14
Chapter 14
"I mean, we picked her up for now, but what is her identity?"
"Who knows?"
Zzz-
Joohyun and Yuna stared intently at Mina, who was dead to the world.
"She said she was hungry, but she's really sleeping well."
"What should we do?"
"Hmm."
Joohyun let out a low hum at Yuna's question.
A window was currently floating in front of Joohyun.
[Name: Park Mina]
[Magical Girl Power: 65% meets contract conditions.]
She was the first contract candidate he had seen in a while since Yuna.
On top of that, her Magical Girl Aptitude was 5% higher than Yuna's.
'It's so vague what the standard for this Magical Girl Power even is.'
Even Yuna's younger sibling, Eunha, who could actually be called a girl, only had a Magical Girl Power of 25%.
He couldn't fathom why an adult woman would show such a high Magical Girl Aptitude.
'Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as long as she meets the contract conditions.'
It wasn't exactly a major issue anyway.
It was a good thing to get even one more contracted person.
Increasing the number of contractors meant gaining more shared skills.
And that would allow him to grow even stronger.
Once he grew stronger, he could easily clear the tower, gather magic stones, and rake in a ton of money.
He could become a rich person just like in his prime, no, even wealthier!
'I'll try to coax her into a contract once she wakes up!'
Joohyun giggled, his mood improving as his wishful thinking kicked into high gear.
Yuna's expression gradually stiffened as she watched Joohyun smiling down at Mina's sleeping form.
Soon, she glared at Joohyun with a look full of contempt.
"CEO, you're a pervert."
"?? All of a sudden?"
"I don't know!"
Yuna stuck her tongue out and swiftly turned her head away in a huff.
Joohyun couldn't understand Yuna's reaction at all.
'I swear, I'll never be able to figure out Accountant Yuna.'
Shaking his head, Joohyun approached Mina.
She was fast asleep, drooling all over the place.
'Ugh, gross!'
Just then, as Joohyun tried to get closer to Mina, Yuna urgently cried out.
"CEO, what are you trying to do?! You aren't about to do anything weird, right?!"
Joohyun shot her a dumbfounded look.
"What kind of person do you take me for! I'm just trying to wake her up first. We need to find out her identity."
Yuna stared at Joohyun with half-closed, suspicious eyes.
Her gaze screamed that she didn't believe him one bit.
Ignoring Yuna's stare, Joohyun poked Mina's cheek.
At that moment.
"Slurp....... It's a soft Castella Cake......."
Muttering that, Mina opened her mouth wide and tried to chomp down on Joohyun's hand.
Joohyun swiftly snatched his hand away before Mina could close her jaws.
"Where did my Castella Cake go......."
Mina grumbled to herself in a gloomy voice, continuing her sleep talk.
"Should we just let her sleep a bit more for now?"
"Should we......?"
Joohyun and Yuna came to an agreement to let Mina sleep a little longer.
"But is it really okay to leave her alone and head into the tower?"
"It's fine. It doesn't look like she'll be waking up anytime soon anyway."
The dark circles drooping down to her cheekbones were a clear indicator of just how exhausted she was.
With that, the two quickly entered the tower to tackle the 3rd Floor before Mina could wake up.
They had to do what needed to be done.
[You have defeated all Dionina! 15/15]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 3rd Floor!]
The 3rd Floor was inhabited by a Plant-type Monster weak to fire.
It was a monster that resembled a Venus Flytrap, simply snapping its jaws shut while rooted in place.
They were incredibly easy opponents for Yuna, who wielded fire.
All she had to do was stand still and feed them each a Fireball to burn them to death.
[Basic Reward for a Magical Girl: Dionia Stem. (Useful to bind the opponent.)]
[Reward: Dionia Seed.]
[Rank measurement completed!]
[SSS Rank]
[The Magical Girl has defeated the forces of evil and cleared the tower.]
His level had increased, but aside from a skill or two leveling up, nothing much had changed.
The magic stone reward this time was 50 pieces.
Even if he only sold what he currently had, it was enough to eat, play, and live without worrying about money for a few years.
Joohyun couldn't help but hum a happy tune.
'The day I sit on a pile of cash isn't far off~.'
Like that, the two cleared the 3rd Floor and returned home.
* * *
In her dream, Mina was chasing after Chanhoon and Suhyun.
"Wait up!"
The two of them walked toward the light without looking back, even though Mina called out to them.
Mina ran, reaching her hand out, but she couldn't catch them.
Their silhouettes disappeared.
Without giving up, Mina dashed toward the place where they vanished.
At the place she finally reached.
"Cotton candy......?"
There was a single fluffy piece of cotton candy.
It looked as soft as a cloud and smelled incredibly sweet.
"Rumble-!"
Only then did Mina remember the fact that she hadn't eaten properly for days due to her research.
Gulp-!
She swallowed her saliva instinctively.
"How happy would I be if I could just eat that one sugar lump."
Sugar intake was essential for her brain to function.
Even just one piece of cotton candy was enough to sustain life for a day.
Slurp-
Drool dripped from Mina's mouth without her realizing it.
'First of all, it doesn't seem to have an owner.......'
It was strange for cotton candy to just be sitting in a place like this, but this was no time to ponder over useless things.
'Let's eat first and think later.'
Mina opened her mouth wide and took a huge bite of the pure white cotton candy.
"Mmph."
Mina mumbled with the cotton candy in her mouth.
The cotton candy that seemed like it would melt in her mouth right away.
'Why isn't it melting.......'
It didn't melt in her mouth; for some reason, it just got soggy.
On top of that, for cotton candy, it tasted somewhat bland.
'Did they release something like zero-calorie cotton candy?'
This truly had zero flavor.
Frustrated that it tasted like nothing, Mina bared her teeth and bit down on the cotton candy.
"Aaaagh-!"
At the cotton candy's scream, Mina jolted awake.
"Ugh-."
Finally waking from her slumber, Mina rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked ahead.
Right in front of her.
Was the plump cotton candy she had just seen.
"It's cotton candy...... but it's plump......?"
Saying that, Mina squished and squeezed the white cotton candy in front of her.
"Who are you calling cotton candy!"
Squeezed by Mina, Joohyun exploded in anger and immediately swatted her hands away.
"Huh...... a talking cotton candy?"
"I'm telling you, I'm not cotton candy?! Why the hell are you biting someone else's butt! Now my chances of getting married are ruined......."
That was right.
What Mina thought was cotton candy in her dream and had bitten down on so eagerly.
Was actually Joohyun's butt.
"So you're saying cotton candy has a butt too......?"
"Aaaagh-! I told you I'm not cotton candy."
Joohyun growled, keeping his guard up against Mina.
"Weird. It was definitely cotton candy."
Mina lost interest in Joohyun and yawned repeatedly before,
"Hmm?"
She sniffed the air and staggered to her feet.
"A delicious smell...... this is......!"
Mina's footsteps led her nowhere else but to Yuna's room.
Slam-!
Beyond the violently thrown-open door.
"Gasp-!"
There was Yuna, eating cake after clearing the tower.
Startled by the door suddenly flying open, Yuna choked on the cake she was eating.
"Cough- Cough-!"
Yuna hurriedly sipped her chamomile tea.
Now that she had earned some money, Yuna was indulging in a little luxury with the chamomile.
"Y-You're awake?!"
Yuna cleared her throat once and spoke to Mina.
Mina didn't even register Yuna's voice.
Her gaze was fixed solely on the cake.
Noticing this, Yuna pointed at the cake with her finger and said,
"Would you like some?"
Mina nodded vigorously.
When Yuna carefully offered the cake.
She quickly snatched it and began scarfing down the cake with her bare hands.
Joohyun, who entered belatedly, let out a sigh at the sight.
How much time had passed like that?
"She eats well......?"
"She sure does, huh?"
Having devoured all the remaining cake, Mina was now even drinking the tea.
A bit of life had returned to her pale complexion.
Joohyun and Yuna watched her in disbelief.
"You said your name was Yuna...... Thanks for the food."
"Ah, yes......."
Mina bowed her head lightly toward Yuna like that and looked at Joohyun.
"But, what is that?"
"Excuse me?"
Yuna's gaze naturally followed where Mina was pointing.
Over there.
'CEO!'
There was Joohyun, picking his nose with absolute confidence.
'Why isn't he hiding himself?'
If it were the usual Joohyun, he wouldn't have revealed himself, saying he hated the idea of human experimentation.
But Joohyun, uncharacteristically, was revealing himself to Mina.
Joohyun stopped picking his nose, frowned, and spoke to Mina.
"By the way, why are you using casual speech? How old are ya? I'm 32."
"CEO?!"
Flustered by Joohyun's sudden behavior, Yuna looked back and forth between the two, not knowing what to do.
'Just what on earth is he thinking.'
Joohyun was growling, scrunching up his cute face as much as possible.
'Is he just not thinking at all......?'
Watching him, Yuna let out a small sigh and cautiously observed Mina's reaction.
'How am I supposed to explain this?'
Mina was staring blankly at Joohyun with eyes weighed down by thick dark circles.
As the silence stretched on, Yuna figured she should say something first and opened her mouth.
"T-This is......."
Yuna had no choice but to trail off.
An animal she'd never seen before in her life was talking right in front of her?
How in the world was she supposed to explain this?
She had just finished thinking that she might need to grab Joohyun and make a run for it if things went south.
"Hoo......."
Contrary to her worries, Mina was looking at Joohyun with highly intrigued eyes.
"I usually don't use honorific speech unless it's someone I respect....... Sorry if I offended you too, Yuna. Please understand......."
"Ah...... yes."
Mina bowed her head to Yuna with sleepy eyes and a drooping voice.
"More importantly, Yuna....... So what is this?"
Raising her head, Mina pointed at Joohyun again and asked.
"This brat! What, you don't use honorific speech unless someone is worthy of respect? In this Land of Courtesy? How old are you! You look even younger than Accountant Yuna!"
Joohyun hopped up and down in anger, but Mina looked at him as if it were nothing.
"Why are you so curious about my age......."
Mina tilted her head, acting like she couldn't understand.
"Seriously, this brat......."
Joohyun was trembling.
Looking back and forth between Joohyun and Mina, Yuna opened her mouth to defuse the situation first.
"Ahaha....... So you're asking what this is?"
"Yeah."
At Yuna's words, life returned to Mina's eyes, which had looked dead just moments ago.
On top of that, her voice was no longer drooping.
She was clearly showing interest.
Yuna looked at Mina with a troubled expression.
'But how do I explain the CEO?'
That he awakened, transformed into a never-before-seen creature, and was stuck looking like that because the transformation wouldn't wear off outside the tower?
First of all, she couldn't explain how he could use his awakening ability outside the tower, and there were many other glaring issues.
Not knowing what to say, Yuna looked at Joohyun.
Joohyun was just huffing and puffing in anger.
'Ugh! The CEO is seriously useless!'
While Yuna was agonizing over it, Mina was the first to speak.
"It's fine. I understand if you can't tell me."
Mina nodded as if she had come to an understanding on her own.
"Is that so......?"
Yuna didn't know what was going on, but she felt relieved that the person in question said she understood.
"I bet you don't want to tell me after all. Especially since you created something of that caliber."
"......Pardon?"
'Created? Created what?'
Puzzled by Mina's words, Yuna tilted her head.
Paying no mind to Yuna, Mina began to pour out her words with shining eyes.
"That behavior and warmth that make it feel like a truly living creature! Even a system that understands human speech! On top of that, the massive energy being picked up by the energy measurement artifact I made! Just how did you create such a thing?! No, how much time did you invest in research to build it!"
"Uh, eh?"
Mina had suddenly become a completely different person.
Mina was the type to get excited whenever her field of interest came up.
Unable to keep up with Mina's rambling, Yuna could only stare at her blankly.
"Ahhh. I'm so curious! I wonder what kind of circuits it's connected with inside! How does it process thoughts to use human language!"
Saying that, Mina quickly grabbed Yuna's hands.
"Yuna! Please give me a chance to dissect that artifact you made!"
It took some time for Joohyun and Yuna to process what Mina had just said.
Once the two of them finally understood Mina's words.
"Eeeek!"
They stared at Mina, who was letting out hot breaths with sparkling eyes.