Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 12: Electric Street

Fangting City, Xizhao District, near Central Avenue’s Electronics Street—this was the busiest pedestrian shopping area in the entire city.

Veronica rubbed her wrist as she stepped out of a deserted alleyway, ignoring the occasional glances from passersby. After crossing about two intersections, she arrived at the agreed-upon meeting spot, where she saw Lin Xiaolu in her school uniform.

She quickened her pace, walked up, and greeted her in a neutral tone, "I'm here."

"Veronica?"

Lin Xiaolu turned toward her at the sound of her voice, first widening her eyes in surprise, then lighting up with excitement. She circled around Veronica, her face full of curiosity, as if she had just discovered some rare treasure.

"This is amazing! This dress is so cute!"

"Is that so?"

Veronica raised her sleeve and glanced at her outfit, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Ah… I'm so jealous! If only I could pull off that light, fluffy look. This is exactly the Magical Girl aesthetic I want!"

"Can I take a picture?" Lin Xiaolu pulled out her phone, eager to snap a shot.

"Mm… suit yourself?"

It wasn’t that Veronica was oblivious to whether an outfit was cute or not—it was just that she had no idea how she looked in this one. After all, the dress was newly bought, and she hadn’t even tried it on before.

She hadn't prepared any casual wear for her Magical Girl form beforehand. So when she was informed that the target was in Electronics Street and that she had to go as Veronica, she had no choice but to pick up a few outfits from a department store.

Since it would be too conspicuous to enter a mall in her Magical Girl battle attire, she had ultimately gone shopping in the children's section—as Lin Yun.

As a regular adult male, Lin Yun stood at an impressive 183 cm tall. Even when he first gained his Magical Girl powers at 14, he was already about 170 cm, a perfectly healthy height for a guy—one that even made some of his peers a little envious.

But for some reason, when he transformed into Veronica, his towering height shrank down to a mere 139 cm.

Was this some kind of cosmic irony? A bizarre coincidence? Lin Yun never figured it out.

This also meant that if he wanted to buy clothes for his Veronica form, getting proper women's clothing was nearly impossible without custom tailoring.

Children’s clothes, on the other hand, were much easier—matching the size was simple, and they came in both skirts and pants. So, posing as a father shopping for his daughter, Lin Yun gave the clerk Veronica’s size and was warmly welcomed into a children's boutique.

The sales assistant even asked if he had a photo of his daughter, saying it would help in recommending styles. But Lin Yun wasn’t narcissistic enough to keep photos of his Magical Girl self on his phone, so he simply picked out a few "seasonal new arrivals" and left in a hurry.

After exiting the department store, he found a nearby budget hotel that looked somewhat reputable, rented a room by the hour, changed into his new clothes, and took the aerial route straight to Electronics Street.

As for whether the clothes suited him? He wasn’t worried.

He was well aware that Veronica’s appearance was exceptionally "delicate and cute" by conventional beauty standards—so much so that even among Magical Girls, who were generally attractive, she stood out.

Because of that, as long as she wore something normal and coordinated her accessories and hairstyle properly, she wouldn’t look bad.

Of course, as a father, hearing his daughter call him "cute" in this situation left him with mixed feelings… and maybe even a slight sense of unease. But those feelings faded quickly.

What could he say, really? Responding indifferently was the best way to go.

Without much small talk, and after what felt like a one-sided fashion show, Veronica got straight to the point:

"So? Where’s that kid Moko mentioned?"

"Ah, about that…"

Hearing the question, Lin Xiaolu blinked and slowly turned to Moko. "How should I put it… We lost her?"

"You lost her?" Veronica also turned to Moko.

"No, I did not!"

Moko shuddered at Veronica’s gaze and immediately refuted, "It’s not that I lost her—it’s that the kid kept diving into crowded areas, so her magical energy got completely masked!"

"So in the end, you still lost her?" Veronica crossed her arms.

"Well… if you put it that way, I guess." Moko muttered guiltily, "But I can still sense she’s in this area—I just don’t know her exact location."

"You…"

Veronica sighed, lowering her gaze. She could confidently say that this pink cat was the least reliable Seeder she had ever encountered in her entire Magical Girl career.

Other Seeders, despite being fairies prone to pranks, at least did their jobs properly. Maybe they weren’t the best Magical Girl partners, but they were competent in scouting out gifted individuals, relaying information between The Kingdom and Magical Girls, and detecting Ravagers—handling these support tasks quite well.

And then there was Moko. Not only was it clueless half the time, but it was also frustratingly clumsy even when it was doing its job. Hardly reassuring.

Still, those concerns could wait. Right now, finding that magically gifted girl was the priority. So Veronica didn’t dwell on the issue and quickly moved things along:

"What do we do now? Just wait here for Moko to locate her?"

"Uh… why don’t we check out some shops?" Lin Xiaolu suggested. "She’s probably here for shopping, so she won’t leave too soon. We could have some fun while keeping an eye out—maybe we’ll run into her by chance."

"Not reliable enough."

Veronica shook her head and analyzed calmly, "She might just be here to buy something and leave right after. If we don’t keep an eye on her, and she slips out of Electronics Street while we’re distracted, she’ll be even harder to find."

"Then how about letting Moko keep looking while we go have fun?"

Moko let out an astonished "Eh?!" at Lin Xiaolu’s suggestion.

"That… doesn’t sound like a bad idea." Veronica’s response left Moko even more dumbfounded.

It hurriedly flew between them, waving its paws frantically. "You can’t do that! Even if losing track of her was partly my fault, you can’t just leave me to do all the work while you go play! That’s way too cruel!"

"Where do you get the confidence to say that out loud?"

Veronica shot it a glance and sighed again. "Ah, fine… I wouldn’t trust you to handle surveillance alone anyway."

"In that case, we’ll have to use the dumbest method—I’ll split up from you two and guard one of the entrances to Electronics Street. If I spot the target, then—"

"Then what?"

A questioning voice interrupted her.

"Then we call each other and stop the girl first while Moko—" Veronica started to continue but abruptly paused.

Something was off.

That voice…

She glanced at Lin Xiaolu, who was staring past her, a hint of nervousness on her face.

Veronica thought to herself: Past me? My hair? No, at that angle… she’s looking behind me?

A realization dawned on her, and she immediately turned around.

A strange girl stood there, hands behind her back, her clear gaze carrying a hint of curiosity, her lips curved into a smile.

She looked young, only a little taller than Lin Xiaolu, with delicate, youthful features. However, her outfit was strikingly mature and flamboyant.

She wore a black corset suspender dress over a loose white lace-trimmed blouse, exuding an undeniably girlish charm. Her short black hair reached her shoulders, fluffy and slightly curled at the ends, with bangs neatly trimmed and dyed purple at the tips.

A touch of light makeup enhanced her features—her lips had a subtle gloss, and the false lashes beneath her eyes made them appear even more striking. A faint sparkle glinted from the earrings on her lobes.

She took a step forward, leaning slightly toward Moko, and asked with keen interest:

"And that little kitty over there… what is it? A hologram? Augmented reality?"