Lovecalls from Every Corner and Mary-san

Thinking about it, the only client who'd ever come to the agency was Nao. At this point, it felt no different from freelancing from home. Still, since I'd registered the place as a proper business to run my freelance solver gig, I kept it going out of sheer spite not to waste that effort. Plus, there was Tae-man, a full-fledged monster in his own right. Better to keep him under my watch than hand him over to some random civilian.

In that sense, I didn't really need to show up at the office, but I made a point of dropping by whenever possible. Since we were running the agency anyway, I'd assigned everyone their roles. I was the agency head, naturally. I handled most of the money-making myself, so I didn't have much else to do around the office.

Lisa was in charge of cleaning. She did almost all the tidying up by herself. Being a chef, she had rock-solid hygiene standards, so I just let her do her thing, and she took care of everything perfectly.

Ari handled mukbangs. She was still uploading eating show videos, and her subscribers were steadily climbing.

I'd even given Nao a role. She had her streaming gig as a main job, but at some point, she'd become a regular. In simple terms, she was our digital manager. I'd been editing Ari's mukbangs at first, but Nao roped in an editor. So now, she handled all the streaming-related stuff. In exchange, she didn't have to share the revenue with me—she and Ari could split it however they wanted.

She also managed the agency email inbox.

"Sis, we've got a ton of emails."

I was lounging on the sofa, messing around with a mobile game. Nao was parked in the agency head's chair, laptop open, handling channel management and emails.

Once her separation anxiety kicked in, she'd started coming to work with me and even asked for tasks. Guess just hanging around felt awkward. So I'd drawn up a contract and put her on payroll. For the record, Ryu Harin's contract was still active too, so I sent her a little something each month.

The Eight-Foot Ghost was still tucked away in Tae-man's stomach, treated as an agency employee. If I didn't pay up per the contract, it might bust loose again, so that was the precaution.

Anyway.

"Emails?"

I sat up from the sofa and wandered over to Nao. We mostly operated via phone, text, or on-site visits, but I'd printed my email on the business cards. Sometimes manuals for Muksi Saengmyeongche came that way.

Peeking into the inbox, I couldn't help but grimace.

"Lovecalls everywhere."

Foundation, Special Task Force. Even the cult had sent one. I could guess why. Word had spread that I was the MVP for cracking Magical Girl's Birth. So now every faction wanted me on their side.

"But sis, can't we report the one from the cult?"

"Nah, probably not."

They'd have masked it to dodge tracking. Best I could do was mark it as spam.

Still, if the cult was sending feelers, they must be hurting bad.

"Matan, come out for a sec."

I summoned Matan. She appeared gripping pistols in both hands.

"Ack, boss! Need a magical girl?"

"Ugh, why're you always yelling?"

"'Cause magical girls are always full of energy!"

Kyaa☆ She beamed. Watching someone so consumed by their concept was kinda creepy. Creepy meant monster, so yeah—she was definitely a Muksi Saengmyeongche.

But,

"What's with the guns?"

She didn't seem about to shoot me, but guns were unnerving. As I eyed her, she struck another pose. Kyaa☆

"Gonna go full magical girl from now on! Signature move: Magical Bullet!"

"...So you're keeping the name Matan?"

"Hmm, not the most magical girl-ish name! But magical girls rise even from despair, right?!"

Every time I saw her, she seemed a little unhinged. I was starting to regret summoning her, but I'd burned mental energy on it, so I figured I'd hear her out.

"Got a question. You were active in Busan too."

"Yup!"

"Heard a bunch of cultists got offed there."

Casualties from Magical Girl's Birth were all criminals or cultists—and most cultists were criminals. So basically, just bad guys died.

Matan nodded at my words.

"Like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I said before! I hated the Special Task Force and Foundation messing with my magical girl work! But they hate the cult, right? So if I narrowed targets to cultists, maybe they'd get it and leave me be!"

"That's why you spawned magical girls in Busan? 'Cause you knew the cult was there?"

"Exactly!"

"Any idea where their HQ is?"

She shook her head.

"No clue! I did my homework on Earth, but their main base is well-hidden! I know some outposts, though!"

The cult operated as scattered cells to avoid wipeouts. They had bases and hideouts everywhere, but cells had limits. What let them thrive as humanity's public enemy was leveraging Muksi Saengmyeongche. Some were so powerful, the cult stayed sneaky.

Flip that: snatch key ones like Bloody Mary, and the Foundation would steamroll them easy. Couldn't just disperse and isolate the big ones—they were all centralized at HQ.

"If even Magical Girl's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Birth couldn't sniff it out, they've got serious stealth tech."

Take down HQ, and the cult's done. That's why they hid it tight.

"Anything else you know about them? Spill."

"Of course! It's all magical girl duty! Or should I storm in now and show 'em who's boss!?"

"...Don't."

I got a rundown on cult intel from her. Once done, I stowed her away again. Didn't want her charging off solo.

"Call if you need a magical girl!"

She hopped back into storage, chipper. Unlike Ari, no fear of it. True magical girl—fearless.

Anyway, the cult got hammered in Suwon and Busan by Magical Girl's Birth, so they were in rough shape. Plus, I'd cleared the Devil's Deal commission. That thing owed me big— it'd help somehow. With my rep for soloing a Threat Level 5, I was untouchable.

"Now I can pick and choose commissions."

Before, I'd taken whatever came. Now the inbox overflowed with not just lovecalls but jobs too. Easy money from here on. No need to chase cash.

"Quests that hit ending conditions, or ones that boost agency power."

Or hammer the shaky cult. That direction sounded good.

Scanning emails, a familiar name popped.

Huh?

"Ryu Harin?"

She'd emailed? I had her number and messenger. Why email?

I skimmed it quick, then called.

"Uh, yeah... Kinda happened..."

I mumbled, flustered. Sure, I'd solved Magical Girl's Birth, but owning it felt off. Like I'd lucked into it. Without the Cute Girl Mod, Matan would've kept pumping out magical girls and kaijin forever, right? So was it my win or not...? Made me play humble.

"S-saw your email. Coulda just called."

Hearing that, I reread the email. Subject: "Muksi Saengmyeongche Containment."

"Yeah, I know."

Heard it from Jeong Woo-gyeom at the demo. Special Task Force aimed to exterminate all Muksi Saengmyeongche—cheapest option, and their whole purpose. But tons couldn't be killed. Containment was best sometimes. They lacked budget and facilities for it, so they often dumped isolates on the Foundation.

"D-died...?"

That caused a snag, so she got temp thrown into management, she said. Explained why I hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seen her at the Magical Girl's Birth mess.

"You doing okay? Not gonna mess up and die, right?"

"Good. Survived 'cause you're a newbie."

"It's dangerous work..."

You're Superstar Anchovy. Swallowed that.

"Got it... So you want me to hold one?"

She remembered our agency then.

She'd seen Tae-man swallow the Eight-Foot Ghost. Threw the idea my way.

"Gotta check with Tae-man... What kinda Muksi Saengmyeongche?"

Email pinged.

"Whoa."

I whistled despite myself. A monster I knew well.