NOVEL NEXT Episode 4 – I Became a Magical Girl (2)
“Wow. This is a different kind of scenery.”
I crossed the Dimension Gate in my transformed state. Despite the awkwardness, I felt amazing. My heart was racing uncontrollably.
“Welcome… new Magical Girl.”
Rana was waiting there. Sensing my presence, she naturally acted superior. After all, here I was just an ordinary Magical Girl, not the Demon King.
“Hello?”
So I waved and smiled to greet her. Her expression became stiff and awkward, but I just ignored it.
“So, when can we go to Earth? It’s possible, right?”
“It’s possible right now. But before that, let me introduce you to your Mascot. Normally, Scouters would come to contract with Magical Girls after these Mascots assess their potential…”
Rana explained while glancing at me over her shoulder. I was too busy taking in my surroundings to really pay attention.
They called this a fairy kingdom, but it wasn’t as mystical as the place where Yggdrasil existed. It was just an ordinary world with ordinary buildings.
“Hmm, the staff seems to know nothing about me.”
“…As per the contract, they were instructed to keep quiet. The junior staff didn’t know you were coming.”
The passing fairies all looked at me with puzzlement as they went by. After listening to Rana’s explanation, I understood.
Thinking about it, the confidentiality was due to the contract I imposed.
“Alright, here is one of our Mascots from Rana Land, the veteran adviser Toy who will take care of you…”
Rana burst open the door to her office. Then she froze. I peeked over her shoulder, curious.
“Ms. President! That, that’s…”
“Leave it to me, Ms. President! I can do this!”
Pushing past the frozen Rana, I entered to find a pale Yuria and a rather chubby doll.
“The previous adviser was just rushed away with acute neurosis. So, I, the replacement, will fill in! As you know, I, Ren, have experience caring for 28 Magical Girls and my track record…”
The doll, which looked like a dog, energetically waved its tiny arms to promote itself on the table.
I grasped the situation by observing the mentally shattered Yuria and the stone-faced Rana.
“So, you’re the kid that Yuria was talking about!”
In the meantime, the doll leapt towards me and stood in front, crossing its arms and scanning me up and down.
“Looks like you’re in your early teens, with an abundance of black. From the looks of the lower abdomen, you’ve got a lot of scars… but some fancy uniform and hat. You also harbor a strong desire inside!”
“Is this doll seriously critiquing peoples’ underwear?”
I stomped down on the doll that was openly examining me, and only then did Rana manage to open her mouth.
“I intended to assign a veteran to you. He already understood everything and could handle things comfortably.”
“You seemed pretty tense, huh? Rushed off to the hospital and all.”
A snicker escaped my lips. It was an unexpected situation. Rana was doing her best to maintain her composure, but her hand adjusting her glasses trembled in contrast to her poker face.
“It can’t be helped. Just stay here for a day. I’ll inform Ren about your identity and arrange some training…”
“No, this seems like it could be fun. Going in blind against someone like this.”
“But..!”
“I’m a Magical Girl after all.”
I flat-out refused her training proposal. I lifted my foot and held the squashed doll up to my eye level.
“This little brat here is a special recruit?”
“Let’s get along, Ren.”
“Eek…”
My gaze met the squirming doll’s while I wore a mischievous smile. I hoped to keep my secrets under wraps, and as I told Rana, I thought it would be more amusing this way.
“Ms. President, actually there’s something I haven’t finished…”
“Then Ren, you’re in charge of the new Takilas here. Take her to Earth.”
That was final. Rana immediately issued the transfer order.
I casually tossed Ren aside. My heart raced again. I was finally heading to Earth.
*
Magical Girls. Mysterious beings who fight against villains.
But reality isn’t simple, nor are they as beautiful as they seem.
What is good and what is evil? If good and evil are distinct, where does good end and evil begin? And are these supernatural beings really the ‘right’ beings?
Should we merely recognize them as heroes based on results? Or are they just a superhuman group causing chaos in the world? All of this created an uncomfortable ‘reality’ here.
“Everyone, hands up!”
“Kukuku…”
“Damn it, Lacus! Don’t eat yet! They’re hostages!”
This was right in the middle of Seoul. The streets were a mess from broad daylight.
Armed criminals had taken hostages and occupied a building. The strange part was there were even bizarre-looking monsters mixed among the masked criminals.
These were what one would call Monsters in this world, born of laboratories, aliens, nature, and various origins.
“Hurry up! Now!”
“Ugh, it’s going to take more time!”
One of them was threatening a researcher inside the building, pointing a gun at them. Some people had already been shot.
The terrified researcher was hurriedly trying to input the codes for the money lock.
“…Huh?”
But at that moment, amidst the standoff with the police, someone burst onto the scene surrounded by criminals.
“AAAAH, take them out! They’re villains!”
“We’re jumping right into action, huh? You didn’t come here on purpose, did you?”
“…”
So it was true after all. I rolled my eyes and tossed Ren off my shoulder while channeling my magic.
The tall buildings, the clear sky, the sidewalk, the air of Earth—all of them were nice.
The police with their guns, the media with their large cameras… they were all fine.
But the ones causing a terrorist act in the middle of Seoul were ruining my nostalgia.
Especially that strangely-shaped green monster.
“Magical Girl… AAAAH!”
“What the hell… KUK!”
My shadow wavered quickly, slithering across the ground. At the same time, the shadow unleashed tentacles that literally sent the bastards flying and crashing down.
Ignoring the hostages, I aimed precisely at them. One of the criminals shot at me from above, but I deflected everything with a curtain of shadows.
“AAAAH!”
“Disgusting.”
The green monster I had been watching rushed at me, waving its sharp claws.
I snapped my fingers. With the sound of breaking glass, dozens of spear-like tendrils erupted from my shadow and pierced through its body.
Though it had a pretty solid body, it couldn’t withstand the power of my magic, which rivaled that of a sword master.
“Is it over?”
“There’s still one left.”
“Ugh, this is so annoying.”
I expanded my senses. I knew where it was, so I should just rush in and take care of it before leaving. Shadows coiled around my body, and I shot up high.
“AAAAAH!”
The moment it saw me coming through the window, the thing began firing its gun.
Thanks to that, it didn’t have the strength to shatter the glass, but getting shot straight up still hurt a bit.
“Ugh…”
“Now there are five left.”
As I swung my arm while entering the building, the whipping tentacles from my shadows cut off the head of the beast. As its headless corpse bled like a fountain, I spotted a shaking figure of a man cowering and staring at me.
“C-Code Red…”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Kuh, Code Red is the classification humans use for Magical Girls. Red is… assigned to those who commit slaughter without hesitation.”
“Wow, this is just ridiculous.”
Scoffing, I moved past him down the hallway.
Maybe I wasn’t fully adapted yet, but I could still see where all the bastards were… now they were all visible to me.
“So.”
“Cough.”
“These guys are.”
“O-Don’t come near, monster girl… ugh!”
“Why do you act this way?”
“AAAH!”
In a dead-end, the trio that charged at me were all pierced, sliced, and killed by my shadow. Standing in a puddle of their blood, I began to feel a bit curious.
Why were they committing such terrorism in the middle of the city during the day?
“You’re a Magical Girl. If they’re villains, then it’s your duty to just exterminate them… UGH!”
“I’d find it amusing to tear off each of their limbs and stitch them back together.”
“They were after the mana stones in this research facility! AAAH!”
The cheeky one, Ren, squealed as I stretched both arms, eventually expelling everything they had. Although I had no idea what he was saying, I could only assume that ‘mana stone’ sounded like something akin to a crystal.
“That’s as far as it goes, nameless rookie Magical Girl.”
But I put thinking aside for now. Approaching the last remaining one moving around on the top floor, I found a middle-aged man aiming a gun at the head of a bound child.
“One more step and this kid dies.”
“…”
“This gun knows your shadow powers. Stop right now.”
“Hmm.”
Compared to the dumb underlings who couldn’t even execute a hostage situation properly, this guy was a real player. Even if I killed him, stopping him from pulling the trigger looked difficult.