With another crisp sound, the Maid Puppet’s head followed in the Butler’s footsteps, its body twitching as it slumped down.
Clutching her abdomen, Alex Morgan staggered back two steps, leaning against that large tree again.
Fresh blood seeped through her fingers, and a searing, intense pain radiated from her abdomen and internal organs—it seemed the organs weren’t cooked yet; at least they could still feel pain, which meant there was still hope.
The white light gradually receded, and her clothes returned to her body, beginning to be stained red by the blood.
This meant that only now did the transformation process seem to have truly ceased.
Should she feel relieved?
Not at all.
Alex Morgan’s extremely keen senses captured a movement from her side—it was the faint sound of some hard object crushing dry leaves.
She turned her head quickly.
In the thick black mist seven meters away, three new puppets were slowly walking out, approaching step by step.
Alex Morgan looked down at the wound on her abdomen, then glanced at these three new enemies in full state.
Combat effectiveness reduced by over 30%, continuous blood loss, respiratory System damaged…
She quickly pulled up an assessment table in her mind.
Facing three full-strength enemies just like the previous puppets, her win rate was less than 1%.
The girl coughed twice, letting out a hoarse laugh: “Ha… GG again.”
Good Game.
She had indeed fought well.
This time there was significant progress.
Leaning against the tree trunk, there was not a shred of fear of death on her pale face.
Rather than being hacked to death by this bunch of rotten wood, it would be better to try that complete self-destruction process one more time.
The first time exploded too quickly; she hadn’t even gotten a feel for it yet.
“Don’t let it go to waste.”
The girl whispered to herself, then forcibly mobilized the magic power within her that was already on the verge of collapse, speaking hoarsely, playing with a meme no one here would understand.
“Watch this.”
“My final… transformation!”
She raised her head, her calm eyes fixed on the approaching monsters, her lips curving into a sweet arc of excitement as she began to dance lightly.
Just like a beautiful butterfly flying into a flame.
“Smile at full marks! Courage at one hundred percent~”
As the incantation was chanted, magic power surged like a tidal wave.
Alex Morgan turned all her attention inward, following her instincts to guide her emotions and movements, attempting to capture the trajectory of the last millisecond before it collapsed.
( ＜ ゝ ω · ） ~ ☆
Boom——!!
…
After the spectacular explosion, Alex Morgan returned once again to her dilapidated yet clean room.
[You died.]
[Mission Evaluation: Failed]
[Reward: None]
She looked at the System’s indistinguishable evaluation, rubbed her brow, and was slightly dazed.
The neural stinging brought about by this death remained, accompanied by a dazed feeling from the sudden relaxation after extreme tension.
But Alex Morgan felt that she had already gotten somewhat used to it.
The next instant, she sprang up with a carp leap, with no intention of resting at all, immediately walked to her desk, sat down, took out paper and pen, her pitch-black eyes shining brightly in the darkness.
A good memory is not as good as a bad pen; just like how one can only remember the emotions of a dream for a short time after waking, this was the best time to record and summarize.
Swish, swish, swish—she began to write furiously.
The various pieces of information known just now were written down by her at lightning speed, including the rules of those transformations and the specific lines that emerged from instinct.
Then came various analyses of the mechanisms.
[Why did the magic power continue to surge for a period after stopping the transformation lines and movements? Is it related to me modifying the lines and changing the movements without authorization?]
[Can the lines be changed? Can the movements be changed? Can the emotions be changed? Will it have a positive help for the transformation?]
[If operated properly, will the Holy Light protection during transformation become stronger?]
[The child-type puppet that appeared at the end looks harmless on the surface, thus it needs more vigilance; does it need to be dealt with first?]
[The final self-destruction, I still felt like something was missing in my chest… Is it related to that pendant that has no reaction at all?]
Alex Morgan’s brain operated at high speed, tirelessly.
Who hasn’t played puzzle games?
And the fun of it is simple.
List all clues, then analyze every possibility.
Then…
it was time to execute the strategy.
She revealed a smile that was extremely pure, like a gourmet encountering a delicacy, delighted by the sight of prey.
“Well, let the experiment begin.”
…
[Third Game].
LINK START.
Black mist surged, and a blood-scented wind blew through the cold, damp forest once again.
The Pink-haired girl rose rapidly, the stinging fading faster than the last time.
Her slender, beautiful body appeared capable and dashing in her movements, possessing a beauty full of youthful vitality.
She extended her fair hand, covering her chest—which was so unremarkable it was almost pitiful—and gently touched the pendant on her chest, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
In the previous three transformations, totaling two complete and one interrupted, the blazing torrent of magic power all surged to here before completely losing control.
But that one time she intentionally interrupted the transformation process did indeed make her feel something extremely important.
She moved her limbs twice, and the footsteps of the puppets arrived as promised from not far away.
Seeing the Butler Puppet and Maid Puppet stumbling into her field of vision, they lunged over the instant they “saw” Alex Morgan.
Alex Morgan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if reviewing and confirming some plan she had long prepared.
Then, she opened her eyes, and a touch of red seemed to light up in her pupils.
Without any hesitation, Alex Morgan directly raised her hand, performing the opening stance of the Magical Girl Transformation.
The next moment, the girl in this body danced lightly and confidently, chanting the lines.
Only this time, it seemed slightly, subtly different.
“Smile, full marks.”
No longer a cute act of coquetry, but a confident smile carrying a sense of stating a fact.
“Courage, one hundred percent.”
No longer a prayer, but a declaration of being fully prepared.
Although it was the exact same transformation chant, the emotions contained within the lines and movements had changed quite a bit!
With the movements, the radiance of magic power lit up in the dead-silent forest, pouring into her slender body along with the movements.
That blazing torrent arrived as promised.
However, this time, that blazing magic power, which was originally full of Chaos and extremely difficult to control, actually had an indescribable sense of fit after feeling Alex Morgan’s transformation process, which she had modified with her own will from the very beginning.
It was not as rapid and violent anymore.
It was really different!
She continued her light spins and dance, but no longer used that sweet, artificial, high-pitched voice.
Instead, she lowered the girl’s original voice, speaking in a tone that was still quite pleasant but stern, confident, and full of penetrating power:
“Let your mood and the flames burn together!”
Resisting the impulse stemming from instinct, she forcibly modified the vocabulary, omitting the four words “hopping and skipping” entirely.
The change in emotion caused the trajectory of the magic power to shift subtly once again, becoming somewhat unstable.
But the hidden laws within it seemed to unfold a corner under the perception of her [Precision Control Engine].
Just as expected.