Magical Girl (4)

[Could you come to Busan? I'd be grateful if you could play the mad scientist again like last time.]

I got a call from Deputy Park Jong-cheol.

"A magical girl has appeared?"

[Yes. This magical girl calls herself Prism Rabbit...]

"...I don't think I can go right away. We'll head over after getting a little prepared."

I asked for a bit more time.

After finishing the call with Deputy Park Jong-cheol, I flopped down on the sofa.

...It hasn't been resolved after all.

Haah...

I let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling.

Then I turned my head toward Lisa, who was still in her kaijin costume.

"Lisa, Nao. ...Could you organize the 'Magical Girl's Birth' materials we got from the Foundation on the table?"

Even if I went to Busan and put on the mad scientist act now, it wouldn't mean much.

I could control the damage to some extent, but I couldn't completely seal it off.

Finding another magical girl and erasing her memory would just lead to one popping up in another region.

To end this situation, I had to solve it at the root.

"Ari, get the 'soup' out of the fridge."

I got off the sofa and walked over to the table.

On the table where the 'Magical Girl's Birth' materials were organized, Ari placed the bowl of 'soup' she'd taken from the fridge.

It looked like nothing more than pale yellow soup.

But I couldn't take it lightly.

That soup was one of the Muksi Saengmyeongche.

To be precise, it wasn't the soup itself that was the monster—it was the bowl containing it.

That's why I handled the bowl carefully, avoiding direct contact.

Previously, instead of resolving "Assimilation," I'd received two Muksi Saengmyeongche from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Woorim Group.

This "20th Sea Turtle Soup" was one of them.

The manual seemed complicated, but simply put, it was a Muksi Saengmyeongche that revealed the truth behind events or phenomena.

Knowing the truth behind incidents was incredibly powerful.

The problem was that it could only be uncovered through the Sea Turtle Soup Game.

And what was the Sea Turtle Soup Game? It was like 20 Questions.

Players could only ask yes/no questions, piecing together clues from the answers to guess the truth.

I had up to 20 chances.

If I couldn't guess it within 20, the Host and participants would suffer suicidal impulses.

But right now, this was the only method that came to mind.

I had no choice but to probe the truth using the clues we'd gathered so far.

Hoo...

I exhaled deeply.

"But who wants to eat the soup...?"

I couldn't eat it since I had to guess the answer.

Ari's eyes lit up with gluttonous interest, but Nao raised her hand.

"I'll eat it, sis. I can't die even if I feel suicidal impulses."

"Yeah... that sounds good."

Ari pouted as Nao volunteered.

...Did she want to try that soup?

Nao ate the soup.

After scraping the bowl clean, she nodded a couple of times.

"Problem. A magical girl appeared in Suwon. We erased the magical girl's memory, and now one appeared in Busan. Why?"

The Sea Turtle Soup Game had begun.

Nao now knew the truth behind the incident.

But that knowledge would only last during this game.

As per the manual, Nao as the Host couldn't share the truth directly.

And once the game ended, she'd forget it immediately.

There was no other way but to guess correctly in Nao's game.

I opened my mouth, tense.

"First question. ...Are the Suwon magical girl and the Busan magical girl both caused by the same Muksi Saengmyeongche?"

"Yes. It's a monster phenomenon caused by the identical Muksi Saengmyeongche."

Her tone was similar to Nao's usual speech, but slightly off.

Was this Nao fulfilling the Host role, or something possessing Nao's body?

I didn't know, but guessing right would return everything to normal.

I spoke again.

"Second question. Is there an entity that could be called the main body of this phenomenon?"

"Yes. There is."

So there was a main body for this phenomenon.

This seemed like key information.

It probably wasn't the magical girl herself.

One appeared again even after we erased her memory.

So the main body existed in some other form.

"Third question. Is the main body of the phenomenon attached to the magical girl's body?"

"No. It's not."

"Fourth question. Can we see the main body of the phenomenon?"

"You mean with the naked eye? No. You can't see it."

"Fifth question. Can the magical girl herself see the main body? Like a mascot only visible to her...?"

"No. The magical girl can't see it either."

"Sixth question. Is there anyone in this world who can directly perceive the main body?"

"Does 'person' mean limited to humans? No human can see the main body. So the answer is No."

The phenomenon existed, but no one could see it?

Did that mean, like the "Eight-Foot Ghost" before, interaction was impossible this time too?

I sighed.

Six questions down—14 left.

But I hadn't learned much.

Far from certainty, my anxiety only grew.

The devil said I could solve this incident.

But could I really?

Maybe the devil got it wrong?

"Can I ask a question too?"

Lisa, who'd been glancing at the materials on the table, suddenly spoke up.

"Huh? Lisa's joining too?"

"Yes. There's something bothering me."

"But if we fail, you might get suicidal impulses... "

"That goes for you too, Mayuri. I figured it'd be better if we went through it together."

What was she saying...?

As I wondered, Lisa looked at Nao.

"My question. Looking at the Suwon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠incident records, the people hurt by the kaijin were only cultists or criminals. Is there special meaning to that?"

"Yes. There's meaning to it."

"Huh...?"

I blinked at Lisa's question and Nao's answer.

I skimmed a few materials on the table.

Sure enough, the summaries noted only cultists or criminals had been killed by the kaijin.

Just to check, I called Deputy Park Jong-cheol.

[The kaijin in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Busan this time didn't harm civilians either. Only cultists hiding in Busan got caught up.]

"There were cultists hiding in Busan too...?"

[They're run like a cell organization, so it's not that strange.]

So that was it.

Why was that?

Was the phenomenon selectively targeting victims?

I got why the magical girl didn't attack civilians—she protected them.

But the kaijin was supposed to conquer Earth and provoke her, so why only hurt criminals?

"I'll take the eighth question. Does this phenomenon have a clear purpose and will?"

I asked.

Nao nodded.

"Yes. Just like you said, sis—this phenomenon has a clear purpose and will."

"......"

Maybe the purpose mattered more than the main body?

The phenomenon was birthing magical girls on this land for some goal.

But it had no intention of harming civilians in achieving it.

So it limited kaijin victims to criminals on purpose?

If so, for a threat level 5 phenomenon, it was awfully kind and considerate.

But what the hell is that purpose?

What did it gain from deliberately creating magical girls and kaijin?

Trying to understand might be pointless.

Humans and monsters were different species.

If even humans were hard to fathom, could we really grasp something from another species?

From experience, though, monsters' goals were usually one-dimensional.

Ari just wanted to sate her hunger, Lisa wanted to serve her cooking, Yeoul wanted to devour me and become Mayuri.

"Assimilation" wanted to absorb humans into one, the "Eight-Foot Ghost" obsessed over Ryu Harin, the "Evil Spirit" wanted Nao to stream exorcisms.

Monsters each had immense power.

No need to care about humans.

No need for elaborate schemes.

Just beasts living by desire.

So maybe I should think simply.

"Ninth question. The phenomenon just wanted to create magical girls?"

I asked.

"Yes. Exactly."

Nao nodded emphatically.

With that answer, certainty bloomed.

I voiced the truth of the incident.

There are people who see incredible drawing skills and wonder why waste it on that.

Drawing non-humans, or beauties with massive cannons attached, and so on.

If they drew normal stuff with that talent, it'd be great, they think.

But that might be a misconception.

Maybe their skills skyrocketed because they wanted to draw that.

Since no one else would draw it for them, they made it real themselves.

Whether you call it human triumph or a hymn to humanity, it's undeniably the fruit of effort.

With that vibe.

Some existence suddenly thought:

I want to see a magical girl.

A story of a girl realizing her justice through magic, sweeping away the world's evil—it craved that fiercely.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want to see that, "it" thought.

Desire arisen, time to make it real.

So from far outside the universe, it gazed at Earth for a long time.

Who to pick as a magical girl candidate?

It pondered deeply.

Like a chef agonizing over ingredients.

Or a fisherman mulling which sea and what fish.

Or an artist fretting over materials to express their vision.

But those analogies might not be precise.

"Its" senses were closest to a solo dev making an indie game.

Anyway, "it" descended.

To Earth.

This massive sandbox called Earth.

It granted magical girl powers to a scouted candidate.

Become a magical girl.

Whether humans could hear "its" voice properly is doubtful.

Humans can't speak to game characters on a screen.

To convey words to an NPC somehow, you learn coding.

Need tools, understand languages.

For "it," a total newbie programmer, it was grueling.

But desire and passion to witness a magical girl drove "it."

It created magical girls, spawned kaijin to keep them active.

Called the devil's doing.

Or aliens'.

Devil or alien—who cared what they thought.

As long as it could see magical girls, anything went.

To that unknowable "it"—

A single sheet of paper flew in.

What is this?

"It" was startled.

Like something bursting from your cooking.

Or popping from your manga manuscript.

Or surging from the sea while fishing.

Cautiously, "it" observed the object from Earth.

It was a letter.

A letter?

"It" picked it up.