Chapter 19: Lin Yu keeps walking

“How annoying.”

Lin Yu slung on her backpack, boarding a driverless taxi to her family’s commercial street.

Pinching the strap, she adjusted her ponytail, muttering softly.

She still didn’t get how she became friends with Jiang Yao.

Maybe a few extra words at the school year’s start, or picking up a dropped pen—that’s all it took.

‘Ugh, I hate it!’

Seeing Jiang Yao always reminded Lin Yu of her mother.

Not that they were alike—hardly any similarities.

But both had enviable talents.

Her mom lounged at home, watching anime, gaming, occasionally slipping into chuunibyou, pretending to be a magical girl shooting lasers.

As a kid, she tricked Lin Yu into believing she was her familiar!

She claimed Lin Yu was a noble dragon, destined to gain dragon powers and conquer the world.

Her reliable dad, instead of debunking it, played along.

So, Lin Yu grew up believing she was a lofty dragon, too grand for ordinary friends.

She barely had any.

Worse, her mom recorded her cringe-worthy moments.

Lin Yu tried deleting them thirty times, but her mom burned them onto CDs, stashing one in each office.

Her name, Lin Yu, felt plain—like getting drenched in rain.

After pestering her dad, she learned he wanted to name her “Lin Yuxia.”

So poetic! It evoked a rainy alley, a girl with an oil-paper umbrella.

But her mom vetoed “Xia” as unlucky, dropping it without suggesting alternatives, leaving just Lin Yu.

She also called her dad “wrinkled-skinned” and other weird terms Lin Yu couldn’t grasp.

What kind of mom does that? (Annoying.)

Yet this quirky mom ran a business empire, even hiring real magical girl idols as endorsers.

Her dad said it was her talent, luck, and seizing opportunities.

Lin Yu thought her mom was one-of-a-kind.

Then came Jiang Yao.

She barely studied, yet always outscored Lin Yu.

The pressure was immense.

Self-imposed, since Lin Yu saw herself as a “noble dragon descendant,” her grades had to top others’.

Over time, even after the lie was exposed, she craved first place, rejecting anything less.

Her parents didn’t care about grades, just her character.

“We’re loaded,” her mom said seriously. “Keep your morals, and grades don’t matter. 🖐 But…”

“If someone—or a fairy—offers to make you a magical girl, say no. It involves sacrifice, even death.”

“Don’t worry, our family lacks that sacrificial spirit, starting with me.”

As if she knew magical girls beyond endorsers!

“Magical girl” felt distant to Lin Yu.

Growing up, demon attacks were rare, just news stories.

In 2032, magical girls sparked discussion with their beauty, magic, and varied lives, but they were far from ordinary people.

Even those close to them might not know their identities.

Dark forces felt like “natural disasters,” striking suddenly, claiming lives or none, with magical girls as disaster responders.

Like firefighters or police—noble, but unreal unless they hit you.

Recently, though, attacks spiked.

Once, giant bugs invaded the school playground.

Lin Yu tried dragging Jiang Yao to safety, but they got separated in the chaos, terrifying her.

Luckily, a magical girl resolved the crisis, and they reunited.

Furious, Lin Yu scolded Jiang Yao for not sticking with the group or using the emergency exit, wandering off instead.

Jiang Yao, sloppy and inattentive, slept or played on her phone in class.

Yet she always got first.

Classmates gossiped she cheated.

Ridiculous.

In the same exam room, Lin Yu saw Jiang Yao’s swift, confident answers.

Cheating couldn’t snag first place.

Like her mom, it was Jiang Yao’s “talent.”

An annoying talent.

Lin Yu tried hard, but at best tied Jiang Yao.

Despite her good upbringing, jealousy crept in.

She felt ashamed, jealous of her friend.

The guilt of knowing it was wrong burned her.

‘If only we’d never been friends.’

That thought looped in her mind.

After exam results, holding her second-place report card, she snapped at Jiang Yao’s cheerful weekend invite.

“Who wants to be your friend? I’m not a genius like you. Stop distracting me from studying!”

Jiang Yao looked heartbroken and fled.

She took sick leave that afternoon, skipping school.

This morning, seeing Jiang Yao back, Lin Yu dropped her plan to hire a detective to find her and apologize.

Instead, she clutched an apology letter, revised until midnight, and approached Jiang Yao, who’d just set down her bag.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that… You’re my…”

Baring her feelings felt alien, but she had to apologize properly to her only friend.

“…best friend.”

‘Say it! Say it!’

Lin Yu bowed her head, avoiding Jiang Yao’s eyes.

“Huh? I went to see my mom in the hospital yesterday. I was a bit mad, but I know you didn’t mean it.”

Jiang Yao’s casual reply puffed Lin Yu up like a pufferfish.

If she didn’t care, then Lin Yu’s sleepless night, endless revisions, apology practice, and video tutorials were clown-level antics!

No wonder she was grumpy in class.

But Jiang Yao accepted the letter and wasn’t angry.

Mission accomplished—Lin Yu won!

The taxi stopped.

Lin Yu stepped out, exhausted.

Her reliable dad was busy with a project, so she dealt with Jiang Yao by day and her unreliable mom by night.

Ding-ling-ling~

At Yaoguang Coffee, Lin Yu petted Hei Dou, picked up the kitten, and trudged to the third floor with her bag.

‘Mom’s probably watching anime again…’

At the door, key in hand, she heard voices.

‘Mom talking to someone? She doesn’t let outsiders up here.’

Curious, Lin Yu pressed her ear to the door.

Her mom’s excited voice rang out: “Come on! Let’s see if you’re developing normally!”

“No way!”

“Be good! (Shock) Put this on!”

“No! Sister Quan, no spicy stuff! Sister Quan, don’t…”

Lin Yu: “????”

Her hand froze, key hovering outside the lock.