NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21 - Too Much
Chapter 21: Too Much
Snow Qing strongly disliked the company, but—
Snow Qing joined the company.
Because they offered her too much.
Fei brought Snow Qing to the headquarters of Hou Shi Entertainment, while Bao Xiang took Bo Fang to the medical room for treatment. The entertainment company possessed advanced technology related to magical girls, and the medical room featured their latest development: a magical girl-specific treatment chamber that could rapidly heal injuries caused by demons. The crucial aspect was that it could prevent scarring, which was important for the entertainment company.
Fei then took Snow Qing on a tour of the headquarters. Although Fei claimed to be guiding her, Fei was not very talkative, leaving Snow Qing to explore on her own. As Snow Qing admired the grand interior decor, she contemplated the conditions the man in the suit had presented earlier.
The man in the suit initially wanted Snow Qing to officially debut with the company. In his words:
“Miss Snow Qing has reached the 109th position solely relying on her own strength without depending on any company. If you are willing to cooperate comprehensively with the company, it will undoubtedly be a significant boost, and reaching the top 10 will be a piece of cake!”
His words were quite self-assured. However, Snow Qing declined the offer. Surprisingly, he wasn’t upset and readily compromised:
“Even if Miss Snow Qing is unwilling to officially debut, our company will not reduce its support. I believe that as we cooperate and deepen our understanding of each other, Miss Snow Qing will surely appreciate our sincerity.”
He spoke with great confidence. In the end, he provided a series of generous conditions. The most crucial points were:
1. Snow Qing could reject any work assigned by the company without a reduction in support. On the contrary, whenever Snow Qing willingly participated in company activities, the support from the company would increase.
In simple terms, Snow Qing could receive financial assistance without having to fulfill any obligations, as long as she occasionally participated in company activities. This meant she could receive financial support without being bound by strict attendance requirements, unlike other semi-debut magical girls who had to attend events or endorse products regularly.
2. He assured Snow Qing that only he and several high-ranking directors in the company knew her true identity, and the administrative bureau wouldn’t be informed.
This point was inconsequential to Snow Qing, as the identity of “Qing Yue” wasn’t very important to her. Nevertheless, since the company was willing to keep it confidential, she was content with it.
Apart from these two points, there were many other favorable details. It was evident that the company was genuinely sincere in this collaboration. However, Snow Qing couldn’t help but wonder: Why were they so generous? Was it because they thought they could control her once they knew her true identity, or did they have some other motives?
Snow Qing unconsciously touched her smooth chin. While she was lost in thought, her presence attracted a crowd in the building. Before the official collaboration, Snow Qing couldn’t deactivate her transformation, so they arrived here in their magical girl forms.
Among the onlookers, some recognized Snow Qing’s identity.
“Hey, who’s that magical girl? She looks pretty.”
“Indeed, but… haven’t seen her much before.”
“Is her figure a bit too good? She might not be a magical girl; probably some model cosplaying as one. But wait… who is she cosplaying?”
“Cosplaying my foot! That’s Magical Girl Snow Qing!”
“Oh! Right, I saw her in a livestream last time! Wasn’t she an underground magical girl? How did she end up here?”
“Could it be…! Is she joining the Hou Shi Entertainment?”
“Is it true? This is big news.”
…
In the noisy crowd, several reporters with cameras were mixed in, snapping pictures of Snow Qing. Snow Qing guessed that tomorrow’s newspapers would likely carry headlines like “Magical Girl Snow Qing Officially Joins Hou Shi Entertainment” — these reporters were probably arranged by Hou Shi Entertainment themselves.
Although the way Hou Shi handled it felt a bit forced, the feeling of being in the spotlight, exposed to the camera flashes, was quite refreshing for Snow Qing. After all, she hadn’t experienced it in her previous life, and as an underground magical girl, such experiences were rare. Snow Qing herself had never realized before that she somewhat enjoyed being the center of attention.
Of course, more importantly, besides the sense of superiority that came with being observed, the various emotions of the audience brought her specks of spiritual energy. Desires carried with spiritual energy emerged from these people, absorbed into Snow Qing’s body, making her more radiant and dazzling with magic.
(Enjoying the perks again. Is this the treatment underground idols receive every day? The difference between them and the underground people, who struggle between feast and famine, is like heaven and earth…)
Snow Qing enjoyed the things offered to her, but these offerings also brought her some trouble.
While Snow Qing could absorb various emotions to transform them into magic power, the lingering emotions in the spiritual energy would also affect her. In other words, the absorption of spiritual energy actually influenced her mentality.
This wasn’t unique to Snow Qing; it applied to all demons, even magical girls. Different types of emotions in the spiritual energy would have different effects on them, corresponding to the types of emotions they originated from.
For example, magical girls who drew power from human expectations and admiration tended to become lively, cheerful, and full of vitality. On the other hand, demons who fed on negative human emotions might develop corresponding quirks — for example, a demon feeding on fear might become more inclined towards tormenting its prey.
The emotions carried by spiritual energy would subtly influence the inner thoughts of the one who absorbed it. However, as long as the absorber consciously anchored their thoughts, the changes could be reversed. Of course, thought adjustment took some time, and the impact could not be completely eradicated.
What currently bothered Snow Qing was that among the people present, there were a few individuals with exceptionally strong and bizarre desires. Moreover, these desires were not the usual kind of carnal desires; instead, they seemed greedily possessive, like someone seeing a priceless elixir.
“Your face is quite red,” Fei said emotionlessly, speaking word by word.
“It’s just your illusion. No need to linger here; let’s go straight to that guy’s office,” Snow Qing pretended to be nonchalant.
Fei nodded indifferently.
The two of them boarded a dedicated elevator that went directly to the T2 floor of the building.
Ding!
The elevator door opened.
Fei led Snow Qing to the producer’s room.
Knock, knock, knock.
Fei knocked on the door three times.
“Please come in.”
The door opened, revealing only the producer inside.
“Finally, I get to meet Miss Snow Qing in person. Honored, truly honored,” he greeted, offering his right hand to Snow Qing with a beaming smile.
Although reluctant, Snow Qing lightly shook hands with him using her fingers.
“So, let’s begin the formal signing,” the producer said, seemingly oblivious to Snow Qing’s reaction, promptly handing over a set of documents.
Two copies, both already stamped with the Hou Shi seal, awaited her signature. After confirming there were no issues, Snow Qing wrote the name “Xu Qing Yue” on the paper.
The producer, after taking the original, scrutinized the signature area, then spoke.
“Fei, go attend to your own matters.”
He dismissed Fei.
“Now, for the contract to take effect officially, we need to personally confirm Miss Snow Qing’s true identity. Could you please lift your transformation?” the producer asked.
Without much ado, Snow Qing lifted her transformation, revealing the appearance of Qing Yue.
Since this appearance was just a mimicry for her, there was no issue with exposing it. On the contrary, she was even curious whether this would be an opportunity for the producer to take advantage of her.
However—
Surprisingly, the producer was unexpectedly honest.
After seeing Qing Yue’s appearance, he once again proposed to her.
“Snow Qing, Miss Xu Qing Yue, are you really not reconsidering the issue of officially debuting? With my many years of experience, I guarantee that once Miss Xu Qing Yue officially debuts, becoming highly popular is absolutely not a problem.”
He vouched for it once again.
But Qing Yue, without hesitation, declined once more and transformed back into her magical girl form.
“Sigh, since Miss Snow Qing is unwilling, let’s forget about it. Of course, if Miss Snow Qing’s thoughts change, feel free to contact me anytime,” the producer said with a welcoming expression.
Suddenly, Qing Yue turned to another topic.
“May I ask a question?”
Qing Yue had been paying close attention since a while ago.
“Go ahead.”
The producer replied.
The intense greed in the spiritual energy… originally, Snow Qing thought it might be coming from someone in the lobby, but even after leaving that place and coming to the T2 floor, the intensity of this spiritual energy had not diminished. When she tried to further pinpoint its source—
“Who lives upstairs?”
“Huh?”
The producer was surprised by Qing Yue’s question but answered truthfully.
“Upstairs… you mean T3? That’s the chairman’s room. May I ask why?”