Chapter 332 Unless She Can Pass the Magical Girl Exam

That was Teresa’s voice.

As always, it was gentle and calm, yet carried a note that made Vivi’s heart leap.

Vivi’s heart skipped a beat. She suddenly understood.

Did that mean…

She was confident she could place without drinking the potion?!

In an instant, Tian Zhiya watched the white-haired girl before her, her expression shifting several times. “Let me see the contract.”

At those words, a knowing look flashed through Tian Zhiya’s eyes.

She was tempted. That meant this was practically a sure thing.

Smiling, she sent Vivi a copy of the data. “Sure.”

【Tian Zhiya: Competition Contract Documents】

Vivi adjusted her glasses and swiftly scanned the clauses.

The contract was essentially a wager. She had to achieve the required ranking, meaning she had to place at least tenth to receive the prize money.

And if she performed too poorly, or something happened that kept her from competing, she would even have to pay ten thousand credit points in breach-of-contract damages.

Obviously, they were worried Vivi might take the potion without drinking it, get a free bottle, and run off, leaving the school to take the loss.

By ordinary logic, with only half a month left, drinking the potion and taking her chances really was the only way forward for someone with ordinary fourth-grade magic power.

But that was the thinking of someone without a cheat!

At last, feeling the connection in her mind that came from the contract, Vivi seemed to make up her mind.

“All right. I accept!”

“Now that’s the spirit!”

“I’ll go print it out right now. Sign your name, and we’ll each keep a copy and upload it for the records!”

Full of admiration, Tian Zhiya patted Vivi’s shoulder several times with loud smacks, then strode out of the infirmary.

Watching the imposing, tower-like back of that big sister, excitement and nervousness finally appeared on Vivi’s face. “Teresa, can I really do it? Without drinking that potion?”

“Just focus on your practice for now.”

“Oh, right.”

Not long afterward.

After taking care of the contract and feeling that her leg had more or less recovered, Vivi returned to the training ground and tried using her spell at the edge of the field.

Boom!

Boom, boom, boom!

The sounds of small explosions rang out one after another, drawing sidelong glances.

Meanwhile.

Though the class group chat was still dead quiet, the tone of the discussions about her had quietly shifted in all sorts of smaller group chats and private messages.

【She awakened an offensive Innate Technique, right? No wonder Renee got wrecked…】

【I’m so jealous… I don’t have an Innate Technique… That kick just now really packed a punch…】

But some people disagreed: 【So what? You really think awakening an Innate Technique is a good thing? Once your core spell attribute is fixed, most mid- and high-level professions won’t be able to meet the requirements for changing careers.】

【Her spell looks like nothing more than crude magic-power release and ability alteration. She’s a penniless nobody without even a brain-computer interface. What decent profession could she possibly get? At best, she can do construction work or something.】

【That’s true enough.】

Anyone who had gone to school knew that after so many years of development, the superhuman system had long since formed a rigid hierarchy.

So-called superhuman professions used all sorts of methods, study and spell injections among them, to combine everything about a superhuman into a complex whole where one plus one was greater than two, or even greater than ten.

The core spells of high-level superhuman professions were all developed from a key spell, or formed by learning and combining other spells. Aside from natural talent, there were countless hard requirements and thresholds along the way. Some even had to be paired according to specific formulas, using countless arcane techniques that were never passed on to outsiders.

For certain families with deep traditions, if an heir awakened an unexpected Innate Technique that didn’t meet the requirements, it was as good as a dead end, and they could only abandon that heir. After all, an Innate Technique couldn’t be erased.

The same was true for ordinary people with even a little talent. It meant their future choices were completely set in stone.

So what if someone at the bottom like Vivi awakened an Innate Technique?

So what if she really did have talent?

As an orphan, she had no money, no connections, and no background.

If she refused to settle for an ordinary life and wanted to climb higher, she could only start with mediocre professions, exploring and learning through trial and error, fighting for her life, and perhaps even taking a path she could never turn back from. She might waste her entire life, achieve nothing remarkable, and struggle to breathe beneath an endless mountain of debt, before dying miserably by the roadside or out in the wilderness.

Unless…

Someone suddenly sent a message.

【Unless she can pass the Magical Girl exam.】

Magical girls.

Magical girls really were a high-level superhuman profession that let the poor ignore all sorts of thresholds and leap straight to the top.

Because aside from age, there were no prerequisites like those required by other professions.

Whether a girl had an Innate Technique or what her race was didn’t matter. As long as she worked hard enough, was talented enough, and wanted it badly enough, then passed the final interview…

She could sign a contract with a contract beast, become a magical girl, and gain a transformation of her own.

That was why magical girls represented the only path in sight for countless girls, and even boys, who had grown up at the bottom of Neon City.

The road was rough and steep, like thousands of soldiers trying to cross a single-plank bridge, but it truly existed.

It wasn’t fake. It wasn’t a performance.

There were too many ordinary people, while the children of the powerful had other paths open to them and weren’t especially eager to pursue this one. As a result, most magical girls came from ordinary or middle-class backgrounds.

So magical girls were the 【hope】 that any child trapped in poverty could see at a glance.

No matter how difficult or grueling it was, it was still the only 【hope】 in Neon City, a cruel place with a rigid hierarchy.

For a moment, the small group chat fell silent.

Then it burst into laughter.

【Hahaha, her?】

【She only just reached fourth-grade magic power, and she’s been at it since first year of middle school. What does she think she can do with two and a half months left?】

【She looks so broke she can’t even borrow much, and her potential for her path to magic is so shallow. It’s even less likely anyone would invest in her.】

【If you want to dream, go

</path> home and sleep. Don’t stand out on the street spouting nonsense.】

【Hahahahahahaha!】

On the other side of the crowd.

Katsumi pulled her attention away from the group chat and coldly glanced at Vivi, who hadn’t noticed a thing.

As she watched the pale yellow glow in Vivi’s hands grow steadier and steadier, the disgust in Katsumi’s eyes became more and more pronounced.

And in the deepest part of those eyes…

Was a profound 【jealousy】.

…………

That afternoon, during meditation class.

As the bell rang, another private message popped up on Vivi’s glasses.

【Katsumi: No matter how much a stray dog struggles, it’s still just a stray dog. So what if you got lucky and awakened an Innate Technique? You’ve only got measly level-four magic power.】

Faced with this kind of snide provocation, Vivi actually smiled now.

【What do you call an imbecile whose magic control is worse than a stray dog’s?】

The other person paused for a moment, clearly furious.

【Katsumi: You useless piece of trash, you don’t even have a brain-computer interface. Without a chip to help you, what do you think you can achieve with the basic meditation technique? With only two and a half months left, do you really think you can turn the world upside down?】

【What do you call an imbecile whose magic control is worse than a stray dog’s?】