episode_0056

After about a week of diligent cleaning up the surroundings, it became a livable place, at least to some extent.

But that was just meeting the bare minimum, and it was definitely not a place to stay for long.

I tore off all the moldy wallpaper. Even on the old walls made of unknown material, there seemed to be something resembling mold, but it was much less than what was on the wallpaper.

Thanks to James putting all the remnants of the robot he was riding in the space, I was able to make use of the lantern and flashlight he had prepared before leaving Pang Pang’s house, as well as the wired earphones and cheap speakers.

I even made a radio to listen to the news.

But gas was unavoidable, so I decided to use the fireplace in the house. It might produce smoke, but there was no other choice. I was just trying to minimize the level of it.

Well, who would care anyway in such a deep forest where it’s hard to even imagine someone bothering. And James suggested this.

A fireplace, really. But thanks to that, the floor could be warm even without a boiler. If I could keep the house somewhat warm and dry, I might be able to control the humidity a bit.

While conserving the remaining spam, I listened carefully to the radio James had made for me.

“Black Magic Girl is still being tracked, but is there any new information?”

“Yes, the government has not yet found the whereabouts of Black Magic Girl. According to officials, there is a possibility that she has fled overseas due to possessing independent warp technology.”

Fled overseas.

Well, I had thought about that too.

It might be harder to find her in the middle of the Amazon forest or the vast Siberian wilderness than hiding somewhere in the Korean Peninsula.

But if that happens, it creates a problem. If a circuit malfunctions and cannot be fixed, or if I am unable to use the circuit due to my emotions being too stable, I would be trapped in that situation.

My ultimate goal is not to find an ordinary life but not to be separated from society forever. If I wanted that, I would have just confessed to a crime that wasn’t even caught by the police from the beginning.

The radio continued to discuss how to catch me.

Deciding that there was nothing more to hear, I turned off the radio.

There was no need to worry about the batteries. I made sure they all went back to the circuit.

“Should we have brought the armor parts that the monsters were wearing last time?”

“Let’s think about that next time.”

James said.

“Do you think we’ll meet those monsters again next time?”

“There is a sufficient possibility. If we could make that much, we can make that much again.”

I fell silent for a moment.

“Those monsters… were they created directly by the company? Do you know anything about it?”

“I don’t know. Noir Corporation is a huge company. It wouldn’t be strange if they made it with company funds, considering that the ‘current chairman’ had his own research lab.”

I didn’t say anything.

And James didn’t say anything to me either.

The monsters… in the webtoon, they appeared to occur naturally.

Maybe that wasn’t completely wrong. Most likely, the real monsters were like that.

But if someone figured out the conditions for turning into a monster.

And if they could artificially induce monsterization.

The extraterrestrials who turned into monsters were originally ordinary people. They could have been unlucky tourists who had a bad experience on Earth, or people who came here to work for money.

It was inevitable to neutralize the monsters.

It was also inevitable that the person who created the monsters would get hurt in the process.

But if there was someone creating those monsters.

And if the place I worked at was the organization that created that monster.

Maybe I didn’t choose my job too lightly.

“… Should I do it.”

I said as I put the canned food into a plastic bag and tied it tightly.

“Let’s do that. There’s no point in staying up late and expecting things to get better.”

There’s no way to pretty up a word.

I casually threw the plastic bag into a corner of the room and crawled into the one-person tent.

The tent was small. It was just big enough for one person with a similar build to squeeze in.

Still, the ceiling of the narrow tent didn’t give off as gloomy a vibe as the room’s ceiling, so I felt a little cozy.

Maybe I’ll try planting some seeds in the field tomorrow.

With that thought in mind, I closed my eyes.

*

I don’t remember setting an alarm.

I reached out and barely managed to grab the device that was making a loud noise.

With eyes still half-closed, I looked at the device.

It was a pager.

I pressed the button to silence it and got up from my spot.

My heart was pounding.

Was it Hayoon calling me? Or was it the magical girl’s signal?

Either way, it wouldn’t be good news for Hayoon.

I heard that the circuit had been retrieved.

I got up from my spot.

“James.”

“I know.”

James was already on the drone.

The radio was playing from the open drone.

[… Do not approach the monster, calmly follow the instructions of the nearby authorities…]

“Alright. Let’s go. Can we locate the place through the pager?”

“Yes.”

I looked at the pager. The location was displayed on the small screen James had set up.

I knew the place. I had only been there once, but it was familiar.

Seoul was the place where monsters appeared the most, and the rest mostly appeared in the metropolitan area.

Could this be related to the company?

I closed my eyes.

*

When I opened my eyes again, a scene that made me feel uneasy unfolded before me.

A rampaging giant monster.

And the police surrounding it while struggling with that monster.

But the magical girl had not arrived yet.

When I appeared, all eyes turned to me. The police officers looked up and saw me floating in the air.

I had a hammer in my hand.

I reached out with one arm.

The black substance emitted from the circuit covered my body.

Even if it covered my vision, mouth, and nose, I remained indifferent.

It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, but I seemed to have already adapted to it.

The carefully crafted transformation scene was often skipped in the middle of the comic, and instead, a flickering effect was used. Maybe it’s a similar sensation.

The monster was in my line of sight.

Fortunately, it seemed that the monster couldn’t fly, as it didn’t attack me even after seeing me transform.

“You’re quite impressive. If you had thrown something, you would have been hit in the meantime.”

This guy always has to add one more word.

Well, if the day comes when he genuinely praises me, it will probably be a day when something very wrong has happened in the world, so it doesn’t really matter.

“I might be a bit confused after waking up and coming here.”

I said as I descended.

“Uhh…?”

The monster didn’t attack me as soon as it saw me.

I looked at the monster and thought to myself.

It’s really unique-looking.

Some aliens have skin colors like Pang Pang, and some resemble animals. Or they may have a composition that is closer to inanimate objects from a human perspective.

If they are closer to inanimate objects, they don’t usually elicit a feeling of disgust because they don’t immediately appear to be living beings. However, sometimes when they resemble creatures other than humans, people may have rude thoughts like, “How did they end up looking like that?”

So… their face resembled a bit of a crab.

If it had been a person with a crab attached to their head instead, it might have looked funny, but the “body” part of the crab looked exactly like a wriggling aquatic creature.

Although it had the form of a crab, it looked like an extraterrestrial being clumsily imitating a crab. The insides were also poorly constructed.

No, it’s an extraterrestrial life form after all.

I wondered why it looked like a monster, and then—

Splat.

A sound came from the monster’s head. The irregular part of it trembled slightly.

I saw the “spit” flying towards me. It was an attack method combining two typical images that Koreans would associate with “spit,” creating such an image.

I dodged to the side, feeling a slight heat near my face.

Thud!

“Ah!?”

A police officer who was hit by the spit instead of me let out a frightened cry.

Turning around, I saw that the shield he was holding was melting.

Everything made of iron or plastic.

…Does it melt even plastic?

“It seems to be a combination of acid and heat. The temperature must be so high that their body can’t withstand it.”

“That’s quite troublesome.”

I looked at the monster with a stern expression.

Now that I saw it, the transparent crab shell inside the irregular part was bubbling and boiling.

The “eyes” of the crab were bulging and seemed about to burst. I once saw a parasite living in a snail’s eye on TV, and except for the colorful parasite wriggling inside, it was almost as swollen.

It looks painful.

Looking around, I saw wires that had already melted and fallen apart. There were some metal fragments that had melted like when it hit me, but most of them had melted.

So, this monster is different from the ones I’ve encountered so far.

“…”

How should I deal with this?

To be honest, it’s not a good match for me.

“Will the hammer withstand it?”

“As long as it doesn’t get stuck inside the body, it should be fine. We anticipated this to some extent. However, you should be concerned about some functions breaking down. We recommend not using the main propulsion system.”

That makes sense.

If I use the propulsion system, the hammer will be half open.

I turned the hammer around and held it, ready to move it forward and backward.

If it’s a secondary propulsion system, I can use the hammer without it opening.

The monster remained still until then.

It doesn’t seem to be the type that thrashes around violently.

Was the initial attack because I entered its territory?

…Is saying this discriminatory too? Even though my sense of reason has evaporated, it’s still an extraterrestrial being for now.

It probably doesn’t matter.

I’m not on the side of justice.

Being here is not to defeat the monster but to take revenge on those who underestimated me.

There are no magical girls in sight yet.

It will take some time for them to receive the circuits and come back.

It will take a while for those who have dug their own graves to realize their mistake. Of course, those high-ranking people who have hardened their heads are the only ones who will take a little longer.

In the meantime, I will destroy the facilities little by little and try to find the location of the Noir Chairman.

I had to be competent. I had to be strong.

So that they regret treating me like this.

“Alright.”

I spoke to myself and ran.

Circling around the monster in a clockwise direction.

The monster turned towards me and spat out its saliva, but it didn’t hit me.

My physical abilities are at a level where I can temporarily compete with magical girls. It’s not easy for a non-martial artist monster to catch up with me.

There is a time delay even when dodging to the side.

Running with all my strength, I leaped diagonally.

The monster’s eyes followed me, but it was a beat too late.

I remember being told not to get hit directly on the head.

In that case, let’s aim for a short hit on the shoulder or arm.

No matter how it looks, if its limbs are broken, it will be incapacitated—

Thud.

But I soon had to revise my plan.

“Eek!?”

I quickly turned my body as I saw the saliva spraying towards me.

My body, floating in the air, lost its balance and fell.

I barely touched the ground with my feet. I managed to regain my balance without falling, but this time the saliva aimed directly at me.

Instinctively, I swung my hammer to deflect the saliva, but—

There was a melted mark on the surface of the hammer, showing that it couldn’t completely stop it with magic.

I quickly jumped back to secure some distance.

“….”

What should I do?

I may have rushed in confidently, but now that I know what kind of opponent this is, it might take some time to come up with a strategy.

…It would have been easier if it were magical girls.

If it’s an opponent who attacks from a distance, then we should also attack from a distance—

“Wait.”

I looked at the sleek drone floating beside me.

“What, why are you looking at me like that?”

James, sensing my suspicious gaze, said somewhat flustered.

No, it’s nothing.

If I win, you get to live too.

So let’s cooperate with each other.

As I chuckled, the drone trembled.

*

“What? What do you mean?”

Hayoon asked with a slightly puzzled voice.

She wasn’t the only one here.

Other magical girls who usually fight together were also present.

Their expressions varied, but one commonality was that none of them looked particularly positive.

“We… don’t need to go?”

“It doesn’t mean we don’t need to go.”

The Earth government official said in a stern voice.

“It just means it’s better to go at a more opportune moment.”

“An opportune moment?”

Hayoon asked, frowning.

“…Last time was too certain, so this time.”

“Are you saying we should go later?”

Jua, who was listening nearby, interjected with a puzzled expression.

“….”

But getting angry here would only make things more difficult with the official.

After all, this official wasn’t even someone who usually did this kind of work.

To be more precise, this kind of work didn’t even exist in the first place.

It was a position created forcibly after the circuits were confiscated by the Federation.

The circuits were kept in storage and given back to the magical girls when needed, to help them solve problems more easily.

And to ensure that the magical girls couldn’t resist this fact, they placed the lowest-ranking officials at the forefront.

Those in high positions are so high up that their voices don’t reach down here. Getting angry at the official here would only lead to the responsibility being passed around without a proper answer.

“The assessment result is that the Black Magical Girl cannot handle the monster alone. So, please wait a little longer—”

“It sounds like you’re telling us to capture both the monster and the Black Magical Girl.”

Hayoon interrupted the official.

Surprisingly, her expression was much calmer than before.

A certain emotion crossed the threshold, leaving a perplexed expression on their face, unsure of how to vent it out.

“If we don’t move, what will happen?”

“If the opponent has weakened enough, we might be able to catch them from this side as well. Even if the attempt fails… they will be more cautious next time.”

“Does that mean you hope they get scared and don’t come to help even if a monster appears?”

“…”

Naturally, the civil servant had no authority to answer such questions.

Or perhaps they were simply trying to shift their responsibility onto someone higher up.

“Hah.”

Rose, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, let out a laugh as if in disbelief.

All eyes turned to Rose.

“Well, fine. Let’s see if things go your way. Let’s wait and see.”

With that, she walked over and plopped down on an empty chair.

Seeing Rose cross her legs and shrug her shoulders, Ha-yoon also took a seat.

Following suit, Iris, Dahlia, and Delphinium also moved.

“…”

The civil servant, seeing this, breathed a small sigh of relief and returned to their work.

“…”

The magical girls remained silent.

Ha-yoon slowly felt the worry rising in her chest again.

Will Jieun be able to hold on until we get there?

Even if we go there unarmed, we won’t be of any help. We’ll probably just be a hindrance. Without a circuit, humans can’t use magic.

So for now, all they could do was anxiously wait.

Cherry, who had followed them this far, sat down next to the worried Ha-yoon and looked at her with an uneasy expression.

*

“Zzick!?”

Every time I torment James, it feels like the words just come out as they are in Earth’s language, unable to be translated.

It’s not just a simple scream, probably a really foul curse or something. Something the translation device wouldn’t understand.

Is it not a deep learning translation device? Well, I’ll think about that later.

As I threw James’s drone with all my might, the monster’s head also turned towards the drone.

Spit, spit.

I quickly spat out saliva, but James, who didn’t seem to want to die, did his best to move the drone to avoid it.

And in the process, he used the laser attached to the drone to attack the monster. It was only natural. The monster seemed to have gotten annoyed and started moving towards James.

“Alright, James! Keep moving in that direction as much as possible!”

“I’ll kill you when the battle is over!”

Looks like he forgot that the drone would return to me as energy. If he wants a fight, he’ll get one. We have a power generator here.

Although his tone was rough, James was a guy who knew how to distinguish between what he should and shouldn’t do.

As I circled around at a distance where “spit” could reach, the monster’s gaze was fixed on James.

Good.

I bent down and picked up a few wires.

Using my strength, I twisted them until they formed a ball shape.

I tossed it up slightly—

Thud!

I used a hammer to strike it.

The short hammer head struck the metal ball like a baseball bat.

Crack!

If a bullet passed by your ear, would you hear that sound?

The makeshift metal ball flew like a grenade and forcefully hit the monster’s calf, next to the drone.

Boom!

The metal ball, which had no explosives inside, exploded. Probably due to the propulsion fire emitted from my hammer.

Or maybe it’s because my common sense has once again been destroyed that something a little fantastical might have happened.

Oh well, whatever.

The monster, with a slightly frightened expression, lifted one foot and looked at me.

James, who almost became a ham by getting hit by the flying iron ball, also looked towards me.

Just by looking at the drone, I feel like I’m being insulted. It’s a bit strange.

Hmm.

I bent down again and picked up a piece of wire.

Shall we go straight to the next ball then?

I smirked at the monster.

And as I watched the monster move quickly, I thought to myself.

Yeah, it’s a bit awkward just standing around once the fight starts, right?

If this side is running around frantically, the other side should show some effort too.

Let’s not make people angry.