Chapter 2 : The Colorless Magical Girl

[In short, the term ‘magical girl’ is a kind of euphemism.]

[In this case, it’s more appropriate to view it as a happening related to a pseudo-religious group.]

[It’s a sign foretelling the apocalypse of 2012!]

[God has personally descended to choose ten thousand apostles!]

[It’s a broadcast hijacking of unprecedented scale in history, shown through monitors worldwide.]

[Since it could have caused various accidents, the culprit will have difficulty avoiding major responsibility.]

[Who could be the entity that delivered stars to so many girls?]

Three days had passed since the opening declaration, but Japan was still burning hot.

All mass media, including radio and newspapers, unanimously added baseless stories. Of course, it’s basic etiquette to talk while taking out insurance by saying, ‘The content of this broadcast is merely the opinion of the performers.’

Lying down in the 6-tatami one-room apartment where I’ve lived for two years and listening to the radio gave me a strange feeling. Thanks to some good connections I was fortunate to make, I could earn some living expenses despite being a minor. Still, it was difficult to buy expensive electronic devices, so I frequently used the radio.

‘To think I’d end up living with a radio I never even listened to in my previous life.’

From the first day I came to this world, I was lying in this room wearing a school uniform. The only things in the room were the colorless star holding three starlights that I was holding in my hand, just enough cash for transportation, and a student ID with my name on it.

“…”

It gave me chills, as if the person who brought me here was blatantly instructing me to go to school. Still, from my perspective, having experienced even repeating a year for college entrance exams, I didn’t feel like going back to school just to eat school lunches.

‘At this age, going back to eat school lunches is a bit… No, Japanese schools don’t provide lunches in the first place, do they?’

This work described the protagonist, Shikishima Yuki, eating her lunch in the bathroom while being bullied, so that must be the case.

‘Poor kid, I know that feeling well.’

I, too spent my middle school days holed up in the library alone, engrossed in reading books I brought. I brought and read <Magical Girl HAZARD> that was being sold second-hand in used bookstores.

[What is Magical Girl HAZARD?]

[Well, it’s presumed to be a proper noun referring to some kind of metaphor or event.]

[The word ‘hazard’ implies risk or threat to the subject.]

In fact, it doesn’t have much meaning. In the author’s afterword in the final volume, he mentions that he suggested the title to the editor after it suddenly came to mind while playing a zombie shooting game and was surprised when it was approved.

[What do fate and evolution related to ‘stars’ mean?]

[Could it be a religious metaphor?]

[That’s why I view this incident as the work of a pseudo-religious group.]

[In my opinion, this situation is…]

I turned off the radio, tired of the broadcast that started filling time with meaningless words, repeating the same things differently because no one knew anything, and repeatedly reacting as if it was new every time.

“Nngh~!”

As I stretched, two hills that weren’t visible in my previous life majestically unfolded below my field of vision.

Creak

The legs visible below the shorts I wore comfortably at home were white and slender enough to remind one of a porcelain doll.

I’ve become all too familiar with a girl’s body over two years.

Now I feel nothing.

I put both hands into the sleeves of the black training suit I had carelessly taken off on the floor to wear it, and pulled up the zipper.

Clack!

“Ouch?!”

Occasionally, when I absent-mindedly pulled up the zipper all the way like in my previous life, a slight pain would come when it got caught on the majestic hills that weren’t there in my previous life.

‘Damn it.’

To think I’d only get to touch what I wished I could have touched in my previous life after dying. I shook off the inexplicable gloom with a brief massage.

Those things, as if molded into the very shape of the word ‘fluffy’, proudly appealed their texture as they escaped between my fingers while I kneaded them.

‘Damn, the texture is unnecessarily good…’

I headed to my familiar workplace, holding these two massive objects that I couldn’t boast about to anyone, nor did I want to.

A white building standing impressively against the backdrop of a seaside landscape.

Neatly decorated antique props.

A sophisticated cafe you might suddenly enter if you pass through Yokohama.

<The black boss>, the pride of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, opens at 11 AM and closes at 6 PM, and its best-selling menu is the special lunch sold for two hours from noon.

For the past two years, I have been spending my days working here as a waitress.

“Good work.”

“You too, Master.”

“Mm.”

The Master was an old man who, with his retirement money, bought a small building on the outskirts of Tokyo and ran a cafe. He preferred to be called ‘Master’ rather than by his name or surname.

“Be careful on your way home today too.”

He was usually taciturn, but he would see me off with a gruff voice when I changed clothes and came out after finishing work hours.

“Yes, Master.”

In fact, this person is a character that appears in the original work.

I was able to find this place because the location was described in detail in an episode where the protagonist, Shikishima Yuki, collapsed on the street after an unreasonable fight and was treated in a closed shop.

‘It was memorable because it was one of the few peaceful daily events in <Magical Girl HAZARD>.’

After a massive battle that engulfed all of Japan, including the Tokyo area, the shop was shattered, and when Yuki returned here, she despaired while looking at an empty cup filled with rainwater.

It was also the place I came to without thinking on the first day I arrived in this world, as it was the first place that came to mind that could give me the certainty that ‘if this place exists, then this world is that place,’ when I couldn’t escape from shock and anxiety for three days.

-Business hours are over, but.

-One special lunch, please.

-…Alright.

I can’t forget the kindness of the Master who didn’t turn me away and fed me when I staggered in at closing time. Above all, there’s also the kindness of agreeing when I asked about part-time work without asking too many questions.

“What are you standing there blankly for?”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I just had something on my mind.”

“No need to apologize.”

Our conversations are always like this.

There’s subtle concern in the words he throws out gruffly.

Perhaps it’s because in the past he lost his daughter…

“Come to think of it, Hikari.”

“Yes?”

“Is it alright for you not to go to school?”

“Ah~ I’m trying various things after just graduating middle school because I want to get a job quickly.”

It’s a lie.

I’ve never even enrolled in, let alone graduated from, a middle school in this world.

Thinking about what’s to come, I won’t have time to get a job.

“Even so, it’s not to the extent of giving up on high school, is it? You’re still young.”

“It’s fine. I’m enjoying working at Master’s shop that I found by chance, and I want to learn more.”

It’s a lie.

I knew about his shop through the original work.

When I first said I wanted to work part-time, I did so knowing it would be easier to use his longing for his lost daughter to make a living.

“It’s no good to completely give up just because you fell behind by a mere two years.”

“…”

“If you ever become interested in going to high school, contact me.”

“Yes. Thank you, Master.”

Not long after I came to this world.

The Master agreed even when a silver-haired girl with completely Western features who obviously looked like a teenager suddenly declared she wanted to work part-time.

-Alright. I’ll start by teaching you how to clean.

In the days that followed.

The Master discreetly asked about my family situation when I continued to work diligently, even during school hours.

-My father is Japanese and my mother was an illegal Russian immigrant worker, but both of them…

After that question, the Master never mentioned my family situation or parents again. His gruff attitude remained the same afterward, but I could feel his kindness deepening.

“…”

Is it because of the lies that completely deceived his heart, or because of the guilt of carelessly knowing about his story of losing his daughter, which he never revealed even in the latter part of the work?

I didn’t lie to him after that lie.

I revealed my true feelings to the Master as much as possible.

Even if I hid the truth from the Master, I no longer deceived him.

Still, he helped me silently without asking many questions.

“I’m really fine.”

“…I see.”

My eyes, thanks to their upward-slanting shape, turned into strange slits with just a slight smile.

Even though anyone could see my suspicious appearance.

He still believed in me.

“Be careful on your way home. The rumors these days are ominous.”

“Yes, Master.”

If the awkwardly smiling employee and the cafe master had a more relaxed situation and time, they might have opened their hearts to each other and become like father and daughter.

At least for now, this was the most appropriate distance for both of us.

* * *

It took about 30 minutes by train from Iskawacho Station, where my part-time job was, to my home (Shibuya).

In 2011 Japan, smartphones were starting to become widespread.

I wasn’t in a position to buy a smartphone yet, so I activated a feature phone with the Master’s help.

I heard a rumor that malicious collectors would come to demand public broadcasting fees if you bought a smartphone capable of receiving TV signals in any way.

‘I don’t want to get involved with anyone else anymore.’

I didn’t have anyone to exchange emails with, and I had given up on further education, so the only thing I could do with my phone was to contact the Master.

Looking around blankly at the scenery inside the train, I could still see many people reading books or newspapers.

[What is Magical Girl HAZARD.]

A term mentioned along with the shocking opening declaration.

What exactly is a magical girl?

What is the fate that the stars hold?

In what direction will this incident lead the girls?

That word is one that people approach with pure curiosity.

I was afraid every time I saw it.

That’s why in this world, only I was preparing for it.

[The next station is Shibuya, Shibuya Station.]

If you pass through the empty lot in an alley on the outskirts of Shibuya, there’s a small, shabby apartment where I live.

It would be troublesome to think of Korean apartments when I say apartment.

Perhaps, to a Korean’s impression, it would be closer to a villa.

From my two years of living experience, I can assure you that no one lives here except for me, who lives on the third floor.

For rent, you should leave an envelope of cash under the sign the owner has put up on the designated day.

‘Except for the note with instructions that was in front of the house when I had been in this world for about a month, I’ve never seen any trace.’

It’s very creepy, but even at best, it’s hard to find a space in Tokyo where a high school girl can live alone comfortably, so I just lived there.

‘Even I don’t know much about this living space.’

Because it was located in a hard-to-find place beyond the alley, despite being in the central area of Shibuya, this area was very sparsely populated and even gave off a desolate atmosphere.

Because it was such a desolate space, there was something I could do with peace of mind.

That is magic practice.

Since receiving the star, all magical girls can use basic magic.

If you know the secrets related to the star, you can gain even more superior power.

Among them, I had the same power as the four strongest characters in the original work.

The four strongest.

Born 3-star magical girls.

The four magical girls with absolute power, also likened to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sometimes opposed or cooperated with the protagonist Shikishima Yuki in the original work. All of them survived until the latter half, when the protagonist’s group died.

[Magical Girl of Death] Dark Blue

[Magical Girl of Revelation] White Silver

[Magical Girl of War] Red Brown

[Magical Girl of Plague] Black

The girls with four colors of starlight possessed aliases that seemed a million light-years away from the title of magical girl and boasted fitting powers.

What’s needed to use that power.

Blooming.

The true power of a magical girl.

The stage where one can truly accept the fate pouring from the starlight.

The beginning of a magical girl.

I had already achieved that ‘blooming’.

And I’m probably the first and only magical girl who has completed blooming at this point in time.

“…Transform!”