I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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Pang-pang had been thinking this was how it would turn out.

How could she possibly win against a Magical Girl?

She had never won before. To be more precise, she had never even managed to land a hit.

But still, it didn’t feel completely awful.

Because she liked Magical Girls.

And because they were friends. So, she thought it wouldn’t matter too much if she lost.

In fact, she didn’t want Noir Corporation to win at all.

But today, everything had finally come crashing down.

She tried to avoid being found out. The thought of running away was ultimately because she didn’t want to be discovered as a Combatant.

She wished she had spoken up first, she thought.

Ji-eun might have understood. After all, they had been winning consistently up until now. Noir Corporation was plotting something serious, but it wasn’t something that would easily come to fruition. Since they had never truly won, Ji-eun might not have taken it too seriously.

That was until the last incident.

The incident where they sent a fake mother to Ji-eun. Ji-eun claimed they didn’t mean to deceive her, but it was only natural to not forgive the Noir Corporation for manipulating things behind the scenes.

Besides, today—

They had exploited the opportunity of attacking Ji-eun’s home, where her family was, to snatch away what Ji-eun was trying to protect.

In the midst of it all, she had been caught.

Only now did it start to make sense. Why James had appeared now. Why he had put forth such conditions. …In fact, those conditions didn’t really matter at all. After all, Pang-pang had never stood a chance at winning.

Rather, rather.

In that last moment, what if she had just said everything? What if she had knelt and begged?

…….

But even that, Pang-pang didn’t want.

Pang-pang—she just wanted to remain friends. Even though she didn’t have much, just a friend she could chat joyfully with when they met.

……That must have been greedy.

Even when she could have quit, she had been the one trying to earn even a penny more. The mess this turned into was ultimately her own fault.

She was out of breath. Probably running faster than she ever had in her life.

Where should she run to? She couldn’t face Ji-eun right now. Maybe it would be better to spend more time apart and meet again later?

Really.

Right now, if only the Circuit could move, it would have surely been spinning energetically.

*

Is it my fault?

I thought nervously.

Just a short while ago, things were fine. Whether I was a Magical Girl or the protagonist.

After all, none of the kids around liked me. We had fun when we could, threw parties on anniversaries. Sometimes we played games or had competitions.

Even the fight with Noir Corporation was just something I thought would end once we fought as much as we could.

Anyway, the story was originally a gag webtoon with standalone episodes, and even in the slightly serious serialized version, it proceeded without a clear main story.

I know that in reality, there are no stories that proceed while time remains fixed like that. But because of that, I thought it wasn’t too bad. If I spent my days going through the same routine, life would live itself.

I wanted to earn a lot of money, go to university, become truly independent, and maybe change jobs to something a bit more stable if possible…

I wanted to live like that.

But the one who had put me in this situation didn’t seem to agree with that thought.

Did they want to say that me living like that was wrong? That I didn’t fit in with the protagonist, making everyone around me miserable one by one?

Ji-hye was anxious. Because something like that had happened in a life where she could live peacefully because of me. Moreover, the person who appeared claiming to be “my” mother looked somewhat like Ji-hye. If that person really was Ji-hye’s mother… what reaction would Ji-hye show? It was hard to imagine.

Pang-pang felt the same.

If it hadn’t been for me, wouldn’t she have been able to live a normal life on Earth? The only difference she gained from knowing me was just having a friendship with a Magical Girl.

Instead, she had probably ended up in such a situation while standing up for me.

So—was it my fault?

Down below, I saw Pang-pang’s figure growing distant. She kept running, as if there was nothing there.

This was the side of Pang-pang I hadn’t seen until now.

……I see.

That’s why she always stayed until the end.

Because it was a duel with us—

“Ji-eun!”

Ha-yoon called out, hurrying to catch up from behind.

“…….”

But she couldn’t say anything after that.

What should we do here?

Should we catch Pang-pang?

If we catch her, what do we say?

We can’t exactly ask why she was doing that all this time. Pang-pang was that troubled.

To earn money, she must have done whatever it took. In that respect, her job as a Combatant was actually a legitimate line of work.

“……Let’s go.”

I said.

No.

I couldn’t let her go like this. Somehow, I had to go and resolve this misunderstanding.

Even though we hadn’t known each other long, a friend was still a friend. At least, Pang-pang surely felt that way.

Ha-yoon raced ahead, following my words, diving toward the fleeing Pang-pang—

But right after that.

Combatants sprang out around us in droves.

Were there this many Combatants? The number we faced each time rarely exceeded twenty.

“Pang-pang!”

I shouted without thinking. I tried to run toward her, but a net flew over my head. It wasn’t just any net. It was a net created specifically to catch Magical Girls, or originally designed to capture Aliens.

Why?

Pang-pang was just a Combatant. She had never acted as the team leader of the Combatants during fights.

But why? Why were so many people out here to save just one Pang-pang?

I swung my hammer in brief confusion. The hammer, surrounded by magical energy, could easily melt such nets. Ha-yoon, who swooped down almost simultaneously, swatted the net away with her Wand.

Pang-pang’s figure got lost among the Combatants. From a distance, I couldn’t see any scratches on the Helmet.

“…….”

I heard gunfire from behind. Jua was shooting down nets aimed at us. Yeon-woo, who joined us a bit late, also blew away a net with magic.

Chae-yeon and Seo-hee seemed to be guarding that area still.

“……I see.”

I gripped my hammer tightly and raised it.

Then, I struck the ground powerfully.

“Ji-eun!”

Ha-yoon shouted.

But right now, I couldn’t just stand aside.

I wanted to talk. Why had it turned out this way? Why was she running, and why were the Combatants helping Pang-pang like this?

Some had already turned their backs to flee. Some others were running away as the formation broke.

But even so, I still couldn’t easily distinguish Pang-pang. I couldn’t see her visor from behind.

I leaped powerfully. Then I soared ahead of the formation. A few more nets came flying in, but this time I managed to dodge since I already knew. In fact, several launchers had been disabled by Jua and Yeon-woo’s magic.

……Is this okay?

Am I allowed to stray this far from the operational area and rampage against the Combatants trying to stop us? I wasn’t sure.

I just wanted to find Pang-pang.

But the more people fled, the harder it became to locate her. She was blending in among the crowd. Looking back, the Combat Suit Pang-pang wore and even her Helmet were all mass-produced items. If only she had worn a different Helmet, it would have been easy to spot her.

And as I thought, I discovered a Helmet rolling on the ground.

“……”

I walked over to it and bent down to pick it up. It was heavier than I expected. Perhaps it was heavier than the one I used in the military. Is it because it covers the whole face?

One side of the Helmet’s visor was shattered. Someone had struck it hard with something solid without holding back.

…….

It was me.

Pang-pang’s eyes were wide open as they were visible through the crack. As if she were seeing something terrifying.

And a little blood was also visible inside.

When I flipped the Helmet over, there was indeed blood smeared inside.

“……Hah.”

I didn’t even have the strength to say anything.

It felt like the blood that had been accumulating since earlier was flooding into my head all at once, making me dizzy.

So much had happened in just one day.

“Ji-eun.”

Ha-yoon cautiously spoke as she approached me, then stopped in her tracks upon seeing the Helmet I was holding.

“……Ha-yoon.”

I muttered softly.

“……What should we do now?”

Ha-yoon looked as if she didn’t know what to do either, staring blankly between the Helmet and my face.

I didn’t know.

Now my head wasn’t functioning well either.

What sort of article would come out tomorrow? How would the media talk about what I had done?

……And how would the Combatants be described?

It felt too tedious to think about.

Only two concerns kept surfacing—about Ji-hye and Pang-pang.

“……Let’s go back, Ji-eun.”

Finally, after Ha-yoon said that, I could nod my head.

 

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