Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 5: Crisis

"Be careful of tonight’s Ravager?"

That one sentence left Lin Yun restless for the entire afternoon at work.

The reason was simple: there was far too much information hidden in those few words. He couldn't just dismiss it as a prank call or a simple case of harassment.

His daughter being a Magical Girl—aside from himself and Hong Siyu, no one else should have known about this yet. As for the fact that he himself had once been a Magical Girl, barely a handful of people were aware. More importantly, those who did know were either his former comrades or people he could still consider allies.

So… was the call from Hong Siyu?

It was possible. But what reason would she have to act mysteriously and make an anonymous call like that? As an official, she had already promised him outright that she would look after his daughter—there was no need to be secretive about it.

With the mindset of better safe than sorry, Lin Yun sent Hong Siyu a message:

【Did you call me?】

Her reply came quickly:

It didn’t seem to be her.

His mind ran through a few other possibilities, but one by one, he dismissed them. He still had no leads.

Then… was it just a random prank call that happened to hit the mark?

It wasn’t impossible. In fact, it was highly likely. These days, scam calls used all kinds of bizarre tricks—throwing out vague, ominous statements in the hopes that someone would believe them for their own personal reasons.

Lin Yun wanted to convince himself that was the case, but deep down, he couldn’t shake his unease.

Evening arrived, and his unsettled demeanor didn’t go unnoticed. His longtime subordinates, concerned, asked if something was wrong. Lin Yun simply shook his head, unwilling to share something that sounded so much like paranoia.

He took the train home, arriving after dark. The moment he stepped inside, his gaze instinctively landed on the shoe cabinet.

His daughter's shoes were there.

Passing through the living room, he saw the cleaned dishes in the sink. Standing outside her bedroom, he noticed the glow of her room’s lights spilling through the doorframe.

Everything indicated that Lin Xiaolu was still at home.

That allowed him to breathe a little easier.

Even if a Ravager appeared tonight, as long as his daughter was at home, it meant she was safe.

Besides, if there was an actual Ravager threat, Hong Siyu wouldn’t have kept him in the dark.

Carrying those thoughts, Lin Yun finished his dinner and went into his study to deal with the leftover work from the office. Even as he worked, he kept an ear out for any unusual movements from his daughter’s room, making sure she didn’t sneak out without him noticing.

The night passed without incident.

By the time the clock struck midnight, exhaustion overtook him, and after hours of waiting, Lin Yun finally lay down in bed and drifted into sleep.

At some point, in the midst of a hazy dreamscape, he thought he heard something.

A faint, unfamiliar sound.

And just like that, in the darkness, Lin Yun jolted awake.

His heartbeat sped up. His breathing turned sharp and uneven. He had no memory of what he had been dreaming about, but upon waking, his entire mood had soured inexplicably.

Reaching for his phone in the dark, he pressed the power button.

The screen lit up.

2:10 AM.

Despite the initial jolt of waking up, he now felt something else creeping in—a sense of foreboding.

And it was an eerily familiar feeling.

So familiar, in fact, that his mind instantly recalled the last time he had experienced something like this.

—The day his wife passed away.

"…That’s impossible, right?"

He muttered to himself, and even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

Lin Yun climbed out of bed and hurriedly pulled open his bedroom door. His gaze immediately locked onto the direction of his daughter’s room.

All hesitations, all prior considerations—none of them mattered anymore.

He strode forward, knocked on her door.

Nothing.

Undeterred, he knocked again, louder this time. The sound echoed through the dimly lit hallway, but the silence on the other side remained unchanged.

"…That’s impossible, right?"

He repeated, voice a touch shakier.

His eyes flicked toward the door—and the familiar [Knock First] note still stuck to it.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

Click.

Locked.

He didn’t know if his daughter usually locked her door at night. He had never tried opening it before. But at this moment, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts spiral toward the worst possibilities.

Did she… sneak out?

Reaching for his phone again, he immediately dialed Hong Siyu’s number.

No answer.

Next, he tried searching online.

"Fangting City" "Ravager"—he typed in the keywords, hoping to find any information.

But nothing.

Even last week’s Ravager incident had already been buried under newer trending topics.

As if all relevant traces had been wiped away overnight, he had suddenly lost all means of tracking his daughter’s whereabouts.

Lin Yun tried to reason with himself.

No one answering the door didn’t necessarily mean she had run off in the middle of the night to fight a Ravager.

A more rational explanation? His daughter just didn’t want to deal with him. Maybe she was annoyed and ignored his late-night knocking, dismissing him as her overbearing, neurotic father.

That was far more reasonable than the worst-case scenario running wild in his head.

But no matter how much he tried to convince himself, his instincts screamed otherwise.

So, his fingers hovered over his call history.

Page two. Third from the bottom.

The unknown number that had called him at noon.

For a long moment, he hesitated.

Then, with a quiet breath, he pressed the dial button.

It connected.

His breath hitched.

Each ringing tone felt like an eternity.

"Doo——Doo——"

Lin Yun gripped his communicator tightly.

And then—

The call went through.

"Ssshhhhh…"

Static.

Heavy, distorted interference filled his ear.

It was as if the signal was being jammed, the fragmented sound waves clawing at his eardrums.

Then, all at once, the noise ceased.

A voice spoke.

"Outskirts of the city. Wetland Park."

With those few words, the call abruptly ended.

Silence returned, as if nothing had ever happened.

Lin Yun slowly lowered his phone.

From where he stood, he could see the living room bathed in faint moonlight, a soft glow casting a peaceful silver hue across the floor. The world outside his thoughts remained quiet, calm, undisturbed.

And yet, in the depths of his mind, another voice whispered.

"Don't go."

If he stepped out of that door, everything he had fought to maintain, everything he had sacrificed for—it would all unravel.

But for Lin Yun, the choice was meaningless.

When his daughter’s safety was in question, nothing else mattered.

His feet moved before his thoughts caught up.

Rushing out the door, he headed straight for his long-unused SUV.

Shoving the key into the ignition, he turned it.

The engine roared to life.

Then, without hesitation, he slammed down on the accelerator.

The car sped onto the road at a speed far beyond the city’s limits.

"I have to go."

As if trying to reinforce the thought, he whispered the words to himself.

His pulse pounded. His head buzzed. He could feel the blood coursing through his veins, burning with urgency.

Faster.

The speedometer climbed as he ran red lights, tore through empty streets, and pushed his vehicle to its absolute limits.

Traffic laws? Potential accidents?

None of it mattered.

Because the only thing that mattered—

—was getting to his daughter.

The Heartstone Flower rested in his pocket.

He had tried before. He knew he couldn’t transform anymore.

But even so, he clung to an impossible hope.

Or perhaps, deep in his soul, a voice was telling him—

"This time, you can."

His thoughts were in chaos. Emotions, memories, tension—everything blurred together.

But through it all, one singular belief remained.

"I won’t let anything happen to my daughter."