Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl

Book 2: Chapter 188: Ambush

Vol 2 Chapter 188 AmbushWhen Lin Xiaolu stepped across an intersection following the route she sensed, a prickling feeling on her back suddenly made her stop in her tracks.

“Wait!”

She shouted, instinctively balancing on one foot, then retreated while condensing a magical energy orb, which she threw down in front of herself.

“Boom!”

The sudden explosion made both Mint and Bai Jingxuan standing behind instinctively shield against the blast wind.

“Phew… cough cough cough…”

Lin Xiaolu, closest to the explosion, also felt uncomfortable, falling to the ground and coughing twice before furrowing her brow and standing up with a hoarse voice: “There’s actually such a dangerous trap in this exam? That’s just brutal!”

“Are you okay, Sister Xiaolu?” Bai Jingxuan slowly patted Lin Xiaolu’s back from behind and guessed aloud, “Is it a hidden rule?”

“I’ll check it out.” Mint volunteered, passing by the two of them quietly and tiptoeing to the spot where the explosion occurred. After a brief search, she stood upright and said,

“No, it’s probably not a hidden rule because this thing is likely not set by the examiners.”

“Huh?” Lin Xiaolu squatted and looked up sharply, her eyes suddenly becoming much sharper. “What do you mean?”

“If I’m not mistaken, this is probably a trap planted by another team.”

Mint touched her smooth chin, a thoughtful expression on her face: “So far in the exploration, although we haven’t found the examiners’ real hidden objects, I have roughly figured out their test design. No matter what form the test takes, there will definitely be clues. But this explosive trap has no hints around it—no magical resonance, no highlights, no sounds… Such a trap doesn’t seem like the examiners’ handiwork.”

“Someone wants to hurt us?” Without doubting Mint’s analysis, Lin Xiaolu also felt the timing of the trap’s appearance was very suspicious. She told Bai Jingxuan, “I’m fine,” then returned to the site of the explosion. “So, there might be other teams hiding nearby?”

“Maybe ahead, but probably not nearby.”

Mint shook her head: “If the enemy wanted to ambush, the best moment would be when the bomb explodes, but no one appeared. Either they thought the trap’s damage was enough to reduce our team members, or they saw you weren’t hurt in the explosion and chose to retreat.”

Lin Xiaolu took a deep breath and then pursed her lips in frustration.

She really wanted to curse these people for their despicable shamelessness, but at this point, she realized that this exam was precisely about this.

To be exact, the entire project focused on the core ability of Magical Girls: magical perception.

Whether it was finding the maze exit, exploring possible hidden objects inside, or that seemingly forbidden rule that actually encouraged ambushes among candidates… all emphasized the importance of perception ability.

Only Magical Girls with sharp enough perception could stand out under this grueling test.

She almost got blown up by such a trap precisely because her perception was not keen enough. If it had been Veronica here, she probably would have sensed something unusual from a long distance.

“…So what do we do? Do we keep moving forward?”

After a moment of frustration, she spoke again: “Since they are ahead of us in this passage, they might continue to set traps, right?”

“Highly likely.”

Mint nodded: “But precisely because of that, my suggestion is to keep moving forward.”

“Why?” Lin Xiaolu looked puzzled.

“First, we have to assume the enemy team leader and decision-maker is not an idiot, but a reasonable person.”

Mint looked at Lin Xiaolu: “If their thinking is normal, then why would they ambush our team?”

“Why else? To eliminate us so they have fewer competitors.”

Lin Xiaolu put her hands on her hips: “Worried we’ll get better results, so they decided to strike first, right?”

“Come on… think carefully, how many people are taking this exam?”

Mint was a little helpless: “Eliminating only one team still leaves many competitors. What’s the benefit of doing that?”

“Of course, because we’re strong.”

Lin Xiaolu blinked her eyes: “They want to take out the most threatening opponent… and that’s us.”

Mint fell silent.

This time she leaned back against the shrub wall, her chest heaving. After a long moment, she spoke: “My personal view is that they probably discovered something ahead but can’t get their hands on it immediately, so they are blocking the way here.”

“What did they discover?” Bai Jingxuan asked along.

“…I don’t know.”

Mint rolled her eyes: “Because I’m just guessing. I think there might be secrets in this maze, but we haven’t found what those secrets are yet.”

“So there really aren’t any secrets?” Lin Xiaolu looked doubtful: “We’ve searched so long without seeing anything. I think you’re overthinking it.”

“Maybe they’re just messing with us.” Bai Jingxuan agreed strongly.

“No, I think I’ve explained my thoughts clearly enough, right, sisters?”

Mint gasped: “Why is there no exit now, why the maze likely hides secrets—I already made all this clear, and you told me you understood at the time, didn’t you?”

“So it’s all your speculation. What if the examiners didn’t think that far?” Lin Xiaolu argued confidently.

“I think she’s just messing with us, Sister Xiaolu.” Bai Jingxuan rubbed her hands eagerly.

Mint looked at her two teammates and sighed again, holding her head with both hands.

She leaned against the wall again, silent for a while, then tilted her head back, mouth half-open, as if letting out some silent groan, her painful expression evoking sympathy.

Just as the communication among the three fell into a deadlock, a voice came at the perfect moment, interrupting Mint’s overwhelming frustration.

—[Additional Announcement, Additional Announcement]—

This voice echoed through the maze. Judging by the tone, it was clearly the head examiner who had appeared before everyone prior to the exam, immediately catching the attention of all candidates still exploring.

[Since Team 277 solved the first puzzle first and earned extra points, Rule Four, the first hidden rule, is hereby announced.]

[Rule Four: Some locations in the maze hide special puzzles. Finding and solving these puzzles grants corresponding bonus points and exclusive shortcuts usable only by the solver. All puzzles and rewards are single-use consumables and non-transferable. Bonus points will be settled before the second practical exam and will not reset if failed. Candidates are encouraged to actively explore.]

[Repeating again, since Team 277 solved the first puzzle first...]

The voice repeated the above twice, seemingly to ensure everyone heard clearly.

When the voice faded, many teams still clueless, including Lin Xiaolu’s, fell into a state of confusion.

Lin Xiaolu glanced at Mint with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

Bai Jingxuan looked at Lin Xiaolu and Mint, then quietly hid behind Lin Xiaolu.

Mint crossed her arms, sneered: “Go on, say it. Why don’t you say I’m overthinking?”

Lin Xiaolu actually wanted to find a hole to crawl into, but now she had no other support and even had to be someone Bai Jingxuan could rely on, so she forced herself to say, “Ah, so there really is something.”

“Yeah, there really is.”

Mint stared at the two for a while, then finally dropped her arms: “Forget it, points are more important. You should believe now that the team ahead probably discovered a ‘puzzle.’ Because they don’t want others to interfere, they chose to block the path this way.”

“…Makes sense.”

Knowing she was in the wrong, Lin Xiaolu reluctantly responded.

“So now what we should do is to press the advantage. The best revenge against them is to snatch that possible puzzle away.”

Mint returned to the center of the intersection, facing forward: “The only problem is, we don’t know how many traps they’ve set…”

Lin Xiaolu looked down the passage ahead, feeling that the bottomless darkness was full of bombs: “…But I actually have another question.”

“What?” Mint narrowed her eyes, looking at her.

“Since they already ambushed us, they probably know what we look like, right?”

Though still feeling awkward, Lin Xiaolu bravely voiced her concern: “What if we snatch their puzzle and eliminate them, but afterwards they identify us?”

“True… that does make it tricky.”

Mint nodded in agreement: “If they already know our identities, then even if we ambush and finish quickly, there’s still some risk of being falsely accused later.”

“Any other ideas?” Lin Xiaolu pressed.

“Even if you ask me now…” Mint scratched her head in frustration.

—“Well, I think I might have a solution.” Bai Jingxuan interrupted at this moment.

The other two immediately turned their gaze toward her.

“That explosion trap just now actually blackened the surrounding walls a bit. Although it didn’t damage the passage, I think that proves it’s somewhat useful.”

Bai Jingxuan put her hands on Lin Xiaolu’s shoulders, leaning her head out from behind her: “So, if we can find all the traps they set, then release a bit more magical energy to detonate them all at once as much as possible…”

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Lin Xiaolu and Mint both pointed fingers at each other, then at Bai Jingxuan.

—“Maybe it really could work!”