The girl had a dream.
A cold voice echoed in her mind: "The serious criminal, real name Hibiscus, code name Hyacinth, you are actually the terrorist group leader who has long been called the High Priestess of Time. This group calls itself the Salvation Church and is dedicated to eliminating humanity to create a so-called new human society. Over the years, it has brought serious disasters to the world. You face 563 charges..."
The me in the dream seemed to be laughing, completely ignoring those sanctimonious figures.
"Given that you are already a Withered-stage magical girl and rank among the first generation, we will not issue a death sentence. You will be sealed in absolute confinement belonging only to you until forever. Never to be seen again."
Hibiscus felt only coldness toward these voices.
She sensed that although her body had been sealed, the abundant power within could break through at any time, but glancing at a pink-haired girl in the corner of the judgment seat, she sighed and accepted her fate.
Who? No one gave Hibiscus an answer—merely an outsider catching a brief glimpse of some possibility in the long river of time.
The dream suddenly changed. The girl's hands were crossed behind her back and locked with heavy shackles, even her ten fingers bound with fine wire. Her legs were pressed together and wrapped in circles of iron chains. This wasn't all—she was then put in a straitjacket for further restraint, the force so tight it compressed her entire body until she could barely breathe, the special material clinging to her skin with an intense sense of bondage that prevented any movement. Finally, her mouth was gagged and her eyes blindfolded, depriving her of sight. Everything was surrounded by darkness, and a guilty voice reached her ears:
"I'm sorry..."
The girl felt no emotion, because this seemingly desperate situation was just a bubble that would burst at the slightest touch. You people simply don't understand what lies beyond withering—just another long sleep.
Hibiscus wanted to see what she looked like from the main perspective, but the next moment came the sound of shattering.
After a series of cracking and explosive sounds, the world spun and turned upside down. Streams of light swept past her body and then disappeared until the hotel ceiling came into view.
"Oh no, I'm going to be late!"
She suddenly looked at the clock—there were still 5 hours until the college entrance exam—and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't slept long and had plenty of time. Her spirits were better than expected. The black-haired girl stretched and washed up while organizing her stationery, preparing everything first.
Suddenly, her hand reaching toward the transparent pencil case froze. Why did the fill-in pen fly into her palm? She definitely saw it correctly—telekinesis! Yes, it must be Magical Girl Awakening.
Hibiscus blinked and looked around, surprised to find that her strange illness symptoms had disappeared. Her hearing and vision were sharp, and she felt enlightened.
"The netizens were right, I did it! I really did it."
The girl was beyond excited. The weight on her heart finally lifted, and she wasn't even nervous about the imminent college entrance exam. When she recalled the texts she had memorized yesterday, she could recite them word for word without missing a single character—practically photographic memory. She had returned to her proper level. Originally, she almost couldn't make it to the exam site, so joy was the most beautiful emotion.
Beep!
【You have completed the advice "sleep." Rewards have been distributed: 10 free attribute points, ten consecutive lottery draws】
The system notification made Hibiscus perk up and pay attention. Although she didn't quite understand the underlying mechanism, she realized that perhaps the tragic future the netizens mentioned had already taken a turn for the better from the source. She must grasp this firmly. Speaking of distributing points, that involved the basic panel:
[Constitution: 6]
[Magic Power: 15]
[Spirit: 12]
[Speed: 5]
[Strength: 5]
According to the system's judgment, the average ordinary person had 10 points. As a frail homebody who had barely exercised since the high school entrance exam's physical education test, having such attributes wasn't surprising. What was important was that besides the basic five dimensions, there were also special items.
[Exchange Points: None. Complete advice to gain exchange points that can be converted to free attributes or lottery draws]
The simple and straightforward explanation made Hibiscus understand that she would need to consult with netizens more in the future. Moreover, judging from the system's appearance of "Magic Power," the supernatural must indeed exist—it's just that mere civilians know nothing about it. She tried telekinesis again but failed. No need to be discouraged—this was probably due to instability during awakening. If 15 points of magic power were enough for casual telekinesis, that would be truly exaggerated.
After some research, Hibiscus turned her attention to the rewards. In a sense, she had suffered from the strange illness for so long precisely for this moment—it absolutely had to deliver.
She distributed each free attribute point evenly among the five dimensions.
The next moment, the girl felt her whole body heating up as a surge of power rose within her—a state of perfect completion, a wonderful experience unlike any she'd ever had.
She had an intuition that with the so-called "magical awakening," her basic attributes would definitely undergo dramatic changes, and the system's enhancement accelerated the process. With transcendent power already present plus additional points, how strong could she become in the future? Would it be enough to resist the fate of imprisonment?
Hibiscus's inexplicable dream from last night added a sense of crisis to her heart. She should prepare for rainy days, but thinking about it now was useless. The urgent matter was to use up the lottery draws.
The prize pool was divided into white, blue, purple, and gold from low to high, with specific differences to be discovered through drawing.
The wheel began spinning.
As ten rays of light swept by, the results were: Small Mana Recovery Potion ×5, Small Health Recovery Potion ×3, Small Enhancement Potion ×1, Magic Advancement Stone Fragment ×1.
Only the last one was blue light; all the others were white light. After all that heart-pounding lottery drawing, she still didn't know what purple and gold looked like? On second thought, this was normal—the system probably wouldn't be too generous. After giving herself psychological counseling, Hibiscus turned to study the prizes.
The three types of potions were self-explanatory, though she couldn't use them for now—rather, it would be best if she never had to use them. The remaining advancement stone had unknown effects, so she set it aside for now.
In the end, there were no prizes that could immediately be put to use.
Even if they had mysterious effects, she'd have to wait until after awakening to find out. At this moment, the girl wasn't concerned with magical girls, the Great Catastrophe, future dreams, and such things. The major life event of the college entrance exam was most important.
Hibiscus set aside her thoughts and began studying again, until the eastern sky showed a pale fish-belly white and the sound of heavy traffic came from below the hotel, occasionally mixed with traffic police maintaining order. It was time for the students to set off.
She did a final check of her transparent pencil case, pencils, erasers, gel pens, admission ticket... Everything was confirmed.
After getting dressed and ready, she looked back at the guest room and paused, then smiled wryly.
She hadn't even shown any "nostalgia" for her solitary room, so why did she now look at it like looking at home? Perhaps people always give beautiful filters to their dwelling places before setting out on a journey. Even more so because an inconspicuous corner had forever changed the girl's fate.
If I become very wealthy someday, I'll buy this hotel as a memento.
She almost forgot to report her safety!
Hibiscus focused her mind and summoned the blue Q&A website, took a selfie fully armed with the caption: "Thank you all for your guidance. Last night went smoothly, I'm setting off," so of course she didn't see the rapidly scrolling messages.
In the photo, the girl had a graceful figure with heroic spirit between her brows, the corner of her mouth curved in an arc. Despite her young age, she displayed an aura of rivers not opposing small streams.
【Perfect, this is the High Priestess of Time in my heart】
【Actually encountered a successor. This post has been included in the "Magical Girl of Light Series" topic's trending section. Congratulations, OP】
【Doesn't match the original's gloomy and solitary childhood Hyacinth, but isn't fan creation meant to make up for regrets? Very happy to witness the youthful arrogance of Boss Mu. I acknowledge your cosplay. Wish you success from the start】
【Laughing heartily as I leave, how can we be ordinary people among the weeds】
【Got that feeling, too lifelike】
The netizens discussed enthusiastically, and in the end, thousands of words came together in one sentence: Good luck with the college entrance exam.