episode_0005

A single day.

Thanks to just one full night’s sleep, I regained my condition in no time.

With my long-lost energy restored, the fried circuits in my brain whirred back to life.

‘Did I let things slide too much lately?’

The first thing that came to mind was Ai, the magical girl under my care.

After the stalker incident, I hadn’t been handling her advances properly. My spirit was worn out, and I lacked the willpower to push away her warm gestures.

I should’ve kept more distance.

Even when my condition was off, I should’ve paid more attention.

If I let this slide any further, I might end up getting dragged around by her instead.

And then…

“I think I’ve got a rough idea about the stalker case now.”

—Beep.

I played a video.

It was footage from the CCTV I’d installed around my place right after the stalking started.

The screen showed nothing but the usual scenery around my house.

But one person stood out—loitering near my place.

A fleeting moment, but they’d briefly follow the same path I took home before passing by.

‘The suspect, no doubt.’

Suspiciously, they wore a mask and a hat, hiding their face.

And they always seemed to be staring at their phone, as if filming me.

There was one odd detail, though.

‘A man?’

Disgusting.

At least it wasn’t Ai—thank god for that—but the fact that some guy had been tailing me was revolting.

Still, another question lingered.

Why?

Why stalk me? What for?

I mulled over the reason, forming a hypothesis.

Judging by his bulky build, my theory was this:

I might not have been the real target.

Sure, he could’ve just been gay, but given his size and the glare in the footage, it seemed like he had another motive.

If so, it was simple.

“Ai…”

I remembered the fans who’d been eyeing me after the last fan service event.

There’d even been whispers online speculating about our relationship.

Maybe his suspicion led him to tail Ai, and it spilled over to me.

If that hypothesis was right, everything would make sense.

Then…

All I had to do was set a trap.

Time to end this, you damn stalker.

“Oh, really? It sounds fun if Ai-chan comes along too. Hm? If I’m outside right now? Yeah. It’s fine. I’m just talking quietly in an alley.”

A conversation echoing through a nearly empty alley after sunset.

A voice dripping with affection.

The stalker watching from the shadows couldn’t contain the emotions surging inside him as he trailed the man.

The man, avoiding prying eyes, slipped deeper into the alley.

The stalker followed.

What’s his relationship with her?

No—who the hell is he to be so close to a magical girl?

And why?

Why does he get to talk to Ai so intimately?

As these questions stormed his mind, he was drawn deeper into the alley, lured like a moth to a floral scent.

The alley grew darker as night fell, the path ahead barely visible.

The moment the stalker turned the corner—

—CRASH!

“GYAAAAAH!!”

His vision flashed white.

Then blurred.

What the hell just happened?

His feeble brain, which had dared to commit the reckless crime of stalking, scrambled for answers.

Before him stood a man with wide, furious eyes.

The same man who’d been chatting and touching Ai so familiarly.

But the tie wrapped around his fist and the blood dripping from his hand made the stalker realize—

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“A-ah…!”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about. Let’s take this somewhere quiet.”

—Thud. Thud.

—Whoosh.

“Tch… Ugh… Damn bastard.”

I bit into a cloud-shaped candy with one hand and shook out my wrist.

Swinging fists after so long is work, after all.

I exhaled smoke, staring at the stalker now lying beaten to a pulp.

All that was left was cleanup.

I couldn’t just hand him over to the police.

‘Who knows if he’s spread anything about Ai—photos, words.’

For security’s sake, this needed experts, not cops.

And I couldn’t just dump him with the police again.

A headache was creeping in.

Even the stalker mess had been a pain, but this guy just kept causing trouble for others till the end.

“You really took a lot, huh.”

The phone I’d wrestled from him during our chat (read: beating) was packed with photos and videos.

Pictures of me and Ai together.

Footage of us talking.

Especially clips of Ai blatantly flirting with me, laying on the charm.

If even one of these leaked, her fans would lose their minds.

—CRUNCH.

I crushed the phone under my heel, thinking.

Even if the phone was gone, backups might exist in the cloud. I’d need to call in a favor.

‘Heard there’s a magical girl in the junior division with hacking skills.’

I’ll butter her up with coffee and ask nicely.

“If it weren’t for this bastard…”

His face still pissed me off.

I wanted to punch him again but held back, pulling out my work phone instead.

‘Ai called a few times.’

I’d faked the call earlier as part of the act, but I hadn’t expected her to actually ring.

Given the situation, though…

I should answer.

“Ahem. Hm. Ah.”

I cleared my throat, mustering the friendliest tone I could.

Then dialed.

~Be happy~ Be happy~ Be happy~

Ai’s familiar ringtone.

“Hello? Counselor Oppa…! Wh-what’s up at this hour…?”

She picked up in less than a second, startling me for a change.

“Ahem. You called earlier, so I thought I’d check in.”

“Oh, no! Ah… Sorry. That was an accident. I didn’t mean to bother you when you’re busy… Really, I’m so sorry!”

Her guilt bled through the phone, and I couldn’t bring myself to scold her.

People make mistakes.

And as long as she wasn’t calling about an emergency, it was fine.

Better than her causing trouble and me pulling an all-nighter to fix it.

“I was just bored on my way home, so this works out. What’ve you been up to?”

I smoothly changed the subject to ease her guilt.

What was Ai doing, anyway?

Magical girls usually clocked out by now unless something big was up.

As her counselor, I needed to know her routine to handle any surprises.

“I showered right after work, and now I’m taking a short walk outside.”

“Then we might bump into each other on my way home.”

“Hehe, yeah, maybe… So, treating me to dinner?”

“Hmm, my paycheck’s thin, but… I can’t just mooch off my charge. If we meet, I’ll treat you. But don’t go hunting me down, Ai.”

“Ehh… What do you take me for?”

Twitch.

Mid-conversation, a strange sensation prickled my spine.

A foreboding discomfort, like something crawling up my back.

The more it intensified, the fewer words left my mouth.

‘Why do I feel this all of a sudden…?’

Human intuition isn’t usually precise.

But in my experience, the gut feeling that death is near was 100% accurate.

Yeah. It’s practically clairvoyance.

“Oppa? Why’d you go quiet…? Did I say something wrong?”

“Oppa? Counselor Oppa…?”

Her voice barely registered.

Because—

“Guh… AAAAH!!”

“A monster?”

Because the scream behind me demanded all my focus.

As if confirming my dread, the man I’d subdued was undergoing an aberration.

He writhed in agony, howling, forcing me to stumble back.

‘A monster? Why now…?’

Humans turning into monsters was exceedingly rare.

Humanity still didn’t understand the phenomenon, let alone have a way to prevent it.

Like an urban legend—something that just appeared without explanation.

That was a monster.

But why was one right in front of me?

And why had the man I’d just beaten become one?

No idea.

But I couldn’t afford to dwell on it.

Because a monster’s purpose is—

“Oppa! What’s happening?? Answer me!”

“Dammit.”

“Grrr…”

—carnage.

Thud!

No time to think. I bolted for the alley’s exit.

An ordinary human can’t fight a monster and win.

I’ve worked in this industry long enough to say that with certainty.

Without a magical girl, you cannot defeat a monster.

So what’s the solution?

Only one: Run.

Escape before it touches you and call a magical girl.

Whoosh!

“Ghk!”

CRACK.

In the blink of an eye, a tentacle shattered the phone in my hand.

Had the transformation already finished?

The thing before me was no longer human—just a monster worthy of the name.

Another tentacle lashed out.

—THUD!

“Ha… I’m screwed.”

I dodged the tentacle.

But its sheer force obliterated the only exit, trapping me like a rat in a barrel.

The trap I’d set for the stalker now strangling me—what irony.

Only one option left.

“Hah… God.”

Prayer was the only answer.

The commotion would draw a magical girl soon.

If she arrived before I died, I’d live. If not…

Well, I’d die.

I’d prepared for this the moment I took the job as a magical girl counselor.

I knew death was coming someday.

I popped the half-eaten cloud candy into my mouth and glared at the monster.

Its already-revolting face had grown even worse.

Tentacles sprouted all over its body.

Even the slimy mucus oozing from them.

“Hah… This cig’s fucking delicious.”

—WHAM!

My vision whited out.

Then—silence.

—Riiiiing

A high-pitched tinnitus rang in my ears. My body felt oddly at ease.

“Cough…!”

My body burned, but I could still think—so I wasn’t dead yet.

The warmth trickling from my lips was probably blood.

If you’re gonna hit me, finish the job, you bastard.

Useless till the end.

‘It’s coming.’

The tentacle whipped through the air before vanishing from sight in an instant.

—Flash.

White again.

Was this death?

No pain.

And…

Warm.

Warm?

I opened my eyes to the sensation.

“Oppa… Are you okay?”

An angel stood there.

White clothes, white skin, white hair.

And a face so beautiful—

Who wouldn’t call her an angel?

This was the moment I understood why people obsessed over magical girls, why they proudly called themselves fans.

“Ai…-chan? How’d you get here?”

“How? Um… A girl’s intuition, I guess?”

“Cough. Th-thank you, Ai-chan.”

“Ah, your b-blood…! Let me heal you first.”

I didn’t know how she’d found me, but relief washed over me.

With Ai here, it was over.

No matter how strong that monster was.

Magical Girl Ai never loses.

That’s just who she is—the Magical Girl of Victory.

“You’ll be okay now.”

“Thanks, Ai.”

“Don’t mention it… And.”

The bright smile Ai had worn while looking at me slowly stiffened.

Her lips were still curved.

But.

It was terrifying.

A smile devoid of emotion.

The sheer horror of that contradiction shut me up.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

A voice colder than I’d ever heard from Ai.

“A-Ai. A-A-Ai.”

The monster—still barely coherent—spoke.

“Disgusting.”

Ai’s single word.

Then, white flames ignited in her palm.

Flames brimming with sheer will.

They surged toward the monster, fueled by pure hostility.

“GYAAAAAAAAH!!”

A scream closer to a roar.

But there’d be no mercy. She burned it slowly.

“How dare… you.”

“Ai?”

“You’ll suffer too. As much as Counselor Oppa did. Heh.”

Her laughter as she denied the monster peace was horrifying.

For a fleeting moment, I glimpsed a side of Ai I’d never known.

Only after inflicting maximum pain did her bright smile return.

As if nothing had happened.

“I’ll escort you home today too, Counselor Oppa.”

I couldn’t speak.

A nod was the only reply I could muster.

“Hah… Home sweet home.”

After the stalker’s death, my life stabilized again.

Looking back, I don’t know how I survived when even home wasn’t safe.

Lying comfortably in bed felt like a luxury now.

I’d sleep well and work hard again tomorrow.

I closed my eyes, thinking about the tasks ahead.

“…”

The quiet night after Counselor Yeon-woo fell asleep.

“A-Ai! This is too risky…! If you’re caught, he might hate you!”

Outside the window, a white angel peered into the room.

“It’s fine. I’ve done this for ages, and he hasn’t noticed. And why would he hate me?”

“Because…!”

“Oppa’s weak. So I’ll keep him safe—why would he refuse? And who knows when another stalker might appear, like last time.”

“We can handle that when it happens.”

“No. I watched so carefully, and he still couldn’t catch one stalker. Then there was the monster incident. I have to protect him.”

The angel’s eyes were hollow.

Her pupils held only the sleeping counselor inside.

“Haaa… I’m so happy, Ruby. Next time, maybe I’ll use magic to get inside. Wouldn’t that make guarding him easier? What do you think?”

“…I’m sorry, Ai.”

“Hm? For what?”

“Nothing.”