Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Alice Loves You Too
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You might have guessed this ever since I mentioned that Magical Girls often work as idols or celebrities, but their abilities were frequently utilized in TV programs as well.
In that case, surely everyone has thought about this at least once.
“What if there was a show where Magical Girls fought each other? Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Think about it. Even UFC draws massive crowds without any superpowers, so how could a battle between Magical Girls—who possess abilities that put movie heroes to shame—not be a hit?
And on top of that, they all come with idol-level looks guaranteed by default?
Naturally, it’s a concept tons of people have considered.
But putting it into practice faced a ton of barriers.
First off, scouting Magical Girls to film wasn’t easy at all.
UFC works because it’s a combat sport from the start, but telling Magical Girls—who signed contracts to fight Abyss Beings—to battle other Magical Girls? Why would they?
And even if they did fight, how do you prevent all the collateral damage from clashes between superhuman Magical Girls? What if one got injured mid-fight and an Abyss Being showed up right then—how would you handle that?
Beyond those examples, countless obstacles blocked the way, so Magical Girl battle programs didn’t happen for a long time.
However, it had been a decade since Magical Girls appeared in the world. The extraordinary had blended into everyday life, and everyone had grown accustomed to their existence. The hurdles had finally been overcome to some extent, and just recently, a program had launched...
“Greetings, viewers! Today is the long-awaited Rookie Magical Match finals! Which side will claim the title of this year’s strongest Magical Girl?!”
‘Wow. The naming sense is awful.’
Rookie Magical Match.
As the name suggests, it’s a tournament program pitting rookie Magical Girls—who’ve been debuting for less than a year—against each other.
Since these rookies still couldn’t fully control their powers, a few seasoned Magical Girls could prepare countermeasures to prevent safety accidents.
The Magical Girl community had grown massively in numbers by now. Just signing a contract didn’t guarantee survival.
Do you know how many idols and celebrities faded into obscurity before the world even changed like this?
Now, Magical Girls had to desperately promote themselves to build recognition.
Relying solely on half-decent looks and charging into the world would only lead to a rude awakening.
Magical Girls all had pretty, cute appearances by default.
They might have lived surrounded by compliments on their beauty before, but the moment they became Magical Girls, that became the baseline prerequisite—stripping away their competitive edge.
Of course, looks still varied among Magical Girls, but the floor was that high.
Anyway, if you planned to live quietly as an unknown Magical Girl just slaying Abyss Beings, that’d be one thing. But if you aimed for fame and fortune as a Magical Girl, you needed ironclad resolve.
No wonder some went for the “adult Magical Girl” concept, leaning into sexy themes to stand out.
It apparently worked to some degree—they’d gained fame in that niche. I didn’t pay attention to that scene, so I wasn’t up on the details.
If it was the result of their desperate struggles and they’d actually succeeded, respecting that was the polite thing to do.
“Now, let me introduce today’s commentator! Ah~! The living legend of the Magical Girl world! A veteran of ten years since debut, whose fame remains untarnished! The one shining at S-Rank 4th place—Alice herself!!!!”
*Clap clap clap clap clap clap!!!!!!!*
“Hello, everyone! The stars are so beautiful today, too~. Did you all have sweet dreams?”
“Haha, Alice-nim? It’s daytime, so the stars aren’t visible.”
“They’re just hidden by the sunlight—the stars are always up there watching over us. Just like how Alice rushes to your side whenever you’re in danger, starlight is always protecting us.”
“Ah~ Thank you for those wonderful words! Come to think of it, I watched a bunch of your old footage back in the day... You were truly amazing.”
The blonde ponytail-wearing Magical Girl hosting the show kept chatting away, and I responded appropriately. As expected of a pro, she wrapped up the small talk at the right moment and got the program rolling properly.
“So... Alice-nim? Do you usually watch our show?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy watching fellow Magical Girls fight each other... But as a senior Magical Girl, it’s my duty to keep an eye on the juniors’ performances. I check it out from time to time.”
“Ooh~! Then you must know who’s appearing today?”
Ah. For reference, this part was scripted. I don’t watch it normally.
I only knew such a program existed—I had no clue who appeared or shone.
“Of course. It’s Black Rose and Berta, right?”
“You know your stuff! Alright, then! We’ll display their profiles on screen and hear a quick commentary from Alice-nim!”
The screen showed simple profiles of the two Magical Girls, their weapons, and their publicly known abilities.
Black Rose was the one rocking a gothic lolita dress with black twin tails and dual pistols—an oddball concept.
Berta... well. She was ordinary.
I wasn’t the type to scrutinize the profiles of these juniors I’d be watching today. And she didn’t have some wild concept like Black Rose.
Sure, she was pretty—that was a given for a Magical Girl.
But beyond that, any standout features...? Huh... For some reason, her three sizes were listed on her profile.
Black Rose hadn’t disclosed hers, so Berta must have chosen to reveal them as a selling point...
...Well. The numbers were pretty impressive, so leaning into that as a strength might help her survive decently. She probably knew that herself.
Anyway, that was my personal inner assessment. Since I was getting paid, I had to do my commentator duties.
“Black Rose has often shown off her trick of shooting down opponents’ attacks with her dual pistols. She leveraged that strength to neutralize most projectile attacks and make it to the finals. They’re mana bullets, of course, but at the rookies’ level, pistol speeds are hard to react to. She’s focused on downing all incoming projectiles while landing attacks they can’t respond to—one-sided exchanges, basically.”
I paused there. My mouth was getting tired, and they needed time to caption it.
“At this stage, most juniors’ main skills are projectile-based, so she has a perfect matchup advantage. Even if someone’s honed close-range techniques, dual pistols are a ranged weapon. Unless they can infuse projectiles with enough mana to resist being shot down, beating Black Rose will be tough.”
“Ooh! That’s higher-quality commentary than any previous guest commentator! As expected of S-Rank! Guns definitely shine in those aspects. What do you think, Alice-nim?”
“Hmm... Guns are weapons that show high efficiency at lower ranks. Conversely, their efficiency drops sharply at higher ranks... C-Rank and above. Especially the dual pistols Black Rose uses—they don’t pack much punch per shot, so I expect they’ll struggle to pierce high-rank Abyss Beings’ defenses.”
“Indeed. So, what are some ways to overcome that?”
“To overcome it... either hone yourself to develop more destructive techniques, or specialize in this as your main strength and focus on mass-handling low-rank Abyss Beings—I’d recommend the latter.”
Anything short of a sniper rifle, and dual pistols spraying mana bullets like machine guns lose efficiency drastically once Abyss Beings develop serious mana resistance.
“By the way, I heard this from the production team... Black Rose is a huge fan of yours, Alice-nim. Word is she was jumping for joy when she heard you’d be commentating...”
“Oh my... To love Alice so much... Alice loves you too, Black Rose.”
*Kyaaaaah!!! What do I do, what do I do!!!*
*Thud thud!*
...Something weird sounded from the waiting room direction, but I ignored it.
Where do these relic Magical Girls get off fangirling so hard after digging up info on me?
No, seriously. I appear on TV or mass media less than six times a year—how do they even stan that?
Do they have a hobby for savoring penny-pinching misers?
I avoid cameras as much as possible, yet even my newest contractee claims to be a fan.
For someone like me who wants most people to draw a blank at the name Alice, it was a real headache.
“Now, let’s take a look at Berta. Berta specializes in elemental magic for suppression and...”