I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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I finally made it here.

But honestly, I didn’t really want to do anything anymore.

Not long ago, I was consumed with thoughts of revenge and all that, and I still felt that way, but—

Does it even matter?

What’s the point of continuing to do things that high-ups would like? I’d rather just smash everything up and demand the Chairman’s head.

…Well, if I were actually to do that, I wouldn’t get very far, given my personality.

So, yes, I made it here.

“How strange.”

I muttered as I looked down from the rooftop.

“Did they think we would actually come?”

The police were once again facing off against the monsters. At this point, it was obvious.

They were just buying time until the Magical Girls showed up to catch the monsters. Why risk getting involved in a fight when you’d just end up dead?

If that creature looked like a giant crab, they’d have crushed it or split it in half, but if I ran headfirst at a spitting monster, even if I survived, I’d end up in a terrible situation. Just imagining parts of my body melting away was horrific.

Honestly, it seemed strange.

No matter how powerful they were, weren’t all the Magical Girls underage?

Even if they were wary of the Federals, was it really right for minors to do the jobs that the police or military should be doing? Was that really okay? It seemed like people in this world didn’t care about that at all.

“Do they think we’re going to fight for them again?”

“Ji-eun…”

Ha-yoon called my name, interrupting my thoughts.

I didn’t turn to look.

Yeah, I know.

In the end, the best outcome is for someone who can actually stand up to them to go and fight.

The lives of the police and soldiers are important too. Finding something other than Magical Girls who could survive a monster attack without killing it is tough.

The Federation understood that, so they exploited the Magical Girls as much as they could, and the government also didn’t heavily interfere with how the Magical Girls operated because they didn’t want them getting out of control.

And the company could operate relatively freely and choose their Magical Girls and that was also because the government turned a blind eye, not wanting the Magical Girls to go completely wild.

“Aren’t you curious? What would happen if we didn’t go out?”

“…”

At my words, the kids fell silent.

Their gazes were on me.

We’d created a black hole just to get here, but we weren’t going to step out right away.

Still, given that I had redistributed the circuits, they should soon realize that a Magical Girl showed up on the nearby rooftop. Unless they already knew?

There were no media helicopters flying overhead. Not even a single drone in sight. Was there some restriction on that?

As I leaned against the rooftop railing and looked down, it was a sight to behold.

A wide street was filled with people dressed in black. And, of course, that’s not what I meant by hair color. Defining races by hair color in this world made no sense.

What I was talking about were the police in helmets.

Police in black combat suits surrounded the monster once again.

It seemed like they had put up some resistance this time. An ambulance was on standby outside the crowd, probably because someone had gotten hurt.

I could see a few citizens. As time passed, their numbers slowly increased. It seemed like there wasn’t enough time to clear out everyone from the buildings in the heart of Seoul compared to how it was in Chungmuro, where not a single person was visible.

At the building across from us, people were peering out of the windows.

“What should we do?”

I said in a lackluster voice, looking at those people.

“Should we go and fight? Do we really need to prove that we’re just?”

“Well—”

As soon as Iris began to answer, she fell silent when our eyes met.

“Why? If you’re going to say something, finish it.”

I was already feeling a bit moody… well, it’s not Iris’s fault, but that bad feeling wasn’t going away, so I spoke to Iris with a hint of irritation.

Isn’t this too much? While I thought that in the back of my mind, I honestly didn’t want to care that much.

“You’re not even getting paid for this. You’re all fugitives too. If we go out now, the Federation might just try to recapture us.”

At my question, Iris thought for a moment before responding.

“Even so, we can’t just stand by while someone might die…”

Then she looked into my eyes again and fell silent.

Why?

Even acknowledging the situation seemed a bit much.

Until now, we’ve been the ones who have been attacking without considering the circumstances.

Then again, it’d be better not to assume that since the Magical Girls showed mercy, the combatants would too. Those guys were also desperate in their own right.

Just because a Magical Girl wasn’t swinging a wand at them didn’t mean they wouldn’t punch toward her.

For me, it wasn’t a big issue since I was the same age or even younger than the Magical Girls, but just like I questioned their involvement, it wouldn’t be morally right for underage Magical Girls to get beaten by adult combatants.

Originally… this kind of storyline would often resolve with the villains just being bad for the sake of it. But in this world, the problem was that both sides, when you peeled back the layers, were just average humans.

“Whatever, fine.”

I decided not to think any deeper.

“For now, let’s try fighting.”

At my words, the Magical Girls looked a bit anxious.

Why?

Don’t they trust me? Or is there another reason?

It didn’t seem like this was the time to start considering things.

“Instead—don’t rush in until I finish speaking.”

“Okay.”

Ha-yoon replied.

Perhaps they thought of that reply as some kind of ‘representative answer,’ for the other Magical Girls showed no objections.

Maybe it was because they couldn’t guess where I’d jump out from. Well, I would’ve been a bit scared too, wondering what I would say.

I jumped off the building.

With the propulsion system of my hammer releasing energy, I slowed my descent, so there weren’t any significant issues with my body,

Thud!

I couldn’t completely mask the sound.

The spot I landed wasn’t quite next to the monster.

Even if the street was bustling, it wasn’t packed to the point where the police couldn’t get a single footstep down. The area around the monster was the most crowded, and the further back you went, you could at least fit one or two people standing.

Of course, even if I fell in there, I was the one using boosters that could melt steel in real-time, so I could easily hit someone.

So, I ended up on the roof of a police bus.

The place I landed did dip a little, but it didn’t crumple entirely like the other police equipment.

With the eyes of the officers on me, I jumped down from the bus, and they scrambled to move away.

I didn’t intend to kill them or anything, but they seemed to think differently.

Well, considering how I had behaved so far, I hadn’t been friendly with the police at all.

Who on earth called for this?

Maybe radio stations could broadcast warning news. Perhaps journalists who saw the police mobilizing caught on to it. But the Magical Girls’ call device only rings if someone activates it.

Could it have been the mascot from the Magical Girls’ side? Was her name Cherry? She had a pretty feisty personality in the webtoon, so it wouldn’t be surprising.

As the police stepped aside, the Magical Girls floated down a bit late.

There probably wasn’t any particular reason; they must have floated down from the sky.

I looked around.

Whether they wore helmets or not, whether their faces were visible or hidden, everyone seemed taken aback and tried to distance themselves from me.

There were even some pointing guns in my direction.

Ignoring all that, I scanned the surroundings and finally found what I wanted.

“Hey. Can you pass that over here?”

As I made a move to grab what I wanted, the officer yelped in surprise. He quickly threw off the strap hanging from his shoulder and stepped back. Though he wasn’t able to escape completely with so many people there.

“…”

I stared blankly at the officer and let out a deep sigh.

Then, I brought the megaphone close to my mouth.

“Ah, ah.”

I knew how to use a megaphone.

Was there really a need to waste energy shouting wildly before a fight? That wasn’t something I wanted to do.

Confirming my voice was working, I said,

“It seems like everyone is having a hard time fighting.”

In a heavily sarcastic tone.

“What’s wrong? Are the bullets not working? Or is the wire not holding right?”

Some of the creatures might even work, it’s true.

Back in the day—before the monsters started rampaging and before the existence of Magical Girls was established, the police used to fight. They dealt with the monsters even if it meant getting hurt.

But that was not the case anymore. They didn’t need to get hurt as long as someone else was willing to fight instead.

Even now, all the Magical Girls who had run away had come back.

Even I, of all people.

I’ve had my run-ins with the police.

Yeah. Let’s admit it.

This was something that Magical Girls needed to do. No matter how you looked at it, if someone died because I didn’t show up, my fragile mental state would repeat, “It’s my fault,” over and over.

Whether or not I could truly call myself a Magical Girl didn’t change the fact that the reason there weren’t any Magical Girls there had to be because of me.

But, despite everything, I didn’t want to just give in.

“Fine, whatever. This is our specialty.”

‘Our.’

It’s funny to say that now. It was easy to forget that I had said that from the roof earlier.

Well, still, didn’t I say I’d follow my lead? So, for the moment, saying ‘our’ shouldn’t matter too much.

“We’ll fight for you! There’s probably no one who wants to die. If it’s us, we can fight without dying, and we won’t waste valuable equipment. After all, that’s taxpayer money, right?”

Some of that expensive equipment made from taxpayer money, I had smashed, but anyhow.

As I started walking forward, the police parted to make way.

“However, there’s one condition.”

I said.

“Anything will do? Oh, I’m not even asking for money.”

It’s not like I needed it. I had no reason to head to the nearest convenience store with it.

If I could, I would have done that long ago.

“Anything edible is fine, or some clothes would be good too. Just give us something we can use. We’ve been running around so much, so we’re running low on food, and our clothes are getting worn out.”

I wondered if it was okay to say something like this? I hesitated for a moment, but decided just to do it.

Since I was asking for something, they would know our situation. If they were going to use that, then it wasn’t going to change anything.

It was a bit funny that I was thinking this while saying I didn’t want to see anyone die, but if that’s the case, I’d find another way.

If they saw a Magical Girl robbing a nearby convenience store, maybe their thoughts would change a bit.

The police parted, and we made our way to face the monster.

This creature was… a bit odd-looking.

At first glance, it seemed like it would be incredibly agile.

The monster’s appearance was mostly based on animals. I’d seen people made of rock among aliens, but maybe designing that kind of creature was too complicated and hard, so most of the monsters from the webtoon were like that.

Whether marine or terrestrial life.

But right in front of me was unlike any of that.

If I had to describe it, it looked like a ‘swift person.’

Among aliens, some look almost human, with just a few differences.

The being in front of me had no hair, and its face was gray. Its head was a little… flat for a human’s.

Honestly, it would have been better if its head had just been a fish; it looked like someone pressed a human head sideways to make it look like a fish.

Its body was somewhat flat and thin too.

I raised my head slightly and held the megaphone higher.

There were people there.

Whether they couldn’t evacuate or just didn’t want to. I shouted at the people holding smartphones pointing towards us.

“Did you hear that?”

No one responded directly to me, but I spoke towards the smartphones.

“This is our price. Give us anything that can help us. From now on… I’ll wait for about 30 minutes.”

My words seemed to startle the crowd a bit.

A murmur spread among the police, and even those on the upper floors pointing smartphones at us exchanged glances.

I let my hammer fall. Clang, the metallic object hit the asphalt and made a loud sound.

Then I casually sat on top of the hammer.

It wasn’t the most comfortable position like a chair, and I crossed both my arms on my knees, striking a rather delinquent pose, but I thought it suited me perfectly.

“Got it? 30 minutes! After that, you’re on your own.”

Saying that, I really just let the megaphone droop down with one hand.

I wouldn’t take my eyes off the monster. If it moved, I’d need to move too.

Even so, I had zero interest in watching someone die right in front of me.

…Wouldn’t they bring something in 30 minutes?

I lifted my head to look at the Magical Girls.

They all seemed a bit flabbergasted.

Were they simply surprised by what I said?

The Magical Girls probably accrued some benefits from being Magical Girls. Even if that wasn’t monetary, it could have been politically beneficial. At least for their parents. There’s a lot of that, right?

“…”

The monster was staring at us without moving.

I couldn’t let my guard down. We had no idea why the monsters had moved so far.

Just like the monster that took Ji-hye hostage last time, some would just rampage out of nowhere, while other monsters might stay put for hours before moving suddenly.

One thing was clear: all monsters would move and cause harm. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not.

A ticking time bomb that couldn’t communicate.

That’s why it was a monster and was always on the hunt.

I heard a thud.

Was it given a command?

Well, for now, I guess I need to wait until they bring something.

Saying it now and changing my mind quickly would make me look a bit too flimsy, even for me.

*

“Why…?”

Facing the place where the situation arose, Ji-hye murmured.

Most public transport heading that way had been diverted. The subway had sent a message saying it would just pass through without stopping.

But even so, she could at least get close.

There weren’t that many people on the bus. In fact, at some point, people had vanished altogether.

No one would want to go where lives were at stake. Even someone looking to commit suicide wouldn’t want to be torn apart by a monster at the last minute; they’d want to just be dead in an instant.

So, there shouldn’t have been anyone around.

“…What is this?”

Videos of the situation were being broadcasted on the internet.

Via a smartphone’s 10x zoom. Though Ji-eun and the Magical Girls looked small, it was enough to recognize their faces.

Until now, they’d acted like they were purposely not saying anything, but now that an incident occurred, what was the point of filming?

Even if the streaming service was foreign, if they had offices in South Korea, they should cooperate with the Korean government… that’s how it should be, right?

A bad feeling crept up on Ji-hye.

She didn’t know anything about that.

After spending so long together, she hadn’t realized Ji-eun was sick every day.

She had never considered what the combatants did and how much they fought and suffered.

She had empathized with the Magical Girls while watching them fight, but she had never considered what it would be like to empathize with a combatant who got beaten up.

So, she didn’t know anything at all. She couldn’t even imagine it.

But—

That didn’t mean she couldn’t have thoughts at all.

Unexpectedly doing something she wouldn’t have, there had to be some intention behind filming the Magical Girls as soon as they moved.

Did they think the Magical Girls would lose? Or did they want to say something was wrong with demanding something while fighting?

“…”

The bus was almost at the site.

Or rather, if she had to get technical, it was quite some distance away. The restricted area was wider than expected.

Receiving the uneasy gaze of the bus driver, Ji-hye quickly jumped off and ran.

This is weird.

Even with how wide the area is, it seemed odd there were still people hiding inside.

[Wait for about 30 minutes.]

Ji-eun’s demand being shown in the broadcast.

With no evidence whatsoever, Ji-hye felt something was going wrong.

Was Ji-eun going to lose her mind just thinking about Ji-hye?

With no way to help, Ji-hye was headed that way.

Whether she was going to help or just wanted to see their faces, Ji-hye kept running.

 

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