Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 46: The First-Class Star on the Stage

Vol 2 Chapter 46: The First-Class Star on the Stage

At the entrance of the “Green Tower” Stadium in Fangting City, a large crowd had already gathered.

It was afternoon. The faint sunlight in the blue sky chased away some of the lingering chill in the air. People were filled with excitement, clearly waiting for something.

The reason it’s called the “Green Tower” is because there's an observation tower on the opposite side of the main stadium. Every night, the top of the tower emits a soft green neon glow, adding to the venue's lively ambiance.

This is the largest performance venue in Fangting City. Over the years, countless famous artists have performed here, and it has carried the passion and anticipation of innumerable audiences. Today was no exception.

Jiang Yuan was bundled up in a thick down jacket, half her face buried in the scarf around her neck. From a distance, she looked like a chubby little penguin. She stood on the outer edge of the crowd, repeatedly glancing toward the nearby road, trying to spot the person she was waiting for.

And soon enough, she saw her.

Lin Xiaolu appeared in her line of sight, a little late as usual.

Jiang Yuan pulled her hand out of her pocket and raised it slightly, instinctively wanting to greet her friend like she always did. But the words stuck halfway in her throat, freezing in the wintry air.

Because there were a few unfamiliar faces behind Lin Xiaolu.

Well, not entirely unfamiliar. At least one of them—Xia Liang, a pretty girl—she’d met once before. She vaguely remembered that Xia Liang was in a different class in the same grade. Rumors once painted her as a delinquent girl, but lately, she seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. Jiang Yuan had even seen her name near the top of the exam rankings a few times.

Jiang Yuan knew that Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang were on good terms. But Lin Xiaolu had always seemed to avoid mentioning Xia Liang, never bringing her up in conversation. Over time, Jiang Yuan simply respected her friend’s privacy and stopped being curious about it.

But now, Lin Xiaolu was out and about with Xia Liang?

Aside from Xia Liang, two other figures caught Jiang Yuan’s attention: two girls who looked quite young—probably still in elementary school. One wore a medical eye patch and had a quiet demeanor with her bob haircut; the other had long blue hair, a bit of a cold expression, and looked like a noble lady out of a fantasy novel.

Were they all Lin Xiaolu’s friends? No way. Since when did Lin Xiaolu have so many friends?

Feeling like her understanding of the world had been shaken, Jiang Yuan’s outstretched hand froze in midair, like it had turned into an ice sculpture in the cold.

In contrast to her surprise, Lin Xiaolu’s expression brightened when she saw Jiang Yuan. She quickly walked up and greeted her, then turned to introduce the girls behind her.

“This is my friend,” she said. “I promised to come to the concert with her.”

Though she still hadn’t figured out the situation, since Lin Xiaolu had already introduced her, Jiang Yuan couldn’t very well stay silent. She followed up politely, “Hi, I’m Jiang Yuan.”

“I see.” For some reason, the blue-haired girl examined her for a moment before murmuring, “Not bad.”

“Hi, I’m Xia Liang.”

“I’m Bai Jingxuan.”

The other two greeted her quite normally.

After the brief exchange, Jiang Yuan lowered her voice and quickly asked Lin Xiaolu, “Um, Xiaolu, who are they?”

“Oh… them?” Lin Xiaolu hesitated slightly, her gaze sweeping over the three. “You probably know Xia Liang already—she’s in our grade. As for the other two…”

“They’re my relatives,” Xia Liang said with a cheerful smile. “Sorry to intrude! I was originally going to the concert with them, but we ran into Xiaolu on the way, so we just came along.”

“Relatives?”

Jiang Yuan tilted her head and looked at the two girls who bore no resemblance to Xia Liang, hesitating as doubt filled her mind. But since it didn’t really concern her, she let it go and nodded. “Alright… so you all just came here together by chance?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Xia Liang nodded with an innocent expression and a warm smile. “I didn’t know you guys were fans of Mary too!”

“Mary” was the stage name of the concert’s headliner—Aso Madoka’s affectionate nickname among fans. Nobody really knew where it came from, but as an unspoken convention, no one questioned it either.

The nickname bore no logical connection to the singer’s actual name, and fans often used it to gauge who was truly “one of them.” Using “Mary” didn’t necessarily make someone a hardcore fan, but those who used her real name definitely weren’t considered insiders.

So when Xia Liang used the nickname “Mary,” Jiang Yuan’s slightly tense and unfamiliar demeanor relaxed significantly. She even let out a breath of relief and softened her expression.

“That’s not too surprising, right?”

She blinked, half-joking. “With Mary’s popularity, I bet you’d find more classmates in the crowd if you looked hard enough.”

“Exactly! I should take the chance to look around.”

Xia Liang nodded lightly and then subtly turned to glance at Lin Xiaolu. Her lips moved almost imperceptibly, as if mouthing something. Then, like nothing happened, she took the other two girls by the hand.

“Alright then, we won’t bother you two any longer. I’ll take them somewhere else to hang out.”

With that, she led the girls away, vanishing from Jiang Yuan’s view and leaving Lin Xiaolu behind.

“…So, what was that about?”

Once she was sure Xia Liang had gone, Jiang Yuan looked at Lin Xiaolu in confusion. “You guys were marching over here so confidently—I thought you were all together. But it was just coincidence?”

“Y-Yeah… yeah.”

It probably took her a while to accept the backstory Xia Liang had made up. Lin Xiaolu’s confused expression was tinged with frustration, like she’d just swallowed a fly. Still, she nodded. “I ran into Xia Liang on the way… and she insisted on talking, so she tagged along.”

“Haha, that’s so her.”

Now that the “strangers” were gone, Jiang Yuan’s tone lightened considerably. “So those two are really her relatives? One of them looked foreign. Are they cousins or something?”

“…No idea.”

Lin Xiaolu replied flatly, clearly annoyed. “But whatever. Doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“True enough. Let’s go scan our tickets—if we wait too long, someone might take our seats.”

Jiang Yuan pointed toward the entrance, but before moving, she looked again in the direction Xia Liang had gone and murmured, “Still, that long blue hair… it’s beautiful. Sparkly, like a magical girl. Is she from overseas or something?”

“…You like her?” For some reason, Lin Xiaolu’s tone sounded a little off.

“Not like that. I just admire beauty, that’s all.”

Jiang Yuan tugged at her own hair and waved it in front of her face. “Think I should dye mine too? Colorful hair looks pretty cool in real life.”

“Just about the hair… I see.”

Lin Xiaolu also glanced in the direction Xia Liang had left, clenched her fist slightly, then sighed and turned back. “Let’s go scan our tickets.”

“Not feeling great?”

“A little.”

“What happened? You looked happy when you first got here.”

“Your friends planned to hang out together, but left you behind… wait, no. That’s a bad metaphor. Forget I said anything.”

“Friends?”

“Forget it. Let’s just go.” Waving toward the gate, Lin Xiaolu clearly didn’t want to keep talking. She walked toward the venue.

This brief interlude obviously didn’t occupy much of Jiang Yuan’s attention. Since Lin Xiaolu didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t push it either. She happily returned her focus to the concert.

Which is why she would never know how Xia Liang and those two girls—these so-called “fans”—ended up here.

In fact, just a few days ago, on the night Lin Xiaolu confessed to Veronica that she wanted to attend the concert, none of those three had any intention of going.

But the moment Lin Xiaolu mentioned the name “Aso Madoka,” it stirred up a storm inside Veronica’s usually calm heart.

Because that name wasn’t just a common Eastern Isles name—it was one she knew intimately, perhaps more intimately than any other.

That was twenty years ago—the original four-member team of the Fangting City Squad, and “Margaret” was the codename of one of the Magical Girls.

Asou Madoka—also known as Margaret—first appeared in Lin Yun and Aya’s lives as a transfer student.

This transfer student from Dongying Province was welcomed warmly by her classmates from the very beginning thanks to her fluent Donghua dialect. She quickly made friends with her new peers. With her striking appearance on top of that, she attracted plenty of admiration from both boys and girls alike.

At the time, Lin Yun was still a middle school student, going through a major upheaval in his life. He had little interest in school matters, to the point that even though the transfer student sat right behind him, he never even remembered her name.

That led to an awkward situation when he was assigned to stay after school with Asou Madoka for cleaning duty—he couldn't even call her name, so he just stayed silent the entire time.

His unusual silence lasted through several shifts, eventually catching her attention. In the end, it was Asou Madoka who took the initiative to speak to him. That was the beginning of their minimal interaction.

If things had stayed that way, they would’ve remained just ordinary classmates—maybe aside from those shared cleaning duties, they'd never have crossed paths again. But fate had other plans. A few days later, Lin Yun, transformed into a Magical Girl, encountered a Ravager that was way beyond what he could handle at the time. Aya wasn’t there to help, leaving him to face the fight alone.

Then, like a comet streaking across the sky, a Magical Girl glowing with orange light burst onto the battlefield.

This Magical Girl clearly had more seasoned combat experience. Her arrival quickly reduced the pressure on Lin Yun, giving him the opening he needed to turn the tide and defeat the Ravager together with her.

But that was only the beginning. After their hard-earned victory, the two Magical Girls left the scene and prepared to de-transform and properly introduce themselves—only to discover something astonishing:

—They were classmates.

Just as Lin Yun never imagined that the fluent-speaking transfer student from Dongying was a Magical Girl, Asou Madoka had never suspected that the quiet, reserved boy in her class was one either.

In fact, it was the idea of a boy being a Magical Girl that shocked her the most.

But the truth was right in front of her, so she had no choice but to believe it. And thanks to Aya’s help bridging the gap, Asou Madoka quickly warmed up to the two of them. That was how the first Fangting City Squad came to be.

You could say Asou Madoka witnessed Lin Yun’s entire Magical Girl journey from beginning to end. As for Madoka’s journey, Lin Yun only knew the very beginning.

Because after Lin Yun chose to retire and focus on his studies, eventually earning his degree and marrying Aya, Asou Madoka quietly left one snowy night. Since then, the two never contacted each other again.

Now, hearing that name again, Lin Yun felt more curiosity than nostalgia. Could it really be the same person? Sure, the Madoka in his memories did have an interest in singing, but how had she become a pop diva?

With that question in mind, Veronica searched her name online. But in the pictures and videos she found, the singer was almost always wearing sunglasses, her hairstyles varied wildly, and she constantly dyed her hair in different colors—making it impossible to recognize her based on appearance alone. Only her face, faintly familiar and yet subtly different, sparked a vague sense that maybe this really was the girl from her memories.

Driven by the need for confirmation, Veronica changed her original plans and decided to attend the concert with Lin Xiaolu to verify Asou Madoka’s identity with her own eyes.

To make it to the concert, she deliberately moved up her patrol schedule, stayed laser-focused, and completed her route as quickly and efficiently as possible before hurrying to the concert venue.

Of course, since both she and Lin Xiaolu were attending, it didn’t feel right to leave Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan alone at the Secret Base. So here they were—four of them arriving together.

Lin Xiaolu didn’t need a ticket since she was with Jiang Yuan, but Veronica and the others had to buy second-hand tickets through resale platforms. That led to all kinds of trouble and headaches along the way.

Unlike Xia Liang and the rest who were just there for fun, Veronica’s feelings were far more complicated.

When it came to confirming whether this “Asou Madoka” was really her old friend, her emotions were torn. On one hand, she was genuinely curious about what Madoka had gone through after leaving Fangting City and joining the Magic Kingdom. On the other, too many things had changed—including Aya’s death. Seeing each other again now would likely be more awkward than emotional.

That’s why Veronica had worked so hard to keep her return under wraps. Reuniting with an “old friend” like Asou Madoka now would be more awkward than touching.

Still, the moment she heard that name again, Veronica couldn’t help but go check it out.

She felt that while time could change many things, there were always some things that remained the same.

And so, with Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan, she scanned her ticket and stepped into the concert venue. After finding her seat, she quietly sat down and waited for the show to start.

It was still afternoon, and the venue’s roof was open to the sky, so everything was clearly visible.

This was intentional. According to the organizers, the first half of the concert would feature songs suited for daylight, while the second half—after sunset—would focus on more dramatic pieces with full lighting effects.

Being part of a tour, this format had already proven successful in other cities. Fans generally loved the mix, and it had become the standard setup.

As the minutes ticked by, the audience outside finished their check-ins and took their seats. Some tickets didn’t come with seats, but that didn’t stop fans from being just as enthusiastic.

Looking at the packed stadium, Veronica was hit with a new realization of just how popular this singer was—and she felt a little embarrassed. If she hadn’t come tonight, she would never have known how famous Madoka had become.

Partly it was because she’d buried herself in work and stopped paying attention to pop culture; partly it was because Lin Yun had grown older and drifted away from youth culture. Whatever the reason, this singer named Asou Madoka had been famous for years, and she was just now finding out. Only today did she grasp how big a deal she really was.

Even before she confirmed Madoka’s identity, the awkwardness had already taken root. As the crowd settled and the warm-up music began to swell through the speakers, the excitement inside the venue started to build.

Veronica’s heart began to race with the rhythm of the music and the crowd’s chants. She held her breath and focused on the stage. Even though her seat wasn’t close, she felt like the only one in the room—just her and the stage, waiting for the star to appear.

“Mary!” “Mary!” “Mary!”

The chants grew louder. The music grew richer and more intense. More instruments layered in. Names of performers—guitarist, drummer, bassist, keyboardist, horns, strings—flashed across the screen in rapid succession.

And then, one name remained—huge, white, alone on the screen.

—Asou Madoka.

Below it, the opening song: Lonely Meet.

The music transitioned seamlessly into the intro. Somewhere in that moment, a tall figure appeared onstage.

A dazzling concert gown, bold makeup, and yet—what stood out even more was her vibrant orange hair and those crimson eyes.

Eyes that seemed to speak, filled with sorrow and secrets, pulling you in like a whirlpool with just one glance.

With a confident smile, she stepped forward and waved to the crowd. As the intro ended, she lifted the mic with ease—and her powerful voice rang out across the arena, in perfect harmony with the fans' cheers.

As for what she was singing, Veronica no longer cared.

Because her purpose was fulfilled. Just seeing those familiar eyes was enough. The person on that stage was undoubtedly the one she’d imagined.

In fact, that figure onstage could be called by another name—Margaret.

She wasn’t hiding at all. It was her True Form, plain and clear, for all to see.

Although she no longer looked like the middle schooler who had just advanced to Bud-tier, and more like a college student or young adult—that didn’t mean Veronica was wrong. In fact, this transformation had everything to do with the procedures for joining the Magic Kingdom as a Magical Girl.

All Magical Girls who join the Magic Kingdom must go through the process of elevating their True Form into their Real Self. During this transformation, a Magical Girl can to some extent reshape her appearance to better reflect her age at the time.

As a result, not every Magical Girl in the Magic Kingdom looks like a “girl”—some appear more like young women or even mature ladies. Margaret was clearly one of those cases.

It was also this transformation that made it impossible for Veronica to recognize her identity while searching for photos online. That’s likely why Margaret felt at ease using her True Form as her actual public image in her performances.

Although the image didn’t quite match Veronica’s memories, it still stirred something in her—because it resembled how Margaret looked when she left.

Back then, Lin Yun and Margaret weren’t seeing each other much. The rushed glimpses they did share weren’t nearly enough to overwrite the years of memories before.

Margaret left Fangting City in her twenties, two years after Lin Yun married Aya, when Lin Xiaolu was barely a year old.

Unlike Hong Siyu, who vanished without a word, Maruo Asou had calmly announced her departure to a few teammates, and it was Aya who passed the message on to Lin Yun. That was that.

Throughout the whole thing, her attitude was rational—she spoke of leaving Fangting City like someone carefully charting her career path. Her reasons for joining the Magic Kingdom later were equally well-reasoned.

She was so logical and pragmatic that nobody could find a reason to argue. Even Su Shengzi, the only one with real persuasive power in the team, didn’t even try. She just accepted Maruo’s decision without resistance.

So, in a winter much like this one, with snowflakes drifting down, Maruo said goodbye to her teammates and headed toward the port.

Before she left, Lin Yun—who hadn’t seen her in a long time—finally showed up to say farewell to his old teammate.

“Sorry.”

Veronica still remembered those words from when she saw her.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“For retiring without saying anything... I wasn’t avoiding you guys on purpose, I just…”

“Just figured that seeing each other would only make things awkward—or worse, end badly—so you decided to hide instead?”

Dragging her suitcase, Margaret blinked and smiled faintly. “Girl, no need for pointless explanations. And besides, you don’t owe me an apology.”

“I don’t think ‘girl’ really fits our current situation anymore,” Lin Yun sighed. “Anyway, I’ve already stepped away from the Magical Girl world, so I don’t have any good advice to give you. Just… I hope things go well for you.”

“When I call you ‘girl,’ I’m expressing a desire for a constant bond. To me, that word defines our relationship—the most comfortable one we ever had.”

She tugged her gloves tighter and gripped her suitcase handle again. “You know what bothers me the most?”

“That I retired without telling you, and left you guys to fight alone?”

Lin Yun thought aloud. “But I really felt like I was just dragging the team down by then...”

“That’s not the main reason.”

Margaret still wore a light smile, but her crimson eyes held none of it. “Girl, do you know what I’m really saying when I keep calling you that?”

“…We’re friends. Teammates.”

“Exactly. The three of us—me, you, Aya. And yeah, I guess we can grudgingly count Su Shengzi, and maybe even Hong Siyu. We were teammates. The closest of allies.”

She raised a hand and flashed a “five.” “We were solid. A tight unit. And then you and Aya got married—without even talking to the rest of us. It felt like two people broke off and started their own thing. I felt shut out.”

“Like your friends made plans to hang out, but you weren’t part of the conversation. And afterward, they acted like they didn’t need you. That coldness—that’s what I felt. Like I’d been abandoned.”

“I don’t know what that woman Su Shengzi was thinking. But Hong Siyu running off in silence? Come on. You know why. She was orbiting around you all the time—it was obvious. You two getting married completely shattered her. Brutal, wasn’t it?”

“…Sorry,” Lin Yun said again, a bit weakly.

“Sigh. Whatever. At the end of the day, we’re still ‘girls.’ So I can’t really blame you.”

She let out a quiet breath, white mist curling in the cold air, and looked back at Lin Yun. “Like I said at your wedding—maybe I wasn’t thrilled, but I wished you the best. I hoped your marriage would be the happiest, your life the sweetest, your kid the cutest. If not, then you’ve let down your sisters—and the heart you hurt.”

“We all know what kind of person Aya is, so I won’t waste breath telling her to ‘make you happy.’ But you—I’ll say it straight. Girl, don’t let Aya down. She loves you deeply.”

Lin Yun exhaled lightly. “…I know. Thanks.”

“Saying nice words costs nothing. No need to thank me.”

She nudged the suitcase with her toe. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. I already told you why I left—it had nothing to do with you two. I was just tired. I wanted to see something new. Maybe it’s just time to figure out what I want out of life, now that I’ve been a Magical Girl for so long.”

“What do you want?”

“No idea.”

Her honesty was blunt. “Not some boring office job or housewife gig. I want something bold—something that fills the hole in this love-starved soul of mine.”

“Love-starved soul… Sure, let’s go with that,” Lin Yun muttered, half-laughing.

“Anyway. I hope you find what you’re looking for too—whatever that is. Good luck in your life, my… friend.”

“Heh. I’ll take that blessing.”

Margaret grinned and started walking again. “Go on. Head back. It’s freezing out here. You’ve got a wife and kid waiting in a warm house. What’s there to chat about with a lonely wanderer like me?”

And Lin Yun understood—she’d run out of things to say.

After all those years as teammates and friends, he knew her. Margaret always knew how to pace her words. She made people feel at ease, but under that calm tone was a sharp honesty. She never hid how she felt.

And now, she was bored of this talk.

Still, Lin Yun couldn’t shake the feeling that since he stopped being a Magical Girl, there was nothing left to connect them. Maybe it was too soon for pure nostalgia. Their shared topics were already running dry.

But watching her silhouette fade into the snow, his thoughts drifted back—to when they first met, that moment an orange flash descended from the sky.

Was this really the end? He asked himself.

All those memories they built, shining with the glow of youth and magic—was this how it all wrapped up? A quiet night in the snow, fading into silence?

No. That couldn’t be right.

Even without magic, even after all these years of ordinary life, he knew—this wasn’t how it should end.

He and Maruo both knew the light of that friendship was still alive inside them. It was just buried beneath misunderstandings and distance. Neither of them could express it.

But he had to.

He had to say it out loud.

And so, Lin Yun suddenly shouted at the retreating figure:

“Thank you! Maruo! Thank you for helping me back then, for being my friend! Fighting beside you—it meant so much to me! Whatever you choose next, I hope you go for it with everything you've got!”

His voice was swept up in the cold wind, but it was loud enough to reach her ears.

He saw her pause in the night, then turn around. For some reason, she stuck out her tongue at him—a childish little face.

“You’re gonna regret not picking me!”

He couldn’t describe the expression she wore: confidence, joy, maybe a hint of bitterness. And before he could say another word, she picked up her pace and vanished into the night.

That face she made—her last expression in front of him—froze in time for thirteen years.

Until now.

Until she reappeared on stage, radiating life, that frozen moment finally began to thaw.

Veronica watched from below, overwhelmed.

It wasn’t about Margaret’s current success. It was the “old teammate” stirring up so many memories—most of them tangled up with Aya.

And now that Aya was gone, seeing Margaret again brought everything rushing back. The emotions swirled and tangled together, impossible to untangle.

Just then, Margaret did something unusual onstage. She removed the floral hairpiece from her hair.

Then, amid the fans’ cheers, she flung it out into the crowd.

Hands shot up everywhere, trying to catch the idol’s gift—but the hairpiece seemed to know exactly where it was going, slipping past them all.

It landed gently in Veronica’s palm.

And just as it did, the song reached its climax. Amid the pulsing beat, the lyrics rang out crystal clear.

“A lonely encounter—migratory birds stay for winter.”

“You’ll regret not choosing me.”

Veronica’s head snapped up.

Those words hit like lightning. She locked eyes with Margaret on stage.

Time seemed to stretch. Her body froze. The crowd disappeared. Only the music continued.

“Year after year, it’s the sweat that shines.”

“Look at me—the brightest star on stage, shining again like firelight!”