The 30-Year-Old Magical Girl - Chapter 2

Only You Dong remained in the room.

The cigarette between his fingers continued to burn, yet he never took a single drag.

This year marked the third anniversary of his relationship with Chen Xi.

He was thirty.

She was twenty-four.

Despite the six-year age difference, they had met by chance at a high school alumni gathering and gradually fallen in love.

Over the past three years, they had rarely argued. They respected each other, cared for each other, and quietly built countless beautiful memories together.

Looking back now, every moment felt as sweet and unreal as a dream.

But this year…

You Dong had awakened from that dream.

Little by little, he came to realize a cruel truth he could no longer ignore.

Without him noticing, Chen Xi had already reached the age where marriage naturally became part of the conversation.

Yet because of reasons he could never explain, he knew he could never give her the family she deserved.

If he selfishly kept her by his side, he would only steal away the best years of her life.

So he made a decision.

He asked to break up.

Chen Xi refused.

She thought he was joking.

Left with no other choice, he carefully staged today’s scene, forcing her to witness his “betrayal” with her own eyes.

Only then would she truly leave him.

Thinking about it now, everything had happened too quickly.

The performance had been far too crude.

Chen Xi was an intelligent woman.

Once she calmed down, she would almost certainly notice the many inconsistencies in what had happened.

Of course…

There was another possibility.

Perhaps she was already so disappointed in him that she would never bother thinking about him again.

That outcome…

Should have been for the best.

…Shouldn’t it?

The instant that thought crossed his mind, the regret and loneliness surging through his chest exposed the lie he had been telling himself.

The cigarette finally burned down to the filter.

Its ashes scattered onto the floor.

Just like his memories, everything came to an abrupt end.

Almost instinctively, You Dong reached for another cigarette.

He still lacked the courage to face reality.

If possible, he wanted to hide inside those memories just a little longer.

His fingers searched the bedside table.

Nothing.

The cigarettes were gone.

“…Damn cat.”

Old Lin’s smug, infuriating grin immediately surfaced in his mind.

With no cigarettes left to escape into, You Dong reluctantly picked up the brown file folder Old Lin had left behind.

After undoing the string, he removed a stack of developed photographs.

The pictures had clearly been taken with a high-speed camera. Although somewhat blurry, the subject was unmistakable.

A humanoid figure was flying high above the clouds.

One of its wings was pure white.

The other was black as pitch.

The stark contrast gave the creature an unsettling, almost supernatural appearance.

The instant You Dong recognized it, a violent cramp twisted his stomach.

He hurriedly covered his mouth.

At that very moment, painful memories and overwhelming hatred lashed at his heart like merciless whips.

He stumbled into the bathroom and leaned over the sink.

His body convulsed as he retched.

But there was nothing left inside him.

Only bitter stomach acid.

Only tears.

Only mucus.

“Damn it…”

His fists clenched so tightly that his nails nearly pierced his palms.

The mirror reflected a face distorted by grief and hatred until it looked almost inhuman.

The Aberration…

The Sky Person.

For both him and his beloved niece, You Xi…

It was the beginning of every nightmare.

Five years ago…

His older sister, You Huimei, and her husband, Gu Chenyu, had boarded a commercial passenger flight.

Neither of them ever came home.

The aircraft was attacked in midair by an A-Rank Aberration known as the Sky Person.

The plane crashed.

Not a single crew member survived.

Not one of the 180 passengers escaped.

That single day changed everything.

You Xi lost both of her parents.

You Dong lost the only sibling he had left.

At the time, he was only twenty-five and pursuing a master’s degree overseas.

The news struck him like lightning from a clear sky.

Every plan he had made for his future was shattered in an instant.

Even the course of his entire life was rewritten.

After the accident, You Xi became an orphan.

The tragedy didn’t end there.

Their own parents had already passed away years before.

As for Gu Chenyu’s parents…

They had absolutely no intention of taking the child in.

The reason stretched back many years.

From the beginning, they had never accepted that their exceptionally talented son had willingly married into the You family as a live-in husband.

They hated that their grandson—no, granddaughter—had taken the mother’s surname instead of the father’s.

The resentment between the two families had only deepened over the years until all contact was severed.

The moment You Dong learned the truth, he didn’t hesitate.

He withdrew from graduate school.

Returned home.

Completed every adoption procedure himself.

From that day onward…

He became both You Xi’s uncle…

And her adoptive father.

Every ounce of grief…

Every bit of guilt…

Every trace of love he could no longer give his sister…

He poured all of it into raising his niece.

Bzzz… Bzzz…

His phone suddenly vibrated inside his pocket.

Old Lin again?

A helpless smile appeared on You Dong’s face.

Now he finally understood what that crafty old fox had been trying to do.

Truthfully…

If Old Lin had appeared five years earlier, immediately after the tragedy…

You Dong would probably have knelt before him and begged for the chance to transform.

Magical girl.

Demon.

Monster.

It wouldn’t have mattered.

As long as he could kill the Sky Person with his own hands…

As long as he could reduce that monster to ashes…

He wouldn’t have cared what he became.

But now…

It was too late.

His hatred still burned.

His revenge remained unfinished.

Yet compared with vengeance…

There was something far more important.

Standing before his sister’s memorial tablet, he had once made a solemn promise.

He would protect You Xi.

He would raise her into the outstanding adult her parents never had the chance to see.

To fulfill that promise, he abandoned his education.

He gave up his future.

Today…

He had even sacrificed the woman he loved.

To cast You Xi aside for the sake of his own happiness…

To build the perfect family he had always dreamed of…

He couldn’t do it.

Nor could he ever forgive himself for even entertaining such a thought.

Old Lin’s invitation had shaken him.

It offered the revenge he had longed for over the past five years.

But after countless sleepless nights…

He chose to refuse.

Becoming a magical girl meant constant battles.

Injuries.

The possibility of death.

Living on the run.

Never knowing whether you’d survive tomorrow.

That kind of life left little room for ordinary responsibilities.

Compared with protecting strangers he’d never met…

You Dong only wanted—and only believed himself capable of protecting—the happiness of one person.

You Xi.

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the urge for revenge and prepared to reject Old Lin once again.

Only then did he notice the caller ID.

It wasn’t Old Lin.

It was You Xi’s homeroom teacher.

Teacher Li.

As someone who had once been a student himself, You Dong understood one universal truth.

Whenever a homeroom teacher called a parent first…

There was a very high chance the child had gotten into trouble.

What has You Xi done this time?

It had been less than a month since she’d reduced the new intern teacher to tears with her sharp tongue.

Who had the misfortune of provoking Young Miss You today?

With forced optimism, he answered the call.

If he couldn’t joke with himself…

He honestly wasn’t sure he had the courage to press the answer button.

“Hello. Is this You Xi’s guardian?”

The young woman’s voice sounded hurried.

That alone made his anxiety spike.

“Yes, this is You Xi’s guardian.”

“You must be Teacher Li.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I need you to come to the school immediately.”

“May I ask what happened?”

“It’s regarding You Xi.”

“…What did she do?”

“She assaulted one of her classmates.”

His heartbeat skipped.

“…Is it serious?”

Teacher Li didn’t hesitate.

“Very serious.”

“…”

His stomach twisted painfully once again.

After several silent seconds, You Dong forced himself to remain calm.

“Understood.”

“I’ll head to the school right away.”

After ending the call, he scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it over his face again and again.

Then he quietly straightened his clothes.

The man reflected in the mirror was still reasonably handsome.

Only his eyes looked exhausted.

Like an old machine that had been running far beyond its limits.

Once…

Those eyes had been bright.

Clear.

Full of hope.

Back then, You Dong carried no responsibilities.

No crushing burdens.

Whenever he got himself into trouble, his legendary older sister—the perfect child everyone admired—would always appear to solve everything.

He caused problems.

She cleaned up the mess.

That was simply how life had always been.

But now…

The memory struck him with overwhelming force.

An indescribable sense of helplessness flooded his heart.

Slowly, he closed his eyes.

“Sis…”

The words escaped him like a sigh.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Raising a child… is really this difficult.”

After whispering those lonely words, You Dong gently slapped both cheeks.

Once again, he put on the mask every adult eventually learns to wear.

No matter how unwilling he was…

No matter how exhausted he felt…

Some things simply had to be faced.

In the world of adults, there is no retreat.