Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Soon after, hearing Xia Zhaozhao's even breathing coming from the sofa, Zhao Jia couldn't help but smile mischievously. It seemed that the intimidation therapy had worked quite well.

The sky had completely darkened. The last faint glimmer of light was about to be swallowed by the crimson curtain of rain.

After confirming that the environment was safe, he groped his way into the bedroom by the faint light of his phone screen, found a small nightlight, and then took out a power bank from a drawer and plugged the nightlight into it.

Although not very bright, it was enough to dispel the darkness. He took the light source to the kitchen, made a strong cup of coffee with cold water, and gulped it down.

He silently walked back to the living room, sat down again, placed the nightlight on the coffee table, and looked at Xia Zhaozhao's sleeping face. He sighed, his heart filled with mixed feelings, and fell into deep thought.

My thoughts were in turmoil, and I couldn't find a way to make sense of them.

Downstairs in the residential complex.

The drainage system appears to be broken; the floodwaters have reached the bottom edge of the first-floor windowsills. Countless bizarre creatures are wriggling aimlessly in the swamp.

They have no clear goals and are indifferent to each other. Only when native creatures enter their range will they swarm and devour them like hyenas.

However, among this group of monsters, one seemed to be different from the others.

It is relatively small in size, with more asymmetrical limbs and a lighter body color, giving it a sickly gray appearance.

Although the human eye cannot discern much difference, this individual seems to be regarded as a deformed creature that the other monsters dislike.

It was shunned by the other monsters. Whenever it limped toward another monster, the other monster would roar threateningly, or even drive it away and attack it with its limbs.

In the end, it could only cower and hide in the shadowy corner of the building outside the monsters' gathering place.

Third floor.

Li Ding was wearing a foul-smelling vest, standing in front of his tightly closed security door, his eyes vacant, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Throughout his forty years of life, whenever he was hungry, he would stand in front of this door and keep calling "Mom".

As he shouts, the door will suddenly burst open, and the person inside will crawl into his house, stuff delicious food into his mouth, and praise him for being good and for calling out "Mommy."

But today was different. Li Dingming clearly felt very hungry and had been calling "Mom" for a long time, but no one came out of the door.

His mind raced, and in an instant he understood everything: the door was lying to him!

He'll be fed by the people inside the door whenever he's hungry. The fact that nothing's coming from inside means he's not actually hungry.

He wasn't hungry at all, so why did that damn door make his stomach rumble? Why did it make him stand here like an idiot, calling out "Mommy"? The door was lying to him, mocking him!

He shouted angrily, raised his dirty hand, and slammed it hard against the doorknob with all his might.

The door creaked open. Li Ding's anger was quickly replaced by confusion.

"Mother?"

The corridor was pitch black, and an indescribable stench permeated the air.

Li Ding stood at the door, blinking blankly—the colors of the things inside were different.

What he saw was the deformed child who had been rejected and driven away by other monsters and had fled all the way to the third floor.

It was lying at the top of the stairs, its grayish-white body rising and falling slightly, and black mucus was still flowing from its wounds, which were healing much slower than those of its kind.

Li Ding tilted his head, curiously examining the soft, large worm. Then, he grinned, revealing an innocent smile.

"Mother……"

Zhao Jia and Xia Zhaozhao, who were on the seventeenth floor, were completely unaware of this.

Surprisingly, the night was quite peaceful, with no monsters causing any disturbance.

Xia Zhaozhao slept for a full ten hours, only waking up slowly after 1 a.m., as if she wanted to make up for all the sleep she had missed from countless all-nighters playing games.

She stretched, feeling refreshed, and lazily asked Zhao Jia, "Hmm... I feel like I slept for ages. Do you want to take a nap too? I can take the night watch."

Zhao Jia shook his head: "No need."

"Seeing you sleeping so soundly, I thought you'd wake up even later, so I drank another cup of coffee to keep me going."

"You're awake now, why don't you tell me about magical girls? I'll see if I can find any clues."

Now that things have come to this, there's no point in hiding anything. Xia Zhaozhao sat cross-legged on the sofa and began to recall everything she knew.

"It all started about four or five years ago, when I was in junior high school." She looked up at the ceiling, thinking about what happened back then. "Back then... a purple groundhog stopped me, calling himself 'Kaka,' and said he wanted to make a contract with me to make me a magical girl."

"That sounds suspicious... and you just signed it like that?" Zhao Jia asked.

"Yeah, mainly because I thought it was really cool!"

"However," she changed the subject, sticking out her tongue somewhat embarrassedly, "magical girls are also divided into different levels. I am one of the weaker ones. My magic reserves are very average, and I don't have any fancy abilities. I basically fight with that sword."

"And as you know, I'm not interested in anything other than playing video games, so I usually leave all those chores to that guy from the next city..."

"Wait a minute," Zhao Jia interrupted her, "Your premise... it's so similar to those dark magical girl anime!"

"You're not dead, are you? Your true form is the Soul Gem? Can I see it? Just one glimpse!"

"Huh?" Xia Zhaozhao glared at him, annoyed. "It's not that dark at all! Didn't I already say? You'll become a normal person at eighteen! A normal person who can eat, sleep, and play games!"

"However, there are indeed some things that look very similar to those in the cartoon."

"What is it?" Zhao Jia pressed.

"A wish, of course. But... this isn't an anime. The power of wishes is limited; they can't change things like the laws of the universe. Even the most powerful magical girl can't alter too much 'cause and effect' with her wishes."

Xia Zhaozhao continued, "Back then, I didn't really have any particular wishes I wanted to fulfill... My grades were pretty good, and I had enough money... The biggest problem I encountered was that I couldn't beat a game, but you can't exactly wish for 'beating the game,' right? Playing games is something you have to do yourself—wait, wait!"

As she spoke, she seemed to be struck by lightning, suddenly stopping and widening her eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait... a wish?" Her voice rose with excitement, trembling with disbelief. "I remember now! I didn't even make a wish!"

She jumped off the sofa, grabbed Zhao Jia's shoulders, and shook him violently: "I really couldn't think of a wish at the time, so I just said we could postpone it! We'll summon it to fulfill our wishes whenever we have one!"

"It gave me... a token that should be considered a one-time use item, which can summon it!"

Her face lit up with ecstatic joy; all her previous laziness vanished, and she jumped up and down excitedly twice.

"Haha! I told you a good night's sleep would solve the problem! We're saved!"

"I wish I could turn back into a fourteen-year-old! From now on, I'll protect you, so there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Yay!" Zhao Jia, upon hearing this wonderful news, was also infected by her emotions and couldn't help but raise his arms and shout.

However, amidst this atmosphere of ecstasy, an idea flashed into Zhao Jia's mind like lightning.

"etc."

"Um?"

"I think we might be able to get another wish for free. Don't renew your own contract yet, try wishing directly for me to sign a contract with 'Kaka'."

"ha?"

"After I sign the contract, I'll wish to renew it for you. That way, we'll have double the fighting power!"

"ha???"