Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 61: Old Photos

Lin Xiaolu gripped the edge of her phone, her fingers unconsciously tightening around it.

She could see it—inside the photo, a magical girl in a cherry-pink puffy dress was laughing alongside others. With an indescribable emotion in her expression, she wrapped her arms around a slightly shy, blue-haired magical girl standing next to her.

Two people who, in her understanding, should never have crossed paths stood so intimately together in this picture. Lin Xiaolu instinctively opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Is that how it is?

She wanted to ask, one more time.

But if she had any doubts before, they vanished the moment she saw this.

Yes, it had always been like this.

Her mother’s many unusual behaviors when she was alive; her father’s reluctance to speak about her death; the mysterious magical girl, Veronica, and the special attention she had always given her—everything pointed to one answer: her mother was a magical girl.

Like a lock that had finally found its key, all it took was a gentle turn, and the truth clicked open.

She had never, never associated her mother with the idea of being a magical girl. In her memories, her mom was just a slightly odd housewife who always insisted she was a freelancer.

She was cheerful to the point of being absentminded, lazy and careless in her daily life, and sometimes even more childish than Lin Xiaolu herself. But she was also a loving mother who doted on her deeply.

She could still recall the times she nestled in her mother’s arms, watching magical girl anime on TV. She hadn’t forgotten the gentle smile on her mother’s face when she once told her, “I want to be a magical girl when I grow up.”

And now, more and more memories flooded back—her mother slipping away in the middle of the night when she asked to sleep beside her as a child; excusing herself to “buy something” during their meals together; promising to attend a parent-teacher meeting but never showing up, later claiming she had mixed up the time.

"So that’s how it is..."

Her vision blurred with tears before she even realized it. They welled up, spilled over her cheeks, and dripped onto the phone screen.

Her throat tightened, her voice caught in a sob. She told herself that she was a magical girl now, someone who saved others, someone who shouldn’t be this fragile. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t suppress the choked sounds escaping her.

"So it was like this all along."

The real magical girl had always been right beside her. She had been chosen from the very start.

And yet, it had taken her two whole years after losing her mother to realize it.

At first, she only shed tears. But soon, she pressed her hands to her face and broke down completely.

She had thought—really thought—that after two years, she had cried enough, that her tears had dried up. That she had come to terms with it, grown numb, and would never weep so helplessly over her mother again.

But for some reason, the moment she learned that she and her mother were connected through the identity of a magical girl, she found herself overflowing with things she wanted to tell her.

Being a magical girl isn’t as easy as I imagined.

Ravagers are disgusting, hateful, terrifying.

Magic training is exhausting and dull.

The Magic Kingdom seems like a complicated place.

Veronica is a really good person.

I have teammates now, people to fight alongside me.

Maybe... I’m starting to understand Dad.

And... I never thought that after two years, I’d still miss you this much.

Her grief, tangled with countless thoughts, was trapped in the small car. No matter how fast the vehicle sped forward, her longing anchored her in place, refusing to let her move on.

Lin Xiaolu cried bitterly.

Beside her, Xia Liang didn’t know how to comfort her, while in the front seat, Lin Yun remained silent, saying nothing at all.

At least, from his perspective, being able to cry at a time like this was a good thing.

If she kept all that sorrow and all those tears bottled up inside—if she buried her longing and regrets deep within her heart—then one day, after enough time had passed, she might not even be able to recognize those feelings anymore.

The sound of crying filled the car for a long time. Only when Lin Xiaolu’s sobs quieted into small sniffles did Xia Liang gently pat her back before turning to Lin Yun with a question.

“Uncle, if what you said is true, then there’s something strange about this photo.”

She glanced at the picture of Veronica and Aya, her brows furrowing.

“If Xiaolu’s mom and Veronica were magical girls in the same generation, then shouldn’t she have retired by now?”

From what she and Lin Xiaolu understood, Veronica was a resident of the Magic Kingdom.

After all, Veronica had never mentioned what city she was from, always emphasized that she was much older than them, and was widely recognized as an important figure. She never seemed like a magical girl from the Material World.

Both girls had always been skeptical about Veronica’s insistence that she was an adult. But now, with this picture as evidence, all their remaining doubts vanished.

“She never retired.”

Seeing that Lin Xiaolu’s emotions had mostly stabilized, Lin Yun sighed inwardly before stating matter-of-factly, “Because Xiaolu’s mother was special. She was a Lifetime Magical Girl, different from the others.”

This unfamiliar term left Xiaolu and Xia Liang looking lost.

"Lifetime? Xiaolu’s mom was a Lifetime Magical Girl?"

Unlike the two confused girls, the one who reacted the most strongly was Moko.

Which made sense—aside from Lin Yun, Moko was the only one here who truly understood what that title meant.

Realizing that Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang had no clue, it quickly explained, “A Lifetime Magical Girl means someone who, because of extraordinary achievements or contributions, is granted the right to stay in the Material World forever. It’s a huge honor!”

“My mom... was a powerful magical girl?”

Lin Xiaolu whispered, her voice still shaky. She repeated Moko’s words, as if trying to make sense of them. But then, as though something suddenly dawned on her, she lifted her head in a daze.

“Then—then if that’s true, how did my mom die?”

As she asked, her memories stirred once more.

She suddenly recalled something even more crucial.

Fixing her gaze straight ahead, she locked onto the back of the driver’s seat—almost as if she could see straight through it to her father.

“You told me to forget about her back then. Was this the reason why?”

Her question struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Now that she had released her grief and longing, she finally realized—her mother’s death wasn’t as simple as she had once believed.

Lin Yun didn’t answer immediately.

His silence wasn’t a refusal—it was contemplation.

His gaze shifted to the rearview mirror, meeting Lin Xiaolu’s red-rimmed eyes. In them, he saw sadness, but also unwavering clarity.

And so, he spoke.

“...Since becoming a magical girl, you’ve probably heard how magical girls are ranked, haven’t you?”

He withdrew his gaze, staring blankly at the road ahead.

“White Cards. Character Cards. Flower Cards. I don’t know the exact details, but back when she was alive, she had a title.”

His voice paused briefly.

The backseat was utterly silent.

Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Moko were all captivated by his words, holding their breath in anticipation.

Maybe this was the kind of moment where he should light a cigarette to set the mood.

That thought crossed Lin Yun’s mind out of nowhere, but since he wasn’t a smoker, he could only let out a long breath—as if exhaling his own sorrow.

“They say that, in the latter half of her magical girl career, all the other magical girls recognized her as—”

“The strongest Flower Card.”