Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

The battle continues.

"Why... a woodcutter's knife?" Xia Zhaozhao muttered to herself after cleaving the monster in front of her with a single stroke.

The machete in his hand was clearly well-maintained and felt great to hold.

However, she had no recollection of the weapon's origin, and only felt a trace of... sadness as she tried to think and recall.

Ahead, another monster roared and charged out of the door beside her. In the distance, another one attacked her from around the corner of the corridor.

The closer arm, waving its severely deformed and elongated shape, struck first at her neck, seemingly aiming to shatter her throat.

She simply stepped back slightly, lowered her center of gravity, and leaned her upper body backward, easily dodging the attack.

The bony structures on her abnormally long arm whistled through the wind, just as she had expected, brushing past the tip of her nose.

"...When did I become so amazing?"

A thought flashed through her mind, surprising her somewhat.

However, she didn't dwell on it too much; she simply accepted the fact with considerable joy.

After dodging the attack, she took the opportunity to step back and bend her knees, then suddenly sprang forward, sending the machete straight out and severing the monster's head with a flick of her wrist.

However, the monster's attacks did not stop.

She seemed to have known this all along, and casually used a chaotic kasaya slash to cleave the monster's remains in two, rendering it lifeless and turning it into a puddle of mud.

Then, she stared blankly at another monster charging towards her, her thoughts drifting uncontrollably to yesterday, to yesterday in her memories.

It was an afternoon at the beginning of summer vacation, and the twilight sky was about to turn amber. The setting sun in the west shone its light into her small room, and the light and shadow climbed higher and higher, gradually landing on her face.

She grew a little impatient with the shaking, so she got up, quickly pulled the curtains shut, turned down the air conditioner's temperature and brightness, and settled back into her chair to prepare for finishing that old game.

The air back then was dry, quite unlike the pervasive dampness we experience now.

She is currently in the hospital, battling a fierce battle against an enemy she has never seen before.

What exactly is going on?

The monster was already very close, interrupting her inappropriate reverie and bringing her thoughts back to reality.

"Squeezing and kneading, this is never going to end."

She simply imitated a move from a fighting game, lowered her body, and delivered a completely distorted Iron Mountain slam, sending the monster flying far away.

She clapped her hands triumphantly; in any case, it was a good thing that she had become stronger.

Moreover, I'm not fighting alone.

Behind her was a little green-haired fellow, fighting alongside her, protecting her rear, and dealing with enemies attacking from another direction.

Xiao Lü stared blankly at Xia Zhaozhao's obviously nonsensical attack.

His form was a complete mess; he relied entirely on magic to tough it out.

But strangely... this reckless style of play also felt strangely familiar.

But they had no time to worry about anything else, as several humanoid monsters were rushing towards them from behind.

As she retreated, she skillfully gathered magical power.

After a series of whooshing sounds, all sorts of ice bullets and ice spears pierced through the enemy in front of them, exploding and spreading inside their bodies, freezing them into ice sculptures or turning them into black mud.

After the last monster dissipated in the exploding ice crystals, the surroundings finally returned to peace for the time being.

The attack came to an end, and she felt a slight fatigue.

She stared silently at the back of the white-haired girl in front of her, trying to figure out the current situation.

Her last clear memory was that she had just signed the contract with the landlord and moved into that rental apartment, which was reasonably priced. It was the height of summer, and outside the window, there was the incessant chirping of cicadas and the roar of the air conditioner unit.

Then, for some reason, I turned into the appearance of a little girl... No, I think I just had that thought?

The girl in front of me seems to be the girl next door, the one who seems to really like playing video games... No, wait, I think I just had that thought too?

Just as she was struggling with this strange sense of déjà vu, the white-haired girl in front of her turned around and curiously approached her.

The white-haired girl approached first, then bent down to examine her closely.

She first reached out and poked Xiao Lü's face with her finger. When she saw that Xiao Lü didn't react, she became bolder and simply tugged at her turquoise ponytail.

"I thought I'd stumbled into some kind of VR game... But I doubt games could be this realistic, right?"

She exclaimed in amazement, "Wow! It feels great, the level of detail is amazing—ah!"

She was about to take her hands to the next level when she noticed that the green-haired girl in front of her had completely turned black.

Then, she jumped around on the ground like a frantic frog, desperately shaking off the ice on her body.

"...Why does she seem so skilled at even these movements?" Xiao Lü looked at the white-haired girl jumping around in front of her, feeling somewhat frustrated.

"This scene...this dialogue...have we rehearsed this before?" Xia Zhaozhao said, somewhat speechless, after finally shaking off the ice.

She dared not touch Xiao Lü now, but pinched her face hard, feeling a clear pain, so it didn't seem like a dream.

Just then, Little Green suddenly noticed something at her feet.

That was the monster she had just killed with a single slash; it had turned into a puddle of slime.

Above the mucus, an X-ray film was floating.

She squatted down and looked at the film with curiosity.

The owner of the film didn't seem to be in good condition; even she could tell that she had broken more than one rib.

But this isn't a big problem, because he's already dead.

More importantly, the date of the shooting is written on the side of the film.

The white-haired girl beside her shuffled closer, nudging her head near Xiao Lü's side. Xiao Lü frowned and pointed to the date for her.

"Look, this date."

Xia Zhaozhao was initially somewhat nonchalant, but after seeing it, the expression on her face gradually froze.

Three years have passed since yesterday in her memory.

She looked up and gazed out the window at the end of the corridor. Only then did she finally notice the crimson curtain of rain that enveloped the entire world.

"No way? How did things outside become like this? Did we time travel? Why did we lose our memories for three years? Are we supposed to keep some three-year promise?" One question after another was thrown out.

"...No, I think we really have amnesia. We've lost about three years' worth of memories." Xiao Lü's voice was calm, at least outwardly.

"Quack—no, I don't want that kind of thing—!" Xia Zhaozhao shouted in dissatisfaction.

"Are you kidding me! I just started summer vacation and was just getting ready to play games!"