Chapter 19: Fighting Spirit

On a hot June afternoon, the asphalt road emitted thin wisps of white smoke, while a few stray cats wandered listlessly in the street corners. Wakae did not head straight to the meeting point, as the rendezvous was set for seven in the evening.

She decided to return home first and play some video games.

“Good afternoon, Shiratori-kun. You’re back so early today—aren’t you going to work?” A gentle, mellow voice came from the front of Shiratori’s detached house just as Wakae was about to open the door.

The voice alone revealed the speaker to be a beautiful woman.

Looking up, Wakae confirmed this impression.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties, with an oval-shaped face, well-defined curves, and fair skin that showed signs of careful upkeep. Her shoulder-length hair was permed with curls at the ends.

She wore a pale blue, waist-fitted long dress. Her figure was far from flabby; rather, it was well-shaped, likely shaped by motherhood, with a prominent bust and broad hips.

At that moment, the woman smiled, the corners of her mouth and eyebrows lifting in a way that made her deep, composed eyes even more captivating.

Wakae recognized her as her neighbor, Saori Kamimura.

Behind Saori was a five or six-year-old boy, clutching his mother’s skirt, watching Wakae warily.

Wakae felt puzzled—she was no villain.

“I’m on the evening shift today, I’ll go to work later,” Wakae replied politely.

“Oh,” Saori nodded, then asked, “Shiratori-kun, how’s work? How much do you earn each month?”

Wakae was taken aback for a moment. She glanced at Saori and asked, “Mrs. Kamimura, do you want to work too?”

Saori hesitated before nodding slightly.

Wakae thought for a moment and said, “If I try hard, I earn about three or four thousand a month.”

In truth, it was not that little.

Originally, Wakae assassinated about four targets a month, each paying ten thousand yen.

That added up to forty thousand per month.

But bullets cost money, training cost money, and intelligence gathering cost money... so in the end, only a little over ten thousand remained.

“Three thousand or four thousand?” Saori pressed.

Wakae frowned slightly, unsure why she was being asked so specifically, but answered politely, “Four thousand.”

“Shiratori-kun, you’re amazing!” Saori’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

She stepped closer, and her mature womanly scent drifted over.

Unfortunately, Wakae remained unfazed, barely noticing.

“Mrs. Kamimura, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now,” Wakae said.

“Take care, Shiratori-kun,” Saori replied, pulling the little boy forward. “Ichiji, say goodbye to Uncle.”

The boy was reluctant but under his mother’s firm insistence, he said unwillingly, “Goodbye, Uncle.”

Wakae silently thought, “Uncle? Am I really that old?”

She returned the farewell politely and entered the courtyard, heading straight to her second-floor room, locking the door behind her.

Opening a compartment in her drawer, she found, besides some loose bullets, a gray-black nuclear crystal and an eyeball.

The nuclear crystal was from the filthy beast the night before last.

The eyeball she had discovered amid the beast’s shredded flesh—it was likely Yuriko Ashida’s eye.

Within the eye was a faint shadow of a black little snake, something she found peculiar, so she brought it back.

Though she had yet to see what use it might have.

“First, absorb the nuclear crystal.”

“According to the contract information, the absorption method is…”

Wakae took a fruit knife and made a small cut on her arm.

She placed the nuclear crystal onto the wound.

Immediately, the crystal melted as if it were ice plunged into hot water.

The wound healed quickly under the powerful healing abilities of the magical girl.

“Is that all?”

After a moment, Wakae felt no obvious change and was puzzled.

Suddenly—

Thump, thump!

Her heart contracted violently.

“It’s so hot, too hot!”

Her skin visibly flushed and burned, sweat bursting from her pores only to evaporate into mist.

Then her muscles began trembling in waves.

The heat persisted relentlessly, making her feel as if she were inside a furnace, every drop of blood boiling, every cell quivering, every bone shattering and regenerating...

On an invisible microscopic genetic level, the special factors embedded within her gene chain grew stronger and more robust under the crystal’s nourishment...

Time passed unknowingly.

Whew—

Wakae exhaled a breath of hot air and calmed down.

She was still drenched in sweat, but the burning sensation had vanished.

Moreover, she felt lighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

She activated her magic—Eight-Eyed Gold-Eating Spider.

Suddenly, a dozen or so silver threads wrapped around her body, shimmering with sharp, silvery light.

“The number has reached fourteen, and the length is up to five meters!” Wakae nodded in satisfaction. “The hardness has also improved quite a bit. I wonder what would happen if I push this magic to its limit? Would I turn into a filthy beast? That’s how it goes in anime, after all.”

She muttered to herself.

But considering it was just a clone, becoming a filthy beast wouldn’t matter.

Wakae went downstairs, changed clothes, took a shower, and returned to her room to play video games.

In this world, gaming was highly developed, even featuring fully immersive virtual reality games.

Unfortunately, the equipment for such games cost at least hundreds of thousands of yen, far beyond her budget.

So she spent the afternoon playing games.

Night fell.

The sky darkened, street lamps cast a soft glow.

Across the vast heavens, stars twinkled, and the asteroid belt near the moon’s orbit was visible.

Jounishi Hirauchi Town—the bustling city center of Jounishi Ward.

The vibrant streets were filled with dazzling 3D advertisements floating in the air, while the streets below teemed with people. The electronic sounds of ads mingled with the crowd’s noise, creating a buzzing hum like thousands of bees.

“Hey, are you new here? Come on into our shop!” A girl in a short dress skipped up to Wakae, grabbed her hand, and placed it on her chest.

“Maybe next time,” Wakae pulled her hand away, ignoring the girl’s displeased look, and moved to a vacant seat nearby.

A man in a trench coat sat there, wearing sunglasses that obscured his face, with a black bag beside him.

Wakae knew this was the contact.

After she sat down, he whispered, “Same as usual,” then stood to leave, leaving the black bag behind.

“Wait a moment,” Wakae called out.

“What’s the matter?” he looked at her inquisitively.

“I need weapons,” Wakae said.

“Oh, you’re out of bullets?” he asked.

“I need bullets, but also heavy weapons—the more powerful, the better!” Wakae declared.

The trench-coated man stared at her for a few seconds before slowly asking, “What do you want heavy weapons for?”

“To take on more jobs, of course!” Wakae said firmly, her tone unwavering. “I want to earn money, get rich, and make a fortune!”

Her spirited expression was as if saying, “Coach, I want to play basketball!”