Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~
“Ugh~” Eve Nightburn groggily fumbled for her phone, which was blaring its alarm like crazy.
Beep~
With that, the alarm stopped.
“Time for work…” Eve Nightburn muttered, driven by her daily determination, as she sat up in bed.
Rubbing her bleary eyes, she drowsily glanced out the window at the still-hazy sky.
“Every day, every day, every single day!” Eve had had enough. “Every day I have to wake up before the sun even rises!”
Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~
Just then, the second alarm went off.
Beep~
Eve turned off this alarm too.
Now she was fully awake.
She grabbed her phone, ready to disable the remaining alarms still queued up.
?
Something felt off to Eve.
“Why does my phone feel bigger?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, it hit her.
“Oh no, I forgot I’ve turned into a loli!”
The realization gave her a headache.
Well, she wasn’t sure if it was an actual headache, but her mass of hair certainly felt heavy—not too long, but not short either.
“Whatever, time to wash up.”
Eve hopped out of bed and dragged a chair to the restroom to freshen up.
After washing her face, she stared at her messy hair and realized she didn’t have a comb…
“This body is so high-maintenance…”
Eve felt exhausted. She still hadn’t figured out how to adjust to this new form.
Last night, she’d tried treating this body as her wife, but now it felt more like a daughter.
“Forget it, forget it all!” Eve couldn’t be bothered anymore. “I’ll just do whatever makes me happy!”
Then she struck a catgirl pose in the mirror.
“Meow~”
“So… so cute.”
Instantly, Eve felt her heart melt.
Suddenly, life’s challenges didn’t seem so daunting anymore.
After finishing her morning routine, Eve returned to bed, grabbed her phone, and decided to send a resignation letter to The Company.
She opened WeChat and found her boss’s account.
Staring at the screen, she realized her boss wouldn’t be at work for a while. She still had time to think things through.
After much deliberation, Eve drafted a resignation letter and sent it without much explanation—certainly not the truth.
With trembling fingers, she hit send.
Once the message was gone, Eve flopped back onto the bed, feeling utterly defeated.
“I’m beyond saving.”
She could already picture her future.
Probably like that famous internet meme:
Sleeping under an underpass, wrapped in a thin blanket, secretly wiping away tears, then going back to sleep, nodding along to whatever anyone says.
“So ‘living carefree’ means quitting my job and waiting to die at home?”
“Waaah~”
Eve let out an adorable yet helpless whimper, feeling completely crushed by reality.
“Whatever, I might as well sleep!”
She decided to embrace her newfound laziness—even if she didn’t want to, this body certainly did.
After all, you can’t expect a child’s body to handle such a grueling routine.
She’d gone to bed late last night and had to wake up so early today.
Her old self might’ve managed, but now? She just felt dazed.
Wait, no—even her old self couldn’t handle it!
Sleeping at 4 AM and waking up at 6? That was practically asceticism.
Well, now that she was on an indefinite vacation, she might as well catch up on all the sleep she’d missed.
Slowly, Eve drifted back to sleep.
She dreamed of living in a luxurious villa, with endless resources at her disposal—no work, no worries.
Eve lounged in a bathtub, the warm water soothing her body and washing away her fatigue.
“So comfy~”
She reveled in the bliss, wondering how long it had been since she’d felt so relaxed.
She couldn’t even remember.
“If you like it so much, why not come home?”
A sweet voice, just like her own, echoed in her mind.
“Huh?”
Startled, Eve opened her eyes and looked toward the source—a little loli who looked exactly like her.
“Who… who are you?”
Eve was curious about the girl’s identity.
The girl in the bathtub simply blinked, tilting her head with playful curiosity.
“I’m you, Eve Nightburn~”
“Wah!”
Eve scrambled back, putting distance between them.
Once she felt safe, she started grumbling.
“W-who’s you?! I-I’m a muscle man! A muscle man!”
The girl smirked, amused by Eve’s reaction.
“Seems like Demon Lady still hasn’t accepted herself. Fine, I’ll just call you ‘Mr. Eve Nightburn’ then~”
Eve had no idea what she was talking about. “Stop speaking in riddles!”
The girl sighed. “If Mr. Eve Nightburn could just accept himself, you’d realize everything I’m saying is literal.”
“Though, before fooling the world, you must first fool yourself. At least in that regard, I’ve succeeded.”
She looked oddly proud.
Eve just stared, convinced this girl had a few screws loose.
“So what’s your point?”
The girl smiled. “Just wanted to congratulate Mr. Eve Nightburn for returning to his true self~”
“My true self?”
Eve glanced at her reflection—identical to the girl before her. But no way would she admit that!
“This is all because of that stupid ring!”
If not for that cursed Midnight Rose Ring, none of this would’ve happened.
The girl’s expression turned sad. “The Midnight Rose Ring is part of you—your flesh, your limbs, your body. How could you bear to separate from it?”
“But my life was fine before…”
Eve didn’t want to hear it. She just wanted to know how to move forward.
“I understand your struggle.” The girl stood, taking Eve’s hands and pulling her up to face her.
“Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll give you a secret phrase. If you ever feel completely hopeless, recite it, and the Midnight Rose Ring will help you.”
“However, phrases aren’t omnipotent. Each has a different effect, and each time you use one, your mind will shift closer to that of a loli.”
Eve found this highly dubious.
“So you’re saying it’ll erase my memories as a muscle man?”
The girl shook her head.
“No. I’d never erase my own memories. In this absurd world, the only things we truly own are ourselves.”
Eve was surprised by the philosophical tone—wait, no, who’s “we”?!
“Alright, fine, just tell me the phrase so I can secure my bright future.”
Eve couldn’t take this anymore. The conversation was giving her a headache.
The girl simply hummed.
Suddenly, the world around Eve began to warp and dissolve.
Before everything vanished, she faintly heard the girl’s final words:
“The phrase is in your hand. Remember, you can only use it once.”
Whoosh! Eve jolted awake in bed.
“Huh?”
She looked around—she was back in her rented flat.
So it was all a dream!
“Can’t even sleep in peace.”
Eve had no desire to go back to sleep. If even her dreams were this annoying, what hope did reality hold?
Growl~
Her stomach growled, reminding her of her current predicament.
“Hungry…”
Eve grabbed her phone, ready to head out for food.
Then she noticed something in her left hand.
“What’s this?”
Unfolding the slip of paper, she read:
Phrase: “The me lifted by strings, mirrored by you who pulls them, constructs The Parallel Nation.”
Effect: Creates a nation of your own upon use.
Huh?
HUH?!
∑(O_O；)
This overpowered?!
Eve pinched her cheek to check if she was still dreaming.
“Ow!”
Nope, wide awake.
Her problems were solved just like that?
This seemed way too good to be true.
Eh, whatever!
Without hesitation, Eve recited the phrase. Being a loli was way better than being a corporate drone anyway.
“The me lifted by strings, mirrored by you who pulls them, constructs The Parallel Nation!”
……
……
Nothing happened.
Crap! She’d been tricked!
Of course nothing good ever came for free!
Eve was about to toss the useless scrap when she noticed something odd—the paper felt slightly raised in the middle.
Wait, was there a hidden layer?
She tore it open and found another note inside:
“To activate, a Magical Girl’s drop of blood must be on the tongue while reciting.”
……
……
“Seriously?! You might as well have given me nothing!”
A Magical Girl’s blood?
Yeah, right. Eve knew her limits. A regular person like her trying to get blood from a Magical Girl?
That was like challenging a hacker in a game with no gear—except in real life, death was permanent.
Well, these were just two pieces of trash now, taking up space in her garbage bag.
“Whatever, I need food.”
