15. Magical Girl, Elise Calamity - Debut
Mt. Fuji super-massive gate, 24 hours since emergence.
"Eh? A support request from overseas?"
Park Seong-yoon, who had dropped by the response team's dorm after school, widened her eyes at the unexpected news.
"Yeah, seems like it's from Japan?"
"Requests from overseas come in every day. The military and other teams have already responded and dispatched people abroad."
"Eh?! They always complain about lacking manpower?!"
Park Seong-yoon jumped up at the words of Lee Woo-jin, who had grown fairly close with her fellow response team member Kim Se-yeon. It was only natural for her, who had been hounded by her superiors constantly whining about insufficient forces both before and after the escape incident.
"That's true too, but diplomacy is an issue as well."
In reality, domestic gate response manpower was short. The government had secured enough awakeners to form multiple teams even after establishing the gate response teams... But gates were such vicious opponents.
They suddenly spewed unidentified monsters in remote areas across the nation without any warning. Since the enemy's strength was unknown, they had to deploy excessive forces; the activity range was excessively wide; and being far from population centers, deployment took a lot of effort. No matter how hard they tried to build up forces, it was never enough.
...The problem was that this was only from a domestic perspective.
"From overseas standards, our 'shortage' is just whining from a well-fed position."
"...Ah."
Just turning on YouTube flooded you with horrific overseas situations. If Korea's gate response meant maintaining public order, theirs meant survival.
Expeditions into remote hinterlands? Even protecting city centers and villages was a struggle.
That bred resentment toward safe, secure Korea. Korean commenters on YouTube, Steam, and other global platforms vented their frustration like clockwork.
And yet, the world hadn't erupted in the level of outrage Korea fretted over. Because right now, at this very moment... the only nation with the capacity to even mention sending support troops abroad was South Korea.
"So, instead of scraping together nonexistent manpower to send aid, our country is building goodwill with the international community~"
"Don't blab unnecessary details to the kid."
"Aw, come on. She's on the front lines fighting herself—treating her like a child and hiding stuff is too much. Plus, this time it's exceptional."
"...True enough."
"Exceptional?"
"Yeah. Requests come in daily—why haven't you heard until now, Seong-yoon? They don't usually come down to our team."
To be precise, they didn't assign them to teams with minors. It was practically Lee Woo-jin's sole achievement... though fundamentally, it was oversight. Minors were seen as more susceptible to temptation than adults, after all. In short, they worried about defection after deployment due to foreign lures.
Yet the fact that this had trickled down here, breaking that rule...
"Means Japan's situation is so dire they can't afford to nitpick anymore."
Japan's historically worst super-massive gate. The support request targeting it necessitated mobilizing all response teams.
It went without saying.
The gate in Indonesia—previously holding the record for longest duration—had taken 8 hours to vanish. Fortunately spawning only weak monsters, its 'final entity' had still required dozens of awakeners, multiple tanks, and fighter jets to fell.
...This one had already persisted over three times longer, spewing powerful monsters. What would its final entity be like?
"Eh? But isn't supporting them optional or something?"
"Of course not. Otherwise, there'd be no mobilization. You'll understand the details at the briefing."
Bzzz—
Lee Woo-jin gestured to the two as he checked his phone (on manner mode), which rang right on cue. Time for the meeting.
"Mung."
Myeongmyeong, who hadn't uttered a word until now, quietly watched before closing his eyes. They were certainly wise enough to praise—swift action for a human civilization.
'But still too slow, mung.'
Even so, too slow. Most disasters had already bared their fangs by the time civilizations noticed.
The fairy kingdom's mascot, having witnessed countless civilizations, murmured as it sensed the mana boiling across the sea. But it offered no warning.
...The outcome wouldn't come from here anyway.
The mascot guarded its partner's shoulder preciously, turning its gaze to its own phone screen—instead of the pointless meeting—tuned secretly to a certain stream.
Direction set, so today's low-chat power stream / 1,053 viewers
Yesterday's broadcast had seemed to pass cheerfully, but it must've shocked the casual viewers. Or maybe it was just normalization. I had no idea, but compared to my original viewer count, it was still about 150 times higher, so I was yelling "Great!" and streaming away.
"So yeah, when I first heard about that uncle from my junior, I thought he was her male lead position."
"I didn't know his age back then."
Hearing it without knowing ages made it sound pretty plausible.
"...No, that's not the point. Magical girl stories traditionally have one male lead snagged by them. That's the trope."
No wonder love was tacked onto dreams, hope, justice as what magical girls protect.
"No, exclude me."
Damn it. I'd dug my own grave.
Recalling my past statements, it really was contradictory. Ugh. Back then, I hadn't even considered other magical girls appearing.
As a TS magical girl, my perspective differed from typical ones... No, even from general viewpoints. In a way, this gap was bigger than ethical differences from another world.
Gender perception issues had cost me my few friends, and here I was exposing the rift again.
"I-inVALID! No count! No count!"
"We live in reality! Unlike fictional magical girls, romance isn't mandatory for us!"
No, even a new type popped up. Anyway, my quick surrender wrapped it up cheerfully. Felt like I'd aged ten years. Right when influx was high, nearly bombed it.
"Bit early, but wanna order dinner?"
Come to think of it, days had passed since the incident—casuals should be adapting by now. Time to roll out original content.
Once virtual work wrapped, I could start my precious main content.
"Gotta decide my menu now... Recs? Steak!"
That too, dude. Live 12 years in another world. Steak becomes an all-purpose menu like pork cutlet. Hmm. Viewer count like this is perfect for roulette. If it holds, maybe unblock and try...
That's when the ringtone blared. La~ Aaaaa~
"Hm? Junior. Hold up, guys."
I muted the mic and answered.
"Hello? Senpai? It's Seong-yoon."
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Ah, um... Sorry, but we're in a meeting and they insist on contacting you once."
Hmm. Smells like hassle. Tempted to hang up, but since it's my junior, I'll hear her out.
"Okay. Spill it."
"Y-yeah... Should I switch?"
"No, don't."
"O-okay... Ahem. So, here's why......"
A rambling explanation, swayed by surrounding prompts, let me grasp the situation. In essence, negotiation. Pitching Japan's plight, nudging that it fit my broadcasted conditions—then slyly framing my actions as a done deal, proposing to 'discuss contingencies' with them.
A tactic I'd seen plenty back then. The kind that made you wanna wreck shop on purpose.
Kurrrr... Ahh. Was the world certifying that such calculus didn't suit magical girls?
Perfect timing.
I pushed back the massive mana wave flying from across the sea and told my junior:
"Sorry, junior. Hanging up."
"Y-yes? Senpai? Sen... "
I unmuted the mic.
Honestly, their pitch sounded laughable at first. But the sensed mana volume far exceeded my estimates. That demon marquis from over there... no, duke-level. Uncontrolled emission meant not full power, but the scale was real.
...You wouldn't get it since only I know? Sigh. No benchmark.
"Viewers. Truly sorry."
Even adding 10x to every awakener I'd gauged, odds against that scale were under 1%. Modern weapons full throttle might raise it, but...
"Planned to do this post-work, but."
Win or lose, Earth's civilization would bear irreversible scars. Guaranteed.
"Call it an early preview."
Man. Can't say shit these days. World flips overnight. Could just end stream... but that felt off too.
Magical Change
I transformed, eyes off chat. Phone rang again, ignored. Consultation, negotiation, cost-benefit, compensation. Getting tangled in such petty games? What kind of magical girl does that?
Mt. Fuji super-massive gate, 25 hours since emergence.
The fierce clash between monsters pouring from the gate and Japan's nationwide top forces' defensive line...
...abruptly ended.
Crack— Craaaack—
The gate, spewing new monsters, warped and tore open as if ripped from within.
Kurrrrrr—
The torrent from the more unstable, vastly widened rift dyed even the sky black with mana. Absurdly massive energy rampaged wildly, spewing physical pressure too.
"A-ah...!"
Before it, monsters, humans, even machines ceased to exist.
Wind spirit magical girl Susanoo Tempest trembled, watching a monster that shrugged off her finisher get crushed by the rampaging mana.
"Snap out of it-po! Deploy barrier-po!"
"Ugh! Storm Veil!"
Without mascot Po-poring's shout, she'd have shared their fate—along with everyone at the ops HQ she guarded.
"Haa... Hahk. Hahk."
"W-what the hell is that."
As they caught their breath, a colossal silhouette crawled from the nightmare-swollen gate.
"Grraaaaaarrr...!"
Forced to label it, dragon-like. Not scales, but tattered dull crimson hide draped its bulk; three elongated heads devoured the 'gate' it had just escaped.
Anyone witnessing the violently surging mana grind monster corpses into fodder for the abyssal dragon would grasp it instantly—even the dimmest brute: Impossible to win.
"I-it's over. We're all dead. No, the world's doomed!"
The defense minister wailed in frustration at not snapping immediately. No one rebutted.
Not battle-hardened Nakamura Huyuuki, nor arrogant powerhouse Minami Reika who looked down on other awakeners, nor bravest, toughest magical girl Susanoo Tempest.
Weapons undrawn, spells uncast, they bone-deep accepted doom. The gap was that vast.
One glance from the abyssal dragon, and the line would shatter miserably.
Click—
Finally, someone succumbed to terror, pressing gun to temple.
"Minister-po. Minister-po."
Po-poring's clear voice rang.
"Prepare to withdraw-po."
"...?"
The leisurely order mismatched the despair; minds blanked momentarily.
"It's coming-po."
Except the awakeners. Their gazes shifted west—not despair—from mana senses.
The dark, heavy mana spreading like deep sea from across the ocean was parting.
"What do you m—!"
By the time the minister's thoughts restarted, it appeared in view.
A clear gleam piercing the darkened horizon. A magical girl like a blue gem, gripping a single sword.
—Magical Girl, Elise Calamity.
Debut.
As if etched indelibly into the world, all present seared her existence into memory.
In that instant, the sky-covering darkness split, sunlight pouring through.