Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

Xia Liang is facing a test.

If she were given the chance now, to go back ten minutes in time and make the choice between going up or down again, she would certainly not choose to go down. Instead, she would resolutely head upstairs.

Because perhaps only in that way, she wouldn't have encountered the awkward situation she is in right now.

Their team of three is caught in a battle zone.

This fight was not an attack directed at them; it was two other teams that suddenly started fighting in this area. Moreover, the attacking side used a large number of identity-hiding magic techniques, making the entire passage filled with smoke and light screens. Even if they were on-site, they still couldn't see what was actually happening.

The only thing Xia Liang could sense was the extremely chaotic frequency of the magical power fluctuations in the area, indicating that there were definitely more than two Magical Girls in the fray—it should be a big brawl involving all the members of both teams.

Should they return the way they came? Or should they stay here and observe the situation?

Hiding behind the corner of a wall, Xia Liang's mind raced.

Returning the same way was the safest option, but skirting around the battle zone ahead would inevitably waste a lot of time, which means the team's exploration progress would be delayed. On the other hand, staying to observe could mean waiting for the battle ahead to end, and then they could confirm the appearance of the opposing teams, using that as evidence to pass through this contentious area. However, if they were discovered in advance by those Magical Girls fighting, they might be mistaken for enemies and dragged into the battle, which would be completely detrimental.

She never intended to join the battle in front of her, as she had no personal grudges or conflicts of interest with the teams involved in the fight, so there was no need to get involved and provoke hostility for nothing.

"What's up, Jin, aren't we moving forward?"

Just as Xia Liang's inner struggle was at its peak, Shan Dan's voice came from behind her.

She spoke as if unconcerned about the situation in front of her and walked over to Xia Liang, curiously peeking over the corner of the wall. "Wow, is someone fighting?"

"Shh." Xia Liang immediately signaled her to be quiet and then lowered her voice, speaking as softly as possible, "Keep your voice down."

"Oh." Shan Dan nodded and lowered her voice obediently, "Why?"

She chose to follow Xia Liang's instructions first before asking for the reason, purely because Xia Liang's previous analysis had already won her over. In Shan Dan's understanding, regardless of Xia Liang's power, her brains were definitely among the most astute.

In this exam that concerned their futures, "the capable ones lead" was also the consensus among most exam takers, so after realizing that Xia Liang seemed quite clever, Shan Dan naturally chose to trust her more.

"Of course, it's so we don't attract attention from these people."

Xia Liang replied matter-of-factly, "What if we get mistaken for enemies?"

"If that's the case, wouldn't we have already been noticed?" Shan Dan retorted.

"Hmm?" Xia Liang was taken aback.

"We're not very hidden in this spot, look." Shan Dan pointed to the wall behind Xia Liang.

Thus Xia Liang peered over the wall once more to look at the battlefield. She noticed that the smoke and light screens from earlier had been cleared away at some point, leaving the two teams confronting each other in the passage.

Without these Blind Eye Techniques obstructing visibility, Xia Liang and her team's hiding place could hardly be considered secretive, and from the positioning of the two teams, it was clear that they were aware of someone being behind the wall, hence they consciously kept their distance.

However, they did not seem inclined to greet Xia Liang and the others, as both sides in the fight needed to be most wary of the enemies before them after all.

This allowed Xia Liang and the others the chance to openly observe the two teams. They were shocked at what they saw—the leaders of both teams were actually heavyweight figures, ranked on that so-called "Top Ranked List."

The leader of the team on the left, a person with shoulder-length yellow short hair, who looked rather arrogant, was ranked twelfth on the Top Ranked List as "Pine Lily."

And on the right side of the team stood a more prominent figure—the person appeared graceful, but their expression was cunning, with long purple hair trailing on the ground and mixed with white highlights, a Magical Girl ranked second on the Top Ranked List known as "Drunken Fish Grass."

In other words, the battle amidst the smoke earlier was a conflict between these two Magical Girls listed on the "Top Ranked List."

"You..." The one who dismissed the smoke and light screen magic techniques turned out to be none other than Pine Lily, standing on the left and glaring angrily at the other side. The reason for her actions was rather simple—she was on the receiving end of the attack.

Her team originally had no intention of recklessly engaging with others, as there was a newcomer, a junior, in her team, so she was careful to avoid encounters with other teams. Despite her precautions, she inexplicably suffered an attack from another team.

Whether it was the smoke or the light screen, it was clear the opponent used them as tools for identity concealment and a quick resolution. So, Pine Lily's choice in such a situation was not to hastily fight back but to fully engage in defense, to ensure her team suffered no casualties while swiftly dismantling the opposing team's magic techniques.

These techniques lacking focused function, solely to obscure vision, had a relatively simple deconstruction principle—even if unsure of the exact magic technique used by the opponent, one only needed to use similar techniques to offset the opponent's influence over magic power in the area and then deliberately dissolve it. The only issue was possibly higher magical power consumption.

But Pine Lily knew very well that, in this maze, according to the rules previously announced by the Examiner, "seeing the opponent clearly" was far more critical than "counterattacking" when faced with an attack.

Simply because counterattacking, no matter winning or losing, would place the attacker in a far more complicated situation than most exam takers.

If counterattacking and winning, unless completely defeating the opponent, rendering them incapable of acting, safety couldn't be assured. But if the opponent were rendered incapable, once they later reported to an Examiner, oneself would have all their achievements and points in this exam transferred to another's advantage.

If the counterattack failed, they would either be directly eliminated, and whatever points they secured would depend entirely on the whims of the person who defeated them, or they would survive but would need to use a large amount of magical power for healing and recovery, inevitably leading to the predicament of "magic power deficit, unwell state" in the subsequent exam processes.

It can be said that in this maze, "fighting with others" is definitely the most unwise thing to do.

With this in mind, Calla chose to break the other party's magic technique, just to see the person's face clearly. Only then might she make the other hesitate and enable both parties to stand down.

And only after she saw the person's face did she suddenly realize: it was someone she knew.

Calla hadn't paid attention to any so-called "Thigh Rankings." To her, those were just tricks used by some sensation seekers to attract attention and had no reference value.

She only recognized the person because the two had some conflicts during the written test a few days ago.

The conflict process was not worth mentioning. In general, it was just that the other party inexplicably sat in the aisle of the exam classroom. Calla felt the other was blocking the way and scolded him, but the other party not only refused to move but also began to taunt Calla. Then, the two of them got into a spat.

The result of this matter naturally ended without a conclusion because the examiner at the site separated the two, and neither of them intended to make trouble in the exam room.

"Why attack so suddenly?" After recognizing the other person's identity, Calla finally relaxed a bit, because she had grasped the biggest handle of the other party—their identity. In this situation, anyone with a normal mind wouldn't think of continuing the fight.

"Why, you ask... is there even a reason needed for such things?"

The magical girl codenamed Drunken Fish Grass grinned, her pale lips revealing a bit of teeth, her tone inexplicable: "The unresolved outcome from that time... you must care about it too, right? I really care about it a lot, so I already marked you early on and specially came to find you?"

"Ha?"

The strange tone of the other party made Calla extremely uncomfortable, but the logic within the words made her even more baffled: "You marked me? And specifically came to tangle with me? Are you sick or something?"

"Heh heh, it seems you know me quite well. Yes, I am sick indeed."

Drunken Fish Grass laughed again, rather mysteriously, staring at Calla with eyes shadowed heavily with makeup: "But, is this really okay for you?"

"What's so good or bad, what have you done to me? Hurry up and unravel it, freak!"

Calla cursed angrily: "I've already seen your face, what other tricks do you think you can play..."

Her words got stuck halfway through.

Because she suddenly realized that, unknowingly, a strange sensation had already spread throughout her body.

"Ah, what a bother, you saw it."

Drunken Fish Grass chuckled and moved a little closer to Calla: "Yes, it's necessary to figure something out."

"You..."

Calla gritted her teeth, but she could only find that her body was already powerless. She could only glare at the other person, then slowly, very slowly, knelt on the ground:

"How dare you keep attacking... What are you doing... Aren't you worried about your score..."

She already understood what Drunken Fish Grass meant by "is this really okay."

Because, when she thought that the other had no possibility of attacking again, Drunken Fish Grass secretly used some ability to deprive her of her ability to act.

This was a confrontation with no suspense, the disparity exceedingly vast, only because one party had not even raised the will to fight yet had already lost the fight.

But Calla still didn't understand why the other person did it.

To "seek revenge" under such rules, even if she gets herself eliminated through a sneak attack, once she points to the examiner afterward, the other party's score would also reset to zero. Does this still really have significance?

Having ended up like this herself, her other two teammates naturally weren't in any better shape, including her junior. Two less-experienced magical girls were already limp on the ground.

At this moment, Drunken Fish Grass had completely approached her face.

"No need to worry, just point me out to the examiner, after all, you'll still just end up failing."

She chuckled lightly, stretched out a hand that had been hidden behind her, the hand somehow already holding a bowl of incense: "Well then, the chit-chat is over, now you all enjoy the feeling of being spectators."

"Good night."

As she murmured, the incense in her hand began to glow with the light of magical power, the almost tangible smoke flowed down along her palm, immersing Calla and her teammates within it.

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

Then, accompanied by the glowing red of the number plates on their bodies, all were transmitted out of the maze.