5. Breaking the Magical Girl Fantasy
5. Breaking the Magical Girl Fantasy
My life is ruined.
Seriously.
The transformation won't wear off.
"Why on earth?"
[Uhm, sorry, but I don't know either.]
I glared at Dori. Dori avoided my eyes as if he were in a bind.
Why is this happening to me?
[Ahem. Well, still... you're pretty.]
"Is that really what you should be saying right now?! I'm in huge trouble!"
I let out a sigh. That was already the tenth sigh. Why on earth did this have to happen to me?
[Can I tell you the truth?]
"Tell me everything you know! Right now!"
Dori said, pretending to scratch his cheek gently.
[There are cases where the transformation doesn't wear off. But that's literally 'the transformation doesn't wear off.' Typical examples are being in a Witch-fied state or the original body being in an aged state.]
"Witch-fied? Wait a second. You mean the kind of Witch that keeps Witch minions?"
[Yeah, that's right.]
"It's definitely not aging, so currently I am..."
[Don't say such unlucky things! And didn't I tell you earlier? Your transformation is in a 'released' state.]
"But it's still weird!"
[Yeah. The current situation is definitely strange. As far as I know, it's unprecedented.]
My head hurt as if it were splitting for a moment. It wasn't because I remembered something. It just seemed to be because of my worries about the future.
Finding the cause is important right now, but the real problem... was actually my identity.
As expected of a country obsessed with identity verification, collecting data on all citizens, assigning codes, and taking fingerprints.
You needed an identity to do anything. I could survive for now, but I would soon face various problems.
"What do I really do?"
My life is ruined, seriously. Take responsibility.
My body's been weird since I went to the hospital.
[I'll submit a report for now. And I'll get an ID card made for you as soon as possible.]
"You can make an ID card?"
Huh.
Usually, that's a complicated and time-consuming task, so it should be hard. Dori is actually useful at times like this.
Maybe my life isn't as ruined as I thought.
[Of course I can. Magical girls whose transformations didn't wear off due to aging all got new ID cards, too.]
Dori said that and disappeared, saying he had somewhere to go for a moment.
It was a relief. The anxiety hadn't completely disappeared, but it was better than before.
I can clearly imagine myself panicking, fainting, and causing a scene if I had stayed in that state earlier.
That aside...
Am I... kind of pretty?
Since the clothes I'm wearing were originally my pajamas, my shoulder slipped down again. Hmm. It's definitely lewd.
It's a bit risqué, so there's a sense of mystery to it, too.
-You've got a message!
"Eek!"
It was just then, while I was admiring my reflection in the mirror. An alarm rang from the smartphone I had just received from the Management Bureau.
Is it Strawberry-sunbaenim? Or Justia-sunbaenim? It could be Yuka-sunbaenim.
I picked up the smartphone with a pounding heart.
I unlocked it and tapped the pop-up message at the top, and it was a chat room I had never even joined.
Huh?
-Magical Girl Management Bureau Korea Branch Magical Girls' Chat Room.
Too long.
So I'll call it Masubang (Magical Girl Chat Room).
Anyway. At the top of the Masubang, there was a notification message that my magical girl name, Theresia, had been invited, and several messages were posted below it.
-Berry: Oh, it's Theresia. Hi.
-Tiatia: Hi hi.
-Yuka: Nice to meet you...
No. Why does Yuka-sunbaenim use ellipses even in messenger?
Besides that,
-Mal-dal-li-ja: Oh, a newbie!
-Jusawi: It's a newbie... Finally, someone to borrow money from...
-Mal-dal-li-ja: Alea, you just shut up^^
-Jusawi: Whimper
I turned off the smartphone. Otherwise, my perception of magical girls might become slightly dangerous.
No, but in the middle of that, someone to borrow money from? Someone to borrow money from??
They said I'd get 3 million won. Surely... that's not it, right?
Like, they don't actually give me the 3 million won.
No. That can't be. That shouldn't be, right? It shouldn't be.
I carefully turned the smartphone back on. The conversation had filled up more by now.
Fortunately, it wasn't about me.
-Tiatia: I'm bored.
-Berry: Cover yourself with a blanket and sleep.
-Tiatia: But it's morning?
-Berry: Shut up before I put you to sleep forever.
Hmm. I should probably stop looking.
&&&
"Sion-nim, I've come to ask you something."
"What is it? Dori?"
Dowonhyang, or Utopia. Even if the people who call it by different names in different languages vary, it's a place that ultimately implies the same meaning.
Dori came to the garden there to have an audience with the King of the Mascot Kingdom.
It was a garden with a calm atmosphere, dark and bathed in moonlight.
Dori opened his mouth.
"Are there side effects to transformation magic?"
At Dori's question, Sion tilts her head. Sion, the King of the Mascots who looks like a human girl, said nothing.
"My contractor has a problem."
"Hmm, I'll ask Selene. She's the one who created the transformation magic, so she'll know well."
"Yes, understood. Please do so as soon as possible."
After greeting Sion, Dori went off to take care of other business.
Sion was left alone in the large garden.
"The day has come when Dori comes to ask me about his contractor. It's truly fascinating."
Sion stopped in front of the garden pond and looked at the water's surface. Sion's reflection was cast on the water. Sion's body trembled.
"It's not familiar. I wish I were a bit more used to it by now, though."
The pond, embracing the moonlit night, shone even brighter.
&&&
-Theresia: Sunbaenims, but you guys seem very different from what I saw in the media.
-Mal-dal-li-ja: Ah, that? Hmm. This is a top secret, but actually, we're people who are very different on the inside and outside.
-Jusawi: That's right... like playing cards.
-Tiatia: How on earth do you come up with that metaphor?
-Alice Lover: This is our true form, you distant junior.
-Want to drink Apfel-schorle: That is true.
Looking at the clock, it was already nine o'clock. Nine o'clock in the evening, at that. Huh. I definitely haven't eaten anything, right?
At that moment, my stomach growled.
Sigh, why is this messenger so fun? It's just talking.
My desire not to look couldn't overcome my urge to 'check it.' As a result, I've been just chatting until almost nine in the evening like this.
No, come to think of it, that's the same for the sunbaenims too.
The sunbaenims must be haunting the Masubang like ghosts because they have nothing to do, just like me.
I understand.
"When will Dori come?"
I turned off the smartphone and lay down, staring at the ceiling. Lying spread-eagled in the living room, I moved my hands as if drawing in the air.
I played with fire using simple fire magic and zoned out staring at the flames. I think I used to do this sometimes when I was bored.
"Anyway, what about my friend?"
I checked the smartphone I originally had, not the one I received from the Management Bureau. There was still no contact from my friend.
The unlucky bastard.
The damn guy who passed the wizard exam on his first try, which I failed even after years of trying.
Well, he did buy me drinks after that.
That was already three or four days ago.
But well.
I'm a magical girl now, so I'll never lose to him in magic. Yeah. People should live positively. How happy I am thinking like this.
In fact, I was laughing. Chuckle, chuckle, as if something was funny.
"Should I just sleep?"
I got up and went to bed. It felt a little empty. It happened sometimes.
When I lay on the bed, there was more space than I imagined. It was good news for me, as I usually had bad sleeping habits and often rolled off.
I blinked for a moment, and sleepiness came over me. I closed my eyes just like that.
&&&
A refreshing morning. The birds aren't chirping. When I open my eyes, it's still the familiar scenery. But only my body isn't familiar.
No, it didn't return after all.
I came out to the living room. I should boil some ramen. I was so hungry.
[Did anything happen while I was gone?]
"Nothing."
[I see. Hmm, first, I'll give you this.]
Dori handed me a sheet of paper.
It was a family register certificate.
"What?"
I scanned the text with a surprised heart. First of all, the names written in the parents' section were not my parents' names.
"Excuse me?"
[It's your identity. The people written in the parents' section are virtual characters. To be precise, they are humanoid mascots residing in the Mascot Kingdom. They are people who could disappear at any moment without anyone knowing.]
"No, is this possible?"
[There is nothing that can't be done. You know, there's a saying in Europe, right? That the word 'impossible' does not exist in my dictionary. It's like that.]
"No, that person is an emperor, so it's possible for him, practically speaking!"
[Hmm. Is that so? I don't know that deeply. Isn't there no need to know?]
Dori put his hands on his waist and held his nose high as if he were triumphant. I let out a sigh looking at Dori.
This kind of thing is a magical girl's mascot?
Anyway, I decided to look at the paper carefully again. At least my name was written on it.
-Yu-min 121207-4XXXXXX
"Um."
"Why am I born in '12?"
It's weird. I'm '07.
[There's no particular reason. Isn't it just an age where you don't need to make an ID card? So I decided that.]
"Still, something!"
"Being born in '12 sounds like a brat!"
[Don't worry about it too much. You'll rarely have to use that identity anyway. Since the Management Bureau revealed itself, we've been able to create fake identities for magical girls, and it's just one of those.]
"What on earth does that mean?"
[In short, it means you don't need to worry about it.]
It's a thought I have every time.
This mascot named Dori seems to be really terrible at explaining things.
Actually, that was a thought I just had.
Damn it.
[Show a bit more reaction. If you get so cold and indifferent, how can I pull out more things when I've prepared so much?]
I clapped with a straight face. Then Dori clicked his tongue, saying [You're a boring guy].
What are you going to do if you click your tongue?
How dare a mere mascot do that to a magical girl of three or four days?
Ah, is this a bit of an overreaction?
"What is it this time?"
Dori rummaged through his chest and took something out and handed it to me.
It was none other than a card.
[It's a card you can swipe as much as you want.]
I shouted with all my heart.
"Dori is the best partner! I'm not lying, really. With the two of us, whether it's a Witch or a Witch's minion, one shot will be enough! Dori will handle everything well! Dori is the best!"
Dori sighed and said.
[Sycophant. You are a sycophant.]
Why on earth?