The Few Who Know

Not many people know that it's impossible for Seol Ha-rin to be Neff. I can count them on one hand. And recently, three newbies had joined MagGal. Seol Yuna, Hasol-a, and Ulbr.

Seol Yuna had never been interested in magical girls before. Ever since she was little, it bugged her that her brother never looked at her, only drooling over magical girls.

But the moment her brother became a magical girl herself, Yuna had no choice but to create a new anonymous account on MagGal, a site she'd never touched before.

Of course, Seol Yuna had no prior experience with online communities, so the whole "gallery" culture was foreign to her.

But she'd quickly figured out the mechanic: spam stuff like "Neff is so cute" or "Neff looks so squishy," and the upvotes would roll in. It wasn't even a lie. Surprisingly easy to adapt.

Hasol-a only cared about magical girls as much as the average elementary schooler her age.

But once she learned Neff was Ha-rin unnie, she scoured the vast internet seas for any trace of her.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—she had a TikTok influencer's knack for community vibes, so fitting in was a breeze. Membership signup, though? No dice.

And finally, Ulbr.

Everyone knew MagGal had magical girl spies—it was practically accepted fact. They all hushed it up, but the consensus was that at least one top mod or "Magical Girl Identifier" was an active magical girl.

But no one imagined there'd be a monster spy too. Up until Ulbr made her account, there'd only been one monster user on MagGal anyway.

Anyway, all three of them did on MagGal was manipulate public opinion about Neff or save Neff memes. Different motives, same direction.

And by pure coincidence, the three ended up at a bus stop in Seoul today. Without knowing each other.

Yuna was heading to the gym, Hasol-a to cram school, Ulbr just bored and people-watching.

All three staring intently at their phone screens, heads down—when a new post hit the gallery.

All three heads snapped up at once.

"……?"

For a split second, their eyes met.

But they didn't recognize each other. Just the same thought flashing in each mind.

'Why is Ha-rin/ unnie/ my toy holding a bomb over there?'

The moment their pupils quaked in unison—

Screeech.

The bus tires screeched to a halt at the stop. The front doors opened, and the driver poked his head out at the three dazed girls.

"Not riding?"

All three lifted their heads in sync. And answered in perfect unison.

"No thanks." "No thanks." "Nah."

Shhhk.

The doors closed, and the bus pulled away.

Buses? Who cares. My country—no, my world—was about to end.

Yuna's dead-fish eyes sparked with murderous intent. She immediately booked a ticket to Busan and hailed a taxi.

Ulbr gnashed her teeth. Daring to escalate without my permission? High Hyena, you mangy mutt. Time for retraining.

She slipped into the shadows, vanishing down the opposite alley.

Only Hasol-a remained.

"What do I do…"

Tears welling up, she clutched her phone. How much was a KTX ticket again? Steal Mom's card?

Seoul's bus stop returned to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠peace.

But Busan? It was just getting started.

[Squirm!]

Nu-nu popped out of thin air at my call.

Actually, my training these past few days had been in Prism Neff form. Sword made me do it, and now my whole body was screaming with muscle pain.

9:17, 9:16…

But no time to whine. Time attack was priority.

Nu-nu seemed to guess why I'd called and spat out thread from its mouth.

The thread turned to cocoon, wrapping my body, feeding fabrics into the spinning kaleidoscope one by one.

[Bella!] [Frost!] [Aurora!] [Pluto!]

Right as I went to add Shining naturally—

Hold up. Do I really need Shining?

Shining's powers weren't that useful. Specifically, for a mana beast like Nu-nu, it was useless outside transformation shuttle duty. Anyway.

Decided to test the expanded options instead.

"Sword."

[Sword!]

White and red fabrics symbolizing the miko outfit got sucked in.

A halo floated above my head, and finally—

[Neff!]

All lights converged, enveloping me.

"Mix 'n' match. Magical Girl Prism Neff, debut!"

"Ooh, that the new outfit Ulbr mentioned?"

"Yeah."

Furry whistled lazily.

"Nice sheen. The colors are flashy—totally Ulbr's taste."

"Doesn't sound like a compliment."

I gripped Druruk tighter, and Sword's mana usage instinctively flooded my mind.

But—

Huh…?

Not what I expected.

I figured Sword's unique magic was something like Weapon Mastery. A passive letting you wield any weapon like a wuxia master. Nope.

"Let's start!"

Bam!

Furry kicked off the ground, charging. I backstepped, flipping open the bestiary.

Clang!

As the bestiary snapped shut, Furry's sharp claws? Nails? Whatever—they clashed with Druruk. Check that physique. Definitely fast enough to strain my eyes tracking.

Bestiary said don't fight recklessly, but last update was five days ago.

"I see it all."

Aurora's wind accelerated me in a flash. Furry's claws sliced my afterimage. A miss.

"Huh?"

Opening. Full swing with Druruk.

Boom!

"Kyaak!"

Furry crossed arms in a desperate guard, but got shoved back hard.

"…Pretty heavy, huh?"

"Not done yet."

No breather—I hit the pedal.

Druruk!

Dozens of needles machine-gunned from the nozzle. Each Aurora-electrified railgun.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

"Tch!"

Furry twisted with beastly reflexes to dodge, but fur singed, smell of burnt hair.

"Stings! Static?"

"Nah, million volts."

Furry closed in again, pissed, aiming for infighting.

Thinks close range favors her? The frail Ha-rin from three days ago is dead.

Laid thread on the floor, infused Frost mana.

"Freeze."

Crack!

"Huh?"

Furry's foot caught the thread mid-charge, froze solid, skidding like on ice.

I hoisted Druruk overhead. Infused Bella mana this time.

Fwoosh!

"Breath! Dodge it!"

"Crazy!"

Druruk wreathed in crimson flames.

Thud!

Furry rolled into the corner to evade.

Sewing machine smashed floor—marble tiles shattered, flames erupted.

"Whoa, you trying to kill me?!"

"Says the bomber."

Terrorists don't get human rights. Swung Druruk again, loaded with Pluto's dark mana.

Vmmm!

Black orbs formed around the sewing machine.

Fired them off—Furry sweated bullets, barely dodging.

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

Fire, ice, lightning, darkness. Buffet of elements left her reeling. Plus blunt impacts.

"Not bad. But!"

Furry roared, lunging into my guard.

Counter on my opening. Claws aimed at my throat.

"Gotcha!"

"Me, actually."

Ting.

"…Huh?"

Furry's claws halted right before my neck. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Caught on something.

Thin, transparent, invisible thread. Spiderweb trap I'd laid countless times sparring Sword.

Infused with sticky Pluto darkness. Meant to drag into shadows for shredding, but for me, super glue.

Slather it on thread? Turns into high-performance sticky spatula. Sword-approved Neff special spider web.

And now, unleash Sword's mana.

Sword's unique magic: imbue weapons with mana, granting them autonomous will. 'Ego Weapon' enchantment.

Explains how she juggles all those weapons like limbs. Weapons move themselves. Macro pro gamer.

Unlike Sword handling dozens on auto, I'm manual noob.

But one? Easy. And thread, needles, sewing machine—all one Druruk.

Full Sword mana release.

Fwaa!

My outfit briefly flickered to Sword's—red-and-white miko garb. Druruk started dancing on its own.

Shoo-shoo!

Threads writhed alive without my control.

Like snakes hunting prey, they coiled Furry's limbs, binding with sticky dark glue.

"Grrraaah! What is this?!"

Furry thrashed, but more struggle meant tighter binds.

"Th-this isn't what Ulbr said!"

"What'd Ulbr say?"

"A-ask her yourself later?!"

No plans to. Blocking her.

Furry pumped her muscles to rip free, but stickiness plus sentient thread's tenacity? No chance.

Muscles tough, though—threads cut but no real wounds. Tanky, I'll give her that.

I approached the immobilized Furry.

"What happens if I smash that bomb?"

"…Everyone dies, duh."

"Disarm it?"

"Pass… code…"

Furry growled through ragged breaths.

"Just… enter it…! Think I'd tell… Graaak!"

Thread tightened on her throat—eyes rolled back. Whoops, didn't order that.

"That's the password I wanted. Spill it quick."

5:27, 5:26… Tick-tock.

"No time."

"G-guh… Fine! Fine!"

Furry bellowed, veins bulging.

"Password's 1q2w3e4r! Bitch…!"

Huh? Sounds familiar.

Anyway, disarmed the bomb. Threw up mana shield just in case, did everything—didn't blow.

Now, nab Furry and head out to help Sword.

Looked outside.

"…Uh."

Dozens of soccer-ball bombs littered the floor. Oh. Not just one.

And far off by the coastline… a woman? With massive tentacles on her head and legs…

Hmm.

Impossible.