The A-Rank Slayer
A-Tier: Bella, Aurora, Sword
B-Tier: Terra, Pluto, Shining, etc...
Neff (Newbie!)
"Ehehe."
I'm high on magihype. This is why we do the magical girl thing.
Public opinion online is like a reed in the wind—nail it and you're a god, screw up and you're public enemy number one.
But right now, in this moment, I'm the god of this world.
Right after taking down Bital Cruise, we headed back to the waterpark, and the evacuated crowds started trickling back in one by one.
"It's Neff!" "Terra's here too!" "What happened to that dragon just now?"
As Terra and I touched down on solid ground, people swarmed us like a cloud, surrounding us completely.
"That dragon was a monster. We took it down, so you can all relax and enjoy the water slides now."
"R-Really?"
"Woooaaah! Long live the magical girls!"
The truth was, Bital went down in the artificial forest out of sight. Most folks here had only seen me fighting the mantis up close or caught a distant flash of light.
But we came back alive, the monster's gone, so they just roll with it.
Soon, the whole crowd started chanting my name in unison.
Man, it's been forever since I felt this rush.
I got something like it at Rexon Games HQ, but this was on another level. Back then, I wasn't satisfied with my own performance, but now? Not a single civilian got hurt besides us.
So I could soak up every bit of this praise.
Praise me more!
"Waaah! Unniiii!"
Hasol-a burst into tears the second things wrapped up and threw herself at me.
She's clutching my skirt with her snot-covered face and won't let go—I broke a sweat just calming her down.
"It's because of me... huwaaah! We came to have fun and you got hurt again...! It's my fault, all my fault!"
Huh? Could be, actually? "No, it's fine. Not your fault—the monsters are the bad guys. Stop! Stop crying!"
I finally got her to quiet down by stuffing her with fresh-from-the-fryer churros (chocolate flavor) from the snack bar.
She's munching away, still peeking at me nervously—cute, but kinda heartbreaking.
From now on, no more tears for anyone.
And just like that, my life's first A-rank monster takedown—team effort, sure, but still—got added to my resume alongside the Rexon siege.
Bital wasn't officially declared A-rank, but dragons carry that image, so the ripple effect was huge.
And with that, some old buried bait resurfaced: the "Prima's successor" rumors about me.
The sappy fanboying spilled over into the group chat too.
Then Terra's pic dropped.
Everyone was in high spirits, so I was too. Their attention didn't feel burdensome anymore.
Who am I? The A-Rank Slayer, Neff.
Sure, Terra helped, but I landed the killing blow—that's a fact. A-rank in the bag.
Honestly... even without Terra, I could've... somehow pulled it off, right? I shouldn't think that way, but just imagining it had my ego soaring.
I buried my face in the pillow and kicked my feet wildly.
"Ughhh, seriously..."
Too good! Electric! The best!
The second I hit send, the notifications exploded.
The hot love pouring in from across the screen melted away the hurt from Gold Luli and the exhaustion from fighting Bital.
Now if only we could find Gold Luli...
I'd asked around the community and chat a bunch about her whereabouts in the meantime, but no one knew anything. Sadly.
She's alive. That's the only confirmed fact.
"Sigh."
Thinking about her bums me out again.
I shook off the gloom and plopped down at my desk, flipping open my notebook.
Better to brood productively. Like figuring out how to use Bital's mana I snagged.
Does using a monster's mana turn me into a monster?
Nah, probably not. Mana itself isn't good or evil—it's just a bit rough and primal in this case.
Which means... if I design a costume that matches Bital's mana, I could Dress Code it on?
Kwaaaah! Beam attacks? No way I can pass that up.
The snag was the design. So far, my magical girl costumes were redesigns based on the originals. I had references.
But this time? Nada.
Bital was just a raptilian dude in pants. Can't fight in pants only.
Creating a brand-new costume themed around a dragon from scratch? No clue where to start.
Just sketch whatever comes to mind for now.
Scribble scribble—the scratchy sound filled the room.
Man, it's been ages since I drew like this. Last time was... oh yeah, brainstorming Prism Neff. Based on Pluto's ideas back then too.
Let's recapture that vibe. I'm a student, after all... sort of.
About an hour later, rough draft done.
Uh...
What stared back from the notebook was...
My ultra-high-defense... bikini armor self.
What the heck. Why'd it turn out so lewd?
Replaying my thought process, it was the ingrained "female dragon knight = bikini armor" trope buried in my subconscious.
Plus, magical girls are pure and noble, but this is monster power, so a bit decadent and skimpy should be fine... right? Lazy mindset slipped in.
But what's wrong with it? No need to cover up completely—better mobility's a plus, yeah?
I rationalized it and stared some more.
Hmm... it blurs the line between magical girl and succubus, but I'll keep it for now.
Emergency equip and enemies won't know where to look—visual CC for sure.
A few more doodles later, a sudden realization hit.
"Ah!" Did I do my summer homework?
Of course not. Can't be helped~ The A-Rank Slayer's got no time for that. Gotta protect Earth. The world.
But... other magical girls juggle school or jobs and this stuff and homework.
Ugh... my world's crumbling. More hopeless than facing an A-rank.
Summer homework breakdown: One free study project, five book reports, twenty diary entries.
Hanwol Elementary, being a top prep private school, threw in a full 6th-grade advanced math workbook too.
What? Why so much? Child abuse?
Still, for the long-suffering Neff, this is easy mode, right?
Free study? Slap on waterpark pics and call it done.
Book reports first. Everyone know this? Five reports means reading five books! I did read them... kinda.
What did I even read?
High School Girl Weather Witch, Metal Princess, Apocalypse Ghost, Selling My Body Imoogi.
All webnovels...!
Hit me how I'm reading less than the jamminis these days—self-loathing incoming. Gonna lose my class top spot soon?
Whatever, gotta write something... Webnovels count?
"Probably?"
Metal Princess is literature-ish. What's next? Started writing, scribbled a few lines, set pencil down.
"Hng."
Dawned on me: Writing webnovels is harder than reading them.
Someone do it for me. No, do it all. "Don't wanna."
I flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Nunu was next to me, jiggling his jelly body while watching TV.
"Nunu, watching TV?"
[Squirm?]
"You know how to write?"
[Squirm?]
Yeah, bug can't write. Druruk? That's a sewing machine. Can't feed notebooks into it.
Then genius idea flashed.
"Wait. I've got that!"
Mental Theme! Might work!
"Fitting Room!"
Who cares about wasting mana on homework? Homework's important!
Shwoooosh!
Room swapped to a vast white space instantly.
Full-length mirrors everywhere. Dozens of mes staring back.
Didn't think of it mid-fight with Bital, but my clothes changed and moved on their own—figured this could work.
"Come out!"
Success! Three Neffs stepped from the mirrors at my command.
Sword-costumed me, Terra-costumed me, Aurora-costumed me...
"Whoa."
One-woman army. Operation Clone Genius Neff.
"Ahem!"
I struck a commander pose, hands behind back, inspecting.
"Attention."
Clones looked at me, eyes sparkling—smart as hell.
"Major mission incoming. Goal: Total summer homework domination!"
I spread out workbook, diary, blank paper on the floor.
"Sword Neff: Math. Terra Neff: Diary. Aurora Neff: Book reports. Got it?"
I'll scroll Gal.
Collective intelligence. Days solo becomes five minutes split up. Ancient NaXto training method.
I'm a genius. No other magical girl uses powers this productively.
Clones nodded, took seats, grabbed pencils.
Scratch scratch scratch.
Only pencil sounds in the quiet space.
I scrolled happily, then checked on Sword Neff doing math.
"Going well?"
She looked up. Her answer sheet: blank.
"...Why aren't you solving?"
Sword Neff gave me an aggrieved look.
"How am I supposed to know if the original doesn't?"
"..."
Oh. Right. They're me. Copied my brain exactly.
I don't know 6th-grade math, so why would they? But I'm top of 6th grade level, easy...?
Flipped open workbook. "Huh?" Why don't I know this? Weird... I'm in 1st grade now, sure, but still...
"O-Okay, diary then! You can do diary!"
Rushed to Terra Neff, checked diary.
[Aug 1. Sunny. Ate cup ramen today. Tasty.]
[Aug 2. Cloudy. Ate chicken. Tasty.]
[Aug 3. Rainy. Ate pizza. Tasty.]
"...Nothing else?"
Terra Neff shrugged.
"These are the highlights. What can I do."
"No, get creative! It's illustrated diary!"
"Creativity comes from IQ, and yours is lacking so ours is too."
"Don't say what you can't to the original!"
Book reports were worse.
[Book: Selling My Body Imoogi]
[Thoughts: Sad that imoogi sold body. Gotta make bank too.]
"Hey!!!"
I clutched my head.
Endless potential for one-army battle, but for studying? Just multiplied one idiot.
"Dismissed! Dismissed!!"
My yell shattered the Fitting Room; clones vanished.
Left with empty room, blank workbook.
"Kehok!" And killer muscle pain everywhere.
"Kraaaang...!" So... mad...!!
After three minutes of venting, faced reality. Fine, homework's on me. Deal with it.
Sighed like the world ended, picked up pencil. Diary first—easiest. Write honestly.
[Went to waterpark today and beat a dragon.]
"...Can't write that either."
Then—
Bzzz.
"?"
"Ahh. Long time no see, old chap. Didn't miss me at the HQ?"
You picked a hell of a time to call.