Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: First Day as a Magical Girl
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Finally arriving at the base in the police car.
It didn't feel like we'd traveled a long way, but by the time we got out, the stars were already peeking out, twinkling one by one.
"You're here?"
At that moment, a pale white Magical Girl approached with light, graceful steps.
"You must be that Kim Siyul guy."
Her armband bore a single mugunghwa flower.
She was a field-grade Magical Girl officer.
Probably the one here to take custody of me.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the Magical Girl Pale Crow."
But something about her felt off.
Of course, like all the other Magical Girls, her outfit was so skimpy that my lower half reacted immediately. Even my slippers were feeling it.
Yet when I looked at her face, nothing happened.
She was definitely a woman. So why?
No way it was already broken when I hadn't even used it?
At that instant, one of the female officers next to me looked pretty flustered.
"Uh... We weren't told the Magical Battalion Commander would come greet you personally."
"It's tricky to round up people on the weekend. And since I'm retired as a Magical Girl anyway, you don't have to call me Battalion Commander."
Ah, so she was the Battalion Commander.
That explained why she didn't sit right with me.
At the same time, I felt relieved. My precious one wasn't broken; it was perfectly normal.
Of course. Who could get excited over a Battalion Commander?
Soon, the police uncuffed me and handed me over to the Battalion Commander Magical Girl.
"Here you go."
"What do you think of him, officers?"
"He's a solid one."
The way they talked, it felt less like a handover and more like haggling at a fish market.
Except the merchandise was a person, not fish.
"Don't treat people like fish, you bastards."
"See?"
"Oh, he's sturdy just like you said."
It was straight-up human trafficking.
It pissed me off for real. It felt like the crap I'd dealt with in that other world was repeating here.
"Well then, we'll be off."
"Yes, take care."
Whatever I thought, the police finished their job and drove off base in their car.
Ultimately, it was just me and the Magical Girl left alone.
"Kim Siyul, take this."
Suddenly, she handed me a bag.
It was labeled 'Supplies,' so probably gear for new Magical Girl recruits.
"There are clothes and shoes inside to change into, so swap your outfit first. I hate to say it, but your clothes are a bit... rough."
Yeah, even I could see it was bad.
Ripped and stretched training pants.
Slippers on the verge of falling apart.
The classic look of a total loser.
"Even if it's late, walking around like that might not go over well."
She had a point. No way I'd stroll in like this. I pulled clothes out of the bag and started changing right there.
"Ah, no! Not here! Change over there!"
But the one who'd told me to do it panicked and raised her voice.
What the hell was the problem?
I did what she said. Why the freakout?
All Magical Girls must be insane.
"Then where should I change?"
"Behind that wall over there!"
"You have to tell me."
How was I supposed to know if she didn't say? These people really lacked common sense.
Whatever. What could I do?
The sane one had to endure.
I'm a hero, after all.
"Fine, just hurry up and change!"
After a brief argument, I ducked behind the wall, swapped clothes, and came back.
"Is the outfit okay?"
"Yes, it looks good."
The clothes themselves weren't bad at all.
Not like the skimpy, ornament-heavy stuff Magical Girls wore, at least.
Black pants, black shoes.
Plain and unassuming.
But the top was a little weird.
A black T-shirt with a single white stripe on the left arm was fine. It looked good, and the stripe probably marked my rank.
But the letters on the left chest and back? No clue.
"What do the letters on the shirt mean?"
They read ROKMS.
ROK was probably Republic of Korea, but MS? No idea.
"Specifically, the MS part."
"Oh, that's the abbreviation for Maho Shojo, the English name for Magical Girl."
"Really?"
The standards were all over the place.
They slapped 'Magical' on everything, but the official English term was Maho Shojo, not Magical Girl.
Maybe she read my mind.
The Magical Girl quickly added,
"Japan registered it first, so it became the international standard."
"Ah, got it."
First come, first served. Can't argue with that.
"Anyway, let's head to the barracks."
She led the way into the building, and I followed quietly behind.
Midway, she suddenly turned to me.
"Now that you've seen the barracks, what's your impression?"
She probably meant the building we were in.
"Hm..."
Two feelings mixed together.
Familiar, like the military. But awkward because of the tacky decorations added to Magical Girl-ify it.
It just looked like an insane asylum.
The air felt off from the start.
Could people actually live in a dump like this?
But.
"It feels like a place where Magical Girls would stay."
Perfect for lunatics.
"Right?"
She took my words positively and smiled faintly.
"Since it's a base in the city, everyone worked hard to decorate it. It fits the urban vibe well, don't you think?"
I nodded in agreement without a word.
Sure, Gotham City was a city too.
"Let's keep going, then."
So we climbed the stairs, walked the long hallway.
The Magical Girl leading turned her head slightly.
"You'll be living and hanging out with Magical Girls from now on. How's that feel?"
It felt like shit, obviously.
I hadn't done anything wrong to begin with.
But separately from that, one feeling stood out.
"Weird."
"How so?"
Way too weird.
When a lone guy suddenly shows up in a place full of women, you expect various reactions.
Not friendliness, maybe, but at least curiosity about who I was or why I was here.
But no.
The Magical Girls passing by shot me just one kind of look.
Disgust and contempt.
"Why are they looking at me like that?"
It was late Sunday night, so we didn't cross many, but every single one openly showed malice.
"I have no idea what I did to deserve it."
Why the hell?
We'd just met today.
Was it because this was a society that rejected normal people?
"Probably because word about you has already spread to everyone."
"About me?"
"Who you are, how you ended up here, what happened today, and so on."
"Ah."
So everyone already knew me.
On record, I was a deserter or whatever.
And today's psych eval contents.
None of it was good. No way they'd see me positively.
My first impression was trashed from the start.
"Plus, Magical Girl Purple Snake told everyone not to mess with you if possible."
Purple Snake must be the purple Magical Girl from the psych eval. Her mascot was a purple snake.
She'd branded me a Magical Girl herself, so maybe she was trying to look out for me in her own way. But it just backfired.
Who'd accept protection from some disgusting creep announced by a higher-up?
"That's why the looks aren't friendly."
The Battalion Commander Magical Girl gave a wry smile but didn't scold the others' behavior.
Meaning she thought the same.
"Ah, I see."
Didn't really faze me, though.
I just shrugged it off indifferently.
I was just here temporarily before leaving. After that, my life would have zero to do with Magical Girls.
Plus, reactions like that were old news. Compared to the other world, this barely qualified as hate.
And honestly.
"Uh... Don't people usually say they'll work hard to change everyone's minds in situations like this?"
"Why would I?"
If anything, I was grateful.
I didn't want to get tangled with Magical Girls. Lunatics weren't lunatics for nothing. Dealing with them would just tire me out.
Put simply: I hate Magical Girls.
That was my honest choice.
Crazy people like that had no place in my world.
"Let them curse me all they want."
"Hm, I figured. 'As expected' doesn't even faze you, huh."
She emphasized 'as expected,' so she'd heard plenty of stories about me.
"Of course."
It wasn't wrong, so I just went along with it.
Our short chat ended there.
It wasn't going to continue anyway.
"We're here."
Right on cue, we'd reached our destination.
We stopped in front of a door. Probably the barracks she'd mentioned.
So this was where my Magical Girl life would start.
It sucked. For real.
"You'll live here from now on. It's the recruit barracks, so no rank worries. Highest is Private First Class anyway."
"Got it."
"Normally there are five including you, but one's on dispatch and another's on leave, so just two right now."
Didn't matter to me.
Whoever, however many—they were all nuts.
"That's the tour. I'll head out."
"Okay."
I gave a casual reply, and the Battalion Commander Magical Girl left me there, going her own way.
Suddenly, I was alone in front of the door.
"Fuck."
I wanted to bolt right then.
Even if it meant resorting to otherworld talk—violence—the quickest, simplest method.
But impossible.
With this husk of a body, not even crumbs left, I couldn't do shit. Not escape, not otherworld-talk a Magical Girl.
Only choice: accept it meekly.
"Ha."
Finally, half-resigned, I opened the door.
Tell myself: just endure two years.
The first thing I encountered wasn't the usual hazing rookies get, a little welcome party, or introductions—
"What the hell is this darkie?"
"Shut your fucking mouth, you white bitch."
—but racism.