After finishing his classes the next afternoon, Yuhua slipped the cold, star-shaped Transformation Device into his pocket and once again sneaked up to the deserted rooftop of the school building.
He looked around, making sure not even a bird was in sight, before reluctantly muttering those two words under his breath:
“Transformation.”
A burst of rainbow light enveloped him once more, and after a few seconds, the Magical Girl Shui Hua appeared, clear-eyed and shimmering, on the rooftop.
She leapt lightly into the air, using magic to levitate her body, and flew toward the Extraordinary Power Department Dongjiang Branch in Shui City.
Flying above the city was one of the few privileges Magical Girls had, saving a significant amount of commute time.
The Department of Paranormal Abilities was hidden inside an old-looking office building in Dongjiang District, with the Magical Girl Division situated at the very end of the hallway.
Despite Shui City being a huge metropolis with a population exceeding twenty million, there were only a little over twenty active Magical Girls—a truly rare resource.
As for the Dongjiang District Branch where Yuhua worked, there were only three members.
Yet, because Magical Girls played an irreplaceable role in public image promotion, merchandise sales, and stabilizing morale, the higher-ups had still approved the creation of this independent Department Office.
Of course, among these three, the Magical Girl Liu Jin—otherwise known as Lin Ling—was naturally not included.
As the earliest awakened and most powerful first-generation S-rank hero, she had enormous autonomy and didn’t need to clock in or deal with piles of patrol reports and bizarre citizen requests like
“My cat climbed a tree again, has it turned into a mutant?”
Shui Hua swiped her card and pushed open the door to the Department Office.
Inside, another colleague, Magical Girl Fei Xing, was flusteredly sorting through files in front of a glowing screen.
Seeing her enter, Fei Xing greeted her enthusiastically.
“Good afternoon, Senpai!”
“Fei Xing, you’re here early today?”
“Yeah, I skipped PE and came straight here.”
Fei Xing was still a middle schooler.
Though she and Shui Hua both had baby faces, Fei Xing’s expression clearly carried a hint of childish innocence.
She was enthusiastic but still quite inexperienced when it came to official duties.
Usually, the department had her learn more and do less.
Shui Hua went straight to her own desk and sat down.
Besides the computer issued by the Ability Bureau, there were a few unfinished promotional drafts and product design suggestion forms piled up.
She sighed, pulled out her phone, deftly opened a game icon, and completely ignored the to-do list on the screen.
Time slipped by, accompanied by the sounds of the game.
It wasn’t until six in the evening that the office door burst open with a loud bang.
A petite figure with long teal hair, dressed in a delicate Lolita-style dress and looking for all the world like an elementary schooler, walked in rubbing her eyes and yawning broadly.
This was their department head, Magical Girl Xing Li. Although she looked like a lazy little girl, she was the most senior member, with a field rating of B+, and the highest leader of this three-person team.
Seeing her chance, Shui Hua immediately stood up, slipped her phone into her pocket, walked over to Xing Li’s special soft recliner, and calmly spoke:
“I want to resign.”
Xing Li buried herself in the recliner without even opening her eyes.
“Comrade Shui Hua, this is the fourth time you’ve tried to resign since joining. You should know the procedure well by now. My answer remains the same: If you can’t pay the penalty fee, go back to your desk.”
The last few times, Yuhua had tried everything—throwing tantrums, slacking off, even skipping work on purpose—but after Xing Li sternly warned him that “such behavior will be recorded and fined, with legal consequences for serious offenders,” he had no choice but to rein himself in for the time being.
“This time is different,” Shui Hua was more confident now, her tone firmer.
“I have nine hundred and eighty thousand now. Cash or transfer? I just want to quit.”
This time, Xing Li actually looked a bit serious, sitting up from the recliner.
“However, if you resign, the Transformation Device must be handed in immediately.”
She shook the pink bracelet on her wrist, trying to create a slightly regretful atmosphere.
“Then, you’ll never be able to transform into a Magical Girl again. All this power, all this magic, gone for good.”
“You know I was a guy, right?”
Shui Hua practically squeezed the words out through gritted teeth, recalling all those times she’d been forced to put on a skirt and strike cute poses for promo photos, her anger barely contained.
“Not being able to transform is for the best. That’s exactly what I want. I’m quitting.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xing Li’s attitude flipped completely.
She sprang from her recliner, hugging Shui Hua’s arm tightly, rubbing her little face against it, her voice syrupy sweet:
“Yuhua-nii~ don’t go, please? You’re the irreplaceable pillar of our team! If you leave, who’ll handle all these tasks? Fei Xing is still a kid, I have to juggle my studies and everything else… We’ll be worked to death, do you really have the heart?”
She wasn’t entirely lying.
The department head herself was a high schooler with constant exams, Fei Xing had just graduated elementary and barely knew anything.
Only Yuhua, the university student, had time to spare and ended up shouldering almost half the department’s daily workload—patrols, reports, field assignments.
“No, my mind is made up.”
Shui Hua tried hard to pull her arm back, but Xing Li hugged it even tighter.
For a loli, the department head’s strength truly matched her B+ rating.
“Yuhua-nii, I lo~ve you the most! Won’t you go out with me? I’ll treat you to ice cream.”
Xing Li turned to shameless tactics, blinking her big eyes and trying to win with cuteness.
“I’m not interested in kids like you. I’m quitting.”
Shui Hua remained unmoved.
Seeing that acting cute was useless, Xing Li immediately switched tactics, her tone turning sincere.
“Yuhua-nii, calm down. Have you found a better job?”
She let go, put her hands on her hips.
“Think about it—what job out there is worth losing 980,000 in cash, a secure government post, five-hour workdays, guaranteed weekends off, and the chance to work with such lovely and beautiful girls?”
Without waiting for Shui Hua to retort, she started painting a picture of the future.
“Look, you feel it’s tough now because of balancing study and work. But after graduation, things will be totally different. You’ll only need to work five hours in the afternoon, and once you’re official, your base salary will be over ten thousand a month, full social security. More importantly…”
She leaned closer, lowering her voice like she was sharing a secret.
“You still have the identity of ‘Magical Girl Shui Hua’. With that reputation, you can stream, do endorsements, or cooperate with the department for merchandise promotions—just a bit of traffic can multiply your income several times over. Isn’t that much better than working yourself to the bone for less money elsewhere?”
Shui Hua fell silent.
A base salary over ten thousand, five-hour workdays, weekends off…
In society, that really was a pretty good deal.
It did seem better than quitting rashly, losing all the severance pay, and starting from scratch…
After all, the penalty fee was almost everything Yuhua had managed to borrow from Lin Ling with a thick face.
“A-Anyway, I’ll go look for another job first… Once I find a better one, I’ll definitely quit this place.”
Although he hadn’t quit right away, with Lin Ling’s support, Yuhua at least now had the right to choose his future.