"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 29: What's the Point of Playing "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" When They're All Thousand-Year-Old Fox Spirits?

 
Of the three, Jiang Cha clearly had the most issues.
Yes, she played a critical role on the team. She was in charge of both coordination and emergency response, and she seemed strong—but she was also the team's biggest vulnerability.

After all, real battles—or competitions—aren’t always three-on-one. And the moment Lina and He Qin were held back, Jiang Cha’s weaknesses would become painfully obvious.
“You’re no good at tactics, command, spell libraries, or even basic offensive magic. Your close-quarters skills are trash. You haven’t trained your magical strength. Your development of inherent magic is a complete mess. If you weren’t a naturally awakened witch who’s only been at school for three days, I’d be seriously questioning how your parents raised you...”
In the 21st century, every human had been transformed into a witch.
But before that—from the discovery of unstable dimensional rifts in the 18th century to the development of stable space gates in the modern day—no one knew how many people had accidentally fallen into the magical “narrow space” only high-level witches could explore safely.

It was called a narrow space, but that was just a name. The interior was nearly infinite—or more accurately, it had no concept of space at all.
It connected to endless dimensional worlds, full of strange, unpredictable things.
Time travelers?
Sages fished a bunch of them out every year.
Relics and otherworldly knowledge?
People were so used to it, it was like stumbling across a common treasure chest in Genshin Impact—barely worth a glance.

Magic, monsters, relics, books, fragmented worlds—none of it was rare anymore. Even finding a stray human or two wasn’t out of the question.
But most of them were “dead things,” either erased by the chaotic laws of that realm or so mangled that not even resurrection spells could bring them back.
Jiang Cha was considered lucky.
She just had a bout of amnesia. At least she was still alive.

However, the dimensional gap remained taboo in witch society. Only qualified witches who had passed official testing were allowed even a glimpse into its knowledge.
“Inherent magic development?”
Jiang Cha knew she had a long list of shortcomings—but Carol had just brought up a term she didn’t recognize.

“That’s third-year content, technically,” Carol said, then gestured toward Lina and gave He Qin a glance, making her meaning clear.
Witches with talent never followed the standard classroom pace. After all, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) class progress had to accommodate the slowest students.
“Here, take this book. Read it on your own. If you get stuck on something during development, come ask me.”

“Next is individual instruction.”
Three-against-one was still doable, especially with Carol suppressing her full power. They could even use risky self-destruction tactics.
But one-on-one?
By the end of the day, Lina was nearly broken.
Wait, why was Lina the one who got beaten up?

Well—He Qin didn’t have enough puppets to keep fighting, so she only played a couple of rounds and then sat out. Jiang Cha, meanwhile, activated full-power mode with no complaints. She even started asking He Qin for lessons on close-range witch combat during breaks, like a true tryhard.
“I never want to fight with Mentor Carol again... it’s too much.”
Lina collapsed on the sofa, bubbles of frustration practically coming out of her mouth.

The main problem?
Lina practiced both transformation and transmutation magic, while Carol specialized in transmutation. It was like a master beating up her own apprentice.
Every move Carol used was something she’d practiced for decades, while Lina was still trying to get the hang of it.
It wasn’t a duel—it was a one-sided demolition.
“It’s okay, I’ll get revenge for you next time.”

The black-haired girl gently wrapped her arms around Lina’s neck and nestled against her shoulder. Her soft hair brushed Lina’s skin—ticklish, but oddly comforting.
“Chabao... wuwuwu... my Chabao, you’re the best!”
Lina blushed, just a little, and buried her face in Jiang Cha’s chest to hide her embarrassment.

Off to the side, He Qin felt like a total outsider.
She knew full well that Lina only acted bold. For all her talk about things like “[white stockings],” “[young wives],” or “[dark skin],” the girl was actually too shy to ever cross the line. Compared to the senior-level degenerates in the academy, Lina was basically a sweet, innocent girl.
But Jiang Cha...

He Qin couldn’t read her at all.
She thought back to what had happened in the library... and decided to just pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
With a sigh, she walked to the kitchen to cook.
...

They had one month to improve.
Mentor Carol was a busy woman—the Battle Club’s ace witch. If not for the club’s generous policies, Jiang Cha wouldn’t be able to afford even a day of instruction, even if she sold herself.
The next scheduled duel was in a month. Until then, all three girls would be focusing on personal growth.

Lina’s training path was already set: once she reached great witch status and could construct her own trait, all she had to do was follow her family’s system. No worries about resources—potions, spellbooks, gear—everything was provided.
He Qin focused on building and improving her puppets, using materials reimbursed by the Battle Club and ones she already had.
She also worked on slightly upgrading her spell arsenal.
As for Jiang Cha...

She checked out 100 books from the library.
Three on magic strength training.
Ten basic alchemy textbooks.
Forty low-level spellbooks.
The rest? All about developing inherent magic.
Intrinsic magic was extremely personal. Even a common fireball spell could vary wildly between the energy and mystic systems, both in mechanics and evolution paths.

The same spell, developed by different witches, could turn into something unrecognizable.
There were all kinds of weird variations.
Jiang Cha’s own inherent magic, [Information Collection], had never appeared in the official records.
In fact, the only known version of it was a theoretical model made by a sage as a toy for kids—never seriously developed.

Even Principal Aislyn’s upgraded version of that toy was still a half-baked prototype.
So if Jiang Cha wanted to develop her own path forward, she had no choice but to figure it out herself.
“Aaaaaaagh!”

At 10 p.m., the girls were relaxing in their pajamas.
Lina meditated to strengthen her magic. He Qin read a mechanics textbook.
Then Jiang Cha suddenly screamed, startling them both.
“These books aren’t enough—I need more!”

She didn’t explain. She just bolted out of the room in her pajamas.
“Chabao really has the makings of a research witch,” Lina muttered, half in awe.
“I’m worried,” He Qin said, frowning. “She’s putting too much pressure on herself.”

“Nah, she’s just curious. You know how witches get when they hit research mode… Estel was the same. I just hope Chabao doesn’t become a shut-in like her.”
“Okay, Lina-chan.”
“Yes, yes~”

...
After diving into the concept of inherent magic development, Jiang Cha realized just how stupid her earlier approach had been.
Her [Full Power Mode] and [Focus Mode] weren’t “developed” spells at all—just alternate ways of casting the same thing.
Fireball is still fireball. If the model doesn’t change, it’s not new magic.

To actually develop inherent magic, one needed to resonate with it, letting the magic itself take on its properties.
That’s why most witches construct their first traits based on their inherent magic—it’s the most intuitive starting point.
It also required perfect theory, precise control, strong magical reserves, and sometimes outside tools to aid in evolution.
In short: developing your inherent magic is the process of evolving yourself.

That’s why little witches like Chabao, even with more than 10,000 points of raw magic, couldn’t be called great witches.
Without a trait, you’re not there yet. The first trait marks the beginning of Stage Two.
But that was all for later.
Right now, Jiang Cha needed some very specific books.

“Magic Development Theory. Analysis of the Origin of Mystical Magic. Complete Explanation of Spell Model Construction. Nature of Magic, Analyzed and Summarized... Hmm, I should also grab ‘The Origin of Magic’ by Master Camilla. The title sounds like history, but she actually breaks down a ton of theory—super helpful for spellcraft.”
“Sister Moore?”
Jiang Cha turned, startled.

There stood the familiar beauty with long purple hair, draped in sheer black sleepwear. Her pale skin glowed under the library’s magic lights.
She picked up a book with graceful fingers and met Jiang Cha’s eyes.
In the quiet of the near-empty library, Jiang Cha could hear the soft rustle of sheer fabric.
It was... strangely fresh and electrifying.

“It’s me. What’s this? Little Jiang Cha, sneaking around this late... just for a book?”
Leaning casually against the bookshelf, the witch yawned—but her voice was pure mischief.
Every movement she made seemed wrapped in mature allure.

Jiang Cha blinked. Then smiled.
“Of course I was thinking of you, Sister Moore.”
She tilted her head innocently. Her bunny-ear pajamas made her look even cuter, while her bare legs peeked out from under the hem—full of youthful charm.

She wasn’t scared of Moore’s seduction. Her youth gave her confidence.
“You’ve got a silver tongue, huh~ Go on then. The library’s closing soon.”
Moore chuckled behind her hand. Jiang Cha gasped in mock betrayal.

“Hey! You’re kicking me out already?”
“Well... unless you want to sleep here with big sister. I can give you personal tutoring.”
Moore raised her brow, playing along with the girl’s teasing tone.
But Jiang Cha just hopped back like a bunny, winked, and ran off.

“He Qin’s waiting for me back home~ I’ll take a rain check!”
Another round of their little rivalry ended... in a draw.