Coffin Lost!!! The Nemesis AlbumIridis
"Everyone, calm down. No matter how much you say that, this is my true skill, you know."
Ryu Ihyeon's transformed form, Grang Orca. Her voice, exaggerated for the stream, shifts back to its natural polite tone. Overall, it's a sharp, steel battle girl design modeled after an orca. Black, white, and silver metal parts harmoniously attached all over her body. Luckily, the tail part only deploys in full armament mode, so sitting in the chair isn't uncomfortable. It looks like an SF mecha, but she's a bona fide magical girl. Thus, per the Magical Girl Laws, she doesn't show up on camera post-transformation. That's why her face cam inevitably freezes.
"Oh my, everyone. You all know magical girls can't lie, right? I'm very beautiful."
Yeah, the face cam avatar is cute, so it's not a lie. In reality, magical girls can't lie when transformed. And Grang Orca is pretty. But viewers prefer to roast her.
"Alright then. I'll show you my true strength! Uh... AlbumIridis-nim!" ▽
"No, this is... my real, real skill?"
Grang Orca stared at the red <Coffin Lost> text on the screen.
Her win rate was decent, so her rank number didn't drop. She brought a high-mobility infight magical girl specialized rig in round 2. Her opponent? The exact same rig as last round. Just as Grang Orca resolved to win this time, the opponent unleashed her main weapon spam. Then pulled out the blades built into each part and shredded her to bits.
A blade hop-step OB quick made by the devs as a "can you even do this?" gimmick. It's bizarre to even describe—hyper-precise inputs while hopping around chaotically. Even top Coffin high-rankers struggle to chain it; the rhythm control is that razor-thin. Harang couldn't pull it off on Grang Orca's rig, that's for sure. It's been a staple technique since series 6, with movements so flashy and grotesque they'd seem like a bug if the devs hadn't confirmed it. But facing it head-on at ultra-high speed while spamming? Pure terror.
The close-range FCS with its hyper-fast lock couldn't keep up. And landing clean cuts mid-that nonsense? Another story entirely. In this game, rig collisions cause heavy stagger on both sides. Calculating blade dash distance, mutual movement, collision range perfectly to slice with short internal blades means insane close-quarters spatial sense.
TL;DR: She got pure out-physicaled.
"No, everyone. It's not a hack. I'm certain."
She stated her opinion firmly. Grang Orca had top-tier 1st-rank level Awakened ability plus magical girl senses, letting her feel the opponent's breathing over the lan cable. Mechanical precision with human reaction quirks, but utterly emotionless, no tension. Completely different from the hacks she'd seen in past series. The master's realm where clashing blades reveal emotions. Grang Orca was demonstrating godlike senses beyond that, even in a mere game, transformed no less. She sensed faint anger at the opponent's lack of seriousness but swallowed it with magical girl patience.
"Anyway, looks like I got cocky. Gotta train harder from now on."
"Finding lessons even in defeat is a magical girl's duty. Right, everyone?" ▽
"Uh... um. Everyone, did I play too much Coffin and make you guys sad?"
Every ranked match, Grang Orca ran into the Fog ID AlbumIridis and got utterly stomped. S-rank, the top tier, does have repeat matchups sometimes. But was it bad luck or sniping? She kept facing this opponent. Her rank number even dropped. She signaled her mascot Aster to search the rival's ID on the monitoring PC. Brand new account—no Fog 1st anniversary badge. Started playing dev-heavy games a few weeks ago. Too many unplayed games to be a smurf. Made her wonder if it was really a 0th-rank ability user just gaming.
Grang Orca grabbed the firmly attached head part and let out a big sigh.
"Haah."
Aster, reading Grang Orca's mind, unleashed indiscriminate bans. Grang Orca muted the stream, habitually covered the mic, and released her transformation.
"Ah! Guys! Why you bullying me! For real!"
As her transformed form melted into space, the avatar modeled after her regained life. Harang casually switched gears and started spilling magical girl stories. ▽
"So like, there this R... uh, no, R-something sis goes, huh? Hold on a sec."
Harang hurriedly muted the mic.
Harang checked the time and glanced at her mascot Aster.
"Aster, you felt that just now?"
"Ultra-wide mana wave detected~ching. Detection level defies the scale~ching."
Harang had sensed an extremely faint mana wave ripple. Mascots' unique detection interferes with naturally diffused world mana to pinpoint sources. Even as a veteran magical girl, she doubted the subtle tremor and asked Aster. Plus, Ryu Ihyeon—Harang—got chills because it resembled a high-rank monster's presence. Coldly selecting prey. Of course, monsters blast intense waves even normals feel, but still.
"Discussing with the other friends~ching right now."
"Got it. I'll keep the stream going then."
Magical girl duties come first, but for Ryu Ihyeon, streaming was vital too. Mascots outclassed her in enemy detection anyway, and national systems would catch high-rank monsters.
Mascot Aster was mentally conferring wildly with the others.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Nah, sudden phone call. Not from R-something sis, of course."
Good thing she wasn't transformed; this excuse landed naturally. That's how modern magical girls live.