In Tokyo, the dungeon master

Come to think of it, is it because my mother liked classic magical girls the most, while I liked dark and tragic magical girls the most, that I ended up suffering this kind of retribution?

We've all become our favorite type... No way!

That kind of thing is just for show. If you really want to become a magical girl, then Chihana should choose to be the cute type. Even if that kind of thing is too childish for a high school student, it doesn't matter.

You should know that dark and cruel magical girls really can be beheaded!

Yesterday, Ashi was just a hair's breadth away from being beheaded; she could easily be called Ashi who almost lost her head.

The most embarrassing thing is that the supernatural events that she once pursued but also mocked have now actually happened to her. The embarrassment of being slapped in the face makes her want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

What terrifies her is that she doesn't know what this power will bring, whether she will be devoured by it, or whether she will ever be able to return to being the ordinary Shirakawa Chiyana.

But that secret expectation made her wonder if having this power would allow her to escape ordinariness, and if she could pluck stars from the sky with these two hands.

Embarrassment, confusion, fear, anticipation... a mix of emotions choked her up, making it hard for her to even breathe.

If she hadn't retained a sliver of reason and known that it was class time, she probably would have already covered her face and collapsed in despair.

Can't go back anymore.

Just like last night, she lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night.

She kept replaying those bizarre images in her mind, repeatedly confirming that she wasn't dreaming. That feeling, both absurd and real, made her so frustrated that she wanted to bang her head against the wall, and also made her so terrified that she dared not close her eyes.

I never knew I could be so cruel.

Ultimately, the reason she ended up like this wasn't Asahi's fault. The root of all evil was that she, with her special bloodline, participated in that ghostly ritual. She was the source of all evil; she was the embodiment of all evil in this world!

So here's the question—

Does she really want to accept this power? Does she really want to become a so-called dark magic girl? Accepting this power means saying goodbye to her ordinary life and stepping into an unknown and dangerous world; but if she refuses, she is afraid that she will regret it, and even more afraid that the power will bring unexpected disasters because of her resistance, not to mention Ami.

And so, torn between various thoughts and caught in a dilemma of gain and loss, Shirakawa Chiyana spent the morning's classes in a daze.

The bell rang again, breaking the silence in the classroom and signaling the arrival of lunchtime.

The once quiet classroom instantly became noisy. Students gathered in twos and threes, some taking out their lunchboxes, others making plans to go to the cafeteria, their chatter filling the entire classroom.

The most popular topic was the paranormal event that circulated last night. Videos on American websites like YouTube cannot be completely blocked online by Japan alone, and many people still saw Maki's experience.

"Hey, did you guys hear? Last night, someone saw a huge black cloud near the hospital in Adachi Ward! It looked just like a little boy and a fat man!"

A short-haired girl approached, lowering her voice, her tone filled with excitement and a hint of fear.

"Hey, can you please stop talking about such hellish things?"

"It's a hellish thing to begin with."

"I've heard about it too! Some people say that those who got close to that direction felt a chill and even heard strange whispers!"

Another girl chimed in, describing it vividly and deliberately making a sinister expression.

"Really? Could someone be spreading rumors on purpose? I think it's probably just because it was too dark at night and it was raining, and we just saw it wrong. Didn't some experts say it was an explosion combined with some reactions that created a strange natural phenomenon?" someone said with a hint of skepticism.

"It's not a rumor! My brother really saw a ghost when he passed by there last night! He said a cardboard car was going incredibly fast and disappeared in an instant. He was so scared that he ran home overnight and now he's too scared to go out at night!"

"And another thing, someone posted on the forum discussing the strange phenomena that have occurred in recent years. Initially, everyone said there were scientific explanations, but now it seems they might all be true..."

"Is there an underworld beneath our surface world?"

Apparently, due to a severe head injury, Asami, who had lost all memory of the previous night, also joined in:

"I knew it, superpowered people, aliens, and magicians are all real..."

"Alas, what a pity. I was in Adachi Ward yesterday, but I forgot what I was going there for. I can't remember at all. I wish I could have met the magician yesterday. What a shame."

Discussions rose and fell, with some excitedly sharing the rumors they had heard, others shrinking back in fear, and still others eagerly speculating about the truth of the matter.

After all, such supernatural events that defy common sense are both terrifying and incredibly attractive to ordinary students.

While official deception may have some effect, this time it's different because it actually happened. Some online experts have even examined the pipeline maps of the nearby area, proving that a simple gas explosion was impossible there after the area was abandoned.

So much so that some bright students who previously didn't believe in these things now disagreed with this perfunctory explanation, and all sorts of bizarre guesses emerged, from evil spirit possession to black magic, all presented with great detail.

Shirakawa Chiyana sat in her seat, silently listening to her classmates' discussions, her fingertips trembling slightly, and her heart pounding.

She knew the truth behind her classmates' discussions: a great battle had indeed taken place there. If it weren't for the supernatural methods the ancestor seemed to have used when cleaning up the mess, it would have been discovered that many members of the Shirakawa family had been there.

The feeling was both strange and agonizing—everyone around her was arguing about these bizarre phenomena and making all sorts of outrageous guesses, while she was the only one who knew the truth.

It wasn't the sense of superiority that came from being the only one who knew the truth, but rather a deep sense of unease and tension.

Since becoming a dark magic girl and learning that she had made a grave mistake by releasing a demon, Chihana has been filled with guilt.

Only then did she belatedly realize that her mistake had affected the world around her.

The more her classmates discussed it, the more nervous she became, fearing that her secret would be discovered and that someone would realize that those bizarre phenomena all stemmed from her sins.

She subconsciously lowered her head, burying her face even lower, trying to avoid being noticed.

However, the students' attention was focused on the supernatural rumors, and no one noticed her strange expression, much less connected those eerie phenomena with the beautiful girl in front of them.

The chatter continued, and Shirakawa Chiyana was clutching the hem of her clothes, deep in thought, when a voice suddenly rang out at the classroom door, breaking her reverie: "Shirakawa-san, come out for a moment, your parents need to see you."