Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: What a Hassle
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"Hmm~♪ Hmmm~♩"
My name is Kim Sina. I'm 20 years old. A few months after turning into an adult, I finally managed to start living alone after begging and pleading nonstop. I'm your run-of-the-mill convenience store part-timer.
My hobby is collecting magical girl merchandise. And among it all, I love Alice-senior the most.
Ah, why call her "senior"?
Don't be shocked... The truth is, I'm a magical girl too!
I don't do a lot of public appearances, so I'm not that well-known... but I'm a sixth-year magical girl in my own right.
Anyway. Alice-senior, whom I truly admire, is pretty, cute, lovable, and ridiculously strong to boot.
Despite having all those perfect qualities, she's the ideal magical girl who never snaps at citizens and always treats them kindly with a smile.
I became a magical girl after falling for her on TV, so what more needs to be said?
The song I'm humming right now is from Alice-senior's first album, released about ten years ago. It's called *Love Wrapped in Starlight*.
Back then, Alice-senior appeared on tons of TV shows, sang songs, released albums, and was super active publicly with massive popularity... but after about two years, her public activities just dropped off completely.
And now, eight years later... it's true that not many people remember her anymore.
Just search "magical girl" on X-Tube, and you'll get hundreds of channels from popular ones to nobodies. In a world like that, it's hard for people to remember Alice-senior, who only pops up once every few months on TV or online with a bare-minimum survival signal.
She seems to keep hunting Abyss Beings as a magical girl, but since she's so overwhelmingly strong, she probably wipes them out in seconds and heads home.
Popular magical girls, on the other hand, turn even a single dispatch into a whole event—fighting the Abyss Being for a good long while, then doing citizen interviews, fan chats, signings, and handshakes before heading back.
They even team up for these, so you can see anywhere from two or three to five or six at once.
Mascots recommend forming teams, so lots of magical girls actually do that and move together.
If you form a team in advance and let your mascot know, you can even dispatch together.
'Ha... I miss Alice-senior...'
I don't even dream of meeting her in person with my own eyes.
I just hope she'll show up on TV more often.
Really, purely by chance—truly by chance—a few days ago, I ran into Alice-senior for the first time in years... That day felt so much like a dream that I could barely sleep.
Fans have all sorts of guesses about why Alice-senior cut back on public activities, but the most credible theory right now is this:
She hit puberty late.
It's actually pretty common among magical girls. Most contract with mascots in their mid-to-late teens, so they push through the embarrassment to do their magical girl duties... until one day they just can't anymore and drop it.
In other words, the fan consensus is that Alice-senior was super active when she debuted but got embarrassed after about two years and slashed her activities.
She didn't just cut back—she even tried to buy back as many of her old albums and merch as possible from that era. So the "embarrassment" theory has a ton of support.
...Isn't our senior just the cutest?
Sometimes I imagine her kicking her blankets in bed, cringing at memories of her early days dancing and singing, and it always makes my lips curl up.
But! No matter how cute senior is, I can't just hand over the treasures I fought tooth and nail to collect.
I can't return ten years' worth of precious senior merch without some compensation!
How about a handshake from senior? Or a hug? Or, since we're both girls anyway, maybe I can get greedy and ask for a cheek kiss? That'd be enough to let me pass on from this life without regrets, so returning the merch would totally be fine...
-Ding!
"Uh, w-welcome!"
Lost in thought for a second there, and suddenly the bell jingled as a customer walked in.
But this customer looked kinda familiar...
"...Huh?"
"...Ah."
It was the guy who lives next door.
Since the convenience store is right in front of our building, I figured we might run into each other eventually, but not this soon.
"Nice to see you! I'll be working here starting now!"
"Uh... yeah..."
...No clue how long I can keep the job, though.
As a magical girl, if an Abyss Being shows up, I have to drop everything and deploy... No way a part-time gig puts up with that.
That's why I've been through countless cycles of landing new jobs and getting fired over and over.
'Evening to dawn should mean fewer dispatches, at least...'
It's not like I need the money.
I get magical girl stipends... and the pocket money from helping out with my parents' work covers living expenses just fine.
It's just...
'You wanna live alone? Fine, but if I catch you just goofing off or rotting in your room all day, you're done! If you really want independence, at least keep up a part-time job!'
Tears well up just thinking about it.
The condition for allowing me to live alone was to keep working—part-time or whatever.
I've done part-time jobs even before turning adult... and since I was already a magical girl back then, I got fired a lot too.
My parents think it's because I suck at work, so they nag me to learn and push me to do something—anything.
"Ah, what can I get you? Right now, the 2+1 deals are on..."
I paused midway through my cheerful chatter, thrilled to see someone I knew, as a certain fact hit me.
Come to think of it... you said other people make you uncomfortable, right?
"P-Pick slowly and come on up."
"...Okay."
The guy headed off to browse with a sullen look.
Personally, it was a novel experience.
Not to brag, but I'm pretty confident in my looks, so I'm used to people—especially guys—being friendly toward me.
Sure, I'm on the short side! But my face is cute, so it suits me! And that point of female pride? Bigger than most tall girls...
-Thud
"I'll take these... Marlboro Reds, ten packs."
"Uh... ten packs?"
"Yeah."
"Y-You must really like cigarettes, huh?"
"..."
Truth be told, my neighbor doesn't exactly scream "smoker."
Not that I can talk, but he's short too... and his whole vibe is just cute.
With those hollow dark circles making his eyes look sleepy, messy hair, and a bit of a prickly aura, sure... but honestly, put him in a school uniform and anyone would peg him as a student.
His skin is super pale and flawless—no blemishes at all. He could've been a celeb.
It's such a shame he gets uncomfortable around others.
I haven't asked yet, but he seems about my age, maybe one or two years older at most.
-Rustle
"Oh, right—got any ID? You look plenty adult, but the boss insists on checking..."
"...Here."
-Slide
No way I'd think the guy who's been living alone next door longer than me is underage, but you never know.
Hmm... born in XX year... so that makes him...
"...27?!"
"..."
"Ah, n-no... uh... s-sorry. I-I just... didn't expect you to be... older than I thought..."
"...I hear that a lot. Just ring me up."
"Y-Yes... r-right away."
My hands flew across the register in a panic, but my brain was total chaos.
'27???? For real?????'
Sure, 27 isn't ancient, and looking young happens... but this was a shock.
He looks like he could quietly pay the kid's fare on the bus without questions, and he's late twenties?
'Am I just that bad at judging people...?'
I look young for my age too, but next to him, I had zero confidence.
I could introduce him to my friends as my little brother and they'd buy it. And he's seven years older?!
'He was already an adult when I hadn't even started middle school yet?!'
His vibe screamed "older," but I figured one or two years tops, not...
"...Card's in. Please pay."
"Ah, s-sorry."
I finally snapped out of it and processed the payment. He didn't seem to mind my rudeness, grabbing his stuff and heading out.
"Take care!"
...Didn't even get his name.
He's my one and only neighbor, so it'd be nice to know that much...
'What an intriguing guy.'
Cute-looking underneath it all, but his tired vibe makes him hard to approach. He dislikes people around, but he's not prickly either.
And get this—he's a whopping seven years older... Never met anyone this memorable in my life.
'His voice rings a bell too... Does he do broadcasting or something?'
First time seeing him since I moved in, but he feels oddly familiar.
Maybe it's that low voice.
It's rare to hear a voice that feels so cozy and warm right from the first listen.
...But seriously, where have I heard that voice before?