Why are the magical girls in your area male?

"Because her condition is still unstable and she has not yet fully awakened."

Shiori Shiomi's voice lowered slightly, tinged with self-reproach, "I originally brought her here tonight hoping to enter the Moon Etching and help her fully accept that power, but I never expected this to happen."

I failed to anticipate these unexpected events and did not prepare contingency plans; this was an oversight on my part, and I apologize.

"..."

Yuki Tsukishiro bit her lower lip, shook her head, and said in a comforting tone, "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. This is the first time we've encountered something like this. Even if Mr. Nakado came, he probably wouldn't be able to change anything."

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of chaotic footsteps came from the outside corridor, growing louder as they approached.

Shortly after, Tsukasa Kimura and Go Nakado appeared one after the other at the entrance to the women's restroom.

Upon seeing Nakado Go, Tsukishiro Yuki's eyes lit up, and she stepped forward with hope: "Nakado-senpai, please see if there's any way to get to the Moon Etching through this mirror?"

"I've heard about the situation. Don't panic, calm down first."

Nakado Go's voice was as tired as ever.

He walked to the mirror, stretched out his hand, and placed it on the mirror surface.

Emerald green magic emanated from his palm, rippling across the mirror's surface.

After a long pause, he lowered his arm, shook his head helplessly at the people behind him, and said:

"There is no magical aura, it's just an ordinary mirror. The power I wanted to pull them in just appeared randomly on the mirror."

"What should we do then?" Yuki Tsukishiro's heart, which had just been at ease, jumped again. "There are still 15 minutes until midnight. Are we going to wait until then to go in?"

"It can only be this way."

"..."

Kimura Tsukasa walked over to Tsukishiro, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him, "Don't worry, the young chairman also said that as long as ordinary people don't break into the Shadow Beast's lair, their chances of survival in the short term are quite high."

Moreover, he has a magical girl who is already partially awakened by his side; one should believe that Yuan Qingjun is destined for good fortune.

Yuki Tsukishiro nodded with a wry smile, then turned her gaze to Shiori Shiomi: "President, should we tell Kaoru about this?"

“Keep it a secret for now,” Shiori Shiomi said decisively, having already considered all of this. “Don’t tell her until we find her, lest she panic and do something reckless.”

Yuecheng, I know you're worried about Yuanqing, but I still need to ask you to stay calm and not let Yuanxun suspect anything.

"..."

Yuki Tsukishiro clenched her fists.

Although this decision is somewhat unfair to Yuan Xun, it is indeed for her benefit.

Please, please don't let anything happen to you, Ah Qing.....

......

......

As his consciousness gradually returned, Yuan Qing slowly opened his eyes.

What came into view was a desolate ruin.

He looked around and quickly assessed his surroundings.

This looks like a shopping mall?

The massive glass dome had long since shattered, and the twisted steel frame was exposed like the skeleton of a giant beast.

The floor tiles were covered with a thick layer of dust and rubble. In the distance, the broken shop windows looked like eye sockets, with decaying mannequins scattered inside. Faded clothes from clothing stores were strewn everywhere, creating a mess on the ground.

"Where the hell am I...?"

Yuan Qing struggled to sit up, still feeling a little dizzy.

Through the broken dome, one can see the outside world, but it is all emptiness. There are no city lights, and even the night seems to be nonexistent.

This looks like a lunar etch, but it's not quite the same as a lunar etch.

Yuan Qing carefully examined his surroundings, finally fixing his gaze on the "nothingness" above his head.

You can't see anything; the shopping center seems to be enveloped by something, completely isolated from the outside world.

This place seems to be an independent space.

"Hmm..."

A faint groan came from the ruins of the central courtyard fountain not far away.

Toriumi Ritsuki slowly woke up, one hand supporting her forehead, her head bowed, and murmured, "Where am I?"

"Are you alright?" Yuan Qing came to her side, his face showing concern.

"I don't know, my head is buzzing, I feel dizzy, and I feel a little nauseous..."

As he spoke, Toriumi Ritsuki seemed to have a stomach ache, and suddenly gagged: "Ugh..."

"Who told you to eat so much at the banquet? With that huge appetite, you'll turn this place into a land 'flowing with milk and honey' for burial purposes..."

"I'm not fat!"

Toriumi Riki frowned and snapped at him, then realized what she meant: "Wait, wait a minute, who are you?"

"Yuan Qing, don't you recognize me?"

"That security guard?"

"I'm still your student! In Grade 11, Class B, you've forgotten?"

Yuanqing's comment finally brought back memories for Toriumi Ritsuki.

"Oh, yes, yes!"

She gently patted her head and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I don't really remember the faces of strangers. It's just that you and that other handsome guy were together."

I can easily recognize you two when you're standing together, but if you're separated, I don't quite recognize you.

"If you can't even remember your students' faces, can you really be a good teacher...?" Yuan Qing was somewhat ashamed.

Toriumi Ritsuki shook her head and asked, "Stop making fun of me, where exactly is this place?"

"We haven't figured it out yet..."

Before Yuan Qing could finish speaking, a page suddenly popped up in his mind from the system:

[Entered the special instance: The Fallen Market]

[Description: A unique space constructed from fragments of a former shopping mall's former prosperity]

[Difficulty: Nightmare, Recommended Level: Lv.30]

[Appendix 1: The dungeon is a unique, randomly appearing space within the Moon Etch.]

[Appendix 2: Dungeon difficulty, from easiest to hardest, is Normal, Dangerous, Nightmare, and Abyss. With each increase in difficulty, the level of monsters and bosses increases by several levels, and the dropped items become rarer.]

[Conditions to leave the instance: Defeat the boss/Find the portal to leave the instance]

[Failure Condition: Death (You are under newbie protection; upon death, you will be automatically teleported back to the Tower of Illusion lobby)]

After reading this section of information, Yuan Qing finally understood his current situation.

It turns out to be a copy.

The Moon Etching wasn't enough, they even have to create these randomly refreshed independent instances?

Interesting, it's starting to feel more and more like playing a video game.

However, now is not the time to lament such things.

Nightmare difficulty, recommended level 30...

Having experienced a similar boss battle before, Yuan Qing knew very well what this meant.

He's only level 16, yet he's challenging a dungeon with a recommended level of 30.

One can imagine how challenging this will be.

In addition, there is a major problem—

Toriumi Riki.

If you're alone, then failing the mission is fine; if you die, you can simply revive on the spot in the Tower of Illusion's lobby.

But then there's Toriumi Riki.

It's one thing that my first time entering a dungeon was on Nightmare difficulty, but to let an ordinary person like me get in is utterly ridiculous. What kind of bullshit is this?

Recalling why he entered the instance, Yuan Qing's expression darkened.

This dungeon seems different from Moon Etching. Moon Etching only appears after midnight, but when I and Toriumi Riki were pulled in, there was still at least half an hour until midnight.

If this thing appears randomly, how many people have "disappeared" because of it by now?

"Yuanqing... Yuanqing-kun?"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Toriumi Riki's voice pulled Gen Ao back to reality.

She asked softly, "You were spacing out just now, were you thinking about something?"

"Pretty much. Listen, Mr. Toriumi, what I'm about to say is very important, so please believe me."

"W-what? Why are you suddenly so serious..."

"We've been dragged into a very dangerous place. I'll explain what it is later. Just understand, there are monsters here, and we have to survive! Stay close to me! Don't wander off!"

"Huh? Uh, oh, okay, fine!"

Toriumi Ritsuki nodded and responded haltingly.

Yuan Qing saw this and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Professor Toriumi wasn't as flustered as I had imagined; his calm demeanor will be a great help in the subsequent exploration.

He was afraid that Torii Riki would act like those classic dim-witted women in movies and TV shows, screaming and running around in order to advance the plot, attracting the aggro of all the monsters on the map.

That would be troublesome.

"Snap, snap, snap!!"

As I pondered, a sickeningly painful sound of bones grinding together came from the dark ruins of the shop all around!

Yuan Qing frowned and immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

Inside the deep, dark shop, one after another, distorted shadow beasts crawled out of the shadows!

On the left is a large group of skinned wild dogs, their bones exposed, their flesh mangled, their eye sockets empty, leaving only two horrifying holes.

On the right is a grotesque mass of fleshy growths that looks like it's made up of rotten meat, with yellowish pus flowing from its surface. Just looking at it is nauseating.

And overhead, a dozen skeletal spiders, each the size of a human head, were crawling rapidly across the ceiling.

There were so many of them that they quickly surrounded the two of them!

【Carrion Hound, Level: 22】

[Abscess aggregate, Grade: 24]

[Skeleton Spider, Level: 19]

Lines of information about the monsters popped up in front of Yuan Qing's eyes. He quickly read them, and cold sweat involuntarily seeped from his forehead.

Damn.

This is supposed to be a Nightmare difficulty dungeon with a recommended level of 30? All these mobs are higher level than me!

Volume 1: Chapter 46 What kind of soul-wandering soldier is this! (Bonus Chapter)

"A monster...!"

Toriumi Ritsuki was so frightened that her face turned pale and her expression changed drastically.

"Don't panic!"

Yuan Qing gave a calm and steady shout, shielding her behind him.

"Teacher Toriumi, just do whatever I tell you to do, don't panic!"

"I, I know, I know..."

Before Toriumi Ritsuki could finish speaking, one of the lead carrion hounds launched the first attack!