Enter the Magical Girl

Candy Star flushed at Rasty's words and erased the magic circle she had drawn on the spot.

The pink mana composing the circle flowed back into her body as naturally as a breath returning to its owner.

"You really do have talent. Forget that ridiculous weapon of yours and dig deeper into magic. You'd be overwhelming—far more than you are now."

"My name's literally Candy Star. What do you expect?"

It was the weapon she'd been using ever since she gained the magical girl class and her nickname changed to Candy Star.

A giant lollipop staff.

Sure, it might come across as a somewhat ridiculous weapon, but not once had she ever felt it lacked power.

Of course, being a magic girl and all, plenty of people had asked why she didn't just learn actual magic…

"No thanks. This is what I'm comfortable with."

"Really? Just handling that much mana is a talent in itself, you know."

"Mana and magic aren't the same thing. Bashing things over the head beats doing complicated calculations every time."

"Bashing them over the head, huh."

Whoosh!

"...!"

In the blink of an eye, the lecture hall—decorated entirely to Rasty's taste—plunged into darkness.

Crimson light spread out around her and Candy Star both, and Candy Star instinctively raised her power.

Brilliant starlight pushing back the dark, blood-red glow.

Under normal circumstances, she should have been swallowed by that darkness before anyone could even recognize her existence—but the current Rasty was terribly weakened.

Candy Star's light alone was enough to peel back part of the authority of blood.

"That sounds a lot like something Unnie would say."

"...Now that you mention it, there's something I'm curious about."

"Ask."

"What kind of person is Lily?"

Candy Star was—no, in the real world, Choi Ha-na was curious.

Just what kind of person was Lily?

At first she'd thought her a mere newbie. Then a remarkably gifted super-rookie.

After that, a maddeningly stubborn opponent. A rival. A celebrity…

And when she finally met the Lily of the 'real world,' her questions had reached their peak.

Everywhere she went, everyone seemed to adore Lily—but that was just the consensus of public opinion.

As with every famous person, there were plenty who secretly disliked her, and especially many who questioned Lily's frankly impossible trajectory.

Why Lily is special.

What on earth was the reason Lily possessed abilities and knowledge no one else had?

"You're Lily's summon, aren't you? From what I've seen, the two of you seem pretty close."

"It's true that Unnie and I are close."

"Then tell me—"

"Is there any real need for you to know?"

"What did you say?"

Rasty's eyes flashed.

It was a far cry from the playful air she'd carried until now, but Candy Star had plenty she wanted to say.

There was the matter of her transformation, and this so-called Progenitor's very existence was shrouded in ambiguity to begin with.

"Does that actually matter to you?"

"...Honestly, it doesn't add up. I use the magical... girl class too, but I have no idea how it works—how the starlight comes out of me. I just swing my hand and it happens."

She had gained the magical girl class and the name, and she thought like a magical girl now—but she hadn't been born this way.

In the real world, she still went by the name Choi Ha-na.

She still held the profession of professional player.

Which meant she could never, ever think of herself as an NPC.

"True. You were born with that privilege. What an enviable ability."

"But Lily's different. She understands magic, all of it. She even builds things like this."

Candy Star waggled the student ID she'd been issued.

Just looking at the countless functions packed into it raised questions. At this point, wasn't it closer to programming than to magic?

None of it seemed like something a mere user could accomplish.

The Progenitor laughed softly, a little "hm-hm-hm," at her reaction.

Less a sneer than the laugh of someone who genuinely found something funny.

Even so, Candy Star bristled and poured out even more starlight.

"...What's so funny?"

"Lily is just like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

She answered a question with a question.

Candy Star scowled at the infuriating conversational tactic, but the Progenitor was still smiling.

"It means her circumstances weren't so different from the ones that befell you."

"...?"

"Though admittedly, what she went through was different enough to make the comparison laughable. Or apologetic, really."

Whoosh.

The starlight that had been resisting the blood-red glow flickered and dimmed.

She stumbled backward in shock, but the Progenitor's pale hand, steeped in her authority, was already right in front of her nose.

"If you wished it, you could become that too."

"...You're saying Lily isn't a newbie?"

"Think whatever you like. What matters is that you are a magical girl."

As the authority of blood grew rougher, the starlight dwelling within her body rebelled just as fiercely.

The longer the battle against the formless force dragged on, the more cold sweat ran down her back—and yet, at the same time, she felt something inexplicable stirring.

A resolve to punish evil.

A cringe-worthy, almost embarrassing desire to save everyone.

Emotions she had once wielded and then forgotten.

This is the power I used in the final chapter of the war against the Monster Alliance.

"You feel it too, don't you? The power inside you reflects your will and your emotions to an enormous degree. If you want it, you can draw out strength beyond your limits."

"...And the price is that I can't undo my transformation?"

"The transformation isn't a price."

Thud.

"Change the way you think. Why does a magical girl transform? Why is it only through transformation that she can borrow the power of that place—the Magic Kingdom? The contract was already sealed long ago."

"......"

"You've never found the transformation itself strange, have you? Just accepted it as a limitation? There's no reason to. The Magic Kingdom, from the very beginning, must have been made up of those who genuinely wished for you girls to shine. They would never have placed a restriction on it."

"...Isn't it just cliché? Transformation is mandatory. That's what being a magical girl is."

Contract with the Magic Kingdom's mascot, transform, and only then become a magical girl to fight the enemies threatening the world.

A textbook magical-girl cliché—and Choi Ha-na had simply become that magical girl.

It was a game borrowing one cliché fantasy setting among many from the start. If someone asked 'but why?', she'd have no answer.

"Cliché? Ah, you mean the tired old formula."

"...How do you even know about that?"

Is she really an NPC?

First she 'recognized' the concept of streaming, and the more Candy Star looked at her, the less she understood.

"I know everything. I'm a genius."

"......"

"Anyway, think it over carefully. No matter how much you grow your abilities, you can't beat Unnie with a 'bludgeon.' At best, you'd get praised for keeping pace with her little toe."

With weapon arts, no amount of effort would ever let her defeat Lily.

Lily stood at a height that Candy Star could never reach—not after years of effort, not even decades.

"But what about magic?"

"Lily's pretty good at magic too."

"Good, yes—but not transcendent, not the way she is with weapon arts. That's simply the kind of person Unnie is."

Put full-power Lily against full-power Rasty, and Lily is overwhelmingly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stronger.

But that was only the measure of strength when weighing everything.

Measured on pure magic alone, Lily could never beat Rasty.

"From what I've heard, Unnie has quite a few regrets where you're concerned. This is the only path that would ever let you land a hit on her. The truly only path."

"...So I'd have to learn magic to win?"

"At the very least, you'd win where magic is concerned."

The Progenitor's pale hand caressed Candy Star's lollipop staff.

Candy Star hesitated briefly, then nodded.

Fine. If it's a road I have to walk anyway—

Then I'll choose the path with even the slightest chance.

The authority of blood swept over the magical girl's power and unbound the restrictions the system had placed on it.

Knowledge that should have been hers all along as a magical girl crashed into her mind like a breaking wave.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Countless windows flooded in, blotting out not just her thoughts but her very vision.

Candy Star staggered under a sudden wave of dizziness—but she did not fall.

Fly.

Because on instinct, she had already cast the spell, lifting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her body into the empty air.

Without using a skill. Drawing the magic circle with her own two hands.

Briefly marveling at the magic she herself had just cast, she swept away the blood-red darkness shrouding the lecture hall in a burst of brilliant starlight.

At some point her giant lollipop had thinned into a slender shaft—thin enough that anyone would call it a staff—and several spells now orbited around her, aiding her.

Magic power overflowed.

"Either way, I just need to land one hit on her, right?"

"...Yes! Yes!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Behold—the Magical Girl makes her entrance!