Chapter 26: TS Magical Girl, Buy Women’s Clothing!
Due to the campus festival’s historic “incident,” Saint Flower High announced a one-day school closure on Friday. The official reason was a “campus-wide gas exhaust system safety check,” but it was really to buy time for damage control and PR.
The unexpected three-day weekend became a surprise mini-vacation for students.
Lin Feng was thrilled. After Zero left, he used a memory-wiping device from Ouroboros’s brainwashing division to alter the memories of all ordinary students present. Now, instead of recalling the magical girl brawl livestream, they only remembered “a gas explosion at the festival nearly blowing up the auditorium.”
As for the massive destruction? That was for the magical girl association and school officials to handle. Why would an evil organization cadre get involved? He had a date with Zero to plan.
As for the others, Hoshino Kirara reportedly had a breakdown after waking, sobbing apologies to Tao Gong Qi before taking an extended leave to recover at home.
“Lover” Dan succumbed to his injuries. Why didn’t Lin Feng save his colleague? Well, that black magical girl’s punch could’ve plastered him into a wall, unextractable. Saving Dan would’ve just meant extra condolence pay for Ouroboros—assuming Lin Feng wasn’t in his armor.
Escaping cleanly, he pinned everything on Zero. Ouroboros’s intelligence network soon spread tales of the “mysterious, powerful black magical girl,” and Dan’s death was naturally blamed on her.
Incidentally, so many female operatives applied for Dan’s “Lover” condolence benefits that Ouroboros leadership considered scrapping the system entirely, leaving the organization in an uproar.
Lin Feng, having deftly extricated himself without dirtying his hands, embellished his report to the Queen. In his tale, he was a tragic lone hero, dodging Zero’s apocalyptic pursuit with wit and courage, barely preserving his life and the organization’s research future.
The Queen commended his “outstanding performance, timely intelligence, and commendable bravery,” granting a hefty budget and research resources that made departments like Brainwashing and Indoctrination green with envy.
Lin Feng grinned at his account’s string of zeros and newly unlocked high-level material access.
Plan successful √
Now, humming a tune in his secret base, he upgraded his armor’s systems while eagerly planning his weekend date with Zero. More importantly, he needed to confirm if Zero was really…
His custom phone buzzed with a new message. Sender: Dongfang Cheng.
[Come with me to the mall. Need to buy some women’s clothes.]
Lin Feng blinked, his grin widening visibly.
[If you’re kidnapped, blink twice.] He fired back.
[Cut the crap. You coming or not?]
[111, let me change and I’m there!] Lin Feng sent, stifling a laugh, picturing Dongfang Cheng’s annoyed scowl.
[Change, my ass. Move now!]
Two minutes later, Lin Feng zoomed to Dongfang Cheng’s door, knocked, and waited.
The door creaked open, and Lin Feng’s teasing grin froze. It was unmistakably Dongfang Cheng—but not the one he remembered.
He was… shorter, like a chunk of his height had been sliced off. The face Lin Feng used to look up at was now below his eye line. That sharp, impatient face had softened shockingly, shedding its delinquent edge for an almost girlish refinement. The oversized male T-shirt hung loosely, like a kid wearing their older brother’s clothes, accentuating a delicate collarbone and neckline.
Lin Feng didn’t know where to look.
Dongfang Cheng’s heart sank.
He caught Lin Feng’s brief, instinctive glance at his old height level. That subtle shift in gaze felt like a knife in his back.
This rich dog wasn’t affected by cognitive distortion, was he?
“If you don’t say something, I’m treating you like air,” Dongfang Cheng muttered, a mix of shame and irritation, reaching to push Lin Feng aside and leave alone.
“Whoa, whoa!” Lin Feng blocked him. “Hold up… you’re buying women’s clothes? Got a secret hobby, A-Cheng? You’re full of surprises!”
“None of your business.” Dongfang Cheng gritted his teeth, trying to sidestep.
“Hey, don’t run off!” Lin Feng, grinning cheekily, blocked him again. “Let me guess—got a girlfriend? Buying a surprise gift? Tsk, tsk, A-Cheng, didn’t peg you for a romantic!”
“It’s not your business…” Dongfang Cheng’s cheeks flushed suspiciously, his tone growing testier. “If you’re not coming, say so. I’ll go alone.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Lin Feng backed off but kept poking. “Who’s the girl? Spill!”
“Could it be Hoshino? Sparks from the play? Or the class prez? You’re both so straightforward, kinda perfect. Or… wait, you and the homeroom teacher?!”
“What the hell!” Dongfang Cheng, fed up, blurted a lie. “Online girlfriend! Buying clothes for her! Got a problem?”
“No problem, no problem!” Lin Feng bit back a laugh, nodding. An online girlfriend? This guy, whose longest sentence to a classmate was “Shut up!”? Yeah, right.
He didn’t call it out. He had ways to find the truth—when he “fixed” Dongfang Cheng’s old smartphone, he’d slipped in his latest “Friendship Guardian” software. A quick check of the chat logs later… heh, nothing would stay hidden.
“What’s your girlfriend’s height, weight? Measurements? Shoe size? You need basics to buy clothes.”
“Uh… think Zero, the magical girl. They’re about the same.”
“!! Damn, didn’t see that coming. You’re such a Zero stan you’re finding lookalikes? Respect.”
“Get lost.” Dongfang Cheng’s cheeks reddened further, squeezing out the word.
“No hoodies, sweatpants, or sneakers, got it?”
“…You a mind reader?” Dongfang Cheng gaped.
“I’m saying, girls want to dress up for dates.” Lin Feng patted his shoulder, tone loaded. “You might not care, but she does.”
Especially if his hunch was right, and this “girl” would be standing before him this weekend.
Her outfit mattered—a lot.