The Slime Girl Who Became Famous in Various Ways

After successfully completing my first request as a magical girl, ordinary daily life resumed. In a word, it was the stage of adapting to my newly acquired home and my completely transformed identity. Of course, it was clearly no easy task. After all, it would be difficult to grow accustomed to a life that had changed in an instant when my past self, the one I had lived as for decades, remained so vivid. The interior of my room, with its quaint and elaborate design, was the first example. It would be a lie to say I felt no mental resistance at all… but even so, it was tolerable enough. And that was largely thanks to the consideration of the two people who had originally lived in this house.

The first was the very person who had adopted me and the owner of this house. On weekdays he left the house in the morning and afternoon for work, but it became routine for him to return in the evening and share meals with me. On weekends he stayed home and made an effort to spend long stretches of time by my side. Although he still found it difficult to speak first, perhaps because of the lingering awkwardness, he was faithfully keeping his promise not to neglect me. From my position of deceiving him, being with him did feel slightly uncomfortable, yet at the same time it stirred a strange feeling in me. Before I ended up like this, my father had passed away before I even came of age, so I had almost no memories of him. Because of that, I sometimes wondered if this was what it would have felt like if my real father were still alive. When I was with him there was almost no conversation, but I could sense that he was quietly looking out for me.

The other person was Mei, the android who practically managed this enormous house. She was probably the one who had the greatest influence on my daily life after this new routine began. From waking and sleeping to meals, grooming, and every other minor detail—she interfered in everything without exception. Of course, that might have been normal when dealing with a young girl, but to me, who carried an adult’s consciousness, it sometimes felt a little excessive. However, if asked whether that bothered me… it did not. The things she looked after overlapped in many ways with what I needed to learn while living in this house. At first there had been a hint of awkwardness, but after several weeks of repetition, I no longer felt anything at all. On the contrary, her attendance now felt completely natural… I could not tell whether it was because of Mei’s skill or my own adaptability. Aside from the occasional nitpicking about a lady’s proper conduct, she was truly an excellent android.

While living what could only be described as the idle life of a wealthy young lady—playing and eating to my heart’s content—I still carried out requests in the dead of night when everyone else was asleep. Honestly, no matter how deep the night, leaving my room for a set period of time made me anxious, but fortunately Ulthar was handling that part separately. I had found it strange that he, with his monstrous senses, never noticed my absence even though we lived in the same house, but there had been a reason for everything. Thanks to him, I could focus completely on my requests.

On the first day I had not realized it, but requests involved more than just using force. For example, rescuing people who had drunk themselves into unconsciousness, or guiding those who had gotten lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood at night. Helping people in trouble deep in the night was also part of the request category. Although the difficulty was low, so the rewards were small, and some people would panic and run the moment our eyes met. Thinking about it myself, it would be stranger if someone did not feel terrified when a girl wearing this outfit and a smiling mask approached them in the pitch-black night. Still, those kinds of requests were few; most involved beating up delinquents.

At first the developments were all similar. Some strange little kid would provoke them, they would take the bait, and then they would receive a thorough education in reverse. The delinquents who received my kind “punishment” never appeared before me again afterward. Since I had not killed them, they had probably quit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being delinquents because of the trauma. That was exactly what I had intended, so it could be considered very desirable. However, after this continued for several weeks, changes gradually appeared. It seemed word of my existence had spread; more and more delinquents recognized me on sight. Some even came armed with menacing weapons on purpose. The moment I appeared, those delinquents ignored my appearance entirely and attacked without warning. Of course, ordinary people who were not Awakeners stood no chance against me now, so the result was the same. The delinquents who had lost their initial momentum were subdued by me and looked at me with eyes full of terror. Seized by sudden curiosity, I interrogated them. Had some rumor about me spread among them? Their answer was exactly what I expected. According to them, rumors about my existence had spread widely over the past few weeks. A girl wearing a cute gothic lolita outfit and a smiling mask was raiding their work sites. When I heard that I was especially known for torturing my captives with a cruel demeanor, my feelings grew complicated. I supposed it was fortunate the rumors had not spread in the style of “damn brat!” or something similar… Even so, among all those expressions, “torture” felt like an exaggeration. The punishments I had dealt out so far had certainly been somewhat frightening, but they had all been done with good intentions. To have them twisted into something malicious made me worry that people might think I possessed some strange, sadistic hobby of enjoying others’ pain. Well, it meant I had gained quite a bit of notoriety among the violent gangs, so it was half a success.

Up to that point, the information was roughly what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had anticipated. But what the delinquents said next was enough to catch my attention. Because so many of their underlings had quit after being beaten by me, the higher-ups in the organization were now paying attention to the matter. They had even put a bounty on capturing the suspicious girl. The delinquents explained that the reason they had come so heavily armed was because of that bounty. Hearing this surprised me in two ways. One was the shock that a bounty had been placed on my head, as if this were some kind of movie. The other was the realization that there was an “organization” controlling these violent gangs. In truth, the latter was closer to confirming a rumor that had already been circulating among people. There were bosses managing the gangs in each district of Seoul, and an organization pulling the strings from behind the scenes. No one had ever confirmed its existence, but people had quietly assumed something like it existed. Now that I had received direct confirmation from the delinquents themselves, there was no room for doubt.

And at that moment, as if it had been waiting, a familiar blue window appeared in the upper left of my vision.

I felt a slight sense of bewilderment at its sudden appearance, but I quickly grasped the situation. This must have been the “sudden quest” Ulthar had mentioned earlier. So this was what it meant for one to appear automatically when certain clues were found. Displaying my curiosity at the newly appeared quest, I immediately read through its contents. Contrary to my interest, however, the quest was not simple at all. To suddenly demand that I uncover the true identity of an organization hidden in the shadows was easier said than done—it was an absurdly difficult request. The very question of whether it even existed was still just a rumor, so learning its exact identity was a distant mountain peak. Judging from the difficulty and the lack of a time limit, it was clearly not something that could be solved in a short period. Moreover, the fact that a real dark organization had now appeared made me feel slightly tense. The knowledge that they were already aware of my existence and watching me gave the impression that I had stepped into a dangerous territory. Still, the water had already been spilled; there was no turning back.

In the end, even after accepting the quest, my daily life did not change much. The only difference was that the delinquents I encountered had become more threatening than before. Just in case, I asked the captured delinquents about it, but their answers were all the same. Low-ranking members like themselves knew nothing about the higher-ups. To find that information, I would have to interrogate the “bosses” who managed them directly. Since those kinds of people would never appear on the front lines, I was in quite a difficult situation. Even if I wanted to storm the places where they stayed, the low-ranking members were not told the location of their bases, and they avoided meeting me in person, so most communication was handled through calls. They were extremely cautious in this regard.

As matters related to them remained stalled, my attention naturally shifted elsewhere. Recently, an intruder had been appearing in my leisurely daily life with increasing frequency. That intruder’s identity was none other than the woman of unknown background and beautiful appearance who had given me a great shock in many ways on my first day in this house.

———

A peaceful afternoon in the midst of daily life. Normally this would have been the time to lounge around on the large sofa in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠living room, but that was impossible now. The reason was the sudden intruder—no, guest—sitting right in front of me.

“……”

A blatantly curious gaze was scanning me. It was so intense that the spots where her eyes landed felt prickly. Even I, who had been deliberately avoiding her gaze, eventually met the woman sitting before me head-on. Unlike our first meeting, a beautiful woman dressed in stylish fashion came into view at a glance. With her sculpture-like perfect features and an air of nobility flowing from her, she gave off the flawless impression of a chaebol daughter. Add to that the well-toned physique honed through long training, and she was close to perfection in every aspect. This was the woman who had introduced herself as Yoo Hye-rin during our second meeting. But I already knew her identity roughly, having heard about her from Mei earlier. She was an outstanding Awakener from an elite family that had produced many renowned hunters, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she herself attended the academy. Unlike me, who had suddenly become a rich young lady, she was a true gold-spoon from the very beginning. In addition, she explained that she had been close to the owner of this house since childhood and was now in a master-disciple relationship with him. Imagining the two of them standing side by side, I slightly furrowed my brow. They were the very picture of a real-life beauty and the beast; I wondered what circumstances had brought them together. Of course, I was curious about their relationship, but it was none of my business. I only had a connection with him, not with her. To begin with, to someone like me who had lived in chastity for decades, such a perfect woman was far too burdensome. Still, from what I heard, she visited this house frequently even on normal days. In the end, we were bound to see each other often whether we liked it or not, so I planned to treat her appropriately as an older sister while keeping a certain distance. The problem, however, was that she showed an excessively strong attachment toward me.