Mari, who had fallen asleep early in the afternoon, woke up at three in the morning.
Letting out a big yawn that barely contained her breath, she scratched her belly with her blunt fingernails.
The first thing she looked at upon waking was her smartphone, desperate to shake off her sleepiness.
The bright screen lit up her eyes.
Lying on her side, she squinted one eye shut while peering at her phone with the other.
‘Where is this….’
What she saw on the screen was a trending popular post from the magical girl gallery that had appeared while she was asleep.
A familiar scene emerged in an unfamiliar post.
It was a photo of the apartment where, in an attempt to capture a monster, some roof structures had been wrecked.
It was even possible that the monster had shown up there again while she was sleeping, as it showed the entrance frozen by Siyeon’s magic and parts of the walls damaged.
It seemed that the cub had taken care of things by itself, making sure not to wake her up.
Well, what had happened couldn’t be helped… but they could have just woken her up.
[Why the hell does this only happen to me, you bastards?]
The post’s author, presumably the owner of the apartment, vented his frustration with a lewd complaint under the photo of the broken roof structure.
However, he quickly changed his tone to reveal his true feelings.
[ps. Actually, I’m about to receive a ton of money in damages, so I’m not that upset haha.]
[With this opportunity, I might as well redecorate the wallpaper too; I’m in a good mood, so I’ll splurge a little.]
It seemed that the damages from the battle would be covered by government funds, plus some extras.
Then, he went on to express his newfound good mood, and after scrolling a bit more, there was a cascade of hamburger gift cards stretching down the post.
The author was praised as the chairman or the king of the wealthy, and the post ended on a warm note.
As if that mattered.
Ignoring the fiery advertising that big corporations used to promote the New Year, Mari rose up with a clearer mind that seemed to brighten in proportion to her time staring at the bright screen.
With the rustling of fabric against itself, a wriggling silhouette in the dark room spoke up.
“Hey, are you awake?”
“Yeah, I’m up.”
Without needing to see, she knew the dark silhouette was Gomteng.
Rubbing his messy, frizzy hair down with a palm to tame it, he slowly continued the rare conversation.
“What’s going on, talking to me at this hour?”
“Well, it’s nothing big… I just thought I should tell you about what happened yesterday with Siyeon.”
Gomteng seemed ready to explain the events that unfolded while she was asleep.
As he plugged the smartphone that had been by her bedside into the charger near the desk, she half-closed her eyes and nodded in agreement while not really paying attention.
“Okay, go ahead.”
Whether she watched or not, he began the story.
The grand monster capture operation that had been a near-failure that day.
A second capture operation executed without her knowledge due to the fact that it was the same monster in the same apartment.
Just like before, Siyeon had been lurking inside the roof structures.
When the door suddenly opened, she triggered her powers in surprise and accidentally captured the monster.
While Gomteng’s explanation wasn’t particularly lively, she could gather the general idea.
She also understood that monsters had their own dignity and circumstances.
However, there was one thing that clearly bothered her….
“So, you’re saying I was used as a guinea pig?”
“Uh….”
It was that part where monsters had supposedly spread the word like a ‘trend’.
Zeroing in on that little detail, she asked Gomteng about it.
He probably hadn’t expected her to cut straight to that and seemed flustered, his words stretching out awkwardly.
“Well, if we cut out all the circumstances and just say it like that, yes.”
Trying to rationalize that there was a reason from the monster’s side too, he tilted his head momentarily as if wondering ‘Is this conclusion right or wrong?’ and added some unnecessary embellishment.
In the end, it’s just a matter of relatives sticking together.
Ignoring Gomteng’s subtle defense of his own kind, she clapped her palm down into a fist.
“Good, how about we modify our strategy?”
Now that she knew what the monsters were saying among themselves, she understood their reasons well enough.
But, after all, ‘understanding’ and ’emotions’ were two different realms.
At her confidently declared lines, Gomteng reacted.
He looked puzzled, as if he didn’t quite get what she was on about.
“Modify the strategy?”
“Yeah, what’s the scariest thing in the military?”
She tossed out a question while observing his confused expression.
He rolled a thoughtful “Hmm…” in his mouth before finally coming to a conclusion.
“Fratricide?”
“Well, that’s certainly scary….”
While not a completely wrong answer, she nodded slightly in agreement but shook her head to imply that it wasn’t correct.
Her eyes moved to the large red button-equipped device securely kept in the corner of the room.
The conversation Gomteng had been in the midst of suddenly shifted its attention to that.
It was as if the answer had already been inside the room all along.
“Have you heard of a lost shell casing?”
“Oh.”
Gomteng, who had surprisingly stuffed his head with quite a bit of information while wandering through the community, finally seemed to grasp something just by hearing those two key words.
With a short exhalation, Gomteng remarked, “Huh.”
“Let’s see if you can all respond properly.”
This was just a personal venting against the monsters who had used her merely as a reaction speed tester.
If she failed the reaction speed test, the unidentified device would be seized.
Thus began her small achievement in collecting items.
“I heard they lost another transmission device….”
“What? Again?”
The reverse transmission device collection of Magical Girl Sun.
The monsters, who would inevitably be directly affected by that unsettling news, quickly began to spread the word.
With the atmosphere loosened, Magical Girl Sun’s antics brought a wave of tension.
Even if they gathered en masse to get back the devices, it would only help reactivate the recovery device.
From the monsters’ perspective, they were stuck in a situation where the reverse transmission devices were dwindling fast with no solutions.
In the end, the supplies to the monsters heading to the black area were also cut off.
In the cabin, a reflective meeting would be held as they analyzed Magical Girl Sun’s antics, creating a forum of discussion.
“First, let’s talk about the recent outing to the black area… ■☆%^.”
The monster’s name was a series of sounds that couldn’t possibly be pronounced in Earthly speech.
Taking the conversation passed to him, ■☆%^ glanced around.
He was a bug-like monster with a mouth split into three spiky parts.
He cleared his throat a couple of times and, under the questioning of those around him to tell what he had seen of the recent Magical Girl Sun, he reluctantly opened his mouth.
However, even though he had recently encountered Magical Girl Sun….
He didn’t know much.
“I was taken out in an instant.”
Among the ninety out of a hundred monsters who had encountered Magical Girl Sun, he was just another who had been disposed of without a fight.
Even for the remaining ten, they were either lying in a healing room after suffering dire injuries or had declared retirement after recovering, leaving the ship behind.
These were beings who had thrown off all of life’s shackles and constraints, seeking happiness.
The obvious response from ■☆%^ left the monster who had passed the conversation with a cold, blank look.
“No, that’s obvious.”
“In the end, we’re just standing still….”
Every time a device was lost, debates opened up, but no real advances were made.
In the end, another standstill, and sighs escaped.
The monsters had no intention of blaming anyone.
The combatants, likewise, regardless of their skills or abilities, would surely respond similarly if they heard ‘Magical Girl Sun’.
That day, it seemed like their discussion would fold once again without any progress.
“…But you know.”
Until someone’s curious question popped out.
“When did Sun start collecting the devices?”
“Right, when did that start?”
The questioning led to further questions.
The monsters, who had just begun to disperse to their respective places, gathered once more.
They pinpointed the moment the first reverse transmission device vanished and when Sun had started collecting the devices.
During this time, they identified which monsters had gone to the black area, and one monster pulled into this unwelcome topic of conversation was the one who had lost the first device.
The one who had been smashed by Sun and Moon once.
‘…It’s my fault, isn’t it?’
He couldn’t forget that moment when he had been encased in ice, his judgment blurred along with the vivid pain.
Naturally, he had too many things on his mind.
Even if he were to go back to that time again, he would have undoubtedly spilled the beans.
Considering the feelings he should rightfully possess as a sentient being, the remark ‘I’m used as a reaction speed tester’ might not have needed to be said at all.
Swallowing his intense tension, the fellow monsters assured him, with a tone that conveyed there was no need for him to feel uneasy.
“Now, brother monster… we’re not here to blame you.”
“We’re just curious about what happened to you on that day you encountered the door.”
“That, um….”
In that relaxed atmosphere that eased his tension, he let down his guard unconsciously.
“Actually….”
The moment he released his tension and spoke the truth, he never expected the kindness shown by his fellow monsters would suddenly twist into insults and group beatings.
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