nucmednet Chapter 9, First Contact
Chapter 9, First Contact
"President Cheng, these are the profiles of the three trainees you are in charge of."
Cheng Chen arrived at the company with dark circles under her eyes. In the office where cats and dogs were chasing each other, she took the tablet computer handed to her by Cong Cong.
I didn't rest well yesterday, mainly because when I returned to my old house that I hadn't been to in a long time, I found that the layout had completely changed.
He had never felt so cramped in that small one-bedroom apartment. The photo wall in front of the entrance was covered with pictures of a girl and her dog, and the dog's toys were scattered on the floor. A huge round doghouse occupied most of the living room space, with dozens of plush toys piled up next to it.
A row of succulents lined the windowsill, a beige dress that didn't belong to him hung on a clothes rack, a strawberry-patterned bedding set on the bed smelled familiar, and a dressing table had been added next to the computer desk at the foot of the bed.
Jiang Fei explained confidently, "I occasionally come over to stay with Bai Guo. Anyway, you're not here."
She acted like a hostess, finding the men's slippers prepared for him, and placing a brand-new towel and toothbrush on the washstand before fleeing like a whirlwind, leaving Cheng Chen dumbfounded.
That night he had a very depressing dream. He dreamt of a girl in a cherry blossom dress with beautiful features who secretly kissed his cheek. When he woke up, he only saw a white fluffy puppy with its tongue sticking out next to his pillow.
Bai Guo has already washed his face. Good job, Bai Guo.
Cheng Chen's face turned a deep purplish-red as she kicked the puppy off the bed. Cheng Chen was wicked.
"...Didn't Mr. Cheng get enough rest?"
Congcong skillfully poured hot black tea for the vice president.
Cheng Chen sipped the steaming tea and casually replied, "Ah... well, I just came back from Qiongcheng, so I'm still a little out of sorts."
"That's true. Qiongcheng is almost 10,000 kilometers away from Yincheng, so it's definitely time to adjust to the time difference," Congcong agreed with a smile. "The room next to your office is a lounge. Would you like me to help you set it up?"
"No need, let's focus on work first."
Cheng Chen looked down and browsed the personnel files on the tablet.
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The three magical girl trainees listed in the file are: Lu Baishu ("Candle Tears"), Gui Lingtan ("Spiritual Distance"), and Yan Xi ("Painting Crow").
He finally learned the name of the black magical girl from yesterday.
Candle Tears' magic system is "Time Sequence", Lingxia's is "Illusory Sea", and Painted Crow's is "Oath".
Magical girls' abilities come from their "Wish" attribute. Cheng Chen doesn't know the specifics, but they are divided into five lineages based on their abilities: Wandering Star, Time, Oath, Hymn, and Phantom Sea.
Can't you understand?
No problem, Cheng Chen will translate for you: physical, ranged, magic, defense, support.
Don't blame it for not being down-to-earth; the vocabulary and concepts related to magical girls should have the gorgeousness and fantasy that are unique to magical girls.
According to the information, after signing the standard trainee contract, the three gradually revealed serious flaws and problems, which led to their inclusion in the "Nirvana Project" and their education and correction by the company's most senior producer.
The producer who was originally in charge of the project left with Guwu, leaving them behind.
The position of new producer had been vacant for nearly four months, and he has now taken it over.
The three magical girls have different problems: Candlelight is withdrawn, or rather, afraid to communicate with people, and often hides away; Rei is a liar, often using lies to gain the trust of others and play pranks; and Ei-ya is very direct: she is defiant, disobedient, short-tempered, and often clashes with others.
"...Jiang Fei really did give me some troublesome roles."
Cheng Chenguang felt overwhelmed just looking at the materials; the markings weren't random at all.
Congcong stood to the side with a smile, pretending not to hear.
Where do you think I should start?
He put down his tablet and looked up at his experienced assistant.
Jiang Fei sent Congcong over, which must have meant for her to guide her through the producer's workflow.
Congcong, who had already prepared a response, immediately replied, "President Cheng, you can first get to know the three magical girls through lessons. The company will arrange training for trainees, such as etiquette, physical fitness, combat, etc., and there will be dedicated teachers to teach them."
"During the class, the producer has the highest authority. You can listen in the whole time and stop the class at any time or ask for extra practice based on the trainees' performance. If you are not satisfied with the existing course arrangement, you can also adjust the course content according to your training direction, or even teach the class yourself."
"When I'm working, I'm addressed by my job title; they call me producer."
Cheng Chen glanced at her: "Personally teaching?"
"That's right, producer." Congcong readily agreed. "You have absolute decision-making power over them. If you're not satisfied with the company's standard curriculum, you can create your own exclusive courses."
"Let's have them come to class first. It's better to see them in person than to look at materials here," Cheng Chen decided.
He roughly had an idea: the specific abilities, magical strength, personality, thoughts, and goals of the three troubled girls could only be understood through contact, and the crux of their problems could be found.
"Yes."
Congcong immediately walked out of the office.
……
When Cheng Chen saw the three girls from yesterday again, it was already afternoon.
Being a trainee at Yinfu Entertainment isn't a full-time job. The magical girls also have to go to school and have families and friends. Maintaining anonymity is fundamental for magical girls; training and business operations are only conducted during their free time.
"Phew...Phew...Sorry, producer! There was a traffic jam on the way, which caused the delay."
Lingxia was the last to run into the classroom. After entering, she clutched her heaving chest with both hands, as if she had just run all the way there.
However, this is her transformed form; she can actually fly.
The others were also in magical girl form. Cheng Chen glanced at the girl wearing a baseball cap sitting in the last row of the round-table lecture hall, frowned slightly, and said to Ling Xia, "Sit wherever you like, let's begin."
There are four people in the classroom.
Cheng Chen ignored the extra one and began to speak, "Let's begin the lesson now."
Candle Tears huddled in the chair, the red feather ornament on her head trembling, even hiding her eyes; Crow was impatient, looking to the side with a sour face; only Lingxia, like an obedient girl, took out her notebook and used her wand as a pen to prepare to take notes.
Song Lan watched this scene with great interest, both out of curiosity about Cheng Chen and the three underachievers in the "Nirvana Project".
"I am your producer, a demon."
He didn't intend to hide his identity; instead, he revealed it openly and honestly.
"...As you all know, a magical girl's total magical power will naturally increase over time. The [Heart of Wish] is the container; the higher the quality, the larger the capacity. As long as it can hold enough magical power, the magical girl will naturally advance to the next rank."
"However, the understanding of magic does not increase with rank and still needs to be learned. Simply bombarding with spells may look flashy, but it is extremely inefficient. Even before mana is exhausted or overloaded, no matter how much difference there is between the two sides in the battle, one will not suffer fatal damage."
As he spoke, Cheng Chen raised his hand.
A dark, black-glowing magical energy emerged from his fingertip, rapidly weaving and swirling in the air, instantly forming a complex and intricately structured binding array.
"The most efficient way to improve magical skills is to dismantle: use pure magic as a probe to detect the imprints that construct the spell, find the flaws in the complex magic circuits bit by bit, and finally dismantle the release of the spell from the inside."
"Only in this way can one quickly grasp the essence of a spell. When applied in battle, it can even allow one to defeat an opponent before running out of mana, or when there is a significant difference in the total amount of mana between the two sides."
Without pausing, he directly copied the magic circle four times and launched it at the four people.
"Today is just a test to understand your current capabilities. After you break this magic circle, you can leave."
boom!
Before the words were even finished, a powerful cross-shaped spear, gleaming with a purplish-black light, crashed down onto the magic circle. The one who made the move needed no further explanation.
Cheng Chen glanced at Hui Ya, but the magic array remained completely still in front of her.
Didn't I just say that if the magic can't be broken, you won't get hurt until your magic power is exhausted? It seems this idiot didn't listen to anything I said.
Seeing that her attack was ineffective, Huiya snorted coldly and raised her hand. The raven-feather-like magic wand in her hand burst forth with dazzling light, the air trembled, and eight light spears simultaneously appeared, circling behind her before shooting out together.
Boom boom boom!
The sound of explosions was incessant.
Cheng Chen's lips twitched. Too lazy to pay attention to this brute, he went to observe the behavior of the others.
Pine orchid in the corner had a great interest in its eyes.
Unlike the bottom performer, as the top idol of Yinfu Entertainment, she naturally understands the intricacies of the magic array.
At the same time, Cheng Chen's rank was also discerned: the total amount of magic power contained in the magic array was comparable to that of the three people, corresponding to the first-level demon 'Shadow', but the precision of magic power manipulation was not even in the same league, like heaven and earth.
Loosening the brim of her cap, she focused intently on channeling her magic, condensing it into fine, hair-like threads, and carefully probed into the magic circle.
Like a challenger entering a maze...
However, as soon as she entered, she discovered that the maze was ten times more complicated than she had imagined.
Songlan frowned, caught in a fierce struggle.
The other two were similar. Lingxia took the lead in imitating Songlan to test the waters, while Zhulei, who had been shrinking back and pretending not to exist, immediately began to try after being glared at by Cheng Chen.
Time passed slowly, and Cheng Chen waited patiently without urging him.
About fifteen minutes later, a joyful shout came from the corner:
"It's solved!"
Song Lan suddenly looked up, her baseball cap almost falling off her head. Her smooth forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, which she didn't even notice as it trickled down her neck and into her collar, her face full of satisfaction.
As she finished speaking, the black magic circle floating in front of her emitted a soft sound and disappeared in a radiant glow.
"Interesting, really interesting."
She thought she had mastered magic, but she didn't expect it would still take so long to unravel the magic circle.
How much time did the new vice president actually spend practicing these basic skills? Why is he only a Shadow-level Demon despite having such skills?
Have they been hiding their true strength?
On the other side, Cheng Chen didn't even look up. After all, this wasn't the idol he was in charge of, and even if the magic circle was broken, he didn't need Cheng Chen's praise.
Song Lan was still basking in the excitement of overcoming the ordeal, but when she saw the man on the podium ignoring her, she felt a surge of dissatisfaction. Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through her mind, and she smiled with satisfaction while pulling her baseball cap down lower.
Now that I fully understand the structure of this magic array, then... I can use their own methods against them and test them a little, right?
"Producer! Is this magic circle your original creation? Are there any other variations?" she asked loudly.
"You're not my trainee, shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking questions?" Cheng Chen retorted.
"Ah? Oh... I am..."
"It's too late, please leave, Miss Songlan."
"Huh!?"
Cheng Chen waved her away, and Song Lan stood up somewhat unwillingly. She walked slowly to the classroom door, and just as she was about to leave, she suddenly turned around and launched a sneak attack.
With a raised hand, magic surged forth.
A very similar red magic circle shot towards Cheng Chen on the podium!
Song Lan smiled smugly, but before the smile could even reach her lips, it froze on her face.
Cheng Chen simply raised his head slightly and gave her a calm look.
In that brief glance, the magic circle she had meticulously imitated crumbled without warning, vanishing into thin air.
His calm, unwavering gaze fell upon her.
"Is there anything else, Miss Songlan?"
The voice remained flat.
"No...no."
Songlan swallowed hard, looking slightly flustered.
He is definitely not an ordinary demon!
Realizing the outcome, she lowered her head and ran out of the classroom as if fleeing.
……