I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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I hadn’t done any sneaking around for the past few years.

Usually, we’d only start moving after a combatant showed up.

On the flip side, whenever we moved, there’d always be a combatant following us. I had no clue where they picked up their intel.

Maybe it was because our outfits were that eye-catching… My outfit had a bit of that flair too, I guess.

“Alright, what should we do?”

Gangnam.

Even at midnight, people and cars were bustling around down below.

Maybe the lights were still on because the staff were working? Thinking about it made the dazzling lights of the city seem a bit gloomy and pale.

The convenience store and the bar with their lights on meant people were working there too.

Being a high school student, I couldn’t work in places like that yet. But if I hadn’t become a magical girl, maybe I’d have been scrambling around everywhere trying to make some living expenses as a college student.

Just like Pang-pang did.

…Pang-pang seemed to not be treated as a minor in this world either. It couldn’t be helped. In this country, or rather, on Earth, many countries that the Federation couldn’t fully control had inconsistent treatment of aliens.

If they were tourists with lots of money, fine. But those who came to make a living sometimes falsified their ages, and even if they declared they were minors, they were treated almost like adults due to misunderstandings.

“…….”

Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? If only I’d known from the start—

—known what?

Could I have done something to help Pang-pang? Maybe I approached her with that intention from the beginning.

No matter how much I thought about it, no clear answer came to mind.

I just hoped to meet Pang-pang during this fight.

“Are you worried?”

Ha-yoon asked.

“Well, yeah.”

I replied, looking down at the building from the roof of the adjacent one we were supposed to infiltrate.

“……So, shall we go?”

As I said that, the kids nodded their heads.

Everyone strapped on their circuits.

My circuit kept spinning nonstop. It wasn’t as vigorous as before, but at least it was proof that I hadn’t lost hope yet.

I felt a bit ironic.

Was it that the circuit spun to feel hope, or did I feel hope from seeing the circuit spin?

Light danced around my body, and my clothes slowly transformed. Although I wore clothes that exposed my skin, I wasn’t cold at all.

What I held in my hand was, as usual, a hammer.

At least, there was nothing better than this to blow the door apart to get inside.

“Let’s go.”

When I said that, the kids all nodded.

The atmosphere was serious, different from our usual lightheartedness.

At some point, our fight had turned from a neat brawl into a kind of mud fight.

*

BAM!

The alarm only sounded after I bust through the door with my hammer.

It was a loud noise reminiscent of a fire alarm.

Even if we smashed one of those alerting speakers, the alarms wouldn’t stop.

As soon as we barged in, combatants poured up from the rooftop like in a gangster movie.

But when they actually spotted us, they hesitated and froze, despite all holding firearms.

Could they really not have expected a magical girl to crash in?

“…….”

I scanned the combatants.

Yet, among those combatants, the kid I knew wasn’t anywhere to be found.

They had changed helmets, but I thought they would still show that unique, reckless look that was hard to hate.

At least, they shouldn’t be faltering in front of me.

It wasn’t just that I was their friend. They’d been like that even before I met Pang-pang.

“If you step aside willingly, there won’t be any injuries or pain.”

I said, stepping forward.

Usually, when I glare and say that, the combatants scatter in a panic. Being hurt doesn’t do anyone any good. After all, it’s not a job with guaranteed tenure, and they don’t get paid less for fighting poorly, so running away is the smart choice, right?

But the combatants in front of us didn’t budge at my words.

“Oh, you’re pretty brave.”

Seo-hee commented, but every combatant’s wrist had circuits spinning vigorously.

They all felt despair.

But at the same time, they weren’t giving up. That’s why their despair circuits were spinning.

I see. Perhaps, these guys are… should I say full-time employees? Or employees from headquarters?

They might not be people who earn little money, but rather those who get paid enough to fight adequately.

“I warned you.”

I said that while gripping my hammer.

I knew the people in front of me were ultimately ordinary folks.

But at the same time, I felt a strong aversion towards Noir Corporation.

In fact, I wasn’t sure which side invaded first.

Did I end up disturbing the perfectly normal Noir Corporation by becoming a magical girl?

Or did Noir Corporation start bothering me while I was minding my own business?

…But amidst all this, I could state one thing for sure.

Those bastards were looking down on me.

Because they harassed me in ways they couldn’t do to other magical girls.

So—

“If you think about running away in the middle, it’d be best to just flee without looking back.”

I said that and raised my hammer.

*

BAM!

The sound of breaking something isn’t exactly refreshing.

Instead, it’s more like an earache, a scratchy noise that grates on your nerves, and people screaming in terror, which is just annoying. Anyway, it isn’t a sound you’d want to hear.

The gun sounds in movies with lots of special effects are crisp and cool, but real gunfire feels like it’s piercing your eardrum, trying to shred it apart.

THUD!

The door fell forward with a grating noise.

They’d made it so thick and sturdy that the door was all bent up. It didn’t break until my hammer hit it, Yeon-woo’s magic struck it, and even Chae-yeon’s powerful magic hit it, causing it to completely splinter off its hinges.

Thankfully, there was no one on the other side. Everyone was smart enough to know their lives were precious.

With a thud.

I turned my shoulder and stepped inside, still holding the hammer in one hand. Whether it was our actions being broadcasted or from the desperate screams of office colleagues over the radio—

Or perhaps it was because dust was gathering on us, yet we looked too intact, that the combatants stumbled back.

Especially for me, despite wearing barely any clothing, I had no injuries at all.

I wasn’t completely unscathed. The bullets definitely hurt. They weren’t enough to inflict fatal wounds, though. But there’s no way we’d be taken down by that level of pain after facing several monsters already.

With every step I took, the tiles on the floor cracked. While running forward with the hammer’s head embedded in the wall, I’d inflict wounds, send combatants flying, and stir up a whirlwind.

Literally, I moved wildly according to my emotions.

Had I stored up more than I thought? Not only my opponent but even the kids following behind me fell silent.

But they didn’t give up their spot beside me.

Everyone stood by my side.

My hope was perhaps coming from these kids.

“…….”

As I pressed forward, I suddenly stopped.

The high-rise building had a structure that clashed with its surroundings, with a gaping hole in the middle.

On the surface, it looked like an ordinary building, but it seemed they’d deliberately left large spaces at least ten or more floors up to hide some massive structure.

Occupying that immense space was something with a U-shaped end… an antenna?

That tuning fork-shaped thing—

“……Generator?”

I heard someone say from behind.

We all turned our gaze in sync to that voice.

The one who muttered as she stared up dumbfounded at that massive structure was Jua.

Having been positioned at the back for cover, she slowly walked forward, wearing a somewhat dazed expression.

Jua’s outfit looked like a slightly modified version of mine. Among the magical girls, she was the one influenced by me the most.

And she was also the one who made the hammer I wielded.

Among us, she was the one with the most knowledge about engineering.

Hearing Jua mumble like that, we all couldn’t help but be astonished.

“So, that is…”

“Yes, it’s a generator that has magnified the circuits on our wrists… similar to what the Federation was trying to create.”

“But, the size.”

“……Yeah, it’s huge.”

Jua murmured.

“Such an important thing, right in the middle of Seoul.”

“……No, Ji-eun. It’s important, which is why they hid it in the middle of Seoul. No one could easily notice it in a building like this.”

Then how did the Federation discover such a precious hidden generator?

No, that wasn’t important right now.

“Could there be more of these?”

“No.”

Jua declared confidently.

“There couldn’t possibly be more. If they could mass-produce it, they would have made a lot already.”

“Then, the answer is simple.”

Seo-hee said while slapping her palm with a fist.

“We either smash it or… take away important parts. Right?”

“Exactly, that’s the only way.”

Yeon-woo said.

“Since they tried to trick us, let’s turn the tables and give them a real run for their money.”

Who started this whole mess in the first place, honestly, I’m not even sure anymore.

I swallowed those words.

Well, I guess it wasn’t something the one who was breaking everything inside should be saying, after all.

 

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