Can an Office Drone Become a Magical Girl?

“How could that be?” The adorable fairy with two strange, long ears replied coldly, “You’re just a pathetic human with the body of a thirty-year-old, the age of a twenty-year-old, and the heart of a ten-year-old.” … … My name is Lin Shengyi. As you can see, I’m a corporate drone. The year I graduated from college, I left my hometown to escape the terrifying prospect of graduating straight into unemployment, and found a stable but poorly paid job in another city. Eat, work, sleep. Eat, work, sleep. From the moment I opened my eyes each day, I knew this was all my life amounted to. Not especially happy, not especially unhappy, just the same cycle repeating day after day. Until one day. “O purest and most beautiful one,” a strange creature murmured softly through my window. “With your wish as the foundation and your soul as the price, make a contract with me and become a magical bo, ” “Whoosh.” With my hair sticking up like a bird’s nest, I drew open the curtains without changing expression. “Become a magical bo, bo…” The strange creature seemed to have bitten its tongue. “A magical girl?” I looked down at my outfit, steeped in workplace exhaustion. “Shouldn’t I be a magical corporate drone?” “Ah, yes, yes… exactly!” “So this is a part-time job, right?” My eyes lit up as I stepped forward and pressed it for details. “What’s the pay and benefits like? Do you offer social insurance and a housing fund? What are the career prospects? Is there special insurance for hazardous work?” The strange creature looked like it had given up on life. It said nothing, only indicating a number with its tail. That number! It was even more than my bank card’s daily withdrawal limit! I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “One last question… Are these earnings properly reported for taxes?” Its tail shifted into another pose: OK. “Deal!” … Many years later, Lin Shengyi had earned titles such as Magical Girl for Life, Guardian of the Federal City, Scarlet Witch, and Rose Tyrant. When interviewed, she said sincerely: “To be honest, I didn’t have any grand plans back then. I just wanted to be a magical girl as a hobby.” The other magical girls: …What a filthy adult. As if I’d believe a word you say! … A writer once said, “When you are at your loneliest and most hopeless, a door will open beside you.”* Lin Shengyi waited twenty-four years, but the door never opened. So she pried open a window and climbed out. Reader’s guide: 1. The blurb is written in first person; the main text is in third person. 2. This story features many unconventional magical girls, including but not limited to corporate-drone magical girls, nonhuman magical girls, and magical boys. There’s a bit of everything. 3. The setting is entirely fictional and unrelated to reality. Happy reading! *Quoted from Jiang Nan’s Dragon Raja. A preview of my upcoming novel, City God Temple Civil Servant. It’ll be my next book! There’s a saying that’s been passed around the demon realm for ages: If you take the civil service exam, don’t take a post far from home. If you do take a post far from home, don’t become a City God. The City God Temple answers to Heaven above and the Underworld below, while also managing every aspect of human life in between. It’s a tough job for a newly enlightened little demon. As a corporate drone, Jiang Yulong blinked and found herself transmigrated into the past as a koi spirit, inheriting a dilapidated City God Temple. She thought that taking human form would make her a civil servant in Heaven, saving her at least five hundred years compared with other demons. But the area was surrounded by mountains and hard to reach, plagued by bandits and ghosts, and its people were desperately poor. It was a bona fide impoverished county. The incense offerings at the City God Temple had dwindled along with the local fortunes, until it was even less popular than the fake Taoist temple next door. One day, sitting on the temple’s crumbling roof tiles, Jiang Yulong pondered: If you want to get rich, build roads first. Luckily, I have strength and skill to spare. And so, starting out as a humble ninth-rank City God of a tiny county, she built roads and bridges, settled cases between the living and the dead, developed industries and improved people’s lives, and subdued evil spirits. She rose through prefectures and provinces, her incense offerings rivaling those of Heaven, while her name resounded even in the Underworld. Who in all the land hasn’t heard of City God Jiang? The Dragon King drinks tea and discusses the Dao with her. The Judge runs errands for her. The constellations call her their friend, and the heavenly generals share wine with her. The leaky, ramshackle temple of the past had long since become the most renowned City God Temple in the world, filled with incense and prayers from the people. Theme: Anyone can be a magical girl.