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Luffy: “Wear cute clothes, skirts, whatever I want. Act silly, flirt shamelessly, let my emotions run wild—” ….Author-sama are these perhaps your hidden desires? (sneak peak)
Don't worry your secret's safe with us!
Once my talent awakened, I let Bai Yu lead me forward without a second thought. I didn’t bother her with questions—my trust in her was simple, instinctive, absolute.
Still, I couldn’t stop my mind from circling back to one nagging question: what's my talent, anyway? It sure didn’t feel like I’d gained anything noteworthy.
[Luffy lurking in the back: yes, yes, what exactly is his talent? C'mon tell us]
As we walked, a faint scream drifted through the air, growing sharper the closer we got. Mixed in with it was a laugh—low, wicked, the kind you’d expect from a cartoon villain twirling a mustache.
Bai Yu didn’t hesitate; she steered us straight toward the sound, like she’d known it was coming.
Around the next corner, the noise hit me full force—a howl of despair that I could tell came from a guy, someone like me.
It was the kind of sound that sparked wild, ridiculous thoughts. What if some senior girl’s got her hands on a freshman? I mused. That desperate already?
Just as the thought crossed my mind, someone scrambled into view—or at least, tried to.
A hand shot out from around the corner, clawing at the ground, only to be yanked back with a hopeless jerk.
Then I saw her– a senior girl, her voice cutting through the chaos, now clear enough to make out.
“Come on, sweetie,” she cooed, her tone dripping with mock affection. “Be a good little freshman. Don’t make this hard for me. Swallow this mana core, and you can be a witch just like us here!”
Bai Yu gave me a nudge, practically shoving me forward until I had a front-row seat to the disaster unfolding.
The boy’s face was a mask of defiance, but pinned against the wall like that, he didn’t stand a chance. The senior wasn’t letting up—she loomed over him, relentless.
Her hand hovered in the air, fingers curled like she was holding something, though I couldn’t see a damn thing with my naked eye. Just a faint shimmer, a distortion that messed with my vision. But her words stuck with me: mana core… become… a witch…
I shot a glance at Bai Yu, half-expecting her to explain, but she just tilted her head, gesturing for me to keep watching.
The boy caught sight of us then. His eyes locked onto mine, pleading for help, but what was I supposed to do? Sorry, man, I thought. I’m as lost as you are.
On impulse, I flicked on my Psi-vision. Suddenly, everything snapped into focus. The senior’s hand wasn’t empty—there was something there, glowing faintly, probably that “mana core” she’d mentioned.
I squinted, trying to make sense of it, just as half of it sank into the boy’s body.
Up close, it was a mess—too intricate, too chaotic to fully grasp. A swirling knot of energy, pulsing with twisted, overlapping threads of information.
If that was the mana core, then yeah, calling it “magic” tracked. Wasn’t that what powered my phone, too? But this—this was raw, primal. Shoving power straight into someone’s body? That’s how they tapped into the extraordinary?
Before I could process it, the scene erupted. Still in Psi-vision, I watched the mana core detonate inside him, unleashing a wave of raw force.
Stray energy spilled out, flashing into light and heat in the real world. But in the inner world—the layer beneath reality—that magic surged through him like a virus, consuming every inch of his body.
It was too much. A flood of images and sensations slammed into me—sights I couldn’t unsee, sounds I couldn’t unhear.
My head throbbed, a dull ache blooming into full-on pain.
“You okay?” Bai Yu’s hand steadied me as my knees buckled. “If it’s too much, drop the Psi-vision.”
“I’m… fine,” I muttered, waving her off. But I killed the vision anyway—no way I could handle more of that.
The boy in front of me was engulfed in a shimmering cocoon of light.
Even without Psi-vision, I could still recall the flood of data I’d seen moments ago—the mana core’s energy spilling out after being forced into his body.
The sheer power of it was unreal.
Heat rolled off him in waves, hitting me even from this distance, and the glaring white glow forced me to squint.
“Sis, what… what’s happening here?” I asked, swallowing hard, my voice catching in my throat.
She turned to me, calm as ever. “The Witch School gives every new student an initial mana core. It’s your first step into transcendence.”
Her explanation was patient, almost gentle, like she was walking me through something inevitable.
Nearby, the senior girl smirked at Bai Yu—a knowing, silent exchange between them, like some unspoken sisterhood.
But my eyes were glued to the boy. Part of me couldn’t shake the thought that I might end up just as helpless as he was soon enough.
Would it hurt, having that mana core shoved into me? My mind spiraled with wild possibilities.
Then, the light began to fade, and the boy’s shape came into view. Except… something was off.
I frowned, trying to make sense of it.
His short hair had stretched into long, flowing strands. His chest—flat a moment ago—now curved slightly. And his face, once unmistakably a guy’s, softened into something delicate, almost unrecognizable.
Wait.
No way.
Had sticking a mana core into him… turned him into a girl?
I blinked, stunned, unable to process what I was seeing.
“Did you catch that?” Bai Yu said, stepping closer. “This is the witchification process. When someone—guy or girl—merges with a mana core, they start evolving toward becoming a transcendent witch. That’s what this is.”
“So… you’re saying I’m going to turn into a girl?” My voice cracked as the words stumbled out.
For a moment, I didn’t know what to feel. Excitement? Joy? Should I play it off like I was freaking out, thrashing around in disbelief? My head was a mess.
“Yeah,” Bai Yu said, resting a hand on my shoulder. “The Witch School trains witches. I told you that from the start.” Her grip was steady—probably ready to stop me if I lost it. Not that I would. I wasn’t the type to flip out.
I’d lived two lives already. Gender? I’d always been pretty open about it. “Open” might not even be the right word—truth was, I’d secretly craved it. A whole new perspective, a life I’d never experienced. Becoming a witch, shedding this body, this identity—it’d be a clean break from everything I’d been in this world.
I could start over. Live without holding back. Wear cute clothes, skirts, whatever I want. Act silly, flirt shamelessly, let my emotions run wild—no restraints, no judgment. The thought hit me like a rush, and for a second, I saw it all so clearly.
My body, my soul—they were screaming yes, practically begging for it.
But my mouth? It wouldn’t cooperate. I was still a guy right now, and that last stubborn piece of me—the shackle I couldn’t shake—choked out the opposite of what I felt.
“Sis, you’re messing with me, right? I don’t… I don’t want to turn into a girl…” My voice was shaky, halting, and I didn't even buy it.
Those shaky words were all I could manage, and even I didn’t believe them.
Bai Yu sighed. “Alright… I get it.”
With a casual flick of her hand, my body went limp, like a puppet jerked by invisible strings. My arms and legs moved on their own, stiffly trailing behind her as she walked.
I wasn’t fighting it—couldn’t, even if I’d wanted to.
“Yuehan,” she said, her voice soft but firm, “Do you remember what I told you back then?”
I didn’t answer. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. My body wasn’t mine anymore; not a single word would come out.
“I said I’d go with you to the Witch School,” she continued. “That’s the last bit of help I can give you.”
She kept talking, filling the silence I couldn’t break. “I’m sorry, Yuehan. Once you chose the Witch School, there was no turning back. That’s why I contacted the academy on the train—signed up to be a volunteer guide for new students.”
She paused, her hand curling as if gripping something. Nothing was there—or at least, nothing I could see. Just a faint ripple in the air, a twist of light where stray magic warped everything around it.
“It’s the last thing I can do for you,” she said. “I have to handle this myself. If some other senior got her hands on you, it’d be worse. You saw that girl back there—some of them get a kick out of it, dragging it out, turning it into a game. The really twisted ones? They’d slow the process down just to watch you squirm, helpless, until you’re a broken mess. They might even snap a picture to keep as a souvenir.”
Her eyes met mine, steady and serious. “But not me. I’ll make it quick. And after, I’ll teach you everything—how to live as a girl. I’ll treat you like my little sister. So don’t hate me, okay?”
She gave me a small, almost sad smile. “Be a witch with me, Yuehan.”
Before I could react—if I even could—she shoved the mana core straight into my chest.