Chapter 0
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Prologue
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My life as Kang Min-woo was brutally ordinary. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say it fell just a bit short of ordinary.
An old rented apartment filled with outdated furniture and damp, peeling wallpaper.
But this rundown home was brimming with the scent of life.
The tickle of doenjang jjigae at the tip of my nose, my family bursting into smiles over a single discounted cake plastered with a near-expiration sticker.
My twenty-fourth birthday was no different from any other.
"Oppa, hurry up and blow out the candles! If the wax drips, we won't have anything to eat!"
Yeon-ah, my little sister, pouted as she urged me on. On the rickety dining table sat the smallest size birthday cake from the local bakery, topped with a precarious '24' candle flickering away.
"Min-woo, blow it out quick. And don't forget to make a wish. Our son, this year you have to land a job at a good company and finally escape this godforsaken hillside dump."
"Hey now, not that again. Don't put pressure on the boy. Min-woo, all Dad wants is for you to stay healthy."
The familiar nagging from my father and mother filled the living room. Under the yellowish fluorescent light, our family's faces glowed with warmth.
Yeah, this was enough. No special talents, no overflowing money, but with this simple warmth, my life was perfectly ordinary—and happy.
I grinned sheepishly and drew in a deep breath.
My wish was nothing grand.
Just that my family stays healthy.
And that next birthday, we're all gathered around this same old table, hearing the same nagging. Oh, sure, I'd have to get a job too...
Fwooo—
It was right then, as I was about to blow out the candles.
KABOOM!
The world flipped upside down.
This wasn't a metaphor. The ceiling, the floor, my entire field of vision literally inverted.
A deafening roar tore at my eardrums as a massive blast of wind slammed my body into the corner of the living room.
My mouth filled with dust and grit. My head rang like a bell. Instinctively, I looked up.
And mumbled like an idiot.
"Ah...?"
Where the table had been moments ago, there was now a massive hole punched straight through.
From the apartment ceiling down to the floor—a straight-line scar left by something barreling through.
And beyond that hole, instead of the night sky, a blindingly vivid pink light flashed.
"Whoa! Did that just miss?"
A clear, youthful voice rang out from the empty air above the ceiling. It was a voice I'd heard countless times on TV.
S-rank Magical Girl Shining Ruby, beloved by the nation.
"Ruby-chan! This is a civilian residential area! Watch your aim!"
"Ugh, whatever! That tentacle monster keeps squirming! Is the building just that old? Why does it crumble so easily?"
Giggling laughter. The Magical Girls' banter sounded as lighthearted as friends out shopping.
I stared blankly at the hole in front of me.
The table was gone.
The cake was gone.
And... the spots where Father, Mother, and Yeon-ah had been sitting were gone.
"Ugh... ah..."
Peeking from between chunks of concrete rubble was a familiar scrap of fabric. Yeon-ah's beloved blue cardigan. But there was no upper body attached to it. Just some red mush splattered on the wallpaper.
On the opposite side, Father's glasses lay shattered and rolling. And what I assumed was Mother's arm was pinned under a collapsed brick wall.
No scream came out. It didn't feel real. If this wasn't a dream, how could people just vanish like mayflies?
Thud!
That's when something dropped through the hole in the ceiling.
A sparkling frilly skirt, an ornate magic wand, angelic wings sprouting from her back.
Magical Girl Shining Ruby.
In the midst of her battle with the monster, she'd landed briefly in our home. Or what used to be our home—now a pile of ruins.
Shining Ruby frowned at the dust on her shoes.
"Ugh, gross. Stepped in shit. Look at all this dust."
Her gaze met mine, huddled and trembling in the corner.
She glanced at the chunks of my family's bodies scattered around me, her expression as indifferent as if she'd spotted gum stuck to the sidewalk.
"Mister? It's dangerous to stay there. Didn't you hear the evacuation alert?"
"...Eh?"
The sound from my mouth was like a beast's rasp.
"Guess not. Tough luck. Well, can't be helped. We're busy protecting the whole city."
She shrugged and spread her wings again.
"Live in a nicer neighborhood next time. Places like this aren't even worth a basic barrier."
Flash!
In a blaze of light, she soared back into the sky.
Through the hole in the ceiling, I heard her unleashing her finisher on the monster.
"Ruby Ruby~ Love Beam! Justice never yields!"
The night sky was dyed a beautiful pink. People were probably cheering at the sight.
Buried in the collapsed concrete, I clutched a charred scrap of Yeon-ah's cardigan.
It was hot.
My family's blood was still warm.
"Kuh... ugh..."
An incomprehensible groan escaped my lips.
Hatred? It didn't even cross my mind.
Faced with overwhelming terror, I couldn't even breathe deeply, just clawed at the floor, choking and gasping.