I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

---

Let’s not think that it’s manageable.

I was looking at the figure of 70 percent and thinking.

If I think even a little bit that I can manage, the percentage will drop. There’s a battery, but they don’t last long. The most important thing is to hold on for as long as possible.

Yeah, that’s the way to think. After all, even if I make full use of this aunt, I can’t beat Iris.

“What—”

Iris was startled when she saw me cutting through the beam.

67 percent.

Yeah, just seeing that makes it this way. Can’t I concentrate?

70 percent.

…As soon as I cursed myself, the figure rose. The numbers are really honest.

I ran forward.

Clack.

Iris seemed a bit taken aback for a moment, but soon regained her composure and pulled out the fuse.

The shell was loaded.

Good. Then it’s my turn.

Let’s see how far I can go with the circuit.

I thought of the ways I saw in the webtoon. Until now, I’d mainly been solidifying energy in the blade form because I thought it was the most effective among the methods presented in the webtoon.

If the circuit’s percentage drops, I can’t even attack when I get close to that magical girl anyway. At the very least, my ‘despair’ needed to be greater than the ‘hope’ those magical girls have.

What about now?

The fact that I could bear it implies similarity. In the webtoon, Iris’s hope circuit usually stayed around the 70 percent mark. When her mental state broke, it would drop down to about 50 percent.

Could it be that Iris uses the warp point technique for that reason? Given that she loses considerable firepower compared to Blossom, she’s found a way to create breakthroughs—get rid of the enemy before they can fight back.

I erased the blade that had been on my wrist.

And then, I extended my hand forward as if a laser was coming out of the circuit.

Iris had already finished aiming at me.

75 percent.

If I get hit like this, I’ll fly somewhere. No, maybe Iris has adjusted her power. Even if she just pushed me with magic, it would be enough to knock me out.

If I’m caught like this, my face would be recognized by Blossom too.

Thinking that made my heart race. What if Blossom, or rather, Ha-yoon, looked at me with a disgusted expression?

77 percent.

The battery was still full. Which one to choose?

Of course, it was the battery side. I can’t trust myself.

Bang!

At the same time Iris shot, I felt the recoil in my wrist. The suit did somewhat lessen the shock, but my arm still hurt like hell. It’s fine. I’m not broken yet.

73 percent.

…Seeing the value drop as I felt a little relieved just proves I was right not to trust myself.

Click.

I quickly moved the circuit and pulled out the battery. As soon as the circuit opened, black smoke rose. It was a burnt battery. I shook it off my arm and dropped it on the floor, then opened my suit pocket to take out another battery and reinsert it.

The battery was full. The figure was 70 percent. It kept dropping. That wasn’t good.

It seemed Iris’s attack was a warp point attack. If she had chosen to push me with magic, I might not have been able to withstand it and would have passed out.

Iris’s face showed confusion. Her gaze when looking at me wavered.

65 percent.

Seeing that face quickly calmed my heart.

This isn’t good.

I tried to think of a hopeless situation. If the value keeps dropping like this, I’d eventually give the upper hand to Iris, so I needed to think of it as unfavorable somehow—

“…….”

I couldn’t help but smile a little.

Ah, maybe I prefer the villain over the magical girl.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a coward. In truth, I also wanted to become a magical girl. Ji-hye might have been right. I could have possibly said something to Ha-yoon.

But…

…I’m just not that kind of person.

It’s how it has been since my previous life. No matter how hard I studied, as I got older, my grades fell. After going to university, and coming back from the military, maintaining a B grade became difficult.

My high school grades were solely based on my own hard work from my earlier memories, but that was it. If even slightly more difficult subjects came out, I would crumble. By second year, that would probably be the case.

To fix the broken parts of the orphanage. To give the kids one more snack.

Using that as an excuse, I followed the scouter that had spoken to me. And I became a rather unremarkable combatant. Just like my previous life where I was a little useless.

Even with a pretty face, I still ended up like this with the position of the protagonist’s childhood friend.

I’m hopeless.

72 percent.

Okay. I feel a bit more stable.

By the time Iris pulled out a fuse and aimed her gun at me again, I was already rolling to the side. I never believed the nonsense that a knife or bare hand combat was faster than a gun, but Iris’s rifle was certainly long. As I dashed forward, I rolled to the right just in time to narrowly avoid the laser.

I swung my fist.

“Gah?!”

Had she never allowed a proper attack from a combatant before? Iris screamed.

With that scream, I didn’t hesitate and unleashed the energy of the circuit—

“Hmph.”

Iris immediately stuck out her tongue at me and swiftly reached for the hem of her dress with her left hand.

“……Ah!?”

The skirt of Iris’s outfit was loosely bunched. Naturally, it didn’t appear to have a slit at first glance. If it did, it would make the design look off.

But Iris nonchalantly slipped her hand inside the hem.

…On the left side, there was likely a hidden garter with the fabric layered to create a slit.

That action was incredibly swift. She must’ve practiced it many times.

Bang!

I managed to block the attack at the last moment. I held my left arm up like a shield, releasing the battery’s energy. It was just a split second, but a black hemisphere-shaped barrier formed to block my front.

Bang! Bang!

I was able to block all three shots. The handgun looked like an automatic pistol that one could hold in one hand. I could see small fuses popping out every time I pulled the trigger.

Given the size of the gun, it seemed like it didn’t have warp point functionality, so I wouldn’t be flying off somewhere weird.

Clang!

After blocking those three shots, the battery was ejected automatically. Amidst the slight surprise of the circuit heating up—

“……Ack!?”

My scream, distorted through the helmet, escaped.

Thud, thud.

I was hit in both shoulders by bullets made with pure mana. The suit’s defense felt better than the bodysuit I wore previously, so the pain was a bit less. But I still felt a punch similar to a boxing player lightly hitting me with gloves. Well, I wouldn’t really know if it was as powerful as the real deal since I’ve never boxed before.

As I stepped back, Iris also jumped back. Looking again, she still hadn’t come down to the ground.

Cowardly… I shouldn’t say that. In all fairness, we were probably being the ones acting cowardly.

The moment I reached into my pocket, Iris aimed her rifle at me.

I threw my body towards the ground.

78 percent.

When the helmet hit the ground, my head shook violently inside. I didn’t have time to feel pain. I rolled to the side as quickly as I could, barely making it to hide around a corner.

I swapped out the battery.

…This was the last battery. After using this one, I would have to fight purely relying on the circuit’s power. 81 percent. Good. Even if it felt a bit off that it only rose in situations like this, it was efficient in a way. After all, it would help in survival.

Iris was humming a tune.

That was a sign that she was angry. It was a habit that appeared in the webtoon, and I had come to loathe it since coming to this world.

Iris, who wanted to appear mature but has childlike impressions and habits instead, thought that blatantly getting angry made her look childish.

So, she hides her emotions. Like pretending to be ‘in a good mood.’ The relaxed behavior shown on normal days was the same.

…Iris wanting to kill me also stemmed from the fact that I sometimes teased and flustered her like before.

No, but how did she really notice this time?

81 percent.

What should I do?

Should I escape here? However, the direction this way bent off into a place I didn’t know. I had just come into this newly clean area after running towards Iris.

There weren’t even any combatants around. Did they all end up in Iris’s hands?

“…….”

I looked at the other side.

Iris was facing straight down the corridor.

Over here lay a few collapsed combatants. It seemed like some of them were wriggling like worms on the floor and were still conscious.

There were a few hiding spots visible in the corridor.

If I ran that way, the possibility of escaping—

—was almost zero.

84 percent.

…But, honestly, this didn’t seem too bad for me.

Even if a furious Iris launched a chunk of pure mana at me, I could block it at least once with my still-full battery, and if she used the warp point magic, it might be better to take it head-on and get shot out.

If I could dodge or block both and get inside, there should be a fallen officer there.

If I freed the officer, at least I could claim I was moving for my magical girl friend to some extent.

82 percent.

No way.

I had taken too long. My emotions were gradually stabilizing. The tranquility of the mind tends to accelerate with the passing time. I needed to make a decision right now.

…Okay.

I closed my eyes for a moment and immersed myself in thought, then made up my mind.

After all, I didn’t feel like I could find an exit even if I ran alone.

Without needing to think any further, I burst out directly into the open.

“There!”

Iris shot her gun at me.

I rolled on the ground with all my strength. I felt a hot wave just next to me.

Click.

I heard the sound of a fuse dropping on the ground. Had Iris loaded a shot while I was hiding? She immediately turned her muzzle towards me.

With the energy charged in the suit, I dashed forward with all my might.

At the same time, I spent the battery’s energy to create a barrier and scatter the laser.

The battery slipped out of my wrist.

A door was visible ahead.

68 percent.

Due to the energy used by the suit, and the fraction of hope I felt, the figure dropped slightly. Once it started to decline, the numbers kept falling at an increasingly rapid pace.

I just need to get there.

I just need to get there.

Ahead was a door forced open. It was similar to the door I’d opened before, and it was opening in almost the same way.

Beyond it, there lay an officer who was tied up. They were on the ground but struggling to raise their head as they looked my way.

61 percent.

I made a blade appear from my arm.

From behind, I faintly heard the sound of a shot being loaded in Iris’s rifle.

Before I could touch the door—

“…….”

Inside, I saw a shade of pink.

That pink-haired kid was glaring at me.

That child looked as if they had forgotten how to be angry, so at first glance, it didn’t seem like a truly furious expression.

But I knew. After spending a few years together, I had learned it numerous times.

This was the expression Blossom had when she was truly furious to the tips of her toes.

I had faced magical girls multiple times up until now, but Blossom had never shown an expression this angry so far.

……Could it be that she was mad about us invading their base without permission?

—Beep beep beep beep beep beep!

I turned my gaze.

Over there was something that had almost been destroyed.

I saw it in the webtoon. The company had come to destroy it but failed.

The ultimate objective they sought to destroy in this operation.

That was the generator.

Clearly installed illegally, and even the state was aware of its existence, but there was a reason they weren’t trying to demolish it.

It was the embodiment of twisted utilitarianism and the ultimate goal of the existence known as a ‘magical girl.’

“Hurry, help me!”

The officer cried out.

…Well, the company’s intention of destroying that probably wasn’t so they could break away from that unreasonable utilitarianism.

Rather, they just wanted to demonstrate that their way was more efficient. Since there wouldn’t be a response until that one thing got destroyed in the Eun-ha Federation’s method.

It was far more complicated.

“……Why go that far? Are you trying to crush the last hope we have?”

Blossom spoke.

Even as she said that, the weapon in her hand was charging with mana.

What Blossom held was a ‘wand’ for magical girls.

Something that would be about the size of a ‘wand,’ with stars and hearts at the tip.

It was far more magical girl-like than a gun or gauntlet.

And that’s why it was extremely dangerous.

A wand shaped like a flower, that at first glance might even resemble a bouquet. No, the shape itself must have imitated a bouquet.

Beep beep beep beep!

93 percent.

……Impressive.

Just receiving Blossom’s gaze made it like this. It wasn’t simply the figure rising; my heart felt like it was about to explode.

Scary.

I was scared of Blossom. Of the thought that my helmet would break from that attack and my face would be exposed.

And at the same time, I was feeling another negative emotion as well.

……That negative emotion was followed by yet another negative emotion, and just like when I try to find my peace of mind, the despair circuit was exponentially spiraling out of control.

“Hey!”

The officer shouted.

If I fought with Blossom here, I had no chance of winning. So, there was only one method left.

I immediately bent down and grabbed the officer.

“Good—Ugh!?”

Then I ran towards Iris from behind using him as a shield.

“Wait a second!?”

Maybe she was trying to have some kind of dialogue, but it was too late. The ever-increasing circuit value crossing 90 percent was back up again. The suit could unleash explosive power without a battery.

“Ugh!?”

With my face and mouth filling with air, the officer looked warped.

“……What!?”

Thinking of me as a rat in a cage, Iris suddenly approached, but upon seeing me rushing towards her, she was startled.

I hurled the officer at Iris with all my strength.

“What are you doing!?”

The officer screamed as he flew off.

“Gyaah!?”

Good thing the officer wasn’t good-looking.

As the officer flew towards Iris with pinpoint accuracy, what would Iris think upon seeing his face up close?

Iris, acting cool and maintaining her composure, was because she couldn’t keep her own calm.

She hurriedly lifted her gun.

“Iris, wait!!”

Blossom shouted, following right behind me, but it was already too late. Iris had loaded the next fuse and was now shooting at me.

I leaped into that beam.

The officer and I were hit by that beam in unison.

After a pain that felt like my entire body was being hit—

—I succeeded.

Seeing the scene in front of me change, I sighed in relief.

And then I rolled on the ground.

“Cough! Ugh! Hah!”

The officer made strange sounds as he rolled on the ground.

I was still in much better shape than that.

Since I grabbed the officer’s collar at the end, we both landed on the same spot.

“What, who throws an officer right in front of a magical girl!?”

Then, when he looked up and saw that we had completely escaped from that chaos, he seemed at a loss for words.

“……Is this your first battle with a magical girl?”

I asked him while pulling the blade out from my wrist.

The rope that bound the officer was enhanced by magic. It couldn’t be easily cut with just a cutter.

“U-uh…”

Yeah, I thought so. After all, it was his first appearance in the webtoon, and even after being captured, he didn’t have much information to give.

He was probably a throwaway pawn sent in to figure out the internal structure.

Even though he was called an officer, every officer had their own role.

James was an officer who, despite looking like that, held a fairly high position in combat-related matters. He made sure of completing their objectives no matter what, and would do anything in his power to avoid being captured.

There were also parts about technical matters and management strategy. Usually, he didn’t get along well with other officers.

Roles like the antagonist officer in special effects who would say that he was better than James, would go and laugh at them after being humiliated.

When I untied the shining rope, the officer stood up and looked at me with a somewhat awkward expression.

Then he scratched his head.

“Um, thanks?”

“Don’t mention it.”

To be honest, I had only used him to escape.

I brushed myself off.

“……”

I was intact. Unlike the last time we fought, I didn’t seem to have any broken parts.

This is incredible.

40 percent.

Maybe because it had been a while since I felt good, the despair value dropped a bit compared to normal.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“I’m going home.”

“In that state?”

“Gotta either walk or run, one or the other.”

I spoke refreshingly.

Yeah. I couldn’t win again this time.

I couldn’t win, but I could at least deal a good blow. Iris definitely looked flustered.

Seeing Blossom’s face was a little fatal though.

…….

Yeah, probably, the emotion I felt looking at that face was jealousy.

She is the protagonist of this world. Unlike me, who doesn’t even appear in the main story as an extra.

“Well, I’ll be off then.”

“Uh, uh… sure?”

I lightly bowed towards the somewhat befuddled officer and ran off.

This time, it was the mountains.

But at least I’m thankful it was still in Seoul.

……It’s a bit dark, but I shouldn’t die even if I roll a bit in these clothes?

 

---