Ch.265IF Side Story: From the Beginning (33)

Watching girls fight over me gave me an indescribable feeling.

No, of course, that’s not what this is about.

They were fighting over my autograph.

I scratched my head.

So… they’re fighting because of my autograph?

It’s not like there weren’t enough to go around, they’re just fighting to get one a little faster?

And they’re getting angry and strangely sensitive about it?

“…I really don’t understand what’s going on.”

As I sat leaning against the training room wall scratching my head, Hayun, sitting next to me, gave me a sidelong glance for some reason.

“What?”

“Nothing, forget it if you don’t get it.”

Seeing her turn her head away primly, it seemed like Hayun knew something, but I had no idea what it was, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.

Actually, the sparring itself is ridiculous.

Didn’t everyone avoid sparring with each other even after becoming friends because of me?

The biggest reason was that everyone had different fighting styles.

I’m the only one who’s charged at everyone and beaten them all at least once. Even with Chaeyeon, things were a bit different because she claimed to be in a special position, but anyway, that’s how it was.

So why are they now having duels they’ve been avoiding until now?

“No, seriously, why?”

“…”

Chaeyeon, also sitting beside me, stared at me blankly.

“You’re so clueless.”

“Look, even for reading the room, I need some kind of hint to figure things out.”

“Because we want your autograph,” Ju-a chimed in.

So I gave them autographs— no, never mind.

I don’t think I’ll gain anything by saying more here.

I sighed deeply and watched the two of them spar.

Though they had said they wouldn’t fight because their domains were different, now that they were actually facing off, it was surprisingly competitive.

At a glance, Seo-hee seemed to be at a slight disadvantage. Seo-hee’s fighting skills were excellent, but Yeonwoo was better at attacking from a distance.

Plus, she had sparred daily with me when I used to fight in Seo-hee’s style—

Bang!

But Seo-hee wasn’t just taking it passively.

“Oh?”

I couldn’t help but exclaim when I saw Seo-hee’s punch.

Seo-hee fights wearing gauntlets. And gauntlets, in fact, were somewhat questionable as weapons in themselves. They refer to the metal hand parts of armor that knights wear.

Of course, just like iron knuckles can be threatening weapons when worn on hands, simple metal gloves could certainly be excellent weapons.

And they were also “wands.”

Saying they were wands means they could use magic.

“Whoa!?”

Yeonwoo jumped sideways to avoid the fist flying toward her face.

“Hmph.”

Seo-hee smiled.

“What was that!?”

The fist connected in a place where it shouldn’t have reached at all.

To be precise, it wasn’t the “fist” but something like an afterimage of the fist. Well, even though it was an afterimage, it would hurt tremendously if you got hit.

Because it was a lump of magical energy in itself.

“It’s a technique I developed after watching you and Jieun fight.”

Seo-hee said that and moved her fist again.

There was a sound of air being cut. Though it was clearly a human fist moving, the sound was like something incredibly fast striking the air.

Following the whip-like movement of her fist, a red afterglow surged far beyond the length of Seo-hee’s arm.

“Eek…!”

After dodging that fist several times, Yeonwoo jumped back to create distance. Seo-hee’s magic wasn’t like Yeonwoo’s bullet-like magic, so its power seemed to decrease dramatically once a certain distance was established.

Yeonwoo completely abandoned her previously somewhat relaxed appearance and brought her wand up to her face.

Then, glaring at Seo-hee, she swung it quickly four times in succession.

“Aack!?”

This time it was Seo-hee who screamed and ducked down.

Boom!

That sound was heard when the widely spread magical energy swept past Seo-hee’s back and hit the wall. The wall didn’t break. The power didn’t seem as great as the sound suggested. The shotgun blasts she used to spray at me probably had more power.

But this was a different kind of magic.

A method of spreading magical energy over a wide area to break down the opponent’s body.

Logically, getting hit by a few small pieces of scattered magical bullets wouldn’t knock someone down. It was strange to say “dodge the shotgun blast” in the first place, but anyway, I had managed to do it in this world.

So Yeonwoo probably chose to create a wall of magic that lasted much longer, spread widely in front of her, and left no gaps.

…In a way, both techniques were created because of me.

Seo-hee’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

So did Yeonwoo’s.

And likewise in the eyes of Ju-a and Chaeyeon, who were watching these “new techniques” being demonstrated.

“…”

Well—

It’s good that everyone is so energetic.

The problem is that they might be a bit too energetic, but still, it’s much better than when I first joined.

As I nodded to myself, the sharp gazes of the three people turned toward me again.

…

Sigh, I should just stop talking.

*

“So, you’re saying it was possible because I helped you all a lot?”

After all the sparring was over, I finally got to hear the story.

We don’t have anyone who could be called a master. In this country, we were the first generation of beings like this, so we had to create all the tactics and such ourselves.

They didn’t assign specialties or select us based on qualifications; they just gathered children with some talent.

Come to think of it, all six of us could have been combat types, or conversely, we could all have been like Ju-a, who can only attack from extreme distances.

That would probably be enough to handle regular combatants. But if a slightly stronger kaijin appeared, it would be problematic in many ways.

“Yes. That’s right.”

Hayun answered as if she were our representative.

“Until you came, none of us could come together as a group,” said Seo-hee, who was sitting on a chair backwards, looking at me.

“Coming together like this, each researching our own fighting style, determining our positions. It was all possible only after you came.”

“Well, we are grateful, you know,” Yeonwoo said.

Ju-a was nodding vigorously beside her, and Chaeyeon was quietly looking at me.

Hmm, I understand that.

And that might be why they wanted to get autographs from each other.

I’m not sure if idols can be fans of other members in the same group, but those who think they’re closest to me might be a little sensitive about getting autographs first.

Was that why Hayun reacted so sensitively? Hayun was my closest friend, but I gave my first autograph to someone I met for the first time that day.

Maybe that’s why Jihye reacted somewhat sensitively too.

…Well, I get it.

I understand, but honestly, I’m not sure if it’s something worth fighting so intensely over.

The order determined after all that intense sparring was Seo-hee, Yeonwoo, Ju-a, and Chaeyeon. To be honest, it came out pretty much as I had expected.

Fighting well, being skilled—that’s not the issue. Everyone has their own position. Especially in cases like Chaeyeon or Ju-a, regardless of how well they fight, their positions are so specialized.

In fact, if those two weren’t around, we might find it quite difficult to fight.

Though they had shown such competitiveness before fighting, once the winners and losers were determined and they exchanged autographs among themselves, they seemed reasonably satisfied.

Whatever happened, all my autographs ended up with my friends in order.

Except for just one.

“By the way, that person who took one autograph,” Yeonwoo spoke up.

“Could we meet them too?”

“…No, I think they’d be too uncomfortable if we all went together.”

Or would they?

They might actually be so happy they’d pass out. That’s how much they loved Earth culture.

If they ran around their room after getting my autograph when I’d barely debuted, how happy would they be to receive a complete set from everyone?

But even so, magical girls all going together to a normal person’s house… it would attract too much attention no matter what.

No, more than that.

I don’t think I even got that person’s contact information.

All I know is their name and address. The information I have is extremely limited.

If I wanted to visit them, I’d have no choice but to go to their address without any permission.

“That’s what you think, right?”

Yeonwoo’s face looked very bright as she laughed, “Hahaha.”

…

It is bright, right?

The others too?

Right. Right, everyone?

No, I really don’t understand what’s going on until the end.