Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Magic Girl (3)
One moment ago, I had barely managed to deal with a single familiar. Now there were dozens of them within sight.
From what I could sense, there were easily hundreds of those presences surrounding this entire area.
I had come alone to gather information anyway, but this was beyond what could be handled.
…Makes me want to regress.
Should I use Blood Demon Opening Pulse Art?
If I’m going down anyway, I might as well go out swinging once. At least then I’ll know my limits.
Just as I was about to open the meridians and make my final decision.
“Mary, stop.”
Rosemary’s voice echoed through the space.
For something that had supposedly fallen into corruption, her tone was calm, almost pure.
She raised her magic staff, which shimmered like a star.
A pale violet aura, like morning dew, spread softly and subdued the familiars.
Ignoring their grotesque forms, her magic looked almost textbook. Exactly what you would expect from a magical girl.
I slowly withdrew the energy I had been about to force into my meridians and returned it to my dantian.
“It’s okay, Mary. That person isn’t a bad person. He’s from the Operations Division. The new section chief, don’t you recognize him?”
Rosemary gently stroked the bud of the largest familiar blocking my path.
So that thing was named Mary.
She leaned out from behind it and met my eyes, smiling faintly.
“Isn’t it cute?”
That?
Cute?
No matter how I looked at it, it was a grotesque monster.
I glanced at its eyes, wondering if it had been distorted by otherworldly mana, but Rosemary’s gaze remained steady.
“It’s cute. Like a pet.”
I toned it down as much as I could.
“Heh, you don’t really think that. Mary wasn’t always like this. She used to be much more beautiful, full of flowers. It only had the small downside of shedding too much pollen.”
“I saw that in the files.”
I followed her rhythm carefully, still unsure what she wanted.
“I was hoping to show her off nicely when I heard the new section chief was coming. If you had seen her before, you would’ve been impressed.”
“I’m already impressed.”
Then I added, “More or less.”
“Anyway, I have something to tell you. At 18:00 today, an airstrike using napalm will begin in this area.”
I lowered the tip of my sword slightly as I spoke.
It was a risky move, telling a corrupted magical girl the exact timing of an attack.
If she ran, I would never catch her again.
This wasn’t like Primrose.
And yet, I didn’t want to hide it from her.
“…Ah.”
Rosemary gave a bitter smile.
“You’re very kind, new section chief.”
She moved her lips slightly.
“And you use a sword too.”
“You saw that?”
“Mary and I are connected. I lost control for a moment earlier, but thanks to that, I’ve come back to my senses a bit.”
“I see.”
“Section chief.”
“Yeah.”
“You killed Primrose, didn’t you?”
The question struck me unexpectedly.
“….”
My breath caught. I couldn’t respond properly.
How should I answer that?
“You look like you’re asking how I know.”
Rosemary let out a small laugh. I gave a slight nod.
“Section chief, have you looked in a mirror at all since you got here?”
“No.”
“Just as I thought. You look completely miserable. New magical girls usually look exactly like you right now. Like they’re carrying the weight of the entire world. Don’t shoulder it all alone. You’re only doing what needs to be done. It would be a waste to walk around with a face like that. And anyway, corrupted magical girls can’t be saved no matter what you do.”
“….”
After calming the familiars completely, Rosemary stepped closer.
She leaned in and whispered near my ear.
“Section chief… I’m in pain.”
I looked at her, trying to understand her intent.
She placed a hand over her chest, right where her core of energy was concentrated.
Beneath her calm expression, I could see fragments of unbearable pain.
I knew that expression well.
Too well.
It was the same face I used to make when I was terminally ill.
“My core keeps turning black. I hear voices inside me. My mana doesn’t feel like mine anymore.”
Black miasma spread like veins beneath her skin, branching out from her heart area.
So that was the corruption of the other world.
“I’m scared I’ll hurt people. You, civilians… so I stayed here where no one would come.”
Tears welled in her eyes.
“Bad thoughts keep filling my head. I want to destroy everything. I want to tear everything apart. I want to—”
Crack.
Her staff flickered with an ominous black light.
As if the last thread of her sanity was about to snap.
The familiars around us began stirring again.
“So, section chief.”
Her bloodshot eyes met mine.
There was resignation, fear, and a faint trace of desperation.
“Before I completely become a monster… could you kill me?”
At her plea, I slowly lowered my sword.
My grip tightened until my veins bulged.
A request for death.
Resignation.
Back when I lay in a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, I had thought the same thing countless times.
Breathing itself was unbearable.
I just wanted it all to end.
I understood that, more than anyone.
But even so.
I looked at Rosemary for a moment.
Her expression was steady, even as she held back tears.
Are these things really just NPCs created by the Tower?
Even back with Hyeon Seo-ah, everything felt too real.
I couldn’t bring myself to think that.
Even if they were NPCs, it didn’t matter anymore.
“Section chief.”
Rosemary slowly closed her eyes.
“Mary isn’t a bad child. She just likes me too much.”
I didn’t answer.
“She likes flowers, sunlight, water, people… she was really, really cute before. Really cute.”
She bit her lip.
“Actually I—”
She stopped.
“No. Just hurry.”
I raised my sword.
As if time was running out, her staff began turning darker.
“Thank you, section chief.”
A faint smile formed on her lips.
A smile too peaceful for someone about to die.
Slash.
A red arc flashed through the air.
The flower was severed.
Shimmering mana scattered like starlight.
The familiars lost control and crumbled into ash-gray fragments.
A heavy silence fell over the square.
“Haa… haa…”
My hand trembled slightly as I held the sword.
A metallic taste filled my mouth.
Two.
I had killed two innocent girls with my own hands.
The clearance condition appeared before me.
Clearance Condition
Save the corrupted magical girls.
Another mark of completion had been added.
I stared blankly at the floating holographic window.
“Salvation.”
The Tower called this salvation.
Salvation?
“Fuck.”
I spat the words out through clenched teeth.
There was no way this was salvation.
There was no way this twisted slaughter was the correct answer.
But right now, I had no other option.
No information about this world.
No way to restore them.
Nothing.
Then fine.
This life would be for gathering information.
I could always regress.
I just needed to see everything this damned world had to offer.
And when I was ready…
I would die before clearing it.
“If this doesn’t work, next life.”
“If that doesn’t work, the one after that.”
Using the regression ability the Tower had given me, I would make sure.
“I’ll save you.”
I draped my coat over Rosemary’s body.
“Just wait a little longer.”
The remaining targets were two.
The plan was clear.
I turned away, leaving the spreading blood behind.
I opened my eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
The first thing I felt was the soft mattress beneath my back.
I sat up and saw a neatly arranged, spacious room under warm lighting.
That last thing she said echoed in my head.
Actually…
Was she going to say she wanted to live?
Or was it resentment?
It didn’t matter anymore.
“Haah.”
I washed my face with both hands and got up.
After finishing Rosemary, I had taken Park Sung-chan’s car into the Yeouido safe zone.
I was then brought to a management agency hotel room and spent the night buried in information about this world.
I barely slept.
But the inner flame circulating through my dantian kept my body from feeling fatigue.
However.
The dried blood on the shirt I had carelessly thrown on the floor kept catching my eye.
I clenched and unclenched my fist.
The cold, weightless sensation of cutting their throats still lingered.
I went straight into the bathroom and turned on the cold water.
Swoooosh.
I stood under the freezing stream and scrubbed my hands roughly.
Then I stepped out and stood in front of the mirror.
I had learned enough about this world.
Otherworldly invasions, magical girls as humanity’s only defense.
Modern weapons didn’t work on the monsters from the other dimension, but magical girls did.
However, every magical girl inevitably corrupted before turning ten years old.
Once corruption began, there was no stopping it.
The structure was brutal.
If signs appeared, they were immediately isolated.
Bombarded with modern weapons until exhausted.
Then finished off by other magical girls who had not yet corrupted.
I exhaled and forced my expression to relax.
I had been told not to look so miserable.
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
As I left the bathroom, the tablet on the table lit up.
Section Chief Kim Mu-han, this is Park Sung-chan. Please contact me immediately.
I picked it up and pressed call.
“Attention! Section Chief, did you rest well?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I handled the report upstairs very efficiently, so no worries!”
Having a competent subordinate makes things easier.
“Thanks. What’s the situation?”
“Emergency mobilization has been issued.”
That was obvious.
“Marigold or Lobelia?”
At my question, Park Sung-chan let out a long sigh.
“Marigold. I’m not sure whether to call this a discovery, but… Code name Marigold has attacked the Ilsan General Research Institute.”
The largest research facility under the agency.
The core of the core.
An attack?
Even better.
“Park.”
“Yes, sir.”
While changing into a spare suit, I continued.
He mentioned the research division was suspicious too.
“Bring the car.”