Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Magic Girl (4)
A long sigh escaped from Park Sung-chan as he drove.
“Why?” I asked.
It was clearly directed at me.
“You seem like you’ve gotten better. I’m relieved.”
“I was fine from the start.”
“Come on, you had the face of someone ready to burn the world down. Field work isn’t easy, is it, sir?”
“It’s manageable.”
“This is my first time doing field work too,” Park Sung-chan continued, ignoring my answer and clicking his tongue. “Even now, I still can’t get used to it. They’re just kids, aren’t they? No matter how messed up this world is, I still can’t accept it. Doing this to children… is this really right?”
“It’s wrong.”
Park Sung-chan glanced at the rearview mirror.
“You really are a strange one, sir.”
“What’s strange about it?”
“Normally, when I say that, other people in the Administration just tell me to stop talking nonsense. That with the world possibly ending, small things like that don’t matter. That’s what they all say.”
“What’s wrong is wrong.”
“I hope you don’t change that mindset.”
I looked out the window.
Military vehicles were moving in a convoy along the road toward Ilsan.
“Park,” I said.
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know what they were researching in Ilsan?”
“Well, officially, it’s research on otherworldly monsters and development of support systems for magical girls.”
“Officially?”
“It’s classified, but I’ve heard bits and pieces. They also do magical girl core-related experiments there.”
A magical girl who had gone berserk attacking a research facility.
And not just any facility.
I opened the tablet and checked the real-time updates.
Code Name: Marigold
Age: 25
Height: 173 cm
Weapon: Spear
Magic: Space Magic, Barrier Magic
Marigold used space and barrier-type magic.
And right now, she had deployed a barrier covering the entire Ilsan National Research Institute, separating it from the outside world.
“No one’s been able to enter yet?”
“She’s Marigold. The strongest magical girl in history. If it weren’t for Lobelia, she would’ve held that title without question,” Park Sung-chan replied.
“So she kicked out everyone except the director and a handful of staff inside.”
“Apparently. No one really knows what she’s thinking.”
“If she took hostages, she should have demands. Has a berserk magical girl ever taken hostages before?”
“Never. At least I’ve never heard of it.”
I scrolled down on the tablet.
“Twenty-five years old,” I muttered.
“She’s the oldest active magical girl,” Park Sung-chan nodded. “Most of them don’t even make it past their early twenties before they go berserk.”
Below Marigold’s profile, the status of the trapped researchers kept updating.
Exact internal situation: unknown.
“How long can her barrier hold?” I asked.
“At least a full day. There’s never been a recorded case of Marigold’s barrier being broken from the outside. Of course, if someone inside…”
“If you kill Marigold, it collapses,” I finished for him.
“Yes.”
The car passed the Goyang tollgate.
Far ahead, a golden dome-like barrier was already visible in the sky.
“Military’s waiting at the main and rear gates?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take the side entrance.”
“Not meeting up with the main force?”
“I’m going alone.”
“Understood.”
We crossed the military control line and arrived at the outer perimeter of the Ilsan Research Complex.
“Impressive,” I muttered as I stepped out.
Seeing it in person made it clear.
A massive barrier enveloping the entire research complex. It didn’t look like something a single person should be able to create.
“We’ve been ordered to wait until the barrier disappears or Marigold’s mana runs out,” Park Sung-chan said.
I didn’t answer. I took the sword from the back seat and strapped it to my waist.
“You’re not going to listen, are you, sir?”
I gave a small nod.
I had no intention of just watching.
I needed to find out why Marigold targeted this place. What she wanted.
“Wait here.”
“Yes, sir! Fighter’s spirit!”
He saluted instinctively, already used to it.
I reached toward the golden wall.
It pushed back at my fingertips like a solid membrane. A strange sensation.
Then.
I drew my sword.
And pulled up the flame of my lower dantian into the blade.
The moment it was infused—
I thrust the sword forward.
Zzzzt—!
The barrier, which had even blocked Primrose before, failed to stop it.
As expected.
Cut open.
I drew the blade downward.
Crack—!
The barrier tore open, forming a narrow gap just wide enough for one person.
Without hesitation, I threw myself inside.
The moment I entered, the gap sealed itself again.
Inside was quiet.
Only remnants of golden mana floated like heat haze.
Marigold was likely at the center of the barrier.
Finding it wasn’t difficult.
Even without sensing, the concentrated golden mana was visible.
I followed the direction where it grew denser.
As I moved closer to the center, the golden light became mixed with a thick, filthy black aura.
“Here.”
I stood in front of a cleanly built research building.
I didn’t even need mana sensing.
The reinforced steel door had been twisted and torn apart like melted taffy.
I entered cautiously.
Blood.
The faint scent didn’t belong in a pristine research facility.
The interior felt less like a lab and more like something familiar.
A ward.
Rooms with beds were lined up throughout the building.
Further inside, I saw bloodstains.
Following the trail of droplets, I reached a large room.
A grotesque mix of operating room and laboratory.
The stench of blood numbed my senses.
Bodies in white lab coats were scattered across the floor.
Some were cut in half, some decapitated. Clean cuts—too clean. Cleaner than even mine.
Am I too late?
Just as I thought that—
“Hmm?”
A woman sitting on an operating table tilted her head.
A beautiful girl about 173 cm tall. Her orange hair darkened into ink-black at the tips.
She tapped her spear lightly on the floor and frowned.
Then—
“Ghost?”
She asked playfully.
“It’s a person, Marigold,” I replied.
“I know. I heard a new operations chief was coming. That’s you? Alone?”
“Alone.”
“How did you get through the barrier?”
“With a sword.”
“You got a new weapon or something from the Administration?”
“No. This is entirely my own strength.”
“That can’t be right.”
She tilted her head, twisting her hair around her finger.
“How did I know?”
I asked.
“You don’t have otherworldly mana on you. And more importantly…”
Her spear suddenly pointed at my chest.
I instinctively restrained my grip.
“You don’t have a core. But something else is there… what are you? A secret weapon from the Administration?”
“No. Just martial arts.”
“Martial arts? That’s ridiculous. You’re joking, right?”
“Is it strange in a world with magical girls?”
“It is. Magical girls are naturally occurring, but not exactly natural beings. You can’t compare them like that.”
She stood up.
Black veins of corruption spread across her body like roots.
Far denser than Rosemarie’s.
“What are you talking about?”
“You wouldn’t know. You’re not exactly connected to the higher-ups.”
“I was just dropped in from general affairs. I used to just sit in an office pushing papers.”
She laughed. Beautiful, but chilling in this sea of corpses.
“Of course. Nothing in those papers tells the truth.”
She threw a file at me.
Magical Girl Core Fusion Mechanism Research – 31st Experiment Report
I opened it.
Dense numbers and incomprehensible graphs filled the pages.
“Becoming a magical girl? That’s just measuring vessel capacity. Whether you can hold otherworldly mana or not.”
“And what’s placed into the vessel is a core from that world?”
“Correct.”
She tapped her chest, where black veins pulsed.
“Cores extracted from monsters’ hearts are forcibly implanted into teenage girls. And then—voila—the battlefield idol is born. A monster killing monsters.”
I stayed silent.
“Early monsters could be harmed by normal weapons. This was just a test phase. But those tests became humanity’s only hope. Men can’t handle cores; they go berserk. So only teenage girls were suitable.”
“That’s why you knew I was lying.”
Marigold nodded.
“But it seems like a pretty inefficient disposable system. None of them last ten years before going insane from corruption.”
Her expression turned cold.
“Twenty-five is the oldest. I volunteered to prevent corruption. I did it for humanity. For magical girls. And do you know what they did to me?”
She kicked a severed head on the floor.
“They extracted cores from other magical girls and shoved them into my heart. The ones they took them from were… ten years younger than me.”
“Those bastards are insane,” I muttered.
“Want to know the funniest part?”
“They used only imperfect cores—corrupted ones filled with otherworldly impurities. On purpose.”
“To make weapons, not protect people. Use them, then discard them. A ten-year disposable system from the start.”
Something clicked into place.
Killing berserk magical girls wasn’t salvation.
To break this chain of tragedy, the root had to be destroyed.
“So I killed them.”
She gripped her spear tightly.
“I killed them.”
Black energy surged up her neck.
“But the screams won’t stop. My head feels like it’s going to explode.”
Her eyes burned with killing intent.
“I’m going to destroy everything. The Administration. This disgusting world. All of it…”
I opened my eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
Soft mattress beneath my back.
I sat up and looked around.
A clean, quiet room.
That last sentence echoed in my head.
“I… actually…”
What had she tried to say?
Did she want to live?
Or curse me?
It didn’t matter anymore.
I got up and washed my face.
After dealing with Rosemarie, I had been brought here by Park Sung-chan and spent the night digging through everything I could about this world.
Sleep barely came.
But the flame circulating in my body kept me from exhaustion.
On the floor lay my shirt, stained with dried blood.
The sensation of cutting down those two girls still lingered in my hands.
I turned on the cold water and scrubbed my hands under it.
Then I stood in front of the mirror.
I understood this world now.
Otherworldly invasions. Magical girls awakened in response.
They were the only force capable of resisting monsters immune to modern weapons.
But without exception, every magical girl went berserk before ten years passed.
Once corruption began, it couldn’t be reversed.
The system itself was cruel.
I forced my expression to relax.
Don’t look like a corpse.
I smiled.
A tablet on the table lit up.
Operations Chief Kim Muhan, this is Park Sung-chan. Please contact me immediately.
I answered the call.
“Sir! Did you rest well?”
“Yeah.”
“I handled the report smoothly, so no worries on your end.”
Having a competent subordinate makes life easier.
“Good work. What is it?”
“Emergency mobilization order came in.”
Obviously.
Which one?
Marigold or Lobelia?
“Marigold,” he said, sighing.
“She attacked the Ilsan General Research Institute.”
I changed into a spare suit.
This was perfect.
No one would suspect anything while I dug.
“Park.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring the car.”
I was going to see it myself.
The truth behind this place.
The truth behind magical girls.
And this so-called salvation.