Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 87: Cracking the Rules

Vol 2 Chapter 87: Cracking the Rules

"—As expected."

In the silent forested mountains, Mimosa lowered the tambourine in her hand, opened her eyes from their closed state, and looked around with a contemplative expression.

“When my eyes are closed, I can hear the sounds of battle. But when I open them, it all disappears.”

She’d discovered this rule just moments earlier—by accident.

When using her Magical Armor’s perception ability, she had the habit of closing her eyes to concentrate on her hearing. That’s when she noticed this phenomenon.

Though she didn’t understand the principle behind it, repeated trials had confirmed the rule: if she closed her eyes, she could perceive the movements of her teammates—but not with them open.

But why?

After a bit of thought, she instinctively lifted her head and looked up at the Blue Moon in the sky.

That moon, which had not been there at the start of the night, now sat in the black sky without the slightest sense of discord—as though it had always belonged there.

But Mimosa knew it wasn’t a real moon. The predicament she and her companions were in had started with its appearance.

So naturally, it was the biggest suspect.

Was it the moonlight that was strange? Or did merely looking at the moon interfere with perception? Or was it something else entirely?

As she pondered this, Mimosa decided to close her eyes again.

It was the best way she had to find the truth—she had no other options.

And this time, when she shut her eyes, she heard breathing—right in front of her, almost within reach.

Then came a voice tinged with confusion, from the owner of that breath:

“Who’s there? No, wait—you’re... Mimosa?”

The voice wasn’t exactly familiar to her, but Mimosa could roughly identify the speaker. If her memory was right, this was the voice of White Rose, the Magical Girl from Fangting City.

In other words, as soon as she closed her eyes, she could hear someone speak.

But that wasn’t the most important part. The truly critical thing was embedded in White Rose’s question:

“You can see me?”

Mimosa didn’t rush to open her eyes and confirm it. She chose to stay as she was—because everything she’d observed so far pointed to one conclusion: if she opened her eyes now, she might not see anything at all.

“I really can see you... I think?”

White Rose’s voice was uncertain. “So what’s going on? What did that Ravager do? And where did all of you go?”

“There’s no ‘all of us.’”

Mimosa took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. “I’m alone too. I don’t know where the others are.”

“...Just as I thought.”

White Rose’s voice paused for a moment before continuing with a note of realization. “When I was fighting that Ravager, I figured I wasn’t the only one who got separated.”

“Fighting?” Mimosa was momentarily stunned.

She clearly remembered that this Magical Girl junior in front of her was probably only Seed-tier, and that the enemy named Semi was well above Half-Molted. If they had really fought, there was no way White Rose should still be alive.

But if she had died... then who—or what—was standing in front of her?

“Could you please not look at me like that? I’m not dead, okay? I’m not a ghost.”

Maybe her expression was too blatant, because White Rose gave a helpless explanation.

“Um... I know it sounds weird, but I suddenly awakened my Magical Armor during the fight—and managed to drive that thing off.”

Mimosa had to use all her willpower not to open her eyes on reflex.

“You awakened your Magical Armor?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah,” White Rose confirmed confidently.

“And you drove it off?”

“Yup.”

With those two affirmative answers, Mimosa turned and bolted without another word.

As a Magical Girl with over a year of combat experience, Mimosa had encountered all kinds of Ravagers with bizarre powers.

Once a Nest was formed, a Ravager could activate a host of strange abilities—including illusions or disguise.

After encountering those types, Mimosa had trained herself to always keep a sharp eye when entering a Nest—constantly scanning her surroundings and verifying her teammates' words and actions, lest she be tricked and fall into danger.

And now, this "White Rose" in front of her was clearly full of inconsistencies—her explanation riddled with flaws. Such a sloppy lie couldn’t possibly come from the real White Rose.

Most likely, this was a hallucination or disguise conjured by the Ravager inside the Nest.

In other words, she had walked right into a trap.

Mimosa had no doubt about her conclusion.

So she didn’t hesitate—she turned and ran, trying to get as far as possible before the enemy reacted.

But before she had even taken a few steps, something tugged at her—her collar had been grabbed.

“Wait! What the h*ll are you running for all of a sudden?”

It was White Rose’s voice again, now filled with confusion.

“Don’t try to fool me, Ravager!” Mimosa shouted, full of resolve. She raised the tambourine in her hand and slammed it behind her.

BANG!

A burst of sonic energy blasted them in opposite directions. Mimosa didn’t bother checking the outcome—she turned and ran again.

“Hey! I said wait! What are you freaking out about?!”

White Rose sprang back up and gave chase. “Ravager? I’m White Rose from Fangting City!”

“You are NOT!” Mimosa kept fleeing.

“How am I not?! At least give me a reason!”

“A Bud-tier Magical Girl can’t drive off a Half-Molted Ravager alone!” Mimosa shouted while running.

“That’s why?!” White Rose was incredulous. “But I was telling the truth!”

“Don’t try to trick me!”

“Why would I lie about this?—Oh! Wait! Magic! You can sense my magic, can’t you? That can’t be faked!”

Desperation made White Rose think fast. “No Ravager can fake a Magical Girl’s magic signature. And if I were a Ravager, why would I talk to you like this in the first place?”

“That kind of thing doesn’t need verifying—Ravager magic is totally—”

Mimosa started to snap back, but her words caught in her throat.

Because the magic she sensed was a Magical Girl’s—and not just that, it felt familiar.

It really might be White Rose.

“You really are Whi—”

She turned around abruptly—only to be met by a violent impact and searing pain in her forehead.

BANG!

Another loud thud. Their heads had collided.

White Rose, who had been chasing from behind, didn’t expect Mimosa to stop midair and turn around. She didn’t have time to react.

That split-second delay sealed their fate.

Both of them fell to the ground. One was clutching her head, kneeling. The other curled up with her forehead in her hands, both grimacing in pain, unable to speak for a long while.

After a long pause, as the pain dulled, Mimosa finally looked up and hoarsely asked her unfinished question:

“...You really are White Rose?”

“I told you I am,” White Rose replied, equally pained.

Rubbing the corner of her eye, Lin Xiaolu was seeing stars. “How many times do I have to say it?”

“You really survived a fight with that Ravager?”

“Of course! My Magical Armor and magic are just... kinda special.”

“And you actually drove it off?”

“Yep.”

Lin Xiaolu nodded. “Though the way it ran was weird—like it just vanished into thin air.”

Mimosa didn’t respond.

Now that she’d calmed down a little, her mind started working again.

If this was the real White Rose, then her earlier theory needed updating—big time.

First: Everyone being separated was likely tied to the Blue Moon.

Second: Closing her eyes let her communicate with others, but opening them severed that connection.

Third: Semi, as the Nest’s master, was trying to defeat them one at a time. It could freely engage anyone inside—and disappear at will.

And finally...

“I’ve got an idea for a test,” Mimosa said.

“Huh? Okay,” Lin Xiaolu blinked. “What kind of test?”

“Don’t move. Look at me. Don’t blink.”

After giving that instruction, Mimosa tilted her head upward and opened her eyes.

There was nothing in front of her. Just the quiet woods at night. No White Rose. No Ravager. Nothing at all.

Just as she expected.

Expression calm, Mimosa looked around briefly, nodded, and closed her eyes again.

“Huh? You’re back?”

Came White Rose’s surprised voice.

“What did you see?” Mimosa asked without pleasantries.

“You... disappeared just now. Then after a few seconds, you reappeared.”

Lin Xiaolu spoke carefully. “Just like that Ravager did—vanished in an instant.”

As expected.

Mimosa’s heart clenched.

She was close—she could feel it. She was just one step away from unraveling the Nest’s Rule.

Just one more thing to confirm.

“I get it. One more step.”

She spoke again. “Close your eyes. If you hear me speak, reply to me.”

“That’s it?” Lin Xiaolu sounded unsure.

“That’s it.” Mimosa was firm. “I’ll count to three. Then close your eyes.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

After counting, Mimosa paused—still not opening her eyes.

She remained still and asked:

“White Rose, can you hear me?”

No response.

“I’m Mimosa. Can you hear me?”

Still nothing.

Now she knew.

Mimosa opened her eyes again—and saw the Magical Girl in the pale blue dress kneeling before her, eyes closed.

This was, without a doubt, the White Rose she knew from Fangting City Squad.

Sight, sound, and her instincts confirmed it.

“White Rose,” she called softly.

“Hm?” Lin Xiaolu responded.

“I know the Rule here now. I have a way for you to quickly find the others—and the Ravager.”

Mimosa looked at her seriously. “But I might not be able to fight after this. So I need you to remember a few things.”

“Uh... huh?”

Lin Xiaolu took a moment to absorb the key point. “You figured out the Rule?”

“Don’t open your eyes yet. But yeah—pretty sure.”

Mimosa nodded firmly. “So we need to hurry. We already wasted time with the misunderstanding.”

“Not my fault though...” Lin Xiaolu muttered. “Fine, tell me.”

“In this Nest, there are two states: ‘eyes open’ and ‘eyes closed.’”

Mimosa didn’t beat around the bush. “Right now, people with eyes open can’t see others with eyes open—but can see those with eyes closed. People with eyes closed can’t hear others who also have their eyes closed—but can hear those with eyes open.”

“...That’s a tongue twister,” Lin Xiaolu mumbled.

“It’s fine if you can’t remember all that. Just keep your eyes open—don’t close them.”

Mimosa said seriously, “I’ll get Wood Lily and Bosetsu to close theirs. That way, you’ll be able to see them.”

“Uh, but they’re not here...?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Mimosa was calm. “But promise me—what you said earlier, that you drove the Ravager off—it’s true?”

“It is,” Lin Xiaolu nodded solemnly.

“...Alright. Then you can open your eyes now.”

With no further hesitation, Mimosa activated her Magical Armor: Snap-Eye—which controlled and manipulated sound waves.

She could sense how sound propagated, enhancing or muting it, turning it into a weapon or shield. She could even combine magic with sound to perform physically impossible feats.

Like what she was about to do.

She gently struck the tambourine. Her magic seeped into the surroundings through her Magical Armor, and waves of sound spread outward and bounced back—like sonar.

She could feel her magic spreading and spreading—until it finally touched an invisible boundary.

The Nest’s edge.

Ravager Nests warped space. Their internal size often far exceeded their original area. By her sensing, this Nest was already much larger than Yinping Mountain.

“A bit much... but doable.”

Muttering to herself, she struck the tambourine again. Then, with her eyes closed, she sent her voice infused with magic outward through the sound waves.

---

“Wood Lily, Bosetsu—if you can hear me, follow these instructions exactly.”

“If you're currently in battle, hold on, fire several magic bullets into the sky, then close your eyes and wait a few seconds.”

“Repeat the process until you hear White Rose’s voice. Once you hear her, keep your eyes shut and talk to her.”

“If you’re not in battle, fly up and look for signs of magic bullets. Head in that direction.”

“Once you arrive, also close your eyes and wait to communicate with White Rose.”

“Repeat: if you're currently in battle...”

---

Mimosa repeated the instructions three times. Only after ensuring even Wood Lily would understand did she stop and gently lower her tambourine.

A few seconds later, Lin Xiaolu watched with her own eyes as several magic bullets rose into the sky from a nearby forest, exploding like fireworks.

Interspersed with them was dark Ravager magic, clearly from Semi.

And the one fighting it was none other than Bai Jingxuan, already tapping into her Ravager magic.

The battle was going terribly for Semi.

It had been targeting Bai Jingxuan specifically on orders from the Leader, hoping to complete part of its task early.

Before finding her, it had been thinking about how to capture her and keep fighting.

But once the fight started—it realized it had underestimated her.

Despite having the upper hand in Rank and Rules, Semi had struggled to land a hit.

Jingxuan also used Ravager magic—so it couldn’t overpower her.

She could use standard rituals, which meant their offense was evenly matched.

Her magic reserves were oddly on par with its own, so outlasting her wasn’t an option.

Worst of all, she fought like she didn’t care about her life.

Letting claws pierce her stomach just to gouge out an eye? What kind of Magical Girl fights like that?

And her Magical Armor seemed to boost her—she got stronger the longer they fought. Her injuries healed, her attacks grew fiercer. Even for a Half-Molted Ravager, it was getting hard to keep up.

Honestly, it wanted to flee again.

And it knew—even if it killed a few of these girls, the ritual tower they were guarding was probably already ruined.

But it was too late to retreat. It was no longer about how fast it could win, but whether it could win at all.

Everything changed when Jingxuan suddenly fired magic bullets into the air.

Semi didn’t understand what she was doing, but still tried to stop her.

The attempt failed. The bullets exploded, but nothing happened—so Semi quickly forgot about it.

It never imagined its Rule would be cracked this way.

Minutes later, when a Magical Girl in a pale yellow magic aura descended from the sky, landing before it with a spear in hand—

It realized it had made a huge mistake.

---

“You okay, Bosetsu? That wound looks...”

“I’m fine, um—Sister White Rose! I’m totally good.”

“You sure that thing didn’t do anything to you?”

“Oh, that’s unrelated to this. It wasn’t from them.”

“...Alright, I’ll ask more later.”

The two Magical Girls stood side by side. One with eyes open, one with them shut.

Their pale blue and dark green magic surged, pressing back against Semi’s power.

Watching them prepare, feeling its own magic rapidly draining, Semi looked up.

In the distance, a faint yellow aura was approaching.

Forget it. That’s it.

Semi gave up thinking.