Chapter 43 : Where and What to Become

Honk! Honk! Honk!

“Why can’t we go!! Let’s get the car out quickly!!”

“M-mom! I-I’m trying to get out now, but there are too many cars and people so I can’t…”

“Hyeun, it’s Dad… I feel like I haven’t said I love you enough…”

“We’re all going to die at this rate!!!”

Due to the terrorist’s broadcast suddenly announced at Seoul Plaza, all sections of Gangbyeon Expressway were chaos itself.

After the air raid warning, all public transportation was suspended and people who had fled to shelters froze, hugging each other with pale faces.

Citizens in cars rushed to Gangbyeon Expressway, trying to escape Seoul. Dozens of puppet-like creatures the size of 3-meter gorillas blocked vehicles on all bridges into Seoul that people had desperately sought, their fluorescent green eyes glowing.

Bang bang bang bang bang

Ratatatatat!

Forces dispatched from each police station’s strike team, Capital Defense Command, police special forces, and special mission battalions after the state of emergency was declared attacked the puppets blocking the bridges, firing all semi-automatic and automatic weapons, but were blocked by fluorescent green curtains.

They were formidable enemies on bridges that had become too narrow for heavy equipment to enter.

“Helicopter support! Request helicopter support!!”

[It’s difficult because small flying objects are flying around Seoul’s airspace striking all flying objects!!]

“What are you saying!! We’re really all going to die!!! Seoul is going to hell!!!”

[They’re saying they can’t launch because green birds explode like grenades when they see helicopters trying to take off!!!]

Boom!

The soldier firing weapons heard several explosion sounds in the distance and was about to despair due to the malice felt from the slowly approaching gorillas.

[Make way!!]

“K-Kang Dorim?”

“The magical girl of [Cyberbrain]!”

An ash-gray avatar appeared and pushed people aside, and two girls in military uniforms came through.

“We’re from the White Wing unit!”

“Wh…White Wing…?!”

From the perspective of active-duty soldiers, there was a predominant bewildered atmosphere as members of the White Wing unit, who were girls using strange abilities while enjoying cushy jobs in hospitals, arrived on the scene.

“We’ll push them back with psychic power, so please break through with us from the side!”

“B-but…”

[I’m doing this in 30 places right now, so I don’t have time to focus only on here!!]

Just as it was difficult to imagine pushing back those gorilla monsters in a situation where even heavy equipment was hard to bring in, ash-gray lasers were fired from behind.

Zap

Guurgh!!

One of the gorilla monsters, boasting a body about 3 meters tall, fell from the pillar it was clinging to as if grabbed by the collar.

Splash

Guooooo!

The soldiers spread a curtain of fire with their weapons against the crazed charging gorilla monsters, and the magical girls gradually broke through the stagnant front line.

‘With this…!’

* * *

26:36

The Seoul Plaza where I, who had scattered 3 avatars around, and Park Saebyeok arrived after rushing from Jongno intersection, was filled with a sense of desolation.

A 3-meter structure presumed to be a bomb was writhing with cobalt magical power and fluorescent green magical power. Alex, completely wearing a tactical bag, was waiting there.

“Oh, you came really fast.”

Seeing Alex even waving her hand as if welcoming Park Saebyeok and the few White Wing unit members who came along, nausea welled up due to anger.

Alex seemed puzzled that I, who had been in the sky over northern Gyeonggi until just now, was here.

“Why are you here? Did you like meeting in the airship earlier that much?”

“…I’ll kill you for sure this time.”

Park Saebyeok, seeing Alex speaking to me nonchalantly, said without hiding her anger:

“…By whose authority are you saying you’ll kill Seoul citizens?”

“What? Hahaha! You’re a real soldier, it’s fucking hilarious.”

Alex slapped her knees with both hands, laughing at Park Saebyeok’s words, and growled in English as if chewing them up.

“I’ve seen soldiers like you occasionally on battlefields, but didn’t they all die by snipers while pointing fingers?”

A hand playfully wiggling.

“Since you came so quickly, I’ll be super specially nice, so give me your Glass Star and get lost.”

“Who are you taking for a fool…”

Grip

Park Saebyeok quietly said while clenching her fist:

“Your actions were all shown in the file Kang Dorim showed.”

“Hmm?”

“You induce chaos like this and make people terrified, then call out magical girls as sacrifices to the fear and plunder them.”

“Heh?”

“…And you killed them all, don’t try to toy with citizens and my subordinates like that.”

“Pf… kuhuhuk… wow shit, really, you’re really a true soldier.”

Alex laughed humorously and even clapped her hands.

She even clapped toward the camera placed in a corner of the plaza for broadcast, which she had probably stolen from a reporter covering the area.

“Correct!”

[Medical] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Morale Surge

“White Wing unit 1st platoon!!”

“Ack!!”

“Begin combat!!”

“Ack!!”

As Park Saebyeok, wrapped in pink energy all over her body, roared, the eyes of the White Wing unit members also turned pink, and they either took out their unique weapons or rushed toward Alex following Park Saebyeok.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The magical girl of [Shooting] fired bullets with her unique weapon, an assault rifle, but they were blocked by the explosive curtain like the one spread on the airship earlier.

“Damn it! Attacks aren’t working!”

“Keep suppressing!”

“We’ll rush in!”

The platoon members specialized in close combat all surrounded and rushed in at once.

Bang!

“Ugh?!”

“It’s dangerous; maintain distance!”

“If we could just do something about that curtain…!”

The attacks of the platoon members trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat also bounced off the explosive curtain with a roar.

I shouted to Park Saebyeok, thinking of how I had attacked the airship:

“The explosive curtain can be penetrated if you break through at once with multiple layers of psychic power!”

“Haap!”

Whoosh!

As soon as Park Saebyeok heard those words, she layered pink energy all over her body and then tackled, stomping the ground hard enough to crack it. She instantly became a pink shell and charged at Alex, and the scene was filled with the sound of the explosive curtain bursting at once and smoke.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Boom!

Alex jumped out using explosive power, breaking through the smoke created where she and Park Saebyeok had collided. Magical power was released from her tactical bag, and dozens of bombs were scattered toward the surrounding White Wing unit members.

Bombs scattered all over the sky of Seoul Plaza.

Click

Click

The ominous sound of detonators activating.

I gathered dozens of scattered bombs with psychic power and threw them as far away as possible.

Rattle!

“Where are you throwing!”

Boom!

Most of the bombs fell to the ground, avoiding the White Wing platoon members. The few bombs that were about to hit directly were protected against as White Wing unit members’ eyes glowed pink, and they protected their own bodies, so there was no major damage.

I aimed illusion magic at Alex, who was floating using explosive power above the dust cloud.

[Deception] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Dream World

Perception Acceleration

Snap!

Alex stopped.

“Ugh?!”

“Now!!!”

Park Saebyeok charged with a roar toward Alex, who was falling.

Park Saebyeok’s fist, flying as a pink flash, was filled with thick killing intent and will. As her fist approached Alex’s body, leaving a heavy shockwave…

Beep

[Alex, it’s perception exchange.]

As a fluorescent green pigeon that had flown in from somewhere flashed its eyes, Alex’s stiffened body moved, and the pigeon fell, choking on its breath.

Alex reacted to Park Saebyeok’s attack, aiming directly for her heart, her eyes glistening.

Fists meeting each other.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“Fuck off!”

Alex met Park Saebyeok’s fist head-on while making a huge explosion sound.

Boom!

Park Saebyeok bounced back due to the repulsive force of the explosion.

“Motherfucker, almost died again!”

“Damn it!”

I cast illusion magic on Alex once again in between.

[Deception] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Dream World

As signs of the illusion unfolding appeared, Alex requested rescue from Doctor without hesitation.

“Doctor!! I’m blind!!”

[Kihihihi]

Beep

A puppet collapsing.

Having regained her sight, Alex lit up her tactical bag and scattered dozens of bombs randomly.

Clink

Boom!!

Park Saebyeok charged in endlessly glowing with pink energy, regardless of the explosions filling her vision. And beside her, attacks from White Wing platoon members with pink glowing eyes continued.

Park Saebyeok bouncing back again due to the repulsive force of the explosion.

Boom!

“Uaaaaaaah!!!”

“It’s useless, you idiots!!”

The White Wing platoon’s attacks bouncing off the explosive curtain.

“Please!! Hit!!”

Bang bang bang bang

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Alex seemed to not need to pay attention to me if she just took care of the illusions, as she wrapped explosive curtains around her fists and pounded the platoon members, eliminating them one by one.

Bang!

“Kuhack?!”

“That’s three down!”

White Wing platoon members were knocked down with tremendous explosion sounds with each punch.

Boom!!

“Five! Six!”

“Kyaaa!!”

“Kugh…?!”

Amidst the scene of them being reduced one by one, covered in black smoke, only Park Saebyeok was persistently keeping Alex in check.

Park Saebyeok, completely enraged at the sight of her 1st platoon members being taken down one by one, charged in with pink energy overflowing, screaming.

A tattered body.

And a strike with all her might.

“I will!!! Kill you!!!”

“Try it, idiot!!”

Park Saebyeok threw a punch, squeezing out all her remaining energy, but she missed because she couldn’t correct her trajectory, which was distorted by the explosive curtain.

Bang!

“Damn it!!”

If I could just use large-scale barrier magic, there were many methods I could think of, but I couldn’t due to the domain declaration draining magic in real-time.

Perception and illusion magic were holding out as green birds popping out from somewhere exchanged perceptions.

‘Damn it…’

It’s always like this.

The fight at the port.

The fight in Kabukicho.

When something gets blocked, I just rely on my companions.

It’s pathetic how I have deluded myself for the past two years into thinking that I can survive with only barrier magic and illusion magic.

Endless explosion sounds rang in my ears.

After each explosion sound passed, without fail, one 1st platoon member was down.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

In the midst of the huge roars, I saw dizzily all the tasks my avatars were performing.

Declaring the domain.

Controlling the airship.

Protecting Oh Sanghyuk.

Shooting down puppets.

My head was foggy from performing all of this.

Should I rush in now and engage in hand-to-hand combat together with Park Saebyeok?

If I don’t stop this now…

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

A question flashed through my foggy mind.

Is the way the magical girl of [Deception] fights truly casting illusions and engaging in hand-to-hand combat using output while aiming for openings?

The ability of [Deception] that I had thought of as a lone illusionist because it didn’t appear in the original work.

-Don’t use your ability during practice! Leader! I’ll die!

Suddenly, I recalled Ichika’s voice pleading every time we did combat training.

Is what the combat analysis ability possessed by the magical girl of [Freedom] was wary of really illusions and perception manipulation?

‘No, if it’s Ichika, she’d close her eyes, dodge illusions, and overcome perception with her fighting instinct.’

By then, the fight was already tilting toward Alex’s victory.

“It’s over now, you son of a bitch!”

“Ugh…”

Boom

Park Saebyeok, who had been holding out alone among the White Wing unit members who had fallen one by one due to explosions, was finally hit directly by the rushing explosive fist and bounced back.

Whoosh…

Park Saebyeok’s military uniform top had long since been torn, and the black shirt worn underneath was also in tatters. The wounds visible through the gaps were being healed, overflowing with pink energy.

But the eyes visible through her pink hair, wet with sweat and blood and drooping, were burning.

“Not yet… it’s not over yet!”

“Ha, this true soldier bitch is disgustingly tenacious.”

I suddenly aimed my hand at Alex just before snapping my fingers.

The magical girl of [Speed] makes her own body fast and automatically protects it so it doesn’t break down even at transcendent speeds.

The magical girl of [Freedom] analyzes and strengthens the best conditions for victory in the struggle for freedom and leads battles to victory.

The magical girl of [Protection] creates numerous swords within a space to protect what she has decided to protect, turning it into a fortress guarded by numerous soldiers.

[Nursing], [Order], [Fairytale], [Baking], [Book Lover], [Reporting], [Gourmet], [Silver Wheel], [Machine Gun], [Armor], [Sprint], [Cyberbrain], [Medical], [Gliding]…

Girls who have reached their dreams and fate set them as aliases and bloom as abilities.

I remember watching the original work and feeling frustrated about why they stubbornly reveal all their abilities, as not a single magical girl who deceives about her own alias appeared.

That’s why I myself impersonated [Beginning] as the magical girl of [Deception].

But only at this moment of crisis, when everything I had prepared was blocked, and people were in danger.

I heard my colorless star whispering that it was a much more amazing thing than I thought.

It deceives a person’s sense of the present.

It shows the dream a person has harbored in their heart as an illusion.

Dream Fantasy

The star whispers how futile and funny it is to just consciously ‘deceive’ when the boundary between dream and reality is ambiguous.

In the first place, the world viewed by creatures with cognitive abilities is full of fleeting illusions.

The star cries out as if frustrated; what on earth are you showing while persuading one by one.

Cognition

People see with their eyes, feel with their senses, and experience reality. 

Human history is the history of cognition.

We call it cause and effect.

Our world is made up of cause and effect.

Deceive.

‘Deceive.’

“Deceive… the past.”

I am not the magical girl of [Illusion].

“Deceive… the past.”

The scene of Alex standing on top of Park Saebyeok, raising her hand just before striking down, replays in slow motion. But I don’t feel a sense of crisis.

Because this current scene is also cause and effect created by the reality we perceive.

“Cause and effect… reversal…”

I feel the star gently looking at the single thought that arose in a situation where I’m pouring out all my senses and strength.

I had the ability to deceive the world.

I just hadn’t realized it myself.

[Deception] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Cause and Effect Reversal

Nothing happened for the past 5 minutes.

Only the cause and effect of these fleeting beings with cognition was distorted-

“Cough…?!”

Alex was lying down with wide eyes.

Pieces of internal organs and blood suddenly poured out of her mouth, and she flailed her legs in panic.

“Guhuk, ugh, uweeek… Do-Doctor!!! Illu-sion!!! Change perception!!!”

[…Alex, that’s not an illusion.]

“Th-this?!”

Park Saebyeok was not helplessly lying down like before but standing proudly with her fist raised high, pink energy overflowing.

<Park Saebyeok’s strike with all her might critically hit Alex’s abdomen, breaking through the explosive curtain.>

<Severe ruptures occurred in Alex’s stomach and intestines, and her lungs are in a state difficult to breathe.>

A possibility that may have existed in this world.

A possibility that had already been observed and disappeared.

I summoned it.