Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 23: Dawn Grass

Vol 2 Chapter 23 Dawn Grass

When Xia Liang finished her patrol and returned to the Secret Base, the sky was already turning dim.

She was a little tired as she put away her Heartstone at the entrance, changed into indoor slippers, and walked into the living room—only to see Lin Xiaolu lying on the couch playing on her phone.

"You're not watching the TV even though it's on?"

She walked straight over and sat down beside Lin Xiaolu, glancing around the room before pointing at the still-playing animation on the television. "Then I’ll switch it to something I like?"

"Mm." Lin Xiaolu stared intently at the screen, not even looking up.

Her indifferent response surprised Xia Liang. Normally, if she dared to suggest taking over the TV, Lin Xiaolu would protest immediately.

Whenever they watched TV together, it always led to arguments over what to watch. Xia Liang liked idol dramas, variety shows, and the news, while Lin Xiaolu only liked cartoons and science programs. They had fought plenty over TV rights.

But hey, rare as it was, a free win was still a win. Since Lin Xiaolu didn’t mind, Xia Liang took full advantage, grabbing the remote and switching it to the local TV station to catch the evening news.

Although Xia Liang was watching the news, her curiosity about what Lin Xiaolu was doing kept bubbling up.

She hadn’t intended to ask, but the curiosity grew too strong. Finally, she leaned closer and peeked over at Lin Xiaolu’s phone.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Xiaolu shot her a sideways glance, then looked back at her phone. "Game."

"A game? What kind of game?"

That instantly piqued Xia Liang’s interest. "Wait, are you finally into games now? Since when?"

"A game about Magical Girls." Lin Xiaolu didn’t even lift her head.

"Is it fun?"

"Don’t know."

"You don’t know, but you’re so into it?"

"…You’re so annoying."

Lin Xiaolu finally looked at Xia Liang and tilted her screen slightly. "Here, see for yourself."

"Let me take a look… this interface… turn-based combat? And these characters… is this a gacha game?"

Xia Liang gave her a puzzled look. "Why are you into this kind of stuff all of a sudden?"

"Just playing it."

Lin Xiaolu turned the screen back toward herself, continuing to tap with her thumb. "I’m bored anyway, just messing around."

"Did you pull anything good?"

"…Just messing around." Lin Xiaolu wore a face of calm resignation, like someone who'd seen through it all.

"Really?"

Even though it sounded like a dodge, Xia Liang understood what she meant: she hadn’t pulled anything good.

Not pulling anything worthwhile in a gacha game was definitely a downer, so Xia Liang didn’t push further. But she didn’t leave either, and just crouched beside Lin Xiaolu, watching along.

One playing, one watching—the moment stretched on until Xia Liang finally noticed something.

"Hey, why do you keep borrowing this character called Springgrass from other players? She doesn’t seem that strong to me."

In the game Magical Girl Squad, when new players hit a roadblock, they could borrow an "assist character" from other players to help them clear the level.

But regardless of the stage’s difficulty, Lin Xiaolu always chose to borrow a character codenamed Springgrass, which Xia Liang found odd.

"Who says she’s not strong? I’ve been clearing levels just fine, haven’t I?" Lin Xiaolu tilted her head in protest.

"But she’s clearly a support type, not a damage dealer… do you really like this character?"

"Not really."

"Then why don’t you borrow a different assist character from someone else?"

"Can’t I play however I want?"

"Eh—"

Drawing out the syllable in doubt, Xia Liang kept watching.

A few moments later, she seemed to realize something and pointed at the screen. "That pink color scheme and the codename Springgrass... wait, don’t tell me—"

"You’re overthinking it."

Whether she’d hit a nerve or not, Lin Xiaolu’s expression turned complicated. "It’s just a mobile game."

"But… isn’t Springgrass another name for cherry blossoms?" Xia Liang pressed on.

"…I wouldn’t know something like that." Lin Xiaolu replied sullenly.

She shot the question down so firmly that Xia Liang didn’t push any further.

The silence returned, lasting until Lin Xiaolu cleared another game stage.

Without saying a word, she moved on to the next level. On the "Request Assist" screen, she searched for Springgrass and tapped her.

【Remaining assist uses for today: 0】

That message popped up in the game.

Lin Xiaolu’s hand froze mid-air.

She stared at the screen in silence.

After a moment, she suddenly backed out to the main menu and, without hesitation, opened the gacha screen.

With Xia Liang watching, she used all the rewards she’d just earned from clearing stages on draws—again and again, character after character spilled out from the gacha pool.

But none of them were the Springgrass she’d been eyeing.

Lin Xiaolu fell silent again. Her fingers tightened slightly on her phone as if holding back something.

Finally, she sat up with a jolt and flung the phone aside.

"This sucks. I’m done! TV time!"

She snatched the remote from Xia Liang and, before Xia Liang could react, rapidly hit the buttons to switch back to the animation channel.

"Hey! I wasn’t done watching the news! Change it back!" Xia Liang protested.

"You weren’t even paying attention." Lin Xiaolu argued confidently.

"You were the one who wasn’t watching first!"

"Well, now I want to!"

"You’re giving up on the game?" Xia Liang raised an eyebrow.

"I said I’m done!" Lin Xiaolu snapped.

"But didn’t you still want that one character?"

"It’s just digital data! If I don’t get her, then whatever!" Lin Xiaolu stared at the TV, lifting her chin defiantly.

"But I saw a note on the gacha screen that said, ‘12 more draws to guarantee your selected Magical Girl,’ you know."

Xia Liang picked up Lin Xiaolu’s phone from the sofa cushion and pointed at the fine print on the screen. "Look."

Lin Xiaolu’s firm expression wavered.

She tried to act absorbed in the show, but her sneaky glances betrayed her.

Realizing this, she gave up the act, silently reaching out to take the phone back from Xia Liang in defeat.

She looked at the screen and sure enough, the note was there.

She tapped the line to view the list and quickly found Springgrass, her eyes lighting up again.

"Twelve more draws… twelve more…"

She started thinking hard. "But how do I get enough for twelve more?"

She’d already claimed most of the early stage rewards, and the later stages were too hard without an assist character.

In gacha games, outside of rewards, there was really only one way to get more draws.

"Just spend money?" Xia Liang tilted her head.

"I know that’s an option, but spending money on something like this feels…"

Lin Xiaolu hesitated. "It’s like I’ve been consumed by a silly obsession."

"Yeah, you see news all the time about the dangers of game addiction."

Xia Liang nodded thoughtfully. "So? Maybe just let it go?"

"Um… uh…"

Lin Xiaolu stared at the gacha screen, wavering.

Her rational side told her not to spend money, but her emotions kept urging her to do it.

As the inner battle raged, her eyes grew vacant, a thin sweat beaded on her forehead, and her lips pressed tight. Swirls seemed to form in her black pupils.

And so, three minutes later.

Lin Xiaolu went to the in-game store and selected a purchase option.

After a careful calculation, she realized the 68-yuan option would be enough for twelve draws.

Thus, for the first time in her life, she decided to spend money in a game.

She double-checked the button, read the payment notice, confirmed she’d get the "first-time bonus," and finally nodded. She pressed her finger to the fingerprint scanner.

Just then, a scream erupted from the TV.

She instinctively looked up, only to see that the show’s main character had just broken something. Disappointed, she looked down and saw: "Payment completed."

It was her first time spending money in a game.

It made her feel a little guilty… but also oddly excited.

Holding those mixed feelings, she returned to the gacha screen, ready to finish her twelve draws and get the character she wanted.

But when she tapped the button, she suddenly noticed something strange.

If she remembered right, her 68 yuan should’ve gotten her around 15 draws.

So why… did she now have 150?

Staring at the number on her screen, Lin Xiaolu went blank.

"What’s wrong?"

Next to her, Xia Liang noticed her odd expression and leaned in.

When she saw the number on the screen, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth. "How much did you spend?"

"It should’ve been 68 yuan… I think?"

Lin Xiaolu wasn’t sure.

She switched back to the store and looked again—

The "first-time bonus" tag was still on the 68-yuan option.

But the 648-yuan option had no such label.

That empty, ominous-looking button…

Staring at her phone, Lin Xiaolu fell into a long silence again.

She may have… pressed the wrong button.

"Where’d you get that much money?"

Xia Liang asked, "Your dad’s allowance?"

"No… how do I explain this…"

Lin Xiaolu slowly emerged from her daze. "I think it was money Veronica gave me a few days ago."

"For what?"

"To buy some prep books… she said she didn’t have time, gave me the titles, and told me to get them. She’d cover the cost."

Her voice grew smaller and smaller. "I just… haven’t had time to go buy them yet."

"Prep books?"

Xia Liang looked puzzled. "How come I’ve never heard about this?"

"You were joking around at the time? But Veronica should’ve sent the money to your account too."

"Extra money in my personal account…"

Xia Liang tapped her lips, thinking.

After a while, her eyes lit up. "Ah! That explains it! I’ve been spending like crazy, but my balance never dropped!"

"You spent it too?"

"Maybe?"

Xia Liang gave a nervous laugh. "I just got my hair done the other day. Thinking back, that’s probably where the money went."

The more they spoke, the guiltier they felt—until both fell into silence.

Only the sound of the animated show remained in the living room.

But bad luck loves company.

Just when they didn’t know what to do, they heard the front door close.

The two of them quickly ducked behind the living room wall and peeked toward the entryway.

Veronica had returned, with Bai Jingxuan following behind.

Veronica walked in first, Bai Jingxuan following as they chatted on their way into the living room.

Peering inside, Veronica saw Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang sitting upright on the couch, seemingly focused on the TV.

It looked perfectly normal—

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

These two were usually slouching or lying around like lazy cats. Why were they suddenly so well-behaved today?

"I’m back."

She waved at the girls. "How was patrol today?"

"Nothing at all!"

As Veronica spoke, Lin Xiaolu’s ponytail flicked upward.

She stammered, "E-everything was fine! No Ravagers, no dangerous events!"

"Good, then. And no need to yell."

Veronica nodded blankly, turning her gaze to Xia Liang. "What about Xiao Jin’s area? Anything unusual?"

"Ah, n-nope." Xia Liang avoided her gaze awkwardly. "Reporting in—no signs of Ravagers in the Xizhao District since last week. It’s been quiet all week."

"Why the honorifics?"

Their strange behavior made Veronica more suspicious, but she couldn’t think of what it could mean, so she let it go.

"Alright. Thanks for your hard work. I’ll go start dinner—you two go ahead and rest."

"Yes, ma’am," the girls replied with a dead tone.

Bai Jingxuan called out, "I’ll help!" and ran after Veronica into the kitchen.

Once Veronica was gone, the two girls exchanged awkward looks.

It was clear they had something to say, but neither wanted to go first.

Just as Lin Xiaolu finally steeled herself to speak—

Veronica walked out of the kitchen again.

"Oh, by the way—tonight’s tutoring night. You both remember, right?"

She pulled on her sleeves as she reminded them, "I told you to prep the study guides. If you have time, go review them now."

"Your finals for the second semester are coming up. Your grades still aren’t stable, so I’ve marked out the areas you should focus on. Check those first."

"If you don’t want to review, fine, but I’ll be asking more questions to make sure you understand—hmm? What’s wrong? Why do you two look so pale? Are you tired? And why are you standing up so suddenly? Why so close?"

"Sorry, Veronica!"

"Sorry, Senior!"

Veronica hadn’t suspected anything until now. But before she could finish speaking, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang sprang to their feet, ran up to her, and bowed their heads in unison.

Looking at the two girls bowing like they were confessing a crime, Veronica blinked, stunned.

"...Huh?"