Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Sugiyama Rika asked, puzzled, "This competition uses a points system, so there won't be any eliminations. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"

Ayasa Terasaki cautioned, "Her magic resistance is very strong; ordinary animal transformation magic shouldn't work on her, right?"

“That’s true…” Sugiyama Rikka belatedly realized this, but seeing Tono Hitomi and Sad Bear frequently looking in the direction of Haga Mayumi, she added, “But Hitomi and the others can use magic to help. With the help of a powerful magic user, the animal transformation should be successful in a short time.”

“You also said it’s a short time,” Terasaki Ayasa reminded her. “Count how many teams are competing?”

Because they have to perform one by one, and Mayumi Haga registered too late, her ranking on stage will be quite low. There's no telling when the magic might suddenly malfunction during the performance.

Unless Hitomi Tono and Sad Bear can stay by Mayumi Haga's side to reinforce the magic, but given their status as judges, it's impossible for Ichi to stay by the contestants' side for that long.

"This is troublesome." Sugiyama Rikka scratched his head.

However, after explaining everything, Terasaki Ayasa felt that there shouldn't be any major problems.

When she was registering Mayumi Haga's abilities, she learned that she possessed the [Blessing] skill, which allowed her to transform into an animal.

Such a skill is certainly not animal transformation magic, and it might not even fit the "cute" theme of the competition.

But being able to transform into an animal could be useful in an emergency... right?

Well, given the current situation, they should be able to use their own transformation skills to take over after the animal transformation magic wears off.

Terasaki Ayasa was actually quite interested in Haga Mayumi's transformation skills, but since he was unwilling to demonstrate them to her, she wouldn't force him.

It's pretty good to have the opportunity to watch it directly this time.

Just as I was thinking this, the first match officially began, and the first contestant took to the stage.

The background music and commentary from the live stream became more exciting, and Ayasa Terasaki snapped out of her reverie and began to focus on the game.

To be honest, although the competitions at this festival were somewhat absurd, they were much more interesting than regular sports meets.

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"Well then, all our contestants are ready. Now, I, the Microphone Monster Hosting Star, will be hosting this competition for you!" The strange man, whose head was completely shaped like a human head microphone, held the microphone and spoke in an impassioned tone.

"First up is our prankster, the banana peel monster! Hmm, he actually chose to transform into a beautiful golden retriever! How adorable!"

The microphone freak's voice was a standard male host's voice, calm and magnetic, with clear enunciation, but it was a bit too comical in this kind of competition.

Especially when this guy seriously praised each contestant as cute in such an excited tone.

To be fair, the weirdos in Weird City are all very good at choosing their transformation forms.

However, because monsters with human-like appearances are extremely rare, the vast majority of monsters choose to transform their appearance directly into that of a complete beast, rather than a beastman.

For example, someone like the Microphone Monster, whose head is a human microphone, wouldn't be very cute with a pair of cat ears on top of it.

The competition venue had turned into a zoo, with some strange figures even jumping through hoops of fire in the center of the field, drawing gasps from the audience.

Then they were forcibly stopped: "Animal performances are prohibited here! Even if you're weirdos, you can't!"

The contestants who transformed into a lion and a white rabbit wearing a hat had no choice but to leave the stage dejectedly. They had wanted to create a circus-themed style, hoping to score higher.

"And you humans over there, don't come over and mess with our contestants!"

Several audience members who were enjoying pet treats while petting cats and dogs left, grumbling and cursing.

It's a matter of mutual consent; how dare you, you botnet monster, interfere!

Can't you see these few are almost following me?

"Trafficking athletes is also prohibited!"

The scene was chaotic.

Wearing a hoodie, Mayumi Haga pushed open the door to the contestants' preparation room and silently walked behind the beast horde.

Since everyone else is in animal form, Mayumi Haga, a cramped guy wearing a black hoodie, stands out.

However, upon closer inspection, one can clearly see prominent ear protrusions on her head, indicating that the animal transformation magic is not entirely ineffective.

And behind him...

It has a big wolf's tail.

Seeing the chaos, Mayumi Haga seemed to think she wasn't that strange, so she took off her hood.

As she moved, her ears, which had been uncomfortably pressed under her hood, eagerly poked out and twitched softly.

Those were a pair of listless wolf ears. One of them drooped listlessly, reflecting the embarrassment of its owner, Mayumi Haga, while the other ear, which stood upright, was adorned with several silver earrings.

Because Mayumi Haga has black hair in her normal state, Hitomi Tono and Kuma chose wolf ears with shiny black fur for her when she transforms.

Even the wolf tail that was swinging restlessly perfectly matched Mayumi Haga's appearance.

Especially when paired with Mayumi Haga's awkward appearance, it tastes unexpectedly delicious.

Mayumi Haga did indeed attract a lot of attention, but unfortunately, her appearance was too late in the competition, and the scene was so chaotic that by the time everyone was getting anxious, she still hadn't been introduced.

Finally, before we even got to the part about Mayumi Haga, the sound effects and smoke from the other side indicated that the transformation had ended.

Text: 272. Please wait a moment, we will soon be broadcasting this footage of despair.

Mayumi Haga was originally worried about her magic resistance.

Magic rarely works on her, and even if it is successfully cast, it can fail at any time.

In such a competition, this is undoubtedly the biggest disadvantage.

Although she thought the competition was ridiculous, Mayumi Haga still had a bit of excessive competitiveness and didn't want to withdraw from it so easily.

After quietly sharing her concerns with Hitomi Tono, the latter patted her chest and assured her that if anything went wrong, she would be able to fix it immediately.

Considering Hitomi Tono's professional skills as the magical girl Crimson, Mayumi Haga was somewhat relieved.

Perhaps the opponent's magic will last longer.

As Mayumi Haga was thinking this, she was still standing in the line waiting for her number when she suddenly saw white smoke coming out of her body.

Haga Mayumi:...Huh?

This is a sign that the magic is failing, indicating that its effects are fading from her.

This is terrible.

Mayumi Haga thought that it seemed she could only find a way to maintain the animal transformation effect, perhaps by waiting for Hitomi Tono to slip down from the judges' table and recast the spell on her.

The next second, Mayumi Haga began to sense that something was wrong.

Her animal transformation magic only resulted in the growth of wolf ears and a tail; her body didn't actually change much, so there was absolutely no chance of her perspective gradually decreasing.

No, the animal ears on its head and the tail on its back have actually disappeared, and the animal transformation magic is completed in an instant, so the rapid transformation of the body now is...

Mayumi Haga's own transformation skill.

Mayumi Haga also possesses the blessing skill that allows her to transform into an animal, but her transformation is definitely completely different from the magical transformation that happens instantly.

—Making a person into a pulp and then reassembling them into a cat... Even Megaran would find this hard to accept; it's not a transformation that can be broadcast!

Why at this time...?

Because of the familiarity that Magical Girl Crimson showed with Mayumi Haga earlier, and because she, as a human, stood out among the monsters, there are now quite a few cameras filming her.

I'm starting to sweat a little.

Almost instantly, realizing she was about to cause the biggest performance mishap of the festival, Mayumi Haga used her exceptional reflexes to come up with a countermeasure.

Taking advantage of the last second before she deformed and stiffened, Mayumi Haga took out a Smoke Fruit from her backpack and threw it hard on the ground. With a "bang", white smoke enveloped her.

Her actions attracted the attention of the surrounding contestants, who all cast curious glances at her.

All that could be heard from within the smoke was a strange grinding of bones and a squelching sound. Everyone's attention was drawn to this sudden commotion, but because of the smoke, they couldn't see anything.

The magical girl Crimson on the judges' panel naturally realized that her magic had failed and couldn't help but feel annoyed by her mediocre skills.

This is bad. Is Mayumi going to be eliminated before the competition even starts?

The rules of this competition seem casual, but in fact, the preparation time is strictly limited. Once the preparation time is completed and the person leaves the preparation room within the specified time, they cannot return.

Magical Girl Crimson can no longer go down to "touch up" Mayumi Haga's makeup.

She had only been anxious for a moment when she saw Mayumi Haga make a move.

Smoke billowed, and the location of Mayumi Haga became the center of everyone's attention.

Magical Girl Crimson felt a jolt in her heart.

She knew that Mayumi Haga had the Transformation Blessing skill, and because she had seen Mayumi Haga transform into a dragon, she had certain expectations.

After all, Mayumi doesn't know magic, and the style of her transformation abilities in her world seems to be difficult to broadcast.

Magical girl Crimson still feels lingering fear about the scene where she found the real bow in the minced meat last time.

If such a scene were broadcast live...

Not only will the festival in Strange City be abruptly canceled, but it may also cause immeasurable psychological trauma to viewers in front of their televisions, making it impossible for Mayumi to live a normal life in the future.

Realizing the potential consequences of this accident, the magical girl Crimson was unable to remain seated on the judges' panel and instinctively began to move.

The instant her magic erupted, she rushed into the smoke, thinking that even if it was against the rules, she couldn't let what was about to happen appear on the big screen.

A crimson meteor crashed into the smoke-filled arena.

Just when everyone thought that the magical girl Crimson was going to break the rules and add a magical effect to the selection, suddenly, only the fluctuation of the Cleansing Magic was detected on the judges' stand.

"Cleansing magic? Is that against the rules?"

"I don't think so... It only says that [touching up makeup] is not allowed, it didn't say that cleansing magic is forbidden...?"

The smoke lasted longer than expected, and the referees whispered among themselves.

Only when the smoke cleared did the magical girl's deep red, slightly pale face reappear in the frame.

However, her expression was a little strange.

Shock, confusion, and a hint of something strange that was hard to describe.

In her arms, she held a giant gray Maine Coon cat that was almost half the height of a person.

Facing the camera, the magical girl Crimson managed a weak smile.

Just as I was about to say something, I suddenly turned my head and started vomiting.

Mayumi Neko's cat face showed remorse.

Although it was touching to see Xiaotong rush over and use her cleaning magic on her blood-soaked self, the shock of her internal organs being turned inside out combined with the uncanny valley effect was still a bit too much...

Luckily, I used smoke to prevent others from seeing it, otherwise this would have been a truly hellish scene.

"Oh! Mayumi Haga chose to become a cat? She's huge and adorable!" The microphone-wielding man, completely oblivious to the mental pollution he'd just dodged, continued in a lighthearted tone, "But smoking on the field is still not allowed!"

Mayumi Neko knew she had broken the rules, and having failed in her first attempt, she was already planning to leave the scene immediately.

It's better to leave the game than to ruin the whole match.

Just as she was thinking this, Mayumi Neko noticed that the referees seemed to be watching them and discussing something, and her ominous premonition grew even stronger.

Although it wasn't written in the rules, such behavior somewhat disrupted the order of the competition.

The referees were unsure how to issue a yellow card to Mayumi Haga, so they decided to do a quick review to confirm that she had not committed any further violations.

"Although this contestant used smoke bombs to obscure everyone's vision, we have the most advanced magic imaging technology, plus slow motion, which will allow us to see the contestant's subtle movements clearly." The eccentric referee was very serious as he announced the results of the referees' discussion. "Please wait a moment, we need three more minutes to retrieve the slow motion video."

Text: 273. Ugh, I suddenly really want some orange juice.

On this day, the memories of the children watching the first match of the Strange City Festival on television around the world were erased for about thirty seconds.

This phenomenon is called the "Hagura Phenomenon," which refers to a situation where, when the information received by the brain exceeds the limitations of the rules of this world, the brain autonomously harmonizes and forcibly forgets the information, and forcibly fills in irrelevant memories.

Because the only instance of collective amnesia occurred with a contestant named "Haga Mayumi," the phenomenon was named after her surname.

Later, Mayumi Haga's identity as a visitor from another world was confirmed.

This phenomenon touches upon the fundamental laws governing the world of children, and is therefore a research direction for many magicians.

However, because the Haga phenomenon cannot be recorded and remembered for a long time, the study can be said to have made no progress from the beginning.

All researchers studying this phenomenon will become very fond of it [—].

Therefore, the ultimate winner of this bizarre city festival was—

——————————————————————————————

Let's rewind to the very first moment of the replay of Mayumi Haga's exciting match.

Slow-motion replay systems are typically provided for sporting events.