Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 59: Cell Phone Incident

Ever since Lin Yun started pretending to be Veronica in front of his daughter, carrying two phones had become a habit.

To avoid exposing any flaws while using them, he had even asked a female clerk at a flagship store for advice before purchasing the phones. Based on her suggestions, he deliberately chose a phone case that made "Veronica’s phone" look more feminine.

That phone had only three contacts: Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Hong Siyu.

To ensure he could reach them quickly in case of a Ravager attack or any sudden incident, Lin Yun never turned off the phone or put it on silent—only switching it to vibrate during work hours.

Today was no exception.

Before leaving the house that morning, he had intentionally taken Veronica’s phone out of his usual formal suit pocket and brought it with him to ensure a smooth line of communication between Veronica and the two girls.

What he hadn’t expected was that those two little troublemakers had somehow followed him all the way to the shopping center.

At first, he had been too focused on acting to deceive Moko. Then, when he ran into the two girls, he had to find a way to smooth things over in this awkward situation. Later, as he shopped, he became lost in the emotions of this particular day.

As a result, he had completely forgotten about the ticking time bomb in his jacket’s inner pocket.

And now, here he was—his mind momentarily blank as the clear ringtone rang out, drawing Xia Liang’s gaze toward him. His hand instinctively reached into his jacket, gripping the phone, but he was unsure whether he should take it out.

In just a few seconds, Lin Yun’s mind ran through several possible courses of action:

First option: Quickly lower the volume on Veronica’s phone and then take out his personal phone, pretending he had just received a call.

Logically, this was the safest option, but it was tricky to execute. He had set Veronica’s phone to ring and vibrate precisely to ensure he never missed a call. Even if he could mute the ringtone, the vibration would still be noticeable in the nearly empty restaurant.

Second option: Answer the call but cover the microphone on Veronica’s phone, preventing his voice from being transmitted, while simultaneously pulling out his own phone and pretending to take a different call.

While this also seemed logical, it was even harder to pull off. First, he couldn’t be sure he would completely block the microphone—if any sound leaked through, he’d be exposed. Second, the action itself would be highly suspicious—right hand inside his coat, left hand fumbling to pull out another phone to answer a call? It would look bizarre.

Third option: Hang up immediately and then call Veronica’s phone using his own, so when Xia Liang tried calling again, she would only get a "line busy" message.

This was the easiest to execute—if he wanted, he could guarantee its success. But the fatal flaw was that he had no way to explain why his phone stopped ringing at the exact moment Xia Liang’s call got disconnected.

Just as he was deliberating, Xia Liang acted first.

She lifted her phone to her ear and tilted her head at Lin Yun, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Uncle, aren’t you going to pick up?"

Lin Yun knew he had run out of time.

"Ah, thanks for the reminder. I was just thinking about something and didn’t notice."

Keeping his face expressionless, he answered calmly, hoping to divert Xia Liang’s attention with conversation. At the same time, he fumbled along the side of the phone, trying to locate the volume button to at least silence the ringtone.

As he saw it, the plans he had considered weren’t mutually exclusive—he could mix and match solutions as needed. He just had to play it by ear.

"That’s weird… Let me try calling again."

Before he could act, Xia Liang murmured to herself and tapped the screen.

A moment later, the ringtone in the restaurant stopped.

Silence returned to the space, save for the muffled sounds of screams and shouting outside the glass walls of the shopping mall. The restaurant and the chaotic corridor beyond were now two separate worlds—one filled with panic and noise, the other eerily quiet and suffocatingly awkward.

There was no doubt—Xia Liang had pressed the hang-up button.

After all that, she glanced at her phone, blinked innocently at Lin Yun, then feigned surprise. "Oh! It really stopped?"

Lin Yun stared at the plain ceiling of the restaurant and let out a long sigh.

Defeated, he lowered his hand from his chest.

"Uncle, you have someone else’s phone on you," Xia Liang said, a mischievous smile creeping onto her face as she realized what was going on. "I know this might be a bit of a leap, but… it’s the person I’m thinking of, isn’t it?"

"You guessed right." Lin Yun accepted his fate, replying flatly, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Why do you have—wait, why does Veronica’s phone… end up with you?"

Hearing Lin Yun’s confirmation only confused Xia Liang further. "I remember she was still using her phone at my house last night…"

"We know each other. She left her phone at my place this morning, so I brought it with me."

Lin Yun, feeling numb, forced out an excuse. "It’s not what you think, but we do keep in touch."

"She went to your house in the middle of the night and left her phone there…"

Xia Liang’s eyes widened. "So, you two really are in that kind of relationship?"

"I don’t know what kind of relationship you’re talking about, but I can tell you it’s not that." Lin Yun shut his eyes, already exhausted.

"Uncle, even if it’s consensual, relationships with minors are illegal, you know?"

Xia Liang frowned, looking serious. "Besides, Veronica is so cute. How could you bring yourself to do anything bad to her?"

"…I just said it’s not like that. We only interact because of Lulu and the whole Magical Girl situation."

Lin Yun sighed helplessly. "Besides, didn’t she tell you? She’s actually a lot older than you two—she’s my age."

"That still doesn’t make it okay!"

Xia Liang pouted, clearly displeased. "Even if you’re both adults, isn’t that unfair to Xiaolu?"

"Listen, I promise you, it’s not what you think."

Suppressing his overwhelming embarrassment, Lin Yun did his best to keep a serious face. "I know you care about Xiaolu, and I also know she’s not ready to accept the idea of… well, a stepmother. But Veronica and I have no romantic relationship whatsoever."

"Really?" Xia Liang eyed him skeptically.

"If anything, she’s more connected to Xiaolu’s mother."

Half-truthfully, Lin Yun tried to steer the conversation in another direction. "If you want to know more, I can explain on the way home."

"Her mother? You mean—" Xia Liang started to ask but suddenly stopped.

Because at that moment, both her phone and Lin Yun’s vibrated simultaneously.

She glanced at her screen and saw a message from Lin Xiaolu in their Magical Girl squad’s group chat:

[@Little Viola: What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and get over here!]

[@Veronica: There’s a Ravager attack at the Goldfort Shopping Plaza in Luoming District. Veronica, are you available? Ah, no rush.]

"…Looks like we don’t have time to chat anymore."

After reading the message, Xia Liang sighed and put her phone down with a small smile. "Uncle, if you can get in touch with Veronica, could you let her know? She told us to always notify her when there’s a Ravager attack."

Though still filled with questions, she knew what was more important. Gossip could wait—dealing with the threat came first.

"I will."

Relieved to finally end this embarrassing conversation, Lin Yun wasted no time nodding. "Hong Siyu should be able to reach her."

"Alright then, we’ll save the rest for later."

Exhaling, Xia Liang tucked away her phone and waved at Lin Yun. "I’ll just assume you were telling the truth about everything earlier."

"It was the truth," Lin Yun deadpanned. "Just don’t go exaggerating things to Xiaolu."

"Don’t worry, I won’t tell her."

Xia Liang smirked playfully. "I know that if I do, she’ll just start overthinking again."

Lin Yun thought, as if you weren’t just overthinking yourself.

But he didn’t argue. He simply watched as Xia Liang jogged out of the restaurant, then leaned back in his chair with a long sigh, finally relaxing.

Forget it. He’d deal with everything later.

For now, he just needed to find a place to transform.