Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

At daybreak, awakening alone on a bed made for two.

Lin Yun instinctively reached for the pillow beside him, only to grasp nothing but emptiness.

It was always like this.

He always fantasized that it was all just a dream, that his partner was still by his side.

Gazing blankly at the ceiling, he took a moment to calm his emotions before sitting up in bed.

The loved one had passed, and a new day began as usual.

Washing up, shaving, dressing, grooming himself; it was all an immutable routine.

Stepping out of his room, he glanced toward the neighboring room, his daughter's, with a "Knock before entering" sign stuck on the door. That too, never changed.

He took out the prepared instant breakfast from the fridge, heated it up quickly and ate in haste, then left a portion for his daughter, who was likely still asleep, before quietly leaving the house.

The morning rush hour in Fangting City was particularly intense; driving was practically impossible, so Lin Yun seldom drove to work, preferring to squeeze into the crowded electric train.

It was packed, but it was fast and ensured he arrived at the office on time.

He reached the nearest station from his home, waited about three minutes for the train, and was pushed by the crowd into the carriage, finding an empty handhold near the window as if he had grasped a lifeline amidst stormy seas.

Looking down, he turned on his phone and saw messages from his boss assigning tasks early in the morning in the company group chat. He let out an involuntary sigh.

Scouring the group chat's idle chatter for valuable information and pondering how to tackle the tedious tasks awaiting him at the office, Lin Yun felt increasingly disheartened and simply turned off his phone, his mind going blank as he savored the rare stillness amidst the crush of the train.

Before long, a scream suddenly echoed through the carriage.

Following the first scream, a chorus of alarmed shouts rose from all around.

Tracing the sound to its source and following the direction of the crowd's gaze outside, Lin Yun's eyes roved and quickly found the focal point, understanding why everyone was gasping—

A giant, meatball-like monster was clinging to a distant high-rise building, baring its fangs and claws in a rather terrifying display.

Remnant Beasts; that was what people called them.

They often appeared suddenly in human cities, destroying and killing aimlessly, an enigma to this day, and a significant threat to societal safety.

Physical attacks couldn't harm them, not even high-powered heat weapons could strike effectively, which caused great distress.

However, Remnant Beast attacks had been infrequent in Fangting City in recent years.

Time had turned common knowledge into a vague memory, and people had gradually become accustomed to days without sudden Remnant Beast attacks in their peaceful lives.

No wonder they were so panicked by this unexpected event.

This commotion of negative emotions did not last long before it was abruptly interrupted.

For a pale blue streak of magic shot across the sky, striking directly at the Remnant Beast between the buildings.

As if responding to the challenge of the blue streak, the spherical monster opened its horrific maw and let out a thunderous roar.

Thereafter, as the train moved further away, it was no longer possible to see what ensued.

In the train, some were still shaken, others cursed incessantly, and a few cheered jubilantly.

For they all recognized that blue streak of magic—it could not be anything else, it was undoubtedly the Magical Girl.

The appearance of the Magical Girl seemed as though she was born to counterbalance the Remnant Beasts.

It's uncertain who first termed them "Magical Girls", it could have formed naturally or might have stemmed from those popular children's animations—either way, Magical Girls became synonymous with "cleaning up Remnant Beasts".

Some deemed it a conspiracy or scam, others saw them as modern heroes, but without a doubt, people cared about the existence of Magical Girls, it was something they couldn't ignore.

Lin Yun felt the same.

"A color I've never seen, a new Magical Girl... they still appear, huh."

There was no particular emotion in his words, one could even say they were devoid of any feeling, only his furrowed brows revealed that his mind was anything but calm.

He knew this day was bound to come.

However, Remnant Beasts and Magical Girls were, after all, far removed from the lives of ordinary people, and as long as one wasn't accidentally caught up in their affairs, the two would forever run parallel, never intersecting.

There was no reason for him now to keep paying attention to such things.

The train rumbled on.

Emerging from the station with the crowd, navigating through traffic to reach the office building where his company resided, Lin Yun started his full day's work.

The enterprise where he worked was an elevator firm called Gao Sheng, which mainly handled the production and sales of commercial elevators, and he was the chief of the after-sales department.

Thus, his days were inevitably filled with back-and-forth haggling with clients; any slightly larger order would end up coming back to him if there were complications; minor endless matters always left one's head tingling.

He conscientiously completed report meetings, tediously communicated over business, forcibly maintained his energy to carry out task handovers, and in a daze, wrapped up the filing of documents.

Nearing seven in the evening, having declined the following dinner invitation, Lin Yun left the company, faced the already darkening sky, and silently trod the path home.

The dim streetlights cast their glow over the streets, yet failed to illuminate his face, walking in the shadows of skyscrapers, Lin Yun's expression was lost.

He often felt his recent life to be dull.

The seemingly set position at the company was becoming increasingly tiresome.

The long-unchanged interpersonal relationships were narrowing his perspectives more and more.

The near-freezing family situation left him clueless on how to communicate with his child.

And though in his prime, his body lacked vigor and was frequently plagued by minor ailments, with persistent pain in his shoulders and neck.

Recalling further, it seemed all the turning points traced back to a rainy funeral, where, standing baffled in front of that soaked gravestone, with his daughter's muffled sobbing in his ears, all the happiness he firmly believed in seemed to be washed away by the rain, leaving only an oppressive suffocation. It appeared that since his wife's passing, there was no such thing as joy in his life.

A car horn from the road jolted Lin Yun back to reality from his own world.

Was he too engrossed in the past?

There were many things he cared about, countless problems arose, yet he could not find the root cause among them.

Ambling towards the station, a sudden phone call interrupted his train of thought.

Picking up the phone, glancing at the displayed name, Lin Yun hesitated momentarily but ultimately moved his finger to the answer button.

After answering the call, accompanied by a clear ringtone, a woman's voice came through from the other end:

"Off work yet? Want to grab dinner together tonight?"