Even a Gentle Senior Gets Mad: Lee Woo-jin
Lee Woo-jin. 47 years old. Telekinesis awakener. Former civil servant, current Gate Response Team agent. As a person, he had an utterly ordinary face. In fact, aside from his awakener credentials, he was remarkably average. But as an awakener, he was anything but.
Telekinesis wasn't all that rare, but his overwhelming output made it the pinnacle of existing power. He was unequivocally Korea's strongest awakener. Even against the entire Response Team, he'd take the upper hand with ease. His colleagues jokingly called him things like "national power-level hunter."
'National power-level my ass. If I really was, would I keep getting shot down like this?'
Lee Woo-jin gritted his teeth, recalling the moment his superior had just rejected him.
[Are you out of your mind right now? Do you know what time it is? Kids as young as ten are getting called heroes in America. And you want to pull Park Seong-yoon from the front lines? You're insane! Even if it's her own choice, we need to convince her to stay!]
He knew. He knew the overseas situation, the domestic one. How could he not, running the field? That's why he hadn't pushed further despite all the ignored requests to protect minors.
But even so, watching that girl skip school nonstop and battle monsters endlessly made him wonder: Is this really okay?
That feeling peaked the moment he heard Park Seong-yoon had lost to a monster and rushed to rescue her. A child shouldn't be doing this. If she keeps it up, she'll definitely go mad...
It was an extension of that sentiment when he coldly rejected her plea to help her get stronger. And using her injury as an excuse, he tried to bench the team's only minor from the battlefield until she finished school.
His one-on-one with his boss just now had been exactly that. A rehash of repeated failures.
National power-level. What a joke, Lee Woo-jin mocked himself again when—
"Nosy meddling, mung."
"You're... Myeongmyeong, right? What does that mean?"
"Exactly that, mung. Interference, mung."
Lee Woo-jin didn't like this mascot thing. How could he view positively the prime culprit dragging a kid into war?
Myeongmyeong felt the same, having been unilaterally dismissed.
"Don't block my partner's path, mung."
"You're the one blocking it. Luring a kid who's supposed to be in class to wander battlefields like this."
"Sure, getting tied to this Response Team was unexpected, mung. But telling kids to just study isn't your real heart, is it, mung?"
"......"
He couldn't reply. It wasn't wrong.
"Don't deny magical girls, mung. My partner chose the contract with pride and walks the path of a magical girl with noble conviction, mung."
He wouldn't tolerate denying that. Preaching only about the magical girl ideology, the beast vanished.
That very night, Park Seong-yoon vanished as the magical girl Divine Blaze, with her mascot in tow.
"Exactly the same. Magical girl senior, was it? So that's really the will of the whole 'magical girl' crowd."
Hmm. How to put it. This uncle's vibe was off. Like a drama side character who'd just wrapped up a flashback scene in seconds, eyes darting wildly.
"Hey. Mascot. Explain."
"I'm innocent, mung!"
"W-wait, stop mung! There's a line even for jokes, mung! No, calm down mung!"
The chat barrage switched targets from me to the mascot, and the guy let out a desperate scream.
He was getting too scared, though. Sure, if it turned into actual defamation accusing mascots of hate crimes, I'd have to make a big decision. But it didn't feel like it was heading that way.
"I can explain everything, mung!"
We listened to the mascot's machine-gun rap explanation, shouted like his tail was on fire. The rundown focusing on the uncle, junior, and mascot was, honestly...
"Superchat."
Wild that the stream didn't end.
"It won't shut down. Surprisingly, the higher-ups have brains. Messed with it rashly yesterday, views spiked, so orders came down not to force it shut for now."
The reason was given by the uncle, who'd been watching the mascot's flashy eloquence with odd eyes.
"Indeed... Then no more issues. Let's aggregate both sides' views."
Somehow I'd (+viewers) ended up as judge position, pondering the verdict for a sec—not really, I had the answer quick.
Me? The viewers ditched it to argue who was right. I just declared the conclusion.
"Too heavy! All that sticky arguing is pointless!"
This wasn't even about right or wrong anymore. The mood got way too serious. As a magical girl, I couldn't allow such heavy plot twists. No wonder I'd started feeling solemn too.
"Petty ideology fights are fully banned!"
"Mascot. Come here and bow your head."
"Mung?! Why mung?!"
"Cause I get your intentions now?"
"...Nyaoong."
Finally clicked why he'd pushed so hard to team me up. Using me for his junior was fine... but the shady vibes changed things.
"......Huh."
I turned to the uncle staring in bewilderment.
"Uncle, loosen up those shoulders too."
"What?"
"My experience doesn't come with some grand philosophy, y'know?"
Never had some ideology that shook souls, past or present. Didn't even think it essential. Sure, I had personal pillars in my heart, but those were my own standards—different vibe.
So no logical mediation. Political compromise? Nah. Heroic appeals to greater good? Not my style. Magical girls don't persuade heavy like that anyway.
"Dunno about thorny ideologies or convictions."
Wasn't even planning to convince. Why bother swaying this uncle? Just speaking as a magical girl.
"Trust your junior. That bad future you imagined won't happen. Because..."
Fwoosh!
"Kyaa! Got it! Pierced through!"
A thin heat ray of ultra-compressed sacred flames pierced the monster's heart and shot skyward, cutting through my words. Backed by my junior's excited cheer ending her hyper-focus, I finished.
"Magical girls protect dreams and hope, love and justice. Despair and misfortune don't suit us at all."
...And any clueless moths trying to genre-shift that? I'd handle them first, starting with me.
"...Is that so, or not."
"Innocent, mung. Same old, mung."
She doesn't polite to enemies, so it just took a sec to switch back from casual slip-up modern-style. Wait, is that the point right now?
"Guys. Wasn't that badass line super cool and touching?"
"Argh."
Yeah, this fits.
"Senior! Did you see? I did it... Huh?"
Meanwhile, my beaming junior dragged the slain monster over, then froze.
"U-Uncle Woo-jin?!"
No wonder she was shocked—her acquaintance had joined our group outta nowhere. Thinking about it, as a runaway, it might be awkward.
Up to there, I whispered in the uncle's ear as his pupils dilated at her reaction.
"...Don't care what you think now, but if you make our junior shrink, I won't forgive you? Behave."
He flinched hard. Dunno his original plan, but just in case... Oops, leaked some mana by accident.
Heh heh. While doing that.
"Ahem. You weren't picking up, so I came."
"Eh? N-not to catch me?"
"No."
Their vibe wasn't hostile. A bit awkward, but not painfully so.
"Junior seems a tad deflated? Or not."
Whispered with viewers—seemed no big issue.
"Senior!"
Junior approached after short chat with uncle.
"Ah, good job. Compression was solid for a first-time technique."
"Yeah. Hehehe. Wait, no. What's going on?"
"He showed up while you were zoned."
No need to air petty squabbles. She muttered 'no way', figuring the dispute anyway.
Not my business. More important stuff anyway.
I struck a pose from community memes: stern face, arms crossed, yellow duck style.
"But junior. Sit there a sec."
"Y-yes?"
"You've been skipping school nonstop, right?"
That crumb from mascot's ramble. Magical girls might be truants by trade, but openly ditching school?
I hadn't realized since I don't go.
"Eek. No, it's not like that. Gate response is public duty? So whether Response Team like me or called from school, attendance is excused—"
"Go!"
"Kkyaak?!"
Couldn't hold back on her excuse—roared.
Unforgivable. Excused so it's fine? Even a gentle senior gets mad at that.
"By tradition, magical girls fight when needed but cherish daily life! Yet brazenly abandoning it for two weeks—what's that?!"
"S-Senior? Why the speech shift. And not two weeks! One was school closure—"
"Studies? Not important. Empty head's fine if cute. But! If your daily life was ordinary student life, respect that!"
"Hear hear."
"Uncle why suddenly?!"
Cause cherishing daily life is 'common sense' for magical girls.
"Not... in that sense."
He'd agreed thoughtlessly, then stiffened. Not? Pity...
"More importantly, not just Seong-yoon—you too. You don't go to school either. Wait, no. Magical girls change appearance on transform? Maybe not as young as you look."
"Eh."
"Eek."
"Mung."
"? Why the fuss?"
Of course, I wasn't transformed, and everyone (except uncle, tho some viewers might not know) did. Guess misconceptions happen. Combat gap aside, appearance change makes it hard usually.
"Heh. This overwhelming beauty causes trouble again."
"Why cringe, mung?"
"U-Uncle. Senior's not transformed."
"What...?"
While tackled by mascot, uncle heard junior's explanation and gawked. Joking aside, shock makes sense—he works with magical girls, knows pre/post-transform gap.
"But why doesn't senior transform?"
"No need."
Can do everything untransformed.
"Still, magic's easier transformed, right?"
"Sure."
Hit the nail a bit. Unless identity issue, transform's always better for frequent magic. No reason not to when fully exposed like now. Paired with other transformed magical girl content? Essential.
"Reason not transforming, mung?"
"W-well."
Suspicious chats rising, I spilled the truth.
"If I transform on cam... my VTuber identity crumbles......"
"Eh?"
Countless question marks. Fine if you don't get it. But I treasure my avatar capturing my 'transformed past self' fully.
...That prank transform reveal was fun too.
"I'm old, don't get modern culture much."
Then uncle, recovering from shock, chimed in.
"Heard of VTuber. But not outdoors like this, right?"
Bad feeling incoming. Gotta shut that mouth.
"R-right?"
"Then... claiming that job—isn't it fraud or deception?"
"......Gasp!"
Chat exploded, especially core fans freaking. No, no. Fraud? This was a half-human half-VTuber pivot at force majeure's end...
"Hmm. True I don't know your work well. But their reactions... maybe not entirely."
Worse vibe, hand moved instinctively. Gotta seal those lips. That conviction hit.
Nope, nailing it kills me. Wait—too much force.
The instant I recoiled in horror at the mana in my hand.
"Last active day as that VTuber? Or frequency?"
Innocent curiosity. But fatal question sealed my fate. Eyes closed.
...Done. Knew it. Half-VTuber ain't cutting it anymore, huh.
I collapsed in silent defeat.