The Head Maid's Demise!!!
The head maid couldn’t understand what was happening.
‘No, why on earth would the mistress…?’
Normally she would have roared at Park Jinwoo with a furious “You again?!” But this time she had suddenly taken his side. The woman who had always looked down on him with such contempt was now acting as if she saw Park Jinwoo as her own child… What in the world was going on?
“M-Mistress… what is…”
“Did you not hear me?! How many times must I repeat myself before you understand?!”
“…!!!”
Park Chiyou’s thunderous shout echoed through the room. Because she had once been a magical girl, the pressure radiating from her voice was no joke. The force clamped down on the head maid’s heart, making it hard to even breathe.
“Guh… hack…! M-Mistress!”
“……”
Park Chiyou turned toward Jinwoo as if the head maid wasn’t even worth listening to. Arms still folded in a calm, composed posture, she asked,
“Explain the situation.”
“Mother, I apologize for making you come all this way for such a trivial matter.”
Right now, Park Chiyou was releasing her mana. For an ordinary person, the pressure would have stiffened every muscle in their body and made speaking nearly impossible. Yet the Jinwoo standing before her was different. He simply bowed his head politely and apologized.
‘What incredible mental strength… he’s actually enduring this?’
Park Chiyou thought to herself, once again realizing that the young man in front of her was no longer the same Park Jinwoo from before.
“…”
But Jinwoo wasn’t truly unaffected. In reality, his legs felt like they could give out at any second. The only reason he could hold on was the iron will he had forged in his previous life as a professional fighter who had overcome countless hardships. Unaware of this, Park Chiyou couldn’t hide her admiration, though she kept it from showing on her face.
“Tell me, Jinwoo. What exactly is going on here?”
“Yes, Mother. The truth is…”
At her request, Jinwoo recounted everything he had seen and heard in precise detail. After listening to the full story, Park Chiyou furrowed her brow. She then turned to Jiyeon, who was still kneeling with her head bowed.
“Is what Jinwoo said… true?”
“Ah… th-that… um…”
Jiyeon trembled. What servant wouldn’t be nervous standing before the highest authority in this mansion? On top of that, Park Chiyou was a celebrity whose name was known throughout the magical girl world. If she felt like it, she could snap her fingers and erase a person from existence. That was the kind of power she possessed.
“Answer me…”
Or I might kill you. She didn’t say the words, but the killing intent radiating from her was unmistakable.
“The head maid plotted to assassinate Jinwoo, and when you failed to carry it out, he beat you. Is that… the truth?”
“M-M-Mistress… that’s… actually…”
At that moment, the head maid’s sharp glare stabbed toward Jiyeon. If she stayed silent she might die at Park Chiyou’s hands, but if she spoke she might be killed by the head maid later. She was trapped.
‘Aaaah! This is insane! What am I supposed to do?!’
In the midst of her panic, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Jinwoo. Until recently he had been the scoundrel who hurled every insult and blow at her. But after waking from his vegetative state, he had become a completely different person. He had even apologized for what he did in the past. The same Park Jinwoo famous for his unbreakable pride. And most of all, he had stepped forward to protect her when the head maid was beating her, even though he knew it put him at a disadvantage.
‘Can I… really trust him?’
It was like how a lifetime of bad deeds could be overshadowed by one good act… Maybe this was the same. If she trusted him now, he might betray her later like a dog and go back to his violent ways.
“……”
At that moment, Jinwoo met her eyes and gave her a gentle smile along with a small nod. Seeing that, Jiyeon made up her mind. In that instant, Jinwoo watched with his own two eyes as the fear, terror, and despair in her expression transformed into hope and trust.
“I-It’s true!”
“Hwang Jiyeon!!!!”
“Shut your mouth, head maid!!”
Of course the head maid wasn’t going to stay quiet. She shrieked sharply at Jiyeon, but Park Chiyou cut her off like a blade.
“Now, speak. Tell me exactly what is true and how far it goes…”
This time, to put her at ease, Park Chiyou softened her killing intent and asked again. Thanks to Jinwoo’s encouragement and Park Chiyou’s small consideration, Jiyeon finally began to pour out everything she had been holding inside.
“Th-The truth! The young master’s accident this time was also orchestrated by the head maid! She said the young master had been tarnishing the family’s name for so long that she couldn’t stand it anymore! She plotted to assassinate him, but when he ended up in a vegetative state, she ordered me to finish him off properly!”
“Oh… and then?”
Park Chiyou’s voice was ice-cold. Even after hearing that someone had tried to murder her son, she remained eerily calm. The head maid desperately wanted to make some excuse, but since Park Chiyou hadn’t given her permission to speak, she could only stay silent.
“B-But! I simply couldn’t bring myself to harm the young master! No matter how notorious he was inside the mansion, killing a person is an entirely different matter!”
“I see.”
“So I refused. After that, when the young master woke up, the head maid saw it and started cursing and beating me for being useless! The young master stepped in to save me when he saw what was happening!”
“……”
Park Chiyou remained silent for a moment. Jiyeon, having finished her story, lowered her head again. In the heavy atmosphere, Park Chiyou spoke to Jinwoo.
“Is what she said true, Jinwoo…?”
Her voice, which had always been coldly indifferent when saying his name, now carried a hint of warmth. Honestly, Park Chiyou still couldn’t believe he had changed so much. She wondered if he had truly become a different person. Still, as his mother, she couldn’t hate the fact that her son was trying to recognize his past mistakes and fix them. So this time, she wanted to believe in him.
Facing her question with steady eyes, Jinwoo answered confidently.
“Yes. It is.”
“………”
[Park Chiyou]
[Current Emotional State: Trust]
It was an astonishing shift in emotion. And it was all thanks to that skill. Not only did it activate at the moment of use, it continued to snowball depending on the situation and emotional state afterward. Her lingering maternal love had also played a big part. With her status window updated, Park Chiyou let out a light sigh and turned a cold gaze on the head maid.
“Head maid……”
“Y-Yes! Mistress!”
“Stand up.”
“Yes, Mistress!”
The head maid shot to her feet. Park Chiyou continued staring at him and asked lightly,
“Do you admit your crimes?”
“……”
The head maid couldn’t bring herself to admit it. If he acknowledged everything, the status and honor he had built over the years would be destroyed. But he couldn’t stay silent either. And he couldn’t deny it. In the end, having given up on everything, the head maid began desperately flapping his lips.
“Mistress! This…! It was all for the sake of the Parkmyeol Park family! How much trouble has the young master caused you all this time?! I simply judged that the family would be better off without someone like him…!”
Even so… this had crossed the line.
“You bastard────!!!”
-Fwoooooosh!!
Intense flames blazed in her eyes. They were the physical manifestation of dense mana. The fact that even an unawakened person could see them showed just how furious she was.
“You’re right! Jinwoo was an impossible problem child! But!! That doesn’t mean I ever once thought of harming this child!”
She had hated him. She had been harsh out of disappointment. But Park Jinwoo was still her flesh and blood. What parent would ever want to harm their own child? Of course there were times in hard eras when it happened, but still…! No matter how much you hate them, they’re still your child…
“And yet! Not only did you try to take my son’s life twice, now you dare try to frame him right in front of me!! You deserve divine punishment!!”
“M-Mistress!! I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!! I beg you! For the sake of the decades I’ve served this mansion, please…!!”
-Click!
Her cold high-heeled shoes rang sharply across the floor.
“You’ve served me for decades yet you still don’t understand my heart at all! How utterly disappointing, head maid!”
With the flames of mana still flickering in her eyes, Park Chiyou slowly clenched her outstretched hand into a fist. At that moment—
-Crack!!
The head maid’s limbs began to twist under her magic.
“Kagh… kaak! G-Guuuugh! Guuuuuuaaaaagh!!!”
-Crack… crunch… snap! Craaaack!!
His arms and legs bent in directions they were never meant to bend. Bones protruded through flesh and blood poured out. Unable to even faint from the unbearable agony, he could only scream like a madman.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaagh! M-Mistress! Mistressssss!!!”
“Trying to harm my son is no different from rebelling against me.”
“A-Aaaaaagh! Uwaaagh! I-I was wro-wroooong! I-I’m sor—guuuuaaaaagh!!”
-Crack… crunch! Crack!
It was a truly gruesome sight. Jiyeon’s lips quivered in terror as she squeezed her eyes shut and collapsed to the floor. Jinwoo simply watched the scene with a calm expression.
“Agh… ugh… guuuuugh!!”
To some it might seem excessively cold. But Park Chiyou knew that half-hearted kindness could ruin far more. She had seen many magical girl comrades die during her active years because of it. That was why she could make the decision to cut something away without hesitation. The one thing she had never been able to cut away was her youngest son.
“Atone for your sins in death.”
Incidentally, magical girls were not bound by human laws. Especially someone like Park Chiyou, who had completed her service and returned to this world to work as a mage, her influence was enormous. The position magical girls held in this world was that massive. Therefore, even if Park Chiyou killed him here, no one would be able to judge her.
Just as the head maid’s breath was about to be cut off—right before the end—Jinwoo suddenly grabbed Park Chiyou’s wrist.
“Mother. That’s enough.”
“……”
Park Chiyou’s murderous gaze turned toward him. The intense pressure made Jinwoo swallow hard.
‘Ugh… it really is overwhelming.’
Incidentally, Park Chiyou’s Charisma stat was 40. It far exceeded the human limit of 15. This was one of the privileges that awakened magical girls could enjoy. With only 5 Charisma, Jinwoo was nowhere near her level.
‘If I let my mind slip even a little, I might actually wet myself.’
Yet Jinwoo endured it with his iron will and spoke to Park Chiyou.
“There is no need for Mother to dirty her own hands.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes, it is. Of course the head maid has committed a grave sin. However, killing him here would only be sending him down an easy path, in my opinion.”
“Hmm……”
Her killing intent softened. Jinwoo continued.
“Wouldn’t it be right to let the law judge him properly?”
“So you’re saying we should forgive him?”
To Park Chiyou, handing him over to the law was no different from forgiving him. Since there was no death penalty, the most South Korea’s legal system could do was life imprisonment. And even that often ended in a slap on the wrist. She believed criminal rehabilitation was impossible under such a system. In that case, wasn’t it cleaner to simply kill criminals without mercy?
At that moment, the head maid, who had been on the verge of death, felt a spark of hope.
‘Holy shit, thank god! That damn scoundrel is actually helping me for once! I can survive! What an idiot!’
As long as he didn’t die, he could find some way out. But there was one thing the head maid had overlooked. Jinwoo was not the type of person to be kind to someone who had tried to screw him over.
“Ah… of course, make sure he’s crippled before you send him.”
Huh…? What did he say?
The head maid’s pupils shook violently.
“Hehe…”
Apparently the suggestion pleased her. Park Chiyou gave a satisfied smile and nodded.
“Let’s do that.”
After that… the head maid’s deathly screams echoed horrifically throughout the mansion.
* * *
After everything was over, Jinwoo took a light shower and entered his bedroom. Honestly, the result could only be called utterly disappointing. He had finally reincarnated into a world where real magical girls existed, only to find out he was a man again.
‘Of course magical girls can only be women…’
But he was a man. A cursed gender with zero chance of awakening. No matter how much he trained his body, he knew he could never catch up to a magical girl. Even so, he still wanted to get as close as possible.
“Training this weak body again feels daunting.”
Just then—
Main Quest Added.
“Hmm?”
After already experiencing reincarnation and possession, something like this wasn’t surprising anymore. But he knew that quests received at times like this were extremely beneficial.
The Path to Becoming a Magical Girl
You will have the opportunity to become a magical girl in the future. Therefore, train your body in preparation for that day.
Push-ups 0/100
Sit-ups 0/100
Squats 0/100
Running 0/10km
“…..”
A wide, genuine smile spread across Jinwoo’s face for the first time in a long while.