Magical girls also have intensity anxiety

Following the information provided by Li Huanhuan, Wu An quickly found Lin Yuhuan's address.

Because she had some wealth, her family owned three houses. She had previously looked for two of them, but one had been uninhabited for some time, and the other had been rented out.

Now, Wu An is sneaking towards the last house under the cover of night.

"Unit 3...2702."

Wu An looked up at the house number, and after confirming that he had found the right one, he aimed his fingernail at the keyhole and let his magic penetrate it. He found that no one was inside, but unlike the previous house, the ground was covered in dust.

There were signs of human activity at this place.

With a slight effort, the door opened with a "click".

The room was dark; at this height, the neon lights outside could hardly reach it, and only a sliver of moonlight drifted in.

Wu An began to examine the house one by one with his magic, but found nothing unusual.

Aside from a few traces of magic remaining on the bed in one of the bedrooms, it was presumably Lin Yuhuan's boudoir.

Since Wu An had already illegally entered the room, he naturally didn't mind going directly into the boudoir to find out what was going on.

Click—

The door wasn't locked, and there were no traps.

Upon entering, the unique fragrance of the girl's room filled his nostrils. Wu An touched the bed a few times but found nothing; it was no different from an ordinary person's bedroom.

Judging from how tidy the bed was, Lin Yuhuan probably hadn't been home for several days.

Having not encountered anyone else, Wu An did not intend to wait any longer. She planned to leave behind a crystal core so that she could sense if anyone came to the house.

"This is..."

While searching for a place to place the crystal core, Wu An was drawn to the desk in Lin Yuhuan's room.

A portrait of a middle-aged woman, several pens, a half-open notebook, a nail clipper, and a small box for holding trash.

This is all there is to the desk.

Inside the small box were bags of snacks, and... more than half of the box was filled with fingernails.

"So many fingernails?"

Wu An picked up the nail clippers and found that the tips were dulled from overuse.

She fiddled with the small box with her fingers, which were covered with nails of varying lengths and unusually sharp.

It actually made her skin feel a stinging sensation.

At the normal rate of nail growth, it would take at least a year to accumulate this many nails. No... maybe even longer.

Lin Yuhuan spent the summer in Changming City and only returned to Qishan midway through the summer vacation.

In such a short time, it's impossible for her to have accumulated so many nails. It couldn't have been before she came to Changming... That's too unhygienic.

Some of the nails still look very new.

The problem is that the small bags of snacks inside have a production date of half a month ago, and they are local snacks from Qishan City...

She picked up the small bags and examined them closely. Apart from the openings, the outside of these small bags had obvious sharp dents, and some bags were even punctured.

People who eat snacks either use excessive force when handling them or hold sharp objects.

It's hard not to think of these nails.

A strange illness? Or is it due to innate talent?

Wu An couldn't help but think of Qi Luo on the train, his mouth watering uncontrollably.

Could it be that the magical girl of Qishan is under some kind of curse?

They will all cause some kind of curse, such as mutations in some aspect of the body.

Unfortunately, there are very few magical girls here; unless you specifically look for them, it's difficult to even catch a glimpse of them.

Wu An pulled his hand out from under his fingernails and picked up the notebook. The first thing he saw was Lin Yuhuan's daily diary.

What should I write about...? I don't usually keep a diary, but I saw him doing this, so I wanted to try imitating him. I'll probably lose interest quickly. Will this give us more common topics to talk about?

[It seems like there's nothing much to record. He's a quiet person, so does he really have anything to write in his diary every day?]

[I must be out of my mind. Why would I think a weirdo who wants to become a magical girl would actually care about me?]

Today I went to the amusement park with him. I never imagined someone could go to an amusement park and not even smile. I wanted to ask him, "What's the meaning of your life?" but that's too awful a question, so I didn't ask. But I really don't understand why he's alive. Even if someone like that were a girl, they could never become a magical girl.

He bumped into a monster on his way here today. Although he wasn't injured, he should have stayed home to rest, given the fright he was in. But he said he only had time to spend with me and couldn't let something like that interfere. I was still a little happy for a moment. If he weren't so driven by self-interest, perhaps...

Wu An quickly scanned the diary section but found nothing useful.

wow-

I want to die.

"..."

These two words immediately come to mind, causing those who are not on guard to pause for a moment.

These two words alone took up two pages.

wow-

Why do my nails keep growing?

wow-

That disgusting and despicable person clearly said that I was the only one they could rely on, so why did they just disappear without a word?

He deserved to die too.

I want to go to Changming City to find him...

Forget it, that kind of trash, even if he says he's afraid of death, I don't believe him; rather, he'd be more at ease if he were actually killed; it's better to let him live in constant fear of dying.

Wu An guessed that this was referring to him, but...

"So much hatred..."

She was also quite curious about how he had dumped Lin Yuhuan, making her so angry.

wow-

Why are there cracks on my face?

No way...

No way... what am I going to become...?

Wu An vaguely remembered that on the day he met Lin Yuhuan, she was wearing heavy makeup and her face was very fair, without any cracks.

But... she was wearing a mascot costume that day, so what was the point of her wearing makeup?

Her face is beautiful enough; it doesn't need any extra embellishment...

[Kill! Kill ...

There were five claw marks behind it.

Wu An's gaze fell down, and he noticed that the claw marks had even slightly worn down the tabletop.

Lin Yuhuan hasn't been home since the day they met.

Her mental state, as revealed in her diary, was far from good.

They've toned down what was once considered "excessive."

The abnormal growth of his fingernails and the urge to kill... reminded Wu An of a deranged killer who had a penchant for hands.

What exactly happened to Lin Yuhuan? It can't just be due to stress, right?

"Kindness" can be considered the underlying code of magical girls.

It's understandable that Lin Yuhuan harbors resentment towards him—if he really did what she said, that he approached her when she was at her most vulnerable and then disappeared without a word.

But why would such a strong murderous intent be left on the notebook?

Wu An wanted to explain it with "Chuunibyou Diary", but Lin Yuhuan had already passed the second year of junior high school.

Furthermore, people with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) usually don't say "I'm going to kill someone," but rather things like "Humans are so awful, they should just be wiped out."

I flipped through the notebook again and unexpectedly found a few lines of messy handwriting on the front pages, with wrinkles from being wet:

Am I still me?

Who is the second seat...? Why do people call me that?

Why did I go to Changming City again?

Who is that Wu'an...? And that park...? When did I come back from Changming City...?

"..."

A name that should never have appeared was on the notebook.

Lin Yuhuan's rank is probably higher than his, and she is not one of the two fourth-rank officials in charge of the Qishan City Bureau of Statistics—the information of the officials is public.

"Zhu Huan...?"

The long-forgotten name unconsciously popped out from the tip of my tongue.

Is it Zhu Huanyao?

No, it should be said that Wu An couldn't think of anyone else.

The last time I saw her, she was at the third level. Zhu Huan is undoubtedly a person with rich emotions, even though she likes to put on a cold face.

At that time, she already possessed innate abilities, indicating that she had excellent potential as a magical girl.

If the contents of this notebook are true, Lin Yuhuan undoubtedly experienced a dramatic emotional upheaval.

Although this emotion is not pleasant, it is true that it will enhance magical power.

It would be acceptable if she could reach the fourth rank.

The problem still lies in Lin Yuhuan's strange mental state. Can someone in this state really be allowed to wander around freely?

In addition, her second personality, which she calls "Little Girl," seems to be uncontrolled by Zhu Huan. In fact, it is Zhu Huan who is being suppressed by that "Little Girl."

Wu An had a vague feeling that continuing the investigation would definitely be dangerous.

But this is ultimately related to her lost memories, so giving up directly wouldn't be a good idea.

Wu An did not erase any trace of his presence; he even left a note:

I hope to meet you sometime.

The signature is Wu An.

As usual, he climbed out of the window, his dark figure falling into the night.

"Huh?"

Her figure suddenly stopped in mid-air, and she looked down in confusion.

nobody.

She climbed higher and looked around the entire neighborhood, but still no one was there.

It's still quite dark; there shouldn't be a single pedestrian in the entire neighborhood.

There were people at the security booth.

Wu An didn't rush to the security booth, but instead flew towards the homes of residents in the community where the lights were on.

Inside, the lights were bright but no one was in sight, even through the glass.

She infused the room with her magic, but there was no reaction from the living. She then entered directly and searched the room, but found no one there either...

She quickly left and flew towards another house with its lights on.

no one.

Nobody...

No one???

She amplified her magic, covering the entire neighborhood. She seemed perfectly normal, full of life, as if the previous strange phenomena were just an illusion. No wonder she hadn't noticed anything unusual when she flew in earlier.

But this is just a fleeting feeling.

Wu An began to search the neighborhood.

There wasn't a single person there.

She flew out of the residential area in a daze.

A system notification popped up.

[Mental attack detected; mental energy countermeasure initiated]