At a certain high school, the Animation Research Club.
As soon as school ended, the members hurried to the club room.
"Alright everyone, today's club activity is... guess the plot of tonight's fourth episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica," the Department Head announced, writing the topic on the whiteboard.
The club had only five members in total. Everyone except one, who was on duty, had arrived early.
As a club dedicated to studying animation, all members were naturally following Puella Magi Madoka Magica, an anime that had been highly anticipated since before its premiere and exploded in popularity after the third episode.
As soon as the Department Head announced the topic, the members immediately began speculating and discussing:
"Senior Mami died. In episode four, either Sayaka or the protagonist, Madoka, will definitely become a new magical girl."
"It's hard to say. I saw an interview with Akiyuki Shinbo where he mentioned a new character would be introduced. It's probably a magical girl to fill the void left by Senior Mami, right?"
"If Senior Mami hadn't died, the protagonist would definitely have become a magical girl in episode four. Sayaka would have become one in episode four or five. Based on the earlier setup, it wouldn't take long. But now that Senior Mami is dead, they must be terrified. It's unlikely they'd want to become magical girls anymore, right?"
"Exactly. If I were in their shoes and knew how dangerous the battles were, I'd never become a magical girl, no matter what."
"That's true, but it's already episode four. It's a bit strange that the protagonist still hasn't become a magical girl. This is Puella Magi Madoka Magica!"
"The protagonist will definitely overcome her fear and become a magical girl. We just don't know which episode it will be. I doubt it'll be episode four; it'll probably be episode five at the earliest."
As the group was discussing, the door to the club room suddenly burst open.
"Sorry I'm late," said the last member to arrive.
She placed her bag on the table, unzipped it, and smiled. "I've got something really interesting to show you."
"What is it?" Everyone turned to look.
"Ta-da~!"
She made a sound effect herself and pulled out a small Mami Tomoe figure from her bag. The figure depicted Senior Mami Tomoe in her magical girl outfit, looking utterly adorable.
"Senior Mami merchandise?"
"When did you get it?"
"Ah, it's so cute!"
Two or three people couldn't help but exclaim.
But before long, the owner of the merchandise placed her hands on Mami Tomoe's head and body. With a gentle pull, the figure's head came clean off, revealing a USB drive plug.
"???"
The club members present froze in shock.
After a few seconds, someone laughed and said, "It's one thing that her neck gets bitten off in the animation, but they actually made a decapitated figure? The animation studio must be devils!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the others nodded in agreement.
In fact, there wasn't just this one USB drive around the severed head; there were many other items as well, including a Senior Mami figure that could be disassembled at the neck.
Of course, there were also plenty of normal merchandise items, such as collaboration clothing, notebooks, erasers, and more for each character.
However, the best-selling items weren't these normal merchandise products; instead, it was Senior Mami's severed head merchandise.
As anime fans eagerly purchased Senior Mami's severed head merchandise, they simultaneously took to the internet to "verbally condemn" it:
"Old Thief Lin is truly inhuman! First he torments Senior Mami in the animation, and now he's tormenting her even with the merchandise!"
"The day I bought my Senior Mami figure, her head fell off. I was so scared I thought it was broken, but thankfully it wasn't."
"LSP doesn't seem to have been involved in the merchandise production. This severed head merchandise probably has nothing to do with Old Thief Lin, right?"
"The anime is only on its third episode, and the severed head merchandise is already out. There's no way Old Thief Lin isn't involved. I suspect he even came up with the idea himself."
"Poor Senior Mami... Old Thief Lin, you're not human!"
While lamenting how tragic Senior Mami's fate was, they went on a wild buying spree of decapitation-themed merchandise.
It just goes to show that, in the end, the audience was mostly filled with schadenfreude enthusiasts.
While there were certainly those who were genuinely devastated by Mami Tomoe's death, they were actually quite few in number.
In that sense, Lin Zhiyan was rather innocent.
However, he knew that the "verbal attacks" directed at him carried little malice. They were more like teasing, a testament to his personal popularity and influence, so he didn't take them too seriously.
Only a portion of the audience teased him; the majority remained focused on the animation itself, particularly when Madoka would become a magical girl.
Many had originally assumed that by the fourth episode, Madoka would surely become a magical girl, but that didn't happen.
Instead, Sayaka became a magical girl first, her wish to restore her childhood friend and crush Kyosuke Kamijo's arm to its normal state.
Of course, Sayaka was initially terrified by Senior Mami's death and didn't want to become a magical girl. But one day, when she visited Kyosuke Kamijo, he snapped at her:
"Is Sayaka bullying me? Why is she making me listen to music now? Is she trying to make me miserable on purpose?"
"I can't move. I don't even feel pain anymore. My hands..."
"If there's no miracle or magic, there's no cure."
Seeing the person she loved in such agony, Sayaka made a difficult decision and finally resolved to become a magical girl. She told Kyosuke Kamijo, "Miracles and magic exist."
As they spoke, Kyubey's figure appeared on the hospital window sill. He had previously stated that since Sayaka and the protagonist had abandoned the idea of becoming magical girls, he would seek out someone else who might.
This fleeting glimpse felt wrong, but no one thought much of it at the time.
Sayaka didn't know either.
After becoming a magical girl, she saved her friend Hitomi, who was on the verge of suicide due to a Witch's influence, and the protagonist Madoka, who was nearly killed trying to save Hitomi.
At the end of the fourth episode, as the official preview had promised, a new character appeared: Sakura Kyoko, a magical girl who had come to the town where the protagonist and her friends lived. Moreover, she knew Senior Mami.
She was eating boisterously as she questioned Kyubey, "I heard that Mami bit the dust, so I came specifically to check on things. What's going on? This isn't what we agreed on!"
"My apologies, but there's already a new magical girl here, though she just recently made a contract," Kyubey explained simply.
"What's this? I'm so pissed!" Kyoko snapped. "And I'm not happy about handing this prime territory over to some rookie who just debuted."
"What do you plan to do, Kyoko?" Kyubey asked.
"Do you even need to ask? The solution is simple, isn't it? Just eliminate her." Kyoko replied with a grin, her expression radiating a desire to cause trouble.
Her menacing aura filled the air with anticipation. Whether viewers were eager for a showdown between Sayaka and Kyoko or for Lin Zhiyan to deliver another devastating twist, no one could say. Even if they were hoping for the latter, no one would dare voice it.
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