Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Magic Girl (1)
I checked my body again.
No problems, it seems.
KawaiiHighSchoolGirl: So your innate qi has returned to normal too, right?
YY(8.8): Yeah, looks like it’s back to the meridians system. Nothing like the twelve meridians is left.
KawaiiHighSchoolGirl: Good, just as expected. Still, let me know immediately if anything feels off.
YY(8.8): Got it, thanks.
As expected of the kind high school girl. Even aftercare was perfect.
I lay back and stared at the endless white ceiling.
They say staying in a monochrome space drives people insane, but the great power of the waiting room didn’t allow that.
Even if I stared at the same white walls all day, it still felt as comfortable as a hospital room.
Honestly, I wanted to just waste a few days chatting in the gallery like this.
I already cleared the first floor after dying twice, so shouldn’t I be allowed that much?
One of those times, I even had my neck cut.
If it weren’t for that damn twenty-four-hour limit…
Hey, Kim Bippi, don’t think like that. This is exactly when you need hard training.
Right, right. Hard training.
I sighed and stood up.
The first floor was just the tutorial.
If that was the difficulty level, I had no idea what kind of absurd things would appear on the second floor.
I took my stance and began practicing footwork.
Blood Shadow Demon Step.
The footwork technique the high school girl told me about after clearing the first floor.
She said it was one of her personal techniques and that it matched well with the Heavenly Demon Three Swords.
Footwork is basically movement. And movement is the foundation of all martial arts.
I had been improvising everything in the first floor because I was in a hurry, but if I wanted to climb higher, I needed to build the basics properly.
That’s what the high school girl mom said.
First form of Blood Shadow Step, Blood Shadow Split Step.
I repeated the incantation she taught me in my head dozens of times.
The principle was simple.
At the moment my foot lands, I release qi explosively through the Yongcheon point in my sole.
At the same time, I leave behind a residue of energy at my original position, forming a split afterimage, a blood shadow.
It lets me break into the opponent’s blind spot instantly while distracting them with illusions.
Direct and straightforward Heavenly Demon Three Swords, and deceptive Blood Shadow Step.
No wonder she said they worked well together.
“Let’s try it.”
I closed my eyes and sent the flame of my inner energy down my right leg.
The moment the heavy heat flowing through my meridians gathered at my foot,
I stomped down hard.
“Ugh!”
My calf and thigh twisted in a grotesque direction and I rolled across the floor.
“Ugh…”
That hurts.
The waiting room’s recovery restored my body instantly, but it didn’t erase the pain.
Without that recovery ability, that alone would’ve left me in a wheelchair for life.
Could I really learn this before going to the second floor?
This is harder than I thought.
No, idiot Kim Bippi, don’t think negative thoughts. Just follow along. You can do it.
Right, right. I can do it.
Good job, Kim Bippi.
Alright, let’s go again.
Crack.
This time my ankle bone shattered. Again.
Crunch.
My knee cartilage twisted. Again.
Again. Again.
A mix of excruciating pain and the strange thrill of becoming something beyond human started melting my brain.
I adjusted my energy flow while repeating the horrifying sensation of bone and flesh being crushed dozens of times.
And finally.
Whoosh.
My leg didn’t break.
My body, stretched like a drawn bow, shot forward at insane speed.
Tap.
After covering about a hundred meters in a single burst, I quickly turned my head.
“…”
On the pure white floor of the waiting room, a faint blood-colored afterimage shimmered where I had just been.
Sssrrk…
It faded within seconds, of course.
Success. Blood Shadow Split Step.
What mattered was that my body remembered the principle.
Ba-ba-ba-bang.
I started running wildly through the waiting room.
Every step left a crimson afterimage, and soon the white space was filled with dozens of red shadows.
At my current level, even executing the first form was difficult.
The second form was out of the question.
I needed to make the first form completely natural, like flowing water.
And for real combat, I’d need to combine it with the Heavenly Demon Three Swords.
So I drew my sword and moved with the footwork, inserting sword strikes between steps.
I ran like a madman, swinging my blade.
This was it.
This was what it meant to truly wield martial arts.
“Phew…”
I stopped and steadied my breathing.
“How much time passed?”
I looked for the timer in the air.
00:41:12
Damn.
I had burned almost the entire twenty-four hours training.
I sat down and opened the gallery.
Title: Blood Shadow Step + Heavenly Demon Sword combo seems good?
Author: YY(8.8)
Thanks, High School Girl.
Heading to the second floor now, bye.
KawaiiHighSchoolGirl: ?? You already optimized Blood Shadow Step and Heavenly Demon Step?
GalaxySmilingGirl: LOL this anon is a genius ☆
BloodDemon: Hmph.
BlondeBlueEyesBig: Our Blood Demon-chan looks grumpy as always~
BloodDemon: Shut up. You vulgar woman.
BlondeBlueEyesBig: You should stay in character, Blood Demon-chan♡
BloodDemon: There’s no one here who isn’t a “vulgar woman.”
I chuckled.
If these people really existed as actual Heavenly Demons…
Maybe someday I’d meet them as I climb the tower.
For now, I didn’t know.
KawaiiHighSchoolGirl: Good luck!
With the high school girl’s final encouragement, I closed the gallery and stood up.
Thanks to the waiting room, my bones and torn muscles had completely recovered, but the mental fatigue remained mine alone.
Not that it mattered.
Who am I?
Statue Breaker.
Graveyard of Ghost Stories.
First Floor Savior, Kim Muhan.
Confidence surged from somewhere deep inside me.
You can do it, Kim Bippi.
This time too, cut, crush, survive.
Right, right.
“Let’s go.”
I stepped into the gate without hesitation.
You have entered the Second Interference World: Magic Girl.
Description: On this Earth, invaded by another dimension, there exist special beings.
They are the idols of the battlefield, magical girls.
Against monsters from another world immune to modern weapons, these girls, awakened with special abilities, were humanity’s only answer.
However.
The price of entrusting the fate of the world to a small number of young girls was catastrophic.
Unable to endure the brutality of war, the magical girls fell into corruption.
For some, death may be salvation.
Seeker, “save” the corrupted magical girls.
Clear Condition:
Save the corrupted magical girls.
Rosemary
Primrose
Marigold
Lobelia
“Ha.”
I lost words as I read the floating text.
So I thought the first floor being school ghosts meant the second would be something normal.
Like goblin raids or something.
Or orcs, trolls, ogres, any kind of monster would’ve been fine.
But reality was this.
Magical girls. Corruption. Salvation.
They dressed it up nicely as “salvation,” but in the end it just meant I had to kill girls with my own hands.
The confidence that had soared to the sky crashed straight down to the bottom of the sea.
A distortion occurred due to dimensional interference. Gallery access is restricted.
As expected, I couldn’t enter the gallery.
I looked around.
It was a ruin.
Broken buildings, overturned cars, smoke filling the air.
Even so, it felt familiar.
A road sign pointing toward Yeouido, written in Korean.
This was Seoul.
Another world’s Seoul.
My outfit had also changed into a dull black suit commonly seen in Seoul.
A stiff tie and an employee ID card dangling from my chest.
Magical Girl Management Bureau, Operations Division Chief Kim Muhan.
So this was my identity here.
I repeated it under my breath.
Good. Self-conditioning complete.
KUGUGUGUNG—!
An explosion rang out and a pink flash erupted in the distance.
I loosened my tie and gripped my sword.
As I approached the source of the explosion, the smell of gunpowder became stronger.
The asphalt was cratered beyond recognition, as if bombed, and wrecked armored vehicles and military uniforms were scattered around.
Stay calm.
Even in this chaos, there were no bodies or blood.
KUGUGUNG—!
Another pink flash.
I locked onto the direction.
Blood Shadow Step.
I closed the distance instantly, leaving a blood-red afterimage.
Then I stopped.
In the center of a wide plaza surrounded by skeletal buildings stood a girl with pink twin tails.
She looked about fifteen or sixteen.
Her pink dress was burned and blackened, and she stood barefoot on melting asphalt.
Her unfocused eyes turned toward me.
She tilted her head sharply.
“Management… Bureau… Operations Chief?”
No expression.
“Yes. I am Kim Muhan, Operations Chief of the Management Bureau.”
I played the role.
“Operations… Chief? Chief? The chief… died because of me. Primrose killed him. I killed the chief. Primrose did!”
She repeated the same words like a machine.
Then she swung the morning star in her hand.
A rather brutal weapon for a magical girl.
Compressed pink mana surged through the air.
A missile that had been flying toward her exploded midair.
A missile?
So they were using missiles to kill this girl.
“Chief! It’s dangerous! No, sir, how did you even get here!”
Someone shouted and ran toward me.
I focused my inner energy into my eyes.
Magical Girl Management Bureau, Operations Assistant Manager Park Seongchan.
So he was my subordinate.
The girl’s gaze shifted to him.
“Liars. Liars. You said no need to kill more. Liars!”
The girl’s emotions spiked and the morning star spun violently.
Pink mana gathered at the end of the weapon and shot toward Park Seongchan.
“Eek!”
Overwhelmed by killing intent, he collapsed and covered his head.
That attack had already destroyed missiles.
A normal person would be reduced to meat.
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue and ignited my inner flame.
Blood Shadow Step.
Blood Shadow Split Step.
I poured explosive qi through the Yongcheon point into the ground.
My body shot forward, leaving a faint crimson afterimage, reaching Park Seongchan.
I grabbed the back of his neck and sprinted away.
BOOOOM—!
The mana storm swept through where he had been.
Ridiculous destructive power.
I tossed him aside roughly.
My wrist ached.
“C-Chief? What… just happened?”
He stammered.
“Stay back, Park Seongchan.”
“W-what? But you’re non-combat personnel…”
“Is there any way to save her?”
“Primrose, you mean?”
So this girl was Primrose.
Target confirmed.
“You already know the answer. The only way to save a corrupted magical girl is…”
“Death?”
He nodded slightly.
We can restrain her with air support. We should wait for special forces and reinforcements. We should stick to the operation plan—
I ignored him and stepped forward.
If this turned into a full ground battle, she would undoubtedly harm many people.
Maybe…
Before a magical girl who protects people becomes one who kills them…
Killing her myself might be the only form of salvation.
That was the only conclusion I could reach.
I drew my sword.
A clear ringing sound echoed.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Primrose screamed, grabbing her hair.
Maybe she was shocked that she had attacked Park Seongchan.
She swung her morning star wildly, smashing everything around her.
The opening appeared.
I moved instantly with Blood Shadow Split Step, appearing behind her blind spot.
Flames gathered at the tip of my sword.
And then.
Slash.
The Heavenly Demon’s blade tore through her barrier and cut her throat.
A clean strike.