4. Why Won't This Undo?
4. Why Won't This Undo?
When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room.
It wasn't a regular hospital or a university hospital.
It was a hospital exclusively for Magical Girls, run by the Magical Girl Management Bureau.
[My heart was really pounding.]
"You're a doll, yet you have a heart?"
It didn't seem like I was hurt too badly, as the doctor sighed and said, "You'll be healed in two days."
That aside, the doctor is so cute. Is she a Magical Girl?
[Sigh, you. What are you doing, grinning like an idiot?]
"Why, what's wrong with that?"
[No, it's nothing else, but the destructive power is a bit strong.]
Huh? Was I grinning like an idiot?
[Anyway, what was that yesterday?]
"Pardon?"
What did I do yesterday? I definitely made a sword with magic and fought, and then...
"Aaaah!"
[You, what's wrong!]
Goosebumps rose instantly. I had been acting like nothing happened, but the fact that I almost died yesterday suddenly shoved its way into my mind.
That's why I flinched for a moment.
[Right... I'll ask about that later. For now, focus on your recovery.]
With that, Dori shut its mouth. I looked around. All sorts of cute and beautiful girls were lying in hospital beds around me.
It's been a while since I started digging into Magical Girls after being saved by Magical Girl Sweet Chocolat. So, I pride myself on knowing almost all the famous Magical Girls.
But for starters, there are no familiar faces here. Are they all rookies?
"Hmm-nya... that's my pudding..."
It was the sleep-talking of a girl in the opposite bed. I sighed. The hospital room had been quiet ever since Dori shut up. It's normal to be a little surprised. Probably.
"Sigh, that girl is sleep-talking again."
"Hmm-nya hmm-nya..."
This time it was the girl lying in the bed next to the one who was sleep-talking. She was a girl who had been reading a book quietly, but, how should I put it? Do they know each other?
Perhaps noticing my gaze, the girl closed her book and looked at me.
She was a girl with bright red hair and vermilion eyes.
"Hey you, are you a newbie?"
"Ye-yes, yes? Ah. Yes."
"Hmm, is that so? I haven't seen your face before."
The girl scanned me as if interested. Maybe because of her gaze, I kept twisting my hair.
"Your smile is pretty. What's your name?"
"It's Theresia..."
"Oh, your name is totally pretty too? I'm Strawberry. I'm an OP-class Magical Girl, no less. And you?"
"I'm... PR-class."
"...What? Wait. Yeah, what? PR-class? That's the total beginner stage!"
I felt dejected for a moment. Then Strawberry panicked and waved her hands.
"No, no, what I mean is!"
"I've heard you loud and clear... that you don't even consider PR-class to be a real Magical Girl."
"I told you that's not it!"
Strawberry cleared her throat for a moment before opening her mouth.
"Usually, PR-class girls don't come here. Almost no one comes here injured. Most of them come here dead."
"What?"
"Just kidding. They don't die that much these days. Uh. Compared to my time, the mortality rate is down 75%?"
The atmosphere became heavy. A chill ran down my spine. Only then did Strawberry shut her mouth for a moment.
It's awkward.
So very awkward.
I had no choice but to be the first to speak. There were things I wanted to ask, too.
"Um, Strawberry..."
"Call me Sunbae-nim."
"Ah, yes. Strawberry Sunbae-nim, what exactly is OP-class?"
"Who's your mascot?"
"Dori."
"Ugh, seriously, it should explain things properly. How come the contractor doesn't even know the ranking system?"
"So-sorry! It's only been a day since I..."
Come to think of it, I almost died in just one day.
Wow, is this what a 1st-day Magical Girl is like?
"Why are you apologizing? That Dori bastard is the one who didn't set things up right."
"Ah. Yes."
"Right. I'll explain it simply, so listen up. Maxima-class is beyond the heavens. Hmm, to put it simply, S-rank?"
Strawberry continued her explanation.
Roughly speaking, there are six grades of Magical Girls, and if you convert them to ranks, they go from S-rank to E-rank.
Me right now, PR-class. That is, Prima-class is D-rank, and Secunda-class, which is below me, is E-rank.
If I organize the conversion table:
Maxima-S-rank.
Magna-A-rank.
Optima-B-rank.
Bona-C-rank.
Prima-D-rank.
Secunda-E-rank.
Hmm. I'm weak. Very weak. Well, it's only been a day, so what can you expect.
"Then Strawberry Sunbae-nim, you're B-rank?"
"That's right. And I'm scheduled to move up to Magna-class soon."
"Really?"
"No? I don't really know either. I'm currently high-tier Optima-class."
It was then.
"Ugh, seriously, so noisy! Strawberry! Are you using the hospital room all by yourself?"
This time, the yellow-haired girl sitting next to me got up.
"Oh? Are you a newbie?"
Sc-scary.
"Oh, I heard she just became a Magical Girl?"
"Really? Hmm. Newbie, what are you so stiff for? I'm Justia. I'm the same OP-class as that red strawberry over there."
"What do you mean, red strawberry! Strawberries are red by nature!"
"Pffft, ah. Sorry, sorry."
Strawberry and Justia both seemed to get along well. Before I knew it, they had left me aside and were chatting among themselves.
Am I being left out?
Yeah. Well, of course. Let me just look at my smartphone.
I rested my head on the hospital pillow and turned on my smartphone. And then, immediately, magic authentication... Huh? Why isn't it working?
Ah. Right. I'm in my Magical Girl state right now.
I had no choice but to turn on my smartphone using the very old-fashioned password key entry method, not the magic authentication method.
When I turned on the smartphone, there was a message from a friend and an emergency disaster text message.
I ignored the disaster text and looked at my friend's message, which was asking if I got home safely after drinking the other day. I simply replied with 'Yeah'.
Hmm. What should I do? Should I check TreeWiki? Or iTube?
I decided to watch iTube. It was the perfect time to waste some time.
"Huh?"
After the iTube loading screen finished, what appeared before my eyes...
was me in the thumbnail.
Pardon?
I immediately checked the title. 'New Magical Girl (Presumed) First Battle.'
No, pardon?
There was definitely no one there during the battle yesterday. But, how did they film my battle?
Out of curiosity, I played the video.
The image quality was bad. Maybe around 480p. Perhaps due to the limitations of the recording medium, iTube only supported up to 480p.
Soon, I appeared in the video.
The scene where I formed a blade to cut through the witch's minion, but then got eaten by it after it regenerated.
As far as I remember, this was here. Where my memory cut out.
I was completely eaten, wait. How did I survive from here?
There were still 5 minutes left in the playback time. It was a 10-minute video.
10 seconds, 20 seconds. Suddenly, a spear flew toward it. At the same time, its back was ripped open.
I came out from inside it.
It was something I had no memory of.
Seriously, what is this?
A moment later, the witch's minions gathered around me. I simply created a spear and skewered them like shish kebabs.
And a moment later. I collapsed.
What is this. Am I watching a horror movie right now? What is this. Is it some kind of social experiment? No. That can't be it. Huh?
Who on earth is that? At least it's not me?
I opened the comment section as if possessed.
-Wow, honestly I thought she was dead when she got eaten, but she survived. But she's so different before and after getting eaten?
-It's really amazing that she survived this?
-This is a Magical Girl newbie?
-This Magical Girl is so cute. Please keep up the good work in the future.
Ohoho. Amazing, phrases of surprise, expressions of being cute. Unexpectedly, it was full of praise. I was dumbfounded because of the video, but thanks to the comments, I felt a bit better.
Let's ask Dori later.
-Wow, but she seems like she can't fight... she just let herself get eaten like that.
-[Reply] No, dude, look at what happens after she gets eaten.
First off, I should report the person who wrote that comment.
Isn't there a saying like that?
Facts get you banned.
"What are you watching with such a smile, our newbie?"
Justia asked out of the blue. I was so startled I almost dropped my smartphone. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief that I fortunately didn't drop it.
"Ah, I, um. Um, watching a video."
"I mean, what kind of video?"
"Ma, Magical Girl battle video."
"Ah, by any chance, that! The one uploaded by the Management Bureau's unofficial partner?"
"Pardon?"
"The one with the channel name 'mahoushoujo'!"
I read the channel name. It was exactly as she said.
"That's right."
"Right. Your video was uploaded a day ago. I haven't watched it though."
"Ah, yes. I'm watching that."
"Whoa, already ego-searching on your first day?"
"E, ego-searching?"
"You know, like looking up posts related to your activity name on internet communities."
"Ah, I don't!"
"Hehe, even if you don't now, definitely try it later. Me and that red-head over there do it almost every day. I sometimes wonder if this is the only drug permitted by the state."
Justia smiled brightly. My cheeks instantly grew hot. Seeing that, Strawberry and Justia started giggling.
&&&
Two days had already passed. I could finally go home.
"I'll be going first, Sunbae-nims."
I got quite close to the Sunbae-nims who were in the hospital room for two days. Close enough to exchange contact information? Yes.
For reference, in the meantime, Dori brought my mission smartphone and added them to my friends list.
Because if I did it on my original phone, secrets might leak out.
"Oh, yeah, take care."
"Don't get hurt next time."
"Cheer up...! Theresia-chan!"
In order, it was Justia, Strawberry, and Yuka. Yuka Sunbae really seems like an anime otaku, no matter how I look at it.
Ah, of course, I am a model citizen who respects diversity, hobbies, and tastes, so I didn't look at Yuka Sunbae with strange eyes.
"Well then, now that I'm back home, I should deactivate my transformation, right?"
I went into the house, talked to myself, stretched, and sat on the sofa. It was surprisingly tiring to stay in the transformed state.
At this rate, the sense of loss when returning to my original body seems like it will be huge.
Whatever.
I shouted to deactivate the transformation in my mind. There was a sound of something sliding apart.
I opened my eyes and scanned my appearance. Something was strange.
I immediately ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
In the mirror, there stood a girl who looked like my Magical Girl transformation form, but with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a bewildered expression.
"Hu, h? Did the transformation not wear off?"
[...Your current state is indeed the untransformed state.]
Huh.
Huh?
Huh?!