Chapter 36 – Seoul battle (1)

R&e;​a&d; ̈​ө​n‍ Ka​ｔR​eád́iｎgС​aｆ​е

Radiant White had an incredibly high level of activity.

So much so that once she decided in her mind that she should do something, she would just rush into it without thinking—a critical flaw.

Because of that unprecedented level of impulsiveness, she often played the role of a troublemaker in the original work, second only to Zodiac—or perhaps even more troublesome, given that she acted without malice.

Still, thanks to that impulsiveness, she had prevented disasters and saved lives. It wasn’t all bad.

Moreover, that reckless personality of hers had a strange synergy with Suhyuk’s overly cautious nature.

The reason I was evaluating Radiant White’s impulsiveness now was that, less than twelve hours after I had given her advice, she had already taken action.

On the TV screen, she was standing before the public, reflecting on her shortcomings and vowing to hunt down the monster, Hemorragia, no matter what.

Not only that, but she was also making comments about my attire and my arrogant demeanor, as if she were trying to provoke me in her own way.

I was sure I had told her to only provoke someone when she had an environment where she was guaranteed to win. Judging by this interview, it seemed she had just gone ahead and provoked first.

Well… I kind of understood why. Seoul had more magical girls stationed there than anywhere else, and it was also home to headquarters.

Her plan was probably something along the lines of: “If I lure her to Seoul and have a bunch of magical girls gang up on her at once, we’ll win somehow.”

‘Too naive. Calling that a plan is laughable. Ugh, I should’ve been more thorough in guiding her.’

I could practically hear Shining White sighing deeply within me.

“It’s not your fault. I think that’s just how she is.”

I felt a bit sorry for Shining White, so I decided to console her, even if just a little.

I didn’t know how to send my own thoughts over to her, but since she could react to what I saw and heard, this much communication should be possible.

It wasn’t that I wanted to get along with her. If anything, judging from the occasional thoughts and remarks she let slip, it seemed impossible for us to ever get along.

It was just… Shining White’s concern for her younger sister felt a little pitiful, so I was offering a bit of mercy—maybe sympathy.

‘Did… did you just respond?’

Shining White’s reaction was odd.

Pure shock.

As if it had never even occurred to her that I would reply. As if she had never imagined that I could even hear her.

Thinking about why she was so surprised, I realized… this was the first time I had ever spoken back to her, wasn’t it?

Oh. It was the first time. That explained it.

But was it really that surprising?

I had assumed that, just as her thoughts occasionally spilled into my mind, mine would sometimes leak into hers as well.

…Judging by her reaction, that clearly wasn’t the case.

Not sure how else to respond, I chose to act as shamelessly as always.

“And?”

Shining White fell silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words, before finally erupting in anger.

‘That’s not the point! Give me my body back. Right now!!!’

“Nope. Why should I?”

‘What did you just—’

I didn’t really feel like continuing the conversation. I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and besides, I had to go deal with Radiant White now.

More importantly, considering how she was raging about getting her body back, it didn’t seem like she was in the mood for a proper conversation.

And from experience, I knew that talking to someone in a fit of rage never led to anything productive.

Shoving my thoughts about Shining White to the far corners of my mind, I turned my attention back to reality, where Narae was looking at me with an incredibly conflicted expression.

“Mina… I’m asking this seriously. Have you gone insane?”

“Are you picking a fight with me?”

Narae gave me a look like she had a million things to say but eventually shut her mouth, saying it was nothing.

Smart choice. If she had said even a little more, I really would’ve summoned Radiant White.

She then asked if I was really going.

“Of course.”

I answered as if it were obvious, though honestly, there was no real need for me to respond.

However, if I wanted to establish my influence over Radiant White as Vampire Sung Mina, I needed to create situations where things went well when she followed my advice.

Plus, I was a little curious.

I wanted to see just how far my limits extended.

“I should be back by dawn, so just sleep—wait. No. You’re coming with me.”

I had initially planned to leave her behind, but then I realized that if I went alone, I wouldn’t have any way to retrieve my clothes and inhibitor after taking them off.

In Incheon, since it was practically an abandoned place, I could just leave things in a secluded area and pick them up when needed. But that wasn’t possible in Seoul.

“Huh?”

“Someone has to take my clothes.”

With that, I grabbed Narae’s hand without hesitation and pulled her along.

I wanted to bring Suhyeok too, but that would be difficult.

I was still being pursued.

As much as I wanted to take him with me, it would be too risky to drag him into this situation.

I really needed to give him some kind of legal freedom soon.

…Well, that was a problem for my future self to deal with.

Setting my worries aside, I quietly made my way toward the train station bound for Seoul.

The sun was still shining bright, which was one reason, but I also had a few things I wanted to check out in Seoul beforehand.

So, this is the headquarters of the magical girls.

For a military facility, it had an oddly bright aesthetic, yet it was still too dull to be a place where magical girls lived.

It felt like about 35% of the magical girls’ opinions were reflected in the exterior design—a weird in-between.

If they were going to do this, wouldn’t it have been better to just make it look like a regular building?

But I guess that wouldn’t sit well with their girlish sensibilities.

Or maybe it just looked drearier because I was seeing it at night.

Even after coming all the way here, nothing in particular stood out in my memory.

I guess simply wandering around places connected to Shining White wasn’t enough to recover my memories of them.

I had made the trip to Seoul early to visit spots related to Shining White, but since nothing was coming back to me, I figured I’d have to talk to them directly.

Well, I had killed enough time for now, so I asked Narae to disable the nearby CCTVs.

“Mina, do you think things just magically happen the moment you say them? Seriously…”

“Huh, you can’t?”

“…I can, but it takes a little time. I just meant you should give me a heads-up if you want something like that.”

What the hell, so it was possible. Why act like it wasn’t?

“Haa… I’m not really in a position to lecture you, but if you keep being this reckless, you’re going to be in serious trouble one day.”

…No comeback for that.

“I obviously assumed you could do it.”

Embarrassed, I huffed like it was only natural. Narae’s reaction was priceless.

“Yeah, yeah. How reassuring.”

With nothing more to say, I watched Narae grumble as she disabled the surrounding CCTVs.

“Are they all down?”

“Yeah. Now go do whatever you want out of sight.”

Dragging along an exhausted Narae, I ducked into a nearby alley, removed my clothes and necklace, and reverted to my true form.

“Guard this with your life. If you lose it, you won’t be safe. Now, get out of here. This place is about to turn into a battlefield.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

I tossed my clothes at the now-unmotivated Narae and told her to run back to Incheon before launching myself into the sky.

Within ten seconds, warning sirens blared, and civilians scattered in a panic.

Like bees defending their hive, magical girls swarmed out from their headquarters.

Among them was Radiant White.

“You enjoy mocking others, but I guess you can’t handle being insulted yourself, huh?”

Judging by her words, she had completely misunderstood my earlier comment about her outfit not suiting her.

“Let’s see how long you can keep running your mouth.”

I wasn’t actually furious. If anything, I found the situation amusing.

But it was better to act like I was angry, so I scowled and projected open hostility toward her.

Sensing my hostility, the magical girls behind Shining White began gathering starlight, preparing for battle.

Alright, time to see just how much I could handle.

Grinning, I conjured a spear of blood—

And in that instant, I felt something terrifying shoot up from below, sending a chill down my spine.

I dodged on instinct.

Something tore through the air where I had just been floating with incredible force.

It was a monster.

A hulking mass of muscle, like a fusion of a tiger and a machine.

With a grin stretching ear to ear, it stared at me.

…What the hell is that thing?

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