Superman Termination Manual

"She's so pretty, clearly headed for the idol route. Maybe we'll see her on TV in a few days."

Bystanders on Hongdeng Commercial Street discussed.

Magical Girl Ash sighed and said as she walked toward the entrance of the building, "Look at these people, aren't they annoying? That's the trouble with being a Magic Girl."

"What kind of person is Senior Lilai?"

Magical Girl Xiaohongmao followed her, asking with curiosity.

Ash thought for a moment and said, "Super indifferent, super rigid, if you do something wrong, she's so fierce it's like she wants to eat you up. The only approachable thing about her is that she likes to play Dota."

She paused, "You do know what Dota is, right?"

Xiaohongmao shook her head, "Never heard of it. I don't have money for a computer, is it a game?"

"Yeah, next time, do you want to play together? I'll take you to a cybercafe. Oh wait, we're not of age." Magical Girl Ash propped her chin, muttering to herself, "No matter, I'll use a magic card to turn the owner into a pig."
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Xiaohongmao smiled faintly.

They entered the building.

Magical Girl Ash approached the counter, said something to the clerk, who then took out an ID card from a drawer and handed it to her.

Ash turned around and handed the ID card to Xiaohongmao, "Here, this is your ID card. If you want to enter and use the Alliance Building, including the elevators and rooms, you'll need to swipe it."

"An ID card was prepared in advance for me?"

Xiaohongmao took the card, glanced down at it, and saw her personal information on the front and the Alliance's emblem on the back.

"As I said, Teacher Xizi Yue has been waiting for you for a long time. She said the moment she saw you, she knew you have talent, just like Teacher Lilai." Ash said indifferently, "With this ID card, you can even find a room to sleep in the building, so you don't have to sleep in those cold, dirty places anymore."

"No need, I kind of like being alone."

Xiaohongmao shook her head, thinking to herself, what a joke, what if I blew up the room in my sleep?

"Are you silly? No one will bother you in here."

"It's okay, I'm more accustomed to the outside," Xiaohongmao replied.

"Forget it, I don't care about you anymore."

Magical Girl Ash sighed and led her to the elevator, swiped the ID card in the slot, and all the buttons on the control panel lit up.

She pressed "Floor 15" and the elevator doors closed and began ascending with a hum. One stood with arms crossed, the other with hands clasped behind her back, both silently waiting for the doors to open.

They then stepped onto the fifteenth floor of the building and walked down the corridor to the end, where they saw a grand door of dark gold emitting an air of luxury with a card slot in the center.

"Swipe your ID card through, you can get a card once a week; I've already used my permission," Ash instructed.

Xiaohongmao nodded, then placed her ID card inside the slot and slowly slid it down.

As the slot emitted a blue light, the door suddenly swung open.

Xiaohongmao's mouth fell open slightly as she looked up to find a space akin to a library, with cards sealed in special frames and arranged on shelves like books.

Each shelf was marked with a classification sign: for instance, "Grade E Cards" were on the first row, "Grade D Cards" on the second, "Grade C Cards" on the third.

And within the same row, there were subsections like "Environment Cards," "Damage Cards," "Amplifying Cards," and so on; like cards were arranged together.

Cards were only replenished by the card library manager once their numbers ran out.

Magic Cards were stored in fully-transparent special material frames, with a card slot on the surface—you needed to insert your ID card to verify whether you had the right to obtain that particular card.

Magical Girl Ash, with arms crossed, explained.

"For now, you can only get the low-grade cards. To obtain higher-grade cards, you'd need to accomplish significant feats, like capturing or eliminating a high-ranking wanted criminal, then you can earn the corresponding level of cards."

Xiaohongmao nodded, walked closer to the shelves, and looked up at the colorful cards and the information plaques embedded in the storage frames, which listed the names and effects of the cards.

She approached the shelf labeled "Weekly Supply Cards."

This shelf was set apart from the others, conspicuous, and the cards it held varied in grade: some were Grade E, some D, and some C.

But there were no cards above Grade C.

"How many can I take?" asked Xiaohongmao, thinking to herself that getting to take seven cards for free every week was quite a steal.

Magical Girl Ash answered, "You get seven cards a week, pick whatever you want, but once you've taken seven, the storage will lock automatically. If you try to force another one out, that card will be burned."

"Is it that serious?"

"There are thieves among magical girls too. If caught, the punishment is severe—not only will you be expelled, but you might even end up in jail."

"I understand," Xiaohongmao said, "then do I have a chance of getting Senior Xizi Yue's 'Time-Space Train' card?"

"Huh?"

Ash was taken aback and said irritably, "Has your brain broken? That's a unique card created by the master. There's only one of its kind in the whole world."

"So can I create a unique card too?"

"Maybe."

"Teach me."

"Next time let my master teach you. I'm almost dead tired. I took you around the card library and now I'm heading home, otherwise my family will get suspicious."

As she looked over the weekly supply of cards, Magical Girl Xiaohongmao said, "Then, can I visit your place since I know who you are?"

Her tone was nonchalant, her face expressionless.

Magical Girl Ash froze for a couple of seconds, wrapping her arms around herself, her fingers lightly tapping on her arms.

It was the first time she revealed her identity to another magical girl besides her three masters, and she was somewhat uncomfortable with this form of interaction.

After hesitating for a moment, she said, "It's not impossible, but let's do it next time. I need to talk to my family first, otherwise bringing a friend home out of the blue might raise suspicions."

Xiaohongmao nodded, "Hmm, next time I have the chance, I'll come over to visit."

She thought it would be best if her elder sister wasn't there; otherwise, once the Deception Puppet reverted from its transformed state, that false face would instantly be seen through by the Eyes of Golden Flame... But then again, if she asked Cai Bing to make a facial mask, she could avoid such trouble, as the Eyes of Golden Flame couldn't see through a facial mask.

Bowing her head, Ash whispered softly, "Sure, but first you need to buy some normal clothes, make yourself look a bit nicer."

She paused, "Don't let me see you dressed like a vagabond again, or I'll get angry."

"I will," Xiaohongmao replied quietly, swiping her ID over the card slot.

Her hand was quick, swiftly picking up seven cards from the open storage: two 'Random Flash,' three 'Fireball Technique,' and two 'Magic Power Supply.'

Then she summoned the empty red Magic Book, slotted the seven cards into the first page of the book, closed it, and made it disappear.

"Okay, done," Xiaohongmao said.

"Then let's go," Ash responded.

"Yeah."

Nodding, Xiaohongmao followed Ash out of the card library and onto the descending elevator.

In the elevator, they conversed in hushed tones.

"How do I contact you in the future? Don't you have a phone? What's your number?"

"My phone is second-hand, I can't afford a SIM card, so I don't have a number."

"What about QQ?"

"I have QQ."

Xiaohongmao took her phone out from the pocket of her dress, logged into QQ, and turned the screen toward Ash.

Looking at the QQ number, Ash said indifferently, "I've got it. I'll add you when I get back. See you."

"Goodbye."

The two bid farewell at the front of the Alliance building, and then Ash took to the sky with her umbrella, disappearing into the clouds.

Xiaohongmao, taking advantage of the fact that the passerby's attention was on Ash, quickly slipped into an alley and reverted back from her transformed state.

She walked to Old Jingmai District, placed the spare phone inside the abandoned train station, and found a secluded spot within it to self-destruct.