Leon walked to the window.
Even though most of the residents in this old neighborhood were hard-of-hearing elderly people, and it was highly unlikely anyone would notice this place in the dead of night, Leon still closed the window and drew the curtains.
After doing all this, he stood in the center of the living room, took a deep breath, calmed the throbbing pain in his head, and repeatedly savored the feeling of power surging from the depths of his spirit and body.
After experiencing that transcendent power, the identity of a Magical Girl didn’t seem so unacceptable anymore.
Since the rules stated that intangible things could be brought back if the conditions were met, had he brought it back this time?
The main quest failed immediately after starting, so it was probably not possible, but no matter how low the probability was, he had to experiment and verify.
Leon stood like a sculpture, staring blankly for a full five seconds, a trace of determination flashing across his expressionless face.
Then, a smile and a look in his eyes that were extremely incongruous with this teenage body appeared on his face, and he began to strike a pose.
As he posed, his lips moved slightly, reciting the lines in a male voice.
“Smile full marks!~” “Fighting Spirit, one hundred percent~——” (<ゝω·)~☆ A few seconds passed.
The set of movements was completed, and the lines were recited.
However, the air was very quiet, the tungsten lamp overhead remained dim and yellow, without any miraculous light effects, nor the feeling of a warm current surging.
Not a single bit.
Leon’s tense shoulders slumped as he let out a long sigh.
As expected, power from the game couldn’t be brought into reality so easily.
He sat back down on the sofa, refocusing his attention on the quest.
Momo was clearly already a Magical Girl, so what did the main quest [Become a True Magical Girl] even mean?
Did it refer to strength?
For example, did he need to train a C-Rank ability to B-Rank, or even A-Rank or S-Rank, to be called a True Magical Girl?
Or did it refer to duties?
Like protecting the city, guarding friends, and defeating so-called [Witches] and [Monsters]?
Or perhaps it was spiritual?
Meaning he had to genuinely harbor love and hope in his heart?
Or maybe something was wrong with Momo’s body, which he could control, making it like a veteran who needed some kind of method to return to the ranks of Magical Girls?
It seemed possible.
Therefore, the quest objective was quite vague.
Leon guessed it had to do with his choice of S-Rank Purgatory Difficulty; this information gap was a part of the difficulty itself.
In other words, it could be seen as the puzzle-solving part of the game.
And judging from that inexplicably self-destructing start, the puzzle-solving part of this game seemed to have already begun from the very beginning.
Recording, summarizing, and questioning were his favorite things to do when conquering a game.
But that last run ended too quickly; he hadn’t gathered much information.
Leon closed his eyes, held his breath, and sank his consciousness into his body.
First, he had to confirm whether that Death Phantom Pain had truly vanished completely, and whether dying in the game really had no side effects.
After all, too many spiritual deaths would naturally equal a physical death.
This was documented in various works, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.
Starting from his fingertips, he sensed and took control of his muscles inch by inch.
Only after confirming that the nerve endings no longer felt that icy, piercing pain did Leon slowly exhale a breath of turbid air, his eyes shining with a sharp light.
His control over this body had not been affected.
Not only that, Leon even felt he had broken through a past bottleneck.
He could now perceive many extremely subtle details: the sound of blood flowing, the churning of internal organs, and even many muscle groups that originally couldn’t move independently, as well as internal organ activity, all of which seemed able to respond to his will beyond the limits of physiological conditions…
Without a doubt, he had become stronger.
This was also documented in the Martial Arts Genre.
Perhaps this was also a form of transcendence in some sense.
Was it the effect of the [Precision Operation Engine]?
And mentally, there were no strange sensations.
Status confirmed: all clear.
Then, let’s start another run and continue gathering information!
Leon opened the Status Panel and decisively selected “YES”.
LINK START!
The next instant, his consciousness sank into darkness once more.
– The familiar scent of blood and damp, cold air filled his nose, and the familiar sharp pain shot through his nerves once more.
But…
it felt significantly less intense than the last time.
The girl lying on the grass rested for just a few seconds before pushing herself up with her hands.
She then tucked her legs under her, her slender, fair-skinned legs kneeling without hesitation on the wet grass, steadily supporting her body as she stood up.
As she moved, the unfamiliar cherry-red strands of hair on either side of her head swayed slightly in her field of vision.
Leon’s expression turned thoughtful.
Were his two talents continuously adapting to this body?
It seemed that after a few more times, the body would fully adapt…
So far, this was a good sign.
She made a preliminary judgment in her mind.
At that moment, the sound of faint footsteps came from ahead.
Leon’s brow furrowed as she looked in that direction.
In the darkness, two extremely blurry humanoid figures could be vaguely seen stumbling toward her.
Still those two?
Blindly fleeing or fighting would not be the best course of action.
After all, this was about gathering information, and Leon hoped to explore more possibilities.
Her gaze instantly locked onto the large tree behind her.
She looked up at a sturdy branch capable of supporting a girl’s weight.
The physical fitness of this girl’s body was twice that of his original one.
An ordinary person would feel uncoordinated due to the expanded physical capabilities.
But Leon felt no strangeness.
If it was only to this extent…
controlling it would not be difficult.
Her slender feet actually erupted with an indescribable power, lightly leaping to a height of a full three meters.
Her hands grasped the branch, and then she performed an extremely standard pull-up, her movements as smooth as flowing mercury.
She flipped herself up, crouching on top, silently using the thick trunk and leaves to hide her figure.
The footsteps of those two puppets drew closer, but there was still some distance.
This time was enough to observe herself a bit.
Leon lowered her head and grasped the pendant on her chest with her slender hand.
To be honest, this thing was very conspicuous.
After all, this body’s chest was too flat, while this pendant was exceptionally large.
It swayed back and forth inside the shirt with the slightest movement, rubbing her collarbone until it was a little itchy.
Moreover, there was nothing in the pockets of the hot pants.
The only thing worth observing on her body was this pendant.
Leon held it above her head, observing it carefully with the aid of the faint starlight and this body’s excellent eyesight.
A rounded gemstone hung from the end of this pendant.
Its overall color was a dull red, with speckle-like impurities inside.
It looked ordinary, even having many cracks, while the silver-colored metal ring fixing the gemstone beside it was crafted more exquisitely.
“…” To be honest, this thing was very intriguing.
Was this the proof of this body’s identity as a Magical Girl?
But even holding it in her hand, and even when she tried to transform before, it had no reaction at all.
Could it be…
Crack.
The familiar footsteps sounded again, the puppets in the darkness drawing closer.
Leon focused her mind and held her breath.
For those eerie monsters, it wouldn’t be strange if they could sense being watched.
But their enemy-detection range was also a point worth exploring.
And if she didn’t provoke them, could they, who seemed to lack high intelligence, discover her hidden in the tree?
If they couldn’t, she could buy more time this time and see what would happen next.
Two inexplicable murmurs from who knows where, and the footsteps that suddenly turned from light to forceful, rapidly approaching, gave the answer.