"Can I extract again? This time, I'll definitely be more specific about the power I want. Please give me another chance. I don't want to be a magical girl."
Fang Ran prostrated himself right in front of the light blue interface. With teary eyes, he asked,
[Ding! Cannot]
"Pff!"
Fang Ran could feel a large clot of blood being stuck at the back of his throat. 'This can't be!' With a blank expression on his face, he stared mindlessly at the magic book in his hand.
'Don't kid me, am I really stuck with this power?'
In a place similar to that of an infinite-style novel of a renown author, with zombie festing everywhere, he actually had to use the ability of that of a magical girl to battle zombies!
What the f*ck… this is not right!
Amongst the previous group of magical girls who fought against zombie monsters, besides one who ascended to be a deity, the rest are all dead, alright?
Magical girl is a really high-risk occupation…
Fang Ran could feel he was embarking on a path of no return. 'This won't do, I could see a red flag being planted already. Using this kind of power to engage in battle has a clear cannon-fodder feel to it.'
Have you ever seen an awesome protagonist using such an uncool power before?!
'This won't do! Calm down, calm down, I need to calm down. Fang Ran, twenty years old, no bad track record, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink alcohol, doesn't engage in male homosexual practices, a virgin, and the time he has been single is about the same as his age. Why am I insulting myself at this time?!'
"I… f*ck calming down!!!"
Fang Ran could not help but yell and ferociously bash himself again.
[Ding! About the end of the time-stop effect, there is still….]
"Eh, wait!"
He had been so focused on grumbling that he had nearly forgotten that he was in a very tense moment with a fatal threat right behind him, so it was not the time to grumble about what kind of power he got.
"At least tell me this, how do I use the power?!"
[Ding! Power has been bounded and mastered by the user]
"Huh?"
Fang Ran was dumbfounded and felt what was said to him was beyond ridiculous.
'Why don't I know that I have mastered the magical girl power?!'
Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Fang Ran picked up the magic book and attempted to activate it. After using all his strength for three seconds…
'F*ck, this lock won't open!'
'You didn't even give me a manual to open this thing. Am I supposed to carry this book and use it as a brick to beat down the zombie behind me?'
[Sensed the user's will]
[Number of acquisitions: 1/1]
[Unlocking progress: 0/52]
[Do you wish to proceed with the first extraction?]
"No way, extracting again. My luck is not good today. I should go to a temple to wash away the bad luck first."
Fang Ran, who could not help but smile bitterly, pressed his hand against his forehead. He felt his strength being totally drained from his body, rendering him unable to think of any retort against the situation he was in.
When he was a kid, he did watch the Clow Card anime so he knew exactly what the book in his hand was for. However, it had been such a long time ago that even if it was him, he would not be able to remember every detail.
Based on the vague impressions from the few times he had seen the anime during his childhood, not all of the 52 Clow Cards were able to be used offensively. There was a substantial portion of Clow Cards that were inherently mysterious, and it is still a mystery to what their functions are.
'What if I unknowingly walked under a ladder and drew a completely useless Clow Card like, The Sweet, The Glow, The Flower, et cetera.'
'If I draw them, I will definitely die!'
Oh, that's not really accurate, The Flower still has its uses. At least, it can add some aesthetic appeal when I lay in my grave.'
"God bless me, God bless me."
At times like this, he could only remember this cliché life-saving prayer, as his hand slowly reached out towards the magic book.
However, to be honest, at that moment, Fang Ran did not actually have much confidence in the magic book. It was the kind of gut feeling one would always get when performing on stage, the feeling that one would embarrass themselves on stage.
'I am still the person I was before, so what if I have powers?'
'I'm just an ordinary person who is ignorant of the world. Can I really survive in a situation with zombies just because I have this power?'
Even with a gun, it would be difficult for common folks to survive in an environment full of enemies, not to mention an unreliable magic book. This was just the way things were.
Furthermore, up until this moment, with a life-threatening zombie right behind him, he still had not quite come to terms with the fact that he had superpowers.
Perhaps everyone would have had such desires since childhood, but how long could that last?
As his hands hovered above the magic book, to his surprise, he did not actually pray for much.
All he wished for right now was to take a break, to buy some time before fleeing again. If he could find a safe place to hide, that would be even better.
However, the moment his fingertips touched the cover of the book, the magic book in his hands floated up, with an arcane golden ray shining faintly, the lock on the book cover clicked open. Then, it seemed as if countless emotions and thoughts turned into a warm breeze, blowing away the smiley-face facade he had always worn.
His eyes, which were slightly quivering, opened a little bit. He watched as the pages of the book got blown open and scattered in a flurry, turning page by page, and the golden particles warmedly dispersed around him, creating a magical surreal feeling that made him want to hide his embarrassed face.
Why… only now…
A particular page of the book stood upright, and the card drawn on the parchment gradually lit up. The golden particles converged into the shape of a card, before dispersing gloriously!
Looking up at this scene in stupefaction, Fang Ran felt like something had burst open in his heart.
'It turns out to be true. There is really such a thing in this world.'
'Turns out that, what I once desired, the kind of thing that would crush an ordinary fate… really exists… I…. didn't…..it turns out, I didn't…'
The golden card materialized into reality, floating in front of Fang Ran, slightly lighting up his dumbstruck face while giving off a somewhat warm and touching aura.
[Sword Card—— (THE SWORD)]
[Symbolism: Truth-seeking, reparation, and a destructive force at times.]
[Introduction: The magic wand itself becomes a sword, with its mightiness depending on the magic of the user's heart.]
Subconsciously, Fang Ran reached out and grabbed it. Just as his fingers touched the card, his eyes widened in incredulity. It was thick, warm and flexible, a card made of an unknown material, just like what he had seen on TV years ago.
The picture on the card's surface showed a golden chain wrapped around a slender sword. When his fingers brushed over the body of the card, which was over 20 centimeters, he felt an extremely mystical feeling.
Rumble!!!
"Roar!!!"
Just then, there was a sudden rumbling and glass-shattering sound from the surrounding space. The time-stop effect had completely ended. The zombie behind him let out a roar and rushed towards Fang Ran!
It snapped him out of his emotional-turbulence daze, leaving him no time to think, as he continued rushing towards the street ahead!
One was running for dear life, while the other was chasing, darting around this Night City.
"At least tell me how to use it!"
[Ding! Power has been bounded and mastered by the user]
'Has been bound and mastered by the user?!'
'Why don't I know about it?!'
Squeezing out a portion of the strength he had left, Fang Ran sprinted wildly along the streets of the night, under the dim night, his brain churned rapidly.
'Under normal circumstances, there is no need for it to lie to me, which means that what it said is true - I have mastered it, which means that I definitely know how to use it.'
'Could it be like in the anime?'
Recalling the embarrassing lines and movements of the magical girl, when she was transforming in the anime that he had previously watched, Fang Ran was somewhat skeptical of his idea and filled with reluctance from the bottom of his heart.
"Roar!"
However, the horrifying roar of the zombie right behind him, left him no choice but to abandon those feelings of shame that did not matter.
"…Wait, I remember… hiding…"
'No… why does it suddenly feel like something is missing compared to the anime…'
He had decided to put aside his pride with great difficulty, and was prepared to prioritise saving his life by shouting out the lines complete with the movement, but Fang Ran suddenly discovered a shocking fact!
He had no wand at all.
According to the anime, Clow Cards have to be activated using a magic wand.
He doesn't even have a wand, how the heck can he activate the card!
[Ding! Tip: Use any random metal object on your body to bind the magic wand]
"F*ck you! Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Fang Ran itched to hold it down, yell at it and say all kinds of nasty stuff at it. He then rapidly groped around his body for whatever he could substitute as a wand. 'Metal, metal, metal, damn it!'
He had not brought his wallet or keys out today, and his phone seemed to have fallen out at some point when he was escaping just now!
No way! He had a feeling that he was done for!
Fang Ran's hands were trembling, he was breaking out in cold sweat with bated breath. He could not believe that an event like those from third rate horror movies would occur to him now!
'This can't be it. A ray of hope just shined on me, am I going to die just like that?'
'Nooo….'
Even if he were to die, Fang Ran did not want his death to be caused by not having a magic wand to transform himself to a magical girl.
"Wait a second, that's right!"
Fang Ran suddenly thought about something on him, and immediately, he felt like he had come back from death's door. That feeling of joy, the feeling of finding hope in the depths of his despair, he believed that everyone who had experienced it would be able to strongly empathise with him.
Thinking about this, Fang Ran took two quick steps without the slightest hesitation, before spinning around abruptly, and like a Japanese samurai pulling out a sword, he whipped out his belt!
Without any hesitation, and no longer caring whether it was shameful or not, he shouted loudly,
"The belt which hides the powers of the dark!!!"
[Ding! Wand binding success]
[Ding! Power update completed]
[Ding! Beginner's guide ends]
[Ding! Night Battle-The Beginner, Guidance Success]
[Ding! Power activated!]
A series of notifications rang out in his ears, but Fang Ran did not have time to look at them. All he saw was a ray of light in his hands, and the belt in his hands seemed to undergo some sort of transformation which then caused the zombie to stop in fear.
After that, Fang Ran saw his belt, changing from looking soft like a whip, into an extremely hard belt.
At the place where the light disappeared, Fang Ran and the zombie looked at each other in consternation for two seconds…
The next moment, he broke into a sprint!
"I f*cking knew that superpowers are all bullsh*t! Ah!!!"