The Real Magical Girl
Vampires have a fatal weakness: they cannot operate under sunlight. To overcome this, each clan typically establishes corporate fronts or partners with existing companies. The Bloodycore clan and Black Star are prime examples. In Korea, numerous vampire clans exist besides Bloodycore, most of them hiding behind legitimate businesses. And just as regular companies collaborate across various sectors, clans do the same. The most crucial factor in these partnerships is the clan's power. So I could understand the boss's reaction.
The rival had openly challenged something Bloodycore had initiated. They wouldn't have dared if it weren't a field Bloodycore had already claimed. Vampires or magician guilds wouldn't attack us directly. At most, ordinary corporations unaware of the Bloodycore clan lurking behind Black Star might hire thugs for an ambush. That wasn't some moral code. They simply feared the power Bloodycore possessed. If we didn't respond properly here, we'd look weak. The same would happen if we failed to secure the magical girl project and let it slip to the enemy.
The question was how the boss would handle the opponent... The best approach was clearly to crush them with force. In this world, power was the ultimate metric. But the problem was that this involved internet videos. If the boss or anyone else stepped forward openly, it could cause major issues later. And the same applied to me. Whether in human or werewolf form, if I targeted Fresh Grape, I'd end up not just in internet videos but on the actual news.
The boss hadn't given me the full details yet. When the time came, he'd issue orders, and all I had to do was follow them faithfully. Unlike last time, I intended to be completely obedient this round. Still, I couldn't help feeling curious. To learn even a little about the enemy. And to imagine what the boss might demand of me, I watched videos of the magical girl Fresh Grape whenever I had a spare moment.
Even now. While waiting for Go Yu-jin, who had gone to the bathroom, I kept one earbud in and watched a video. Ever since the day the boss showed us those clips, new videos had been uploaded every day or two. The enemies they faced and the locations varied each time, but Fresh Grape's outfit, appearance, fighting style, and posture remained identical.
"I can never forgive evil!"
The voice of Fresh Grape shouting those words was incredibly thin. If I had to compare it, it resembled the voices of young girls under 140cm tall from Japanese anime or games. Her pronunciation sounded fluent, yet there was an inexplicable awkwardness to it. But if someone asked what exactly felt off, I couldn't pinpoint it. Anyway, that's the impression it gave.
Next was her appearance. Since I hadn't seen her in person, I couldn't be certain, but she looked roughly 150cm tall, maybe in the early to mid range. She might even be smaller. Fresh Grape had legs so long they made her seem almost Western. Good proportions always make someone look taller. Those long legs were slender. Not just thin, but perfectly shaped, like they'd been trained through yoga or something.
And then...
“Hmm?”
Even while watching the video, I occasionally lifted my head to scan the surroundings. That's when I witnessed something impossible. Someone walking toward me from the far end of the corridor looked exactly like Fresh Grape from the video.
Too identical.
This was the tenth day. While escorting Go Yu-jin, I'd watched these videos every time I had a break. Now I could see her face with my eyes closed. Startled, I focused hard on the figure and quickly realized it was just my imagination. The person was male.
He shared a similar look with Fresh Grape, but his facial lines were much sharper and his eyebrows thicker. And the body below was unmistakably male. Flat? No, broad and solid chest. A physique close to what people call practical compressed muscle, and below that, the clear evidence of manhood. His long hair was tied back, but he was definitely a man.
Still, the face was so alike that I examined him thoroughly just in case. He was about 165cm tall. Much taller than Fresh Grape in the videos. His shoes didn't look like they had lifts either.
“Ah. Is this not the place?”
The man suddenly stopped and muttered to himself as if searching for something. His voice was also a deep male one. Completely different from Fresh Grape's excessively thin tone.
It probably wasn't a doppelganger. Doppelgangers have genders and can't transform into the opposite sex. Above all, there were no signs of transplanted skin from another person, which was the hallmark of a doppelganger.
“Sniff sniff.”
The scent confirmed it too. Definitely male.
“Tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue, scratched his head vigorously, then turned and walked back the way he'd come. I watched him for a moment before looking away again. I must have watched too many Fresh Grape videos. Maybe I should take a break for the rest of the day.
Just as I was about to turn off the video, Go Yu-jin came out of the bathroom. She frowned when she saw me, then gestured for me to follow and started walking down the corridor. I trailed behind her. We left the building and headed to the parking lot. She got in the car, and I slid into the driver's seat.
“Let's rest for a bit before going back.”
Go Yu-jin leaned back comfortably in the passenger seat and closed her eyes.
“Aren't you going back to study?”
She raised an arm and draped it over her eyes.
“Exams are over. Today's my last day. So let's rest a little.”
“...It'd be bad if someone sees you with a guy. The Silver Smoke Herb effect is almost gone, so I'll go smoke another one. You hate the smell anyway.”
She was obsessively protective of her image at school. That was why she'd coldly denied it when I pretended to be her boyfriend to help her, right?
“It's fine. Just stay here.”
“Why? This could cause problems.”
“I said it's fine. Why do you keep making me repeat myself?”
Irritation seeped into her voice.
“...Alright.”
Her attitude sparked annoyance in me too, but I held it back. Her kidnapping by the Samgunhoe was entirely my fault. It was the result of me not doing my job properly and acting on my own. Not only was she kidnapped, she nearly suffered something terrible. If not for the boss, I might have violated her with my own hands.
I'd tried to apologize. But for some reason, the words wouldn't come out easily. I couldn't find the right timing. Besides, she'd been knocked out cold from the drugs at the time, so she probably didn't know the full story. That made me think keeping my mouth shut would let it all blow over. Of course, that didn't erase the guilt.
Even without apologizing, I felt this pressure to do something for her. So I stayed silent, staring out the car window.
“...Aren't you going to watch that?”
“Huh? Watch what?”
“You know, that thing you watch all the time lately. The real magical girl. Is she so pretty you're dying over her?”
Her voice and tone were full of thorns.
“What are you talking about? She's basically our enemy, so I'm just analyzing her.”
“Basically? She's not basically an enemy. She is the enemy.”
Go Yu-jin removed the arm covering her eyes. She glared at me with a fierce gaze.
“Have you fallen for her so hard you've forgotten she's the enemy? Can you really perform properly when it counts? You better not make another mistake.”
Her tone. The content. Even her eyes. She was clearly mocking me. If I hadn't felt guilty toward her, I would've raised my voice and argued right then. I took a deep breath to maintain control.
“I... I was just analyzing the opponent to avoid making mistakes. That's all.”
I didn't know why I was making these excuses. Suppressing the irritation rising again, I continued.
“I'll go smoke the Silver Smoke Herb. It really would be bad for you if someone saw me like this.”
I needed to get some air, even for a little while, to calm down. Without waiting for Go Yu-jin's reply, I got out of the car.
Silver Smoke Herb — Perception Deterrence (2 hours remaining)
Watching Rin walk toward the smoking area near the parking lot after getting out of the car, Go Yu-jin clicked her tongue.
'Ah... that's not what I meant.'
She lamented inwardly, but the damage was already done. Lately she'd been getting irritated more and more often. She didn't know why. For some strange reason, she just kept snapping at Rin.
'Why am I like this, seriously.'
Until recently, she'd actually felt grateful toward him. He'd chased after her immediately when she ran off in a fit of anger. He'd transformed to save her. Honestly, she'd been terrified back then. She hadn't known what might happen if the vampires kidnapped her. Vampires were once human and still carried those same desires. Possessiveness, destructiveness, exhibitionism, and of course, sexual desire. Vampires didn't reproduce through sex, but their organs were identical to humans', so intercourse was possible. Quite a few vampires still enjoyed sex even after turning.
She'd been steeling herself to be gang-raped and killed by vampires when Rin appeared. He'd thrown himself into danger to save her after she'd thrown a tantrum and stormed off. She'd felt relieved at the sound of his voice asking what they'd done to her. Maybe that was why she'd acted spoiled in a way that wasn't like her at all. It had been like that until then.
These recent irritations had started from the moment she was kidnapped by the Samgunhoe. She'd been angry that he'd neglected his escort duty and let her get captured. But then she'd felt grateful again when she learned he'd come alone to rescue her. She hadn't told Rin or Angel, but she'd actually been conscious at the time. Her body had been asleep and her eyes wouldn't open, but her ears worked and she could think.
At first she hadn't understood why, but after hearing Rin and Lye's conversation, she could guess. They'd probably planned to make her conscious while Rin raped her so she'd resent him. Rin had been surrounded by them and was on the verge of violating her when the boss appeared and stopped it. Up to that point, she was a bit angry but could accept it. After all, it had been under duress. She'd heard his hesitant voice too. And in the end, he hadn't violated her.
But from the moment she learned that the drugged Rin had raped that woman Lye, uncontrollable anger had begun to surge. She didn't know why. Just hearing their conversation, the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh... it made rage boil up inside her.
After the incident was resolved and time passed, her anger had subsided somewhat. But that was only temporary. After he resumed escorting her and she kept seeing him watch those Chinese magical girl videos in his spare time, the irritation surged again. That's why she'd snapped at him like that earlier. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't control herself.
'Ah, damn it.'
She didn't understand what was happening. It was frustrating. She couldn't comprehend why she was acting this way.
“Haaa...”
Go Yu-jin let out a long sigh.
'Let's talk about it again.'
She'd made up her mind and was about to get out of the car to go to him when she saw him talking to someone. From the back, she couldn't tell who it was. The person wore loose clothes so she couldn't see their figure, but they were a head shorter than Rin with long hair tied back. It looked like a woman.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, irritation flared up again.
“...”
Go Yu-jin pulled her hand away from the door handle. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Draping her arm over them, she muttered toward the image of Rin that appeared behind her eyelids.
“Fucking bastard.”