Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Broadcast That Would Become Legend
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Actually, I have one little secret.
"Ugh... another bust, huh..."
It's about this one game displayed on the screen of the smartphone in my hand.
Magical Girl Raiser.
What a half-assed name, and the setup feels like something I've seen a million times before, but it's a decently high-quality gacha mobile game all the same.
You pull for the periodically updated magical girls using premium currency, raise them well, and climb a tower so tall no one knows where it ends. And get this—the girls are modeled exactly after real-life magical girls.
In other words, it's the nationally certified service game for magical girl fans across the country. With all the restrictions on official merch and fan creations, guys like me wouldn't have jack to do without something like this.
"This has to be rigged, right...?"
I'd heard rumors floating around internet communities about how much money the government rakes in from this game, but as someone swamped just handling magical girl duties, it all sounded like "huh, okay" to me.
"Grrr...!"
What mattered to me right now was the magical girl I'd been dying to pull for ages—Mistia, one of the guardians of Seoul up north. I'd dumped all my saved-up currency on her banner... only to get a bunch of worthless low-tier demonic beasts and mascots that weren't even good for enhancement fodder.
"Please, please...!"
With my last scraps of currency, I prayed desperately and hit the pull button... and maybe it worked? A flashy golden effect confirmed a magical girl drop.
"......"
There she was: a white short-haired magical girl striking a pose so embarrassingly cutesy it made the viewer cringe, beaming with a fresh smile. Seriel.
Phew.
I flopped down right there, pressing a hand to my eyes and letting out a massive sigh.
...Yeah. That's my secret. My pocket money comes in steady, so they told me to spend it however—noob move on my part. And of all the rotten luck, why does my magical girl roster have to be packed with Seriel?
"Senior?"
I was lamenting my fate—of all the girls, why her?—when a voice piped up in my ear.
"What're you doing over there?"
"Yu-na...?"
The company rooftop had always been just me and the Boss coming and going, so I'd let my guard down.
"...What's that? You look like someone caught red-handed doing something shady."
The girl—Yu-na, barely reaching my chest even at her tallest—squinted her usually sparkling eyes into sly slits, grinning wickedly as she sauntered over. Despite her height and age, her impressively developed chest led the way as she backed me against the wall, leaning in like she was about to snatch my smartphone any second.
"Heh heh. Senior, what's that you're hiding behind your back? Something naughty? A dirty video?"
"It's not that, so back off a bit?"
...No, more importantly, why is she so obsessed with lewd topics? Doesn't she get embarrassed?
"It's a game. Not whatever filthy thing you're imagining."
Anyway, if I left her be, she'd really plaster herself to me... so with a sigh, I held out my smartphone screen for her to see.
"...Pfft. Magical Girl Raiser? I tried it, but it was so boring I quit."
She shot me a deflated look, all the steam gone from her.
"What the hell were you expecting...?"
It'd been nearly three months since I met her—Yu-na—but I still couldn't get used to this. Did she even see me as a guy? Whenever I slipped, she'd dive straight into sexual topics like this, leaving me in a real bind.
"And how many times do I have to tell you, I'm a guy too? Little girls like you need to watch themselves."
"Senior, you sound like a grandpa every time you say that, you know?"
"Leave me be. Better than some wild kid flashing everything."
"That's exactly why I like you, Senior."
I averted my eyes from her mischievous grin—she even added that there was no safer guy in the world—and sighed again.
Beep—! Beep—!
That's when the cheap receiver the Boss made for me—always clipped to my belt—blared an alarm louder than I'd ever heard.
"...Get ready. We're moving out now."
I patted the shoulder of Yu-na, who stared at me with uncharacteristic tension, like she'd sensed something off.
"No need to get worked up anyway. It's not your turn yet."
A sinister pulse of magic power emanated from afar. The Crisis Alert Device—shaped like a streetlamp, closest one visible from the rooftop—had lit up with yellow light.
"—Transformation."
It was time for some real magical girl work.
This is an announcement to all citizens. This is not a drill. It is a real situation. Please remain calm and proceed to the nearest shelter or evacuation center. We repeat: This is not a drill. It is a real situation...
The siren wail was familiar to anyone in modern society, accompanied by the cold mechanical voice echoing across the city.
"What is it this time, a demonic beast?"
"Who knows? Heard the Humanity Extinction Society's been stirring lately. Could be them."
"Nah, they stick to Gangnam or City Hall. They don't come to places like this."
Most people grumbled but moved calmly and routinely toward their pre-scouted shelters. Which meant... some folks weren't so composed.
Jackpot...!
Unlike the others, one young man hustled eagerly toward the source, smirking as he checked his selfie stick and camera. Dodging the uniformed police and soldiers already blocking roads, he ducked into an alley, cleared his throat, and spoke slowly.
"Yoo— hoo! Viewers, great to see you all again so soon!"
Internet broadcaster—or streamer, as they're called—that was his job.
"Everyone was pretty bummed about my collab punishment yesterday forcing me into a walkstream, right?"
The streamer, Yu Hyun-seok, glanced disappointedly at his lower-than-usual viewer count but perked up at the flood of question marks in chat. He whispered into the mic of the camera filming him.
"Don't freak out. Right now, an evacuation alert just dropped in Cheongha City!"
Something had appeared nearby.
"So, how about we try for a magical girl interview today...? What do you all think?"
He had no intention of filming the battle itself. Even with magical girls around, any incident requiring them was way too dangerous for a normie like him to get close.
"They say it usually takes magical girls 5 to 10 minutes to arrive on scene. If we're lucky, we've got about 7 minutes... Let's sprint!"
Thinking nothing to lose, Hyun-seok noted his viewer count climbing—word was spreading—and dashed into the maze of alleys.
Please, anything for content...!
He knew this was his channel's chance to rebound from the slump of repetitive boring game streams.
Hm...? What's that...?
And purely by chance... Hyun-seok spotted the source of the city-wide alarm from afar.
"O-oh, no way...!"
In the middle of a wide plaza—Meeting Plaza or whatever. With people gone, an eerie chill hung over the empty center... where something inhuman stood motionless.
It was a massive mannequin-like figure. Faceless doll wrapped in sharp, blood-red blade-like objects like a skirt.
Up close, its black rod-like body was grotesque, long arms at its waist, standing still as if asleep, silently watching the humans—police and soldiers—sealing it off from afar.
"Viewers, check that out!"
So Hyun-seok hadn't realized yet. What exactly required a magical girl. What the alarm meant.
"That thing... a demonic beast! It's a demonic beast!"
The alarm meant it was already active, magic power surging wildly.
Clank.
In other words... whatever the reason, Hyun-seok had just pissed off the dormant demonic beast.
—Slash.
By the time the sound hit his ears, it was all over.
"...Huh?"
A perfectly clean slicing sound, like from a precision factory cutter.
"Keep your mouth shut. Unless you wanna bite your tongue!"
His view shot upward, away from the ground like he'd launched into the sky. Soft, fragile arms suddenly wrapped around his chest. And an irritated girl's voice.
"Magical girl...?"
"Ugh, I said shut it...!"
Finally grasping the situation, Hyun-seok peeked down at where he'd stood moments ago. He realized just how idiotic he'd been.
Rumble...!
Every building around had been neatly bisected and was collapsing. If not for the white-haired magical girl holding him now, he'd be a halved corpse buried in the rubble.
"Thank... you."
"Save it. And seriously, shut your trap this time! I'm throwing you!"
"...Pardon?"
Just like that, the clueless young man—Hyun-seok—was hurled from midair back into midair.
"Waaaah! Senior! What if he falls?!"
"If you can't catch this, you should've started from scratch, kid!"
He landed sloppily in the arms of another magical girl—smaller than Seriel, but somehow more imposing. Pro instincts kicking in despite the embarrassment, he didn't let go of his selfie stick.
BOOM—!
Even from this height, the shockwave jolted his body. Mesmerized, Hyun-seok began filming the magical girl—Seriel—battling below.