Chapter 333: Ms. Priss

The white-haired girl’s whole body was trembling slightly as she waited for the other person’s answer.

“Of course.”

As always, the reply was calm and gentle. To Vivi, it was practically music to her ears.

“!!!”

If they weren’t in the quiet meditation classroom right now, with a row of classmates lying around them as they meditated in the Green Room, Vivi would have been so excited she might have let out a piercing shriek.

She wouldn’t have to pay! She wouldn’t have to spend the five thousand to ten thousand credit points the modification surgery would cost!

She had a brain-computer interface now, too!

That meant the biggest gap between her and her peers, one that had been there since she was born, had finally been erased!

To her, it was like the unbelievable joy of winning the lottery jackpot.

The white-haired girl eagerly half-reclined in her metal chair and reached beneath the right armrest, about to pull out the brain-computer data cable provided by the school. She wanted Teresa to help her log into the Green Room too, so the AI instructor could guide her cultivation.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

But in the next moment, Lin Guang’s voice sounded in her mind.

His voice was still gentle, yet it instantly brought Vivi back to her senses.

That really wouldn’t work.

A poor girl who hadn’t even undergone the basic interface surgery suddenly connecting to the school’s internal network through this strange casting unit... That could probably be explained as a stroke of good fortune.

But the crucial thing was that Teresa would be identified as an illegal contract beast!

If anyone with ill intentions followed the trail and uncovered the truth, it would be a crime punishable by death!

Thinking of that, Vivi broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly pulled her hand away from the data cable.

I wish school would end already...

For the first time in her life, Vivi felt that time at school was dragging unbearably. She couldn’t wait another moment.

She wanted to get back to her rented room as soon as possible.

Her meditation technique chip and the other precious chips she’d collected were practically ravenous with anticipation!

…………

At dusk.

Beneath the warm sunlight allotted to the Nest where her school was located, Vivi, her one-shoulder bag on her back, cheerfully hopped onto a crowded suspended monorail.

Even though the car was still stiflingly hot, and the smell of sweat was overpowering.

Even though she hadn’t managed to get a seat and could only stand in a corner, holding onto a hand strap.

Vivi was in such a good mood today that she felt like she could soar into the sky. She softly hummed an unfamiliar little tune, the arrowhead tip of her tail unconsciously keeping time.

For Vivi, today was definitely the most satisfying, most triumphant day of her life!

She was so happy she could burst!

Vivi had rarely been this happy in her life. In fact, she’d never been this happy before. She was so happy that it almost didn’t feel real.

It was hard to imagine that a bottom-rung orphan like her could have a day this triumphant!

Everything was wonderful! She had money, awakened a spell, gotten one over on those people, and even acquired a brain-computer interface!

She looked at the pink-haired girl only she could see, taking in her angelic, pretty face and incredibly eye-catching, devilish figure.

A super-beautiful girl with amnesia whom only she could see and talk to. She was the only person who could connect Teresa to this world... Wasn’t this the sort of thing that happened all the time in those stories?

So the story would go like this: she’d work hard to help Teresa restore her body, then pass the exam and become a magical girl, and after that...

Vivi’s gaze lingered on Teresa’s chest. Her cheeks flushed as she couldn’t help murmuring, “Heh heh...”

But...

Gradually.

Vivi’s toes stopped tapping. She had no idea what had crossed her mind, but she stopped humming too.

Aside from that familiar flutter of excitement in her heart, a deep unease suddenly welled up inside her for some reason.

Neon City...

This cruel place, this rotten city... Could something this wonderful really happen here?

Everything was just too good. So good that she had a vague feeling she didn’t deserve this kind of happiness, so good that it felt like the prelude to something terrible about to happen.

At the same time.

The holographic television screen inside the monorail car suddenly flickered and began broadcasting the evening news live.

A male host in formal attire, with a pair of rabbit ears atop his head, sat upright behind the news desk.

“Regarding the attack on Herth’s B District, all post-disaster reconstruction work is currently proceeding in an orderly fashion.”

The white-haired girl instinctively looked up at the screen.

On-screen, the host reported with a grave expression, “However, we regret to inform you that members of the extremist terrorist organization known as the Witches’ Guild, responsible for this heinous incident, remain at large.”

“The NCPD has yet to uncover any new leads of value.”

“To bring the perpetrators to justice as quickly as possible, City Hall approved the decision overnight to officially raise the reward for the suspects in this case to one million credit points. We urge the public to provide any information they may have, so the criminals can be apprehended and brought to justice as soon as possible.”

“...!!”

Vivi’s ears shot straight up, and the people around her reacted the same way.

It had gone up from five hundred thousand to one million?

For ordinary people, that was an unimaginable fortune. It was enough to permanently buy a prime-property

</path> home in a Nest in the Mid-City, enough to purchase a complete set of expensive D-rank magical prosthetics, customized magical weaponry of the same rank, and the corresponding magic circuits, or even pay the licensing fees for certain exceptionally powerful spells, along with countless potions and other things that could help one on the path to the supernatural...

Money was power. Money was status.

Who wouldn’t want to get rich overnight?

Vivi certainly did!

She had just excitedly started to say something when she suddenly noticed that the look in the pink-haired girl’s eyes had changed too, in a way she couldn’t understand.

Teresa... was she listening to this news intently too?

Vivi blinked, then turned her head and fixed her gaze on the screen.

In the next moment, the host’s expression suddenly turned solemn and reverent.

“In response to the far-reaching consequences of this attack, Ms. Priss, a member of H Corp’s Supreme Board of Directors, the supreme ruler of Herth, Neon City’s Chief Executive Officer for Expansion, and the protector of the Great Dome, has something she wishes to announce in a live broadcast to every citizen of the city.”

“...!!!”

Everyone aboard the monorail looked shocked.

Ms. Priss?

A live broadcast?

To every citizen of the city?

Right now?

In full view of the public, the scene on the screen shifted to an enormous palace decorated in staggering luxury.

Brilliant sunlight, the likes of which most people had never seen in their lives, streamed through elaborate, colorful stained-glass windows.

At the far end of the palace, seated upon a golden throne, was a woman as huge as a small mountain.

She was well over five meters tall, and looked both pale and fat. The flesh bulging high on her cheeks squeezed her eyes into two thin slits. Her nostrils were wide, and her lips were coated in thick lipstick.

She looked less like a human being and more like... a statue of some figure rendered in exaggerated proportions.

The gigantic woman was wrapped in luxurious white robes. Intricate patterns had been embroidered in gold thread along the edges of the ample fabric. Her ten fingers were as thick as carrots, resting on the arms of her throne, and every one of them was stuffed with a dazzling ring of a different design.

She was Ms. Priss.