Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Very Familiar

“I’m dying of laughter, hahaha—an entire class ran away.”  

After school in the afternoon, inside the infirmary. Gloria lay sprawled on a chair, cackling like a goose.  

Mi Xiaoliu stood with her hands clasped together, head bowed in silence.  

“Just wait, I’m totally sharing this hilarious thing with Auntie right now.” Gloria pulled out her phone and opened the video she’d recorded of Mi Xiaoliu standing in punishment.  

Mi Xiaoliu, who had been standing in the corner, walked over, tugged at Gloria’s sleeve, then grabbed her hand and pressed it to her own forehead.  

Heli often threatened her by making Gloria take her punishments—if Gloria took the punishment, then Heli wouldn’t have to know.  

“What’s wrong, don’t want Auntie to see?” Gloria clearly didn’t understand her meaning and flashed a wicked grin. “Fine, but what’ll you give me in exchange?”  

Mi Xiaoliu rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a half-finished drink, handing it over. 

Original price: 3 mila. Half-drunk, still worth 1.5 mila.  

“Get lost! That’s disgusting, who’d want this?” Gloria spun Mi Xiaoliu around and kicked her in the butt.  

Gloria thought this was Mi Xiaoliu deliberately humiliating her.  

Confused, Mi Xiaoliu hugged her drink and retreated to the corner.  

Even Yiwen would drink from her half-finished beverages.  

She looked down at her shoes.  

“Master, most people don’t like wearing someone else’s socks,” Sasha hurriedly interjected.  

Plenty of guys might be into that, but girls? Forget it.  

“Yesterday I bought a little dress, but oops—I accidentally got a small size, and oops again—it just happens to match your measurements… What a waste. What do you think I should do?” Gloria rested her chin on one hand and pulled out a small dress and a pair of black stockings from the medicine drawer.  

And it was a jk (High School Girl) dress!  

Mi Xiaoliu took a step back.  

Gloria grabbed her arm.  

Mi Xiaoliu shook her head repeatedly.  

“Master, you can’t wear girls’ clothes in front of others!” Sasha cried.  

“Go ahead and scream. No one’s coming to save you—Auntie won’t be home today. Once a boy tries it for the first time, he’ll fall in love with the feeling, muhahaha—” Gloria pinned her down, pushed her onto the infirmary bed, and kindly drew the curtain for privacy.  

“Don’t forget, I still have that video. If you don’t want Auntie finding out, be a good boy and change into this.” Gloria held up a makeup palette, waiting patiently.  

Of course, she wasn’t about to watch the kid change—she had zero interest in a scrawny little boy’s body. Maybe if he had an eight-pack she’d glance twice, but her dad used to shamelessly flex his abs at her and her sister all the time when they were kids, so she’d long since become immune.  

Behind the curtain, there was a pause, followed by rustling sounds.  

Listening to the little boy being forced down a path of no return by her hand, Gloria’s smile twisted into something straight out of a horror manga.  

Just then, the phone in her pocket turned ice-cold, nearly making her yelp.  

She checked the message—the clown girl was summoning her.  

Gloria clicked her tongue in annoyance.  

Terrible timing.  

But reviving Misha was far more interesting than forcing a brat to cross-dress.  

“I’ve got something to take care of. Change and head home yourself,” she said, then—utterly shameless—snatched the clothes Mi Xiaoliu had hung on the curtain before sauntering off.  

Let the kid experience walking home in a skirt.  

At this hour, the school was nearly empty—just a few students called to the office or lingering on the sports field. And not all of them were even from the school, occasionally, a couple of middle schoolers would drop by to play basketball.  

Fanzui City’s ability-user middle schools had far smaller facilities than the high schools, making it hard to secure a court unless they skipped class. So sometimes, these kids would sneak over to use theirs.  

No one really minded—they’d be students here soon enough anyway.  

Beauty attracted attention wherever it went, and inevitably, a few dumb boys got smacked in the face by stray balls while gawking.  

“You okay?” An upperclassman rushed over to check on his junior.  

“Yeah, just a hit.” Dias rubbed his dazed eyes.  

“Too busy staring at the beauty?” Another senior laughed. “Good luck with that—she’s way out of your league. Last year, I confessed and got slapped with a disciplinary warning. Plus, she smokes, drinks, and bullies kids… Though, who knows? Maybe you’re her type.”  

“Nah, I like girls my own age.” Dias flushed slightly. “But she looked familiar. I’ll go ask—”  

He bolted after Gloria like a startled rabbit, earning jeers from behind.  

What a cliché pickup line.  

But the moment he stepped outside, Gloria was already gone.  

She moves at the speed of light—what made you think you could catch her?  

———  

A single dark-haired head peeked out from the infirmary curtain, black wig slightly askew. Mi Xiaoliu scanned the empty room, then glanced down at herself.  

The skirt hung loosely around her thighs, barely staying up. Below that, only a pair of white ankle socks and plain cotton panties remained as the last line of defense.  

No black thigh-highs—just her own socks.  

Gloria had even taken her shoes, leaving behind only a pair of black Mary Janes.  

With the glasses and color-shifting Magic Eyes (Lenses) still on, her appearance now eerily resembled her twin-tailed combat form.  

The easiest way to change someone’s impression of you? Swap the hairstyle.  

“Master, take off the glasses and contacts,” Sasha urged, exasperated.  

The sun hadn’t set yet. Walking out of school in a starter combat outfit now would be like turning into a neon sign. The campus was too open, with nowhere to hide—and this was the Southern District, devoid of skyscrapers.  

Gloria had stolen her clothes. She couldn’t exactly go home naked.  

Removing the glasses and Magic Eyes risked recognition, but it also prevented anyone from linking Mi Xiaoliu to the “Black-Clothed One.”  

“Go straight home. No detours,” Sasha instructed.  

“Mmm.”  

Following Sasha’s directions, Mi Xiaoliu discarded the wig and used a magic comb to revert her hair to its natural straight black. Then, she removed the glasses and Magic Eyes—and the world faded back to grayscale.  

Her backpack vanished into the system inventory, books and all, occupying just one slot.  

She slipped out of the school unnoticed—aside from the boys on the basketball court who suddenly played harder, their movements sharper and more exaggerated as she passed.  

Sasha’s instructions were oddly specific: Hurry home, but take small steps so the skirt doesn’t flutter.  

The backstreets near the school were haunts for delinquents smoking in corners. To avoid trouble, she stuck to the main road.  

Gloria really knows how to make life difficult.  

“Master, when you pass that car up ahead, glance at the side mirror. Don’t stop—just a quick, casual look, then keep moving. The mirrors are the car’s ears,” Sasha suddenly directed, her shared vision with Mi Xiaoliu picking up details the girl might miss.  

“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu obeyed.  

“Just as I thought. You’re being followed. By more than one person.” Sasha sighed.  

Through their shared perspective, she noticed what Mi Xiaoliu didn’t:  

—A blond boy trailing clumsily behind, phone open to WeChat, nervously debating whether to approach.  

—Behind him, a middle-aged man pretending to scroll on his phone while stealing glances at Mi Xiaoliu’s back. His head tilted unnaturally to the right—hiding an earpiece.  

“Master, don’t take the usual route home—turn right at the intersection ahead.”

“Okay.”

…

“Did you see the person in black again?” Compared to last time, Yiwen didn’t sound as worked up this time.

In fact, it felt a bit like locking in Nasus in LoL, only to see the enemy top lane is Darius.

All the past humiliations were like being stuck under your turret farming minions, while the enemy freezes the wave just out of reach. 

If you dared poke your head out, it was an E-Auto-W-Auto-Auto-Q-Decimate combo straight to the face. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she still longed to get strong enough to crush the enemy in return.

Honestly, Yiwen wanted nothing more than to just stand there and wait until her colleagues arrested the black-clad girl—then swoop in after the fact and beat her up when the odds were stacked in her favor.

Because what else could she do? She couldn’t win in a straight-up fight.

Even after all her training in secret to get revenge, all she managed was to increase the range of her abilities to about six meters—no real breakthrough at all.

“Yeah, our people are tailing her… But this time she’s in plain clothes. We’ve managed to get a clear photo of her face, no interference this time. Gotta admit, she’s a real beauty. Such a sweet-looking girl—why would someone like her turn to crime?” the liaison sighed.

That face—anywhere else, she’d be treated like a little princess. If she were his daughter, he’d cradle her in his hands, not letting the world hurt her even a little.

“Wasn’t the database repaired? Can’t we cross-reference her identity?” Yiwen turned into a narrow alley, took off into the air, and landed on a rooftop, starting to slowly suit up into her combat gear.

She wasn’t one of those movie superheroes with instant costume changes, nor did she wear her suit under her clothes like Spider-Man—

Seriously, it was summer. Can you imagine how hot that would be?

This was exactly why she hated summer. She’d sweat buckets just putting on her combat outfit. Last time she got caught by Mi Xiaoliu in an incredibly embarrassing scene because of it…

Just thinking about it made her want to die. Next time she’d barge into his room when he wasn’t expecting it and catch him in a similarly shameful moment.

Barrett once said guys are way easier to catch in the act.

“The repair wasn’t complete. Files deleted in recent years are still gone for good. Plus, this girl’s face seems to have never been registered in the database at all. That’s why we need to find Amari Yota’s server,” the liaison explained with frustration. “There should be a lot of stuff left in there. Remember how he hacked into Easter? He might still have their data.”

That was medical technology way ahead of the rest of the world.

“Got it. Point the way. Don’t tell me I’m going alone again?”

“You’re not. The others should get there before you. Bring the tranquilizer gun, and the more people we have, the better—

…Damn it, why is the young master of the Black family there? And why is he chatting her up?!”

[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]