Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Sometimes in Life, You Have Those Thoughts
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Sometimes in life, you get those kinds of thoughts.
Does a story's beginning always have to come with a boring, pretentious explanation?
Maybe back in the day, but these days, they say it shouldn't. Keep the explanation to three lines max. And don't drag a single sentence out to hundreds of characters, either.
So, let me put it simply first.
I'm a guy.
I'm a magical girl.
What do I mean? I only turn into a girl when I transform.
There. That's a perfectly clean explanation.
"What're you doing, Ryu Ha-yul?"
"...Having some serious thoughts about my own masculinity?"
Leaning against the rusted railing of what looked like your standard rundown building rooftop was a guy who appeared twice my age. I casually took the strawberry milk he offered and grumbled a bit, only to get a look back that screamed utter patheticness.
"If you're tired, just go to sleep. Why drag yourself all the way up here to spout nonsense?"
"Leave me be. It's not like this is my first or second day at this gig."
"You're barely twenty, kid, but you talk like you're my age. Damn brat."
As I fumbled with the annoyingly stubborn milk carton spout using my teeth today of all days, I felt the boss's hand roughly ruffling my hair. Ignoring the mess, I hurriedly backed away from the cigarette stench as he dug into his nose.
"Hey, didn't you quit smoking?"
"Three days clean counts as quit."
Just as I stuck my tongue out at the boss—our Boss Kim Ji-seong—who leaned against the railing with a straight face and pulled out a smoke from his pocket.
Beep—! Beep—!
The cheap receiver clipped to my waist flashed and blared a ear-splitting noise.
"Sigh. How does this neighborhood manage to have a crisis every damn day?"
"Well, like you said. It's not like this is the first or second time."
The boss lit his cigarette nonchalantly as he spoke. With that, I slowly opened my mouth.
"—Transformation."
A faint blue glow spread with the magic-infused word. My vision lowered, my body lightened. The cape that once felt cumbersome billowed in the wind, and suddenly the whole city's scenery felt vividly clear.
Height-wise, generously speaking, maybe 160cm. If there were a mirror, it'd show a petite girl with white short hair, pouting with furrowed brows. At least the magical girl outfit had pants instead of a skirt—small mercies.
As I fiddled with the blue buttons and cape on the white uniform that resembled a tailcoat or military dress...
Zzt—a prickling unease hit from afar.
"I'll be off, then."
This time, without waiting for a reply, I kicked off the rooftop and launched into the sky.
Magical Girl Seriel had a busy day ahead, after all.
A clear sky, a bright spring day.
The city bustled as usual, people going about their lives.
Cars flowed silently like water on the roads, pedestrians glued to their smartphones on the sidewalks.
Modern folks really don't pay attention to changes around them. Proving the point, black mist gathered in the open sky above the road.
"Huh?"
"What's that...?"
A beat too late, people started noticing. The mist coalesced into a sphere, cracks forming... Something grotesque inside was about to crash onto the road's center.
Flutter—!
But faster, a streak of blue light zipped past the crowd.
"Hup...!"
The girl who landed, leaving a trailing afterimage from her blue cape, looked up with gem-like blue eyes and a soft grunt.
Before anyone could register her, she leaped skyward again, cape trailing blue. Her shoulder slammed into the descending grotesque form—a demonic beast—sending it flying.
Squeeze...
Then, the sound of a strong grip crushing something echoed. People finally looked up, realizing the anomaly.
"Ah, it's Seriel!"
Hovering midair, gripping a greatsword as big as herself with both hands—the beautiful white-haired short girl, Magical Girl Seriel. Tension eased from shoulders as they recognized her.
"...So when this happens, you should all run away."
Maybe from years as the city's sole magical girl. Pouting at the crowd gawking like it was a show, Seriel grumbled.
'Alert... no reaction.'
She glanced at the crisis alert devices mimicking streetlights everywhere...
Then swung her greatsword skyward, cleaving the demonic beast that had closed in.
"Okay, you're all blocking traffic here, so disperse! Disperse!"
She stabbed the bisected corpse as it began crumbling to dust mid-fall, hoisted it up, and shouted.
"Seriously... can't you move any faster?"
From the dispersing crowd following her orders came a voice thick with complaint. Seriel confirmed the beast fully dusted off her sword.
Phew.
She sighed softly to herself, landed carefully, scanned for the voice's owner—a middle-aged shopkeeper woman—and stood before her.
"Haha, sorry. I'll move faster next time..."
"Faster is a given!"
"Eek."
"Look at this! What about these footprints!"
In other words, her final leap had left prints right in front of the woman's shop.
"Um, that... City hall sends people to clean it up properly..."
"Hmph! Other magical girls handle it without any damage or whatever that alert thing is... Tch. Can't even solve it with magic when you're a magical girl."
She almost said low-level demonic beasts like this get handled by military or police specialists on standby. But who'd count how many times? Seriel just sighed inwardly, smiled brightly, and bowed again.
"What? What's going on?"
"I dunno. Seems the magical girl left footprints in front of that shop."
"Oh, she's this area's magical girl?"
As murmurs gathered, Seriel scratched her head awkwardly, then finally gave up.
"S-Sorry! I'll do better next time!"
"I wasn't done talking!"
Dodging the finger-pointing shouts, she leaped into the air like fleeing, landed on a nearby rooftop, and finally exhaled in relief.
"Sigh... Who enjoys swinging this thing around?"
Confirming no one around, Seriel grumbled unheard and glared resentfully at the innocently blue sky.
"......"
Eight years since becoming a magical girl. Now she guarded a small but proper city alone.
"Still so far to go..."
Yet the dream in her heart felt distant.
"A world without magical girls? Dream too big, Ryu Ha-yul."
Hands on hips, deep sigh. Seriel smirked bitterly, perched on the railing, senses sharp for any demonic beast or villain group.
The day had just begun, and so had Magical Girl Seriel's routine.
Sometimes in life, you get those kinds of thoughts.
Having a junior sounds great in theory, but won't it just make me busier until she's ready to take over?
Why am I thinking this?...
"Hello! I'm Shin Yu-na, the new magical girl starting today!"
...Because of this little girl the boss introduced, grabbing me on my way home, thinking the day might end peacefully without a nighttime alert.
"Please take care of me, Senior!"
Senior. Hmm, nice ring to it. Yeah. I've been running solo here for nearly four years, so a junior's fine. Not that I wanted more magical girls, but fatigue makes you think weird things.
"......"
But picturing teaching her everything from square one starting tomorrow... Exhausting.
"...Yeah."
I never knew eyes could sparkle like that. Facing them drained me, but I nodded quietly.
"F-For now... let's talk details tomorrow."
One thing was clear.
"Yes! See you tomorrow, Senior!"
Tomorrow, I'd be too swamped to think straight.