Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 7: Shadow in the Park

Gripping her magic staff tightly, the Magical Girl hovered high above, gazing down at the wetlands forest under the night sky.

By day, this park was lush and vibrant, full of nature’s beauty. But under the cover of darkness, it resembled the gaping maw of a predator, waiting for its prey to step inside.

A chill ran down her spine at the ominous atmosphere, and she couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

“Xiaolu, I have a bad feeling about this.”

A solemn voice spoke beside her ear.

The speaker was a peculiar creature that resembled a small kitten—covered in fluffy, pink fur with a pair of tiny wings sprouting from its back. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale.

The fairy flew up behind the girl, worry etched on its face. “The magical residue lingering in the air is making my fur stand on end. Even though it’s faint, I can feel it—this enemy is going to be dangerous.”

“…Yeah, I can feel it too.”

The Magical Girl—or rather, Lin Xiaolu—forced herself to suppress the creeping anxiety in her heart, staring intently at the forest below. “I can’t explain why, but this just feels really bad.”

Even so, she didn’t stop moving. With a wave of her magic staff, she slowly descended onto the park’s grassy terrain, cautiously scanning her surroundings to ensure the area was safe.

Her search turned up nothing, yet the unease in her chest refused to fade.

“Moke, can you still sense the enemy’s location?”

She turned to her fairy companion for help.

The pink creature, called “Moke,” closed its eyes in silence for a moment before suddenly opening them again.

“No good. Before we landed, I could clearly pinpoint it inside the park. But now… I can’t feel anything.”

Lin Xiaolu was startled. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Not once.”

Moke sighed helplessly. “I think I mentioned this before, but this is my first time in the material world too. There’s a lot I don’t know.”

“…Moke, you’re kind of useless.”

“Hey! That kind of comment is very hurtful, you know?!”

The Magical Girl and her fairy companion carefully made their way through the wetlands park, scanning for any clues.

But as the minutes ticked by, nearly ten in total, and they approached the park’s central area, they still hadn’t found anything.

Floating in the air, Moke couldn’t help but speak up again. “Xiaolu, should we retreat for now?”

Lin Xiaolu frowned. “Why?”

Moke explained, “I have a feeling this Ravager isn’t going to be an easy opponent. Just the two of us might not be enough. It’d be safer to go back and get more information from the Countermeasure Bureau, maybe even request backup.”

“Huh? But asking the grown-ups for help… isn’t that kind of embarrassing for a Magical Girl?”

“This is not the time to be stubborn over weird pride!”

“…Fine, I get it.”

The lingering chill against her back convinced Lin Xiaolu to follow her companion’s advice. “If we reach the park’s center and still don’t find anything, we’ll leave.”

Moke nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s hurry, then!”

And so, they agreed—if they reached the center without encountering the enemy, they would withdraw immediately.

Stepping across the grass, they soon arrived at the park’s central pavilion. The structures came into view, and seeing that they had reached their destination, Lin Xiaolu perked up and strode forward.

“Still no sign of the Ravager.”

She blinked, tilting her head to the side. “Moke, can you sense anything now?”

She was met with silence.

The space beside her—where her fairy companion should have been—was empty.

“…Moke?”

Her voice echoed in the quiet, swallowed by the dense trees.

Realizing that things were spiraling out of her control, Lin Xiaolu finally tensed, frantically scanning her surroundings for any sign of her missing partner.

“Moke?”

The thick forest, acting like a natural sound barrier, sealed her voice inside.

Taking a few steps forward with growing anxiety, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from the nearby bushes.

Her heartbeat spiked. Whipping her head toward the noise, she hurriedly took a defensive stance and shouted with forced bravado,

“Who’s there?! Come out!”

The response was faint.

“…Run…”

“What?”

“Run, Xiaolu!”

This time, she heard it clearly.

And the next moment, a blurry pink figure shot out from the distance, crashing into her arms.

It was Moke—the partner who had disappeared.

But compared to just minutes ago, when it had been completely unharmed, Moke was now covered in wounds.

Its wings—one was missing. Deep gashes marred its body, and tiny glowing pink particles leaked continuously from its injuries, scattering like dust.

It was a pitiful sight.

Yet despite its dire state, Moke ignored its own pain and tried to warn her.

“Run! This Ravager—”

—Rrrrrrrrrrrr.

A deep, guttural growl echoed from the shadows of the forest.

There was no time for Moke to finish its sentence.

A monstrous figure stepped out from the darkness, its razor-sharp claws sinking silently into the soft earth.

It made no sound as it moved.

One moment, it wasn’t there. The next, it was standing right in front of Lin Xiaolu.

“Grrrrrrr… Hwooooaaaah…”

There was no mistaking it.

A Ravager.

There was no way a normal park-dwelling animal could be over four meters tall. No way a creature could have two heads.

Its murky, blackish-purple fur dripped with an unknown substance, its glowing green eyes filled with nothing but pure, unrestrained bloodlust.

Strange, tube-like appendages jutted from its body, connecting various parts to its two drooling, monstrous heads.

Just standing there, it radiated overwhelming terror.

And yet, for Lin Xiaolu, a Magical Girl—this shouldn’t have been possible.

Magical Girls weren’t supposed to fear Ravagers.

She had gained this power to fight them. To protect people from them.

Why, then, was she afraid?

Lin Xiaolu didn’t understand.

But she couldn’t stop the sinking feeling in her heart.

Would she lose?

Just as the thought formed, a voice broke through her hesitation.

“Xiaolu!”

Moke’s desperate cry reached her ears. “Run! Now!”

Only then did she remember what she should be doing—surviving.

Lifting her magic staff, the air around her stirred violently.

And then, with a sharp gust of wind, she shot up into the sky.

She had entered the park by air. So logically, escaping the same way should be the safest option.

That was her plan.

But then, she noticed something odd.

The Ravager on the ground… wasn’t reacting.

Even as she ascended, it remained still, simply watching with those eerie, glowing eyes.

Was there a trap?

She didn’t have time to think.

Because the next moment, she realized—she had stopped moving.

A crushing pressure squeezed at her back.

Beside her, the injured Moke struggled to speak. “Xiaolu? What’s wrong?”

Her partner, confused by her sudden stop, raised a paw to touch the space above them—only to be repelled by an invisible force.

“A… magic barrier…”

This time, even Moke’s face paled with despair. “No… This was a trap from the very beginning!”

At that moment, the weight of the situation sank in.

For both of them, hope plummeted to zero.

But Lin Xiaolu, unlike Moke, still retained some sense of combat awareness.

Which was why she had been staring at the Ravager below the entire time.

What frightened her most wasn’t that she had been stopped from escaping.

It was the expression on the Ravager’s face.

Could Ravagers even make human-like expressions?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, her vision blurred.

For a split second—

The enemy vanished.

“—Xiaolu!”

Moke’s horrified scream rang out.

And in that instant, she understood.

The Ravager’s claws were already at her throat.

And the last thing she saw—was its face twisting into a grotesque, mocking grin.