Chapter 129: Chapter One: A New Director Arrives at the Special Strategy Bureau

"In short, it's a story of this style."

This is the first sentence I want to give to readers who have finished Volume One.

Although the plot will keep reversing and changing, the overall tone of this novel remains essentially the same as this volume: seeking hope in despair, seeking light in darkness—magic girls bring miracles to this world, and that is the essence of this book.

Thank you for finishing Volume One of *Off-Clock Magic*. I am the author, Arc Salt. After two months, we meet again in this postscript summary.

Oh, you ask what "Off-Clock Magic" is? It's the abbreviation I came up with for this book, since the full title, *A【LI】CE: Off Work, Then Become a Magical Girl*, is simply too long.

Previously, in my launch announcement, I briefly introduced myself; this time, I won't talk about myself—let's talk properly about this book.

First, Part One: let's summarize Volume One: *The Blue Cuique Under the Cage*.

Let's start by discussing the parts of the book I'm most satisfied with.

When I first planned this book, I didn't envision a complete plot—I envisioned scenes that made me think, "Wow, this feels intensely magical girl," and from these scenes, I worked backward to construct the story, eventually refining a full outline.

Two of these scenes were placed in Volume One.

One is the middle-aged man sprinting through the night to save his daughter, then, just before battle, uttering the two words "Transform!" in a voice cold and weathered beyond measure—and becoming a magical girl.

I felt this would be a scene straight out of Kamen Rider, yet it was placed within a magical girl setting, creating a dissonant beauty—I used it without hesitation.

The second scene is in a darkened hall, where the magical girl fights her rebellious former teammate, trading barbs as they battle, then slaying her old comrade with tears in her eyes.

This scene must feel familiar to everyone—it was inspired by a classic moment from *Puella Magi Madoka Magica*, and in this novel, it became the final arc between Cuique and Hong Siyu. Yet I did not replicate my original idea here.

Originally, I created Hong Siyu as a pure traitor meant to be purged by the protagonist; in fact, in early drafts, the mastermind behind the events in Fang Ting City was this "fallen former teammate," and there was no Mosi at all.

But as the outline developed, I realized a problem—what did this have to do with the Three Little Ones? Could they just sleep at home while Cuique solved everything? Besides, I grew soft: I didn't think Hong Siyu deserved to die so easily, so I changed the plot.

After the revision, it became what you see now: not a betrayal by the former teammate, but her being manipulated—the true villain should be a pure evil and punching bag, brutally beaten by the protagonist to satisfy both readers' and my own fury.

Of course, all this happened before the book was written.

Translating perfectly conceived scenes into a full novel is incredibly difficult; only after actually writing did I realize how many flaws remained in the outline—I had to keep refining as I went.

My original plan for Volume One was far simpler: protagonist returns—daily life—discovers the mastermind—defeats the boss. But the word "daily life" in the outline was a devilish curse; once I poured effort into fleshing it out, Volume One inexplicably ballooned to its current length.

Originally, I designed a seemingly ultra-cool rhythm for Volume One: "overt childcare routine, covert murder investigation." It sounded idealistic—and indeed, once I started writing, I quickly realized the investigation thread was impossible to sustain.

Because the investigation plot inevitably carries more information than the daily life plot, if I ran both threads in parallel, readers focused on the main plot would find the daily scenes tedious, while those drawn to the lighthearted moments would feel the investigation ruined the mood. Either way, the reading experience suffered.

This tension showed up early in the novel—around Chapter 30. Before that, I had strictly followed the dual-thread principle. But after Cuique first encountered a Cocoon-class monster, I understood: I couldn't write it this way.

So I decided then to cut the entire covert investigation thread and replace it with phased major events driving the plot forward.

That's why, from the Sparrow Battle arc onward, each main plot segment is so lengthy—I have a massive pile of cut information to now dump into the main storyline, information that was originally meant for the investigation thread.

Since writing is only a side job, I truly lack time to revise the outline, which is the direct reason I struggled to find my rhythm after the book went live, ultimately leading to a period of declining quality. Fortunately, the scenes I originally envisioned—the confrontation with the former teammate—turned out well, achieving a quality I was relatively satisfied with.

By the way, because of Volume One's tone, I once pondered a stupid question while writing these scenes: "If this were a seasonal anime, what would its opening theme be?" Even stupider—I actually found one. I chose "Shadowgraph," the OP of the TV anime *Bokurano: Ours*. Readers with spare time can find the song; listening to it while picturing Cuique advancing through the dark hall of Gao Ta captures my entire fantasy of this question.

In short, after this, I truly felt the consequences of overestimating my abilities. The "dual-thread" idea was nothing but a reckless attempt born of underestimating my own limits—I won't dare try this again anytime soon.

I can only thank you all for your unwavering support. Many readers encouraged me even during my lowest moments, helping me keep going—thank you so much.

Now, let's look ahead and discuss future plans.

The book's total length is planned at roughly four volumes. Volume One is relatively short—certainly shorter than Volume Two—so you can already guess: Volume Two will be considerably richer.

In Volume One, to conceal Mosi's conspiracy, I held back on many worldbuilding details, unable to fully unfold them; now, entering Volume Two, the core of this book—the Magic Realm—will truly be revealed to you.

If Volume One still carried some non-fantasy elements, from Volume Two onward, as the plot shifts heavily toward the Magic Realm, the fantasy density will rise sharply.

Even the hints I dropped in the epilogue are only a fraction. New teammates, new old acquaintances, new gem staves, new claw marks, and a flood of new characters will all make their entrances.

Among them is one entirely new character, never mentioned before, whom I personally adore. She will play a crucial role in future plots and is deeply tied to the protagonist's choice of the codename "Cuique." I hope you'll like her.

Also, entering Volume Two, as the number of supporting and background characters increases dramatically, I may solicit reader submissions in the comments for background magical girl codenames and abilities—I'll select the most interesting designs to include in the story. Interested readers, please participate.

I won't spoil more—just a hint. Stay tuned.

That's enough idle talk. I've said nearly everything I needed to. Though I have countless things I want to share about this book, I must force myself to hold back and release them gradually in the main text. I hope you'll join me as we witness this story and step together into Volume Two: *The Cornflower on the Spire of Gao Ta*.

Now, a bit of bad news: I will be taking four days off next week, continuing until the end of this week, and will resume updates next Monday.

The break is to adjust my schedule and refine the outline—after finishing this volume, my sleep cycle is shattered and I'm utterly exhausted; I truly need time to reset.

I apologize to all readers, but please understand—I want to deliver better-quality writing to you.

Let's meet again at the end-of-volume summary of Volume Two.

【PS: Thank You List】

【For a while, I isolated myself while writing, ignoring comments and book news entirely—so I didn't interact with reviews, nor did I thank readers who supported me with rewards. Out of an ostrich mentality, I felt it was awkward to catch up later, but now that Volume One is done, I think I should properly thank you all.】

【First, thank you to all readers who rewarded me: you spent extra money beyond subscription to show your approval, and it moved me deeply; second, thank you to those who actively commented in the reviews and even created fanworks—you enlivened the discussion, and your posts became an indispensable part of the reading experience; finally, thank you to all moderators who organized events and managed toxic comments in the review section—you've worked hard.】

【Also, thank you to some readers who switched from unmentionable channels to official paid subscriptions—I appreciate you choosing to support me.】

【Finally, here is the list of readers who rewarded me, including all Grand Patrons and those who rewarded me this month. For those who rewarded me last month or the month before—I'm too lazy to dig through old lists and count names one by one, so please forgive me, thank you, I love you.】

【Thank you to Grand Patrons: Platinum Gao Ta, Billy the Corn-Eater Cat, Boli Saiqianxiang, Stone Walking, Yue Youmeng, Yu Ying Wuqing, Sinmem, Sheogorath, Evilvirtuous, Yilingmi, Mo Lingyin, Fei Qiu, ICP, Dragon Floating Girl, Bookfriend, Love Warrior Wilde, Hasegawa Riko, Ju Rou Wu Shuang, Wester New Earl, Account Taken by Abdomsisn, and the Support of the Soy Sauce Vanilla.】

【Thank you to Cai Xi Yuan, Luo He G, Protein's Sorrow, Boring Day Ah, Wild Little Marksman, Bookfriend, Whale Coffin Priest, Yue Xin, This Damned Wind-Moon-Snow-Month, Slow Lazy Fish, Magnetic Field Weirdo, Desolate Wolf, Cynabal, Starlight Companion, Belief Is Your Magic, 3zh_bth, lrsks, Bookfriend, Apex of Time, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Great Style, Coffein, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Bookfriend, Salted Fish Jokester, Idle Reader, Bookfriend, Dead, Si He Qing, Bookfriend, and Boli Saiqianxiang's rewards.】