LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 326
The way to perceive hope differs for everyone.
Some people look toward their own dreams.
Some hope for their skills to improve.
Others feel hope by gradually approaching their goals.
So, there are those who find hope in the fact that “Mom is here,” just like someone adopted into another family seeks their birth parents, or someone who grew up without a family searches for their own.
While some, like me, think it’s better that such a thing doesn’t exist, others wish to find and see their family no matter what. They say they’ll just deal with what happens later when the time comes.
The situation is dire.
If that person is truly Ji-hye’s mother, then we have effectively attacked her.
Although I was entirely unaware of the situation, depending on the person, that alone could lead to despair.
However, Ji-hye was not someone who thought that way.
Bang!
“What the hell…!?”
As Ji-hye charged in and deflected the hammer of Pung-pung, Pung-pung stumbled back, clearly flustered.
“Ji-hye.”
“Yeah.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
Ji-hye looked at me as if she genuinely didn’t understand what I meant.
“Well, I actually thought you resembled that person—”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
Ji-hye replied incredulously.
“You wouldn’t just casually talk to me about something serious like that just because you think I resemble someone a little.”
“….”
“You’ve been worried about it for a while, haven’t you? And the reason you couldn’t push it away till the end was probably because of that.”
“…Yeah.”
“Then it’s fine. Just… for now.”
Ji-hye said as she gripped the shield’s handle tightly.
“For now, I want to protect Mom. Of course, I haven’t forgotten our goal. So, we just need to subdue that person, right? Then we can save Mom and your friend too.”
Ji-hye’s face beamed as she spoke to me.
Behind that smile, there was undoubtedly some worry. After all, Ji-hye was helping to suppress an alien.
But emotions like that can be unraveled over time. The most important thing is to survive. Ji-hye would surely think that way.
“So, let’s fight.”
At her words, my back generator vibrated slightly.
The circuits on my wrist responded, spinning vigorously. We were once again reaching for hope.
Strangely enough, for completely opposite reasons than I had imagined.
“….”
Alright.
To be honest, I can’t smile. No matter what, the fact that I struck my closest friend’s mom weighs heavily on my mind.
But at least one thing I could get past.
Ji-hye wouldn’t hate me for this. The things I’d been worrying about were merely trivial matters.
I felt relieved.
Relieved that my relationships wouldn’t break.
“Y-You guys…! How could this happen…!”
…How could I say, to be fair, isn’t it a bit late for that now?
We’ve always been like this.
It’s the destiny of a Magical Girl. Especially for those fighting with the abstract concept of hope, something that isn’t even visible to the eyes, it was a problem that was, quite literally, their fate.
Hope is always there, but it can also shake violently. Sometimes, it can be completely obscured by other things.
However, it is always the existence that believes that hope is there and moves forward that is a Magical Girl.
So, that power may fluctuate somewhat, but it can’t be helped.
On the contrary, that power is something that can be found at any time.
The heart to protect what you wish to protect. If that is Ji-hye’s strength, then right now, when there’s something to protect, is surely Ji-hye’s strongest moment.
As Ji-hye and I steadied ourselves, other kids approached us from either side.
Ha-yoon stood next to me.
Ha-yoon looked at Ji-hye and me with a laugh. We were a mess. There were scratches and traces of being hit all over. No matter how much we defended with magic, after fighting countless aliens and especially created beings here, it showed.
The same went for the other kids.
But somehow, they all seemed to be looking at me and smiling. The circuits on everyone’s wrists spun vigorously.
At this rate, it really feels like I am their hope. When I cry, the kids cry too, and when I laugh, they laugh too. When I muster up my strength, we all gather strength together.
“….”
Have I dug too deep into these kids’ lives?
But it’s really funny. Knowing that fact, I didn’t feel fear at all.
Rather, my heart raced.
Yeah. I might have been a hopeless human from the start. Ever since I came into this world, I was a bundle of inferiority. After I learned about what kind of world this is, I even became intensely jealous of the Magical Girls who hadn’t done anything wrong to me.
Jealous of Ha-yoon, who had such high hopes for me.
The me back then and the me now haven’t changed at all. I’ve merely accumulated a few more people I like.
I still want to be as glamorous as the Magical Girls. If these kids tried to distance themselves from me, I would have felt fierce jealousy.
“Ha, haha.”
I see.
Before I knew it, just like these kids had become some sort of center for me.
I too had gradually come to see these kids as my hope.
The hammer gleamed.
Pung-pung seemed flustered by the situation. Its cooling mechanism spun elegantly. Now, almost like sparks, white light was bursting forth.
Yet, the look on its face was not one of joy.
It was more of fear.
The fear of what kind of fight was about to ensue.
“Well, you’ve probably never fought before.”
I took a step forward.
An opponent who always tries to occupy only the advantageous places.
Well, that’s not a lie. So, if they can win, I would too.
To be honest, this isn’t a story for us who fight with circuits.
But then, what about when the means are gone and it becomes a matter of overcoming individually? We’ve at least fought against aliens. Thinking back, perhaps even that alien might have been a scheme of Noir Corporation.
Getting hit, crashing to the floor. After fighting like that, we’ve gotten somewhat accustomed to pain.
But what about Pung-pung in front of us this time? Someone who doesn’t even think of becoming an alien, hidden inside armor.
“Shall I teach you something?”
I bent down.
And with all the magical energy coursing through me, I swung the hammer like a bullet shot forward.
The armor rang loudly as if it were clanging. Pung-pung flew back and crashed into the wall. The steel plate wall dented inward.
“Ugh…!”
Air rushed out from its mouth. It probably didn’t get severely hurt. Naturally, that advanced technology armor must have blocked it.
But it would hurt.
It’ll be tremendously painful. It’s hard to imagine for someone who’s never been hit.
“Just because you’re making weapons doesn’t mean you can win a fight.”
“…You…!”
Pung-pung still glared at us, though. Perhaps pride is bigger than pain? I could commend it for that.
“It’s still not over.”
Pung-pung said.
“I have plenty of power too.”
Though it’s probably not your power.
From the armor, instead of sparks, something fluid was now flowing. A liquid with an exceedingly low boiling point that would disintegrate into dust upon contact with air.
The cooling system was indeed impressive.
This time, it shot toward us. My body flew back, but—
There were kids to catch me.
I saw Ha-yoon’s pink hair. Ji-hye’s chestnut-colored hair. And that warmth.
Seo-hee, Yeon-woo, Chae-yeon, and Jua were all there.
My heart raced even louder. By now, it became a beat strong enough to cause some trouble. I couldn’t well grasp what that overwhelming feeling was. I don’t even know what emotion is allowing me to feel hope.
But even that was enough. As Ji-hye said, such things could be thought about later.
What we needed to do right now was to bring down the opponent.
Just as always, as a Magical Girl.
I lifted the hammer that Jua had made above my head.
I felt my bag on my back slowly disassembling. It seemed like something had reached some singularity, the generator was not just producing energy but was also creating something.
Of course, Pung-pung wouldn’t just sit still.
And naturally, neither would the other Magical Girls.
The first attack was taken by Seo-hee. Pung-pung’s hammer bounced off Seo-hee’s gauntlet.
The second attack was taken by Yeon-woo. Thinking the hammer that couldn’t be swung properly was obstructive, she threw it aside and covered me with her body, but above that, bullets rained down like a storm. Not shotgun shells, but each as heavy as a fist.
For the third, it tried to use the facility itself. With a clinking sound, the surrounding walls opened, and guns leaped out from there. This was stopped by Chae-yeon. As though she had predicted it, Chae-yeon kept the surrounding walls continuously open. The moment the first shot was fired, the guns shattered with a thunderous sound.
Bang! Just before the fourth attack began, that sound rang out. Something slammed hard against Pung-pung’s head, sending it tumbling backward. Jua had accurately shot a shotgun shell directly at its head. Although blood flowed from its head, Pung-pung didn’t die.
Ha-yoon and Ji-hye had their hands on my body.
The magical energies of the two—no, all the magical energies of the other kids surrounding us flowed into me.
“No, no, no!”
In the end, realizing her perfectly laid plan had gone awry, the woman screamed.
And again, she gripped the hammer and struck the circuit connected to her armor.
The magical energy enveloped her body.
In the end, for the last moment, Pung-pung chose to become an alien.
But somehow.
Even with such a massive power transformation right before my eyes.
I felt not a bit of fear.