In the evening, when Lin Han returned home, the lights in the living room were on.

Exaggerated background music came from the TV, followed by the energetic shout of a young girl.

“In the name of the detective, the Magical Girl makes her entrance! Surrender, Phantom Thief!”

Lin Han stood at the entryway changing his shoes, not even needing to look up to know what was playing on the TV.

Magical ★ Girl, a classic anime series that had been popular since he was a kid. The plot could basically be summarized as a group of girls in gorgeous clothes—Magical Girls in name, but berserkers in reality—defeating bad guys.

Jiang Wanfeng had loved watching this series since she was little. It seemed the “Phantom Thief Arc” was currently airing, and she caught up with the new episodes every week.

Lin Han walked into the living room and, sure enough, saw Jiang Wanfeng completely sprawled out on the sofa.

She looked like she had already taken a shower. Her hair was loosely tied back with a scrunchie, and she was wearing a set of light-colored pajamas printed with a kitten pattern. She was hugging a throw pillow, with potato chips and a drink placed by her right hand, and half covered by a thin blanket. Her long, fair legs casually took up the entire sofa, making it hard to look away.

“It’s only the first day of your class suspension, and you’ve already evolved into a sofa-bound spirit?” Lin Han quipped.

In the afternoon, he had already spoken to Jiang Wanfeng on the phone and learned that classes at Qingchuan Public were temporarily suspended due to the Calamity attack, with the resumption date pending notification.

So Jiang Wanfeng could rest at home for the next few days.

Jiang Wanfeng lazily lifted her eyelids.

“I’m a pitiful high school girl who just survived a Calamity attack today. What’s wrong with taking a little break?”

“I really don’t see what’s so pitiful about you.”

“Bro, you’re so annoying.”

Jiang Wanfeng rolled over, pressed a throw pillow against her stomach, and went back to watching TV.

Lin Han hung up his coat and walked over to stand by the living room coffee table.

Looking at his little sister’s current state, Lin Han felt that if he didn’t give her a slight reminder, in three days their house might gain a new reptilian species inhabiting the sofa named “Jiang Wanfeng”.

“Don’t completely let yourself go while classes are suspended; you still need to study. Also, don’t just coop yourself up inside, get some proper exercise, or go out and hang out with friends for a bit…”

Jiang Wanfeng dragged out her words, sounding completely unbothered.

“I knooow—by the way, why are you back so late today?”

Lin Han gave a vague reply:

“Such a massive incident just happened, so our department has a lot of work to handle too. But we have tomorrow off, so it’s fine.”

This was a lie.

The truth was actually a bit more embarrassing.

Because of their contribution to the intelligence on Qingchuan Public, Team 7 as a whole received a commendation and a bonus from Qin Zhizhi.

However, since one of them left his post without authorization and the other assisted in doing so, he and Zhou Ran were ultimately forced by Qin Zhizhi to stay at their desks writing self-reflections for half a day, which was why he could only come home now.

Furthermore, after finishing his reflection, he was individually notified of a one-week suspension.

However, even though it was nominally a disciplinary action, Lin Han knew very well that Qin Zhizhi had likely just noticed he was injured and used it as an excuse to let him rest at home, rather than actually punishing him.

Setting aside whether Qin Zhizhi was reliable as a Division Chief, at least as a boss, she wasn’t a bad person.

But there was no need to tell Jiang Wanfeng any of this.

With that, Lin Han glanced at Jiang Wanfeng, then looked at the cartoon playing on the TV.

In the past, he had no interest in these kinds of cartoons. While he would occasionally watch them with Jiang Wanfeng and find them too aimed at kids, he felt it was fine as long as she liked them.

But after experiencing what happened this morning, seeing those gorgeously dressed beautiful magical girls on TV instantly made Lin Han associate them with Magical Girls.

He thought of the orange-gold figure falling from mid-air during the day.

Was that Magical Girl really Jiang Wanfeng…?

Lin Han stared at Jiang Wanfeng, trying to find some clues from her.

Jiang Wanfeng was originally watching TV very intently, but after being stared at by Lin Han for a while, she quickly felt a little uncomfortable.

Actually, she was feeling a bit guilty.

In today’s battle with Veil Weaver, because of SAVE’s intervention, she only suffered some minor injuries in the end, which was no big deal.

Although Lulu patted her chest and promised that a Magical Girl’s physique was different from ordinary people, and that this level of injury would recover more or less after just one night of rest.

But she was still a little worried that Lin Han would notice something amiss, especially the way Lin Han looked at her today, which always made her feel like something was off.

Feeling creeped out by his stare, Jiang Wanfeng hurriedly spoke up to change the subject.

“Oh right, bro, did you go to the school to look for me today?”

Lin Han’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and he quickly reacted.

Su Lingyin probably told her.

“I did.”

Lin Han did not deny it.

“I heard something happened at Qingchuan Public, and I was worried about you, so I went over to take a look. Fortunately, you’re fine.”

Jiang Wanfeng had only wanted to bring up a random topic, and hadn’t expected Lin Han to admit it so readily.

She froze for a moment.

The background music on the TV was quite intense, but Jiang Wanfeng suddenly felt like the sound was coming from very far away.

“Oh…”

She responded softly, completely not expecting Lin Han to be so direct.

Didn’t this guy usually act a bit awkward about this sort of thing?

At the very least, shouldn’t he say something like, “It’s not like I went to the school because of you”?

Why was he being so straightforward today? Could her bro have been replaced by a Mutant…?

Jiang Wanfeng slowly pulled the blanket up to cover half her face, leaving only a pair of darting eyes exposed.

“I-Is that so.”

Jiang Wanfeng shifted her gaze back to the TV and feigned calmness as she said:

“Bro, if you could talk to other girls like this, you would have found a girlfriend a long time ago.”

“Now you’re worrying about that.”

Lin Han shrugged and stared at Jiang Wanfeng for a long time, but still couldn’t find any direct evidence.

Forget it.

There is still plenty of time.

If Jiang Wanfeng really is a Magical Girl, she will eventually slip up.

Besides, she just went through such a massive ordeal today. Whether she is a Magical Girl or not, she needs to get a good rest.

“I’m heading back to my room. Don’t watch too much TV.”

“Got it.”

Soon, only the sound of the TV remained in the living room.

Jiang Wanfeng hugged a throw pillow, her face flushed red, and buried herself in the blanket.

She stared at the TV screen. The story of this episode had reached its climax and the protagonist was about to achieve victory, but she didn’t absorb a single detail of the plot that followed.

Her heartbeat was a little fast.

At the same time, she felt a bit disappointed.

After all, part of her original reason for becoming a Magical Girl was that she didn’t want Lin Han to protect her anymore; ideally, she wanted to become the strength that protected Lin Han.

But today, it seemed she had made her bro worry and take risks again…

“Stupid bro.”

Jiang Wanfeng pulled the blanket up a bit more, completely hiding her burning face.

For some reason, she suddenly recalled the girl with long silver-white hair from earlier today, named “Phildeia.”

Perhaps only by possessing such formidable power could she completely stop her bro from worrying about her?

“If only I could be her…”

Returning to his room, Lin Han looked at Devil Incarnation on his computer. He hesitated for a few seconds before ultimately clicking it open.

At this point, there was no longer any need to avoid this game.

Although many people in SAVE viewed various anomalous phenomena as terrible scourges, Lin Han wasn’t that rigid.

Since he was already able to transform into Phil in reality, even if he still didn’t understand the underlying principles, it wouldn’t stop him from using this game to enhance his strength.

At least right now, with a storm seemingly on the horizon, Lin Han felt that his choices were quite limited.