Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl

Book 2: Chapter 190: An Awkward Encounter

Vol 2 Chapter 190: An Awkward EncounterXia Liang was facing a test.

If she were given the chance now to turn back time ten minutes and choose again whether to go upstairs or downstairs, she would definitely not choose to go down but would instead head upstairs without hesitation.

Because only by doing that could she have avoided the embarrassing situation she was in now.

The three of them in their team were trapped in a combat zone.

This battle was not an attack targeting them; rather, it was two other teams that suddenly started fighting in this area. Moreover, the attacking side had used a large number of concealment spells, filling the entire passage with thick smoke and light barriers. Even though they were on site, they still couldn’t see clearly what was happening.

The only thing Xia Liang could sense was that the magical resonance frequency on the scene was extremely chaotic, meaning that there were definitely more than two magical girls involved in the fight. It should have been an all-out melee with both teams deploying all their members.

Should they retreat the way they came? Or continue to wait and see?

Hiding behind a corner, Xia Liang’s mind raced.

Retreating was the safest option, but to bypass the combat zone ahead, they would inevitably waste a lot of time, which meant slowing down the team’s exploration progress. If they waited and observed, maybe they could wait for the battle ahead to end and then confirm the appearance of the opposing team, using that information to safely pass through this risky area. However, if the fighting magical girls discovered them first, they could easily be mistaken as enemies and dragged into the battle, which would be a complete loss.

She had never considered joining the current battle because these fighting teams had no grudge or conflicting interests with her, so there was no reason to stir up trouble for herself.

“What’s wrong? Little Jin, not moving forward?”

Just as Xia Liang’s mind wavered, Shandan’s voice came from behind her.

She spoke as if she didn’t care about the scene in front of her, walking over to Xia Liang’s side and peeking around the corner. Her gaze crossed the wall, and she said with curiosity, “Wow, is someone fighting?”

“Shh.” Xia Liang immediately motioned for silence, then lowered her voice and said as softly as possible, “Keep your voice down.”

“Oh.” Shandan nodded and obediently lowered her voice. “Why?”

She chose to listen to Xia Liang first before asking for the reason, simply because Xia Liang’s earlier analysis had impressed her. In Shandan’s view, regardless of Xia Liang’s strength, her mind was definitely sharp.

In this exam that concerned their future, “the wise take precedence” was the consensus among most candidates. So after realizing Xia Liang seemed smart, Shandan naturally chose to trust her more.

“Of course, it’s to avoid attracting their attention.”

Xia Liang answered matter-of-factly. “What if they mistake us for enemies?”

“In that case, wouldn’t they have already noticed us?” Shandan countered.

“Huh?” Xia Liang frowned.

“We’re hiding here, but it’s not very concealed. Look.” Shandan pointed to the wall behind Xia Liang.

So Xia Liang looked past the wall again toward the battlefield. The smoke and light barriers from before had somehow been cleared, leaving only the two teams facing off in the passage.

Without those visual obstructions, their hiding spot was naturally not very concealed. Judging by the positions of the two teams, it was clear they had noticed someone behind that corner and deliberately kept their distance.

However, neither side seemed to want to greet Xia Liang’s group; after all, their top priority was to stay alert to the enemies in front of them during the fight.

This gave Xia Liang and her team a chance to openly observe the two teams. They were shocked to see that the leaders of both teams were the so-called “powerhouse” level figures on the “Power Ranking List.”

The leader of the team on the left was a girl with shoulder-length yellow hair and an arrogant look. She was ranked twelfth on the Power Ranking List and was called “Calla Lily.”

On the right, the team leader was an even more heavyweight figure — a magical girl with an elegant appearance but a mysterious expression, long purple hair trailing on the ground, mixed with white highlights. She was ranked fourth on the Power Ranking List and was called “Drunken Fishweed.”

In other words, the battle in the smoky haze just now was a fight between these two magical girls listed on the Power Ranking List.

“You jerk...”

The one who dispersed the spells forming the smoke and light barriers was none other than Calla Lily, the girl on the left who was currently glaring fiercely at the opponent. The reason was simple — she was the one being attacked.

Calla Lily’s team had no intention of starting a fight with others recklessly. Since there was a rookie junior in her team, she had been cautious to avoid encounters with other teams. But despite all precautions, for some unknown reason, they had suddenly been ambushed by another team.

Whether it was the smoke or the light barriers, these were obviously tools used by the enemy to hide their identities and strike quickly. So Calla Lily’s choice was not to rush into battle but to defend fully, ensuring no casualties in her team while quickly breaking the enemy’s spells.

These spells, which only served to obscure vision, were not complicated to break — even without knowing the exact spells used, one only needed to cast a similar type of spell to neutralize the magical energy in the area and then actively dispel it. The only downside was the high magical energy consumption.

But Calla Lily also knew very well that, according to the rules announced by the head examiner earlier in this maze, when ambushed, “seeing clearly who the opponent is” was far more important than “counterattacking.”

Because if they counterattacked, no matter win or lose, they would put themselves in a predicament far more complicated than most candidates faced.

If they won the counterattack, unless they completely incapacitated the opponent, they could not be truly safe. But if they did incapacitate the opponent, as soon as the opponent reported them to the examiner, their own scores and points for the exam would be credited to the other side.

If they counterattacked but lost, they would either be eliminated directly, with future scores depending entirely on their conqueror’s goodwill; or if they survived, they would need to spend a lot of magical energy healing, causing “magical energy shortage and poor condition” in the following exam stages.

It was safe to say that in this maze, “fighting others” was the most unprofitable thing to do.

For this reason, Calla Lily chose to break the enemy’s spells just to see that person’s face. Only by doing this could she hope to make the opponent hesitate and end the fight.

But after seeing the opponent’s face clearly, she suddenly realized that it was someone she knew.

Calla Lily never cared about the so-called “Power Ranking List,” which she saw as a gimmick to attract attention and not very useful.

She recognized the opponent only because a few days ago during the written test, they had a conflict.

The conflict was insignificant — basically, the opponent was inexplicably sitting in the hallway of the exam classroom, and Calla Lily scolded them for blocking the way. But the other party refused to move and even started provoking her. Then they clashed.

The incident ended inconclusively because the examiners separated them on site. Neither side planned to cause trouble in the written exam room.

“Why did you suddenly attack?” After recognizing the opponent’s identity, Calla Lily finally relaxed a bit because she now held the biggest leverage — the opponent’s identity. Under such circumstances, anyone with a sane mind wouldn’t want to continue fighting.

“Why? Does this kind of thing need a reason?”

The magical girl codenamed Drunken Fishweed grinned, her pale lips parting to reveal teeth, speaking mysteriously, “We didn’t settle things back then... you must care about it a lot, right? I certainly do, so I already marked you early on and came specifically to find you.”

“Huh?”

The strange tone made Calla Lily uncomfortable, but the logic in the words baffled her: “You marked me? Came to find me to fight? Are you crazy?”

“Heh heh, looks like you know me well. Yes, I’m sick.”

Drunken Fishweed smiled slyly, her eyes covered with smoky makeup staring unblinkingly at Calla Lily. “But are you really okay with this?”

“What do you mean okay or not? What did you do to me? Undo it quickly, you lunatic!”

Calla Lily cursed angrily. “You’ve been seen by me, yet you still want to play tricks...”

Her words stuck halfway in her throat.

Because she suddenly felt a strange sensation spreading through her body.

“Oh dear, how troublesome, you saw it.”

Drunken Fishweed smiled and moved closer, gradually pressing toward Calla Lily. “Yes, I should think of a way to deal with this.”

“You...”

Calla Lily gritted her teeth, but she only felt weak all over. She could only glare at her opponent and then slowly, slowly sank to her knees:

“How dare you still attack... what are you doing... aren’t you worried about your points...”

She already understood what Drunken Fishweed’s “are you really okay with this” meant.

Because when she thought the opponent would no longer move, Drunken Fishweed had secretly used some ability to strip her of mobility.

This was a fight without any suspense, with a huge disparity. One side hadn’t even wanted to fight, yet had already lost.

But Calla Lily still didn’t understand what the opponent was after by doing this.

Running here to “seek revenge” under these rules, even if secretly eliminating the opponent and causing their elimination, the opponent’s score would reset to zero once the examiner was informed. Was there any meaning in this?

She was in this sorry state, and her two teammates weren’t faring any better. Including her junior, the two less experienced magical girls had already collapsed on the ground.

At this moment, Drunken Fishweed was right in front of her.

“No need to worry. Feel free to report me to the examiner. In the end, you’ll only fail anyway.”

She chuckled lightly and extended the hand she had been hiding behind her back. That hand was holding an incense burner that glowed with magical light. “Well, the chit-chat is over. Now, just enjoy being the audience.”

“Good night.”

As she muttered this, the incense began to emit a glowing magical aura, and smoke that seemed solid flowed down from her palm, enveloping Calla Lily and her teammates.

Before long, all three magical girls closed their eyes and collapsed on the ground as if asleep.

Then, accompanied by the red glow of the number tags on their bodies, they were all teleported out of the maze.