Chapter 728: Yang Yunhan’s Strange New Life
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 728: Yang Yunhan’s Strange New Life
Witch Academy, Residential Area.
A figure stirred on the bed. Perhaps she had rolled over and pinned her long hair; the sudden sting of pain brought a flash of clarity.
"Sss... that hurts..."
The girl spoke instinctively, propping herself up with one hand. She looked around at her surroundings, which were entirely unfamiliar. Then, strands of long hair slid into her field of vision.
She reflexively hooked a lock with her finger, staring at it blankly.
"I really turned into a girl..."
Her tone wasn't as devastated as one might expect. Her voice, colored by habit, came out neutral yet soft. If she relaxed, her speech would become as delicate and approachable as any other girl's.
A faint flush crept onto her face. Even she hadn't expected to accept it so quickly. At first, she thought she would have an emotional breakdown.
But she didn't... It was as if a suffocating life had worn down her sharp edges. The time she had truly spent in freedom was very short—from the moment her parents were arrested to her entry into the Witch Academy... just that long.
She even found herself enjoying this brief period of freedom, even if that enjoyment was tinged with fear.
With no one to control her, the greatest pressure of a gender transition was internal. If she could find self-acceptance, then only the recognition of the outside world remained.
However, the Witch Academy was a "mini-society" consisting only of girls. She would eventually come to understand just how much the senior sisters tolerated them.
Yang Yunhan was the type who had never had a girlfriend. In fact, due to her family situation, her self-esteem was so low that she had never even touched a girl's hand—she didn't even have the courage to do so as a joke.
She never imagined her ultimate fate would turn out like this. After climbing out of bed, she hurried to the floor-length mirror by the bedside.
Looking at her reflection, she saw she was still wearing the same male clothes as before, though they were now perfectly clean. The outfit felt discordant on her current body, yet it couldn't mask the charm she possessed after becoming a girl.
She stared at her reflection, dazed, until she finally shook her head to cast aside her stray thoughts.
She was still a teenager, but her deep-seated cowardice made her afraid to even examine her own body. She could only think of other things to avoid the issue.
For instance... when did she pass out?
She had been brought to that Great Witch's gate by a spell... then her sister... and then she fainted.
So, where was she now?
She looked around and realized the space she was in was enormous. It looked like a bedroom, but it was much larger than her old one. She had never imagined a single person's bedroom could be this big. A very conspicuous wardrobe occupied a large section of one side.
After all, girls had a lot of clothes, though the current Yang Yunhan didn't understand that yet.
Aside from the layout, the most important thing was the bedroom door.
However, she was somewhat afraid to walk through it. She feared that once she stepped out, she would see that figure who made her tremble with terror—a sight more frightening than a door-opening jump scare in a horror game.
So, she instinctively scanned the room, hoping to find some other information.
And she actually found something.
Several items were laid out on her bedside table.
She walked over and found what looked like a room card, along with something resembling an identity card. It was printed with a photo of her as a girl, and more importantly, the name on it was hers—though the "Gender" column was particularly jarring.
After calming her nerves, she also found a phone. She couldn't get it to turn on, but the model and material of the device immediately piqued her interest!
This was a model that didn't exist in the outside world!
It felt great in her hand, too!
After fiddling with it and confirming it wouldn't turn on, she reluctantly set the phone down.
She turned her head to the other side. There was a stack of folded fabric, topped with a massive wide-brimmed hat, a nondescript magic wand, and... a chest badge. The badge featured a relief of a flaming fireball.
She reflexively picked up the hat. This was the Witch Hat that rumors said witches loved most.
After a mental struggle to convince herself to accept female clothing, she picked up the fabric underneath. After fumbling with it for a while, she realized... it seemed to be just a cape.
Once the cape was lifted, there seemed to be something else underneath—a shimmering pattern.
She reached out to touch it, and the pattern was instantly activated, emitting threads of light.
Eventually, the lines formed glowing text that floated before her.
It was a message!
"If you're seeing this, it means you've calmed down enough to start looking through your things. I don't care whether you accept this change or not, but there's no turning back now. You can only view the following tips once; they will vanish afterward. This is merely my duty for leading your enrollment."
"The items on your bedside table are, in order: the room card for your villa—you'll be living with others; your identity card—don't lose it; and finally, the phone. The phone is mana-powered. There's a dedicated charging device in your bedroom; find it yourself. If there's anything you don't understand, you can find the smart butler in the villa—it looks like a robot vacuum."
"As for the rest, the Witch Hat, Witch Cape, magic wand, and chest badge make up the Enrollment Four-Piece Set. Don't mess around with the badge. It has a solidified Fireball Spell inside; one blast could blow your bedroom to high heaven. If you want to be saddled with massive debt at such a young age, feel free to play with it. I won't stop you, but I won't clean up your mess either."
"Speaking of debt, I've taken back that card I gave you earlier. From now on, you're on your own. If you run out of money, find a way to earn it through a part-time job. Your starting capital is just the academy's enrollment subsidy. You'll see it on the payment page once you turn on your phone and bind your info. Cherish your vacation time at the academy."
"Note: There's also the Talent Awakening. You have to go do that yourself while you're awake. Honestly, whether you awaken or not doesn't make much difference. If you're interested, go ask around. If you can't even manage to find information on it, then you don't deserve to awaken anyway."
The message was quite long. Yang Yunhan spent a long time reading it, but there were too many new things for her to process all at once.
For example... she was living in a villa and would have roommates... the phone was charged with mana—what was mana?
And the Witch Four-Piece Set...
And... money!
Although she didn't have much of a concept of money, she knew that without it, she couldn't do anything!
"She! She took that card back?!"
She knew exactly how much money was on that card!
It was an amount she couldn't spend in a lifetime.
But now she had nothing. Even if the other party hadn't taken it back, she didn't have it on her... and... she missed her computer...
What should she do?
Did she really have to find a part-time job?
For someone like her who knew how to do nothing at home, a part-time job felt incredibly far away.
She didn't even know how to look for one.
Although her former older brother had gone to work part-time very early to escape their annoying family, she had never bothered to learn how it was done...
She sat on the edge of the bed, dazed, for a long time.
Eventually... perhaps tired of sitting, she stood up. Her gaze finally settled on the handle of the bedroom door.
At a certain moment, she made up her mind. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the handle.
Click—
The crisp sound of the door opening made her feel a bit uneasy.
But when the door opened, that terrifying figure wasn't there.
There was only a somewhat dim hallway.
She walked out and found that her bedroom was at the very front. Glancing to the side, she saw several other similar bedroom guest rooms.
On one side was the second-floor landing, with a railing and stairs leading down.
She seemed to hear some strange sounds, like a television downstairs.
Is someone there?
That was her first thought.
After a moment of hesitation, she took a deep breath and went to the railing. From there, she could see the living room on the first floor and a figure lying casually on the sofa.
"Hi~ new roommate. You're finally awake?"
"Uh... hi..." Yang Yunhan responded stiffly.
"Looking at those clothes... Bro, were you kidnapped to the Witch Academy too?"
"Uh... you too?" At that moment, Yang Yunhan felt an instant sense of kinship with the other person.
"Duh~ obviously~ I got here yesterday, a bit earlier than you. When you arrived, a senior sister brought you in. She was a really pretty one~"
"Uh..." Yang Yunhan was suddenly at a loss for how to continue the conversation.
But hearing those words, she suddenly realized—"yesterday"?
Didn't she remember that the application system only opened today?
Could it be that she had actually been unconscious for a whole day and night?
"Looks like you were brought here by force? Sorry, sorry~ didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."
"You weren't forced?" Yang Yunhan asked with a frown.
"I was too~ How could a grown man like me voluntarily apply to a Witch School?" The girl shifted her position on the sofa and continued her story. "It's just that after I saw the senior from the Wizard Academy who was supposed to take me away get absolutely wrecked by the senior sister from the Witch Academy, I accepted reality pretty quickly. I entered a Transcendent Academy for transcendent power! Whether I become a witch or a wizard, I'm actually pretty open-minded about it~"
"Oh, right, forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Shi Liqun. That was my original name, and I didn't change it after enrolling. What about you?" The girl calling herself Shi Liqun spoke, then looked toward Yang Yunhan.
"I... I'm Yang Yunhan."
"Oh? Yang Yunhan? That name... sounds a bit familiar. I was just browsing the academy network and saw a lot of people discussing a senior sister named Yang Yuehan... Wait! That senior sister who brought you here couldn't be Yang Yuehan, could it? Are you related to her?"
"Uh... no, no relation!"
* * *
"Kidnapping freshmen from other academies... I haven't done that in a while." After Yi Rui and the others met up with me, we each brought our new students back to the Witch Academy.
Since I have teleportation spells, it was quite convenient to return, so I brought back quite a few people this time.
This time, Yi Rui and the others were basically all mobilized. As for the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method, they had to temporarily set it aside until a new theoretical breakthrough was made.
The freshman enrollment period is a rare opportunity. After I shared my thoughts with them, they were very willing to try this experiment.
Specifically, the state of "First Witchification"—the permanent, irreversible physical change it causes in males—really needs in-depth research.
In fact, many things worth researching exist in the mundane moments of life. For instance, the way a Mana Source changes a person is the first self-related transcendent change one encounters after entering the Witch Academy, yet too many people overlook it.
After hearing my explanation, Yi Rui joined the kidnapping team without hesitation.
After all, Yi Rui and the others hadn't forgotten their mission. Their task was to perfect the architecture of the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method. Xiao Han had already built the framework for them; they just needed to find the method for success.
And Xiao Han had already pointed the way: Incubation Rebirth. If the reshaping technique used during the "First Witchification" process to change the body could be integrated into the Experimental Incubation Rebirth Spell for derivation, it might help them complete the most important step of the Mana Source Body Cultivation Method!
That is, the process of the body accepting a Mana Source and using its power for active cultivation.
This was their first large-scale attempt at a derivation outside of standard sequence derivation for a spellbook. It must be said that the gap compared to before was enormous, but it was also very novel.
"Alright, alright, boys, don't cry. Actually, the Witch Academy isn't that bad. All Transcendent Academies are essentially the same. These are just small prices to pay on the path of transcendence..."
Yi Rui and the others were comforting the boys they had forcibly brought back. This was my requirement; after all, the changes from First Witchification aren't very obvious for girls—at least not as drastic as they are for boys.
"It's fine, it's fine~ Once you turn into girls in a bit, you can cry as much as you want, fair and square~" I added from the side.
"Wait... Xiao Han, are you actually trying to comfort them?" Yi Rui complained from the side.
"I think Sister Xiao Han is just being an amusement seeker," another girl nearby laughed, exposing my thoughts without hesitation.
But the joys and sorrows of humans are not shared. While Yi Rui and I were chatting happily, casually deciding the fates of these boys, they felt as if the sky was falling.
But it didn't matter; time would wash everything away.
After a short while.
"Now, who wants to be the first to volunteer for Witchification? I'll give an extra re~ward~ to the first one," I said, my gaze sweeping over the seven or eight boys.
"For the first volunteer, after I complete your Witchification, I'll give you ten extra Mana Sources. Mana Sources are the transcendent power you'll master in the future. Ten more means that from the start of school, you'll have ten times the transcendent power reserves of others. This chance only comes once~"
As soon as I finished speaking, the freshmen below fell silent.
Some were weighing the pros and cons, some were wondering if they should cast aside their dignity, and some...
"Senior sister! Pick me! Senior sister, me, me! I'll be the first!"