“Oh, what a shame~”

The spider monster’s eight pairs of eyes stared straight at Lin Xingyao. The crushing pressure made him feel like he couldn’t move at all.

“Miss, if you don’t need anything else... can I go now?”

“Oh, I can’t let you do that! If I can’t ask you out, then I’ll just... have to eat you!”

The giant spider lunged at Lin Xingyao. His body reacted on instinct, darting toward the side of the street in a sudden burst. He barely managed to dodge the attack.

Lin Xingyao gripped the brooch in his hand, hoping he could use an illusion to escape the spider monster.

“It’s no use. Your feeble little illusions are just toys to me. I suggest you give up and obediently become my snack.”

Like hell! There was no way he was going down here! Lin Xingyao summoned every ounce of strength he had and sprinted forward, trying to get away from the spider monster.

“I finally found a sweet with such an enormous amount of magic. How could I let you get away? Big sis is going to eat you up without leaving a single bite—literally~”

With that, another strand of web shot from the spider monster’s mouth, racing after Lin Xingyao.

But just as the web was about to touch Lin Xingyao, a pale purple light shone from him. The web flying toward him seemed to pass through something unreal, and a moment later it veered off course and struck the ground.

“How interesting. You really do have a lot of secrets. Now I want to eat you even more.”

“Spider! What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and finish the mission, then bring back the ‘Cornerstone’!” A frantic, genderless voice suddenly rang in the spider’s ears.

“All right, all right. I just spotted a really interesting snack and wanted to try a bite. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to handle.”

“No! I mean the ‘Cornerstone’ escaped, you idiot!”

“Impossible!” The webs she spun didn’t simply trap her enemies—they imposed “confinement” at the level of the rules. No one could escape unless they were an existence of a higher order than her. That was why she’d been so shocked when Lin Xingyao dodged her web.

She checked on Luna, who had been swallowed by the spider’s mouth beneath her body, and found that she really was gone.

“Could it have been that kid just now?!” The feeling of having been played infuriated her. The pressure in the air around her suddenly surged, and she leaped toward the spot where Lin Xingyao had fled.

……

“Boy! Hey, boy!”

As Lin Xingyao ran, he suddenly heard a childlike voice behind him again. He whipped around and realized it was coming from his shadow.

A catlike creature poked half its body out of his shadow. No matter how fast Lin Xingyao ran, it stayed in that same position.

“Relax, I won’t hurt you. That spider monster’s after both of us now. If she catches us, we’re both dead.”

“So she was after you from the start, and I just got dragged into this?” Lin Xingyao quickly caught the problem with the little cat’s story.

“Ahem. That doesn’t matter right now. As far as she’s concerned, you secretly rescued me. Even if she catches me again, she’ll take it out on you. Neither of us will get off easy.”

“Then do you have a way out?” Lin Xingyao had been running nonstop and was already exhausted. His pace was slowing, and that giant spider would probably catch up soon.

“Yeah. There’s only one way right now.”

“What?”

“Make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl!”

“No way!”

“Huh?”

Never mind how a grown man was supposed to become a Magical Girl—making a contract with some unknown creature was hard to believe in the first place, especially for Lin Xingyao, who’d only just been through a string of bizarre events.

Given the situation, continuing to run for his life was clearly more sensible than making some unknown contract with a strange creature.

A gigantic spider body dropped from the sky. The force of its landing smashed a huge crater into the ground. Several cars beneath her exploded, then were crushed flat like tin cans.

The shock wave from the tremendous impact knocked Lin Xingyao over. A fragment from one of the exploding cars also stabbed into his abdomen, while the catlike creature immediately retreated into his shadow.

“I thought you’d be a sweet treat, but you’re more like a little mouse that’s hard to swallow~”

Her voice was no longer as seductive as before. It was filled with rage, enough to inspire fear deep in the soul.

“The alley! Run into the alley by the market!” The little cat’s voice rang out. The spider monster’s huge body would have trouble moving through the alley, and all the obstacles there could block her webs.

There was no time to think. Lin Xingyao darted into the alley. Already exhausted, he stumbled weakly through it, one hand pressed against his bleeding abdomen.

But the spider monster gave him no chance to catch his breath. Her huge body charged straight through the alley, knocking down several smaller buildings. Maybe she was tired of being blocked by them, because she suddenly leaped into the air.

“Boom!”

A tremendous impact rang out as the spider monster dropped from the sky right in front of him, smashing a huge crater into the ground.

Lin Xingyao had just started to get up and run when a huge spider leg rushed at him. Luckily, he dodged just as he rose, and the leg stabbed straight through the wall.

Before he could react, the thick spider leg swept along the wall. Lin Xingyao was carried by the blow and sent flying from the alley around the corner and out onto the street.

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

“What a familiar way to die. Just like my last life.” Lin Xingyao clutched his abdomen, his mind racing for a way out.

But there was no time left to think. The spider monster was steadily approaching, as if she planned to toy with her dying prey.

“Damn it! Is this really it?” He’d finally gotten a second chance at life. He’d finally found a family he cherished. And now he was going to die here today?

“Young man!” Luna emerged from his shadow, holding a strange piece of paper in her hand.

“Didn’t I tell you? If you make a contract with me, you can defeat that monster! Otherwise, we’re both going to die here!” It looked just as panicked now, waving the contract frantically in its hand.

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

“I’m just a mascot! If I could, I’d have jumped in 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 blood-covered hand.

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

Watching the monster approach, Lin Xingyao reached for the contract.

The moment his hand touched the contract, a flash of blinding light filled his vision. When he came to, he found himself inside a gigantic white palace...

……

The gigantic white palace seemed to hold no one but Lin Xingyao. He still had no idea what had happened. All he could remember was the flash of light when he made the contract—and then he was here.

“Welcome, ■■-bearer, codename 865. I am your guide.”

A synthesized female voice sounded in front of him, and then a blurry virtual projection appeared, its features impossible to make out.

“Who are you? Where am I?” Lin Xingyao did his best to calm down and began to assess the situation.

“Answer: ■■-bearer, codename 865, you are currently inside the Palace of the Mind. I am the guide within this palace.”

As the virtual projection spoke with him, Lin Xingyao noticed that two words seemed to have been muted. He was sure the person in front of him had said something, but those two words seemed to have been erased.

“So, am I safe now?”

“Answer: In terms of your current safety, no. Your mind is inside this Palace of the Mind, but your body remains in reality.”

“Then I’m as good as dead out there!” Lin Xingyao remembered the spider monster closing in. By the time his mind returned, there might be nothing left of him but bones.

“Answer: Time inside the Palace of the Mind flows at the same speed as your thoughts, so you should have enough time to complete the guidance. However, this unit recommends that you finish as soon as possible.”

“What guidance?”

“Answer: According to the terms of the contract you signed, you are to become a Magical Girl.”

“Then what do I have to do?”

“Answer: First, choose an anchor. Then, with the help of ■■, obtain your true name and anchor phrase. Finally, speak them aloud in reality.”

An anchor? A true name? An anchor phrase? The whole pile of baffling terms left him with no idea what was going on. He wanted to understand what was happening before deciding whether to accept this so-called “guidance,” but he clearly didn’t have much time.

“Reminder: Codename 865, given your safety situation in the real world, this unit recommends that you make a decision as soon as possible.”

“Fine, fine! Whatever it is, let’s get started!”

There was no time to hesitate. He had to make a quick decision.

“Understood. Before we begin, please read *Magical Girl Guidelines and Precautions*.”

A long string of instructions suddenly appeared in front of Lin Xingyao. He’d meant to look them over carefully, but there were thirty pages! Give him a break—who had time to read all that now?

He clicked “I have read this” at the very bottom.

“Understood, Codename 865. You have familiarized yourself with the information regarding Magical Girls and voluntarily accepted the risks. Guidance will now begin!”

“Wait—what risks?”

……

Before Lin Xingyao could finish speaking, he plunged into a dark void. The surroundings were cold and utterly empty. In this endless expanse, every negative emotion surged over him at once. It felt as if he were sinking into a frigid deep sea, unable to control anything—deadly stillness, oppression, helplessness.

Like a drowning man, he thrashed his arms, trying to call out for help. But in this eerie, silent deep sea, death was the only constant. Everything around him seemed to whisper: Give up. Sink into silence. What was so bad about falling into ruin and becoming part of corruption and death?

When it came down to it, what was Lin Xingyao longing for? Memories of his past life? The dream of becoming a hero he’d had as a child? The thing he’d held onto even when others mocked and ignored him?

He didn’t know. It all seemed unimportant now. His “self” was fading away, and his whole being was about to dissolve into the endless Void.

Silence. It was as if everything had lost its meaning.

Who am I? And why do I exist?

The memories of this life began to fade. He tried as hard as he could to remember the past, searching the depths of the darkness for an anchor. Happy memories, ugly ones, painful ones—any memory that could remind him who he was would do!

In the dark deep sea, a glimmer of light seemed to appear...

“Big brother is a hero now!”

A voice from nowhere seemed to pierce the dark deep sea like a ray of light, spilling into Lin Xingyao’s hands. He clutched that light tightly, and it drew him into a world filled with brightness.

Then he saw it: a peaceful, tranquil night sky, scattered with countless brilliant stars. The dazzling sight before him rescued him from the cold darkness, and he felt his sense of “self” grow steady once more.

“Anchor detected: ‘Star and Dream.’ Error... error... data error... Code 036. Initiating Contingency Plan Seven!”

It felt like something was missing. He didn’t know what, but there was a strange sense that part of his body was incomplete. He reached forward with both hands, trying to find something to make himself whole. A brilliant Red Lotus appeared in his left hand, and a tranquil violet flower appeared in his right.

“Splitting in progress. Anchor confirmed: ‘Star and Red Lotus.’ Anchor confirmed: ‘Dream and Violet.’ Logic check passed. ■■ generated successfully. Beginning generation of the anchoring phrase...”

“Notice: All preparations are complete. Code 865’s consciousness is about to return to reality. Given the danger Code 865 faces there, it’s recommended that you quickly recite the anchoring phrase and call upon your own exalted name to complete the transformation.”

…

In reality, the spider monster was slowly approaching Lin Xingyao, who lay helpless on the ground. Only a little over forty seconds had passed since he’d been knocked out of the alley, but now he lay sprawled there, completely motionless.

“Oh? Too scared to speak? Then I won’t hold back!” She opened her enormous jaws and lunged to bite Lin Xingyao.

“Stars that cross time and space!”

A voice came from below. The spider felt its jaws, just about to snap shut, being forced wide open by a tremendous strength.

“Dreams, despair, eternity!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” She suddenly realized something was terribly wrong and hurriedly backed away.

“Bloom here as a Red Lotus amid despair!”

The temperature around them suddenly soared. Giant petals made of flame appeared around Lin Xingyao, then closed around him, forming a colossal Red Lotus.

“Even as a second afterglow dawns, burn away every long-held wish!”

Then the Red Lotus burst open. The shockwave from its fierce flames drove the spider monster straight back.

Snap! A finger snap rang out, and the surroundings instantly became a hell engulfed in flames. Huge pillars of fire erupted from the ground.

A beautiful girl appeared amid the flames, dressed in a cute top and a short red skirt. Her red hair fluttered in the scorching heat. She lifted her chin slightly, fixing the monster before her with a proud gaze.

“And so, legend descends!”