Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 16: Ghost Story Investigation

Noon, Three Days Later – Lin Yun’s Office

After finishing his morning work and with no other tasks at hand, Lin Yun finally had a rare moment of peace for his lunch break. Seated at his desk, he used the limited time to scan through the information on his computer screen.

It had been five days since Lin Xiaolu's near-death encounter. In that time, aside from his regular work and teaching a few rookie Magical Girls, Lin Yun had also been scouring the internet for news—focusing on anything in Fangting City related to Ravagers or Magical Girls.

It wasn’t that he wanted to rely on such an inefficient method. The real problem was that the Countermeasure Bureau’s investigation wasn’t yielding results. In fact, even the Fangting City branch of the Bureau seemed completely clueless about why Ravagers and Magical Girls had seemingly vanished over the past two years.

According to the files provided by Hong Siyu, there had been a total of 132 magical-related crimes and attacks in Fangting City over the past two years. 129 of them were committed by magic users, with 125 successfully solved and the suspects arrested by the Countermeasure Bureau. The remaining 3 cases involved Ravager attacks, all of which had occurred within the last two weeks—after Lin Xiaolu became a Magical Girl.

In other words, before that, there had been zero recorded sightings of Ravagers for two whole years.

It wasn’t just that there had been "few" appearances. There had been none at all.

And alongside this bizarre absence was another peculiar fact—the Fangting City Countermeasure Bureau’s records showed that none of its staff had ever come into contact with the Seeder known as "Nini."

They had no idea if this Seeder had ever arrived in Fangting City at all.

Was it because she deliberately never came? Or had something happened to her en route? No one knew.

To make matters worse, without a Seeder, the Bureau had lost its only means of contacting the Magic Kingdom.

The Kingdom had always maintained a distant and superior stance toward the Material Realm. Officially, the Countermeasure Bureau was granted the authority to communicate with and assist Magical Girls in their duties. But in practice, they had no power to manage or regulate them.

Outside of major central cities, small-to-medium-sized city governments didn’t even have the qualifications to negotiate with the Kingdom.

As a result, when it came to Magical Girls, the Countermeasure Bureau was reduced to nothing more than an aftercare service—cleaning up battle sites, protecting their privacy, and maintaining order.

Their actual jurisdiction was limited to monitoring ordinary magic users—recruiting capable individuals and arresting criminals among them. But as for Magical Girls? They had no say whatsoever.

No matter whether a Magical Girl performed heroic deeds or committed violations, only the Kingdom had the authority to reward or punish them.

Under such an unequal and oppressive system, the Fangting City Countermeasure Bureau had no choice but to attempt indirect communication—contacting other city branches to see if their Seeders could pass along a message to the Kingdom, inquiring when their own new Seeder would arrive.

The first three responses were all the same: “They will be arriving soon.”

After that?

The Kingdom stopped responding altogether.

And so, a strange stalemate formed. The Kingdom ignored Fangting City's inquiries, and the Bureau didn't dare press further.

Fortunately, during those two years, Ravagers mysteriously disappeared as well.

So the city simply muddled through, caught in a state of unease and hesitation—until Moko arrived.

At first glance, this new mystery seemed to point directly at Moko.

But in Lin Yun’s judgment, that possibility was highly unlikely.

Not because he blindly trusted Moko—but because he knew something far more significant:

Fairies were absolutely loyal to the Royal Court of the Magic Kingdom.

Of course, he couldn’t let go of his suspicions entirely. Over the past few days, he had frequently pressured Moko while acting as Veronica, hoping to squeeze out any hidden information.

But the result? Nothing.

Moko had no useful answers.

Left with no choice, Lin Yun settled for placing a tracking spell on Moko—just to monitor its general movements. Beyond that, he wasn’t going to waste his time chasing shadows.

In truth, he was leaning toward a different theory—that Moko’s arrival had disrupted some kind of delicate balance in Fangting City.

A hidden equilibrium that had been lurking beneath the surface.

If he wanted to understand what was really going on, he needed more information.

The Countermeasure Bureau's abilities were limited, Hong Siyu’s efforts to request aid from the Kingdom through other cities had so far gone unanswered. Right now, Lin Yun was the only one capable of handling this situation.

And he had to assume the worst-case scenario:

The Magic Kingdom wasn’t going to send reinforcements.

That was also why he had agreed to recruit Xia Liang.

As for why he had come to such a grim conclusion?

That was a story for another time.

Searching for Clues

And so, Lin Yun found himself alone at his desk, scrolling through news articles, trying to piece together any useful leads.

Many of the reports that the Countermeasure Bureau had dismissed as "unrelated to magical activity"—Lin Yun, with his experience, could tell otherwise.

The good news? He had finally found some leads.

Initially, he had only looked at cases from the past two years, but the results were meager. The only trend he noticed was a rise in missing persons cases.

Frustrated, he expanded his search—five years, ten years—until he was looking at photos so old that even Aya’s face appeared in them.

But aside from making his mood worse, he found nothing of value.

With no choice left, he turned to a method he had been reluctant to use:

The "Urban Legend Method."

This wasn’t his own idea. It came from a fellow Magical Girl he had worked with in Fangting City years ago—Su Shengzi.

Su Shengzi had been obsessed with collecting urban legends and ghost stories. After years of research and firsthand experience, she developed a theory that sounded completely ridiculous yet strangely plausible:

“Over 70% of so-called ‘eyewitnessed’ urban legends originate from Ravagers.”

It was ridiculous because it had no rigorous statistical backing—just something Su Shengzi had casually thought up while sipping afternoon tea.

Yet, it made sense because it aligned with a known Ravager evolution pattern:

At the Chrysalis stage, Ravagers needed vast amounts of magic and nutrients to advance to their next evolution.

To do this, they built nests.

A Chrysalis-tier Ravager would warp the space-time of an area, turning it into its lair. From there, it would hunt.

At this stage, Ravagers were no longer mindless beasts. They had intelligence comparable to wild animals.

They learned how to hide. How to evade Magical Girls and the Countermeasure Bureau while they fed.

Their lairs often became magnets for lower-tier Ravagers seeking shelter. But there was no real hierarchy—if a weaker Ravager was spotted by the Chrysalis-tier one, it would just become lunch.

Ravagers ate everything. Including each other.

This was why Chrysalis-tier Ravagers often spawned urban legends.

In cities with an active Magical Girl presence, such Ravagers didn’t stand a chance. Information sharing and constant patrols ensured they would be discovered and exterminated before they could settle.

But Fangting City was different.

Lin Yun now suspected that a Chrysalis-tier Ravager had already established itself in the city—and was connected to the recent anomalies.

He shared this theory with Hong Siyu, who agreed it was worth investigating and promised to assist.

But Lin Yun wasn’t going to sit around and wait.

Since news articles weren’t providing answers, he had to dig into urban legends.

He searched forums and media sites using keywords like “Fangting City,” “urban legend,” “ghost story.”

And sure enough, he found plenty.

"The Singing Sewers."

"The Reversed Mirror Construction Site."

"The Flickering Streetlights."

Dozens of half-credible supernatural rumors sent chills down his spine—even in broad daylight.

But these stories lacked evidence. If he wanted real answers, he would have to investigate them personally.

A Sudden Call

Just as Lin Yun was about to move his mouse to switch to another webpage, he felt a vibration in his pocket.

His phone.

And not just any phone—Veronica's phone.

From the position in his pocket, he could tell immediately which one it was.

Looks like he was going to have to transform into his Magical Girl persona again.

Three days ago, after he and Lin Xiaolu found Xia Liang in the electronics district and successfully recruited her as a Magical Girl, they had exchanged contact information and then parted ways.

Since then, every two nights, Lin Yun had been gathering them at the usual spot for Magical Girl training.

His lessons covered a variety of topics: how to refine and strengthen their magic, essential knowledge for anyone in their line of work, and most importantly—combat awareness for fighting Ravagers.

He taught them about common Ravager behavior patterns, where their weaknesses tended to be, and which attacks to be especially cautious of.

Some of this information was wisdom passed down by others, while some were his own hard-earned battle experiences. The teachings were sound, but theory alone wasn’t enough.

At some point, they needed a real battle to put their training into practice.

Looking at the screen, he confirmed the caller—Lin Xiaolu.

Lin Yun hesitated for a moment, then sighed, transformed into Veronica, and answered the call.

"Hello? What's up?"

"Ah, Veronica-senpai?"

This time, unlike last time when Moko had snatched the phone, Lin Xiaolu's voice came through clearly.

"Sorry to bother you, but Moko just found a Ravager!"

As expected.

Veronica wasn’t surprised. This was right in line with her expectations.

It had already been several days since the last Ravager attack. It made sense that another one would show up soon.

She didn’t waste time with extra questions—just had Lin Xiaolu quickly describe the Ravager’s location and situation, then prepared to set off.

But just as she was about to hang up, she heard something from outside the office that made her breath catch.

—"Minister, are you there?"

Someone was coming.

And she knew exactly who it was.

One of her subordinates from the Bureau.

Sh*t. What now?

Would she have time to undo the transformation?

No, not enough time!

A flood of thoughts raced through her mind in an instant. And before she could even decide—

The doorknob turned.

The office door swung open.

A young staff member walked in, glancing down at the documents in his hands as he stepped forward. Then, as he lifted his head—

He saw an empty office.

"Huh? When did the Minister leave?"

The young man frowned. He was sure he had seen his boss enter this office earlier.

Puzzled, he peeked his head out into the hallway, glancing left and right.

Nothing.

Scratching his head, he muttered to himself in confusion before eventually turning around and leaving.

What he didn’t realize was that behind the large office desk, in the space below, a petite girl was curled up unhappily, staring at her phone screen with her thumb pressing the "end call" button.

Only when the sound of footsteps completely disappeared down the hallway did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

That was too close.

Her reflexes had saved her—she had managed to cut the call, dive under the desk, and hide just in time.

If she had been even a second slower, things would’ve gotten... very complicated.

Whether it was Lin Xiaolu overhearing something she shouldn’t, or someone from the Bureau seeing Veronica sitting at the Minister’s desk, both would’ve been a disaster.

Next time, she needed to remember to lock the damn door before answering calls.

Thinking that, she peeked out through the gap under the desk, confirmed that the hallway was empty, and then finally undid her transformation.

Now back in his usual form, Lin Yun crawled out from under the desk, smoothed out his clothes, and pretended nothing had happened.

Then, after ensuring no one else was around, he picked up his pace—rushing toward the location where the Ravager had appeared.