Let's Play in the Big Water (6)
Thirty minutes earlier.
The same building's elevator.
Woooong—
The elevator carrying two people descended, filling the narrow space with a faint humming vibration.
Lee Su-ah, Park Min-jeong's junior, had her mind buzzing as the scene she'd just witnessed replayed in 4K high-definition slow motion on endless loop.
Crazy... she really likes him!
Her senior, dashing out barefoot and throwing herself into the man's arms. That desperate grasp. The raw pathos of burying her face in his chest and sobbing.
How was this not the height of romance!
Lee Su-ah bit her lip hard, barely swallowing the scream bubbling up inside her.
"Hey, Lee Su-ah."
"Yes!"
Choi Su-jin, standing beside her, cocked her head sideways with a smirk.
"Why do you keep grinning like that? Like you hit the lottery or something."
"Oh, no! I just... it was so heartwarming."
"Heartwarming? That?"
Choi Su-jin let out a disbelieving scoff.
"No matter how you slice it, that wasn't normal. Park Min-jeong, that little slut, acts all high-and-mighty like she's too good for guys most days. But in front of her boyfriend? She'd rip out her guts and liver for him. Makes me sick."
"Come on, Senior. Love turns people into fools, right~?"
"Bullshit. That wasn't fool territory—that was straight-up animal. Didn't you see her legs shaking?"
"That's just because she's not feeling well..."
Lee Su-ah feigned ignorance, her cheeks flushing pink.
Of course she'd seen it. The moment Park Min-jeong's legs buckled. And the man—Jeong Ji-un, was it?—catching her senior so firmly, so reliably.
She was hurting and sad, but her lover showed up and all the tension melted away. Yeah, that's gotta be it.
Lee Su-ah's mental filter had perfectly reframed her senior's "heat" as pure, devoted love.
"Sigh... anyway, Min-jeong's always been a weirdo. And that guy? Kinda rough around the edges."
"Really? He seemed super gentle to me. The way he took care of Senior, that voice... yummy."
"What, you got heart-eyes for some random guy you just met? You're hopeless... Anyway, my stop's that way. I'm heading out first."
"Okay! Take care!"
Once they left the building and Choi Su-jin walked off, Lee Su-ah finally exhaled the breath she'd been holding, clutching her chest.
Sigh, so jealous.
She gazed up at the sky and murmured softly.
"I wanna fall in love too..."
Active C-grade magical girl, Blue Lane. That was Lee Su-ah's other name.
In the public's eye, magical girls were glamorous, loaded, and wildly popular objects of envy. But that didn't mean romance came easy.
Prejudices like these had long infested online communities. Sure, some were laced with malice, but they hit hard because they weren't entirely wrong.
Even among Lee Su-ah's peers, long-term relationships were rare. Dates got canceled for magical beast subjugation schedules, or post-battle trauma sparked fights that ended things.
That's why Senior looks even more amazing.
Prickly, sensitive, workaholic Park Min-jeong—head over heels for a guy? Impressive.
"That man must be something special too, right? Putting up with her personality."
That subtle expression on Jeong Ji-un's face as he supported her senior into the house. A bit cold, maybe, but to Lee Su-ah's eyes, it screamed "tsundere boyfriend worrying over his sick girlfriend."
"Hope it works out for them."
And someday, that fated encounter would come for her too.
She skipped lightly toward the subway station, pulling out her phone to open her favorite romance webnovel app.
Zeeyying—! Zeeyying—!
Suddenly, the air on the street shifted.
It wasn't just Lee Su-ah's phone.
A random guy's bag as he walked by. A woman's handbag at a café terrace.
As if on cue, the same rhythmic vibrations or sirens blared from certain people's belongings.
Ordinary pedestrians just looked around in confusion. But the owners' faces drained of color, stark against the calm.
Lee Su-ah was one of them. Trembling, she checked her screen.
"N-no way, please no..."
But one glance at the display, and all color fled her face.
[Sender: National Magical Girl Administration Office / Recipient: All regional defense teams and municipal magical girls]
Subject: Declaration of the 4th Special Defense Period and Emergency Duty Orders for the 'Nationwide Pilgrimage'
"Ah..."
A groan escaped Lee Su-ah's lips.
"Already... this season?"
Nationwide Pilgrimage.
Sounded like some religious pilgrimage or marathon, but to those in the industry, it was a grim reaper's summons.
Major cities worldwide hit periodic instability in magical beast gates. Corrupted mana density spiked, dormant gates erupting all at once.
Dubbed the magical beast season.
Governments mobilized every S-grade and A-grade magical girl nationwide, selecting top reps. Those elites toured sectors, unleashing massive subjugations.
That was the Nationwide Pilgrimage.
[This 'Seoul-Metropolis' tour special zones: Sector 2, Sector 4. Designated high-priority management areas]
[Representative magical girl selection: D-1]
[Compliance: By D+3, all municipal and defense teams in affected areas—cancel all leave, switch to 24-hour emergency standby.]
"Sector 4..."
Our jurisdiction. We're screwed.
Lee Su-ah stared blankly into space, despair etched on her face.
The city turned into a warzone festival. Media helicoptered in for star magical girl footage, crowds flocked to gawk, agencies pimped rookies amid the chaos.
The industry pumped with cash flow.
But that was their world.
"We're the ones drowning in work..."
Crowd control. Evacuations. Beast corpse cleanup. Road repairs. Escorting diva stars.
All that grunt work dumped on low-rank civil servant magical girls and admins.
Like election-season overtime for bureaucrats?
But here, add life-or-death fieldwork and all-nighters.
"What do I do... I have a dermatologist appointment next week..."
Lee Su-ah scrolled down, pouting. Then realized her appointment was the least of her worries.
Park Min-jeong, her senior.
The happy face from moments ago flashed in her mind.
Out sick for two days, even took leave.
Tomorrow morning, walking into work to this hellish bulletin? Crystal clear.
"Ah... Senior..."
Lee Su-ah offered sincere condolences.
Emergency duty meant no quitting time. Napping in the municipal war room for weeks—or a month.
Fresh new romance? Dead on arrival. No time even for texts.
"Just when it was heating up... basically forced breakup."
But no helping it.
Reality was reality.
Zeeyying—! Zeeyying—!
A screeching mechanical wail. The ominous, nerve-grating disaster alert tone shattered the living room's silence.
"What the hell?"
> [Sender: National Magical Girl Administration Office]
> [Recipient: Jeong Ji-un (Reg. No.: 20XX-KR-MC-0482 / Grade 4 Mana Sensitivist)]
> [Pursuant to Article 14 of the Magical Beast Defense Special Act, you are hereby designated as 'wartime labor support personnel' effective immediately.]
> [Muster time: 20XX-0-0 09:00]
> [Muster location: Sector 4 Defense Command, Rally Point 2]
> [※ Failure to comply without just cause: Up to 3 years imprisonment or...]
Muster? Imprisonment?
"Wh-what's wrong...? Your face..."
Park Min-jeong wriggled on the floor, eyeing my expression. She still hadn't dressed properly.
She staggered up, fumbling for her phone amid the clothes.
"Ah, th-the special defense period's been declared... I keep alerts off..."
"Special defense?"
"Special defense period. Magical beast season..."
She stared up at me blankly.
Figured—as a civil servant, she knew the drill.
"Why's this hitting me? I'm no magical girl, just a normie."
"W-well... during beast season, registered mana sensitivists get drafted too..."
"Mana sensitivist?"
"Yeah... not magical girls, but guys who can sense or handle mana, even weakly. Classified as supporters."
Ah.
So Seo-yul noona's stellar data entry had me pegged too perfectly in the association database. Drafted for real.
An actual warrant?
"......"
Zeeyying—!
My phone vibrated again.
[Chae Yu-bin]
Incoming call.
"Teacher! Teacher, are you okay?! Did you see the alert?!"
"...Yeah, saw it. No big deal."
"R-really? But you're a counselor too..."
"I'm fine. I'll handle it. You too."
"Huh? Oh, okay! Be careful! Really!"
Click.
Hung up, and it buzzed again. "Mom" this time.
"Ji-un! You... since you got certified, you got it too? That thing?"
"Yeah, saw the alert. Busy now—call you back?"