Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Doing Whatever I Want
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A day had passed.
—And now, onto the next news item.
The news playing on my phone had been covering yesterday's events nonstop from morning till evening.
—Yesterday's indiscriminate bombing terror attack in Yeongdeungpo left numerous casualties...
I'd braced myself for this. Sorry to the Boss—no, Uncle Ji-seong—for worrying him like that when he rarely does. And to Yu-na and Teacher Aruel too. But I had no intention of apologizing.
—Mei Mei, the magical girl beloved by so many for so long, can no longer fight due to this incident, leaving fans heartbroken...
I knew that too. Someday, it wouldn't just be unfamiliar magical girls like Arti, Lilia, or Licorice. I'd have to fight people I knew—and who knew me.
A dull throb.
That's why I'd cut off my escape route. Too many steps taken now to turn back and run. And I wanted Mei Mei unbound by old ties. I wanted her to hit a villain like me with everything she had. To test just how far my full power could go.
"......"
All excuses. Just lingering regrets I couldn't shake off. The worst possible choice. See? Even a day later, it still felt sour, my chest aching.
"Sigh."
I hadn't wanted it to end like that. Sure, her fulfilling her duty as a magical girl to the very end was so cool and beautiful... If not for the circumstances, I'd have bawled my eyes out in joy.
But it felt wrong. I didn't like Mei Mei's end being like that. To the other monkeys, it just looked like I'd won cowardly by taking hostages.
You can do whatever you want, kid, but it won't be easy.
Just as her final words predicted. Nothing came easy. Even with multiple magical girls, disasters couldn't be stopped. I'd thought to at least leave that truth behind, but the monkeys were back to believing magical girls would save them amid the calamities.
"Ugh..."
As I pressed down on the throbbing in my chest amid the full-body muscle pain, only to writhe from the surging agony—
Click.
With light spilling into the dark room came Bell, tray laden with pain-relief patches and porridge, opening the door.
"Phew, air this room out while you sleep. How do you even doze in this stuffy cave?"
"Shut it... Can't move 'cause it hurts, and if I sleep with the window open and catch a cold, then what?"
"Guess I'd have to play nurse."
"Ugh, if you weren't such a smooth talker..."
"Here, here. No fussing. Made porridge nice and easy to eat. Extra patches too—swap 'em after."
Why couldn't he just leave me be at times like this? I shot him a glare loaded with that sentiment.
"Don't mope alone. Your pathetic thoughts are leaking out loud and clear."
"Ugh."
"Don't tack grand excuses onto what you wanna do, Miss Ha-yul."
The bastard approached with his usual sleazy grin, sensing now was his chance while I couldn't move... and started ruffling my hair like he owned it.
"Y-You...! Hands off...!?"
"Nope. Not letting go~."
"Grr...! Once I'm better, you're dead...!"
"Hurry and heal, please. Got two ladies at home needing nursing as it is."
With that, he plopped down on the edge of my bed.
"Miss Ha-yul."
"What."
While the porridge cooled a bit, he said he had something to talk about.
"Miss Ha-yul, you like magical girls, right?"
"...Yeah."
"I like 'em plenty too."
"I know."
"But I don't get off on tormenting what I like."
"Surprising. You strike me as the type."
"Ouch."
What sermon was this leading to? He started circling the topic with trivial chit-chat.
"...So, what're you trying to say?"
I glared daggers at the guy spouting nonsense, worried the porridge would go cold.
"Eh, just... don't overthink it."
"......"
"I wanna do this, so I need that justification. Stuff like that—it's a hassle, right?"
Being too serious is no good, he said.
"We're villains anyway. Bad guys, yeah?"
Bell spoke with his usual playful smile.
"Bad guys don't need justifications. We do what we want 'cause we want to."
Do it 'cause you want to. Those words sank into my aching chest.
"If it's what you want, Miss Ha-yul, I'll make it happen. So don't push yourself."
With that—and telling me to speak up if I wanted anything special for dinner—Bell left the room.
"......"
I scooped a lukewarm spoonful of porridge from the tray on the bedside table... and quietly spoke.
"...Too much salt."
Not even sick with a cold, and he feeds me this salty slop. Time he tasted the same pain.
Slurp.
Still, respecting the effort, I finished the salty bowl, swapped my patches, and headed to the living room. Somehow, the heavy pain in my chest from moments ago was gone.
"Chicken for dinner tonight!"
I plopped down next to Bell, who was channel-surfing for something decent on TV from the sofa, and decided to smile.
That evening.
"Alright, now that both of you are up and about safely... reflection meeting time♥"
This came from the one guy in the house still fully mobile, after scraping every last crumb of fried chicken I'd paid for.
"......"
Too absurd to reply, I turned to the side—where full-body-mummy Seon-ah wore the same blank look.
"Hey, this turned out fine. What's this 'reflection' crap? Want me to mummy you up too?"
Word was, he'd been pummeled near-death by a magical girl again, barely saved at the last second. She clenched her fists, trembling with things to say.
"Eekyaah!"
But those bandages weren't just for show. The moment she tensed, she screamed and rolled across the floor.
I sighed at Seon-ah writhing pitifully, then spoke slowly.
"Speak. I'll heal if needed."
This time was different. I wasn't satisfied with the script's progress either.
"Let's start with Miss Seon-ah."
As Bell eyed her pathetic floor-rolling with utmost disdain, he slowly opened his mouth.
"Next time you fight a magical girl, prep everything you can before stepping out of bounds."
What kind of spider-modded human charges in transformed with zero prep?
"Use hostages more aggressively too. There are mod-humans who can match magical girls head-on, but you're not combat-specialized from the start."
"Y-Yes..."
"Still, grit through the beating like that? Bonus points for tenacity."
"...Bonus what?"
"Rack 'em up, and I'll buy you prime beef!"
"Ooh...!"
Seon-ah perked up at "prime beef," ending her turn.
"Next up... our Miss Ha-yul."
I focused, wondering what critiques Bell had while staring seriously at me—ready to fix any flaws.
"Nothing much to nitpick with you, Miss Ha-yul. Just tone down the needless seriousness like I said... Otherwise, you need cuteness practice."
"......"
"No joke—don't fist up."
He urgently added his reasoning. I lightly opened my half-clenched fist—ready to reclench—and nodded for him to continue.
"Realized it this time. No matter how you pose, your height just makes you look cute, John—er, Miss Ha-yul."
"You little—did you just say 'John'?"
"Hey now, hear me out. People slip up. I caught myself before finishing. Why so violent?"
At this point, maybe I needed to seriously beat him in transformed state. As I toyed with my fist—
"Creating dissonance seems key to your goals."
"...Dissonance?"
"Yes. If everything you do just looks cute anyway, lean into it—do brutal things with a cute vibe from the start."
Not over-the-top anime-kid cute, but a natural light cuteness flowing from your usual self. Bell laid out surprisingly thoughtful ideas.
"Second script's wrapping soon, so no choice there, but after... Think seriously about it."
I ignored him and pondered earnestly... reaching for the last chicken piece I'd saved on my plate.
"If you're not eating it, why save it? Waste not—nom."
Too late—that final piece was already in Bell's mouth. I jammed my fork into his forehead and vowed.
No more chicken for that bastard. Ever.