As summer approached, the heat that made even the short walk to school unbearable enveloped Korea.
Someone once said online that July and August aren’t summer but “that damn season.”
In line with this “damn season,” the visits from “damn monsters” also increased significantly.
The media, which had gone into a frenzy the moment the monsters reappeared, quickly fell silent as the monsters blended back into everyday life, as if nothing had happened.
They simply scoured around for other gossip.
And thus, we returned to our daily routine of monster hunting, reminiscent of the first grade of elementary school.
Of course, there were some changes.
First, Siyeon’s newly proactive attitude.
“Oh, I dodged it!”
Following her solo monster-hunting in May, Siyeon had gained enough confidence to declare that she would take on the monsters without help these days.
Even if the monster group was a bit slow, if they kept getting their heads smashed in every time they came to Incheon, they’d inevitably develop some learning ability.
These days, she often looked up at the sky before we even got there.
At that point, it was obvious that a surprise attack like ‘Siyeon’s Iceberg Drop’ wouldn’t work anymore.
“I won’t fall for the same tactic every time!
“I’ll go down first!”
“Oh, wait…”
With tactics failing, Siyeon announced she would descend first and began lowering altitudes.
Telling her to wait while already well below would definitely fall on deaf ears.
With no other choice, I simply trailed behind her, keeping my shoes glued to the ground.
Siyeon was already on the ground, staff in hand, facing the monster.
In typical magical girl anime fashion, this would be the point for a cute introduction and a promise of vengeance, but…
“You’re the rumored magical girl…”
“Ice Pierce!”
Before the monster could finish speaking, an ice spear rocketed toward it head-on with the magic incantation.
“Uagh!”
The plump, round monster that looked like a fat uncle screamed as the sharp ice struck it, rolling sideways.
Surprisingly nimble for its size.
Its round body puffed up and shrank repeatedly, emitting strange sounds as it gasped for breath.
Then, it pointed at Siyeon with a pathetic-looking triangular appendage, bellowing in anger.
“This brat! Shouldn’t you at least hear me out before getting all fired up?”
“Ice Pierce!”
However, Siyeon, carrying on the will of Magical Girl Sun, showed no mercy to this monster.
Instead of responding or being surprised, she shot her magic again at the angry monster.
It hadn’t managed to dodge this time either, and several ice spears pierced its torso.
“Gyaaa! Not again!”
The monster let out a short, pained scream, sounding like it was about to cough up a lung.
It clearly didn’t expect to be blasted with more magic without even a conversation.
That was only natural; I didn’t think she’d do it consecutively, either.
As if deciding enough was enough, the monster raised some tiny spikes and aimed them outward.
Looking at this, they seemed quite similar to a studded jacket.
“Whoa!”
Siyeon twisted her body to dodge the incoming spikes.
In contrast, I stood back against a sturdy ginkgo tree, watching her fight, completely at ease.
As for my transformation, it was at a level one would think only exists in martial arts comics, having never sustained an injury.
From what I’ve heard, even minor injuries can feel pretty awful.
Supposedly, one has to be left with shattered bones and be practically immobile before the transformation wears off. But even after it wears off, you go back to your original uninjured body, and the transformed body doesn’t impact the original’s state—what a great story.
How they found out about that was a mystery, but I didn’t dig too deeply.
“Oh, a vending machine.”
In the midst of a fierce battle where spikes and ice were flying everywhere, I thought it was pointless just to stand there, so I approached a drink vending machine next to a meat restaurant, swiped my card, and pressed the button for apple juice.
Clunk, the sound of a can dropping.
I bent over, pushed the plastic cover off with the back of my hand, and grabbed the apple juice can.
Without a second thought, I pulled the tab, and a “cheew” sound echoed as I took a refreshing gulp.
“Hm?”
The cool drink was as expected, but the fragrance from my mouth and nose was completely different.
Not apple, but grape?
Experiencing cognitive dissonance from the unexpected taste on my tongue, I pulled the can away and checked the picture on it.
I had definitely pressed the button for apple juice, but out came grape juice.
These things happen occasionally, but what horrible luck.
“Ugh, err… kill it!”
By the time I was halfway through my drink, it seemed a conclusion had finally been reached.
The once-round monster shrank into an oval shape, ice stuck in various spots, leaking some transparent liquid.
It’s a magical world with both green and clear blood.
Just as Siyeon aimed her staff toward the monster, intending to finish it off…
“Pfft, I was wondering how terrifying this so-called black area could be… It’s nothing special!”
The monster, having been crushed by Siyeon, chuckled and added a comment that didn’t need to be said.
Having been well-taught, Siyeon naturally ignored the monster’s words.
She was in the process of completing her spell, but…
“Wait, wait.”
“Uh-oh.”
The palm that was about to stop her was redirected toward Siyeon’s lips.
Naturally, the spell couldn’t be completed, and the ice chunk that was about to form in front of her staff plummeted to the ground.
As if the monster felt it had indeed assessed the danger here after experiencing one fight, it spoke with a tone that was somewhat condescending.
For me, that statement was like a dragon’s vein.
After all, I had lately entrusted the monster slaying to Siyeon and had been dispatched less frequently.
These days, it was becoming a trend for monsters to come visit Incheon more than twice without knowing their place.
If the overall perception among monsters had turned that way, it was not something to chuckle about.
“What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t had to step in lately, have I?”
Retracting my palm that was aimed at Siyeon’s mouth, I took a step closer to the monster, cracking my knuckles as I approached it.
To be clear, I take pride in handling areas with a low monster appearance rate.
Now that Siyeon had been ramping up her monster-hunting skills and I had let her handle it alone, what had happened?
Crack, crack. A fist from my right hand followed by one from the left.
An eerie sound echoed through the air before I placed my foot on the monster’s body and wedged the ice spear in its armpit…
And pulled it out.
“Kyaaa!”
From the spot where the ice spear was removed, a thick white liquid sprayed out.
I grabbed the staff that had just popped out from the air and heated it sufficiently to sizzle when pressed against flesh.
Holding the now-red-hot staff to the bleeding wound, I pressed it down to ensure it seared the skin.
“Ahhh!”
The monster, which had been still just moments ago, began thrashing around as if painted in a lie.
By melting the blood vessels with high heat, I was forcing a crude form of hemostasis.
Regardless, as the bleeding slowed down, the rate at which it was dying naturally decreased too unless it went into shock from the unbearable pain.
The outcome was already decided.
Because of its overwhelming agony, perhaps it was about to faint.
The monster seemed to express confusion at my method—wondering why I was not immediately killing it but searing its injury—staring at me with pained open eyes.
“Why… how come!”
“Since you said it was nothing… I just wanted to show you what ‘nothing’ can do.”
A sense of foreboding and the stark reality began to envelop the monster’s body.
It began to think in hindsight.
Why were there two magical girls here, and yet only one was fighting?
Magical Girl Sun, was what I fought so far her?
What if, just what if…
The magical girl I had encountered until now wasn’t Sun?
And…
If the one in front of me, exuding an exceptionally cold gaze, was the very being all the monsters feared?
“One, two, three, four…”
Her fingers kept adding foreboding numbers one by one.
From the moment of her birth to now, that vast number of moments wavered more than ever in the monster’s gaze.
With each finger she ticked off, a gaping black hole was engraved in her emotionally vast heart.
“How many of these can you endure?”
Fear is an emotion that comes from the imaginable future.
And so, the monster shrieked in despair like a recently born creature.
The ice spears, deeply embedded in its wounds, continued to be removed, with the process of searing its broken vessels repeating endlessly.
It sounded like a healing process if described in words, but the pain dug into the monster’s flesh, violating its brain and emotions.
In the struggle to pull out the seventh ice spear, the monster scattered apart.
In the intensive care unit of the ship, a new patient had just arrived.
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