Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

"Boom!" "Whoosh!"

A black whip shadow swept down from mid-air, striking the ground and leaving several marks on the already soft earth.

Emerald Sparrow narrowly avoided the attack by darting to the side, then squinted her eyes as she allowed silver-blue threads to pull at her wrists, yanking her forward violently.

Guided by the threads, her body seemed to become a puppet, moving several meters in a posture and manner that defied the mechanics of the human body, before coming to an abrupt halt.

She thrust out her dagger, now transformed into magic equipment, stabbing fiercely toward the throat of the person before her. However, the vicious attack didn't cause much damage and was firmly blocked by a blade made of black metal.

Yuan, using a long sword in hand, parried away Emerald Sparrow's dagger, then let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Let's leave it at that."

"You're giving up?" While asking, Emerald Sparrow turned her dagger back into threads.

"No, it's a draw."

Yuan shook her head, "Without using anything other than magic equipment, it seems this is as far as our bout can go. By the way, have your wounds gotten a little better?"

"For now, they're not life-threatening. No need for your concern." Emerald Sparrow's response was slightly cautious.

This was Yuan's third time challenging Emerald Sparrow to a duel since arriving in Fangting City.

The first time took place in the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, where Emerald Sparrow, using a temporary magic equipment made by Hong Siyu, barely managed to repel Yuan; the forms of their subsequent two encounters turned into pure hand-to-hand combat, taking place on an open ground on the outskirts of the city, both ending in a draw.

However, such draws depended on Emerald Sparrow's use of unusual tactics.

Frankly speaking, in terms of hand-to-hand combat skills, Yuan's level was something she had rarely seen in her life, reaching grandmaster levels in fundamental fighting techniques. Besides technique, in critical aspects like magic power and strength, Emerald Sparrow was at a complete disadvantage. The reason she could often even the score in battles was entirely due to exploiting information gaps.

Her combat skills had a strong personal style, built on the basis of threads and her extraordinary aides, with many moves defying common sense, which even Yuan had never seen before. Therefore, Emerald Sparrow had to package the informational gap as key tactics in order to end the battle.

Of course, the ease with which she resolved the battles ultimately came down to the fact that Yuan regarded the encounters as "sparring."

"With the way you handle things, can you really report back to the leader of Claw Mark?"

Considering this, Emerald Sparrow couldn't help but look at her opponent with some skepticism, "Or do you have a way to beautify your actions, turning play into probing?"

"Business is business, principles are principles."

Casually stowing away her magic equipment, Yuan brushed her palm across her chest and the magical girl outfit instantly dissipated into magic particles in the air:

"Claw Mark respects the individuality of every magical girl, allowing them to handle missions in their own ways, and my way is to defeat my opponents fair and square."

"Fair and square as in playing?"

"Fair and square in defeating the opponent."

Picking up the burlap wrap she'd thrown on the ground and slinging it over her shoulder, Yuan shrugged, "Anyway, I had my fill of fighting for today. Thanks, wanna go have a drink together?"

"A drink?"

"What else could it be?"

Making a toasting gesture with her free hand before her mouth, Yuan smiled ambiguously, "In this world of beverages, what else can intoxicate a person more than the contents of this cup?"

"No, thanks."

Having dispersed her magic equipment as well, Emerald Sparrow waved her hand, "I'm not like you; I have other missions to attend to."

"Boring."

Shaking her head in disappointment, Yuan said, "Fine, I'll go to the Abnormal Strategy Bureau and see if the director is there, pull him out for a drink. It's also a way to thank him for bridging the gap between us."

She could skip that as well.

Emerald Sparrow thought to herself.

Of course, although she had her thoughts, her face was as cool and calm as ever, showing no hint of emotion.

Seeing her remain silent, Yuan didn't bother to embarrass herself further, and just arranged her tattered Taoist robe before walking away stylishly into the night-shrouded streets.

"Ah, right."

Just as Yuan's figure was about to vanish from Emerald Sparrow's sight, she suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back, "Fangting City seems to have become a bit more lively lately. Next time we meet, introduce me to your new friend, okay?"

New friend?

The term piqued Emerald Sparrow's curiosity, but before she could ask anything, Yuan's figure had already melted into the night, leaving no trace to be found.

Leaving Emerald Sparrow standing in place, with a thoughtful expression on her face.

...

...

Let's turn back time a little, to the same day's afternoon.

In Sunset District, Sunset Middle School, students gathered in the classroom, enjoying their afternoon break after a half-day of class.

In terms of temperature, winters in Fangting City weren't too cold, but being located in the southern part of Donghua Region, the humid cold air often permeated everywhere, making it difficult for people to retain the warmth inside their clothes.

As a result, even during the break time, the students preferred not to step outside the classroom doors, but instead huddled inside, whispering to one another.

The reason for the whispering was that some students were resting on their desks.

Lin Xiaolu was also one of those laying her head on her desk, resting. The reason was simple: she was too tired.

Recently, she had been working hard, striving to improve. Whenever she had the time, she would constantly repeat the process of strength training and Spiritual Thought, trying to advance her magic power even further, to reach the level of bud-grade Kaihua.

However, much to her dismay, while there had indeed been a slight increase in her magic power, the breakthrough of her abilities remained frustratingly out of reach.

The reason for her urgency wasn't just a change of heart after realizing certain truths, but also because within the Fangting City Magical Girl squad, the first Leaf-class had emerged.

——Just two days ago, Xia Liang Kaihua achieved success and was promoted in the Ability Hierarchy.

This meant that a teammate who had started almost half a month later than she had, and was both younger and less experienced, had now surpassed her by a full two ranks.

To say that she felt no envy or jealousy would be a lie; as the only Seed-class member of the squad, Lin Xiaolu felt an intense sense of crisis.

December had crept up on them, and in three months the annual Magical Girl qualification test would take place. If she were still Seed-class by then, she might not even be able to get her certification badge.

Considering how Emerald Sparrow's demeanor toward Bai Jingxuan had grown increasingly intimate recently, coupled with the constant strange atmosphere between her and Xia Liang, if she was the only one to fail the exam... Lin Xiaolu couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

No matter the reason, she had to awaken her Magic Armor as soon as possible.

With this in mind, Lin Xiaolu had been running to the training ground even more diligently than Bai Jingxuan lately. She had finally swallowed her pride and asked Xia Liang for the secret to awakening Magic Armor... But even after going to such lengths, her Magic Armor remained as inert as if it didn't exist at all.

Without the awakening of her Magic Armor, she had even started losing quality sleep time, which caused her to seem listless these past few days, often dozing off during class.

That noon, just as she lay her head down in the crook of her arm, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, she suddenly felt her arm being tapped.

Groggily lifting her head, she looked to the side and saw an unfamiliar girl holding two colorful tickets, standing beside her.

"Ah, sorry, Xiaolu, for disturbing your sleep."

The girl smiled apologetically, placing the tickets on Lin Xiaolu's desk: "These are for you, from someone else."

"Someone else? Who?" Lin Xiaolu asked subconsciously, still a bit groggy, then saw the girl point towards the classroom door. Following the direction of her gesture, she spotted a vaguely familiar-looking boy peeking from the doorway.

It took a moment for Lin Xiaolu, just awakened, to remember who he was — the guy who had confessed his feelings to her half a month ago.

Perhaps noticing her gaze, the boy met her eyes for a second before retreating back behind the wall in a fluster.

Watching the boy's entire odd behavior, Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but look down at the two colorful tickets on her desk, and only then did she realize what they were: a pair of concert tickets.

He can't possibly be asking me to go to a concert with him, can he?

Once she realized this, she unhesitatingly picked up the tickets and handed them back to the girl in front of her. "Sorry for the trouble, but please give them back to him. I don't need them."

"He said you don't have to go with him."

The girl didn't take them right away but pointed to the tickets in Lin Xiaolu's hands: "Are you sure you don't want them?"

"I don't want to waste his money on this," Lin Xiaolu insisted firmly. Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire

"So please tell him that I don't like this sort of thing."

"Alright then, I'll give them back."

Seemingly understanding the dynamics of the situation, the girl's face betrayed an ambiguous and gossip-laden smile. "Sorry to interrupt, Xiaolu. Continue with your nap."

She then took the tickets back to the classroom door and, before the dejected boy, returned them to his hand.

Only after the tickets had been returned did Lin Xiaolu breathe a sigh of relief, resting her head back on the desk, trying to find a comfortable position to resume her nap. However, before she could settle, she noticed someone in front of her was still watching.

Without even looking in that direction, Lin Xiaolu knew it was her classmate Jiang Yuan, the only person in class she could really call a "friend." They sat in adjacent rows.

"Xiaolu."

Jiang Yuan whispered mysteriously, "Do you have any idea how tough it was to score those tickets the boy gave you?"

"No idea."

Lin Xiaolu buried her head in her arms, her voice muffled: "Not interested, either. I'm not a fan of any pop stars."

"But it wasn't just any pop star's concert!"

Jiang Yuan tapped on the back of her chair, trying to grab Lin Xiaolu's attention: "That's the concert of Asou Haruka, an idol of diva status who has been popular for over ten years worldwide!"

"So?"

"Even the theme song for your favorite magical girl anime, 'Colorful Angels,' is sung by her!"

Jiang Yuan's voice rose slightly as she utilized her hand as cover: "As a modern ACG aficionado, you should understand this level of celebrity!"

"...I don't get it."

Lin Xiaolu looked up, perplexed: "Sure, the theme song of 'Colorful Angels' is really nice, but what does this have to do with celebrity status?"

"Are you an idiot? It has everything to do with it! Only the top of the pop music world gets to sing for magical girl anime!"

Jiang Yuan said exasperatedly: "Asou Haruka is a reigning queen in the music industry in Dongying State; she rarely holds concerts in Donghua Region! Even when she does, it's always in major central cities, she seldom visits smaller places like Fangting City. Do you know how rare an opportunity this is?"

"Oh."

"Don't you want to hear her perform the 'Colorful Angels' theme live?"

"...I kind of do?" Lin Xiaolu was uncertain.

"Hehe, well you did the right thing in turning him down!"

Jiang Yuan smiled triumphantly and reached into her sleeve, suddenly pulling out two tickets identical to the ones before:

"In honor of your dedication to our Misfit Alliance! Let's go and listen together!"