I Lost Miserably
Hello, this is Eterea. I'm sorry to meet you with bad news. Artist Inugami Tenri from the second generation, scheduled to stream around 5 PM shortly, will be taking a hiatus due to health issues. The plan is for a one-day hiatus, but it may be extended depending on details. We ask for your understanding. Eterea will provide full company support for a swift recovery and return. Thank you.
There's a season on the internet where, the moment you open your eyes in the morning, the melody of that famous song "I'm curious about last night when I wake up..." starts playing in your head.
Wait, you only saw it as a meme? It's auto-playing in your mind now anyway, right? lol
Anyway, it revives and hits you on days when massive scandals break at night, or during stretches packed with juicy events one after another.
And right now was exactly that season.
The massive Tower shake-up message that hit awakeners worldwide the instant the new year kicked off. We put it off back then to not ruin the mood, but once the events wrapped, it was a different story.
...Though for some reason, since it happened at midnight our time, countries with big time differences were a bit off, or whatever.
Point is, it was a huge change to the Tower, the biggest pillar in gate disaster response. I figured there'd be chaos, sure.
But this was too much.
I hadn't even been gone that long.
After the concert ended, I tucked Su-yeon in, checked the Tower's changes from the upheaval, patrolled my territory while I was at it, handled serious stuff mixed with my routine, and crashed for about four hours.
That's it. So what the hell is this?
Su-yeon, who'd checked Blade Fang's news with me and dug up the Eterea Cafe notice, had gone pale as a ghost.
"Hic, hic."
Hearing that someone she'd been laughing and chatting with just yesterday was in critical condition—it hits hard, even if it's weirdly common these days. It's rare domestically, and even more so for Su-yeon, under my protection.
No wonder she was shocked.
"She'll be fine."
I rubbed Su-yeon's hiccuping back and figured it was time to head out. Can't just sit on my hands knowing my junior's like this.
I can't heal her or anything... but my presence alone would be a huge deterrent.
Even without exact measurements, Tenri's combat power was on par with Seong-yoon's from what I'd heard. Foes who could critically wound her were rare.
She's been stably guarding Dongtan, so if a monster that strong showed, Dongtan should've been a wasteland before she even hit the hospital.
...Hate to think it, but among domestic awakeners, only a handful could pull that off.
The problem either way: a powerhouse hiding their presence.
Especially if a monster did it. That could be more serious long-term than something like the three-headed one.
That's what I was mulling when—
"Meong!"
Bang bang bang—
A puppy plush mascot pounded on the window, the sound echoing through the house.
"This is insane. What the hell happened?"
At Dongtan Seonsim General Hospital, the room where Blade Fang—real name Cheon Yu-ri—was admitted felt oppressively gloomy.
"No good. Healing isn't working at all."
Because the patient's condition showed zero improvement.
Hours after Blade Fang arrived, the hospital—Dongtan's largest—had thrown everything at it: medical treatments, summoning healers with recovery powers, the works.
Normally, you'd observe rather than pour resources in so fast, but...
Blade Fang was a celebrity whose hospitalization news triggered breaking alerts nationwide. With the Defense Minister dispatching an aide within an hour, the pressure was on.
But everything flopped.
Scans couldn't pinpoint the coma cause; emergency measures were useless. They could only patch external wounds.
The hastily summoned healer's powers? Pointless.
"What's the issue? Is it a curse or something?"
"That's my specialty, actually. But this feels different. Not just residual mana interference."
"Ugh. The patient's family is on their way."
In this era where awakening powers are common, even government agents mentioned curses—the classic anti-healing trick—but the situation stayed murky.
"It's like the moment my healing tries to seep in, a guard kicks it out... that kind of feel."
"......"
The staff lamented their powerlessness; the awakener spouted weird analogies.
Faces paled imagining the family's disappointment upon arrival—then—
"You nailed it meong."
A voice came from the mascot perched naturally by Cheon Yu-ri's side, as if it'd been there all along.
"Mascot? Where the hell were you?!"
"Sent an SOS meong."
"SOS...?"
Tempers flared at the vanishing act, but puzzlement hit at the voice—then—
Crackle-crack—
A sound like ice freezing rang out.
"...Again."
And like Nureungi had appeared, a girl now sat by Blade Fang.
No point asking who. She'd dominated news cycles, even etched her name in Tower messages.
The magical girl publicly deemed the world's strongest.
Elice Calamity.
Not a speck of mana leaked, yet her presence crushed the room like bizarre pressure.
"Y-Yes?"
The healer stammered, and a voice—cold, displeased—stabbed back.
"Try healing again."
"Y-Yes!"
No "we tried" or "it won't work." As if obedience was law.
The activated healing enveloped the girl—
"O-Oh?!"
"It's working! She's healing!"
Healing that failed before now mended Blade Fang's wounds for real.
Phew. Finally, some relief.
Tenri's state was so bad, without me, she could've stayed comatose forever. Maybe even worsened despite magical girl powers.
That entrenched thing was vicious.
"Um... Elice Calamity-nim."
"...?"
I turned from the recovering awakener at her call.
"H-How? My healing totally failed before."
"...Residual mana traces. Lingering inside, spreading influence."
"Huh? But residual mana is..."
Right. Usually easy to handle. Just mana leftovers, no attributes—push it out, gone.
But what infested Tenri? Different.
Not even proper mana, strictly speaking.
"It was a special power, so yeah."
"Special?"
In isekai terms: aura, or sword ki (same for other weapons, name tweaked).
Blade of supernatural power forged by martial refinement of mana.
That altered mana—transcending physical realms, striking all with martial will.
Ghosts, my elemental form last time, intangible splits nullifying physics, non-material energies—whatever, it cuts.
In combat, seeping inside? Not lab-level divine remnants, but fatal wounds.
The 'mana trying to heal the body' gets slashed by the lingering blade.
Common in novels/manga under the same name. Warrior hallmark.
...Yeah. A 'technique.'
Such alien power isn't natural. Even similar, without martial essence, it feels worlds apart.
No mistake.
"Seriously. You've got explaining to do."
Didn't hear from Nureungi? It punted to ask Blade Fang direct. Probably a 'contract' limit.
Mascots hopping worlds can't spill knowledge freely—feels like descending too strong turns you 'alloy.'
I briefed the healer simply on sword ki, sent them off, and waited for Tenri to wake.
The stream... good I prepped. Asked for a delay notice if I ran late.
Tenri. Or Yu-ri by real name?
Anyway, properly meeting my newest junior—only via comms till now—was a bit later.
She woke quick, but... others waited too: officials, medical staff, family.
They seemed more urgent than me, so I hung back.
"Geukbing sunbae-nim came."
"Feeling okay?"
I'd nuked the ki remnants perfectly, but insufficient healing might linger.
Even if fine now, monitor steady.
"Perfect. ...Just."
Her head drooped slowly.
Frustrated? Deflated? Hard to read in the brief silence, then she clenched her fist tight.
"I lost miserably."
"That strong?"
"Totally unlike my usual monsters. No crazy mana or size."
Fist whitening, she started describing the scene.