Magical Girl Han Min-seo, Transform!
……………
In the heart of downtown Seoul stood the massive convention center, the Grand Arc. Today, the entire venue had been rented out for Microgenics' investor presentation. And right now, the Grand Arc's lobby had turned into a complete hellscape riddled with flying bullets.
Director Shin Chang-seok and a handful of elite operatives had broken through and escaped the site. Their priority was evacuating the VIPs trapped inside the building. The void they left behind fell entirely to the remaining agents.
Blood sprayed from all directions, shrapnel scattered everywhere. Facing enemies advancing like clockwork machines, the agents fought a desperate defensive battle to protect themselves and the civilians.
The only reason they were still alive was their gear. The agents' suits looked like ordinary off-the-rack clothes at a glance, but they were actually combat uniforms woven from top-tier protective materials. They could withstand at least one hit from large-caliber pistol rounds or even vibrating knife penetrations. Thanks to that, no one died instantly in the first volley of gunfire. Instead, injuries poured in—cracked bones from the impact, ruptured organs, blood bursting everywhere.
Behind an improvised barricade of overturned marble tables, Han Min-seo clutched his chest, gasping raggedly through the dust caking his face.
"Gyu-rin sunbae, what do we do?"
Yi Gyu-rin gripped her right arm. Below her sleeve, it was soaked in dark red blood. The suit's protective layer had stopped penetration, but not the shock.
"We'll probably die here. Unless a miracle happens and someone comes to save us."
Yi Gyu-rin leaned back against the table as she spoke. Her deflated tone already carried a hint of resignation. Han Min-seo knew why she was acting like this. She was venting her psychological defense mechanism by voicing the bleakest outlook on purpose.
But even if it was just a defense mechanism, Yi Gyu-rin's words were plain fact. This fragile defensive line collapsing was only a matter of time. The gunfire beyond the barricade was dying down—not because their side was winning, but because there were fewer allies left to shoot back.
Then.
A foreign wind whooshed through the room thick with gunpowder smoke. In the spot where the acrid dust cleared, an impossible figure stood perfectly still.
A young girl with purple hair and a pure white dress. The Alpha Outer God gazed down at Han Min-seo from behind the table barricade.
"O-Out… Outer…!"
Han Min-seo's pupils quaked like an earthquake.
"You came to help!?"
Yi Gyu-rin also widened her eyes and shouted urgently.
The girl didn't answer. She simply approached Han Min-seo with her usual blank expression and extended her dainty hand. Resting in her small palm was an equally tiny gem brooch. Its pink surface pulsed with faint light.
"What's this…? Gah!"
Han Min-seo reflexively took the brooch—and his back arched like a bow. Fragmented memories, as if from someone else, pierced his brain in a dizzying rush. A girl flying through cherry blossom petals. A hand swinging a staff adorned with ribbons. Transformation sequences, types of magic, activation conditions, release methods. All of it etched into Han Min-seo's mind in less than a second.
"This is…!"
Finally realizing what he had to do, Han Min-seo looked at the girl.
The Outer God girl nodded at him.
Do it quick. You can do it.
"……Magical girl transformation!? Me!?"
"Magical girl transformation!? Min-seo!?"
Han Min-seo screamed the question like a banshee. Yi Gyu-rin, whose eyes had looked utterly defeated moments ago, suddenly lit up.
"No, I'm a guy! Not a magical girl! I can't! I won't!"
Han Min-seo freaked out and tried to hurl the brooch away. Yi Gyu-rin grabbed both his hands tight.
"No, you absolutely have to! If you don't, we're all dead!"
Bang! Bang-bang!
As if cutting off their conversation, automatic rifle fire shattered the top of the barricade. An armor-piercing round punched through the marble, cratering the floor right next to Han Min-seo's knee. Shards of marble floor peppered his cheek. Death closing in froze him solid.
"……C-Couldn't you, the Outer God, just handle it?"
Clutching at straws, Han Min-seo looked at the Outer God girl. This cosmic horror with a 40 Tera threat grade could end this mess with a finger snap. No need for humiliating magical girl nonsense.
But the girl's response was firm. She planted both hands on her hips and stared down at Han Min-seo like he was utterly pathetic.
After enduring that horrific sewer taste to craft such a wonderful gift, and here he was shirking responsibility, trying to pawn it off on someone else. What a disappointing snack provider. Sigh.
To make her intent crystal clear, the girl took action. She pulled a bag of caramel popcorn from somewhere, tore it open—and crunch crunch.
She backed away from the snack provider and started munching.
"Urgh…! Fine, I'll do it! I said I'll do it!"
Driven to the edge, Han Min-seo teared up and gripped the brooch hard. His knuckles whitened—and the brooch detached from his fingers, floating into the air as pink light exploded.
A stream of light surged from his toes, racing up his slender legs, wrapping his narrow waist, passing his slightly flat chest, and reaching his arms. In an anime, it'd take over a minute, but in reality, after about three seconds—the light faded.
A frilly short skirt, satin gloves reaching the elbows. Knee-high stockings emphasizing the absolute territory above them, a top exposing shoulders and collarbones, a star-adorned staff in hand. There stood Han Min-seo, the picture-perfect beautiful and cute magical girl.
"Whoa… perfect! The frills! The absolute territory on those stockings! And exposing the shoulders and armpits like that!"
"Urgh… ugh…!"
Yi Gyu-rin's face lit up completely as she gushed. Han Min-seo's burned redder than the brooch. He'd rather take a bullet.
A bit away, the Outer God girl silently clapped while munching caramel popcorn.
……………
Nice. The appearance is perfect. Good job, everyone.
Mm-hmm, the production fragments feel a tad smarter than the candy-munching kid ones. Just as we were all sharing deep satisfaction—
Screeeeech—!
A sharp whoosh cut the air. I know that sound. Seen it on TV. Anti-tank high-explosive rocket, Allah's Magic Wand. Kinda outdated weapon, but they're using it here too. Cheap, maybe.
The rocket launched from beyond the barricade toward us. But something's off. The guard who fired the RPG got blown back by the backblast, slamming into the wall and vomiting blood. Probably ruptured organs.
But—no flavor.
Pain is the most concentrated human emotion. Even trained humans can't swallow screams when flesh tears and bones snap; those screams always carry emotion. That guard's guts ruptured. Yet no taste at all. No fear, pain, anger. Empty.
> As expected. Remotely controlled Homo sapiens have their limbic system shut down. The emotion-processing region is completely locked.
So it's not humans moving—it's meat puppets remote-controlled after control's seized. Meat doesn't scream in pain, so no emotions register. Kinda unpleasant for a gourmet Outer God like me.
The rocket warhead dove right up to Han Min-seo's nose—
——Boom!
Han Min-seo thrust his magic staff forward. The barricade survived unscathed. What blocked the explosion's flames and shrapnel entirely was a pink heart-shaped barrier deployed in midair. Sparkling starlight scattered like snowflakes from the barrier's surface.
Hm. The barrier's strength is excellent. Narrow it to single-target, and it'd block a railcannon shot no problem.
Crunch.
I popped more caramel popcorn into my mouth and watched.
"W-What now?"
Han Min-seo asked, looking at me and Yi Gyu-rin. Yi Gyu-rin, clutching her arm, replied in a voice stripped of moisture.
"What do you mean? To survive, we kill those bastards. Self-defense means no charges."
"R-Really…?"
Han Min-seo's mouth snapped shut. His grip whitened on the staff, his exposed shoulders trembling faintly through the costume. This snack provider's hesitating big time.
Yi Gyu-rin noticed the shake too.
"…Min-seo, don't overthink it. Just focus on taking them out, going home, showering, eating, crawling under the covers, and sleeping."
Taking them out. Forcing herself to treat murder lightly. A common but effective mental defense.
"Shooting people? I've done it. No big deal. It's what we gotta do to get you, me, and everyone else out safe."
"……."
Han Min-seo's eyes dropped to the floor. Seeing his own reflection—a pink magical girl—on the shattered marble, he turned away. To Yi Gyu-rin, the other agents still fighting, the wounded and civilians huddled safely, and me.
"……Guess I have no choice."
Huh. The flavor from Han Min-seo's emotions shifted suddenly. It had been his usual Pyongyang naengmyeon taste with a ladle of sour, cold fear. Now the fear's gone, replaced by something else surging in.
A sharp, hot molten metal taste. Silver liquid from a furnace overwhelming his emotions in an instant.
What is this?
> Killing intent.
> The snack provider has resolved to kill his fellow Homo sapiens.
Hm, killing intent. So when an innocent human first decides to kill another, it tastes like this. A new menu item I've never tried.
Decision made, Han Min-seo raised his magic staff. He aimed the tip at the guards firing rifles at the barrier.
> With that brooch's power, tons of ways to kill. Like using their brains as fertilizer to bloom giant flowers from their skulls! Heads blooming like buds—boom!
Whoa, straight out of a third-rate gore flick. That'd make 'em more threat entity than human, right?
Murder's the endgame either way. I watched the whole debate munching popcorn.
Pink energy gathered at Han Min-seo's staff tip, condensing into crystals. He's about to become a killer. My favorite snack provider.