Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 135: That Wonderful Relationship

The 16-year-old Hong Siyu was still a girl who refused to believe in miracles.

She had always adhered to her mother's teachings, believing in the principles of "no free lunch" and "those who do not work shall not eat," insisting that every reward was the result of hard work and effort.

Even when she was attacked by a Ravager in her third year of middle school and encountered a Magical Girl, she had always thought it was just a coincidence. She believed her future would never again involve these extraordinary things, and she would continue her ordinary life.

And so, after diligently studying, she was admitted to the best high school in Fangting City with excellent grades.

Everything seemed to be back on track. On this path, she thought she would continue as an excellent student, go to a better university, receive a higher education and degree, then find a good job and become a mature member of society.

Most kids her age hoped their future would be different from the rest, wanting to stand out and avoid becoming an ordinary part of the crowd. But Hong Siyu wasn’t like that. Her well-defined life plan gave her a sense of security, grounding her.

What she didn’t expect was that fate would play a joke on her at this turning point. No matter how much she refused to believe, a "miracle"-like event still occurred.

She became a Magical Girl.

In her first year of high school, when another Ravager attack occurred, she was selected by a mysterious rabbit spirit and became a Magical Girl.

Was this "luck" or "misfortune"? Hong Siyu couldn’t figure it out.

If you called it luck, it wasn’t entirely true. She never imagined becoming a Magical Girl, and she never fantasized about this kind of scene. This identity and responsibility weren’t what she wanted.

But if you called it misfortune, it didn’t seem quite right either. Because after becoming a Magical Girl, she met other Magical Girls in the city and suddenly gained many new friends.

All she knew was that her ordinary life plan had turned into a useless piece of paper the moment she became a Magical Girl, because being a Magical Girl was destined to be extraordinary.

And this thought about whether it was luck or misfortune was finally ended one special afternoon.

"By the way, Veronica, you haven’t shown your true form to our little junior yet, have you?"

It was an ordinary evening, after school, when the five-member Magical Girl team of Fangting City gathered. Suddenly, the Magical Girl with the alias "Margaret" spoke up:

"We've all shared with her, don't you think it’s time you showed some sincerity too?"

"Hmm..."

The blue-haired girl, sitting quietly and sipping her drink, shook her shoulder before lifting her head and glaring at Margaret, looking annoyed. "What kind of mischief are you trying to stir up?"

"How can you call it mischief? This is my sincere wish."

Margaret propped her chin, wearing a teasing smile. "I’ve been looking forward to this scene for a long time. Since I’m bored today, let’s treat it as an afterparty event, shall we?"

"How could you make a joke out of a teammate’s embarrassing situation just because you’re ‘bored’?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "I reject this. I don’t want to."

"You really know how to be harsh," Margaret grumbled, but her face wore an unconcerned smile as she shrugged. "I don’t have any malicious intent, sister. Relax a little."

The conversation here didn’t continue, but it caught the attention of Hong Siyu, who noticed that their conversation seemed to have a hidden meaning.

Should she ask?

She pondered in her heart but ultimately couldn’t make up her mind, so she stayed silent.

However, her silence didn’t mean the others weren’t thinking about it.

— "What? What are you guys talking about?"

A soft, light voice of a girl came from beside them. A long-haired girl suddenly emerged from the side, leaning on Veronica’s shoulder. "Should Aya show Little Red her true form?"

"Didn’t you hear?"

Veronica glanced at her. "And by the way, don’t call us by our real names or nicknames, you should call us by our Magical Girl aliases."

"It doesn’t matter. There’s no one else here anyway."

The girl leaned closer to Veronica’s shoulder. "So, will you transform or not? I want to see! How about today?"

"No."

"Do it!"

"No!"

"Do it!"

"I said no, and that means no!"

Veronica reached out to support the girl’s chin and pushed her aside. "And stay away from me, you’re too close!"

"Umm, I want to see!"

The girl clung to Veronica’s arm like a sloth, refusing to let go. "I haven’t seen you transform in front of me in so long!"

"That’s exactly why I don’t want to do it! You always treat it like a circus show!" Veronica gritted her teeth.

— "You guys, don’t you think you should consider the person’s feelings in matters like this?"

The last speaker was a girl who had been sitting at the edge, holding a book in her hands. She stopped Veronica and the other girl’s dispute and raised her head to look at Hong Siyu. "What do you think? Newcomer? Do you think it’s necessary to confirm everyone’s true form?"

This sentence seemed to remind everyone present. Whether it was the two girls tugging at each other or Margaret, who had given up on the matter, they all turned their gazes toward Hong Siyu.

For a moment, Hong Siyu became the focal point of the entire team’s attention, making her feel extremely uneasy.

Hong Siyu was never comfortable with others’ attention, especially when so many people were staring at her. She found it hard to even speak.

So, when everyone was staring at her, waiting for her answer, she couldn’t get a word out at first.

She could only open and close her mouth, trying to utter a few words. But no matter how hard she tried, even with her face flushed, she felt like a fish out of water, unable to make a sound.

This caused Veronica, who had previously frowned and looked unwilling, to relax her expression.

"Don’t be nervous, just say what you really think."

She let go of the hand she had been using to push the girl’s face, glancing at her with a rolled eye before turning back to Hong Siyu. "This isn’t really such a serious matter. But after you find out the truth, it might be a little hard to accept."

"Ha… hard to accept?" Hong Siyu finally found her voice and stammered.

"Yeah, because I’ve kept something from you about this."

Veronica shook her head, gazing calmly at Hong Siyu. "Actually, you should have seen my true form already."

"Seen… seen it?"

Hong Siyu felt a bit dizzy. "Where?"

A Magical Girl’s appearance came from her true form, and part of that form was born from the soul, so it would be quite similar to the girl’s appearance. In other words, Veronica’s true form should be a delicate, beautiful girl, like a princess.

But no matter how hard Hong Siyu searched her memories, she couldn’t recall a girl who looked anything like Veronica.

"It depends on whether you want to know."

Veronica sighed. "If you want to know, then I have no reason to hide it from you."

Did she want to know?

Hong Siyu couldn’t help but ask herself in her heart.

She first met Veronica at the middle school cultural festival, when she descended from the sky and saved her from a Ravager attack. Before that, Hong Siyu had never come into such close contact with a Magical Girl.

That day, she lost the boy she had liked, but she met Veronica.

Later, by coincidence, she became a Magical Girl, and she met Veronica again, but this time as a fellow Magical Girl, not as the one saved. This even made her a little happy.

From the first time she met Veronica, the other had always appeared as a Magical Girl. In her mind, Veronica was always the one who flashed in from the window and would say things like, "The Magical Girl is here."

Did she really want or even need to confirm Veronica’s original form?

"I, maybe…"

She hesitated but gradually made up her mind and said, "No need… right?"

This answer caused the other Magical Girls present, who had all been watching her, to widen their eyes.

Veronica was no exception; she was clearly surprised by Hong Siyu’s answer but still asked for confirmation: "Why?"

"Because, Veronica-senpai, just being Veronica-senpai is enough."

Unable to bear the gaze of the others, Hong Siyu lowered her head and answered softly, "Even if I don’t know what you originally looked like, I will absolutely trust you. So, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable because of something like this."

This response once again silenced the others. After a moment, they all turned their gaze toward Veronica.

Warm smiles, teasing smiles, and curious smiles—each person’s expression was different, but the silent message they wanted to convey was the same.

Veronica understood this. So, she glanced around and finally stood up from her seat, facing Hong Siyu. "Come with me."

"Eh? What?" Hong Siyu asked in confusion, not understanding the situation.

"Don’t ask, just come."

"Ah, okay."

Finally understanding Veronica’s somewhat shy expression, Hong Siyu felt a jolt in her heart and stood up.

The two of them found a quiet, secluded corner, confirming that there were no surveillance devices around before Veronica let out a sigh of relief and tried to stay calm. "Don’t make any noise, okay?"

"Why?"

"If you ask again, I won’t transform."

"Oh."

Hong Siyu instinctively swallowed and then closed her mouth.

However, she was still confused about why the atmosphere felt so strange.

No matter what, it was just a Magical Girl teammate showing her true form to another teammate, right? She didn’t have such reservations with the other seniors, so why did it feel like something deeply private when it came to Veronica? It even made her feel a strange sense of excitement.

If one didn’t know the context, it would almost seem like she was forcing someone to undress.

Having such an unpleasant thought, Hong Siyu didn’t ask further because she could sense that Veronica had made up her mind to do this, and if she said anything extra, it might stop Veronica from continuing.

So, under their shared gaze, Veronica reached up to touch the Heartstone on her chest, then whispered something softly.

Immediately, brilliant blue magical light spread out, and Veronica’s appearance began to fade, revealing a completely new form inside the light.

When Hong Siyu finally saw the face within the light, she experienced a familiar feeling of her mind going blank.

Because, inside the light, it was none other than Lin Yun—the boy she had been thinking about, the one she had mourned just days ago.

…

…

The 20-year-old Hong Siyu began to believe in miracles.

Her life had become much more colorful than before.

Becoming a Magical Girl didn’t just mean she entered the extraordinary magical world; it also meant she would meet people from all over the world.

Before stepping into this world, she never imagined how vast and magnificent the world of magic could be. So many things hidden beneath the surface, things that ordinary people would never know, could only be seen once you gained magical power.

Time passed quickly. While continuing her studies, she spent her spare time as a Magical Girl. The process was exhausting, but in the end, she held on. As a Leaf-tier Magical Girl, she was active in Fangting City and even got accepted into a prestigious local university.

The only regret was that the boy she liked had stopped being a Magical Girl due to an injury.

Yes, the boy she liked.

At first, when Hong Siyu realized that the boy she liked also had feelings for her, it took her a long time to accept it.

But after that, she made her feelings clear to herself. She realized that she truly liked Lin Yun, or rather Veronica.

This affection wasn’t just the love of a friend, but genuine romantic love. She liked Lin Yun and had special feelings for him.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get to work with him for long, because in the same year she became a Magical Girl, a global Ravager outbreak occurred.

That year, countless Ravagers appeared from who-knows-where. Not only were there countless numbers, but their individual power was also terrifying, leading to a global catastrophe.

That year became known as the "Great Calamity."

Countless Magical Girls and even Magicians sacrificed their money, strength, and lives to survive the disaster and ensure humanity’s future.

Many Magical Girls and humans sacrificed their lives in this disaster.

Veronica, however, used forbidden power during a near-fatal battle, causing irreversible damage to her Heartstone and Magic Source, losing most of her strength.

This wasn’t the first time Veronica had done this.

Hong Siyu had heard from other seniors that the year before that, the Magic Kingdom had also experienced a brutal war, during which Veronica used methods that drained her power, sustaining hidden injuries.

In fact, it was incredible that after overexerting herself twice, she hadn’t died and had only been severely wounded.

Regarding Veronica’s retirement, Hong Siyu felt sorry, but there was nothing she could do. She knew that Veronica no longer had much strength left, and forcing her to return to the battlefield would be irresponsible.

It was fine. The senior had already sacrificed so much to protect everyone, and now she deserved a peaceful life.

That’s what Hong Siyu thought.

When she graduated, she would find a job and then confess her feelings to him. If he agreed to marry her, she would retire from being a Magical Girl early and enjoy the rest of her life with him.

These plans were well-organized and went according to plan. The only problem was that she still hadn’t found the courage to confess her feelings to Lin Yun.

But it was okay. When graduation day came, even if she had to force herself, she would take that step. Hong Siyu believed in herself.

And so, she continued living as a university student and Magical Girl. Until one day, while chatting with her teammates, her senior, Aya, said something quite surprising:

"Ah, by the way, we’re getting married in a few days!"

Her words immediately quieted the lively atmosphere.

Hong Siyu could sense that Su Shengzi and Asaoka Marika, who had been lively before, suddenly fell silent, and their expressions were far from joyful.

Aya-senpai was getting married so young?

That was her first thought.

Who was she marrying? Was he not good enough? Why did the other seniors look so unwilling?

That was her second doubt.

… Why did the others seem to pity her?

That was her third confusion.

"Aya-senpai has been in a relationship all this time?"

Fortunately, in front of her familiar teammates, Hong Siyu was able to speak up. So she directly asked, "I didn’t even know before, and suddenly, you’re getting married. Who is it with?"

She could feel that after asking, everyone’s eyes turned to her.

Had she said something wrong? Hong Siyu didn’t understand.

"Little Red, I’m sorry!"

But Aya, in a complete reversal of her usual carefree self, suddenly clasped her hands seriously and apologized in a clear voice.

Why was her senior apologizing to her? Hong Siyu was still confused.

The confusion didn’t last long because soon, Aya’s words gave her the answer:

— "I’m getting married to Lin Yun in a few days!"