Chapter 36: So, Can I Clock Out Now?

The result was despair.

The instant the bullets touched those fragile-looking metal petals, they were swallowed whole, dissolved, annihilated—without even so much as a ripple, without even the courtesy of an explosion.

(…What the actual—?! How is this possible?!)

Lin Yu’s mind went blank.

She couldn’t comprehend it. Those were psionic bullets, powerful enough to shred an “Original Species” pollutant to fragments.

And yet, here, before a wall not even fully formed, they were as useless as glass beads tossed into a furnace.

Instinctively, she glanced down at the standard psionic sidearm in her hand.

The holographic ammo display flickered. The number dropped from “4” to a glaring, merciless—“1.”

One bullet left.

And in that moment—

Chen Bing’s chant reached its climax, regal as a queen’s decree:

“—[Great Wall], manifest!”

BOOOOM!

A thunderous boom shook the entire aquarium, like an ancient gate slamming shut.

The swirling petals of dark gray coalesced in an instant, no longer a storm but a titanic wall—ten meters wide, five meters high, gleaming cold with metallic light.

A fortress incarnate.

It stood between Lin Yu and Chen Bing, cleaving the world into “safety” and “despair.”

And Lin Yu, beyond doubt, had been left in despair.

(…It’s over.)

Her heart sank into the abyss.

She knew. Even if she had a hundred more bullets, this wall would remain flawless.

(…So I’m going to lose?)

(After finally deciding, finally declaring I’d fight back… only to end like this?)

(Senior Ye Yeying… I’m sorry. I really am… just a useless failure.)

That cold, familiar tide of helplessness washed over her again.

But just before it could drown her completely—

Another face surfaced in her mind. Always brimming with energy, always spouting shoujo manga lines, pink twin-tails bouncing as she grinned.

“Seniori~ Remember, okay? A Magical Girl’s shot doesn’t come from the eyes—it comes from the heart~ ❤”

“You have to feel it… and then pour in all your ‘love’ and ‘hope’…”

(…Love and hope?)

Lin Yu gave a bitter, mocking smile in her heart.

(That kind of kiddie nonsense… How could it possibly…)

She had always dismissed Li Qing’s words as a sadistic joke, nothing more than a devilish game to torment her.

Battles were won with data, training, and muscle memory. Not… with something so vague, so absurd.

And yet—

(…Screw it!)

(It’s not like I have anything else left anyway. Just this one bullet.)

Slowly, she lifted the gun once more.

This time, she did not aim with her eyes.

Instead, she closed her emerald eyes, letting go—of struggle, of logic, of every shred of realist, salaryman Lin Yu’s twenty-six years of common sense.

For the first time, she chose to try and step into Li Qing’s “Magical Girl” world of unreasonable idealism.

She no longer thought about “how to pierce.”

She thought only of one pure, burning wish:

(…I don’t want to see my comrades fall protecting me ever again!)

(…I don’t want to go back to being powerless, just watching, unable to do a damn thing!)

(So this last shot—)

(Please… Whoever you are—Magical Goddess, Magical Ancestor, Magical God, Magical Emperor, whatever! Please carry everything in my heart—straight to Chen Bing!)

The wish was so pure, so overwhelming, that it became power.

A flood of psionic energy, vast and uncontrollable, erupted from the depths of her soul, surging through her arm into the cold frame of her sidearm.

And then—

Hummmmm—!

A low, ancient chime rang out, as though the weapon itself had awakened.

Lin Yu’s eyes flew open—

And saw the impossible.

The matte black pistol in her hand blazed with life. The faint blue circuit-like lines etched across its surface flickered, flowed, as if alive.

From within the gun, golden sigils like ancient runes spread outward, entwining with the blue like holy vines, wrapping the weapon in sacred brilliance.

At the barrel’s tip, the blue psionic glow grew unbearably bright, so intense it warped the very air.

The mass-produced, soulless firearm now pulsed like a living being, cheering, resonating, answering its wielder’s pure, unshakable prayer.

(…No way!)

(It actually worked?!)

(This is straight-up idealist nonsense!!)

Her brain crashed again, unable to process this “miracle.”

But her finger didn’t hesitate.

BOOOOOM!!!

The shot tore the silence apart, a thunderclap of judgment.

This bullet was unlike any before.

No mere blue round—
It was a flood of pure white, wrapped in countless golden incantations, a divine beam that seemed to swallow even light itself.

Like a thunderbolt of verdict!

The light roared forward, tearing through the Great Wall as if it were paper, striking Chen Bing’s right shoulder.

“Ughhh—!”

A cry burst from Chen Bing’s lips—no blissful echo, no hollow smile. It was raw, real, hers.

Agony ripped through her body, shattering the Siren Jellyfish’s sweet illusion.

The “happiness” on her face cracked apart, replaced with grimace, confusion, and the wild disbelief of someone waking from a nightmare.

The [Great Wall] groaned, then shattered into fragments of gray light, dissolving into the air.

Chen Bing staggered back, clutching her shoulder.

Blood streamed from a smoking hole the size of a fist in her armor, staining her dark uniform crimson.

On her neck, the parasitic jellyfish shrieked, its glow fading as its host’s trance collapsed.

The battle wasn’t over—
But the scales had decisively tipped.

(…Did it work?)

Lin Yu, half-kneeling, gasped for breath, her body hollowed out by that single shot.

Her heart was a muddle of relief, fear, guilt, disbelief.

(I… actually hit her…?)

(That ridiculous “idealism shot” of Li Qing’s… actually worked?)

But before her shock could settle—

Whiiiiiiish—BOOOM!!!

A shrill, cutesy whistling cut the air.

From the aquarium dome above, a pink comet streaked down, a bullet brimming with sugary righteousness.

It curved gracefully, impossibly, threading through a ventilation shaft barely thirty centimeters wide.

KA-BOOM!!!

The explosion rocked the water tank from within.

The Siren Jellyfish, thrown into chaos by Chen Bing’s awakening, never even twitched before the pink round detonated its core, ripping it apart in a glorious shower of rainbow gore.

Its radiant canopy bloomed like a firework—then dissolved into fragments that faded into the rushing water.

The ethereal lullaby that had haunted their ears was cut off mid-note.

Silence.

The last parasitic jellyfish at Chen Bing’s neck smoked once, then vanished to nothing.

“Haaah… haaah…”

Chen Bing gasped raggedly, clutching her wound, staring across the battlefield at her bloodied, kneeling junior.

Her eyes swirled with disbelief, shame, shock—and faint gratitude.

And Lin Yu?

Lin Yu was frozen, brain blue-screening all over again.

(…Wait a damn minute.)

(If that last explosion was Li Qing’s doing…)

(Then what was the point of my life-or-death miracle shot?!)

As the absurdity punched her gut, her comm crackled back online.

Li Qing’s voice burst through, brimming with energy and breathlessness, like she’d just sprinted a marathon:

“Yah-hooo~! Gray Crystal-senior! Did you see that?!”

Excited, proud, bubbling over:

“My shot just now—wasn’t it cool?! Bursting with love and hope, right?! That was my super-secret weapon! I begged Old Sister Mei to mod it for me—limited edition, ultra-long-range, single-target-specialized bullet: ‘Cuuute Pink Justice!’ Isn’t it the cutest?!”

(…So it really was you.)

Lin Yu groaned internally.

“But y’know…”

Li Qing’s tone softened into genuine awe.

“Senior, you’re the amazing one. I saw it all on the cameras. Without you holding off that Siren Jellyfish, I never could’ve lined up the kill.

“And that shot of yours—enchanting your sidearm with pure willpower?! That was beyond cool! Honestly, way hotter than any anime scene I’ve watched! You’re like the destined protagonist of my life!! From today on, you’re my god-tier favorite!!”

“…”

Lin Yu listened to the nonstop otaku-flavored praise in her earpiece… then looked at Chen Bing, bleeding, trembling, staring at her with eyes full of emotions too tangled to name.

Her brain flatlined completely.

Half-kneeling, exhausted, overwhelmed, she could only scream silently in her heart, voice laden with bitterness and despair:

(…For the love of god…)

(Can I please just clock out now?!!)