Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 4 Prayer of the Heart, Initiated!

Back in the rented room, Gu Bai glanced around at the small space.

The place wasn't big, and he didn't have much stuff. Over the years of searching for people, he had long since gotten used to packing his belongings down to a level where he could move around at any time.

Packing and boxing were completed in about ten minutes.

When we crossed the disaster zone again, it was already past dusk.

The battlefield traces left by the gray bronze beast had almost completely disappeared, indicating that the cleaning robot was quite efficient.

The pedestrians were still there, and the shops along the street had their lights on again. Some people were buying roasted sweet potatoes at the intersection, while others were slowly pushing their bicycles home. They must have gotten used to life here, and now it was as if nothing had ever happened.

After having dinner, Gu Bai set off again, carrying his suitcase and walking forward at a leisurely pace, only glancing at the street corner as he passed by.

Traces of the battle still remain in the alley.

keep going.

As dusk settled into night, we finally arrived at our destination: a row of townhouses near Qixin Academy.

Well, is this really a teachers' dormitory? I doubt the price could be low.

Gu Bai stood at the entrance of the residential area for two seconds, double-checked the address, and made sure he hadn't gone to the wrong place.

"Welcome home, resident! I'm Xiaoqi, a security robot from Liming Smart Innovation!"

A small robot bounced out of the security booth, a camera scanned its face, a voice prompt sounded, and the door opened.

Is it reasonable to have robot security guards?

I entered Building No. 10, which had two floors and all the necessary living facilities.

Gu Bai pushed the box through the door, stood in the living room for a while, and looked around the space. It was much larger than he had expected.

To be honest, living alone is a bit of a waste.

The size of the house doesn't really matter to him; he's the kind of person who's content as long as he has a place to sleep and eat.

Gu Bai didn't bring much stuff, and after arranging it for a while, he was done. He went into the master bedroom on the first floor, sat on the edge of the bed, and thought about the day's events again.

Joining the company, Peach Blossom, Calamity Zone, Mythical Beast, Spring Fragrance, Copper...

And most importantly, the person Tao Zhuo said she would bring tomorrow.

He mentally reviewed the charm on the white-haired girl's phone lanyard:

The shape of the leaves of the octagonal grass, the hand-stitched lines, the green thread, the fine lines, the trend are really very familiar.

He already had a vague feeling that he could definitely learn something from her.

Ugh, what a hassle. Let's talk about it tomorrow.

I lay down, staring at the ceiling, realizing that the night was still long.

I rolled over and picked up my phone.

Since I'll be staying at Qixin Academy for a while, I should learn what I need to know. Over the years, I've focused all my energy on finding people and know very little about Qixin itself.

Gu Bai's observations over the past few days have made him realize that this place is far more complex than the stereotypical image of a magical girl school.

Open your browser and search for "Qixin". The first result will take you to the app store's download page.

It ranked #1 on the trending charts, #1 on the download charts, and #1 on the revenue charts.

Gu Bai clicked on it out of curiosity, ready to download, then paused for a second.

The reason for recommendation has a line of small print:

[Your device has already installed the following QiXin related apps: PayXin, WeXin, QiXin Crypto Market, QiXin Game Center... We recommend integrating them into the QiXin APP for a complete experience.♡]

Gu Bai read the line of text from beginning to end.

PayHeart is a payment software used by the average person.

WeChat, and of course, mainstream chat tools.

QiXin Crypto Market, this should be a pre-installed app on the phone, along with QiXin Game Center—

He thought for a moment and seemed to vaguely remember it. It was a game that was installed by default when he downloaded it before, and it had been sitting in a corner of his phone unopened.

Gu Bai put the screen down and stared at the ceiling for two seconds.

Suddenly, what came to mind were Vice Principal Zhang's words from today, those simple, understated statements that seemed to state a fact that no explanation was needed any longer:

"Within reasonable limits, we will cooperate with all your requests."

Gu Bai picked up his phone again and clicked the button for one-click integration.

The installation progress bar runs quietly, quickly, and cleanly.

Gu Bai noticed that the progress bar was still long, so he casually tossed his phone aside.

A thought crossed my mind.

The ink sword quietly materialized from his palm. Its black blade and inky aura shimmered silently, as if it were some kind of living being that recognized his hand.

After being given this sword, his abilities were greatly enhanced, most notably in combat. Otherwise, how could he have ventured into those dangerous places to find her?

But that's normal, after all, she's the kind of person who learns everything quickly and understands things instantly.

Gu Bai held the sword in his palm without making a sound.

Looking back on my childhood in the orphanage.

The two were inseparable, whether cooking, mending clothes, or running back to the cottage from the flower field in the rain.

In this way, without even realizing it, I've managed to take care of all the little things in life perfectly.

Then, she left.

"Ink Heart".

Gu Bai spoke, his voice so soft that only he could hear it: "What exactly are you thinking?"

The aura of the ink sword lingered between his fingers, as if there was some response, yet nothing at all.

My phone beeped once.

[QiXin APP installation complete, welcome to QiXin~♡]

Gu Bai dispersed the ink sword, sat up, and tapped a new icon on his phone.

It was indeed a launcher, with a row of icons integrated inside—investment sectors such as [Pray for Rainbow], [Coin Security], and [Pray for Heart Stock Market] were listed in one row, while recently popular games such as [Original Tide Power], [Pray for Rings], and [End of Heart] were listed in the game section.

After Gu Bai logged into his account, a new section was added at the bottom: [Qixin Academy - Teacher's Edition]

Gu Bai clicked on it, and it led to a private entrance within the academy.

The course schedule and notice board have a lot of information that's irrelevant to me...

No rush, let's look at something else tonight.

I logged back into Qixin Coin Market, the very place where Tao Zhuo had met his end, and saw that the forum discussion area was currently embroiled in fierce competition.

[Moonbes, speak up! We've said before that Zhenyue is just a pure shockwave. It's been dragging its feet on a silver beast for ages and still hasn't killed it. Letting you little pigs go long would have made you all lose a fortune!]

They lost money, but they're not dead yet.

Gu Bai thought of Tao Zhuo. It was painful to have all his savings gone, but he thought it shouldn't be so bad that he had to reopen tonight.

[I'm kneeling before 'Spring'! 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter' Iron is the future mainstay of Qixin Academy! Can anyone believe that its healing can instantly kill a bronze beast?]

It's good that it's been assigned to Chunheng; it saves me from any trouble.

Gu Bai didn't care about competing for credit; as long as it was convenient, that was fine. Besides, he had just received a reward himself.

[Newbie seeking guidance! I successfully made 20000 coins trading Magical Girl Lonely Swallow coins yesterday. Which Magical Girl are you experts bullish on next? I heard 'Summer' is scheduled to play tomorrow, is it okay to leverage and add to my position?]

Gu Bai stared at the post for a moment, as if a new star named "Peach Blossom 2.0" was slowly rising.

However, he now understands how the market for magical girl virtual currency works.

When a magical girl wins a battle, the corresponding cryptocurrency rises; when she loses, it falls. News gaps always exist, and the first wave of retail investors are always chasing outdated trends.

This logic, the screen in the corridor, and Tao Zhuo's string of numbers indicating a margin call—they all boil down to one thing.

Human beings' thirst for and greed for wealth.

It was late at night. Gu Bai put his phone face down on the bedside table, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

The white-haired girl will come tomorrow.

Ornament, octagonal grass, green thread, stitch pattern...

I went through the photo Tao Zhuo had shown me again in my mind, then stopped there, not thinking any further.

Some things are better left unthought; we'll deal with them when we see them.