Magic Maker - Chapter 1

On a deserted midnight street, a casually dressed man in inexpensive slippers emerged from a convenience store. He held a plastic bag, stationed himself at the store’s entrance, and surveyed the empty nighttime street from left to right. Having chosen a direction, he moved forward, hoisting the plastic bag before his face. Through the thin, transparent plastic bag, a bowl of instant noodles, a ham sausage, and a braised egg were clearly visible.

“It’s so cold…” The brisk breeze swept across, leaving people feeling as if they were being struck from all directions. It was just midnight after a downpour, and the persistent dampness sent shivers throughout. The man exhaled a long, trembling breath. Anticipating a warm bowl of instant noodles when he returned home, a hopeful expression graced his face. Carefully setting down the plastic bag before him, he unexpectedly spotted a girl standing in the middle of the road not far away.

“Beauty… She’s just dressed a little oddly,” the man observed from a distance. From his aesthetic viewpoint, the girl was undeniably a beauty of goddess-like stature. Naturally, if she were to switch to regular clothing, her beauty would become even more striking. “Cosplay? It’s midnight…”

The man had just finished admiring the beauty and was about to head home for a noodle meal when, at that very moment, a dazzling, intense light burst forth. The beautiful woman, immersed in her middle-of-the-road cosplay, remained completely unaware. The man shielded his eyes with his hands, squinting to see that the brilliant light originated from a garbage truck that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The garbage truck driver didn’t seem to notice the beautiful woman in the road’s center, and the woman herself appeared oblivious to the approaching vehicle behind her.

“Be careful…” The man hastily slid his feet into his slippers and rushed forward, a bag of instant noodles in hand. He reached out to push the beautiful woman standing in the middle of the road, but to his astonishment, his hand passed through her like mist. The oblivious woman, who hadn’t even noticed the garbage truck approaching from behind, looked at the man in bewilderment. “You…?”

The man only heard this solitary word. She was truly a beauty of divine proportions. Her facial features were exquisitely refined from such a close vantage point, and her voice held a charming cadence. However, the man gripping the bag felt as though a tremendous force had struck his entire being. An immense momentum slammed into him, and the world whirled around as if he were in flight. Even as he was propelled through the air, he clung tightly to the bag in his grasp. The harsh, prolonged screech of brakes constituted the final sound he heard… “Ahhh…” Bu Fan felt as if lightning had struck him.

His whole body trembled, and he sat up in bed, struggling for breath. Bu Fan raised his hand to shield his groggy eyes, wiping away the cold sweat on his forehead. After a brief period of silent contemplation, Bu Fan started to breathe deeply and slowly. “This is not the first time… I’ve had this nightmare again.”

“Hmm…” Bu Fan drew a long breath, rose from his bed, and approached the bedside to unveil the curtains. The brilliant, welcoming sunshine outside illuminated the room, filling Bu Fan with warmth. The chill of the rainy night in his recent dream, and the heartbreaking failure of the hero to rescue the maiden, felt like distant memories. “It’s such a lovely day, but it’s unfortunate that I had that dream again because of the exhaustion from moving yesterday…”

Bu Fan couldn’t remember the exact number of times he had been haunted by that recurring nightmare, where the hero of the midnight street failed to save the beauty, only to meet a grim fate. In Bu Fan’s fragmented memory, it seemed that every month, for several consecutive days, he was plagued by these nightmarish sequences. Yet, it was this relentless dream and the unexplained void in Bu Fan’s memories that made him feel as though he didn’t belong to this world.

“No… time,” Bu Fan trembled, as if he had just recalled something important. He hastily shouted to break the train of his thoughts. As Bu Fan voiced the word “time” loudly, the current time instantly appeared on the previously clear window in front of him. Lu Mo silently glanced at the time on the window, then suddenly pivoted and walked away with an apathetic demeanor. “Never mind… I’m certainly running late, so let’s grab a bite to eat first.”

Bu Fan walked out of the bedroom and entered the living room. The spacious living room was filled with cardboard boxes. Bu Fan was momentarily stunned and then heaved a long sigh. To be honest, he hadn’t recalled that he had just moved here until he laid eyes on the stack of cardboard boxes. Everything except pillows and quilts was now neatly packed in these cardboard boxes before him. “Oh my god, standing in the southeast and facing northwest…”

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz.

  A vibrating sound from the cell phone caught Bu Fan’s attention. Bu Fan walked around the pile of cardboard boxes in front of him, came to the place where the cell phone made the sound, and picked up the cell phone. The phone quickly verified the identity of the holder, and then a message popped up: Come drink the northwest wind again, I have prepared food for you, see if you can find it. The message ended with a mischievous smiley face.

  ”I suddenly had a bad feeling…” Bu Fan put down his phone and turned around to look at the pile of cardboard boxes in the living room. Although there are things that can fill your stomach, it is not easy to find them. Bu Fan did not step forward to unpack the boxes one by one, but analyzed the person who sent the message. Just as the other party understood him, Bu Fan understood her a little less.

  ”Let’s take this one.” Bu Fan quickly picked out a carton with the words “handle with care” written on it. Lu Mo had previously thought that the carton contained cups and dishes. But if it was her arrangement, there must be something else in it. Bu Fan quickly opened the carton and saw the neatly stacked bowls of noodles. Bu Fan couldn’t help but sigh. “I knew it…”

  Bu Fan walked into the kitchen with a bowl of noodles. The spacious and bright kitchen seemed empty at this time. After rummaging for a long time, he finally found the magic heating kettle. Bu Fan quickly filled the water and placed the heating kettle on the heating table. Immediately, his palm covered the magic energy-filled area of ​​the heating platform, and Bu Fan began to slowly release the magic energy. Bu Fan only heard a crisp explosion, and then with a “pop”, an object fell from Bu Fan’s left arm.

  ”Magic, magic energy amplifier…” Bu Fan looked at the magic item on the ground that had been split into two, and felt a chill spread quickly down his spine. The sound just now was none other than the sound of the magic energy amplifier exploding and falling to the ground. Bu Fan squatted on the ground with his head in his hands, staring straight at the magic energy amplifier on the ground. One of the two magic items was scrapped, and I don’t know if the other one is also in danger.

  ”Unfortunately…” Bu Fan rolled up his sleeves and looked at the cracked ring on his right arm. It seemed that this magic energy amplifier would be finished at any time. Bu Fan stood up with a groan, looking at the bowl of noodles that had been opened and filled with ingredients, and then at the pot of cold water that was not boiling on the heating table. “Alas…” Bu Fan sighed, picked up the heating pot, poured the cold water in the pot into the bowl of noodles and covered it.

  ”I am more and more sure now that everything in that dream may really be true, because I am unlucky as soon as I see you…” Bu Fan said as he glanced at the bowl of noodles brewed with cold water, and couldn’t help but think of the previous time. That nightmare. In the dream, Bu Fan met that strange woman on the street late at night because he went to buy instant noodles. In the end, the hero failed to save the beauty and even got herself involved.