Even if you're a corrupted magical girl, you still have to try to redeem yourself.

Baqi excitedly took the coin and began to operate it with great skill.

"There's a technique to this. You can use a joystick to make the claw move, and then you can throw the doll into the hole."

"Oh! I didn't realize Xiaoyuan knew so much about these things!"

Baqi focused intently on controlling her paw to smoothly approach a pendant closer to the inside. She pressed a button, and the paw slowly moved down amidst electronic sounds and mechanical whirring, touching the edge of the puppy before grabbing nothing and slowly moving back.

"It's okay, because the reflection from the glass makes it a little difficult to get the position right."

Yuuki Yukino inserted another coin into the coin slot.

Baqi operated the claws carefully, much better than last time. She gripped the small pendant firmly in her claws, but suddenly loosened them as she approached the exit, and the pendant fell off.

"What's going on here! This is a lie!" Baqi angrily slammed the button a few times without really pressing it.

"That's how claw machines work; they don't always catch anything," Yuuki Yui comforted her, then inserted another coin.

"Oh! Is that so! They caught him! Come on! Come on! Whoa! Why did he fall down again!"

"Let's try again. Baqi wants that too, right?"

"Damn it, Xiaoyuan was right! I really want it, so let's have another one!"

The two whispered and bickered as they tossed the next coin into the claw machine.

Yuuki stood behind Baqi, encouraging her while watching the grappling hooks inside the glass cabinet fall again and again.

Once Yuuki felt the warmth emanating from the girl's clothes on Yuuki Yuuki's nose, she couldn't concentrate on the claw machine in front of her.

The girl's profile, revealing a focused expression, was right in front of Yuuki Yuki. A few beads of sweat glistened on the back of her slender neck, where strands of silver hair clung. Her wine-red eyes were fixed on the hook inside the glass cabinet. Her white canines dug into her lower lip, biting it lightly. Her lips, which had been touched countless times and were like cherry blossom jelly, were slightly deformed by her teeth.

Yuuki took out her phone, stepped back a few paces, and opened the camera. The sound of the shutter, which she had forgotten to turn off, startled Baqi, who was immersed in the world of claw machines. She also captured the slightly surprised look on Baqi's face when she suddenly turned around, but with an indelible happy expression on her lips.

"Xiaoyuan! What are you doing!"

Baqi is, after all, a girl, and it's understandable that she would show a shy expression when she was secretly photographed.

What made her even more embarrassed was that the person who secretly took her picture was Yuuki Yukino.

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Yuuki Yukari approached Baqi, inserted another coin into the claw machine, placed her palm on Baqi's palm, and guided the joystick in Baqi's hand towards the pendant that she had been unable to grab.

She took Baqi's hand and led her to press the button. The claw of the claw machine accurately grabbed the pendant. Under their expectant gazes, the silver boat carrying the white puppy got closer and closer to the exit, making Baqi excitedly jump up and down on the spot.

Then, just as they were about to reach the exit, they fell down again.

How did it collapse?!

Shouldn't the two of them have found what they wanted in the ambiguous atmosphere and then happily cherish it as an eternal memento?

In particular, Yuuki Yuen had a little ulterior motive. Ever since the two of them started catching pendants, she had been keeping track of how many times they had tried. She had been to this arcade before when she was shopping, and the machines were set to guarantee a win on the first try of about fifteen attempts.

At this moment, she used this method of guiding Baqi to play the claw machine step by step. Although she didn't have any intention of scheming to gain Baqi's favor, she also wanted to show off and create some romantic memories.

Unfortunately, the real world is not as perfect as in comics and fiction.

Yuuki Enishi tossed in another coin with a blank expression, then manipulated the grappling hook to steadily pull out the small pendant.

Oh, the number I set was one number different from what I expected.

I got it, but why don't I feel excited at all?

"Here, this is for you."

Yuuki Yukino placed the fluffy little pendant in Baqi's hand.

Now that they've been caught, the necessary actions still need to be taken.

He had ulterior motives for showing off, but his intention to give Baqi the pendant was genuine.

"Am I too stupid? That's why I didn't catch it?" Baqi pouted, happily accepting the gift, but her expression dimmed slightly.

"It's not because of Baqi, it's because the machine is set up like this. Unless you're very lucky and happen to hook it, it's usually one well every fifteen draws. No, it takes fifteen draws to get it."

Yuuki explained to Baqi without even thinking.

"Oh—" Ba Qi blinked, a mischievous smile appearing on her lips: "Xiao Yuan just held my hand! Was she trying to show off?"

"No way!" Yuuki Yukino was immediately embarrassed when her thoughts were exposed.

Baqi didn't care whether Yuuki had used any underhanded tactics, and waved the small pendant she had just received in her hand: "But it's the first gift Yuuki gave me, so I'll accept it with all my heart."

"Yay—" Yuuki Yukino clapped her hands excitedly.

In the past, Yuuki Yuuki wouldn't have made such a move; perhaps she was influenced by Tomoe.

"Then I also need to give Xiaoyuan a gift. This time, Xiaoyuan is not allowed to interfere!" Baqi hung the pendant directly on her schoolbag and strode off to continue searching for her next target.

Yuki followed behind, looking around to see if there was anything she liked. She always felt something was missing if she came to the arcade empty-handed.

"Didn't Baki already give me a gift worth treasuring?"

"what?"

"Black magic pattern."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Baqi turned to Yuuki Yuen, backing away while pretending to punch him a few times.

Just as Baqi turned around, a girl happened to walk from the other side of the claw machine. Even though Yuuki Yukino quickly grabbed Baqi's arm, she still couldn't prevent Baqi from bumping into the girl.

"I'm sorry..." Baqi rubbed the spot where she had been bumped, looked up at the girl over there, but her words of apology caught in her throat.

The girl who bumped into Baqi could only be described as cool. She was definitely the tallest among the peers that Yuuki had ever seen. Her black princess-cut short hair had a tuft of bright red dyed on her left temple. She was about the same age as Yuuki but was not wearing a uniform. Instead, she was dressed in a neutral-style short-sleeved jacket and jeans.

What truly surprised Inuyama Tomoe was the black magic markings that were constantly flashing in the girl's pupils without any attempt at concealment.

Chapter Four: This time, the kiss is donut-flavored.

As Baqi looked at the girl she had bumped into, the girl also made eye contact with Baqi.

This androgynous outfit, which looks like that of a delinquent girl, is enough to terrify an ordinary high school girl, not to mention the bright black magic markings branded in her pupils.

Everyone knows what the Black Magic Mark means when they're a magical girl.

If the other party wants to hide their identity, they will definitely choose to wear sunglasses or an eye mask to cover up their black magic patterns.

None of that was true. The girl looked at Baqi very casually with her eyes, which were marked with black magic patterns, without showing any other emotion.

"I'm so sorry." Baqi was only stunned for a moment before bowing deeply to the girl.

The girl reacted as if she had accidentally bumped into someone else, glancing at Inuyama Tomoe and giving her a slight nod to indicate that she had accepted the apology.

Of course, Baqi wouldn't recognize this magical girl, but Yuuki Yuuki did, which made it a different story in Yuuki Yuuki's eyes.

The final boss is the student council president of St. Yuu Academy, but the strongest enemy is not her, but the magical girl in front of you who accidentally bumped into Inuyama Tomoe.

Appearing as a hidden boss with demanding trigger conditions, this character doesn't bully the weak or cause much destruction. However, they are very persistent in their battles with magical girls; that's roughly the kind of character they are.

Ultimately, this isn't a linear storyline game world, and there's no next game objective above your head. So, it's normal to encounter a hidden boss in a world with such high freedom, right?

That would be absurd! How could anyone possibly defeat an enemy like that?

Right, I don't think I belong to the normal magical girl camp, so I can't simply blame it on the enemy.

But the other party doesn't care whether you've fallen into darkness or not; anyone who can arouse her interest will come over and start a fight.

Yuuki Yui isn't afraid of just a fight, but a conflict occurring less than two hours after the start of summer vacation will give this anticipated summer vacation an inauspicious start.

While Yuuki Yukino was agonizing over these thoughts, the girl had already walked past the two of them.

Once the girl was out of sight, Baqi immediately pulled Yuuki Yukino aside to start discussing the girl.

"Xiaoyuan, did you see that? That's the Black Demon Mark, right? It's the one above her left eye."

"I saw it." Yuuki Yui glanced at the girl's back. She had stopped in front of a game machine, took out a few coins from her pocket, placed them next to the joystick, and started playing. Only then did she speak.

The music in the arcade was very loud, and it was difficult to hear normal conversations clearly, but Yuuki Yuki kept her voice down just to be safe.

"Do you think she might also be affected by the negative corruption brought about by the Dark Corruption? Xiao Yuan said that the activity level of the Black Demon Runes is related to the degree of corruption, right? Her eyes look like light bulbs."

“I don’t know, but I can sense that this person is very dangerous.”

As Yuuki Yui spoke, she walked in the opposite direction, increasing the distance between herself and the girl.

"That's true. If we just walk around like that on the street, we'll definitely be spotted by the other magical girls, right?"

Of course she'd be found out; she did it on purpose, silly child.

This guy is a battle maniac who will wipe out all the magical girls attracted by the black magic pattern. He has a face that is very attractive to female contacts, and he also has the kind of body that looks slim when dressed but muscular when undressed. In addition, he has a cool outfit. He is very eye-catching, but he is the character who is least compatible with SeSe in the whole game.

There are many things that Yuuki Yukino can tell Baqi, including her desire to clear her name, which she didn't explicitly say but didn't mean to hide from Baqi either. However, there is one thing she didn't tell Baqi.

That was her identity as a time traveler.

Therefore, she couldn't explain some things in detail and could only say that it was her intuition.

That said, Helica even took it as his ability to recognize the magical girl from God's perspective.

"Let's not talk about that anymore," Ba Qi changed the subject. "We haven't decided what gift to give Xiao Yuan yet. This is a rare opportunity, let's pick one out!"

Yuuki Yuuki enjoys the feeling of the moment the plush toy is pulled out of the claw machine. In essence, she doesn't have much affection for the plush toy itself. If she does have any affection, it's the affection she feels for the people around her who play claw machines with her.

So what you get from playing claw machines isn't necessarily the fluffy, cute little toys inside, but the joy of playing together.

Of course, it's not fun if you can't catch it.

"I don't think it matters what the gift is."

Yuki Yuki's words were misunderstood by Tomoe as having other meanings.

"No, no, no! Xiaoyuan gave me a gift, how could I not reciprocate at all?"

"I mean, anything that Baqi gives me is fine."

"Black magic patterns are fine too?" Baqi retorted, echoing the joke Yuuki had just made.

"The black magic pattern was a gift from Baqi."

Yuuki Yukino's serious expression defeated Tomoe, who wanted to tease her.

"What's so good about it! It's not good at all! What's so good about this kind of thing!"

"Then Baqi, pick out something you'd like to give me."

The girls continued to move between the game consoles, and even the little incident earlier did not affect what the two were originally going to do.

Yuuki Yukino was also looking forward to it, wondering what kind of gift Baqi would give her.