Chapter 170 – The Winds of Hustle Culture

Chapter 170 – The Winds of Hustle Culture

After learning the Magic Waterbed, Mo Lan continued rooting herself on the Castle Library Sixth Floor, reading those Mo-Pic books.

She didn’t waste the travel time going back and forth to the Academy Castle either, reviewing the first-year elective reading lists she had transcribed from the First-Year Reading Room.

The Mo-Pic books didn’t contain everything. Reading these miscellaneous texts helped her better understand this world and understand Magic.

This was precisely what she lacked as a Soul from Another World.

Beyond reading, she also scheduled daily Magic practice for herself.

There were the spells woven into her daily routine: the Spring Water spell, Light spell, Flame spell, Cleaning spell, Tidying spell, Repair spell, Levitation Spell, Culinary Magic, and Sewing Magic.

Then there were the spells she used in the farmland every few days and in tending the Dormitory yard garden: planting magic, the Fertile Soil spell, the Growth Acceleration spell, and the Lush Flourishing spell.

Every day, when she passed through the woods on her way to the greenhouse to Attune the Broomstick Grass, she would deliberately gather some magical plants and take them to the Potions Classroom to brew into potions, increasing her potion-brewing magic proficiency.

The daily “water-nurturing” work for the Magic Waterbed was never neglected either.

Mo-Pic books, transcribed texts, Magic practice—Mo Lan’s time was packed to the brim, without a single moment of leisure.

The only exception was each morning after opening her eyes, when she would take out the Magic Light Screen Master Card to check yesterday’s Card Magic sales, then start a new day of study with a satisfied grin.

Relying solely on Earth’s planetary memories and her own crude magical knowledge, she had already created so many cards.

Once she had read extensively and mastered all the Magic in the library, her card varieties would only grow and their effects would only become stronger.

The thought that every scrap of knowledge she absorbed could be converted into raw material for crafting cards, adding another brick to the road toward her greater power—it made her want to learn just a little more, study just a little harder.

Meanwhile, the advertisements Mo Lan had placed and the flyers she had posted were taking effect.

Aside from the fifth-years who hadn’t yet finished their survival trials, the young witches of all four lower years had become subscribers to Card Magic.

Converting their surplus Mana into Gem Coins before bed had become one of their nightly rituals.

And once you’d topped up your Gem Coins, it was only natural for your fingers to itch for a pull.

After pulling, either praising Sorceress Moira’s blessing or cursing Sorceress Moira for being inhuman had also become a beloved part of the bedtime routine.

The gacha rates ensured that curses far outnumbered praises.

Without realizing it, Mo Lan had become the kind of existence that made the young witches grind their teeth—loved and hated in equal measure.

With her name on so many lips, some young witches couldn’t help but think of the real Moira herself.

They really just wanted to touch the real person and transfer some luck—absolutely not to vent their gacha frustrations.

And yet, every attempt to find her came up empty.

“Where did she go?”

“I staked out her route for three days straight and didn’t catch a single glimpse!”

“Come to think of it, nobody’s seen her since the final exams!”

After comparing notes, the young witches realized that Mo Lan seemed to have made a single splashy day promoting Card Magic and then vanished into thin air.

Everyone’s schedules were different during the break, so not running into her was normal—but for nobody at all to have seen her was decidedly not.

“Why does this feel so familiar?” Iris rubbed her chin, thinking back. “Mo Lan was exactly the same before the finals.”

As Mo Lan’s neighbors and close friends, Vasida and Sylph understood her habits well:

“Back then she was researching Card Magic. Right now, she’s most likely reading in the library or practicing Magic somewhere. One thing’s for certain—there’s no way she’s idle.

Her vegetable garden and farmland are both well-maintained, but she’s never been seen at either during the day. She probably only goes at night. She leaves early and comes back late, so none of us ever run into her.”

“Everyone, stop obsessing over her. Touching her won’t help you pull better cards! Use the break to study more Magic—that’s the real priority! Otherwise, if she pulls too far ahead, catching up will be impossible.” Vasida advised.

This was truly what she felt in her heart. She was the one being left behind. In developing her Manifested Gift, she had fallen far behind Mo Lan, and couldn’t even match Sylph.

Mo Lan had wanted to design a card pool for her but couldn’t even manage it.

She was currently busy researching the functions of the Devouring Stomach, striving to catch up with her companions!

The first-year witches immediately felt their skin tighten as a pressure called “Mo Lan” surged through their minds, and any sense of post-break relaxation evaporated completely.

The second, third, and fourth-year witches didn’t feel it as keenly. They were skeptical about whether Mo Lan could actually surpass them across year levels.

How could several extra years of study be caught up to so easily?

She might surpass them in the future—after all, she was a Sorceress with unlimited potential—but during their Academy years, overtaking them in magical rank would still be very difficult.

The progress bars for their main Magic disciplines on their Status Cards were already red, after all!

But Lilith was the exception. She thought of her own Magic proficiency progress bar that had been green from the very start—her Culinary Magic:

“I’d like to see just what she’s been so busy with every day!”

Lilith roughed it for a night on a rooftop before finally catching Mo Lan stepping out of Dormitory 69 in the early morning.

When she saw a light turn on inside, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

The Academy bells hadn’t even rung yet!

She checked her watch. It was only five o’clock!

Half an hour later, Mo Lan floated out the door with her Grimoire hovering beside her, one hand levitating a book to read while the other Attuned a rolled-up parchment.

This kind of walking posture was something Lilith was long accustomed to by now.

She mounted her broomstick and followed at a distance.

She trailed her all the way to the Castle Library.

Lilith couldn’t get into the library, so she could only wait outside. And wait she did—until five in the evening, when Mo Lan finally emerged.

She had spent the entire day reading in the library!

Then Lilith watched as Mo Lan continued walking and reading simultaneously. As night fell, Mo Lan finally reached the greenhouse, gathered herbs, Attuned her Broomstick Grass, and spent another half hour in the Potions Classroom before leaving.

Floating ingredients alongside her, she made a round through the farmland, cast a few Fertile Soil spells and Lush Flourishing spells, and arrived back at the Dormitory at exactly nine in the evening.

After returning, her Dormitory light stayed on until midnight before finally going dark.

She hadn’t been idle for those three hours after getting back to the Dormitory either—the window was open, and Lilith saw everything.

One hour of Culinary Magic for cooking and eating. The rest of the time, nothing but Magic practice.

With a schedule like that, no wonder nobody could find her. And given Mo Lan’s learning speed… Lilith decided that Vasida’s concerns were not without merit. There was nothing more to say. Time to go home, sleep, and tomorrow—go transcribe a few books to study!

Three days later, the young witches suddenly realized that Lilith, who had gone to spy on Mo Lan, had also vanished without a trace.

How strange.

A few more young witches decided to stake out Mo Lan, and then… without exception, they too vanished.

The young witches grew ever more curious. They tracked down someone in the know and asked around, and after that, the Dormitory grounds were no longer full of idle young witches wandering about. The library and reading rooms, on the other hand, became bustling.

A wind of hustle culture swept across the entire campus.