From that day on, peace settled into the apartment.
The noise of the upstairs stomping was silenced by the booming speakers, like a mirror therapy.
The cat problem was resolved by the heroic outburst of Uncle in Shorts.
On a leisurely afternoon when no monsters appeared, I lay in bed, swimming through the sea of the internet.
Most mobile games weren’t even an option for me.
Even trying to enter the app market requires logging in, and if you’re under 14, please enter your parent’s information.
This is where I hit a wall.
So all I can do is browse the internet.
[Famous fried chicken franchise declares another price hike, citizens are furious….]
[Mr. Seo caught during a sobriety test claims he ate ‘taste of grape ice cream’. Testimony….]
[Magical Girls, let’s analyze their powers! – YouTube, Magical Girl Research Institute.]
[0% until Episode 149? It wasn’t a ceiling but a ‘floor system’.]
[Is frozen pizza the reason for the delivery slowdown? Related companies are ‘nervous’.]
Still, it’s not entirely boring.
Day after day, things happen that make you think, “Could this possibly be happening?”
In between, there are consistent tidbits about Magical Girls.
If you take that away, the world doesn’t seem very different from how it was before I died.
“Mari, look at this?”
“Uh?”
Siyeon spun around in her chair to show me the computer screen.
While I was absorbed in my smartphone, she was engrossed in the computer.
Especially, she would rewatch Magical Girl animations over and over, calling me over to showcase the fun parts.
“Magical, Explosion-!”
From the video came the voice of the voice actor, filled with enthusiasm.
In direct translation, it means magical explosion.
Even a name that sounds silly ends up sounding pretty decent when translated into English.
But more importantly, why is she showing me that?
“What do you think of this new technique?”
“What, my technique?”
“Yeah!”
Seeing Siyeon ask with sparkling eyes, I briefly shifted my gaze to the video.
Red, black, orange, and yellow mixed in an explosion scene in all sorts of colors.
First off, it’s the kind of power that Siyeon couldn’t replicate with magic, meaning it’s my technique, but…
Still, what does that even have to do with magic?
Real explosions are nothing like those cute *bang* sounds you hear.
No matter how much it’s an animation, I’d appreciate a more realistic portrayal.
After all, real Magical Girls might see it and try to mimic it.
‘Explosion, explosion…?’
Setting aside the name, the city is already destroyed, so can’t we let off one or two explosions…?
If a bunch of monsters show up, isn’t it pretty efficient?
So far, that hasn’t happened, but it might not be bad to prepare in advance.
“Hmm, let me think about it.”
“Alright—”
When I said I’d think it over, Siyeon finally turned her head back to the screen.
As for the technique name… Yeah, maybe something like, “Blow It Up!” would work.
While I rummaged through the internet tabs filled with similar news topics that began to repeat themselves, I opened the Magical Girl gallery.
What nonsense will it be today?
‘…Huh?’
[Starting today, I’m changing my favorite. Don’t stop me. (1)]
[I’m not a lolicon. (4)]
[Wow, these bastards—one picture can completely change public opinion. It’s really creepy, huh? (3)]
[Are you even human? You fucking bastards… (12)]
[Heh, please rob me too. (2)]
[Magical Girl appearance ranking skyrockets. (6)]
The atmosphere in the gallery seemed a bit chaotic.
Even with a full post, if there’s this much noise, something must have happened….
[Why is she wearing a mask with that face? I don’t get it at all.]
The post at the very top caught my attention.
There’s only one reason a mask would be mentioned in the Magical Girl gallery.
With a somewhat uneasy heart, I clicked on the conceptual post.
Recent discussions all centered around this incident.
Among them was a post from someone who seemed to be the culprit behind this situation.
[Did Sun’s real face show up?!!?!(268)]
The number of comments and likes was overwhelmingly high compared to other posts.
Somehow, I felt a bit scared to click on it. Her real face?
Where was it taken? Not around this apartment, right?
There’s a Magical Girl in this clueless world whose identity was revealed, and that would be me?
No way, that’s impossible.
[It’s up because it’s up, you jerkㅋㅋㅋㅋ!!!!]
[Remember the werewolf monster that showed up a few days ago? Near that dormitory.”]
[I didn’t care if the evacuation alarm went off; I just wanted to play the game.]
[It was just the promotion match, while monsters were making noise, but wowㅋㅋ Looks like there was a Magical Girl meetup? It was legendary on that day.]
[Fuck the game or whatever, I immediately grabbed my smartphone and turned on the camera.]
Just from the tone of the post, it seemed like the author was high on some drug or something.
A while ago, there was a photo from the Magical Girl meetup, and many Magical Girls, including me and Siyeon, were photographed in the distance.
Anyway, it looked like it was taken in a place where most Magical Girls were gathered, and I was next to Siyeon without a mask.
‘Ah, it wasn’t a shot taken before transformation….’
I sighed in relief, then glanced back at the gallery, like I was observing zoo animals.
The comments’ responses were….
[Bad quality, you jerk.]
[Orange with orange eyes is really hot.]
[No way, did she actually run around with that face covered?]
[What the hell, is the quality of a foldable phone?]
[Oh, you bastard, you were there and took a photo like this?]
[Wow.]
[As a man, even if you know when to lose, there comes a time when you have to fight.]
[Isn’t this a Power Ranger meme?]
[So how did the promotion match go?]
[I didn’t play, so we won. (author)]
[You should take cover, you crazy bastardㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[The Magical Girl even saved the team.]
[Wait, what the fuck? Why’d it turn out like that?]
[??? Why did this happen?]
[Starting today, if you call Sun a bank robber, I’ll consider it an insult to me.]
[Hey, you should have taken a better picture, you jerk.]
[Wow, but standing like that is really scary.]
[From a monster’s perspective, isn’t that really a disaster?ㅋㅋㅋ]
[But there really was a Magical Girl meetup? More than ten of them gathered in front of that loser, what is this?]
[Even beasts gather with women like that, damn it.]
[Why is this not a bait post?]
[But seriously, the picture quality is just garbage. Do you have tremors?]
With rude comments about the blurry quality, sympathy for the werewolf monster, and critiques on appearances.
Well, anyway, the gallery users seemed to be shocked too.
To have such a reaction just because my face outside the mask was caught, what a fuss.
Inside the mask, it honestly doesn’t matter if my face is exposed or not.
‘As long as my real face isn’t revealed, that’s all that matters.’
If I leave it as it is, this buzz will die down in about three days anyway.
Pretty soon, it will heat up with stories about other Magical Girls.
…I thought so.
[Sun’s real face in the news galleryㅋㅋㅋㅋ(87)]
While looking for concept posts at school, before I knew it, I saw my blurry face featured on the 9 o’clock news.
‘Why?’
9 o’clock news headline.
The face behind the mask of the previously mysterious Magical Girl is revealed!
Watching the grown-ups having a serious discussion as if a long-held secret had been unveiled felt strange.
I mean, there are plenty of other Magical Girls who show their faces.
‘Why is this even news?’
Filled with rising curiosity, I ultimately wanted to see what they said on the news, so I followed the link in the comments to watch the video.
It started with a bald-headed professor being interviewed by a reporter.
“Sun is a relatively recent Magical Girl. However, despite being young, her violent tendencies are influenced by the violent games that have become popular among today’s youth….”
“Damn it.”
As I blurted out that curse, the boy sitting next to me glanced this way. What’s it to him?
That old man, harping on a game I can’t even play.
Why not just go ahead and say my hobbies are violent golf and fishing?
And on days when I can’t do either well, I stress out and cause generational conflict?
“Ugh.”
I calmed my pointless anger, pressed the button on my smartphone, and turned it upside down on the desk.
Scraping the cover of the textbook with a cutter knife, I began to customize it my way.
Today’s customization was to turn the cover of the Korean textbook into a famine cover.
As I focused on the sound of scraping the cover, a thought struck me.
‘By the way, there haven’t been many monsters lately?’
As someone was scratching the textbook with such thoughts, there were those utterly immersed in a deep dilemma, impossible for her to imagine….
With bizarre forms, mixing human shapes with sea creatures or forest dwellers.
They were called monsters, beasts, or whatever name you want to give them, their appearance had no set rules.
However, they all shared a common concern.
Knowing that nothing would start if they stayed still, one muscular monster resembling a man without eyes with eight arms spoke up.
“…What are we going to do? We need to reach a decision.”
“Pfft, can’t we just send the ones that can’t talk?”
In response to the urging words of one monster, the lion-faced monster with arms like shields replied.
That’s right. They were currently selecting monsters to have a fight with a Magical Girl.
And the chosen monster would be sent to the zones assigned to Sun and Moon.
Even if they sent a monster that couldn’t talk, it was essentially the same as using it as a sacrificial lamb.
In response to the lion-faced beast’s calm answer, the mass of the monster pointed out a corner with a hand extending from its second right arm.
“…Do you see that over there?”
“Haah—! Haah—!”
There, the cat monster that Sun had recently smashed in one blow was glaring with great hostility at the arm pointing at it.
The distinct *thud* of the cat’s threatening paw echoed against the solid floor.
No matter how it’s a mute beast, it can still roughly guess the meaning of the arm pointing at it.
“……”
The lion-faced beast with shield-like arms couldn’t say anything upon witnessing the scene.
Even a beast that can’t speak hesitated to consider going back out, as instinct dictates.
As ferocious growls filled the air, silence followed.
“We might have to send a newcomer again.”
“Let’s not talk about that crazy girl.”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
Don’t say anything about Sun.
It was an unspoken rule among the monster executives.
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