5: Chapter 5 I didn't want magic!

It wasn't until Shaun had walked a dozen paces away from the main house that he felt his shirt soaked through with cold sweat.

Otis was leaning against the police car, scrolling through his phone. Seeing him come out, he straightened up. "How did it go?"

"It's nothing," Shaun said, pulling open the car door and sitting inside. "A group of women were rehearsing a play and got too carried away, messing up the furniture. The neighbors are just making a fuss."

Otis didn't have any suspicions and started the car. "I told you, what could possibly happen in a place like this?"

The police car drove along the driveway toward the gate.

Shaun looked at the manor in the rearview mirror as it grew more distant.

At the entrance of the main house, Madison stood there with her arms crossed, watching them leave.

In a window on the second floor, a figure seemed to be watching them as well.

It was Fiona.

Shaun withdrew his gaze, leaned back against the seat, and closed his eyes.

Then, he opened the "golden book" in his mind.

With a thought.

The book appeared again.

Shaun was now accustomed to its existence; the book felt like a part of his mind, ready to be summoned and flipped through at any moment.

He opened the book.

On the first page, the portrait of Frank Gallagher was still there.

Shaun ignored him and continued flipping forward.

A new page.

The page remained blank for a moment, and then, that invisible hand began to write again...

New character unlocked: Madison Montgomery

In the center of the page, a portrait slowly emerged.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, delicate features, and a hint of disdain curved at the corners of her mouth.

In the painting, Madison was wearing a tight dress with her arms crossed, her eyes glancing sideways out of the frame.

Writing began to appear.

【Character Profile】

Name: Madison Montgomery

Source: "American Horror Story: Coven"

Status: Alive

Current Location: Robichaux Manor, Witch Academy

Danger Level: High (emotionally unstable, powerful telekinesis)

Favorability: 15/100 (She thinks you are "interesting"; this is a dangerous beginning.)

【Character Introduction】

Madison Montgomery, a third-rate Hollywood star and a witch with telekinesis. In her early twenties, beautiful, mean, willful, and self-centered.

Her ability: Telekinesis. She can pin people against walls, make furniture fly, and strangle someone without touching them.

Her weakness: Emotional volatility. The angrier she gets, the stronger her abilities, but she is also more prone to losing control. She fears loneliness and abandonment, but she never talks about it.

【Special Note】

Madison has taken an interest in you. Not because of your good looks (though you are decent-looking), but because of your performance in the hall.

You saw the pool of blood, but you called it red wine.

You saw the overturned furniture, but you asked about the play.

You sensed the danger, but you stood straight.

Madison has seen too many men go weak in the knees before her. You are the first police officer she has found "a bit interesting."

Favorability +10.

Shaun was stunned for a moment.

Wasn't it 15 just now?

How is it still 15 after adding 10?

He looked closely: Oh, it turns out the starting value was 5.

A favorability of 5 means "I could kill you at any time, but I can't be bothered to do it."

A favorability of 15 means "I can wait five more minutes before killing you."

Fine.

He continued reading.

At the bottom of the page, a new section suddenly appeared...

【Ability Detection】

Detected that the host has had close contact with 【Telekinetic Witch · Madison Montgomery】.

【Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new ability: Primary Magic】

【Primary Magic】

Type: Basic Passive / Active Switch

Effect: Slightly improves the host's perception of magical energy. You can vaguely sense the existence of "abnormalities," such as telekinetic residue on an object or hidden magical fluctuations on a person.

Active activation: Consumes mental energy to enhance perception for a short time, allowing you to "see" things invisible to the naked eye. Current maximum duration: 3 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.

Note: Don't get too happy too soon. This is just "Magic Power," not "Telekinesis." You can't use this to make a coffee cup float, nor can you use it to pin someone against a wall. You just... can feel them now.

Upgrade condition: Interact with more magic-side characters.

Shaun stared at that "3 seconds" for a long time.

Three seconds.

He risked being strangled by a witch, and the ability he finally obtained only lasts for three seconds?

He's become a three-second man!

Is this right?

But then again, three seconds is not bad.

You have to know that someone like Frank Gallagher has never perceived anything in his entire life; he just guesses.

Come to think of it, with all this Bullshit and magic, it feels like his career as a police officer is getting increasingly off-track.

Just as Shaun felt the plot was veering off course, the police car stopped.

Otis unfastened his seatbelt and said, "We're here. Let's go down and grab something to eat; my treat."

Shaun opened his eyes.

The setting sun was shining in from the western window, dyeing the entire precinct parking lot orange-red.

He pushed open the car door, stepped onto the concrete, and suddenly felt something strange...

Like a faint, barely perceptible ripple in the air passing by him.

【Primary Magic · Passive Effect: Traces of magic residue detected】

Shaun was stunned for a moment and instinctively turned back.

There was nothing.

The parking lot was empty, with only a few police cars parked quietly.

But the feeling of that ripple was still there, as if something had just passed by, leaving a faint trace.

Shaun withdrew his gaze.

He didn't care, and he didn't want to care.

After all, it's hard to imagine anything good coming from magical residue.

...

Shaun pushed open the glass door of the precinct, and a smell mixed with coffee, sweat, and old file paper hit him in the face.

The reception hall of the New Orleans Second Precinct wasn't big; it had six or seven waiting chairs, a reception window separated by bulletproof glass, and the American flag and the Louisiana state flag hanging on the wall.

It was shift change time, and several uniformed colleagues were gathered around the reception desk, bursting into laughter from time to time.

"...And then the woman said, 'It was standing by my bed! Bent over, looking at me!'"

The one speaking was Gray, a white police officer in his thirties, tall and thin, who revealed a set of uneven teeth when he laughed.

He was gesturing vividly, and the people around him were laughing uncontrollably.

As Shaun passed by, Gray grabbed him. "Shaun! You came at just the right time! Quick, listen to this!"

"Listen to what?"

"A woman just came in to report a crime," Gray said, laughing until tears were almost coming out. "She said her house is haunted!"

A female officer next to him interjected, "Not an ordinary ghost, but a tall man wearing a top hat, standing by her bed, bent over!"

"Right, right, right, bent over!" Gray slapped his thigh. "I asked her, 'Ma'am, are you sure it wasn't a nightmare?' She said she's seen him for seven nights in a row! I asked her again, 'Did you see what the ghost looked like?' She said..."

He lowered his voice, imitating a trembling, tearful tone: "He has a crooked neck. When he stands, his neck is crooked. He keeps looking at me, keeps looking... He doesn't speak, he just looks at me..."