Dream—no! She should be called Liangyi Mengyue now—looked at the pair of soft, pale hands planted on the ground in front of her, and at the slender voice she had just let out while screaming.
At that moment she knew: no amount of denial would change reality.

She… had turned into a girl.

Although transmigration-plus-genderbend novels were extremely popular, and Mengyue usually enjoyed reading them with great enthusiasm, experiencing it firsthand felt completely different.

That feeling of not even being able to sing a sad song properly, you get me?

But the world didn’t give Mengyue much time to mourn the loss of her brotherhood.

A sudden sense of danger surged toward her, and Mengyue sidestepped without hesitation.
The next moment, the spot where she had been standing was swallowed by a storm of bullets.

What was going on?
Finally snapping out of her frustration, Mengyue looked around and took in the situation.

She was surrounded by a group of girls.
If taken literally, that would have been something to be excited about.
But when each of these girls was wearing a high-tech combat suit and holding a never-before-seen Gatling-type firearm aimed directly at her, Mengyue could not smile at all.

Looking around—ground included, sky included—every direction was blocked by armored girls.
Truly an impossible-to-escape predicament.

Although she wanted to say “I just arrived in this world, I haven’t had time to offend anyone!”, once she realized she was standing in the center of what looked like a crater blasted out by a ton of TNT… even she couldn’t believe that excuse.

“Uh… ladies, could you maybe put down your guns first? I’m sure this is one big misunder—”

“Open fire!” The AST didn’t even let her finish.

But strangely, even though Mengyue remained in place, every bullet curved away at the last moment as if it knew to avoid her.

(I’ll make you one of the high-tier races.)
Huh, that guy actually had a tiny bit of conscience.

Maintaining her ability, Mengyue thought to herself.

Suddenly, among the armored girls, several threw aside their guns and charged toward Mengyue.

---

—Perspective Shift: Magician—

The spirit before her looked odd, but that wouldn’t affect her judgment.
Since the enemy wasn’t looking her way, she had no reason not to seize this opportunity.

“All units, open fire!”

“Yes, Captain!”

A dense barrage descended.
What surprised her was that the previously dejected spirit instantly dodged the magic-enhanced bullets.

Sharp perception? Or had the spirit sensed them long beforehand?
If it was the latter, then this spirit might not actually possess abilities that countered firearms.

“Suppressive fire!”

A barrage even fiercer than before came down, but this time the spirit didn’t dodge—rather, the bullets turned to avoid her on their own.

Her earlier speculation was wrong, but the captain wasn’t disappointed.
Most spirits had some way of dealing with conventional weapons.

“Cease suppressive fire!
Deploy Territory!
Units 1, 8, and 9 switch to close combat.
Others maintain ranged pressure!”

“Yes, Captain!”

Command issued, the captain drew her lightsaber first and attacked.

“Holy crap! Even Skywalker’s here?! Jedi Knights? Star Wars?
Don’t tell me this is actually an American blockbuster instead of an anime world!”

The spirit muttered nonsense while dodging. To avoid distraction, everyone simply ignored her words.

“Look, I’m actually a reasonable person. Violence solves nothing.
Let’s just sit down, have some tea, and talk this out.”

…

“Hey! I know blasting a giant hole was my bad, but I can compensate! I don’t have money now, but bread will come eventually! Give me your WeChat or Alipay, I’ll transfer it later!”

…

“Hey! I’m warning you, people have limits!
If you don’t stop, I really will fight back!
And when I do, even I scare myself!”

…

Even while being jointly attacked, the spirit strolled through their formation as if sightseeing, dodging without breaking a sweat, even chatting nonsense on the side.

Had the spirit been using special powers, the captain could accept it.
But doing this with pure physical ability, dodging the attacks of specially trained personnel—
It was borderline humiliation.

Are you toying with us?!

But they didn’t know: if they were upset, the spirit was just as annoyed.

“Don’t you people know that if you insist on courting death, you’ll actually die?!”

With a shout, she stretched both hands forward, ignored the resistance of Territory, grabbed two armored girls, and slammed them into the ground.

“If you won’t appreciate my kindness, then don’t blame me for being merciless.”

Blue-white electricity crackled around her; her bangs lifted in the static.
Dark clouds gathered overhead in an instant.

The AST captain felt danger instinctively.
“Retreat! Now!”

“True Lightning Strike!”

A billion-volt thunderbolt split the sky.

---

—Perspective Shift: Mengyue—

After unleashing what was essentially Railgun-onee-sama’s ultimate, most armored girls lay incapacitated.

“Seriously, if a tiger doesn’t show its might, you think I’m a sick cat.”

Mengyue huffed.
She glanced around; despite her fury, she had kept enough sanity to reduce the lightning’s output.
Everyone was only paralyzed—no one’s life was in danger.

She grabbed one unconscious girl, shook her awake, and sighed.

“Honestly, why insist on drinking the penalty wine when you could’ve just taken the normal wine?
Talking things out peacefully is so much easier.”

“Peaceful resolution?”
The girl let out a mocking laugh.
“If you’re going to kill me, then do it. Why waste words?”

Mengyue frowned, displeased.
“Little girl, don’t say ‘kill me’ so lightly. Cherish the life your parents gave you.”

Life was only given once.

Although she had revived by sheer accident, the fact remained.
Experiencing death once only made her value life more.

But the girl’s expression twisted, as if those words had touched a raw nerve.

Tears streamed down her face as she screamed:

“My parents were killed by Nightmare!
My parents, my life, my everything—
All taken by you spirits!
I will never coexist with your kind!
The world would be better without spirits!”

In those eyes, Mengyue saw deep hatred—
Not toward her specifically, but toward “spirits” as a whole.

“…Let her… go…”

Another armored girl managed to stand despite the paralysis, trembling as she grabbed a lightsaber and… staggered toward a rock behind Mengyue.

Girl, please, lie back down.

“Captain! Run!” the girl named Yexue shouted.

The captain gave Yexue a gentle smile.
“Silly girl. I promised your mother I’d protect you. If I run now, how could I face Aunt Ye?”

“L-Ling-jie… you…” Yexue burst into tears.

“We’re family.
If we live—we live together.
If we die—we die together!”

“You two! Don’t ignore me and start a yuri drama right now!”
Mengyue practically roared.

“It was you guys who attacked me first!
How did this end with me looking like the villain?!”

“All spirits are bad!” Yexue yelled angrily.

“It’s that ‘one rotten apple spoils the whole basket’ thinking that destroys trust between people!
If Nightmare killed your parents, then go hunt her!
I may kill chickens and ducks for dinner, but I’ve never killed a single person!”

She tossed Yexue carelessly toward Ling-jie—whether she could catch her or not was her problem—then turned away.

Damn it.
She just wanted some intel.
How did this make her look like the final boss?

“And besides, you haven’t lost everything yet, have you?
If you want revenge, at least cherish the people you still have.
She’s your family, isn’t she?”

Mengyue would never admit that hearing their exchange made her feel… a little jealous.

---

—After Leaving—

“…I really did turn into a beautiful girl.”

Looking at the stranger reflected in the lake, Mengyue sighed weakly.

Flowing, silky tea-colored hair; amber-clear eyes; rosy lips; jade-white skin—
A lively, adorable girl stared back at her.

She resembled Misaka Mikoto but was upgraded in every detail.
No wonder that guy called this his greatest masterpiece.

For example—her chest was much more substantial than Railgun’s.
(Every streetlight around Misaka Mikoto exploded simultaneously!)

“As for abilities: the original Railgun’s electromagnetic control and reaction speed high enough for bullet-time dodging…”

Supposedly, this was the set of powers belonging to the figure character.
But writing a fanfic with that setup alone probably wouldn’t be popular—maybe average at best.

(The author has taken an arrow to the knee! He cannot get back up!)

“‘Spirits should all just die,’ huh…”
She gazed up at the clear blue sky.

That idiot… good intentions, terrible execution.
(The author: “Achoo!”)

PS: This volume focuses on Mengyue learning about and adapting to the Date A Live world.
She’ll meet the main protagonist in the next volume.