Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Invited to the Magical Girls' Group Chat
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I hit the home button to turn off the screen, and there, smiling brightly on the lock screen, was Magical Girl Bella, staring right back at me.
A post that had respawned on the Magical Girl Gallery after a while. Normally, I'd be chuckling at the comments, but not today.
Because I was trapped on that exact bus that was definitely going to be late.
"Why'd it have to show up during my commute."
The bus was stuck in the middle of the road for the tenth minute straight, all because some Mole Monster or whatever had popped out.
A trash mob that a Magical Girl could one-shot, and yet it crawls out during rush hour to cause chaos. No idea why.
'If you're gonna come out, at least do it at night.'
I sighed and peered out the window. Beyond the glass, I spotted a girl in an orange frilly dress.
She was bowing her head repeatedly, apologizing to the police.
That was her—Magical Girl Bella, the maknae for five straight years.
Unlike her youthful 16- or 17-year-old face, her real age was well over twenty this year.
Magical Girls' transformed bodies are fixed based on their physical state at the time of their first transformation.
Decades ago, a cataclysm hit the world, and monsters started pouring out everywhere. To fight back, Magical Girls were born.
After a long war, the Magical Girls beheaded the monsters' leader, the Demon King, and the war ended.
But even after the Demon King vanished, monsters kept showing up sporadically, so the need for Magical Girls persisted.
Decades passed like that. Eventually, Magical Girls and monsters became fully woven into our daily lives.
But when demand drops, supply dries up too.
As the monster threat waned, no new Magical Girls had appeared since Bella five years ago. The scene turned into a stagnant pool of veterans.
Bella's hyperactive schedule wasn't because of some burning sense of justice.
The seniors above her were just dumping all the grunt work on the maknae.
Five years without end as the baby of the group—heartbreaking just thinking about it.
With things like that, public perception shifted too.
Symbol of dreams and hope? The maknae's pushing fifty soon—how old are the seniors above her?
Of course, thanks to the Magical Girls' signature mystique, red pills rarely spread.
But the fact that those "barely teen" shells housed adults in their twenties or older? That's now common knowledge nationwide.
In a world pickled in dopamine, Magical Girls are no longer objects of awe.
Instead, mockery like this is on the rise, and otherwise, interest has mostly faded.
But there are still fans who love them.
No matter the hate, when crisis hits, it's the Magical Girls who save people.
I turned the lock screen back on, and this time a gif of Frost firing magic popped up.
There's a reason a grown-ass adult man like me sets an illegal loli pic pushing 30 lines as his wallpaper, embarrassing as it is.
I was saved by a Magical Girl once.
'Though that's old news now.'
I swiped, and Bella appeared again.
The Bella in my memories had eyes blazing with justice, nailed cringey lines perfectly, and was generous with fan service.
Now? Her signature flame magic's gone AWOL, and she's turned into a One Punch Man who just fists everything.
Hell, a few days ago, straight-cam footage of her squatting in an alley smoking cigs hit over a million views.
She never smoked before. Yeah.
'Burnout, I guess.'
I get it, intellectually. Five years of downhill? I'd crave a smoke too.
But understanding with your head and feeling your heart go cold are different things.
"Haa."
No matter how inevitable, watching my heroes turn into burnt-out office workers ain't fun.
"Ah, finally moving."
While lost in thought, the clogged road started clearing.
Out the window, Bella soared into the sky, seemingly done cleaning up.
Her orange dress fluttering in the wind looked like my dad coming home from work. Probably just my imagination.
'Good work.'
I swallowed words of cheer that wouldn't reach, and plugged in my earbuds.
Muscle memory hit playlist #1, and Magical Girl Prima's theme song flowed out.
Over 30 years old, melody totally out of step with modern trends—corny as hell.
Others might call it torture, but to me, this is classic, the roots.
I talk about quitting the fandom, switching sides, but end up listening to this. I'm hopeless.
Chewing on this relic from a bygone era, the bus stopped, and the familiar school gate appeared outside.
Late.
After class, I stopped by the admin office.
To get confirmation for my morning tardy.
"Tardies due to monster appearances need proof."
"...Pardon?"
I couldn't believe the TA's dry tone.
"T-TA, I didn't want to be late. A monster pops up in the middle of the road—how's the bus supposed to make it on time?"
"That's the rule. I'll mark you late for now; get a monster disaster certificate from city hall later."
'Love, hope, justice—all dead.'
I glanced at the TA.
Deep dark circles down to her cheeks, hair matted like it hadn't been washed in days.
She had her own struggles, probably.
Not my problem, though.
'Haa... Screwed attendance is bad news.'
Design major's already a homework bomb; stress is no joke.
Finally, after groveling to the department head, I got my attendance excused.
On the way back to my place.
Ding!
Sudden notification—a group chat invite from someone I'd never seen.
"...Sanctuary of Love and Justice?"
Smelled like spam or cult recruitment; I went to hit leave.
But messages started flying up fast.
Every single nickname was extraordinary.
Ignis, Aqua, Terra...
All active Magical Girls' code names.
'A Magical Girl superfans group chat?'
I like Magical Girls, sure, but I'd never come out anywhere.
Especially not active enough to get invited to a hardcore self-insert community like this.
Definitely added by mistake, but my finger wouldn't hit leave.
There was this weird thrill in lurking on strangers' chats.
'Hilarious.'
They stuck to their concepts so well, it felt like what real Magical Girls chatting would be like.
Giggling as I scrolled, I was home before I knew it.
After a shower, I sprawled on the bed and picked up my phone again.
The Sanctuary of Love and Justice was still buzzing.
While lurking, a loaded message popped up.
'Ah, caught on, huh.'
Makes sense—no greeting, just lurking. Deserve a kick if anything.
I hovered my thumb over leave.
Then...
"...Rookie?"
Technically, yeah—I was new here.
'Means newbie to the chat?'
But unlike my nonchalance, the reactions were wild.
The chat flooded with question marks in seconds.
'Huh? This reaction?'
Normally, anger, embarrassment, quiet kick, or at least a question.
Dozens of people spamming ? like it was coordinated felt eerie.
'Should I apologize?'
As I tentatively tapped the keyboard...
BAM!!
My window shattered, and some unidentified hazy white mass shot into the room.
"What the fuck?!"
Then a blinding silver flash swallowed my vision, and consciousness cut out.
How much time passed?
"Ugh..."
I woke to throbbing pain.
But somehow, the ceiling looked way higher than usual.
Turning my head in unease, my eyes met a stranger in the full-body mirror.
A silver-haired girl in a baggy, slipping T-shirt. A kid about eight stared back blankly.
I opened my mouth.
"...Who are you?"
The girl in the mirror mouthed the words, mimicking my exact expression.