LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 30
It’s a tragic situation.
Shouldn’t I be happy to possess enough strength to push a car away without heavy machinery?
After all, I’ve gained these powers even in this world.
If I could leap over a police bus with just my bare legs…
If my running speed was almost like that of a car…
If I could even twist bullets flying at me off to the side…
Usually, having even one of those powers would be a relief.
If a villain stood before me, I would just smash them to bits and rush straight towards a happy ending.
Yet all I felt was despair.
Is my mind somehow broken? Even while fleeing, I kept crying.
There were choices right in front of me, but I only touched the wrong ones.
Every time I chose, I thought it was something necessary, but now it seems that wasn’t the case at all.
I should’ve just let the world turn however it wanted.
I should have stopped being so greedy.
I could have just thought that I was someone who wouldn’t make it, but instead, I foolishly acted out. In those kinds of stories, no matter how much chaos the author creates, doesn’t the protagonist usually come out on top? But here I was, utterly failing.
I have no idea where to go. My mind tells me to escape Seoul, yet I haven’t determined which direction to take.
After all, I was right in the middle of Seoul.
Should I head to the Han River? At least if I crossed a bridge, I could escape somewhere…
But I was actually running back home.
To be precise, it wasn’t a place I could just call home. It was a place I would eventually have to leave.
Yet, it was about all I could say I genuinely owned in this world.
Right now, I have neither a phone nor a wallet. Just a tattered patient’s gown. I didn’t even wear proper underwear.
Bang!
Gunshots rang out again right in front of me.
Are they analyzing my direction and sending people after me? I’m getting anxious. At this rate, no matter where I escape to, they’ll just keep catching up with me.
I saw a flash—
“…!”
I couldn’t even scream at the pain hitting my shoulder.
My running speed slowed. I stumbled from a misstep.
Then more gunshots rang out behind me.
Pain shot through my body. It felt as though each hit was a blow from a giant hammer.
Something shiny fell to the floor. Bullets that hadn’t penetrated my body.
Live ammunition? Perhaps it deformed upon hitting me.
Did I realize that rubber bullets wouldn’t work against me?
Maybe the reason the bullets had warped instead of hitting me was due to a lack of kinetic energy. Were they using low ammo for riot control, or did they have a different caliber?
Or perhaps those were bullets filled with even more gunpowder.
The important thing was that despite the magical energy around me, they were still hitting my body.
A spotlight gathered around me. The light I had barely escaped blinded me. The brightness throbbed in my head. Would it be okay if I went blind?
“…It hurts.”
I muttered while tearing up.
Slowly, black substance covered my body from my left arm.
Ping, ping.
I heard the sound of metal bouncing off. It seemed like the people over there didn’t hear it, as they were drawing closer, thinking it was a perfect opportunity.
The ones leading the charge were carrying something shield-like in front of them. Their clothing looked much thicker, and their silhouettes appeared larger than ordinary people.
A duller sound of gunfire came through, and several bullets struck my body all at once. I almost fell backward, but somehow managed to stay upright.
Some of the shotguns hit my head, leaving a ringing in my ears.
It felt as though the circuit in my head was reacting. It created barriers wherever I felt pain. Though it couldn’t completely offset the impact, it made it much more bearable.
Something net-like flew from the direction heading towards me.
The net that fell over me was much heavier than it looked. It wasn’t the kind of net used for fishing, but rather one made of thick metal wire.
That wrapped over me several layers thick.
I felt the strength give out in one of my knees. The shooting stopped, but it became harder to escape solely due to the weight pressing down on my body.
Most importantly, my body was exhausted.
I no longer felt pain, but my eyelids were so heavy that they couldn’t block anything.
I curled up. The tightening wires seemed to say they wouldn’t allow me space, so that was how I decided to remain intact, even if just a little bit.
“No more, I don’t want this…”
I despise everything.
I just want to give up.
“Someone, please…”
As I mumbled that, darkness slowly enveloped my vision.
It was just like back then.
When Ha-yoon discovered my true identity.
Before my sight completely faded, I thought someone called my name.
*
“No!”
I had a hard time keeping up with Ji-eun, who was running much faster than Ha-yoon in the sky.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have enough ability, but it felt like our strengths were entirely inversely proportional.
The one who could be termed Ha-yoon’s hope was being chased by countless people right now. My head was throbbing from the sirens echoing below.
Were those gunshots I heard from afar?
Hearing that made my heart pound even more.
I could lose my friend.
A friend I had known since childhood, a friend I had relied on so much could be lost.
The more I thought about it, the weaker Ha-yoon’s resolve became.
“Ha-yoon!”
Cherry’s shout snapped me back to reality.
I didn’t know exactly what power the Noir Corporation’s circuits were using, but at the very least, the power needed to activate a circuit must be far less than what magical girls used to operate their circuits.
The reason magical girls could be magical girls is that they could generate that much energy through the operation of circuits.
However, even in this weakened situation, there was still enough energy left to fight.
So I had to go.
No matter what happened, I didn’t want to lose Ji-eun.
…But how?
Should I persuade her with words? Or should I subdue her with force?
And then what?
Ha-yoon’s parents were in crucial positions between the Eun-ha Federation and the Korean government. Of course, they had to be mindful of both sides, so there was no way Ha-yoon could secretly hide Ji-eun.
Iris’s warp technology could take Ji-eun far away, but… would Iris really help?
Moreover, warp technology can easily be misused. Iris’s warp technology is already under surveillance by the Eun-ha Federation. The moment Iris helps Ji-eun, Iris’s own position would become very precarious.
No matter how I looked at it, there seemed to be no way to help Ji-eun.
I didn’t even consider handing her over to those people. After all, it wouldn’t just be that they would capture me.
Even if they merely captured me—why Ji-eun?
Magical girls are those who fight for justice. Even if the Eun-ha Federation couldn’t be completely just, magical girls had to remain just.
Even if the world was broken, there had to be corners that ran justly.
A magical girl was meant to be that kind of hope.
Where did it all go wrong?
Ha-yoon bit her lip and fought back tears.
Is this what a righteous path looks like?
Is this the first time such a thing happened? Was Ji-eun just declared the victim by sheer bad luck, and Ha-yoon found out?
I spotted Ji-eun.
No, she was barely visible.
Ji-eun was at the center of bright light and should’ve been easy to see.
The forces surrounding her were visible. The streets were sealed off. Huge trucks and buses came and blocked the main road from all sides. It was night, but several cars were still at the end of this blockade. Those inside probably wondered what was happening right now.
A helicopter hovered overhead.
[Blossom!]
From a distance, a loud voice came from the helicopter.
[Evacuate! The situation has been handed over to another magical girl!]
But there was no sign of this ‘other magical girl.’
[The villain has been nearly subdued! No additional assistance is required!]
Villain.
The person inside there calling Ji-eun a villain.
Did they think Ha-yoon wouldn’t recognize Ji-eun?
They had recognized her even when hovering above the hospital.
[Blossom—]
For the first time, Ha-yoon ignored the orders.
“Cease fire! Cease fire!”
I heard people shouting. The occasional gunfire ceased.
There were shiny things on the ground. Metal fragments that had been crushed and deformed.
“….”
Bullets, right?
I had seen these before. It was the kind of weapon police used when non-lethal weaponry wouldn’t suffice. Usually, they were used to hold out until magical girls arrived.
“…Ji-eun.”
Ji-eun’s condition was far worse than that.
Blood was smeared on the ground. She didn’t seem dead from live ammunition, but it wouldn’t be surprising if she just suffocated at any moment.
“Why?”
I could hardly see Ji-eun.
Over her body, nets made of iron wire were layered several times over her tattered patient gown. The only visible body writhing through the gaps in the wires was a sign that Ji-eun was still alive.
Ha-yoon raised her wand.
A blade of pink light materialized.
And with that, she swung it and cut through the wires.
“Blossom!”
Somebody shouted.
Ha-yoon didn’t respond.
At that moment, fortunately, no one approached Ha-yoon. Maybe they sensed that something felt off.
“Ha-yoon…”
Cherry, gripping Ha-yoon’s shoulder tightly, muttered.
The wires didn’t cut easily. Had they thought they could slice through it with magical power? It didn’t seem like just ordinary metal wire. It looked like the kind used in construction. Just throwing one could easily knock someone unconscious.
“Blossom!”
One person who looked somewhat bulkier among the forces took a chance and shouted while rushing toward Blossom.
“It’s the subdued villain! It would be dangerous if released!”
“She’s not a villain!”
Ha-yoon shouted.
“Ji-eun is an Earthling!”
The villain was merely an alien that glows with an unidentifiable energy only felt when near Earth, especially in the proximity of Earthlings.
If she were an Earthling in the first place, she couldn’t be a villain.
Yet, despite being fellow Earthlings, people were—
“Blossom.”
As Ha-yoon clenched her wand and didn’t back down, he cautiously approached and spoke again.
“You’re a suspect in the explosion. People have died.”
“No!”
Ha-yoon glared at the man. Although the glaring light made it hard to see his face, his attitude was clearly flustered.
“Ji-eun wasn’t! Someone else planted explosives… everyone else knows it too.”
“But we received reports. Once you’ve been named as a suspect—”
“Where were you planning to take Ji-eun?”
Ha-yoon said in a low voice.
The man couldn’t respond.
Not so much because he was caught in a logical trap, but because he was judging from Ha-yoon’s expression.
“Talk!”
Ha-yoon felt Cherry’s small hands tightly gripping her shoulder.
“Did you genuinely plan to take her to the police station? It couldn’t have been to transfer her to a hospital?”
“We were just trying to ensure she wouldn’t escape—”
“How could she even escape?”
I had seen such an escape firsthand.
I had watched as she fled with a strength that ordinary people couldn’t counter.
But admitting that was impossible.
Ji-eun, how could I think she was wrong? The Ji-eun I had seen until now was not like that.
She was someone who worked hard, didn’t care much about how others perceived her, and would do anything to cheer me up when I was feeling down.
Though she might seem a little cold at first glance, she was warmer and more sensitive than anyone else.
If someone like that were in this situation…
Surely, she would want to escape. How could she not?
With tears threatening to spill, Ha-yoon looked around at the people.
“Excuse me? Tell me! What kind of escape could a girl who just woke up from a coma after a week possibly make?!”
“… ”
The question of whether they even saw with their own eyes remained unspoken.
The blade of the wand flickered.
There was still hope. As long as she was right next to me. It seemed words were still making an impact. The opponent seemed utterly clueless, but as Blossom was still a magical girl, they couldn’t completely ignore Ha-yoon’s position.
If the Eun-ha Federation or Noir Corporation genuinely aimed to take Ji-eun, they couldn’t just disregard Ha-yoon’s status as a magical girl.
“Ji-eun… I will take her. As long as I don’t escape, it’s fine, right? If a magical girl is protecting her, you wouldn’t have any complaints, right?”
“… Blossom.”
But before those words could be finished, a voice calling Ha-yoon came.
It was a familiar voice.
“Stop it. Continuing like this isn’t good.”
Rushing through the crowd was Rose.
Behind her was Iris. Iris showed a complicated expression upon seeing Ji-eun lying there.
I know they had fought together countless times, but seeing her like that couldn’t leave anyone in a good mood. Rose also looked uncomfortable as she glanced around at Ji-eun, who lay collapsed.
“And you too. This is enough. Who uses live ammunition against Earthlings?”
A light that was a bit different from the shining one appeared, and the attention turned towards it.
Delphinium was waving her wand with a spell in one hand.
Beside her, Dalia stood, holding her staff awkwardly, looking alert.
“We’ll handle this. … Escort the injured, drop your weapons. I don’t know why you felt the need to move them secretly, but seeing how things are, it seems there’s nothing to hide anymore.”
At Rose’s words, the surrounding forces looked at each other and slowly lowered their guns.
Ha-yoon let out a small breath.
However, as Rose approached Ji-eun, Ha-yoon flinched and moved in front to block her path.
“I am just trying to confirm if she’s okay.”
Ha-yoon shook her head.
“Wh-what are you planning? To take her directly to the Eun-ha Federation?”
“Of course. What other option is there?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Blossom—No, Ha-yoon.”
Rose let out a small sigh.
“You need to think rationally.”
“Even after thinking rationally, Ji-eun didn’t do anything!”
Ha-yoon shouted. Iris’s eyes widened. It was the first time she had seen Ha-yoon make such an expression.
The other magical girls had similar looks of disbelief.
“She just fought as a combatant! Until now, you’ve just let everyone go, so why are you doing this now? You’ve never once thought it was such a grave crime!”
That’s how it had been.
While fighting, I thought I was doing a righteous thing. However, I never considered their actions to be worthy of death. In the end, they were just subordinates to their superiors.
Even if they were captured, they would eventually be released, and I knew protesting against those actions would yield nothing.
Yet, Ha-yoon had not thought that someone she knew would be mixed in.
Especially if it were someone as kind as Ji-eun, she hadn’t considered such a thing as being possible.
So then, which side was actually wrong? Could it be that the other side was merely a normal office worker?
I had heard that they had never broken the law several times. Each time, I had gritted my teeth, thinking something was wrong.
But now…
Could the belief in justice crumble so easily?
“Ha-yoon, calm down. We just—”
As Rose extended a hand to calm Ha-yoon, her eyes widened.
And then she lunged at Ha-yoon.
If it were the usual Ha-yoon, she wouldn’t have been flustered by such a thing.
She would have looked at the situation coolly and thought about why Rose acted that way.
But now, it was a slightly different situation than usual.
“…Ah!”
In her surprise, she moved her hands.
Ha-yoon’s blade found its way into Rose’s arm.
Rose didn’t change her expression at all; instead, she just pushed forward and knocked Ha-yoon to the ground.
“Seo-hee!”
But before Ha-yoon could say anything, Rose had already gotten up and started pulling Ha-yoon along.
“Delphinium!”
Rose shouted, and Ha-yoon was spun around.
Since Rose had caught her by the back of the neck, Ha-yoon realized why Rose had lunged at her.
It was that black sphere she had seen last time.
The one that had enveloped Ji-eun’s body.
“Ji-eun!”
Ha-yoon shouted, but Rose was already pulling Ha-yoon away from her, dragging her along as Ha-yoon’s feet dragged behind her.
The wand was left on the ground.
“Ji-eun!”
No matter what Ha-yoon shouted, that black sphere melted away all the thick wires entangling Ji-eun, exploding upwards.
“Delphinium!”
“No!”
Rose shouted as Delphinium swung her wand.
A huge white sphere soared toward that much larger black sphere.
But the white sphere couldn’t reach the black one.
Before the two spheres collided, a hand emerged from within the black one.
It was a white hand, covered in wounds.
But Ha-yoon could recognize that it was Ji-eun’s hand.
The very hand that had always lifted her when she felt like collapsing.
A tremendous explosion resounded. The white sphere exploded and vanished in the sky.
“Everyone retreat!”
Rose shouted, and the troops below hurriedly turned away. People scrambled to escape in every direction.
“Delphinium!”
“…I’m preparing!”
“Dalia!”
“Okay!”
Dalia cast her spell, but it could not break the sphere.
Iris also provided covering fire.
The magical girls’ attacks all focused on Ji-eun.
“Stop… please stop…”
Blossom muttered, tightly held by Rose.
Was the attack having an effect?
The black sphere gradually shrank.
The smaller it got, the faster it shrunk until finally, it was the size of a person.
And the thing that was black peeled away as though shedding a cocoon.
The noise reached us all the way here.
Peeling away, the sound echoed.
Sizzle.
As they pulled the shell off with their hands, a person’s body emerged.
Struggling to get out from the fitting form of that shell, she twisted several times, her expression full of pain.
A light of hope couldn’t reach that black thing.
When that being first emerged, its entire body was drenched in that black liquid.
Just like a butterfly breaking free from a cocoon, that being unfolded its body, bending backward, stretching out like a bow, and slowly regained its color.
“…Ji-eun.”
Ha-yoon murmured.
What was there was Ji-eun.
And it was as if—
It was as if she were wearing an outfit akin to that of a magical girl.
A simply designed dress predominantly colored black.
Unlike the other magical girls, it wasn’t flamboyant, but everyone knew it didn’t mean it was weak.
“What the hell is going on…?”
Even Rose murmured like that.
Slowly, Ji-eun opened her eyes.
Even after all the black liquid fell away and the clothing dried, Ji-eun was still covered in wounds.
Those cold eyes looked down upon Ha-yoon and the magical girls.
No.
I wanted to yell right away.
I didn’t attack. I just wanted to protect.
But the words wouldn’t come out.
‘Now you say that?’
Someone in my head murmured that.
‘After you’ve broken and ripped apart, and smashed them several times up until now, now you say that?’
Ha-yoon couldn’t argue against that.
Ji-eun stared down at the magical girls for a while.
Suddenly, a sphere appeared behind her.
It looked like a black hole from a movie.
Rose yelled something. Delphinium and Dalia prepared for it, and Iris started firing.
But Ji-eun didn’t launch an attack toward them.
The space around the black hole distorted.
By the time I regained my senses, Ji-eun had already vanished.
It was as if nothing had happened, as if nothing existed in the sky, and everything around was still.
“….”
Only then did the strength leave Rose’s arm.
Ha-yoon dropped to her knees.
And then, just like that, she collapsed and burst into tears.