Off Work, Then Transform into a Magical Girl

"Yes, yes, I understand. I'm very sorry."

In the dimly lit sewer, a man's tired voice echoed from above.

"Yes, alright. If your repair personnel can't resolve it, we'll come over first thing tomorrow morning to provide service..."

It was 11 PM. Lin Yun held his phone, standing by an open sewer entrance, his face expressionless but his tone sincere as he made promises to the person on the other end of the line.

After hanging up, he opened the messaging app, typed out a message, and sent it. Only then did he put away his phone and let out a long sigh.

Chasing urban legends around the city, investigating various locations, receiving customer complaints about his subordinates late at night, and getting scolded because he had no signal in the sewer—all of it was truly exhausting.

But fortunately, there weren't many spots left. If there really was a Pupa-stage Brutal Beast in Fangting City's sewers, he could drag it out of its hiding place tonight.@@novelbin@@

Grasping the Flower of the Heart, Cui Que transformed into a Magical Girl once more and flew towards the next rumored location in the night.

"The Song of the Sewer," a recently popular urban legend online, had many versions. However, tracing its origins, most self-proclaimed firsthand witnesses claimed it happened in Fangting City.

The legend goes that if you pass by a sewer entrance late at night, you might occasionally hear an ethereal, strange yet beautiful song. Though not in any human language, it seems to convey some emotion, much like the mythical sirens, tempting passersby to investigate.

Once someone is enchanted by the song, they can't help but approach the source, even lifting the sewer cover to listen more closely. Eventually, they would be grabbed by a hand reaching out from the sewer and dragged into the darkness.

If someone ignores the song completely, they would find themselves trapped in the same area, unable to escape, as if encountering a ghostly maze. The song would grow stronger and closer until they are completely immersed in it.

Only those who show enough appreciation without being entirely captivated can safely leave the area where the song is heard.

In the later stages of the legend, some even claimed that an open but not closed sewer cover indicated someone had been harmed, and there would surely be news of a missing person nearby.

However, Cui Que had never seen such a thing.

Every time she endured the sewer's stench to search within, she found no missing persons, not even many rats. The dim, oppressive sewer only had the sounds of trickling water and blowing wind.

Recalling the details of the urban legend, Cui Que focused her attention on her hearing, trying to catch traces of the so-called "song," but to no avail.

She floated and flew through the maze-like tunnels for a good half hour.

The repetitive gray-yellow walls and dense pipes were tiresome, but Cui Que forced herself to continue searching. Unfortunately, her efforts were fruitless.

Unable to find what she was looking for, Cui Que had to move on to the next location. Just as she was about to choose a path to leave, she suddenly realized something was wrong:

A quick look at " will leave you more fulfilled.

—Half an hour, and she hadn't encountered a single exit?

Her previously drowsy mind instantly became alert, and her dormant magic power began to stir. Cui Que moved her hand, drawing a few lines, then released her magic power, which spread out in waves like sound waves. After a moment of investigation, she realized she might have finally found the right place.

Not only did she sense extremely faint magic remnants, but the spatial structure here was also clearly abnormal: it wasn't a normal city sewer but a space maze with an ant nest-like structure, only appearing as a sewer on the outside.

This was a hallmark of a Pupa-stage Brutal Beast's nest, distorting the original space of reality.

Adjusting her flight state to lower her floating height, several magic light orbs flew out from Cui Que's sleeve, illuminating the surroundings. She continued to move her hands quickly, drawing in the air. With these movements, several runes leaped from her fingers, flying around and forming a faint magic shield. Moments later, the light and runes faded together.

This series of actions used up half of the spell formulas Cui Que had mastered. Most of her spells were related to detection and protection, and facing a powerful enemy, one could never be too cautious.

After making these preparations, Cui Que steeled herself, ready to face any enemy that might appear at any moment.

Pupa-stage Brutal Beasts were relatively rare enemies for her in the past. Now, 19 years later, her strength had indeed declined significantly. When facing an enemy she couldn't be sure of defeating, caution was paramount.

Traversing the interconnected tunnels, Cui Que illuminated each intersection with magic light orbs to avoid ambushes from hidden enemies.

This instinctive vigilance soon paid off—she discovered a lurking Brutal Beast at the top of a tunnel corner.

Like a piece of rotten meat smashed against the wall, the scattered flesh stuck to the wall, with tentacle-like flesh buds anchoring its form. Undoubtedly, this was an Egg-stage Brutal Beast.

"Thud!"

In a few breaths, it was pierced by a magic beam from Cui Que, who was in a hurry. Its intimidating roar was stifled forever, and it fell heavily into the water, splashing dirty water everywhere.

Reaching out, she gathered the starlight into her hand, collecting the echoes of the Egg-stage beast, and continued forward.

From the moment she encountered this Brutal Beast, the enemies she faced grew more numerous.

A large number of Egg-stage Brutal Beasts, and even a few Caterpillar-stage ones, surged towards her from all directions in the tunnel. It was as if something was directing them, allowing them to accurately locate Cui Que.

Cui Que was unfazed.

Enemies of this level required little effort from her unless she was demonstrating for newcomers. Magical Assembly unfolded, and deadly magic threads spread around her. Many Brutal Beasts that charged at her were sliced into pieces by the razor-sharp threads before they could react.

She moved forward expressionlessly, with Brutal Beasts falling with a roar along the way.

The sewer tunnel turned into a slaughterhouse, but the slaughtered were not livestock but Brutal Beasts. The stench of blood even overpowered the sewer's usual foul odor, turning the yellow water into a river of red.

Cui Que didn't bother counting how many Brutal Beasts she killed, only remembering that she eventually grew tired of collecting the echoes of Egg-stage beasts.

Until finally, she heard the song.

It was not the faint singing of the legend but a grand, magnificent chorus, like a lavish performance.

Before her was no longer a narrow, cramped tunnel but a vast cavern that should never exist in a sewer.

She couldn't see the top, only the intertwined pipes and bricks. Countless sewer openings extended from the cavern walls, with torrents of wastewater pouring in from all directions, converging into a bottomless pool.

Above the pool was the source of the song.

It was neither a siren nor a mermaid; it was undoubtedly a Brutal Beast.

Cui Que looked up and saw flesh—chunks of meat and limbs.

Like intestines, the flesh hung in the air, decorating the cavern like festival banners. At the center, a massive Brutal Beast dangled, its entire body a mix of pink and red flesh, like a fish stripped of its scales and skin, but without eyes or gills, only a giant mouth.

That giant mouth moved like a human's, opening and closing, producing the enchanting song that echoed through the surrounding corridors, creating a chaotic chorus that sounded sacred and solemn.

Though there were no human words, Cui Que seemed to understand its meaning:

It was welcoming her, welcoming the arrival of the Magical Girl.