Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Really Amazing
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It's really amazing.
There is something called stomping.
It's when a rabbit thumps its hind legs hard out of stress or anger—a kind of threat and warning signal.
I'd never actually seen it happen until now.
Thump. Thump.
"Come over here and take a seat."
Right now, I was watching Ramu stomping on top of the desk.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
About two weeks ago.
I made a declaration in the group chat.
💬 Sanctuary of Love and Justice
— Neph
Seniors! I want to become a much stronger magical girl than I am now.
After the battle with the octopus, I felt it down to my bones. Neph the magical girl was seriously weak.
There could be all sorts of reasons for being weak—short on mana, vague concept making imagination hard to gather, lack of combat experience, and so on.
I was just weak across the board in my hexagon stats. Hing hing.
So I shared my patrol radius in the group chat.
Of course, not my home address. Just my territory where I could deploy the moment a monster appeared.
The Wolf already knew my address anyway, so no hesitation. I saw it as a risk worth taking for training.
They say a magical girl's mana and a baseball player's wrist both grow stronger the more you use them.
The more you manifest mana, the bigger your mana tank gets bit by bit, and once expanded, it doesn't shrink easily.
In other words, magical girls get stronger the more monsters they take down.
That's what my declaration meant.
— Neph
(Location photo) I'll handle any F-rank or E-rank monsters that pop up around here! Leave it to me!
Honestly, C-rank I'm not sure about, but I had confidence I could take D-rank if I tried.
But could I handle it cleanly "before casualties occur"? Eh?
For a magical girl, protecting civilians from harm matters more than smashing the monster.
So I declared to the veterans that I'd cherry-pick and farm the trash mobs cleanly. This is Neph's spot.
Of course, I didn't plan to stick to trash forever. Once I judged myself strong enough, I'd gradually expand the range.
Until then, steadily beat down monsters to grow my mana tank. Spend the rest of the time meeting other veterans and tinkering with Dress Code.
And then.
— Ignis
Crazy lololol Newbie's got guts lol
— Aqua
Ah fml she's so cute what do??? Feels like I'm gonna turn into Pluto?? What do???
— Noir
Hey, you.
— Terra
For real, reeks of horniness;;
— Aurora
Already trying to go independent? ㅠㅠ You could just leave it to your seniors.
— Shining
That's the spirit lololol Tell me if you need anything. I'll hook you up lol
— Sword
(Clapping emoticon) (Proud grandpa emoticon)
— Frost
Impressive ^^
— Bella
But what if you get hurt? ㅠㅠㅠ You haven't beaten the wolf pup yet ㅠㅠㅠ No need for that ㅠㅠㅠ
The veterans' sappy reactions flooded the chat.
What do you think when a newbie says, "I'm off to hunt slimes! No one help!"?
You just go with it.
Anyway, the veterans all had intense reactions to the newbie's independence declaration.
— Aurora
Anyway, got it. We'll leave that zone open, right? Let us know in the chat if anything happens.
— Ignis
OK, got it. Newbie fighting lol
— Shining
We'll handle D-rank and up, cool?
— Pluto
Do you live around there by any chance? Can I come look?
— Terra
Shh, it's a secret.
Just like that, the zone I designated instantly became a greenbelt.
Under the veterans' protection, I'd been allocated a legitimate hunting ground. Dubbed the Neph Zone.
For about two weeks after that, I swept up the trash mobs in the Neph Zone, honing my skills as a magical girl.
And I perfectly adapted to life as Seol Ha-rin.
Which led me to realize.
'This is the life.'
What was Seol Ha-yoon's life like?
School from morning to afternoon, then work. Home around 10 PM, homework till dawn—a slave's existence.
Meanwhile, first-grader Seol Ha-rin's life?
Rule the class as the hidden boss flanked by left-Seo Jun, right-Sol-ah, hogging all the kids' attention.
No test stress thanks to college knowledge, no fatigue thanks to physical prowess.
After a month rubbing elbows, even adapted to the kids' insane energy.
After school, hunt monsters, occasionally meet Bella, Frost, Pluto for snacks or fun.
Home to gal or YouTube time-kill.
📰 Magical Girl Gallery
Gal OP <<< Super Freaking Cute So UpvoteOP: Stripping Magical Girls (Photo of Neph beating an E-rank monster) Me first, upvote.
💬 Comments
— Cute Beauty
Upvote lol
— Magical Girl Appraiser
For real lol
Most of my gal time was ego-searching "Neph" on communities like MagGal.
Maybe aftermath of using Pluto's mana.
Seeing my name pop up constantly whenever I browsed felt oddly good, so it became my new hobby.
Sometimes I'd manipulate public opinion like this. What? It's not wrong.
Anyway, I grinned contentedly and upvoted my own post.
Time flies like that, and evening rolls around before I know it.
"Gotta get some chicken."
And if something catches my eye like this?
Pull out 'this' and splurge.
The shiny gray plastic card. The Magical Girl Membership Card!
The Magical Girl Membership Card is really amazing. No matter how much I spend, the balance never drops, so I can blow it freely.
Apparently linked to a separate pension account. Anyway, free money for me.
In that vein, over the past two weeks, I'd been swinging this card like Excalibur.
Felt bad mooching off class reps daily, so rang the Golden Bell at school shop.
Swept new convenience store desserts to fill the fridge.
Even bought the Kids Phone 17 Pro Max I'd been too shaky to get before. Same as Ha-sol-ah.
Bought clothes I wanted, ate what I craved, no hesitation. It'll stop when money runs out, right?
Spending relieved stress.
Stress gone, mana filled up.
Thus, this spending is investment for growth as magical girl. Not waste, but fertilizer for justice.
I tore into the delivered chicken leg and poked my suddenly pudgier belly from the past two weeks.
'So squishy.'
This squish is proof of peak life.
Anyway, living this satisfying work-life balance, I started thinking.
Aren't I living better as chicken-munching worry-free 8-year-old Ha-rin than debt-slave 20s Ha-yoon?
No wonder magical girls dump scraps on Bella. Looks like I'm doing the same now?
'This is paradise.'
That was when.
Thump thump.
Arrogant footsteps on the desk.
I turned to find Ramu glaring sternly down at me, don't know when he arrived.
"Eating well, I see."
"Want a chicken leg?"
"I'm herbivorous."
Vegan, huh.
Respect.
"Then I'll eat it. Nom nom."
"Come over here and take a seat."
"Okay."
"What is this state of your room?"
I looked around.
Snack bags, cola, chicken... all in place? Way cleaner than Seol Ha-yoon's room. For real.
"Forgot your original goal?"
"Original goal?"
What was it. Full belly, warm back, right?
"Didn't you say you wanted to become a much stronger magical girl?"
"I'm working hard."
"No... Will you get stronger just hunting low-rank monsters? You need to fight stronger ones."
I tilted my head.
I want to, but veterans won't let me?
Tried saying I'd take D-rank once, but they said D and E are worlds apart! Worlds apart! And blocked me hard.
"I'll wrap more artifacts and fight."
"No... That's not... Sigh, no choice. Didn't want to use this method."
"What? Sounds ominous."
"I tried to hold back, but you're slacking this much, so I have to use the spur."
Ramu held out a slip of paper.
Slide.
Magical Girl Membership Card Usage BillAmount Due: 3,720,000 won
'?'
"What's this? Answer. Quick. Urgent."
"Amount you've spent in the last month."
"I know that. Why's it a bill? Isn't this from pension?"
"Yes. But pension starts next month after official registration."
"...Pardon?"
Ramu tsked pityingly.
"Card balance is currently 0 won."
"But it went through?"
"Of course. The pension system runs on cooperation between Magic Castle and the Korean government. That card is essentially a credit card with Magic Castle as guarantor."
"..."
"Oh, and interest accrues on late payments. Being a magical girl doesn't make you immune to bad credit."
I took a deep breath inside and said.
"...You should've."
"Hm?"
"Told me sooner."
"I did."
"When?"
"When we returned from Magic Castle together."
Too dazed from the Magic Castle illusion shattering then, I half-heard it. Only caught pension incoming!
Brain went blank. Seol-guk had warned never get a credit card.
Was the holy sword I swung actually the demon sword? Crazy crazy.
"...So?"
"Prima and I share some blame, so I planned to cover it myself... but with my charge this lazy, can't save face as mascot."
"...So?!"
"Pay up."
Ramu extended a paw, and my mind went white.
Pay?
"Why?"
"Why? Magical girl's duty is defeating monsters, saving citizens. No freebies for freeloaders!"
Not freeload, fried load! True though! Can't argue!
Too sudden. Golden Bell? Convenience sweep? Kids Phone? All debt?
Ah, anyway, 3.72 million won.
Big, but payable. Interest not loan shark bad, apparently.
Pension starts next month, split Ha-yoon account, tighten belt, doable.
Common sense. Yeah, pay what you spend. Ha-rin spent, Ha-yoon pays. Big bro duty?
'Wait...'
Forgot amid magical girl fulfillment and duty.
This body has expenses too?
Even minus Magic Castle tuition aid, rent, utilities, food, dignity upkeep—money flies just breathing.
Can't squander pension, why did I?!
Need to earn.
'How?'
Screw it, log into streaming platform. Kids' top dream job YouTuber, right?
Two weeks as magical girl boosted fame, exploit industry for cash easy?
Ha-sol-ah (lol) earns streaming, no reason I can't?
"Ack."
Oh no. Platform requires guardian consent for under 14, can't even sign up.
"Ramu, verify this for me."
"? Get it from parents. I've told you to tell family before."
Can't.
Tell Seol-guk "Daughter turned girl, consent to stream?" He'd just lololol mock.
"Can't sign up till adulthood?"
"Working on that. Give it time."
"Time travel possible? Buy Bitcoin in past."
"If so, I'd have fixed my mistake with you first."
Sigh. Fine. Ramu's like that.
Now, last resort.
'Gift card cashing.'
Convert IP to convenience store gift cards, cash them. Fee sucks, but need cash now.
Posted on flea market, buyers swarmed, met one.
But.
"Kid... where'd you get these gift cards?"
"I... bought them..."
"Don't play dumb. Stole from parents' wallet or somewhere?"
Man sighed, scolded me.
"Don't want trouble. Go home before police."
Yeah, suspicious: 8-year-old with bundle of 100 5,000-won cards.
Last resort gift cashing failed too, trudged home.
Then debt-collector Ramu flew in. Here for money already?
"...Really gotta pay?"
"No need."
Really? Face lit up. Thanks, Ramu. Won't call you Aksung anymore!
"Just do one favor for me, and it's forgotten."
Pfft. Knew it.
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