As those questions flickered through Mari’s mind.
A pitch-black space, a ship of monsters drifting in Earth’s orbit amidst the universe.
In the spacious room that served as the monsters’ quarters, sleepless nights continued.
Clang, clang—a disordered symphony of metal clashing against metal filled the air.
That sound was more than enough to grate on the nerves of the monsters, leading to an eruption of discontent centered around one particular monster.
“Graaah! I’m losing my mind!”
“Whoa, that startled me.”
Some monsters, familiar with the sound, were taken aback by the sudden scream from the distressed monster, who then appealed to those around.
“No way, you all can actually stand this noise?!”
The source of the racket pounding against the ship was space debris.
Fragments created by the explosions of small satellites launched from Earth or by tools dropped during space missions from multi-stage rockets.
These remnants continued to linger near Earth, banging against the monsters’ quarters, which occupied an area as vast as their ship.
The one who had finally let out a scream of frustration was a newcomer who had joined the ship not too long ago.
“I was like that at first too.”
“You’ll get used to it later.”
The reactions of the other monsters were quite different from the newbie’s desperate scream.
Monsters who had stayed near Earth for a few years, some even over a decade, shrugged it off, attributing the turmoil to the usual experience.
In fact, it was a busy time within the ship, and there wasn’t much patience left to listen to the whining of the newbies.
In the vast emptiness of space, what real reason did they have to be busy except for plotting how to defeat the magical girl?
Unfortunately, they did have something to worry about.
Just looking at the cabins, the monsters were hastily packing their belongings.
“Sudden deployment to a different ship—will that be okay?”
“I heard they’re being swapped out due to poor performance…”
Worries and mutterings arising from the monsters’ vague speculations.
The ship currently in Earth’s orbit was preparing to be reassigned to a ship with fewer personnel after withdrawal, aiming for a merger with the monsters.
To get ready for that, the monsters were each gathering their belongings.
Amidst the chaos of their preparations for relocation, Medic Tentacle was focused entirely on hosting someone who had arrived at the ship.
A monster with impressive sharp teeth and rugged skin, with no gaps to its elongated mouth.
On his ship, he was referred to as Evil Croaker.
A rank higher than the officers—a captain.
Unlike the Earth-oriented ship, where various officers manage their respective sections, Evil Croaker’s ship operated strictly under his central command.
No matter how hierarchical the ranks might be based on ship position, in simple terms, he stood one step above Medic Tentacle.
Medic Tentacle was giving a rough guide, sharing insights regarding Earth as he showed him around the ship.
“…This is the intensive care room for monsters that were defeated by that magical girl.”
“Yikes, light!”
The number one point Medic Tentacle wanted to stress was about the magical girl Sun.
This was a warning given even before Evil Croaker visited the ship, a top-priority caution.
Despite Medic Tentacle’s grave warning, Evil Croaker didn’t even blink, looking down disdainfully at the monsters in the intensive care room.
“Hmph! With such weak willpower, these cowardly types shouldn’t even be sent to the battlefield.”
“Yes, indeed.”
Medic Tentacle bowed and scraped before him, yet internally, he struggled to suppress his resentment towards the incompetent upper brass.
The so-called ‘high-ups’ didn’t consider the situation in the field at all.
The moment Medic Tentacle realized this was when numerous requests sent to Sun for a truce were summarily rejected.
How long had it taken just to request a ceasefire to not fight against her?
He had to statistically present concrete numbers showing gains for the monster side if they didn’t oppose her, before the approval was granted.
“You’ve managed to keep operating this ship with these troublesome fools.”
“Haha, thank you for your acknowledgment.”
Medic Tentacle tried to hide his discomfort at Evil Croaker’s seemingly innocent praise, letting out a short laugh while suppressing rising anger.
Regardless, from this day onward, the officers on this ship were going to take their hands off Earth.
While ongoing losses due to consecutive defeats played a role, the decisive cause was the ‘Black Nightmare’ incident.
The various equipment failures aboard the ship, alongside the significant responsibility for the shortfalls in supply quotas—there was substantial blame directed at the officers.
Amidst the busy aftermath cleanup, the officers found themselves hastily processing procedures on paper, being forced to step away from Earth.
For now, they had to hand over as much information about Earth as possible to the next person in charge.
Under Medic Tentacle’s guidance, the ship tour continued.
The place with the most to explain was, of course, the transmission room.
There, there were the black zones, and the powerful magical girl Sun.
And as for the black zone, a promise had been made not to send monsters for a duration equivalent to 400 Earth days, which would be conveyed to the new Earth supervisor, Evil Croaker.
“Ha, is it really necessary? A ceasefire agreement with some relatives who haven’t even lived for a few decades?”
As Evil Croaker grumbled as if it were a complaint, a chill ran down Medic Tentacle’s spine.
It felt akin to encountering a replica of her right in front of him.
Listening to his mumbling, it seemed Evil Croaker hadn’t paid attention to a single one of Medic Tentacle’s warnings.
Medic Tentacle thought that even the dullest monster might show at least a hint of caution if someone warned them like this…but instead, he shot a cold glare from behind.
When there’s a foolish commander, the soldiers suffer.
Not long ago, the monsters had instigated Sun’s clone incident, and it seemed utterly shameless for them to act this way…but Medic Tentacle could only feel pity for the other monsters heading under him.
Though they spoke the same language, if their messages didn’t get through, they had to ensure information was relayed properly.
“However, you shouldn’t underestimate her too much.”
His hollow advice born from his overly firm conviction echoed in Evil Croaker’s ears.
“Yeah, yeah, got it.”
‘You definitely don’t seem to have understood at all.’
At this point, Medic Tentacle completely abandoned the hope of persuading him.
In many ways, it was akin to a demotion for the officers who had been responsible for Earth.
Given their ongoing struggles with poor results, the upper brass decided to offer them vacations back at their respective homes.
Leisurely gazing at the dark sky, akin to the ink of their home planets, he didn’t mind stepping down from the role of Earth supervisor…
‘Let’s just see how badly things go for you.’
With a singular wish, he hurled a short curse at the incoming Earth supervisor, Evil Croaker.
In Earth terms, it was an insult.
During his brief rest, he hurled curses in good spirits, directing his favorite salty drink toward his mouth.
Could it be that his curse reached the ship in full?
Evil Croaker’s choice was indeed landing on the worst possible outcome.
“Ha, a black zone? A truce? What nonsensical talk…”
Evil Croaker, being part of a species with relatively small brains due to biological traits.
The only skill he possessed was fighting; how was it that he could sit comfortably in the captain’s seat? The answer was simple.
Family connections.
He proved his shortcomings first-hand by arbitrarily altering the color of the black zone without consulting others.
Though his brain was small, he retained some short-term memory regarding the black zone, which used to be black.
Eager as he was to celebrate his first day as the new Earth supervisor by pouring energy into the transmission room, he casually believed it would be fine.
After all, if he were to die, he would simply return to the recovery unit.
His satisfied laughter resonated throughout the captain’s quarters.
“Kwaha! Prepare yourself, Earthlings!”
He had nothing to worry about, just like his clear mind.
No, in fact, there might have been a slight worry.
Unbeknownst to Evil Croaker, that day marked a significant national holiday.
The beginning of the Lunar New Year.
Days later, Earth.
As the national holiday approached, three people were set to head out by car to the magical girl holiday gathering.
“What?”
Suddenly, the bear cub’s interjection disrupted the joyful festive atmosphere.
A voice mixed with rare genuine concern.
Caught in a situation where they were buoyantly floating in the air, I tilted my head and asked the bear cub.
“What’s up, why?”
“A monster has appeared!”
“What? You must be kidding, right?”
In a moment where we were supposed to get in Ji-eun’s car and head out, I expressed skepticism over the strange nonsense I was hearing.
But soon, the long mascot floating in the air dispelled any lingering doubt.
“It’s true, I can feel it too.”
The sea snake’s assurance elevated the credibility.
Accompanying alarm noises further validated the seriousness of the situation.
This wasn’t just some playful banter, a real monster had indeed appeared.
“What’s going on, what’s happening? Didn’t they say we had a year left?”
“I’m not sure… Ugh, damn it.”
I turned off the lights, stepped out to the entrance, took off my shoes again, and pulled out a mask from deep within the closet that hadn’t seen the light of day for years.
Perhaps it hadn’t been used or washed in a long time, the eyes and mouth openings didn’t quite fit.
The persistent musty odor from the mask had seeped deep into it.
“Wait here for a bit with Siyeon.”
“I, I want to go too!”
As I calmly intended to go out alone, Siyeon insisted she would join me.
Was she resolutely determined to catch the monster with the resolve that came from growth?
There was no reason to stop her growth.
Grabbing Siyeon’s hand, I headed outside, searching for a suitably empty dark alley.
“Sun.”
“Moon Power, Transform!”
We recited our transformation commands, taking to the cloud-covered skies.
I didn’t know why the monster was suddenly arriving a year earlier, but it was the perfect timing to instill the necessary fundamentals of being a magical girl in Siyeon.
Of course, only according to my standards.
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