Chapter: 84. Cosplay Transformation System
“Tián Yīn, do you know about magical girls?”
“Why are you suddenly bringing up magical girls? This opening line makes me feel inexplicably uneasy…”
In Star Academy, in Nagi’s dorm room.
The morning sunlight spilled into the tidy interior, illuminating the clean desk and neatly packed suitcase.
Nagi was organizing her personal items in the room, while Shiraishi sat at the edge of the bed, fiddling with some documents.
Having been evaluated as an ace-level esper, Nagi, as predicted by Niko, had officially received orders from Star Academy.
She was to be transferred to the “Joint Squad” formed by Special Circle Semar and the three major academies, with the apparent mission of participating in an in-depth investigation into the truth behind the “Stellar Society Incident.”
However, beneath this transfer order lay a deeper hidden intention.
Nagi was chosen this time primarily because of her “inexperience” and relatively simple background, theoretically reducing the possibility of her becoming a “spy.”
Thus, she was also assigned a more covert task—
To secretly monitor the other members of the Joint Squad and identify any “traitors” that might be lurking among them.
Of course, Star Academy’s plan had an obvious flaw.
That was— they completely did not foresee that she had already been recruited by Niko before the operation even began.
For Nagi, being dispatched to the “Joint Squad” meant carrying out missions from both Star Academy and Niko simultaneously.
To call her a “double agent” would not be an exaggeration—
No, if you add her true purpose, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call her a “triple” or even “quadruple agent.”
……
……
“Because I have a new invention to present to you, Tián Yīn.”
Shiraishi, standing behind Nagi, suddenly revealed a meaningful smile.
Upon hearing this, Nagi turned around and immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
During the time she spent with Shiraishi, she had already concluded a golden rule—whenever Shiraishi showed that “I’m so clever, praise me!” expression, it usually meant she had invented something “powerful but could potentially blow up the house.”
“What, what is it this time?”
Under Nagi’s anxious expression, Shiraishi did not answer immediately but took out a small, exquisitely designed box from behind her and opened it to reveal a white women’s watch.
“This is a farewell gift for you, Tián Yīn.”
As she spoke, she extended the watch toward Nagi.
Nagi carefully took it and looked down, examining this mysterious object.
The watch had a round dial, made of pristine white alloy material, felt mildly cool to the touch, and was covered in a nearly imperceptible magical aura film. The central screen was a light blue surface that emitted a soft glow at certain angles, resembling some high-end smart device.
Both the appearance and texture hinted at a significant value.
To this, Nagi weakly asked,
“This… isn’t a watch-type bomb, right?” Nagi stared at the watch warily, her tone filled with suspicion.
“Absolutely not! Which eye of yours sees it as a bomb?!”
“Then it’s… a watch-type C4?”
“That’s a kind of bomb too! And if you look closely, it doesn’t even resemble clay!”
“Indeed, it feels like some sort of metal… I understand, it’s a shrapnel bomb.”
“W-why do you have that ‘praise me for being smart’ expression?! You’re completely wrong! And why do you keep associating things with bombs?! What kind of image do you have of me?!”
“…A demolition enthusiast?” Nagi cautiously ventured.
“Eek~ I might get shy~”
“I’m not praising you!!!”
After a familiar banter, the atmosphere relaxed slightly.
Then, Nagi finally heard Shiraishi seriously explain the true nature of this extraordinary item and understood why she had suddenly brought up “magical girls.”
This white watch, in addition to having all the basic functions of a regular smart watch, possessed a one-click transformation feature similar to a “magical girl’s transformation.”
Shiraishi had integrated multiple outfits suitable for various combat and scenarios into this watch.
When using it, one simply needs to swipe the dial, select the desired combat outfit, and infuse a small amount of magical power to instantly complete a glamorous transformation.
Clothes, hairstyle, makeup, and even weapons and props would all switch simultaneously.
Hearing this explanation, Nagi felt somewhat moved.
She never expected that Shiraishi, who was always “obsessed with explosions,” could create such a practical extraordinary tool.
Filled with genuine gratitude and a hint of sentiment, she softly asked,
“What is the name of this extraordinary item?”
Shiraishi beamed with a radiant smile and proudly announced—
“[Cosplay-kun·1]!”
“Give me back my earlier feelings of being moved!!!”
“Don’t worry, the outfits inside are all custom-made for you, Tián Yīn~ Even outfits like bunny girls, inspectors, and others that fit your shape, you don’t have to worry about the size!”
“That’s the part that worries me the most!”
—————–
On the other side.
In the command room of the “Joint Squad.”
After investigating all the events related to “Star Academy” and “Professor Amagi Shinkou” over the past few months, they finally found a breakthrough for further tracking.
A team of Special Circle Semar espers that survived the extraordinary disaster provided a crucial piece of intelligence.
During the “Blood Moon Incident,” Tokyo—where the Special Circle Semar headquarters was located—was under complete lockdown and isolation.
According to the deployment at the time, the esper team’s task was to lure the fantasy creature that appeared in the city to a safe area.
Subsequently, an ace-level esper was supposed to arrive on scene to eliminate it.
However, according to the report from the team members afterward, they fought to the limit, yet the ace who was supposed to appear had not arrived.
Ultimately, it was an S-level esper—“Black Flame King”—who happened to pass by that saved them from the brink of death.
Of course, it was not uncommon for there to be delays in deployment during extraordinary disasters, and espers could not always arrive at the battlefield on the second.
However, what caught the attention of the Joint Squad was another event that occurred during the same time frame:
A regular package intended for Star Academy, addressed to “Amagi Shinkou,” went missing during the disaster.
Although it was not surprising for packages to get lost in a disaster, and indeed there were more than one package missing at the time, at such a delicate moment—
This coincidence could not help but provoke further thought.
Furthermore, the clues available for the Joint Squad to investigate were limited.
However, if they were to pursue this further, they might need the help of the parties involved…
At the same time.
The S-level esper “Black Flame King” from the Moon Academy was also summoned to the “Joint Squad.”
