Magical Girl Raiser – Gacha Hell Awaits
In a society that prides itself on rational consumption, the position of magical girls is incredibly complicated. They're volunteers and yet essential for keeping society intact—heroes and celebrities all at once.
They have to guard their private lives, what fans call the "red pill," while also doing the emotional labor of catering to their fans' whims. It's exhausting in all sorts of ways.
But that's all from the magical girls' perspective. Businesses see things differently. Why would companies let such prime material go to waste? Magical girl merchandise has long flooded the market, from convenience store bread sticker sheets to figures and merch galore.
Naturally, works and games based on magical girls poured out too, though they've been fizzling lately with no newbies joining in years.
Then, out of nowhere, Rexon Games dropped Magical Girl Raiser as a surprise launch. I kept seeing the ads while scrolling YouTube.
It's one of those idle raiser games. You don't even have to lift a finger—the characters hunt, level up, and spend money on their own.
I'd spotted it in the app store recently. A brand-new release, not even out long, and it was already topping the sales charts. I was shocked.
'Is this stuff actually fun?' As a magical girl superfan myself, I thought about trying it, but my hand never quite reached for it.
'Come to think of it…'
I vaguely remember it being a hot topic on MagGal a few times.
Every time it came up, the mods would go, "This is the Magical Girl Gallery, not the Gaming Gallery!" and hand out 30-day bans left and right. So that's what it was about.
Reading the documents, the gist was they wanted to sell me—"Magical Girl Neff"—as a new gacha unit. Tie it in with ads, too.
They'd originally planned to release veteran magical girls in debut order, but with my recent debut and skyrocketing popularity after Busan, they scrapped that and pivoted.
Plus, players were clamoring for Neff as the next pickup. I think I'd seen that myself.
Whoa! I'm gonna be a game character? Hope my chest swells with pride.
Best part: I get to raise my own character? As a former hardcore gamer, I couldn't resist.
I immediately called the contact listed on the docs.
"Hello? Rexon Games?"
"It's Neff! Magical Girl Neff! You sent me something, so I called!"
I could hear chaos erupting on the other end of the line.
Desks flipping, coffee spilling. Then a panting man's voice came through.
"Hi! Did you send that text?"
"Yeees! So I'm gonna be a game character, right?"
"Wooow! I wanna do it!"
Huh?
"Uh, hold on... I'll call you back in a bit…"
I hung up.
Hmm.
What's a contract, anyway? Magical Girl Neff's status gets adult-level treatment socially. But that doesn't make me a legal adult under civil law.
And not everyone who's an adult has signed a contract before. Ha-rin... truth is, Ha-yoon bro's never signed one either…
How's it different signing as a magical girl? What do I stamp it with? A mana handprint?
No matter how I racked my brain, no answers came. Sadly, my legal knowledge topped out at elementary school level. Wait, but I am an elementary kid now, so maybe it doesn't matter?
Times like this, you gotta call in the experts.
Help!!!
Frost was the target. She'd just wrapped up her hiatus and was gearing up for a comeback, so I shot her a message.
A bit later, the read receipt vanished, and she went radio silent for a while. Then…
Yeah, that's the biggest issue. Need a guardian for the contract, but bringing one outs my identity.
Especially since Mom and Dad have no clue what I'm up to.
Typing indicator flickered on and off for a bit. Then…
Face reading? In person?
Whoa. Industry big sis as my manager? Feels like gaining a million troops.
And then she vanished for ages. No, you can't tease and run like that!
Someone to intro? Lawyer? Another magical girl? Not her boyfriend, right? Husband? No clue who her red pill is.
Still, with Frost helping, the contract should be fine. I called the rep back and relayed everything.
What? His energy tanked the second I mentioned Frost.
Something mumbled in the background. Then…
"No need! I can fly! Just send the address!"
And with that, the meeting was set for two days later. Location: Pangyo. Rexon Games HQ.
Whoa, Rexon. Kinda thrilling.
I already owe them big time. Hole & Fighter... the maple leaf story... what else?
Going to their HQ in person? Life's full of surprises. Ha-rin doing what even Ha-yoon never did.
'Gasp.'
Wonder if that person'll be there? Craving the god of game balance's blessing!
Different team maybe. Or too busy normalizing games.
Heart pounding. Better pack paper for an autograph, just in case.
But if I'm in the ads and the game, shouldn't I play it first? Purely for market research, just a taste.
Yeah, yeah. That's right.
I dove straight into the store and downloaded Magical Girl Raiser.
Touch the screen, upbeat BGM kicks in, lobby loads.
Center screen: The default F-rank magical girl handed out to newbies was diligently smashing monsters. Who's this kid?
No input needed from me. Just watch her blender the mobs in a daze.
But as I stared…
Pow! Pow! Pow! +154 gold… +154 gold…
"Oh. Kinda like farming IP." I do this in Neffzone too. Staring at those +1000 IP pops feels oddly satisfying. This might actually be fun?
Blasting through stages like that. Then…
Welcome, new user! 100 Summon Tickets granted!
It had arrived. Gacha time.
Looks like it's an idle and collection RPG where you pull your faves and raise 'em.
In other words, a casino.
"Here goes!"
I solemnly tapped summon.
Vwooom! Boom!
Dazzling light burst from the screen.
Blue. Blue. Blue. Blue. Blue…
And then.
Flash!
Magical Girl Frost (SR) acquired!
"Whoa!"
Fate? Meeting Frost soon, and she pops first.
Not SSR though. Frost as a 4-star? Oof.
Live2D Frost illustration popped up. But... something's off.
"……?"
Those eyes are way too sultry.
Frost: Commander, how about spending tonight... with me?
Frost doesn't say stuff like that…
Still, slotting her in my deck, stages flew by.
But eventually, stuck again.
Popup as expected: Watch ads for more pulls. But the side window…
Hmm. Ad removal's basically free.
Bought that, got Frost in a kid's swimsuit, and pushed stages hard.
After 30 minutes glued to it, I grasped the system.
1. Pull magical girls and weapons. 2. Upgrade stats with gold. 3. Stuck? Whale.
This is a game? Not like the ones I know.
Still, those hot deal bundles popping on walls? Hand went for 'em like a ghost. Miss it, wait till tomorrow.
Game start +30 min. Spent ₩36,000. Huh? Something's wrong.
But pushing stages felt rewarding, satisfying?
Combat power skyrocketing makes me feel like a big deal? Rankings fluctuating below.
Then another hot deal popup!
No way?! SSR at 0.013% odds for just ₩45,000? Free money? Rexon's eating dirt to sell?
Hand drifts to "Buy." Then something in my heart grabs my wrist.
'Stay…'
"R-right. Gotta stop here." Raisers are like this. One whale leads to more, and more…
Glance.
Magical City app caught my eye.
Oh yeah, special support funds. Dignity allowance too.
This much is fine, right? I'll earn tons from ads anyway.
Just prepaying is all.
And so, in the name of rational spending—until meeting Frost two days later.
I blew ₩3.2 million.
