school alarm suddenly sounded.

“Attention. A Level Four monster attack is underway in Shangdu City’s Second District. The area has been sealed off. Students, please follow your teachers in an orderly manner to the underground bomb shelter. Please take care of your own safety and beware of stampedes...”

“A Level Four safety alert? Here?” Safety incidents in this world were ranked from One to Five, in descending order. A Level Four incident wasn’t especially severe, but it was serious enough to threaten an entire district. It was still pretty rare in everyday life.

There was no time to think. Their homeroom teacher hurried into Class 2 and led the students toward the underground bomb shelter.

As they went downstairs, Lin Xingyao could still hear sirens and explosions coming from the nearby district. They sounded very close to the school.

It should be... fine, right?

Before heading downstairs, Lin Xingyao took a purple brooch out of his desk and slipped it into his pocket. The brooch was the culprit behind his mental problems, but it could still save his life in a pinch—if any of his friends or classmates were in danger...

He unconsciously tightened his grip on the brooch in his pocket.

If someone else were in danger, he might find himself stepping in without thinking.

After all, Lin Xingyao had been, in a way, a hero in his previous life.

The day after attending their father's funeral, Su Si'an, a second-year high school student, found a cute girl claiming to be their dead dad standing right in front of them.

“Si'an, I'm your dad!”

“Y-You... how can you cuss me out like that?!”

Just like that, Su Si'an found themself with a 22-year-old cute girl for a dad, and the distant bond between father and child gradually began to heal.

Then a female classmate who might be their mom reincarnated showed up and boldly started pursuing their dad. And so began a heartwarming, hilarious story.