Hibiscus spent the entire day bustling around various government offices.
The result was giving the "Mu Feng" identity bank card information, consumption records, social security information and such—at least making it seem more real. After all, the system props couldn't handle detailed aspects. If it could "directly insert a complete identity record into the world," that would be too absurd. Even if such things existed, they shouldn't come from simple task rewards.
In any case, "Dr. Mu" officially debuted—this concerned some future plans and served as a layer of cover.
The biggest gain was finally being able to properly deposit the one million cash into the bank, plus the previous spoils of fifty-five thousand in checks, barely counting as half a small wealthy woman.
Hibiscus now felt carefree with nothing weighing her down, temporarily free from money worries.
If she wanted to buy luxury cars and yachts, purchase villas and estates, this certainly wouldn't be enough, but her aspirations no longer lay there. Magic and Disaster Beasts had shown the girl another level of existence. As netizens said, "power counts as startup capital"—what did it matter if mere worldly possessions multiplied? The harbor docks were full of yachts that the Three-Eyed Cat easily sank anyway. Training magical girl power was the true path.
Of course, not prioritizing didn't mean abandoning—having money was always convenient. For instance, Hibiscus had just visited a casino using her new identity.
She thoroughly recognized that gambling was essentially about cheating techniques—nobody was honest.
But so what?
The girl pulled out a stack of checks from her pocket—a modest 100,000 yuan from casual gambling before quitting. The entire process was utterly boring; with superhuman perception and time stopping, it was like playing with cards face up.
The casino watched helplessly as a newcomer used 100 yuan in chips to win continuously, expanding to 100,000. Though incomparable to the wealthy district's high rollers, the growth ratio was indeed exaggerated. Hibiscus herself also felt it was slightly excessive—after all, she'd never been to a casino before and didn't dare hold back, accidentally dominating her opponents completely.
Just a small test of money-making methods—no need to fleece them further.
By then she already felt the organizers had sent quite a few watchers to monitor her, spending an hour unable to find any flaws or solutions.
That was all. Everything went smoothly without any casino trouble scenarios. The house always profits anyway, so there was no point offending a future "gambling god." For Hibiscus, the experiment succeeded so she left.
They never understood from beginning to end why the mysterious girl seemed to know all the poker cards under heavy surveillance, even able to switch cards at will.
The organizers could sense something was wrong with the "results," but what about the "process"? How was it done? Even if they racked their brains, they'd never understand that even if Hibiscus only stopped time for an instant, it was enough to turn the tide. Even as a technical novice with clumsy performance, she could still crush everyone, instead giving the impression of a master.
Dr. Mu had just been born recently, making her grand debut as a "gambling expert" before practicing medicine to save lives.
Time magic was truly convenient.
The resentment from Sands of Time's weak combat performance was completely swept away.
Hibiscus returned home laden with gains, drawing frequent glances from passersby on the way—after all, a white-haired, red-eyed girl with such distinctive features attracted attention even dressed plainly.
Still not low-key enough.
Since she was using a new identity, she naturally needed a corresponding appearance. Therefore Hibiscus adopted the most basic transformation state—appearance only, with Regalia weakened to just hair accessories. An appearance that had never existed in records was perfect for the universal identity card. This form actually had slightly higher combat power baseline than her original face. Though equally beautiful, the temperament was completely different—the magical girl conveyed an otherworldly, transcendent atmosphere.
Hibiscus was actually currently in a "weak transformation" state that changed her appearance. This required manifesting Regalia, which had clear categories:
Hair accessories. Top. Skirt. Gloves. Boots.
Each of the five parts possessed dedicated enhancement power that could be trained and amplified in sequence, even producing wonderful changes...anyway, that's what netizens said. Some magical girls were incredibly powerful through Regalia alone. The world was vast—there were always people beyond people and skies beyond skies. Magic wasn't the entirety of combat power composition.
Similarly, Hibiscus currently chose to manifest only hair accessories, representing enhancement of magical power, while also counting as a transformation that perfectly changed her appearance.
Suitable as it was, the movie-star level attention rate was too high-profile.
After walking a short while, she encountered inexplicable situations like "Beautiful lady, are you a celebrity?" "Please consider our agency," "Interested in participating in talent shows?" seeking her out.
Helplessly, she had to detour to buy hair dye plus large sunglasses to block her looks. It seemed she'd need light makeup when using this form in the future.
After returning home.
Hibiscus released her Regalia state and collapsed with a thud, practically melting into the sofa, physically exhausted with heavy eyelids.
Strangely, magical girl state always left one gasping for breath from exhaustion, but when truly wanting to sleep, she couldn't. Daily life was becoming increasingly energetic. She believed the exhausted state after consumption was a "negative penalty effect," not necessarily requiring rest.
Development proceeded as expected—after 20 minutes, symptoms significantly lessened, recovering faster than before. In other words, with training, the exhaustion would reduce and eventually disappear.
Someday in the future, she'd definitely be able to maintain weak transformation 24 hours without fatigue, and after that, complete Regalia transformation all day long. When all of a person's time far exceeded human limits, could it still be called a "state"? It should be called another species. Besides, people always adapt better to powerful states—once able to transform full-time, nobody would willingly return to what they'd consider a powerless form.
Hibiscus once again sighed that magical girls truly weren't human.
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang and in that instant she sensed a familiar presence through the door. Opening it to greet the visitor was exactly as expected.
"Welcome..."
Before she finished speaking, Nan Zhiyi threw herself into her arms, mumbling in a muffled voice: "I was too scared then to say thanks properly, and after going back I had to handle relocation which delayed me for a long time. Sorry I'm only visiting now."
Smelling the girl's fragrant scent, she couldn't help blushing. This normally carefree girl didn't usually wear perfume—why did she smell better and better?
"It's fine, I'm just happy you came."
Hibiscus naturally patted Nan Zhiyi's head while closing the door, but this action sealed the room. The Disaster Beast remains' scent that didn't affect her suddenly filled the space intensely, and someone between dull ordinary people and first awakening magical girls immediately sensed something wrong.
"Cough cough!"
Nan Zhiyi covered her throat coughing violently, the gift bag in her hands scattering to the floor as she knelt with pale face, subcutaneous blood vessels bulging, pressure expanding outward.
"What's happening to me?"
"This is a precursor to magical awakening, probably from repeated contact with Disaster Beasts...anyway, breathe deeply and calm down, don't be nervous. You can feel some power erupting forth—accept it naturally." Hibiscus stroked the girl's back while channeling magic power for guidance. With her talent, she should adapt quickly.
After brief gasping, sweat on Nan Zhiyi's forehead lessened somewhat. "You're right, there really is something that wants to come out—"
The next moment, with the girl's feet as center, a starry sky rapidly spread outward. The lightning speed plus zero-distance contact left Hibiscus no time to react.