Watching the anime from Madoka Magica and writing the rules

"Either you become a Phantom Thief or you hand over the secret treasure. Today, there are only two options."

Zhixing closed his eyes and used his right eye under the eye mask to adjust the camera's perspective to above his head, as if he were in the third person. In the environment of the tram station, he could take in the passages in front and behind to prevent the opponent's shadow from escaping. At the same time, he mentally adjusted his left eye to Nibutani's perspective.

Although the image in his left eye still stayed on Yuta, and Zhixing was not sure if it could automatically jump as soon as the other party appeared.

But you can escape the first day, but you can’t escape the fifteenth.

Now that Zhixing no longer intends to wait, and under the premise that the other party will definitely return to reality, the fate of Nibutani can definitely be rewritten.

Time passed quietly as we waited like this, and soon, even the school club activities were over and it was time to go home.

Zhixing also specifically confirmed the camera's angle of view, and made sure that he did not see Nibutani before continuing to wait with peace of mind.

Finally, when most people at the tram station had left, Nibutani appeared at the original place with Lord Mori.

"It's taking so long."

As soon as the two women appeared, Zhixing immediately spoke.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little overwhelmed by this, so I'm late."

Mori-sama continued to speak in his chuunibyou attire, while the other one asked bluntly:

"So, you specifically stopped me. What kind of deal are you trying to make? Let me make it clear first, I will absolutely not agree to anything that touches my bottom line!"

Zhi Xing looked at the two women in front of him, slowly opened his left eye, and did not speak about the contract. Instead, he stretched out a hand straight and waved at the two women:

"Let the main body come over and touch this hand. I will take you to another place for communication."

"What do you mean by letting the original body go? If you want to make a deal, you can just say it directly."

Nibutani looked at the paper with a puzzled expression on his face, while Lord Mori beside him kept his hands together in prayer and showed no intention of explaining.

"Because if a creature or being from this world touches my right hand, it will die."

"I need to confirm that the person who can trade with me is me."

Although this was just a precautionary measure, seeing that the two had no intention of approaching, he could not help but sigh and threatened:

"Once the shadow of this world dies, you in reality will die with it, so... don't ask me to proactively verify its authenticity."

Upon hearing this, Nibutani didn't dare to approach, but stood where he was and asked:

"Even if you say so, I've never heard of such a thing. Who are you? Aren't you a Phantom Thief?"

"If you're a Phantom Thief, then who would approach you? Who knows how you steal things?"

Upon hearing this, Zhixing slowly put down his hand, then stood up and looked at Lord Mori who had been silent.

"Since you can talk for such a long time, I will assume that you have made sufficient preparations to deceive me."

"So, for what's going to happen next, I want to say sorry first. I hope you still have a future where you can survive."

Zhi Xing said this and prepared to rush towards [Mr. Mori], but Nibutani, who had been watching Zhi Xing's actions, finally sighed and waved his hand.

"Okay, you win. Tell us your conditions. What exactly is the reason you've been pestering us about?"

"Didn't you say you could handle him?"

Lord Mori, who had been maintaining his posture, no longer pretended and took off his headscarf, looking at the paper line vigilantly.

But Zhixing only paused for a moment, then closed his eyes to confirm again, and then continued to move forward.

"Wait! Didn't I tell you you won? Come over here and we'll go back!"

Nibutani stretched out his hand to block Lord Mori and Zhixing, but did not run away. He just watched Zhixing walk the short distance and come in front of the two women, and stretched out his right hand again.

"Hold it and determine its authenticity."

"Who would do this? Showing up for no apparent reason and doing these inexplicable things!"

"Really? I'm just an ordinary high school student, why are you here at this time?"

[Lady Mori] had a face full of anger. If she had not been told that Zhi Xing could probably move through space, she would have probably escaped long ago, away from this person who had been threatening her from the very beginning.

"I'll say this one last time. Let the real you hold my hand. I need to verify my identity."

"I'm not sure I can resurrect you, so don't risk your life to change the ending for such a small matter."

“Hold my hand!”

Zhi Xing walked past Nibutani who was blocking his way and stared at [Mrs. Mori] opposite him, waiting for her choice.

After all, by adjusting the angle, the [camera] has confirmed that the center of the view is this [Mr. Mori], not Nibutani who appeared with him.

However, the reason why Zhixing did not directly bring the other party into the [Witch's Barrier] was because he was not sure whether the other party was a shadow.

After all, off-field factors have been confirmed to be ruled out by the paper industry, so the only possibility of causing them to return empty-handed is the shadow of "Mr. Mori" causing trouble.

"So what if I've got it? Come and steal it if you can!"

[Lord Mori] gritted his teeth, reached out his hand, and held Zhixing's right hand.

This time it was Zhixing's turn to be a little surprised, but he didn't stand there in a daze. Instead, he started calling the little bear in his heart.

Soon, Lord Mori saw that the scene around him began to distort, which was completely different from the changes he had experienced the previous two times when he was taken away by his other self.

"What is this? Could this be the power of the Demon King?"

Zhixing looked at the frightened expression on Lord Mori's face when he saw the changes around him, but he did not let go of his hand. Instead, he stared at his hand intently, trying to confirm whether the other party would disappear.

But only after the surrounding objects stopped distorting and the arm in his hand did not change did Zhi Xing breathe a sigh of relief and say:

"Huh~ I thought the two guys outside were fake, but I didn't expect they just swapped identities?"

If it were a paper creature, when it knew that someone was guarding it outside and it couldn't come in, it would probably try to create two cognitive entities to attract the attention of people outside, and then wait for the right time to find a chance to leave.

Zhixing looked at Nibutani, whose body was a little tense, and took the initiative to loosen his hand. After keeping a certain distance from her, he observed the surrounding situation.

After confirming that there were no familiars near the current location, he spoke:

"She should have told you a lot, right? So, I'll cut to the chase. I need to sign a contract with you. Although I'd like to wait until you need me, I no longer have any reason to wait. So, even if it's a little difficult, I'm going to sign the contract."

"Why me? If you were looking for someone, wouldn't you have originally searched for Rikka? I no longer call myself a magician, and I won't be making any contracts."

"It's because you gave up that I came to you."

"Lord Mori, you don't want to be the leader anymore, do you?"

"I can completely turn you back into a normal person, so... give me your power!"

Zhixing said to Nibutani seriously, while extending his left hand to distinguish them.

"If you agree, please hold my left hand."

Nibutani looked at the left hand that was extended this time, but instead of being as decisive as before, he asked with a puzzled look in his eyes:

"Is this kind of power what you're after? Let me be clear, I was just having a Chuunibyou moment, so I called myself a magician. I don't know any magic, and I can't hear or see real spirits. I'm just a fake. If you had real superpowers, you should be able to tell!"

"I know."

"...So you came out to stop me just to keep Rikka company? Well, look, didn't Rikka say you were an enemy back then? And just now, the other me said you came here because of some world-destroying crisis. I don't think I have anything else someone like you would need, so after thinking about it, I guess you only wanted this fake thing so that Rikka could gather some Chuunibyou."

Nibutani was still a little hesitant and kept gesticulating to Zhixing for confirmation.

“It’s all true.”

"what?"

"I have witnessed the imminent crisis of world destruction, and Rikka's [Evil King's True Eye] is my target."

"Just kidding...right?"

Seeing Nibutani, who refused to shake hands for the sake of formality, Zhixing couldn't help but frown. However, within the [Witch's Barrier], although he could confirm that the other party was a real person and keep out the other party's most threatening shadow, Zhixing was also exposed to the environment where he could be attacked. So he didn't force the action, but continued to urge:

"So my time is very limited. I don't want to delay any longer. Tell me your choice."

"I will help you return to your normal life. In return, you will give me your power."

After Zhixing finished speaking, he extended his hand forward again, but Nibutani took a step back and failed to hold hands.

"This isn't a contract at all. A contract requires both parties to agree to it! If you can just say it verbally, then you don't need to ask for my consent!"

Zhi Xing's brows furrowed even further, but he did not press any further. Instead, he put down his hand and asked:

"From what you said, you want to modify the terms of the contract? In other words, isn't leaving the identity of "Mr. Mori" what you most want?"

"Well, this is just a fake. There's no need to make a special contract."

Nibutani spoke in a somewhat evasive manner, but he was still thinking about what the shadow had just shown him.

Zhi Xing sighed and spoke again:

"If you're worried about the Thunder Hammer User's books, I can also deal with them. No one else will disturb your ordinary high school life."

"My business has nothing to do with you, kid! Ah, no, look, you're here to resolve the crisis of world destruction, right? Then you must be a hero representing justice, right? So how could you do something that might affect your image, hehe."

Nibutani smirked with his eyes twitching, but he was aware of what Zhixing was about to do to the others, and was afraid of the possible ability to modify memories, and suspected that the consent of shaking hands was the condition for activation.

Zhixing took a deep breath and looked at Nibutani's neck to confirm that there was no trace of the Witch's Kiss. ​​He then looked around and at the projected wall.

After confirming that there were no familiars within his field of vision, and that although there was a station scene on the projected wall, no shadows appeared, and he himself was not disabled, indicating that the shadows did not enter with him, his heart sank.

Even though I'm already inside the [Witch's Barrier], the power of the Witch's Kiss and the Cognitive Shadow will not affect my decision.

I have clearly checked the possible variables that may arise in the contact between the protagonists under the [camera] more than once or twice.

Even though they had checked for the possibility of the other party escaping, they were actually having a face-to-face one-on-one conversation that was beyond reality.

Why won’t the contract transaction go through? Last time, the shadow suddenly disappeared, and the time before that, it also suddenly disappeared, forcing me to give up the idea of ​​trading in my dreams. But now I’m being directly forced, so why are you still refusing?

If one possesses the power of a personality mask, will it bring about immeasurable changes to the original plot and indirectly change one's fate?

Or... Zhixing turned around and looked into the depths of the witch's barrier, which was nowhere to be found. If he used the [Witch's Barrier] to eliminate interference from the outside world and even the Witch's Kiss, would it become a direct confrontation with the disaster correction power brought about by the wish?

"Um, Mr. [Phantom Thief Joker]?"

Nibutani looked at Shixing who suddenly started looking around, and was a little confused about what Shixing was doing. Although from the perspective of chuunibyou, Nibutani could see that Shixing might have had the expression of someone who suddenly discovered that there were some enemies around him, but this place was obviously brought here by Shixing on purpose, and it should be a safe area.

This kind of enemy, which even people with super powers have to be wary of and cannot see, really scares Nibutani.

When Zhi Xing turned his attention back to Nibutani, he said something that frightened Nibutani even more:

"I remember, as the former [Mr. Mori], now the class monitor and student representative."

"You... should be the type who's good at speaking. Communicating with others shouldn't be that difficult for you."

"When exactly did your personality and tone become what they are now?"

"Are you really Nibutani Morika, the junior high school student who used to be called 'Mori-sama'?"

Chapter 405: Meeting

"No...don't call me 'Mori-sama'! That's all fake. It's not what you've heard!"

Nibutani denied it repeatedly, but he was frightened in his heart by Zhixing's behavior, as if Zhixing didn't see his existence in his eyes.

"Besides, didn't I already shake your hand? Didn't you confirm it? Well, trust your own judgment. I am indeed Nibutani Morika, a current first-year high school student at the Private Ginkgo Academy. There's no doubt about that."

"But if you want strength, you should go to the me I just saw. I don't have anything unnatural."

"So...please let me go."

Zhi Xing looked at the panicked Nibutani in front of him, his frown not loosening, but he did not take any further action. Instead, he retreated and said:

"If you're still yourself, calm down and sort out your thoughts."

"Since you can still speak logically, think carefully about why you didn't answer my contract, why, and what you really want."

Zhixing took a step back, but still stared at Nibutani and did not make any other moves.

Nibutani first stared at the paper in panic, then looked around for a while. After making sure that he was safe, he clasped his hands together, closed his eyes and began to calm himself down.

Time passed by minute by minute, but Zhixing was not in a hurry. He kept staring at Nibutani and reading his mind.

After Nibutani had completely regained his composure and sorted out his thoughts, he was about to speak when Zhixing replied:

"This isn't some devil's pact, and it won't create any connection between you and me."

"What I need is for you to gain the power to resolve the crisis, or to completely give up your power and return to ordinary life."

Nibutani was stunned for a moment, and then he wanted to speak again, but was interrupted by Zhixing again:

"I know this is something you think you can do, so I don't think it's necessary to rely on external forces."

"But you've already given up today, haven't you? You even asked to quit the club."

"What I can give you is not something from fairies or elves. It is determined by your personal qualifications."