Echoes from the Abyss
The next morning.
*Ring, ring-ring.*
The alarm tone I'd never heard before rang through the room. Groggy from oversleeping, I grabbed my phone.
The screen was a solid black, dotted with glowing green and red buttons.
Centered slightly above the main area, crisp white letters clearly displayed the caller's name.
"Chief?"
I tapped the accept button and held the phone to my ear.
*[Siwoo, how's your ankle? You okay?]*
The chief's clear voice I'd missed so much filled my ears.
"Yeah, it's not seriously hurt, so I've been taking medicine and staying home for a day or two until it heals up."
*[Glad to hear that. Just let me know if it keeps hurting—no matter what, okay? I'll use magic for you!]*
"Thanks, Chief."
I thanked my chief for always helping me so sincerely.
*Oh, and could you tell the teacher I need a few more days off?*
*[Sure, got it! Siwoo. I'll pass that along properly, so rest up and don't worry!]*
I ended the call, stood from the bed—still limping on my left leg—and opened the door.
"Groooow... Harin, did you sleep well?"
"..."
"Harin?"
I, too, had overslept and the sun was already high in the sky, but Harin was curled up on the sofa under a blanket as if it were a cape, fast asleep.
Even with soft, rhythmic snoring, she looked like she'd fallen into an incredibly deep slumber.
Normally she woke earlier than me, but today she seemed especially exhausted.
I moved toward the fridge without a sound, trying not to wake her.
*Gurgle.*
My stomach was roaring with hunger.
"...Nothing to eat here."
The only real problem was the lack of anything edible.
I could whip up instant ramen or simple dishes by myself, but...
After Harin started living here, the portions had doubled.
That meant I had to go shopping far more often, but recent incidents had kept me from the supermarket...
I had no choice.
I had to fill up on instant today.
I opened the pantry and found the two packages of ramen I'd bought long ago still there.
*Crinkle.*
Grabbing the ramen bag made the plastic rustle.
Harin had to be starving too—should I boil both?
While I was worrying about that.
"Um..."
As if the ramen had woken her, Harin rubbed her eyes and sat up.
"Oh, Harin. Aren't you hungry? Want some ramen?"
"...Yeah, I'll eat."
Fidgeting under the blanket, she stood, walked over lazily, and plopped down on the chair with a thud.
Then she sat completely still, staring at my face without saying a word.
"...Did something get on your face?"
She kept staring, eyes wide, as if she had forgotten how to blink.
"...No."
"But why are you staring so hard?"
"Why not? Can't I just look at your face for no reason?"
"..."
I had no comeback for Harin's words.
*Rustle.*
I continued thinking while filling a pot with water and setting it on the induction.
Once the water began to boil, I dumped in the noodles, soup powder, and flakes, then opened the fridge again.
"You'll add the egg and cheese, right?"
"Of course."
"I knew you would..."
From kindergarten onward, Harin had always demanded extra cheese and egg when eating ramen, stamping her foot until I gave in.
She would even shout at me if I tried to add other ingredients like green onions or mushrooms.
We would fight because I couldn't add the things I liked, but that was all ancient history now.
Because.
"You have a complaint? You like it too."
"You made me like it."
It was just a side effect, like tossing white and colored clothes into the same washing machine and ending up with everything pink after years of repeated cycles.
"Still, you like it now, right?"
"...Yeah."
I nodded and dropped the egg and cheese into the bubbling ramen.
The savory scent spread, and I involuntarily drooled.
After the noodles were fully cooked, I placed a silicone mat in the center of the table and set the pot right on top.
I grabbed four chopsticks from the drawer, paired them up, and handed one set to Harin.
At the same time, I pulled two plates from the pantry and placed one in front of each of us.
"Want kimchi?"
"I forgot to buy any. Need it?"
"...No."
*Then why ask?*
Thinking that, I scooped up noodles with the chopsticks and dropped them onto the plate.
Harin...
*Swish.*
"Hey."
I called her name urgently.
"What?"
She looked at me with a face that said *why are you calling me?*
"That."
"What is it?"
"It's my magic."
"So why are you..."
She was trying to pull out tentacles like a ladle from the shadows and stuff them into the pot.
"...Tch. Fine."
*Slither.*
The tentacles instantly dissolved and vanished back into the darkness.
After that, Harin reached for the chopsticks like me, grabbed the noodles, and carried them to her plate.
Then she ate them happily, chewing with obvious delight.
"...Delicious."
For several minutes we ate in silence, both of us starved from oversleeping.
After we had nearly finished the pot, with only half the ramen left...
"Uh...!"
Harin suddenly let out a short cry, her whole body trembling.
The noodles in her mouth snapped and fell back onto the plate.
"Why are you shaking? Did you bite your tongue?"
"...Demon King's Army."
"What?"
I asked in a stunned voice because of how unexpected her answer was.
Yeah, Harin had been dealing with the Demon King's Army for quite some time now.
Maybe she had gone to deal with the ones that invaded while I slept, or maybe today she had encountered them during the day.
I couldn't tell for sure.
"...I'll go. I'll be right back."
"Oh, wait! Let me change clothes and come with..."
"No. I'll handle it alone."
*Swish.*
The shadows gathered, forming a void sphere like a black hole in the air.
"...Wait at home for me."
With those words, Harin dove straight into the sphere.
*****
"Ah... ah...!"
In the dark alleyway, Harin leaned against the wall, breathing heavily without transforming.
"No... no..."
She hadn't even seen the Demon King's Army.
The reason she had fled so frantically was that dark thoughts had kept rising in her mind.
If she stayed in front of him any longer, the implanted nightmares would drag her to a worse level.
Kidnapping, slicing off limbs, hanging her body in mid-air, and leaving her powerless if he was gone.
The horrifying image had boiled inside her while eating dinner with Siwoo.
She had no choice but to run here under the excuse of hunting the Demon King's Army.
*Snap!*
"Groooow...!"
It hurt.
The place where the Essence of Nightmare had burrowed was slowly spreading its influence throughout her body.
But she had made a promise to Siwoo.
She would not fight the magical girls and would not harm humans.
She had kept that promise and endured.
Yet when she saw Siwoo preferring to spend time with the other magical girls, a wave of hatred surged through her.
"Why... why...!"
Why didn't he look at me?
I was the only one left for him now.
If I looked at him like this, he should look back at me.
I was his childhood friend.
Why did he play and giggle with those other girls?
I couldn't forgive it.
Just as the thought formed.
"Miss, are you here?"
"..."
A voice I felt like I'd heard somewhere made Harin turn her head.
The girl with the ponytail who had appeared from the alley was an incredibly familiar sight.
She looked just like Kim Min-ah, Siwoo's friend and another magical girl.
The only difference was her sharper features and one side of her bangs tucked behind her ear.
Plus, the thick mana aura rolling off her...
"...You're a clone."
"Correct. My name is Dark Blue."
"...Disappear. I don't feel good."
The rough words she spat out carried the dangerous feeling that any casual fight would let the implanted nightmares spread further.
But Dark Blue continued.
"Siwoo was the reason..."
*CRACK!*
The moment she used that filthy mouth to call Siwoo's name, my mind snapped.
When she spoke Siwoo's name in a friendly tone with the same voice as the magical girl who resembled him, my patience hit zero.
"Clop—gah..."
"Repeat that."
"...Siwoo, go awaaay...!"
*Crunch!*
Her tentacles wrapped around my neck, twisted violently, and snapped it in a single motion.
A bizarre sense of satisfaction and fulfillment flooded my entire body, making Harin tremble.
"Ah... ah...!"
I couldn't let this continue.
It was definitely some trick by Nightmare meant to annoy me.
Yet the feeling of crushing the neck of someone who looked like a magical girl standing between me and Siwoo with my own hands...
It was truly...
*Haha...!*
So enjoyable.