The Magical Girl and the Werewolf

I used to think about it when I was a kid. Wouldn't it be nice if I could become an idol too? Of course, those childish dreams always crumbled in front of the mirror. But even after I grew up, I sometimes wondered—what if I could do that? Especially after reading articles about how they raked in billions from a single commercial.

Advertisements are always around us. They pop up when you turn on the TV, when you watch videos, and even on random blogs or websites as banners. The stars of those ads are usually the hottest idols or actors. Beautiful men and women who seem like an entirely different species from me, eating pizza, drinking soju, wearing clothes and dancing. Sometimes they just smile or say a few words.

That's how it is in reality. But the world I'm breathing in right now—the game world called Under the Blue Moon—is a little different. Sure, there are celebrities here too. But besides famous people like entertainers, there's another group that works as corporate advertising towers.

The vampires, those nobles of the night? The magicians who turn fantasies into reality? No. Their existence is fundamentally hidden. They exist, but they don't openly reveal themselves in the light of day.

The answer is simple.

…A magical girl.

Magical Girl Double Melon charged toward the thugs blocking her path, her two massive mounds of fat jiggling wildly just as her name suggested.

"Melon Kick!"

Her leg shot out long. The thug who took the hit from a thigh thicker than most men's magazine models—more like something from a fitness model than an athlete—went flying through the air.

"Gaaahk!"

Watching from a safe distance, I inwardly admired the sight. As expected of a magical girl. She keeps every hair except on her head and eyebrows perfectly groomed. Even in places no one else can see.

Well, by "no one," I mean the general public.

On the other hand, the thugs getting knocked around by her were a total mess. Sagging beer bellies and body hair growing wild in every direction. What a disaster. To me, it was an utterly grotesque spectacle, but to the people watching, it seemed like prime entertainment and excellent filming material.

The crowd cheered and captured the scene on their smartphones. Most of them were desperately trying to get shots between Double Melon's legs. A few had even brought professional camera equipment to record her fight.

Alright. It's about time they showed up.

I quietly moved toward where I sensed movement. Sure enough, real gangsters carrying weapons were walking into the alley.

"Kahk, ptoo!"

I spat loudly and stepped in front of them. They stopped. I clenched my fist until my knuckles cracked.

"You can't pass through here."

"Who the hell are you, you bastard?"

The thug in front shouted, his weapon dangling between his legs. I deliberately kept my eyes fixed only on his face as I answered.

"I'm a premium physical therapist for brain-dead idiots who treat their bodies like canvases."

"This son of a—! Get him!"

At his command, the two men on either side charged at me. I immediately planted a lariat into one guy's face.

Thud—!

His body spun a full circle in the air. While he was spinning, I grabbed a metal trash can from the alley and slammed it over the other guy's head.

Bang—!

I kicked the guy who now looked like something out of a gag manga and sent him flying. The one who seemed to be their leader caught his subordinate with the trash can on his head. At the same time, I threw myself at them.

The fight wasn't difficult. There was an overwhelming difference in physical ability. They were ordinary humans. I was a werewolf.

Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in human form, I displayed strength, endurance, and reflexes that far surpassed any human. Had five minutes passed? I easily subdued all of them. I didn't kill them. Instead, I made sure to thoroughly break their arms and legs so they could only crawl out of the alley.

Just as I finished the job, my phone rang. I took out the vibrating device and checked the caller.

Go Yu-jin.

I answered.

"There were some pests, so I was cleaning up."

"Got it."

The call ended before I could even finish speaking. What a personality.

"Tsk!"

I kicked the head of one of the fallen men out of frustration.

"Aaaagh!"

He screamed loudly even though I hadn't kicked him that hard. The impact must have jarred his broken limbs. Moments like this always completely erased that faint, hopeful thought I sometimes had—maybe this was all just a dream.

"Haa."

I turned away from the collapsed gangsters and headed toward the promised meeting spot. After taking a few twists and turns through the alleys, I grabbed a building's drainpipe and quickly climbed up.

The place I reached by climbing the pipe was the rooftop of a seven-story building. She was already there, leaning against the wall and waiting for me.

"Why are you so late? Don't you know I have a 9 a.m. lecture tomorrow?"

The green-haired woman who spat out those sharp words—as if she were about to start her period—was none other than Go Yu-jin. That's right. She was the very same Magical Girl Double Melon who had been shaking her massive tits at those thugs just moments ago.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. But it's better than suddenly getting jumped by gangsters, right?"

"Obviously. That's your job. Manager and bodyguard. Don't slack on either one. Got it? If I'm gone, you're gone too!"

This damn power trip. Maybe the biggest difference between idols and magical girls is this—throwing around authority and harsh words at their manager in private. Idols wouldn't do that. I'm sure of it.

I opened the bag slung over my shoulder and took out its contents. It was an utterly ordinary set of clothes—a short white t-shirt and tight skinny jeans. She took the clothes and said,

"Go. Go stand watch and make sure no one else is coming."

"Yeah, yeah."

I gave a half-hearted reply and walked over to the railing on the edge of the rooftop. Down below, people were still gathered in small groups, chatting. From the way they were showing each other their phones, it looked like they were talking about the Magical Girl Double Melon footage they'd just recorded.

I pulled out my own phone and accessed a video site. Checking the latest uploads, I saw that her video had already been posted. A star is a star. The response was better than most idols.

While I was briefly looking at the video thumbnail, she must have finished changing.

"I'm done. Let's head down."

I turned around to look at Go Yu-jin. She had changed clothes, but...

"What are you staring at? That's sexual harassment, you know."

…She was still completely naked.

Or should I say, it was a bit different? The concept was somewhat ambiguous. She had clearly put on clothes. But to me, it looked like she was wearing nothing at all.

What my eyes saw was a busty female college student wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, standing there in nothing but sneakers. Completely unaware of how she appeared to me, she arrogantly pushed her glasses up with a haughty expression.

"Hurry up and go down to prepare the car. I'm tired."

"...Yeah."

I carefully folded the magical girl outfit and wig she had casually tossed aside, stuffed them into the bag, and descended the building ahead of her. By the time I brought the car from the nearby parking lot, she had already come down. I drove her—now asleep in the back seat—all the way home before I finally got any free time.

"This is fucking bullshit. Seriously."

Under the Blue ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Moon. It had been a year since I possessed this character in the game. Without even knowing how or why it happened, I had been living in this world the entire time—not as Kim Jin-hyung, the college student who had been preparing to enlist in the military, but as the werewolf Rin.

In Under the Blue Moon, the main story differs depending on the character's race. For example, if you're a vampire, the main storyline is about turning the clan you lead into the greatest vampire clan. For magicians, it's about uniting the magicians' guilds to protect them from other races like vampires and werewolves. Doppelgangers focus on sowing discord among all those various races.

Because Under the Blue Moon offers completely different stories for each race, replaying it always felt fresh. The background was shared, but the stories changed entirely, which meant the roles and fates of named NPCs varied wildly too. That was what made it fun. And that was exactly why I was in trouble now.

So far, I had seen endings as a human magician, a vampire assassin, and a doppelganger mafia. But this was my first time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a werewolf. I had no idea how the story would unfold. And more than anything...

The biggest fear was not knowing what would happen if I died now that I had possessed a character I created myself.

In the original game, death wasn't real death. You'd revive at the most recent inn, hotel, or motel where you'd slept. Or you could just load a save file. But there was no guarantee that would still work now that I was actually inside the game.

It was a game, but not a game. The world was Under the Blue Moon, but the game systems were nowhere to be seen. No status windows, no inventory, nothing like that.

Plus, in the original game, the death of an unimportant NPC would never make the news. It's hard to explain my fear in a single sentence. There were many factors involved.

Anyway, because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of all that, I had been acting very cautiously. I hated spoilers, so I had never looked at any strategy guides. That meant I knew nothing about the werewolf route's story. I also had no idea whether I still had a player's privilege of respawning after death. On top of that, this world was so realistic that I sometimes doubted whether it was really just a game world.

Even in this situation, I had two or three advantages.

One was that through all my previous playthroughs, I had thoroughly learned the characteristics of magicians, vampires, doppelgangers, and the like.

The other was... the fact that I had confirmed the mods I installed before possessing this world were still working.

The most notable one was the nude patch. Men and women alike walked around completely naked. The exact principle seemed to be that it deleted all visual data related to worn clothing. I wasn't entirely sure, but I suspected it messed with textures and models. That's why everyone just looked naked to me.

According to the system, they were all properly dressed, so everyone except me believed they were fully clothed. Only I could see everyone's naked bodies. I could see exactly what they were hiding under their clothes, and that ability had kept me alive so far.

The mods I installed weren't limited to just the nude patch. But it was the only one I could make immediate use of, and the only one that stayed permanently active and affected everything.

Thanks to living among naked men and women for an entire year, I was constantly in a state of various kinds of torment. Even today, for example—

Vrrrr—!

My phone rang.

"...The boss?"

The word "Boss" was clearly displayed on the screen. I spat on the ground and answered the call.

"Yes, this is Rin."

"...Yes."

Goddamn it. A summons, huh?

The boss, just like Go Yu-jin, ended the call right after delivering her order. I cursed under my breath.

"Fucking bastard."

Grumbling about the boss who had called me in the middle of the night, I got back into the car.