Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duty!
"Congratulations on your Magical Girl Duty!"
"Kuuaak…."
"Review what I taught you by tomorrow."
"What teaching? You just beat the crap out of me."
I was rolling on the floor of the Awakener Association's training ground, with Teacher I-hwa watching me. Two months after staring into the abyss of the gallery, I still hadn't entered a new dungeon.
My peaceful daily routine: head to the Association every morning, clock out at 6 PM, then train with Teacher I-hwa.
The reason I hadn't entered a dungeon yet was simple.
"So, still no dungeons popping up in Seoul?"
"That's what they say."
"Weird shit. They used to come at least once a month. Why'd they suddenly stop?"
"Beats me."
No dungeons in Seoul.
Hell, I can't enter one if there isn't one to raid, right?
Dungeons had suddenly stopped generating across the entire Seoul region, leaving the Association in chaos.
Meanwhile, the number of dungeons popping up in rural areas had apparently increased.
Which meant we might have to go provide support to those understaffed local branches.
"Eh, a break isn't so bad."
"Our guild's heading down to Daejeon this time. Want me to grab anything?"
"Just a baguette from that famous bakery there."
"Got it."
In contrast, Cheonam Guild couldn't care less about the lack of dungeons in Seoul.
They could just raid elsewhere.
But for Association folks like me, having nothing to do created one big problem.
"So, what now?"
"Go home or something."
"We've still got four hours till quitting time…."
"Then go work."
"Our team's only got field ops. Nothing to do."
This hollow feeling.
Slacking off like an unemployed bum is fun for about a week. Drag it out to two months, and something feels off.
When everyone else in the office is busting their asses and you're just gaming on your computer, you feel eyes on you.
Not that I hate it. I even ranked up from Gold to Platinum this month.
Yesterday, I duoed with Assistant Manager Nam Juyeong, sniping CS as a Xerath support and got flamed hard.
"Dude, at Xerath level, snagging a few CS is fine, right?"
"Sigh. I'm out. Clean up after yourself."
Teacher I-hwa, who'd been listening to my whining, headed out of the training room to prep for tomorrow's raid.
She used to be hard to even talk to, but lately, we've gotten pretty close.
She even scouted me for Cheonam Guild recently.
I turned it down, though. Our vibes just don't match.
-Riiiing
"What the hell, a call?"
I was sprawled on the training room floor, zoning out, when my phone rang.
The caller was Assistant Manager Nam Juyeong—one of my gaming buddies during this downtime.
His tier's Silver, total trash compared to my Platinum. Can't even queue together.
For reference, Senior Hyeji's a Master. Turns out she's a legit gaming addict.
Anyway, couldn't ignore the ringing, so I grabbed my phone with my left hand and picked up.
"Hello?"
-Yo, where you at?
"Association training room."
-Get your ass to the office. Raid schedule's set.
"Oh, finally. On my way."
Raid schedule after two months.
Time to earn my keep again. But part of me was a little bummed.
Office slacking was nice, but more than that... my gallery bait was going stale.
Ugh, looks like I'd have to toss some more logs on the fire myself.
Still, having work was good.
"Let's hustle today!"
Pumped for once, I headed to the office.
"As you all know, no dungeons in Seoul, so we've decided to send support to the local branches."
"Which regions?"
"Chungcheong, Daegu, Busan, I think?"
Assistant Manager Juyeong tapped his tiny hand with a wooden stick as he spoke.
Funny part: he carries it to grab stuff from high shelves in the break room. Whatever.
Anyway, per him, Seoul Branch was dispatching support to other regions.
"Key point: we'll be raiding the dungeons ourselves."
"Wait, us raiding directly?"
"They're short-staffed. We gotta clear three solo-entry dungeons."
The issue in the locals wasn't high-risk gates, but too many low-rank ones.
Even C-rank dungeons piling up ten a day overwhelm guilds and locals, so they called us.
We're heading to the highest-priority spots.
"So, who's tackling which?"
"We pick. Difficulty's similar anyway."
Chungcheong, Daegu, or Busan—our call.
Senior Hyeji's one of the stronger B-ranks, and Juyeong looks kid-sized but he's legit A-rank.
I'm no pushover anymore either.
Hell, I'm pretty damn strong now, right?
"Who wants which region?"
"What's the dungeon theme for each?"
As I was internally hyping myself, Senior Hyeji answered Juyeong's question.
Dungeon themes matter.
"Daegu's a horror ghost story thing…."
"Eww, hate scary stuff."
"Not a fan of ghost stories either."
Juyeong's first pick made me and Hyeji recoil.
I'm a total wuss—barely watch horror flicks. Guess Hyeji's not into them either.
"Chungcheong's idol story, Busan's magical girl."
"I'll take the ghost dungeon."
"Please let me do the horror one."
But hearing the others flipped the script.
Ghost story's scary, but grit through and clearable.
Idol? To an ex-Army special forces grunt like me? Fuck no.
And magical girl? Disaster. Gallery would roast me alive.
Step in there, and I'd be too embarrassed to leave the house for three years.
No matter what, I need the ghost one.
But Hyeji and Juyeong probably thought the same.
Awkward silence hit us.
"Hey, but me doing magical girl or idol? Nah, doesn't fit."
"Why not? You're tiny—perfect for triggering protective instincts in idol role."
"Don't know about magical girl, Assistant Manager?"
"What's that supposed to mean…."
Juyeong tried dodging with gender, but failed miserably.
After 30 minutes of bickering, we settled on my suggestion: draw straws.
"Everyone cool with the result, no sore losers?"
"Fine."
Juyeong shuffled fair and square, even using his skill.
Looked legit, but I had an ace.
Banking on you, Clairvoyance…!
Clairvoyance x-ray from my last raid.
Useless trash except peeping—its time to shine!
That's the ghost one.
I peeked inside and reached desperately for the skull-marked straw.
"Mine!"
"Hey! That's my straw!!"
But the world doesn't go to plan.
Juyeong snatched the ghost straw a beat faster.
Fine, idol's better than….
"I'll take this."
Fuck.
Hyeji snagged the idol one too.
Left with… magical girl?
No. Fucking. Way.
Can't yell ★Metamorphose!★ (that's "transform") in front of the whole nation!
"Hahaha! Thought I wouldn't notice your cheat?"
"Huh?"
"You suggested draws 'cause you had a skill. Just snag the one you wanted."
Shit, played.
Underestimated the vet Association guy.
But I had one last card.
"Fuck this! No magical girl for me!"
I drew my sword from my waist and stabbed my own throat.
Consciousness faded fast. Death approached.
You have looped!
"Ghost dungeon's mine!!"
Fresh chance via regression—I nailed the ghost one without screwing up.
"Haa… Idol at my age."
Hyeji drew idol again, like last loop.
So Juyeong's….
"Fuck my life!!"
"Congratulations on your Magical Girl Duty, Assistant Manager!!"
Magical Girl Nam Juyeong confirmed.
Glad it's not me. For real.
"Ugh, subway's empty as hell."
The hard-won ghost dungeon. Rushed straight to Daegu and entered.
Solo raid, just me. Kinda tense alone… but beats magical girl, right?
…Feels like eyes on me. Probably imagination.