The Strongest, but the Genre Is Magical Girl

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After spitting out that traditional word that even a Chinese person could understand, a chaotic wave of angry Chinese words rushed in just as I expected.

That clueless kid was soon taken back to his seat by the Chinese interpreter, who returned from the bathroom.

He kept bowing his head repeatedly, but honestly, it felt less like he was being considerate or worried and more like…

“Look at that sneering gaze.”

I felt like I had taken a step back with my immature child, scared of potential international issues.

Thinking about it, while I have no memories of seeing reports about Chinese magical girls on TV, I might have noticed if it were the US or Japan.

Korea has various names, Japan has colors, and America has all sorts of items.

I was roughly aware of those, but China…?

As the question I had suddenly grew bigger, I subtly posed it to the interpreter uncle sitting next to me, even though it felt awkward.

“By the way, what do they call magical girls in China?”

“Approved magical girls are named directly by the Chinese police. That kid over there is called Huang Jin Nü in China, which roughly translates to Golden Girl in Hangul.”

“What kind of name is that?”

Even after hearing the explanation, I couldn’t grasp the odd naming sense and felt a bit uncomfortable with the word ‘approved’ in a magical girl context.

Wait, so are there illegal magical girls who aren’t approved?

And why on earth would she have such a bizarre name as ‘Golden Girl’?

That question was quickly resolved.

“Well, Chinese people really like the color gold, and there’s also the Golden Shield.”

According to the interpreter, yellow… specifically, golden is something that Chinese people are fond of.

There’s also the Golden Shield, a symbol of China’s government’s information censorship and surveillance policy.

Honestly, what happens in another country is none of my business, but I only learned about this from the interpreter just now.

From their perspective, it seems like the name Golden Girl was created with all sorts of good connotations mixed in.

Honestly, I thought it was a nickname that shouldn’t be given to a girl.

As expected of China, from the name of the magical girl to the hidden stories, the red madness of communism felt rich and heavy.

The interpreter uncle’s explanation didn’t end there; he continued with a meaningful muttering and an uneasy expression.

“Well, that magical girl from earlier is rated the strongest among the approved magical girls in China…”

The part about ‘approved magical girls’ was emphasized as if it held great importance.

Interpreting the hidden meaning in his words, I could understand that there must be a stronger magical girl in an unapproved state lurking around somewhere, at least stronger than that foolish idiot.

“Aha…”

A quietly exhaled sigh of deep understanding.

With that brief exchange and the help of a search engine, I could quickly grasp the situation of magical girls in China.

China, wary of the emergence of individuals with overwhelming power.

Not surprisingly, there had been a slew of news criticizing the capture of magical girls not affiliated with the government, labeling them all as anti-communist conspirators just recently.

Things had really gone off the rails.

“By the way, how do they expect you to find and capture monsters?”

“Well, I’m not sure? I’m just here as an interpreter, after all.”

‘This isn’t going to be easy…’

From the interpreter’s response, it seemed like the next two weeks in the Arctic wouldn’t be a walk in the park either; she closed her eyes, frowning after that fifteen-hour flight.

The next day of that journey, as one magical girl was resting in Moscow…

“Grrr-!”

Another magical girl was quietly waking up in her room, blinking her eyes.

It was 11:31 AM.

No one was going to scold her for sleeping late since she’d fallen asleep at 2 AM.

As soon as she woke up, Siyeon stretched her arms up high and lazily yawned.

After drawing until dawn and feeling drowsy, she had crawled into bed and fallen asleep without noticing.

From the effort of using her arms late into the night, her small shoulders felt heavy.

Siyeon’s mascot, Baemi, who had been sleeping under the cushion beneath the bed, matched her eye level with a mixed sound of a satisfied stretch.

“Did you wake up?”

“Yeah…”

She nodded in response to the familiar voice.

The house felt quieter than usual.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she stepped out of her room while mumbling towards Mari’s room.

“Mari, where’s the massager?”

Mari’s room was about fifteen steps away from her own.

The room appeared slightly emptier than the day before, and there was an absence of someone’s presence, as if no one had been there for the day.

“Mari went out yesterday, didn’t she?”

Upon hearing that outburst, Baemi stepped out of the room and suggested subtly, ‘Ah, she said something about going to the Arctic…’

Thinking that her mind was still a bit hazy, Siyeon padded softly towards the kitchen.

There was no one to scold her for sleeping late, yet she still automatically expected things to be as they always were.

How embarrassing to ask such a loud question in an empty room…

Feeling a rush of heat to her face, she muttered,

“Oh, I forgot… What should I eat for breakfast?!”

To forget her embarrassment just a little, she quickly changed the subject and opened the refrigerator.

Inside the refrigerator, there were slices of ham and Vienna sausages ready to wrap around rice.

Additionally, there were quail eggs preserved in glass containers, jellied japchae that had hardened, and a small pot of curry left over.

All of these were foods prepared by Mari right after the winter break.

She had prepared these to avoid relying on cup noodles and takeout.

“Haha.”

Despite the abundance of food, she wriggled down and crawled under the dining table, where she grasped a cylindrical something in the darkness.

It was one of the various types of instant noodles.

If Mari saw her, she would probably say, “Why are you eating that when there’s rice and side dishes?”

But what can you do? You crave what you crave.

For the first meal of the day, it had to be instant noodles.

When she did this at home instead of while traveling, it felt oddly sinful.

First, she filled the coffee pot with filtered water and pulled the button down with a click.

As the loud “Koooonn” sound echoed from the coffee pot, she scampered back to the room to hit the power button on her computer.

The computer started with a hum and beeping as it powered on.

What kind of drawing shall I make today?

It would be nice to draw something new, but I need to practice coloring more; I’m still not perfect at shadowing.

While she was contemplating her first drawing of the day, a clattering sound came from the kitchen.

The coffee pot made a dull noise, signaling that the water had boiled.

She tilted the kettle over, pouring water up to the indicated line onto the curled noodles she’d sprinkled the seasoning on earlier.

The moment she bent the lid of the instant noodles to fit it snugly, she heard,

“Siyeon, did you pour water already?”

“Uh? Yeah.”

Suddenly, Baemi spoke up.

She seemed to have a troubled expression, as if there was something she wanted to ask.

A brief “Hah” escaped her lips.

With that expression, it was too obvious what was coming next.

“Um, I think monsters are going to come out…”

“Uh? R-right now?”

She was caught off guard, her voice unsteady, fingers pointing aimlessly into the air.

Anxiously gazing at the cup noodles she’d just poured boiling water on, she fidgeted.

Her hair was sticking out in a disheveled manner, and she did not look great.

With Mari not around, the monsters in Incheon were all hers to deal with.

Without having eaten or washed up, she grabbed the clothes scattered on the floor and slipped into them, finishing her preparations to head out.

She pressed her unkempt hair down with a coat’s hood while rubbing her sleepy eyes with her thumb.

After almost throwing on her sneakers from the shoe rack, she stepped painfully onto the once-firm heel that had grown limp from wear.

‘If I take too long, the noodles are going to swell up…!’

Siyeon was in a hurry, but the cooking time for instant noodles is typically around 2 to 3 minutes.

No matter how skilled she was as a magical girl named Sun, even she took an average of 3 to 4 minutes to handle monsters.

Unless there was a deliberate delay, her sparkling record was below five minutes altogether.

Being a magical girl Moon, the process inevitably took a bit longer than that of an expert.

The total time it took her to defeat a monster and return was 7 minutes and 39 seconds.

That was more than enough time for the regular noodles to swell like a sponge.

It seemed too wasteful to throw them away and too unpleasant to eat…

So she had no choice but to mix the soggy instant noodles with rice.

Then, by adding the preserved quail eggs on top, she stuffed her mouth full of the bloated noodles mixed with the distinctive flavors of instant ramen soup.

Thus, Siyeon was having the most unappetizing first meal in the world.

Noticing her friend’s plight, Baemi seemed to feel a twinge of guilt and quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry, I should have noticed sooner…”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault…”

The idea of “if only I had noticed sooner” was meaningless now that it had already happened.

Of course, it wasn’t the mascot’s fault either, and she spoke while loading a spoon with bloated noodles and rice.

Then, using chopsticks, she placed a quail egg, stained with the color of soy sauce, onto the spoon piled high with food, shoving it into her mouth while she chewed.

The act of chewing became slower and slower with each bite.

“Ugh, I really hate it when monsters ruin my meals.”

With that, the complaint mixed with resentment of a magical girl whose potentially delicious first meal was ruined echoed lonely in the air.