READ NOVEL ONLINE Monsters, kaiju, or weirdos—each media has its own name for them.
Regardless of what they are called, once they’ve been subdued, they scatter into the sky along with the blooming magical powder.
“Ha, just you wait next time!”
The hallmark of magical girl comics and animations aimed at children.
The enemies never truly back down.
Just a moment ago, this black-furred beast was trembling in fright, but as it realizes it won’t die, it quickly regains its confidence.
Trying to issue threats while stuck under a chair is hardly intimidating when it can’t even muster the strength to get up.
“Yeah, come on then…”
Its expression nearly concealed by a mask, it speaks dismissively while crossing its legs.
The words are laced with uncertainty… as if to imply it’s unclear what will happen next. Just before the fur chair completely vanishes, it lifts its bottom.
Once the kaiju disappears, the shadows of the citizens, previously unseen, begin to emerge.
“Sun! Let’s hurry and run away!”
“Yay, yay.”
Following Siyeon’s voice, I leapt forward, tapping the front of my shoes on the ground.
It’s an unspoken rule of magical girl stories.
You have to escape before getting swarmed by questions from the citizens.
In a modern society overflowing with CCTV, no way would anyone be anonymous if they conducted an investigation…
But hey, that’s just an unavoidable flaw of this world.
Thinking too deeply is a waste.
After bumbling my way home,
I trudged over to the bunk bed in the dark corner of the room.
“Aagh, I’m dying.”
A habitual complaint slipped out.
Not even feeling like climbing the stairs, I collapsed onto Siyeon’s bed on the first floor.
I picked up the smartphone that had been plugged into the charger, immersing myself in waves of information as if I’d completed my daily tasks.
The frequency of kaiju appearances is between zero and two a day.
At least having a fixed frequency like this means if I manage to hunt at least one, I can generally take it easy for the day.
On my smartphone, I browsed through a few amusing webtoons that update on specific days.
And explored various communities.
“Magical girl, gallery…”
There are many different places, but the gallery is the one I often visit most.
Most users are just ordinary people.
The topic of conversation is mostly about magical girls.
Regardless of how things may seem, it’s a place where people with common discussion topics gather.
[Isn’t it strange that there are so many CCTVs in South Korea but not a single magical girl is known? (3)]
[I saw a real magical girl; drop some hints. (12)]
[Kaiju are aliens for real, I’m telling you. (2)]
Just watching these humans feels like observing animals from the other side of a zoo enclosure.
I don’t post or comment.
They’re generally aggressive people, so it’s best to just watch from a distance.
[Honestly, isn’t Moon somewhat possible?]
“Huh?”
I couldn’t resist clicking on a title that was irresistible, lightly tapping it with my thumb.
After a moment’s loading that filled the white screen with spinning, the result was…
[The post either does not exist or has been deleted.]
“What could have been written…?”
My fingers naturally navigated to the gallery management history.
The title was something like, “Isn’t Moon somewhat possible?”
The reason for the block was…
[Mother-fking pedo bastard.]
“Dammit.”
Just from seeing the reason, I could guess the content, staring blankly at the black text that had gone cold.
I then clicked on the ‘concept posts’ section on the right side of the nutrient-free posts.
Here were the posts that had received many recommendations—funny or relatable posts entrance this section.
[I saw a real magical girl; drop some hints. (18)]
The post I saw earlier in the general section.
It seems to have gained a lot of recommendations.
Could it be that in this sloppy world, a magical girl has been exposed? I was curious, so I clicked on the post…
And there it was, a large photo of a man wearing a bank robber’s mask.
From the look of it, it seemed like a photo taken somewhere overseas.
“What is this nonsense?”
Along with my confusion, I scrolled down with my thumb, reading more under the image…
[Isn’t this Sun? Just asking.]
“Damn this b*tch.”
A youthful voice came out that didn’t match the harsh words.
Siyeon, who was in the kitchen, must have faintly heard my voice, as she poked her head out to ask.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing—”
“Ugh, ha….”
It sounded like someone was trying to suppress laughter, which was not pleasant.
Somewhere along the way, the bear cub sitting next to me had also started peering at the screen.
Knowing it shouldn’t laugh, it was struggling to hold in its giggles.
I was suddenly in a foul mood from that unpleasant sound.
“Hey, you think this is funny?”
“Ugh.”
“Let me laugh a bit too.”
Grabbing the bear’s head with my unexpectedly small hand, I lifted it from the bed, planting it against the peeling wallpaper.
I’m sure it’s feeling a chill running down its back right now.
“P-please don’t do that!”
“Blame your annoying mouth.”
The place where the wallpaper was peeled revealed gray cement.
Without any mercy, I rubbed its head right into that spot.
“Aaaah—!”
Letting out a scream that no cute mascot should emit, the fluffy limbs flailed around, but…
As a certain game would say, the effect seemed minimal.
It felt like its head had loosened a bit as it was rubbed against the cement wall.
Looking at the now droopy bear cub, it seems like a stitch in the back of its head has popped.
I tossed it casually onto the living room floor and flopped back down onto the bed.
“Now things are a bit quieter.”
“That’s too much….”
Siyeon seemed quite shocked, staring blankly at the bear’s rear, fluff peeking out from the back of its head.
Even though it looked like that, it would probably return to normal in no time as if nothing had happened.
A creature not worth worrying about?
Though I’m not even sure if I should call it a creature.
“Oh.”
A rumble echoed from Siyeon’s belly.
As common as it is to hear someone else’s stomach growling, I turned on my smartphone while lying on the bed, even though I wasn’t hungry.
The delivery app I’ve been relying on nearly every day.
No matter how well-equipped the place is, we’re just two elementary school students.
Even if there is a kitchen, what can we possibly cook with these tiny hands?
“What do you want to eat?”
“Chicken…?”
“What flavor?”
“Soy sauce….”
“Then let’s order fried soy sauce half and half.”
With skilled taps, delicious items were added to the cart.
Regardless of the taste, just for one chicken, the added prices for boneless and soy sauce chicken alongside the delivery fee came out to a whopping 26,000 won.
Why in the world does it cost nearly 30,000 won for just one chicken?
A sigh and some swearing slipped out involuntarily.
“Ugh, this world is crazy….”
While grumbling, I hit the order complete button.
Waiting for the delivery of our chicken, I rummaged through the fridge.
“Oh.”
Just then, I sighed a short sigh, realizing I had forgotten something important from the fridge.
As soon as I opened it, Siyeon approached me with a question.
“What’s wrong?”
“No cola….”
Since I hadn’t ordered a set menu, I figured we might get some pickled radishes with the chicken, but the soda would hit us in cans.
Both suited to our little bodies, we didn’t consume much…
“Still, one can would be nice….”
“I’ll go buy it; make sure to receive the chicken when it arrives.”
“Okay!”
Hearing Siyeon’s proactive response, I dragged my slippers outside.
The convenience store is about a 5-minute walk from our apartment.
Thinking of a large mart would be grossly expensive, but there isn’t a suitable grocery store nearby, so this is the best option when in a hurry.
“Sure is pricey….”
3200 won for just a 1.25-liter bottle of cola.
At this price, ordering it as an addition on delivery would be cheaper.
By now, the delivery motorbike had likely already left, and there was no other option.
“That’ll be 3,200 won.”
“Three thousand…two hundred won….”
I pulled out crumpled bills and coins from my wallet and handed the exact amount to the part-timer.
Clutching the cola bottle tightly to avoid excessive shaking, I exercised extreme caution.
Back in my room with the cola bottle, it seemed the chicken had not yet arrived, as I couldn’t smell the strong scent of oil.
“Still not here?”
“Yeah….”
Siyeon’s downcast expression further poked at my chest.
Chicken is not normally a food that takes this long to arrive.
Did something happen during the delivery?
Lost in thought, I subconsciously peered at the smartphone screen, which was turned on.
Did an alert come through or something? I gently pressed the protruding button on the right side to light up the display.
A few missed calls.
Were they the calls that came when I was holding the cola bottle?
“Uh….”
“Shh, shut up you filthy animal.”
Deciding to hear the bear cub’s story later, the current situation was more pressing.
This time, as I dialed back the piled missed calls, it was, of course, the chicken shop.
“Hello.”
“Ah, yes. You’re the one who ordered chicken, right?”
Flustered by the youthful voice on the other end, the male caller asked again.
“Yes, that’s me.”
I reiterated firmly to confirm. Then, the owner began explaining the contents of the missed calls piling up.
“Well… we ran into a bit of an issue during delivery, so the rider can’t get to you right now.”
“Th-There’s a kaiju nearby….”
The voice that overlapped from the smartphone with the bear cub’s grew increasingly maddening.
Just when I was relieved that I could relax after hunting one,
Not only was another one appearing, but it was also disrupting my precious time.
“If it’s resolved, the delivery will still come, right?”
“Ah, yes… it should be.”
Hitting the call end button, I clicked my tongue in frustration.
“Tsk.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Just get ready to receive the chicken; I can handle it alone.”
As I told Siyeon that, I took the mask out of the closet and flipped it on.
For sure, I won’t go easy on that bastard who dared to interrupt my quiet afternoon chicken time.