Code Red (3)
Aria couldn’t believe her own eyes. That arm she had twisted and shattered herself— the one she’d expected to take weeks to heal—stood before her now in perfect, unbroken condition.
Her own body still ached in a dozen places, and every movement made her grimace, but this was nothing like that. She was moving with far less pain than she ever had.
[Whoaah! A magical girl!]
“This crazy troll…”
While she stood frozen in disbelief, the grotesque creature she’d just stepped on roared in fury and pushed itself up from the pavement. Aria leapt lightly, landing on the hood of the nearest car as if the metal were solid ground.
[Die!]
The creature swung a fist the size of its own upper body. Blood poured from its shattered nose as it roared.
Aria didn’t even flinch. A shadow coiled beneath her like living tentacles and erupted upward, wrapping around the monster’s torso in an instant.
“You really believe only in raw power, huh. Fine. Then die.”
[Grrraaaah…]
She slashed her hand through the air. At the same time, a blade of pure shadow shot from her palm and sliced straight through the creature’s neck without it ever being able to move.
“So this one was also some kind of failed experiment… Just how crazy is this world?”
“Good. High-rank merit.”
The monster’s decapitated body dissolved into black sludge the moment its head rolled away. In the center of the melting mess sat a half-melted lump of flesh—once a perfectly ordinary human’s body part, now fused with something else entirely.
*
“You think there’s only one villain? That there’s only one gang using living weapons?”
“This neighborhood is seriously insane.”
I clicked my tongue at Rene’s words. Even in the Demon Realm we didn’t go this far. Not the angels who’d sworn to crush us either.
“…Well, anyway, the job’s done.”
I scanned the surroundings, looking for a place to hide. Already a crowd had gathered. Everyone held their phones up, snapping photos of me.
I’d grown used to living as a demon king, but deep down I still hated the attention. It felt… off.
“You’re just going to leave like that? I thought you came here to see another magical girl?”
“What are you staring at? Of course there was an unexpected harvest, though.”
I smirked at Rene’s comment. Just as he’d said, I’d passed by a magical girl’s aura earlier and decided to check it out.
But that detour had led to another meeting.
“There’s another one?”
My eyes met hers. Had she realized I’d spotted her too?
Even if I hid my power, I could sense the faint flow of mana. That girl who’d just flown over had to be a magical girl.
“So what now? What do you plan to do with me?”
“What do you mean? I have to wander around some more. I need to find a place to live!”
I shot straight up into the sky. Finding a roof was never easy.
If worse came to worst, I’d have to fly back to the care facility myself.
“One… two… three. This popularity is getting ridiculous.”
I felt eyes on me from every direction. Magical girls were staring, clearly waiting for me to drop my disguise and show my real self.
“If you keep chasing me like that you’ll look like an idiot.”
The moment I vanished into the clouds I accelerated. Chasing me through thick fog would be impossible.
“I’ll just do a little more investigating, then head back to the facility.”
Once the watchful eyes disappeared, I shifted back to my human form in an alley between buildings and blended into the crowd of passersby.
“There’s a food cart right in front of me and I’m not allowed to eat? That’s insane.”
I passed the steaming street vendor and ground my teeth. How long had it been since I’d smelled street food? For me it was just like a dream—fried dough and tteokbokki. I didn’t need to eat, but every kind of Earth food had become one of my perfume’s main ingredients.
“Looks like today’s going to end with another day of wandering…”
“…I think the same thing.”
I let out a short laugh at Rene’s words. Even if I found a house, who was going to feed a poor girl with no money these days?
“Hey. You.”
By late afternoon someone approached me.
“Who are you?”
“Eh… eh?!”
The girl who’d come up first flinched at my blunt tone. I scanned her quickly.
Her clothes and face both looked completely normal at first glance, but something felt off.
“A faint hint of evil,” Rene noted. I agreed. It was subtle but unmistakable.
“I-I’m Kim Su-jeong… Or rather, you’re a runaway, aren’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re wandering the streets with nothing and no one. No home, no food.”
The girl adjusted her cap, regained her confidence, and jabbed a finger at me. I glanced down at myself.
Yeah, I looked exactly like a runaway.
“If you come with me, I can give you a place to sleep and food.”
“Who’s the boss there?”
“Huh?!”
I smirked.
No kid would act so independently unless they had a real reason to trust the boss.
“What do they give you in exchange? Are you paying some kind of sexual tax? Or are you just a test subject they sell?”
“W-what are you saying?! Oppa Kim Gwang-hun would never do something like that!”
“The name is Kim Gwang-hun?”
“Gah…”
I found myself interested. The guy clearly sounded shady, and the offer of food and shelter was tempting.
“W-we do earn merit points…”
“Lead the way.”
I ignored Rene and told the girl her name was Kim Su-jeong to take me to her hideout. She blinked in confusion, then pointed eagerly for me to follow.
“The boss will give you work. He told us to bring in kids like you. What’s your name, though?”
“My name?”
I paused for a second. I couldn’t give him my real name as the Demon King.
“Jina… uh, Jin-ah.”
“Jin-ah?”
I changed one syllable from my old human name, Lee Jin-woo, to make a fake name on the spot. It felt weird, but no one would suspect a thing.
“You live here?”
“Only girls live here. The unnies are scary, so be careful…”
The place Kim Su-jeong took me to was a rundown villa on the outskirts of the city. It didn’t look like any kind of organized operation.
“There’s plenty of evil energy, but everyone here is sloppy.”
Rene sounded certain. It was just another run-down runaway fam.
And to runaways, a few low-level delinquents would naturally attach themselves.
“What? Who’s this?”
“The boss said to bring in a new member.”
The first person who stepped forward was a girl who looked barely older than a teenager.
“New member?”
She grinned and looked me up and down.
“Just left home, huh? Why did you come here?”
“Because she said she’d give me food and a place to stay.”
“Where did you get that promise from?”
The girl grabbed my head and slammed it against the wall. I was too stunned to react in time.
“Don’t regret it. Get inside. Why did you even leave?”
“…Because I might die if I stay.”
Staying in the Demon King’s castle would be worse than being killed by my own perfume. At least I wasn’t lying.
“Tch.”
She scratched her head, confused.
“There’s only the faintest trace of evil on this girl. She’s pretty normal.”
Rene gave her an honest assessment. I agreed. She looked worn out, but not completely broken.
“Come in.”
She finally opened the door. The single-room villa was a mess—more cluttered than dirty. So many things that sorting them would take forever.
“Everyone’s gone right now, but there are thirteen of us living here. You’ll have to share a spot under the sink with this guy.”
“All of you are like that?”
“…Yeah. Just runaways. I’m Jeon So-hyun.”
The girl extended her hand and grinned. I took it after introducing my fake name. The sleeping arrangement wasn’t great, but it was better than the street.
“Surprised you’d trust a stranger like this?”
Simple Entertainment
I snorted at Rene’s words. True, I’d never been allowed to enjoy anything normal on Earth. All I could do was this crazy stuff.
“But you just walked in here and started living like this? Aren’t you worried?”
“As long as I get the boss’s permission, it’s fine. Kim Gwang-hun. This house actually belongs to him. Anyone who says otherwise gets kicked out. And you don’t speak properly, do you?”
“…What kind of person is he?”
The girl grabbed my head again and slammed it into the wall.
It didn’t hurt. There was no evil in her actions, and I knew she was too weak to be dangerous. It was like a cat playfully punching someone.
“I don’t know. He’s crazy. But he gives us jobs, so if we just try a little harder we can live on our own.”
“Jobs?”
“You’ll find out soon. You’re still young, so maybe he’ll give you something like what Su-jeong does?”
She was already planning to leave when I asked. I didn’t press for details. She probably wouldn’t answer anyway.
“Come on, get in.”
“What do you do?”
“The unnies made me do the laundry… If I don’t do it, they beat me.”
“A complete mess.”
I clicked my tongue at Kim Su-jeong’s words.