Chapter 319: So This Is What You Look Like

On the way back, she visited several underground recycling shops and sold off all the valuable junk she had salvaged from the landfill.

There were plenty of things she would once have treasured, but today she had to grit her teeth and leave them behind because her backpack wasn’t good enough. She gave all the space to the valuable stuff instead... but there was no choice. She was already carrying two extra big bags. Any more would be too conspicuous, and she wouldn’t be able to walk properly.

Looking at the string of digits in her account, Vivi felt as if she were dreaming.

Aside from when loan money came in, she had never seen this much cash in her account.

Not only had she paid off this month’s loan from the Black Snake Gang, she had even repaid this month’s overdue Hteng Group scholarship payment ahead of time. And after doing all that, she still had a whole 2,137 credit points left in her account!

That enormous sum was enough to buy more than a dozen E+ grade magic potions to push her magic power higher, or to get a more efficient meditation technique.

She could even say she had scraped together nearly half of the money needed for interface surgery!

Yet just half a day ago, she had been completely broke, nearly at the point where the gangsters would drag her to an operating table and dismantle all her organs.

“...”

Looking at herself in the mirror, Vivi suddenly felt her vision blur. She raised a hand to yank off her glasses, but then remembered they were one of the few valuable things she owned, so she could only take them off carefully.

Then she reached up to wipe the corners of her eyes, but the dampness only kept spreading the more she wiped.

“Sniff...”

She suddenly wanted to sob, but was afraid to show weakness and let that ball hear her.

Because in the life she’d lived until now, weakness meant people would pick on you and push you further and further. So she had to bite and claw at everyone like a stray dog.

But, logically speaking, shouldn’t she be thanking the other party now?

She didn’t even know how to say thank you. No one had ever taught her things like that... because she didn’t have a mother.

But the next moment,

that familiar voice sounded again. “So this is what you look like.”

“?!”

Vivi whipped around. Two huge, full mounds were thrust out in front of her chest, swaying slightly.

That angelic pink-haired figure had appeared behind her, seeming utterly out of place in the shabby bathroom.

Her reflection did not appear in the mirror.

She reflexively rubbed her eyes hard. “What are you doing?!”

“What do you mean, ‘So this is what you look like’?!”

The pink-haired girl spoke softly. “My true body has no sight. I can only share your five senses and magic power.”

Vivi froze for a moment.

So, it was only now, when she looked in the mirror, that the girl could see her face?

“...Go ahead and laugh if you want.”

Facing this beautiful girl who seemed to belong to a completely different layer of reality, she lowered her head slightly, her voice nasal. “This is what I look like.”

“But once I become a magical girl, I’ll definitely get prettier.”

Lin Guang didn’t comment on her appearance, only asking softly, “Why do you want so badly to become a magical girl?”

“...”

What else could it be?

Becoming a magical girl was practically every girl’s dream in Neon City. They could make lots of money, rise above everyone else, and become dazzling and beautiful!

Everyone knew that.

Vivi instinctively thought the other was mocking her, saying she wasn’t worthy.

But as she looked at that flawless, pretty face, and into those clear, deep eyes the same color as her own, she suddenly realized something.

She had said she had amnesia.

Did she really not remember?

Vivi fell silent for a moment, not knowing what to say, and instinctively turned her head away.

Her gaze passed through the narrow, rust-covered window and looked outside.

Nighttime was far better than daytime for advertising.

In a district farther away, more prosperous than Peace Street, the night sky was dyed in every color by holographic projections. A huge magic-powered airship still drifted slowly through the sky, its screen playing footage of the magical girl Erika waving her staff.

The glowing animations for recruitment and the prayer card pool flickered, illuminating that stretch of sky with a fantastical, neon-like glow.

Vivi looked away, her tone carrying a hint of impatience. “Who the hell knows the exact reason?”

“I only know that everyone’s fighting tooth and nail to become a magical girl.”

“Those big companies are willing to shower them with money, and the channels broadcast their heroic exploits every day: vanquishing monsters, hunting demon-people, and fighting demon beasts...”

“If everyone thinks that’s the best thing, then magical girls must be the best.”

She spoke stubbornly, a hard-to-describe light shining in her eyes. “If it’s so great, then why can’t I become a magical girl?”

Through the corner of Vivi’s eye, the pink-haired girl watched her reflection in the mirror.

She nodded and said softly, “I see.”

“Enough with all that. I’m going to take a bath. I spent so long crawling around the garbage heap, and my whole body’s tired and sore. I have to get up early for class tomorrow, and it’s practical training day...” Vivi grumbled a few complaints, then pinched the hem of her undershirt, preparing to take it off and bathe.

She had only lifted it halfway when she suddenly stopped and turned to look at the stunning pink-haired girl standing to the side. A blush crept across her cheeks. “Why are you still here?”

Under Vivi’s gaze, the other girl looked a little confused and tilted her head. “If I weren’t here, my true body would be on your bed. And I can only see what you see.”

Looking at that angelic face, gentle and serene, Vivi blushed even more and stammered, “Whether you can see me or not, it still makes me uncomfortable, okay?! Did you always have someone else around when you bathed before?”

“...?”

Actually, she probably had.

“Ugh, now I really believe you have amnesia...” Vivi sighed, then said crossly, “Don’t appear in my field of vision while I’m bathing! Do you understand now?!”

“Oh.”

The pink-haired girl seemed to understand. She answered flatly, and her figure disappeared.

Only then did Vivi finally relax. She quickly stripped off her clothes and stepped into the cramped shower stall.

As warm water poured from the showerhead and washed away the grime she had picked up at the landfill, Vivi shampooed her hair, but her thoughts couldn’t help drifting again.

The more she washed, the more something felt wrong.

The one who had made a contract with her had said... her five senses were connected to Vivi’s!

Did that mean the other girl could feel everything Vivi was feeling as she bathed now, the temperature of the water, even the sensation of rubbing her body clean with her hands...?

At the thought, Vivi’s movements instantly grew awkward. A flush of embarrassment and irritation quickly spread across her pale cheeks as her mind ran wild.

Why was she the only one who could share Vivi’s senses, while Vivi couldn’t touch her...?

Oh, no, wait. Did she only have a brain now? Then maybe it was better not to look or touch...