Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 46. Escaping is shameful, but useful.

Women's restroom.

Yan Xi reached her hand under the sensor-activated faucet, and the water gurgled softly. Next to her, three employees of Yin Fu Entertainment were touching up their makeup and chatting in front of the mirror.

"The press conference is already trending on social media."

"Of course, with so many major announcements made today, many of which even we insiders hadn't heard of before, the outside world is bound to be in an uproar."

"The CEO promised to eradicate the calamity beasts; does that mean he's sending the company's trainees to fight?"

"In the past, before our company's idols debuted, there would be specially designed battles to defeat them. Only with their unique achievements and appearance could we expand the marketing influence. But this time... the calamity beast that made a contract with the Demon Lord should also be a fifth-tier one, right? We'll probably have to deal with an enemy of that level personally."

"Do you think... the company will give the credit for this successful eradication of the scourge beasts to Huiya?"

Eya paused in washing her hands, then silently walked past the three of them.

"Impossible! How could a first-level trainee like her deserve such credit? Fans and the media aren't all idiots."

"It's just a nominal title. Otherwise, why would they have brought her up specifically at today's press conference? Our team leader told us that she's the producer of Huiya and even forced Songlan to invite Huiya as a solo guest at their next concert."

"Wow, really?!"

"Tsk, Huiya is really lucky to have the vice president running around for her. Before the vice president came, she was just a bottom-ranked trainee."

"If we mess things up like this, using the entire company's resources, and it fails in the end, won't the people below us be the ones to take the blame? What will we do when he's made his money and left?"

"The higher-ups don't consider us lower-level employees when making decisions, so we'll just do whatever work comes our way."

"I heard from the sales department that business opportunities have plummeted in the past few months. If we don't take a chance, things will really go wrong. The president probably has this in mind too. When the accident happened at the last concert, Huiya attracted a lot of attention, and the public feedback was very good."

"What's the use of just feedback? If the vice president wasn't pulling strings behind the scenes, where would she get the qualifications? Maybe she just got promoted by sitting on a promotion machine—"

"Shh!"

"Waaah..."

As the footsteps moved away, the sound grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared completely.

Back in the company corridor, I watched my colleagues bustling back and forth as the press conference ended.

Yan Xi sighed deeply, squatted down in the corner, and covered her face with her hands in despair.

Is it true that the entire company is using its resources to promote my debut?

Of course, she had also fantasized about an afternoon of ordinary life when she suddenly wandered into a strange room on a street corner. In the boundless darkness, a mysterious person sat on a velvet chair, telling her across a thick mahogany desk that she possessed extraordinary abilities and was to complete a mission to save the world.

An extraordinary life, a magnificent adventure, and the joy of flowers and applause.

This fantasy reached its peak after obtaining the Raven Feather Wand.

Perhaps one day, with the help of omnipotent magic, or even the power to reverse time, I can return to the day I lost my sister.

The rainbow paved with magic submits to her, and the raging, scorching flames fear her... At that time, she can reach out her hand and whisper to the person she has been longing for day and night, "It's alright, sister, leave the rest to me."

Holding onto this vague and unrealistic fantasy, Yan Xi both hates the evil magic girl and becomes a magical girl herself.

But reality is quite different. How could such a plot, which only exists in third-rate novels, possibly happen?

She was just an ordinary magical girl.

With unremarkable talent and an annoying personality, even while working at Yinfu Entertainment, he was only thinking about collecting his salary.

No wonder when I met Gao Xiao today, he called her "connected person" through gritted teeth.

Yan Xi suddenly reconciled with her, and she suddenly began to suspect that she was a relative of someone else.

After sighing, the girl stared blankly at the floor.

Why does Cheng Chen think highly of her?

From the moment he appeared, it was like a turning point in her life, and her life began to change dramatically.

Sharing the stage with a dazzling idol like Matsuri is something unimaginable, both now and in the past.

How can someone who has little presence and is considered a nobody be worthy of enjoying the same level of resources and standing on the same stage as idols like that?

Yan Xi is very self-aware. She knew from the beginning that she was not an ugly duckling that could transform into a swan, which is why she kept refusing Cheng Chen's encouragement to "debut as an idol." It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't. The world is objective, and many things are destined to fail no matter how hard you try.

She doesn't have that qualification.

Thinking of this, Yan Xi felt a surge of impulse.

She took out her phone, opened her contacts, and found Cheng Chen's number. She wanted to refuse, refuse to become an idol, and make her refusal clear. She couldn't be vague like before and give others a false impression.

Yes! That's it!

Or rather, this is how it should be done!

My finger hovered over the dial button for a long time, but I still couldn't press it.

Yan Xi was disheartened and buried her head in her knees again.

Am I being too presumptuous?

What if the other person laughs and says, "You're overthinking it. The company is just creating hype; you have no connection to debuting at all?" after you call them?

Wouldn't that be so embarrassing that you'd want to disappear?

She could tolerate any criticism, but she just didn't want this kind of scene.

Moreover...

What if I'm not just imagining things?

What if Cheng Chen tells her that everything is true after the call is connected?

He didn't need to do so much for her at all; his efforts far exceeded what an idol producer would do for his idols, revealing a great deal of selfishness without any attempt to hide it.

Could it be because of those things I said to him last time, like 'playing with me'?

Now, when I recall that scene, I no longer feel embarrassed, but rather fear.

Did he really believe it?

Although he did say those words at the time, he personally admitted that he agreed.

But surely adults know this is just a joke!

Yan Xi was even more confused, endlessly swirling between the two feelings of "going to find Cheng Chen and asking him clearly" and "not daring to face him".

In the end, hesitation and retreat prevailed.

Torn between her own thoughts, she suddenly came up with a brilliant compromise.

……

Cheng Chen sat in his office, eyes closed, meditating and resting.

On his desk lay a resignation letter written in the delicate handwriting of a young girl, neatly arranged, earnest, and beautifully written.

I won't read out the specifics, but to sum it up, it's just one point.

Thank you, producer. I'm not mature enough; I've been through too much lately and have developed Jade Syndrome, so I need to rest for a while. During this time, I'm sending the Raven Feather Wand along with this letter as a guarantee that she won't cause any trouble while she's resting.

Finally, please do not go to her house to look for her; she has been away from home for some time.

After reading it, Cheng Chen had only one thought.

I really need to control you more strictly.

He had considered that Yan Xi would find a thousand reasons to back down, but he never expected her to run away.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Jiang Fei burst into laughter in front of his desk, almost laughing until tears streamed down her face.

"Running away is shameful, but it works. Now, how are you going to deal with this, Producer?"

Cheng Chen held the letter between his fingers, waved it in his hand, and then threw it away.

Arranging for Yan Xi, or rather, for "Magical Girl Eja" to officially debut as an idol, is crucial to his successful rise to stardom and is an unchangeable, predetermined matter.

The so-called "sublimation" is essentially about "borrowing" the power of others.

【Wish】is an abstract manifestation of spiritual power. When magical girls become obsessed with him and dependent on him, their 【Wish】will gradually gravitate towards him and become a container for the calamity magic within him.

Only by being incubated with the "heart of a magical girl's wish" can the calamity magic power, confined within the framework of the conventional magic system, be reconstructed and condensed into a higher-level sublime magic power.

However, Yan Xi's current rank is too low.

She only had the first stage of "Fire Sprout", and her "Heart of Wish" was in a very immature state, unable to fully accommodate Cheng Chen.

Currently, the dependency rate of [Magical Girl: Raven] has increased to 17%, but the ascension progress has been stuck at 2% for some time, unable to make any further progress.

Cheng Chen guessed that it was because her [Heart of Wish] could no longer withstand more calamity magic power, and it had to be upgraded to allow the [Heart of Wish] to grow in order to continue transforming.

This concerns his advancement to the sixth rank, so he won't let that idiot act like a spoiled brat.

Besides, isn't the ultimate goal of "Idol Producer" to officially debut?

His trio is making rapid progress.

After learning the amplification array, they no longer had much of the skills they should have mastered in the first stage, "Fire Sprout". Cheng Chen planned to have the three of them complete the subsequent training within two months and start trying to actively advance to the second stage, "Light Bell", instead of passively waiting for magic power to increase.

At that time, they will have the basic qualifications to perform most of the stage magic and officially go on stage to perform.

The idea of ​​collaborating with Songlan was to let them try to get used to that atmosphere first.

Despite spending all his time thinking about playing with, conquering, and correcting magical girls, he also works hard and diligently fulfills his duties as a producer.

The joint proposal was met with fierce opposition from Gao Xiao at the meeting.

As Ran's assistant, she raised many objections, such as that she was a magical girl targeted by the Kaleidoscope Prison, that she had a long history of being disobedient, and that she was not mature enough and had not completed the idol training course, etc.

After all, the company is not a place where Cheng Chen can make decisions on his own.

Gao Xiao insisted that "Song Lan is the pillar of the company, not a sparring partner for trainees," and demanded that the trio must first pass the idol training course exam as a prerequisite before they could be considered for Song Lan's performance arrangements.

The meeting ended unhappily.

Song Lan herself smoothed things over, saying that if the three of them could meet the conditions before the next concert, she could give the younger generation some guidance.

And there are less than two months until her next concert.

After the meeting, the discussion quickly turned into him using his position to pressure people and stuff his trainees into the Songlan concert to gain experience.

This is a common tactic used in large companies, especially since Cheng Chen is a newly appointed leader without a strong foundation. While it's possible to force things to go his own way, it could also exacerbate internal unrest and alienation within the company.

Yinfu Entertainment was already in a weakened state after its division, and Cheng Chen did not want to do anything that would undermine unity.

But to everyone's surprise, before Cheng Chen could make a final decision, Yan Xi ran away first.

"Rejection, doubt, avoidance, acceptance, dependence." Jiang Fei counted on her fingers, "It seems that the evil master's strategy for winning her over has reached the third stage. Soon another magical girl will be devoted to you. The evil master's methods are truly remarkable."

This is Jiang Fei's summary of the "Five Stages of Dependence" based on her own experience, representing the changes in the mindset of the magical girl when Cheng Chen controlled her.

"What do you mean by 'again'?"

Cheng Chen sighed casually, "Your only data object that depends on the five-stage process is yourself, right?"

"Not only that." Jiang Fei shook her head.

"more than?"

"And there's purple-clad one too, isn't that right, my master?"

Jiang Fei smiled with narrowed eyes, while Cheng Chen suddenly felt a chill down his back.

"What do you mean?"

He kept a straight face and remained defiant.

Jiang Fei slowly approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind the chair.

"During the last concert, Liang Ziyi told a story about being imprisoned and humiliated by an evil master, but the details were very unclear. I wonder if the person involved could tell me the story in more detail now?"

……