Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 27: Grand Welcome

"Yes, yes, I understand. I'm very sorry."

A weary male voice echoed from above in the dimly lit sewer.

"Yes, alright. If your maintenance team can’t fix it, we’ll come over first thing in the morning to assist you as soon as possible…"

It was 11 p.m. Lin Yun stood at the edge of an open sewer entrance, holding his phone. His face remained expressionless, but his tone was sincere as he made promises to the person on the other end.

After ending the call, he opened his messaging app, quickly typed out a text, and sent it before finally putting his phone away with a long sigh.

Tracking down locations linked to urban legends while still dealing with customer complaints about his subordinates—even in the middle of the night—was truly exhausting. Worse, he had been stuck in the sewers earlier without any signal, which only led to him being chewed out. The whole ordeal was draining both physically and mentally.

But at least there weren’t many locations left.

If an Egg-tier Ravager truly lurked within Fangting City’s sewers, tonight he would drag it out of hiding.

Gripping the Heartstone Flower, he transformed once again into a Magical Girl. Under the night sky, Veronica took flight toward the next rumored location.

“The Singing Sewers”—a recently popular urban legend online—had multiple variations, but most supposed eyewitnesses claimed their experiences happened in Fangting City.

The legend described a mysterious, hauntingly beautiful song that sometimes drifted from sewer grates late at night. The melody was not in any human language, yet it carried an indescribable emotion. Like the mythical sirens, it lured people in, tempting them with an irresistible urge to seek out the source.

Those who fell under its spell would find themselves compelled to approach the sewer, even going as far as to lift the heavy manhole covers for a closer listen. That was when a hand would reach out from the darkness—grabbing them and dragging them down.

If someone completely ignored the song, however, they would experience a different fate—wandering in circles as if trapped in an endless loop. The melody would grow stronger, closer, until they inevitably succumbed to its pull.

Only those who acknowledged the song’s beauty without becoming fully entranced could leave the area safely.

As the legend spread, some began to claim that an open, uncovered sewer grate meant someone had already fallen victim—and that missing person reports would surely surface nearby.

But Veronica had found no such evidence.

Despite braving the putrid stench to search the sewers, she had yet to come across any missing individuals—she hadn’t even seen many rats. The dark, oppressive tunnels held only the sounds of trickling water and the occasional gust of wind.

Keeping the legend’s details in mind, she focused all her senses on listening, trying to pick up any trace of the so-called “song.”

Nothing.

For over thirty minutes, she drifted through the maze-like tunnels, searching.

The endless repetition of grayish-yellow walls and crisscrossing pipes was enough to make anyone grow weary, but Veronica forced herself to continue. Unfortunately, the result remained the same—nothing.

With no leads, she had no choice but to move to the next location.

But as she turned to leave, a disturbing realization hit her:

—Half an hour. She had been flying for so long, yet she hadn’t come across a single exit.

Her previously sluggish mind snapped into sharp focus. A dormant tension in her magic stirred awake.

Veronica flexed her fingers, tracing patterns in the air. Then, she released her magic, sending it rippling outward like a sonar pulse.

After a brief moment of silent observation, her expression sharpened.

She had finally found the right place.

Not only had she detected the faintest traces of residual magic, but the entire layout of the area was clearly wrong. This wasn’t a normal city sewer.

It only looked like one on the surface.

In reality, its structure resembled a massive ant nest—layered, overlapping, forming a warped, unnatural space.

This was a signature trait of an Egg-tier Ravager’s nest, a twisted lair that distorted physical reality.

Adjusting her flight to hover lower, Veronica flicked her wrist, releasing several orbs of magical light to illuminate the area.

Her hands never stopped moving.

She sketched intricate symbols into the air, weaving protective runes that flitted outward, forming a faint Magical Barrier around her. The glyphs pulsed momentarily before vanishing, their light fading into the darkness.

This single sequence of actions had already used up nearly half of her prepared spells.

Most of the magic she specialized in revolved around detection and defense—utility skills that were never excessive when facing the unknown.

Now fully alert, Veronica braced herself for the inevitable encounter.

Egg-tier Ravagers had been rare enemies in her past battles.

Now, after 19 years, her strength had undeniably declined from its peak. Against an uncertain foe, caution was paramount.

Navigating the tangled pathways, Veronica sent magical light ahead at every turn, ensuring no hidden threats lurked in the darkness.

Her vigilance paid off.

At one corner, she spotted a creature lurking on the ceiling.

It looked like a slab of rotting flesh, grotesquely plastered against the wall. Tendrils of flesh stretched outward like limbs, anchoring it in place.

There was no mistaking it—an Egg-stage Ravager.

Thud!

In mere seconds, Veronica fired a magic thread blast, piercing the creature before it could let out a single screech.

With a muffled splat, it tumbled into the filthy water below, sending ripples through the red-stained surface.

Extending her hand, she gathered the scattered Echo particles left behind by the slain creature before moving forward.

From that moment on, the number of enemies surged.

Egg-stage Ravagers swarmed her from all directions, some even Seed-tier Ravagers among them.

It was clear—something was commanding them, directing them toward her exact location.

But Veronica remained unfazed.

Against enemies of this level, she wouldn’t even need to put in much effort—unless she wanted to give her students a demonstration.

With a flick of her wrist, Magical Armor manifested.

Threads of deadly magic silk spread outward, filling the space around her.

Before many of the charging Ravagers could react, they had already run straight into the invisible blades, sliced apart into lifeless chunks.

Her expression never changed.

She simply advanced forward, leaving behind a trail of shrieking monsters as they collapsed, one by one.

The sewers became a slaughterhouse, though the butchered creatures were not livestock, but Ravagers.

The stench of blood grew so thick that it overpowered even the sewer’s natural filth.

The yellow waters were dyed red.

Veronica never counted how many she had slain.

At some point, she even stopped bothering to collect the Echo particles from the weaker ones.

And then, finally—

She heard the song.

But this wasn’t the soft, fleeting melody from the legend.

This was a grand, magnificent chorus, like a lavish performance on a grand stage.

And before her, there was no narrow sewer tunnel—

Only a vast, impossible cavern.

A space that should never exist beneath a city.

Pipes and brickwork twisted and coiled high above, countless sewage outlets spewing rivers of filthy water down into a bottomless lake.

And atop that dark, swirling abyss—

The source of the song.

Not a siren.

Not a mermaid.

But undeniably, a Ravager.

Veronica lifted her gaze.

The first thing she saw was flesh.

Flesh, limbs, writhing masses of meat.

Like intestines, hanging from the ceiling, draping across the cavern like festival banners.

And in the center, a massive, suspended abomination, all pink and red, like a fish stripped of its skin and scales.

It had no eyes, no gills—only a gaping, writhing maw.

And from that mouth, the song poured forth.

Echoing through the chamber.

A chaotic chorus, both sacred and terrifying.

It spoke no human language.

Yet Veronica understood.

It was welcoming her.

Welcoming the Magical Girl who had arrived.