Chapter 3 | Fantasy Descends, I Start as a Magical Girl

Evidently, Mo Shao had been overthinking things.

Amidst a flash of dreamlike brilliance, she had already completed her transformation.

There was no pain, only a fleeting sense of security, as if she had returned to her mother's embrace.

Regaining her perception of the world, Mo Shao opened her eyes. She clenched her fists and stood on her tiptoes, testing her balance... She felt as light as a feather.

It was a completely different sensation from the mechanical body of her previous life. There was less “coldness” and more “warmth.”

Her body had been reconstructed, completing a transformation similar to that of a Lich—which was exactly what happens to the Magical Girls Kyubey transforms. Of course, there would be other opportunities for development later on.

As for the corruption of the Soul Gem?

You’d have to ask why Kyubey always targeted little girls. With her current mindset, she was more than capable of handling such things. Besides... emotions were a form of energy that could be utilized. She already knew several ways to do so.

***

Regarding her current appearance... Mo Shao looked around and found the rearview mirror of the motorcycle, then looked down.

—She was almost a study in pure grey.

Grey hair, grey eyes, a fine countenance, fair skin, and a well-proportioned figure. She stood at roughly 1.6 meters tall.

As for her clothing—her Magic Raiment—it consisted of a simple, dark grey long coat, complete with a cape and a massive hood. When she put it all on, only her face was visible.

If she tilted her head down, even her face would be hidden. If she added a face mask, she could probably go as a Jiahao cosplayer.

However, the clothes underneath provided a stark contrast: a simple, grey-white dress, somewhat reminiscent of a JK-style school uniform.

As for her underwear, Mo Shao pulled her collar aside to take a peek. Plain grey. Very simple. Her figure was naturally not flat, though she didn't know exactly how large she was; she hadn't exactly spent much time researching such things.

However... Mo Shao felt a bit puzzled.

“So, I like this type?” Her voice was incredibly ethereal, crisp and clean, like the interweaving sounds of a triangle and a music box.

This kind of transformation would lean more or less toward one’s inner heart.

Did she always like this kind of contrast between the inner and outer? Or did she simply prefer a low-profile external style?

Whatever, she didn't care. At least she had achieved her goal. She had never had such a wonderful start!

***

First, she had to see what abilities she had gained. Generally, these reflected one's inner thoughts...

Following her instincts, Mo Shao channeled her power.

A motorcycle materialized from the illusions, something straight out of RoboWars—identical to the one next to her!

Wasn't this... the thing she had transformed into in her previous life?

This meant her ability was to bring out things from her past life for her own use. This was essentially doubling the number of items she could bind!

However, right now, only the things from her account change were there... So... did her Dead-bound and Live-bound items come along as well?

Her mental will flickered, and Mo Shao quickly Live-bound an item—a [Chest]. This thing was excellent as an early-stage storage facility, and later, once she had spatial storage tools, she could even play Russian dolls with them.

With two Live-binding slots, she could use the other slot to pull things out from within the chest.

But the result was... nothing?

Could it be that only account-changed items and Dead-bound items worked?

After a brief moment of distraction and carefully sensing her abilities, Mo Shao finally reached a conclusion.

—This wasn't her Magical Girl ability! This was something she had brought back from the future! This was her “cheat”!

Because her account change and Dead-bindings were bound to her soul, they could reappear in this form after her rebirth! And because she had changed her account, her past “account” could be “unsealed” and summoned by her!

Only when she completed a Dead-binding could she manifest the items that corresponded to her previous life's Dead-binding slots!

***

However, it was naturally impossible for her to Dead-bind anything right now.

Since she had changed accounts, she could Live-bind items first and wait until she found something truly good before performing a Dead-binding.

Just like in her previous life, it was only after a significant amount of time had passed that she Dead-bound a truly high-quality item—the Snake Talisman. Initially, it merely hid her form, but in the very late stages, it could even allow her body to temporarily phase out of reality.

Unlike Live-binding, which was just a simple permit for use, a Dead-bound item could evolve along with one's own development!

It was by relying on that Snake Talisman that she had managed to survive in the Phantom Realm.

Of course, her mechanical motorcycle body had also played a major role; one of its greatest benefits was that it didn't need to eat. It didn't even need fuel, as RoboWars used Energy Amethysts; she just had to press them into her body to use them.

As for obtaining energy, the Phantom Realm never lacked ways to acquire it. That was the reason she had been able to lay low and survive from the very beginning.

***

Furthermore, it wasn't just the Snake Talisman—she had the Rooster Talisman as well.

This was another hidden setting of Dead-binding: a single Dead-binding slot could store an entire set of related items at once!

The Twelve Talismans, the Five-Spirit Lock... items that belonged to the same set could be directly condensed into a single slot!

Live-binding, on the other hand, could only be done one by one—unless you found some way to completely merge them in the outside world.

However, Mo Shao had felt a bit of regret later on for choosing the Twelve Talismans for her Dead-binding.

Because the Twelve Talismans were scattered everywhere; some had even entered worlds in animal forms. It was simply impossible to collect them all. As for searching for them with Chi Magic, that was even less reliable.

After all, there were too many Phantom Realms and the worlds were too chaotic. The sheer amount of interference made it incredibly difficult to find them. Unlike some other sets, which would appear in large quantities within a single Phantom Realm, making it possible to collect many of them at once.

Since Dead-bound items could grow with the user, their original strength could be deprioritized slightly.

So, she certainly wasn't going to focus on the Talismans this time.

Although she didn't know if stacking items identical to those from her previous life would produce a special effect, she had only collected two Talismans back then, not the full set of twelve.

There was no need to walk that old path—at least not now. There were plenty of other development routes for later. However, the Snake Talisman was quite close to her location; she could pick it up in passing later. Even using it as a Live-binding would be quite good.

***

And as for her actual ability... Mo Shao experimented again and discovered something new.

Was this... Identification?

A glimmer of light flashed, and from Mo Shao's perspective, everything in the world suddenly displayed a point of information for her to view.

To summarize, it looked like this:

[Dumb Villager]

[Currently in an instinct-driven behavioral state]

Well, that was certainly fitting.

However, Mo Shao frowned. This was still not her Magical Girl talent, but rather her Witch talent...

There was a reason for every choice she made! As a member of a powerful transcendent race, it was only natural for a Witch to have innate talents!

She had indeed thought about this in the past. After all, while surviving in the wilderness of the Phantom Realm, she had encountered far too many things she didn't recognize. It was easy to overlook dangers and miss out on various treasures.

***

Moving past that, after a bit of tinkering, Mo Shao finally activated her Magical Girl ability.

Her right eye suddenly changed, and a... a compass appeared?

—The center featured a diamond that was red on top and blue on the bottom, while the outer ring was a circle marked with numbers. It formed a pupil that looked exceptionally eerie, like that of a beast.