Chapter 4: The Unidentified Call

Lin Yun and Anya were childhood sweethearts.

The two were in the same class from a very young age and became friends. Anya was a very lively and mischievous girl, so gender did not become an obstacle to their friendship; they were very close and inseparable.

Later, for a short period, as the two gradually grew up and entered puberty, they began to realize the differences in their genders, and their way of interacting became somewhat strange. Also, because they were in different schools after advancing, their relationship began to grow somewhat distant.

Until one day, an incident caused Anya to reappear in Lin Yun’s life and turned everything upside down.

—Anya had become a Magical Girl.

She saved Lin Yun and the surrounding citizens from a sudden crisis, appearing before him like a dignified angel.

Powerful, resilient, beautiful.

His childhood playmate had become unreachable, so different from the mischievous tomboy in his memories, to the point that she even felt somewhat like a stranger to him.

But Anya was very happy, because she felt she had a friend with whom she could share her secrets, and this friend was her childhood sweetheart from whom she had become somewhat distant; the two were back on good terms, which could be called killing two birds with one stone.

But being a Magical Girl was not an easy identity; the Remnant Beasts in the city became more and more numerous and powerful, until one day, Anya was completely unable to deal with the enemies coming one after another.

Lin Yun stepped forward at that time, and thus, he also became a Magical Girl.

Later on, after experiencing many things, they met more companions and went through more dangerous battles, but they ultimately persevered and even became heroes who saved the city.

In the end, the adult Lin Yun gave up the power and identity of a Magical Girl and returned to an ordinary life.

It was called ordinary, but it wasn't that ordinary, after all, his wife was a Magical Girl.

He and Anya got married.

The two lived a quite loving life, raised a cute daughter, and enjoyed family happiness. Everything was very natural; the hero who saved others from crises had hung up his armor and returned to a peaceful and happy life.

It should have been like this.

"Should have been..."

In the crowded and busy morning, Lin Yun was squeezed into the crowd on the train, looking at the scenery outside the window with his usual numb expression.

A week had passed since he discovered his daughter had become a Magical Girl.

Perhaps because they had finally poured out their hearts that night, Lin Yun felt that the atmosphere between him and Lin Xiaolu had improved a little; at least when the two were together at home, his daughter would symbolically look at him, instead of ignoring him completely and treating him like air as she did when their relationship was at its worst.

In this way, it could be considered a small step toward repairing the father-daughter relationship.

He was still somewhat relieved.

As for the safety issue of his daughter becoming a Magical Girl, he chose to keep in touch with Hong Siyu, letting her use her background as an official to keep an eye on things and prioritize Lin Xiaolu's safety as much as possible.

Lin Yun probably also sensed that Hong Siyu had some romantic feelings for him, so now that he was taking the initiative to contact her, not mentioning this matter at all made him feel a bit like a scumbag, and he wanted to clarify this relationship.

But Hong Siyu kept denying it, saying she couldn't even remember what nonsense she had said while drunk that day, and told him not to take it seriously.

This matter was just left aside.

As for what Lin Yun actually did after taking out the Heart Flower that night.

He wanted to try transforming.

The identity of a Magical Girl had long since become a distant memory for him, and the feeling of fighting or even killing Remnant Beasts had long been forgotten; he could barely remember what it felt like to fight.

Did he really used to fight such monsters as a matter of course?

This thought arose in his mind involuntarily.

In fact, although he had retired, strictly speaking, he had not completely lost the power of a Magical Girl. Regardless of what issues there might be, at least he should still be able to transform.

However, that night, the attempt at transformation failed.

Touching the Heart Flower with his hand, he received no response.

The dust-covered Heart Flower was like a truly dead object, showing absolutely no change.

This left Lin Yun feeling both relieved and worried.

He was relieved because it seemed he really had no power left, which somewhat eased many thoughts that had been tormenting him. He was worried because having lost his power, he might not be able to help if his daughter encountered a crisis she couldn't resolve.

Because of this, he couldn't use the identity of a Magical Girl to tell his daughter certain things.

Yes, he had once wanted to approach his daughter as a Magical Girl.

As a father, there were things he couldn't tell her himself—things she might not believe even if he said them—but as a "senior Magical Girl," he would have the standing and reason to say them.

To tell her about the dangers of the Magical Girl identity.

To tell her what this power meant.

To tell her who the enemies actually were.

To tell her how to make herself stronger so she could better protect herself.

If these pieces of information were told by a senior who was also a Magical Girl, his daughter would have no reason not to take them seriously.

He had too many things he wanted to say to his daughter, but he didn't know how to start.

The silence of the Heart Flower made him abandon this idea.

Whether he had lost his power, or no longer had the qualifications to be a Magical Girl, or some other reason, none of that mattered anymore.

During this week, a Remnant Beast appeared in the city again; fortunately, it was eliminated by Lin Xiaolu without any trouble, and the subsequent damage was kept to a minimum.

The only thing that surprised Lin Yun was that, unlike the television interview last time, the media response to this Remnant Beast attack was minimal.

He didn't know if it was because times had changed and the Bureau of Strange Strategy in this era had started taking a low-profile route, or if people's focus had shifted; in any case, although the appearance of Remnant Beasts in the city had become somewhat frequent, and there was a newly appointed Magical Girl, it failed to spark widespread discussion among the public.

The previous television interview had also vanished without a trace after it aired, and even the video he found online was quickly replaced by content updated later on the television station's official website.

Yet in the era when he was a Magical Girl, both the media and the public loved to put Magical Girls at the center of conversation.

With a thousand thoughts in his mind, Lin Yun followed the flow of people to the company and began another day of work.

It was the same familiar and tedious tasks, but perhaps because his mindset had shifted, he felt that the previous sense of anxiety had been weakened significantly.

Just like that, he was busy until noon; after finishing his work lunch and while sitting in the office processing unfinished documents, Lin Yun suddenly received a call.

The caller ID showed an unknown number.

Although he didn't know who it was, he pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear:

"Hello?"

All he got was a burst of "hissing" static.

Frowning slightly, Lin Yun waited for two seconds and asked again:

"Hello? Who is this?"

"...Be careful."

"What did you say?"

"Hissing."

"Hello?"

"Be careful of the Remnant Beast tonight."

A single sentence made Lin Yun's eyes widen.

"What do you mean? Who exactly are you?"

He couldn't help but ask, but after saying just that, there was no more sound from the other side of the call.

Before long, the "hissing" noise turned into the busy signal of a disconnected call.