Chapter 16: TS Magical Girl, Can’t Transform for a Week!

Outside, the pounding on the door and Lin Feng’s anxious shouts grew more urgent, each thump and call threatening to break through.

“Ah Cheng! Are you home or not? Say something, or I’m really calling the cops!”

—Call the cops!?

Zero’s heart clenched, her breath catching. No way could she let Lin Feng call the police—or let him inside!

She spun around the room like a headless fly, sweat beading on her forehead. The black crystal, stubbornly lodged in the terminal, refused to budge, as if welded in place.

Jump out the window and escape? If Lin Feng called the cops and they forced the door open, found her gone, and saw a smashed window, she’d be labeled a missing person!

In a panic, her gaze landed on the nightstand—

Her phone!

She lunged, snatching the charging phone from the nightstand.

The screen showed several unread messages and missed calls from Lin Feng. No time to check them. Her fingers flew across the screen, opening the text editor, brain racing as she typed out a message.

Done, she hit send without a second glance.

Just as Lin Feng wavered between breaking in or calling the police, his phone buzzed with a new message.

“What’s your deal, rich dog, banging on my door? I’m out. Forgot to charge my phone, just turned it on and got an alert from my home camera. Stop knocking unless you want the cops hauling you off.”

[Message sent.]

Zero held her breath, tiptoeing to the door, pressing her ear against the cold wood, listening tensely for any sound outside.

A moment of silence.

Then, slow, hesitant footsteps… moving away?

She didn’t dare move, frozen like a startled cat, until Lin Feng’s sounds faded completely. Only then did she exhale, sliding down against the door, limp with relief.

Phew… that was way too close to social death.

Her phone buzzed. Lin Feng’s reply lit up the screen:

“Ohhh, sorry, Ah Cheng! Thought something happened to you! Go do your thing, I’ll catch you later. Please don’t call the cops, I’m a law-abiding citizen!” Followed by a string of groveling apology emojis.

“…Idiot. Law-abiding citizen? Who drives a Maybach then?”

Zero smirked, proud of her genius. The message perfectly explained why she didn’t answer calls or open the door while stopping the rich dog from pestering her. Not bad!

Meanwhile, Lin Feng returned to his rented apartment, sat at his computer, and opened a hidden app.

The screen displayed multiple high-def surveillance feeds, one aimed at Dongfang Cheng’s front door.

He pulled up the playback, setting it to yesterday evening.

17:17—Dongfang Cheng, backpack slung over his shoulder, entered and closed the door.

After that—

Nothing.

Lin Feng fast-forwarded to the evening, then to this morning. Dongfang Cheng’s door never opened again. No one left, no one entered.

On his phone, the apologetic message he’d sent lingered on the screen.

Lin Feng stared at his best friend’s “scolding” text, his expression complicated. His fingers lightly traced the screen, lingering on Dongfang Cheng’s usual cap-wearing avatar. After a long pause, he murmured, barely audible:

“Ah Cheng, why are you lying to me?”

No way he’s actually tied to the organization, right? A flicker of doubt crossed Lin Feng’s eyes. He grabbed his phone, rapidly firing off messages to bombard the organization’s lunatics.

Back at the apartment, Zero leaned against the door, letting out a long breath.

She’d dodged a bullet! Almost exposed to the rich dog!

But relief aside, a thornier issue hit her—

That damn cat’s explanation.

Her eyes narrowed, and her consciousness plunged back into the contract space.

In the gray haze, the round-headed cat was licking its front paw. Sensing the shift in the air, its fur bristled.

“Dead cat, done investigating?”

“Meow!? Y-You again, meow…” The cat’s round head peeked cautiously from a corner, spotting Zero’s seething anger and nearly retreating.

“Explain.” Zero’s voice was ice-cold. “Why did I transform out of nowhere? Why’s the outfit different? And why won’t the crystal come out!?”

“Calm down, meow, magical girls shouldn’t be so cranky, meow!” The cat raised both front paws in surrender. “It’s really an accident, meow. A system bug, yes! A tiny error during routine maintenance triggered your forced transformation and… uh, random outfit loading, meow!”

“Really?” Zero’s eyes narrowed, unconvinced.

“Swear on my whiskers, meow!” The cat nearly raised a paw to the sky. “Don’t worry, I’ve pinpointed the bug and I’m fixing it urgently. But—”

Its tone turned serious. “Fixing it takes time, about two weeks, meow. During that, to avoid the bug spreading and causing worse, unpredictable issues—like your body data going haywire—you need to lay low, meow.”

“…What?”

“Basically, until the fix is done, you stay like this. Forcing a transformation could trigger the system’s ‘balancing process,’ and the consequences might be—” The cat lowered its voice dramatically, “—body parameter collapse, permanent gender lock, or even reality reconstruction, meow!”

“…Are you cursing me?” Zero cut in, face dark.

“No way, I wouldn’t dare, meow!” The cat hopped in panic. “Point is, if you want to stay a guy, don’t touch the terminal, meow!”

Zero clenched her teeth, silent for several seconds, then let out a long breath.

Fine. The recent monster attacks in Duhuang City had been handled by the other magical girls anyway. As a support operative, she didn’t need to be on the front lines every time.

“Alright.” Zero nodded, agreeing. “Two weeks, no transforming. But if this ‘system error’ isn’t fixed by then…” Her icy gaze swept the cat, the unspoken threat clear.

“It’ll be fixed, meow! Mission guaranteed, meow!” The cat snapped to attention, saluting with a front paw, ears flattened in fear.