Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 40: Summer Night Study Session

To ordinary people, Magical Girls were synonymous with the extraordinary. While some dismissed them as part of some elaborate hoax or conspiracy, most believed them to be mysterious, powerful, and dazzling.

They drove away terrifying monsters, never asking for anything in return. Their existence was seen as something pure and beautiful.

If one were to distribute a survey at any elementary or middle school, asking young girls about their dreams, "Magical Girl" would undoubtedly rank among the top answers.

Admiration and longing were the main reasons for this, but there was another, less-spoken motivation:

Becoming a Magical Girl was an excellent excuse to avoid studying.

I’m already a hero protecting humanity, fighting in battles this dangerous—do I really need to study anymore?

With this mindset, it wasn’t uncommon for Magical Girls to abandon their education.

Even though retired Magical Girls were forbidden from publicly revealing their past identities, rumors floating around the internet were enough to confirm one thing—those who retired normally led comfortable, worry-free lives.

Slaying Ravagers allowed them to accumulate Echoes, which could be exchanged for rewards. Those who retired after ten years of active service received a massive financial package, ensuring that even without a job, they could still live in luxury.

Veronica had a unique past that kept her from enjoying these benefits, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t imagine it.

She wanted Lin Xiaolu to study hard because, in her view, once Lin Xiaolu returned to normal life, she could afford not to work—but she absolutely couldn’t afford to be incompetent. She couldn’t allow her to become an ignorant, unskilled dropout, unable to function in society.

This was a simple, parental wish.

Veronica had seen what happened to Magical Girls who never learned how to live beyond the battlefield.

She had once visited a retired Magical Girl—a former senior. That woman lived alone in a lavish apartment, but the place reeked of something strange and unpleasant. The floors were buried under piles of takeout boxes, beer cans, and dirty laundry.

She had high standards yet could never find the right person to marry. She spent her days addicted to video games, enjoying the shallow praise she received online as a wealthy woman. She even streamed under a virtual avatar modeled after her former transformed appearance, but barely anyone watched.

Her life had become a pile of filth, like a rotten sludge that could no longer flow.

Just imagining Lin Xiaolu ending up like that, or thinking about all those stories of shut-in kids treating their parents like personal servants, made Veronica feel like she couldn’t breathe.

---

"You don’t know how to approach this angle?"

Sitting at Lin Xiaolu’s desk, Veronica noticed her struggling with a math problem. She leaned in for a closer look.

Back in his school days, Lin Yun had maintained solid grades—not enough to get into a top university, but good enough to earn a master’s degree. So handling middle school-level math was no challenge for her.

After quickly scanning the problem, she began writing down the solution. She made sure to detail every step, ensuring the two girls watching wouldn’t lose track of her reasoning.

As for her handwriting, she wasn’t concerned. She could alter it slightly, and besides, Lin Xiaolu had rarely seen Lin Yun’s handwritten notes anyway. There was no risk of her making any connections.

The tip of the pen tapped rhythmically against the notebook as she wrote, producing soft "tah, tah" sounds.

Lin Xiaolu rested her chin in her hands, while Xia Liang leaned on the back of her chair, both watching Veronica work through the problem.

"Hmm… wait," Xia Liang suddenly spoke up. "Why are angles AOE and DOE equal?"

Veronica paused, lifted her pen, and lightly traced along OE with its tip.

"Because OE is the angle bisector of AOD."

"Why?" Xia Liang pressed.

Veronica glanced at her, then pointed at a line in the problem statement.

"Look here—the question says so. It’s a given condition."

"But… they don’t look the same size?" Xia Liang pointed at the diagram, still puzzled.

"...The drawing is just inaccurate. They’re actually equal." Veronica patiently explained.

"But they don’t look equal at all?" Xia Liang’s confusion was genuine, not the usual playful nonsense she liked to pull.

Realizing this, Veronica sighed in resignation.

"Yes, in cases like this, trust the text, not the drawing."

Now she understood why Xia Liang’s math scores were what they were.

She wasn’t deliberately messing around. She hadn’t run into an unfortunate test question.

She was just plain bad at math.

And worse, her brain was full of weird ideas.

As the saying went, "All top students solve problems in similar ways, but every struggling student fails in their own unique fashion."

Each bad student had their own unique interpretations of the things they didn’t understand.

Fortunately, though Xia Liang was a hopeless academic case, she wasn’t unwilling to learn—at least not under Veronica’s watch.

And despite her struggles, she was pretty smart. As long as Veronica explained things clearly, she could pick them up quickly.

As for Lin Xiaolu, she was better than Xia Liang. She wasn’t particularly sharp, so she took longer to understand things. But thanks to a stronger academic foundation, she could keep up as long as she followed along.

So Veronica sat at the desk, guiding them through every subject, explaining concepts whenever they got stuck.

Her voice was cool and crisp, like the song of a nightingale. Even when discussing math problems the girls usually hated, it was oddly pleasant to listen to.

Above them, the moon hung in the deep blue sky.

The two girls listened intently, sometimes lost in thought, sometimes struck with sudden understanding.

And so, their late-night study session slowly fell into a steady rhythm.

---

By the time 10 PM arrived, Veronica noticed Lin Xiaolu yawning, struggling to keep her eyes open.

She closed the textbook, her voice gentle.

"Alright, that’s enough for tonight."

"Ugh, finally…"

"That was exhausting…"

The two girls groaned in unison, sounding like prisoners celebrating their release.

Seeing their pitiful expressions—even though she suspected they were exaggerating—Veronica sighed lightly.

"If you two actually kept up this pace every night, we wouldn’t have to do this all the time."

She had already looked through their middle school textbooks. If they focused only on key subjects, a single summer break would be more than enough to catch up.

Hearing this, the two girls immediately perked up—their expressions flipping from despair to delight in an instant.

Their reaction was so obvious that it was clear they weren’t even trying to hide it.

Veronica let it slide.

After all, they were her juniors, in a sense.

She thought this to herself, and her gaze softened slightly.

Their long night of studying and lectures had come to an end.

Lin Xiaolu needed to wash up and sleep, so it was time for them to part ways.

After smiling and saying goodbye, Xia Liang left Lin Xiaolu’s apartment alone.

She walked along the dimly lit road, illuminated only by a few flickering streetlights.

The smile on her face gradually faded.

A trace of uncertainty flickered in her eyes.

Normally, at this hour, she would transform into a Magical Girl and fly home.

That was what she always did when leaving Lin Xiaolu’s place.

But tonight…

She didn’t want to.

She wanted to walk this empty night road for a while.

Something about the study session, despite being pleasant, left her feeling restless.

For some reason, despite living the dream of becoming a Magical Girl, she felt an increasing emptiness inside.

And the longer time passed, the bigger it grew.

She lowered her head and walked in silence.

Then, just before entering the next district, she stopped.

"...I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now," she said, turning around with a helpless smile.

"Junior, why have you been following me?"

Not far away, beneath the glow of a streetlamp, Veronica stood there openly, making no effort to hide herself.

She was bathed in the dim light, her presence impossible to miss in the surrounding darkness.

Originally, she should have left in a different direction. Yet, for some reason, she had ended up trailing behind Xia Liang, following her every step.

Hearing Xia Liang’s words, Veronica remained completely unbothered. In a flat, emotionless voice, she stated:

“I’m going to your house.”

“…Huh?” Xia Liang blinked in confusion.

"Why?"

"If you’re asking why, there’s no special reason."

Veronica rested a hand on her hip, her expression unreadable, as if what she was about to say was utterly trivial.

But when she finally spoke, the words hit Xia Liang like a thunderclap, making her heart race wildly.

“I just… suddenly felt like running away from home, too.”