Unknown Call

Lin Yun and Anya had been childhood friends.

They had been in the same class since they were very young and became friends. Anya had been a lively, mischievous girl, so their genders had never hindered their friendship. They had been extremely close, inseparable.

Later, there had been a brief period when they gradually grew up. As they entered puberty, they began to notice the differences between their genders, and the way they interacted became somewhat awkward. Then, after moving on to higher school, they no longer attended the same one, and their relationship began to grow distant.

Until one day, an incident brought Anya back into Lin Yun's life and turned everything upside down.

—Anya became a magical girl.

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

Powerful, steadfast, beautiful.

His childhood playmate had become someone beyond his reach, so different from the tomboy in his memories that she even felt somewhat unfamiliar.

But Anya had been delighted, because she felt she had a friend with whom she could share her secret. That friend was also her childhood sweetheart, with whom she had already begun to grow distant. The two of them became close again, killing two birds with one stone.

But being a magical girl was not easy. More and more Aberrant Beasts appeared in the city, each one stronger than the last, until one day Anya was completely unable to deal with the enemies that came one after another.

Lin Yun stepped forward at that time, and so he became a magical girl as well.

Later, after going through many things, they encountered more companions and experienced more dangerous battles. Yet in the end, they persevered, even becoming heroes who saved the city.

Eventually, as an adult, Lin Yun gave up the power and identity of a magical girl and returned to ordinary life.

Ordinary, perhaps, but not entirely so. After all, his wife was a magical girl.

He married Anya.

The two lived a loving life together and had an adorable daughter, enjoying the warmth of family. Everything had seemed only natural: heroes who saved others in times of crisis laid down their armor and returned to a peaceful, happy life.

That was how it should have been.

"It should have been..."

On another crowded, hectic morning, Lin Yun was squeezed among the passengers on the train, staring numbly out the window as usual.

A week had passed since he discovered that his daughter had become a magical girl.

Perhaps because he had finally spoken his mind that night after so long, Lin Yun felt that the atmosphere between himself and Lin Xiaolu had improved a little. At the very least, when they were at home together, his daughter would symbolically glance at him instead of ignoring him completely and treating him like air, as she had when their relationship was at its worst.

This could at least be considered a small step toward repairing their father-daughter relationship.

He was still somewhat comforted by that.

As for the dangers his daughter faced as a magical girl, he chose to stay in contact with Hong Siyu, asking her to keep an eye on things in her capacity as an official and prioritize Lin Xiaolu's safety whenever possible.

Lin Yun had probably also sensed that Hong Siyu had some romantic feelings toward him. So, taking the initiative to contact her now while never mentioning the matter did make him seem a little like a scumbag. He wanted to clear up that layer of their relationship.

But Hong Siyu repeatedly denied it, saying she herself could not remember what nonsense she had spouted while drunk that day and told him not to take it seriously.

So the matter was left at that.

As for what Lin Yun had done after taking out the Flower of the Heart that night—

He had tried to transform.

Being a magical girl had long since become a distant memory to him. Even the feeling of fighting, even killing, Aberrant Beasts had long been forgotten. He could barely remember what it felt like to fight.

Had his former self really grown accustomed to fighting monsters like that?

The thought arose in his mind without him realizing it.

In truth, although he had retired, he had not completely lost the powers of a magical girl in the strictest sense. Whatever the issue might be, he should at least still have been able to transform.

But that night, his attempt to transform failed.

When he touched the Flower of the Heart, he received no response.

The dust-covered Flower of the Heart was like a truly lifeless object, showing no change whatsoever.

Lin Yun did not know whether to feel relieved or worried.

He was relieved because it seemed he truly had no power left, which somewhat dispelled the thoughts that had been tormenting him. But he was worried because, having lost his power, he might not be able to help when his daughter encountered a crisis she could not resolve.

And because of that, he could not tell his daughter certain things as a magical girl.

Yes, he had once considered approaching his daughter in the identity of a magical girl.

Things he could not tell her face-to-face as her father, things she might not believe even if he said them, a "senior magical girl" would have more than enough standing and reason to say.

To tell her about the dangers of being a magical girl.

To tell her what this power truly meant.

To tell her exactly what enemies existed.

To tell her how to become stronger and better protect herself.

If this information came directly from an experienced magical girl like herself, his daughter should have no reason not to take it seriously.

He had so much he wanted to say to his daughter, yet he did not know how to begin.

The Flower of the Heart's silence made him abandon that idea.

Whether he had already lost his power, lost his qualifications to become a magical girl, or whether there was some other reason, none of it mattered anymore.

During that week, another Aberrant Beast appeared in the city. Fortunately, Lin Xiaolu eliminated it without much trouble, and the damage afterward was kept to a minimum.

The only thing that surprised Lin Yun was that, unlike the previous television interview, the media response to this Aberrant Beast attack had been minimal.

He did not know whether times had changed and the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau now favored a low-profile approach, or whether people's attention had shifted elsewhere. In any case, although Aberrant Beasts had begun appearing more frequently in the city and a new magical girl had taken the stage, it failed to spark widespread discussion.

The previous television interview had also sunk without a trace after airing. Even the video he had found online was soon buried beneath newer content on the station's official website.

Back when he had been a magical girl, both the media and the public had loved placing magical girls at the center of attention.

With countless thoughts running through his mind, Lin Yun followed the crowd to the company and began another day of work.

The tasks were still familiar and tedious, but perhaps because his mindset had changed, he felt that the agitation he once felt had weakened considerably.

He remained busy until noon. After finishing his work meal, Lin Yun was sitting in his office handling unfinished paperwork when he suddenly received a call.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

Though he did not know who it was, he still pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

All he received was a burst of hissing static.

Frowning slightly, Lin Yun waited two seconds before asking again.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"...Be careful."

"What did you say?"

"Hisss."

"Hello?"

"Be careful of tonight's Aberrant Beast."

That single sentence made Lin Yun's eyes widen.

"What do you mean? Who are you?"

He could not help pressing for answers, but after saying only that one sentence, the other end of the call fell completely silent.

Before long, the hissing static turned into the disconnected tone of a hung-up call.