Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

"Indeed."

Emerald Sparrow paused her about-to-begin move upon hearing this: "How long more do we need to wait?"

"Seven days? Ten days? It won't take too long, after all, it's surgery done by me."

Emerald waved a hand dismissively, "Just to be safe, you should wait until the assessment begins. Try to rest as much as possible during this period and avoid fighting; the wound will heal faster."

"I understand."

Emerald Sparrow took her Heart's Gem and jumped off the medical bed: "So, essentially, has my true essence fully recovered now?"

"In theory, it's recovered, but in practice, it might not be quite the same. Specifically, you should have seen a statue, right?"

Emerald spoke nonchalantly: "Consider a stone statue being smashed, and then picking a few shards and destroying these shards completely. Then, using glue to clumsily piece together the remaining broken pieces into a pile of rubble—that's what you did before."

"It sounds quite brutal," Emerald Sparrow commented.

"Isn't it? After all, only you young people dare treat your own bodies so recklessly."

Emerald sighed: "My job, when in the Material Realm, was to wash off your poor-quality glue, placing the remaining fragments of the statue back where they originally were; after arriving here, to use Source of Love, replacing those completely lost shards, ensuring the remaining pieces could stay in their right places. But this repair is not perfect."

"Why?"

"Because I am just a craftsman, not a sculptor."

Emerald shrugged: "What I can do is to fill the gaps with new stone, but I can't carve, and these filled stones are just stones, they aren't part of the sculpture."

"Who can carve?" Emerald Sparrow asked again.

"No one."

Emerald shook her head: "At least now there isn't anyone who can do the carving, even the Emperor can't."

Emerald Sparrow fell silent.

"So, what I want to tell you is, your true essence now operates normally, but some lost things won't return, and moreover, they can't withstand another injury."

Emerald placed a hand on the edge of the medical bed, looking serious: "If you again casually sacrifice your Magic Armor like before, the next time, you, or rather 'Lin Yun,' will disappear from this world."

"...I understand."

After a moment, Emerald Sparrow nodded: "Thank you for the warning."

This wasn't a mere agreement, for regardless, Emerald was sincerely considering her, providing such advice out of good intention.

The two conversed a bit more, primarily Emerald instructing on some precautions, and then, since it was already past noon, Emerald used "needing a nap" as a reason to send Emerald Sparrow away.

"Then I'll leave first." Standing at the doorway, Emerald Sparrow said.

"Go ahead, just remember what I said."

Emerald, having pulled out blankets and pillows from somewhere, replied lazily: "Walk the same way back out, the person at the door knows what to do, I've already instructed."

"Okay." Emerald Sparrow said, and was about to close the door.

—"Oh, right."

Just as she was about to close the door, Emerald in the laboratory suddenly spoke up: "There's a minor matter, something I forgot to tell you before, that is, this treatment has a very tiny, completely insignificant side effect. But overall it's not important, it won't affect your life or your battles, you might notice it in a bit."

Side effect?

By the time Emerald Sparrow understood this term, she had already shut the lab door, and once the lab door closed, it vanished into nothingness, so she couldn't ask Emerald for more details.

Thinking about what this "insignificant" side effect could be, Emerald Sparrow started walking toward the exit of the Research Institute, but soon, she felt something was off.

Although not very obvious, she always felt the corridor she passed through when leaving was slightly longer than when she had arrived.

Not only that, the view during her walk seemed subtly different.

This difference quickly turned into an ominous premonition, and before leaving the Research Institute, Emerald Sparrow found a mirror to check that her appearance was the same as before, then took out her Magic Armor, and using the length of the threads, began to compare her body's measurements.

Soon, she knew exactly what was wrong.

—Her height, it seemed, had shrunk by two centimeters.