Ch.3Chapter 1. Discomfort (3)

As you can see from the “Happy” prefix, some characters don’t like to say the full name of their position depending on their personality.

Happy Iris is especially like that. Even in the webtoon, she only introduced herself as “Iris,” and whenever someone called her “Happy Iris,” she would react somewhat unpleasantly.

At first, it was a gag element showing that even the transforming magical girls were embarrassed by their names, and it was also a story mixed with satire about the higher-ups who give incredibly tacky names to things and then praise themselves for doing a good job. But as it went on, Iris became overly serious about it, to the point where people complained that her reactions were annoying every time she appeared.

“Happy Iris!”

So I deliberately called her that.

Naturally, my helmet also has a voice modulation system. Whether the person inside is male, female, or any other gender, it all becomes an incredibly annoying “kaijin voice” just from hearing it.

Well, it’s much better than just making “kekeke” sounds like in other tokusatsu shows, and it protects my identity, so it’s not all bad.

“Happy!! Iris!”

Twitch.

When I shouted the name “Happy” twice, one of Iris’s eyebrows twitched.

“Don’t be like that! You’re better than Cherry Blossom, aren’t you!?”

“……”

And there’s Iris’s second sore spot.

Iris absolutely hates being compared to Blossom.

This is… well, just that kind of rival cliché. The relationship between a cheerful genius and a serious hard worker. Of course, that doesn’t mean Blossom isn’t a hard worker. The reason it probably gets under Iris’s skin comes from exactly that.

Always smiling with a good personality, so if you get angry, you become the bad person instead— and besides, even if you wanted to get angry, she doesn’t give you any reason to be angry in the first place, making it even more irritating. That kind of character.

And since she genuinely feels friendship, those emotions must be even more complicated.

“……Fine. I’ve changed my mind.”

Beep beep beep beep beep beep—

The warning sound from my helmet was ringing loud enough to half-drown out Iris’s voice.

98 percent.

Good. It’s working.

“I’m going to beat you to death.”

Tap tap.

Iris flew up into the air again.

Despite sweeping away enemies with overwhelming combat power, she clearly understands and avoids the enemy’s strengths. She tries not to give any opening to be attacked in the first place.

The emotions that magical girls harbor are almost certainly positive emotions.

The emotion of hope that continues almost infinitely thanks to the sensation of standing up from despair once and fighting and crushing evil.

And because of that, what they can feel— exactly “hope.”

The “circuit” that returns to that emotion they can have because they don’t completely know the world yet was called the “Hope Circuit” in the story.

……If you’ve ever heard the term “happiness circuit” on the internet, that’s where it came from. Of course, the Hope Circuit itself doesn’t create hope, it’s just a device that converts an individual’s hope into magical power.

It’s also the biggest reason the Galactic Federation is targeting Earth.

On the other hand, what I have is—

Beep beep beep beep beep beep—!

When Iris distanced herself from me and aimed her weapon at me, a sound rang out that felt like it would tear my ears apart.

There’s no chance of winning.

There’s no hope.

Even if my circuit ran at 100 percent.

It’s going to hurt. It’s definitely going to hurt. If I’m unlucky, more than two places will break, and if I’m lucky, only one place will break. The medical bills will somehow be covered, but there’s nothing I can do about the pain—

Right. What I’m feeling now is at the complete opposite end from hope.

It was exactly “despair.”

My circuit runs on the “despair” that human emotions feel.

Unlike hope, which is like light, despair itself isn’t quite that efficient.

But unlike hope, whose peak isn’t quite that high, despair has no bottom or end.

Moreover, just by appropriately controlling the situation, almost all Earthlings can feel enough “despair” to run the circuit.

……Well, this is content that only someone like me who knows the setting from reading the webtoon would know.

“Why don’t you leave some last words.”

Iris said.

“I’ll remember those last words of yours for deliberately touching my sore spots.”

Beep beep beep beep beep beep!

100 percent.

The vibration on my left wrist feels dangerously intense.

A mass-produced model that the corporation developed somewhat adequately for mass production would probably break if I endured just a little more.

Before that.

Right.

I can’t win.

I can’t win, but!

This is annoying!

How many times has this been now!

I put that anger into pointing my finger at Iris.

“Huh?”

Iris’s eyes blinked at my confident action.

Looking at Iris like that, I grinned and shouted.

“Happy Iris! Panties! Purple!”

“What!? Don’t be ridiculous! Today they’re definitely black—”

Iris’s mouth, which had been letting words slip out, snapped shut.

This is content that was censored and cut when it became a major corporation webtoon.

But even though it’s a major webtoon where magical girls diligently wear safety shorts, the character personality settings don’t change.

Iris is always cool and smart, but sometimes has a screw loose! She has airhead attributes!

I ran forward while Iris’s brain briefly stopped.

Although it looks like just a bodysuit on the outside, the combat suit connected to the circuit firmly fixed to my wrist assisted my muscle strength.

I can’t produce the kind of power like Happy Red Rose where the ground gets dented with each step while running—

Thud!

But at least for one moment, I could produce enough strength to jump up to where Iris was floating.

Moreover, my left hand’s blade was still intact!

Iris’s face came close, and her beauty, shining coldly in the blue moonlight, became clearly visible.

Still a flustered face.

Was she flustered because unlike the combatants who always run away first when they see her?

……I can do this.

I can reach her. I won’t be able to win with this one strike, but surely, at least one effective hit……!

Beep beep beep beep beep beep!

Beep beep beep beep!

Beep……eeeee—

Huh?

The percentage displayed on my helmet began to drop rapidly.

What had been 99 percent instantly became 80 percent, then dropped to the 70 percent range.

Ah, come on!

Could it be because I thought I could land at least one hit?

Because I had even a little hope—

“Fine, I’ll praise that courage of yours.”

Ah.

I’m screwed.

I made Iris flustered, but then I got flustered too.

She had regained her composure— but her anger still hadn’t subsided as Iris stared straight at me.

At what could be called almost “point-blank” range.

I hastily twisted my body and swung the blade—

Whoosh.

Without even penetrating the aura surrounding Iris’s body, the blade vanished futilely.

And then.

“Well then, Merry Christmas.”

Iris smiled refreshingly and pulled the trigger of the gun aimed at me.

The next moment, everything in front of my eyes turned white.

*

……When I came to my senses— where is this?

Somewhere like a building rooftop.

Although Iris is still a high school student, she’s incredibly smart. She’s already researching the principles of the Galactic Federation’s warp points.

Of course, this is officially a secret. The reason the Galactic Federation doesn’t interfere with Iris’s research is to see how excellent the Hope Circuit’s energy is, and to make a scouting offer to Iris once her research is complete.

What person would want to join an organization that prevents them from doing the research they want to do?

And this “attack” of Iris’s is an application of that.

Killing enemies is illegal. But she wants to neutralize them reliably in just one strike.

Then, wouldn’t it work to send them far enough away that they can’t come back here right away?

“……Ugh.”

While getting up, I grabbed my side and groaned.

Cracked? Or maybe broken? Still, if it’s just ribs, that’s a bit better. At least I’ll be able to walk.

If there’s no 24-hour free clinic run by Galactic Federation civic groups nearby when your leg is broken, just getting there becomes incredibly horrible.

I raised my hand to fumble with my helmet, then took it off and carelessly threw it aside. Still, its durability is tremendous— I couldn’t break it even if I tried with just my strength.

……They said that equipment that can withstand magical girl attacks is being sold for motorcycles with just a slightly more refined design. It certainly has that kind of durability.

Iris might have gone easy on me in her own way.

After sitting for a while, I got up and limped to the rooftop railing.

“……Phew.”

No matter how much it’s winter, after wearing that stuffy helmet for so long, taking it off felt incredibly refreshing.

……It was refreshing.

Beep beep beep beep.

“……What’s the point of ringing after the fight’s over.”

While holding my aching side, I looked down at the circuit ringing on my wrist.

My despair level was 80 percent.

Where is this place anyway.

How am I supposed to get home without a smartphone or credit card.

……If I go back in, I’ll get scolded terribly by the director again. She’s not a bad person, but she just thinks I’m out playing late at night.

When she sees I’m hurt, she’ll interrogate me again about getting into fights somewhere.

Well, she was right about that.

“Haha……”

An idiot in a dusty bodysuit standing around blankly without even knowing where he is.

That was my current state.

“……Should I quit……”

Honestly, I can’t handle this anymore.

I know I can’t win anyway, but even so.

[You incompetent fools!]

While standing on the rooftop looking down below in a daze, suddenly a voice came from my wrist.

[What are you going to do if you get knocked out before even getting on stage! Don’t any of you want to get paid!?]

In my case, it’s not about the money.

While listening to the executive yelling through the communication, I took off the circuit I was wearing on my wrist.

The circuit that had been running on my despair energy stopped, then became quiet.

“……I wonder if the people who fell first landed somewhere decent.”

After worrying about others for no reason, I chuckled to myself and turned around. Covering my throbbing side with one hand, I carelessly threw the circuit into the helmet with the other hand and picked it up.

Let’s go home.

It should be somewhere in Seoul anyway, so I should be able to get anywhere.

I’ll stop by a clinic if there’s one on the way.

*

Still, despair energy is useful sometimes.

When I put the circuit and helmet back on, it was easy to sprint at full power with that energy.

Running seven subway stations was also something I couldn’t handle though.

Moreover, corporate minions are too conspicuous from their outfits, so just running around like that will probably make the news tomorrow, whether it’s an article or whatever.

I’ll get chewed out again. At least there’s no risk of getting fired though.

At first I wondered where this was, but after going a little further, I came to a place I knew, so I was able to find my way to the company building somehow.

At least they let you change clothes at the Noir Corporation building. Otherwise, no one would apply to be a combatant. Though even after changing there, the deployment areas were often far away.

There’s also a shopping mall attached to the lower floors of the building, and befitting an evil corporation, there are quite a lot of people working overtime.

When I come down to the first floor in civilian clothes, no one thinks I’m a combatant.

Combatants going in and out…… well, there should only be one or two combatants in this building to begin with.

When I came down to the first floor and checked my phone’s clock, it was already 10 o’clock.

It would be close to 11 o’clock by the time I got back.

I still haven’t called the orphanage.

Moreover, there were seven missed calls on my phone.

……Going in today to listen to music and heal probably isn’t going to happen.

*

“……”

“……”

As expected, when I went in, the teacher was waiting for me.

“……Where have you been to come back only now?”

She doesn’t yell. Partly because the children are sleeping, but she never yelled at or scolded the kids here in the first place.

I’m not sure if that’s because of legal issues or what.

“……Are you not going to tell me again this time?”

“……”

“Jieun, if you’re having any difficulties—”

“There’s nothing like that.”

Honestly speaking, I just want to lie down somewhere and sleep.

Except for the 10 PM curfew at this orphanage, high school students are quite free. On weekends, they often don’t say anything even if you stay up all night.

But cases like mine, coming in past 11 PM fairly regularly, were literally treated as “problem child” behavior.

“……Sigh, fine.”

It’s probably not that she’s given up, but.

As if thinking that continuing the conversation would only tire both of us out, the teacher said.

“Hurry up and wash and sleep. Don’t wake the children.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“……”

At my words, the teacher smiled faintly and nodded.

At least I’ve never come in the next day. I also come in after getting any injuries completely healed.

……Working for an extraterrestrial corporation is helpful like this. Though the injuries were caused by that extraterrestrial corporation in the first place.

I rustled the paper bag containing the music CD as I headed to my room.

And then.

“Oh, you’re back?”

My roommate, who had been rolling around on a blanket spread on the floor, slightly raised her head to look at me and said.

She’s not a character from the original work. If she were a magical girl, she would have come back late like me today.

“What, did you get caught up in a magical girl battle? It was near Gwanghwamun Square, perfect timing.”

“……Did you watch the news or something?”

“I did. Just a while ago.”

Jihye waved her smartphone at me and said.

There was an article there.

[Blossom’s Great Performance Again Today.]

Well now, this is a headline that would make Iris’s blood boil if she saw it.

I let out a long breath as I put down my stuff.

“Let’s see, what CD did you buy?”

“You said you could just listen to streaming?”

“Hey, that’s just what I say. And I’m curious what you bought. Oh.”

After taking out the CD, Jihye smiled brightly.

“This is from that movie we went to see together.”

“Yeah.”

By the way, we went to the theater by donating blood. To commemorate both our birthdays passing this year.

“Are you going to listen to it?”

With somewhat expectant eyes, she cast her gaze toward the equipment casually stacked on my desk.

There were large audio equipment and speakers placed there.

……In my past life, my father had something similar. My father called it a “turntable,” but that probably wasn’t the official name. When I looked it up later, turntable was short for “electric phonograph.”

It can’t be a phonograph if CDs go in it.

“The kids are sleeping.”

“Ah, right.”

Jihye seemed a bit disappointed as she slowly put the CD down on my desk.

“Ahem.”

Then she suddenly cleared her throat and completely changed the mood.

“So?”

“So what?”

When I tilted my head at Jihye’s words, Jihye grinned and said.

“What kind of person is your boyfriend?”

“……”

Why does everyone around me keep asking me that question?

“It’s Christmas, right? There’s no way you’d come back this late just from buying one CD. You obviously met someone.”

“……I could have met a friend.”

“You don’t have friends.”

“……”

I deliberately rolled my eyes in a big circle and said.

“No friends but you have a boyfriend?”

“Hey hey. Those are separate things, separate.”

“Huh.”

I didn’t feel it was worth answering further and flopped down on the blanket Jihye had laid out in advance.

“Ah, what? Tell me, tell me.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

“Really? For real?”

“I said there isn’t.”

I said that and closed my eyes.

Ah, I’m really incredibly tired.

“Hey……”

Jihye tried to continue talking to me, but maybe because my expression looked really tired,

“……Tell me tomorrow then.”

she said.

She really doesn’t know how to give up.

Well, that’s probably better than giving up on everything and living like me. She’s really like a high school student should be. Unlike me.

Jihye grumbled a few more words after that, then lay down in her spot.

And she fell asleep before me, starting to breathe regularly.

“……”

I soon fell asleep following her.

*

“Jieun, Jieun!”

As soon as I got to school in the morning, Blossom noisily called out to me.

“What?”

Even though I answered somewhat curtly while taking textbooks out of my bag without even looking at her, Blossom wasn’t fazed at all.

While I was rummaging through my bag, something was suddenly thrust in front of my eyes.

“Sorry. I was supposed to give this to you two days ago.”

“……”

I blinked while looking at the “gift” carefully wrapped in wrapping paper in front of my eyes.

It seems to be about the size of a CD.

“Um, when we went to the bookstore together last time, you seemed to be staring at it for a while.”

“……Ah.”

I think I know what it is.

It was a jazz CD that I held and looked at for quite a long time because the cover was impressive. Well, I’m not knowledgeable about that stuff, so I don’t really know whose album it is.

“……I didn’t prepare a gift.”

“It’s, it’s okay! Originally gifts are given by people who want to give them.”

Saying that doesn’t comfort me but rather deflates me……?

Well, knowing Blossom’s personality, she didn’t really mean to say that.

“……Thanks.”

I took it and held it.

It’s a gift from my childhood friend. I can’t refuse it.

It’s absolutely not because it was an album I really wanted to listen to.

“……”

Blossom was looking at me and grinning happily for some reason.

Really, she’s so kind it’s ridiculous.

I wonder what she’ll do when she finds out my identity later.

……Well, it’s not like I plan to get caught.

Only after putting the wrapped CD deep in my bag was I finally able to take out the textbook I’d been looking for and put it on my desk.