Once upon a time, when one magical girl was worried about her sleep at night.
Another magical girl, filled with excitement, took a taxi.
Traveling alone without Mary, Shiyeon embarked on her journey.
“Please take me to the comprehensive bus terminal!”
Sitting in the taxi, she repeated the destination name that Mary used to say every time.
The taxi fare calculations that Mary took care of, and the maps that Mary would always check alone.
This time, she had to do it all herself from beginning to end.
With half anticipation and half nervousness, she purchased her ticket at the terminal and got on the bus.
Though she had been there once during her elementary school years, Mary always took care of most things.
Moreover, unlike the quiet time back then, the bus was packed with people.
Could it be that everyone here is going to play a game?
‘It’s, uncomfortable….’
Looking at her assigned seat number, she found herself in the very back row.
She had simply sat in a free seat when she received her ticket, and it happened to be in the corner of the back row.
With a stranger already seated next to her, she instinctively hugged her bag in front of her and huddled down.
Unlike the car rides that the uncles would give her, she didn’t feel like getting off at the rest area.
She was worried about the bag in her arms and felt like if she went to the bathroom, the bus would leave without her, so she sat there, fiddling with her smartphone.
After two hours of just playing with her phone, the battery was already down to 62%.
A classmate in the chatroom who mentioned they were in Sokcho wasn’t someone she was particularly close to, making it awkward to reach out.
“Ah? It works, it works!”
At that moment, the bus suddenly became noisy.
What could possibly cause someone to say ‘it works’ in this situation, she thought…
There was no doubt, it was just one thing.
Quickly pressing the home button to exit the chatroom, she tapped on the game app labeled EW.
Before long, a map unfolded with the character at its center.
Characters that had never appeared at home started to show up one by one around her.
‘It works! Ah…’
But that was only for a moment.
As the bus started to pick up speed, the character that appeared around her quickly disappeared due to the rapid movement.
After about ten more minutes, the bus stopped at the Sokcho terminal, bringing back the faint scenery of that day.
What was different compared to that day was the number of people.
Here and there, people with their heads bowed were looking at their smartphones.
There were those who stood in the middle of the road, diligently tapping and swiping the screen of their phones, and those who would walk a few steps only to stop and swipe again.
“Ah, I caught it!”
“Ugh, why do you catch it so well!”
“Mom, look at this!”
“Oh, great job, where do we go next?”
“There!”
There were many people gaming with their friends or parents, and the surroundings were filled with game talk.
The bustling streets of Sokcho.
Likewise, Shiyeon kept her head bowed and walked while looking at her smartphone, beginning to catch one character after another as they appeared.
While engrossed in catching characters, she would glance around.
The nervous feeling of not knowing anyone nearby made her continuously check her surroundings.
She tried using items like growth stones and fruits found in the game, wandering around various spots for quite some time.
Losing track of time, while swinging between the streets and playing the game…
[Battery remaining 15%]
‘Oh?’
An unexpected battery alert slid down from the top of the screen.
She had connected a power bank, so why was it running low?
…When she checked the power bank, she realized it too was running low.
Looking around, there were still many people wandering with their phones, but the number had decreased significantly.
At that moment, she became aware of her surroundings and was filled with the thought that she needed to find accommodation quickly.
After searching for nearby accommodations on the map, she went in person but…
“Why is there no room?”
“It’ll be hard to find an available room during the peak season.”
“Oh no, if you haven’t found a room by now, you probably won’t.”
With the smartphone battery at 14%, then 13%…
As the numbers kept decreasing, her anxiety grew larger.
Breathing quickly, her mind was consumed with the thought that she needed to do something before her smartphone turned off.
Hastily, she dialed Mary’s number, bringing the increasingly hot smartphone to her ear.
Ring, ring.
The connecting tone felt exceptionally long that day.
“Hello?”
“Maryyyyy….”
Hearing the familiar voice on the other end, Shiyeon’s voice trembled as she began to cry.
At that late hour, the Sun was flying through the skies of Gunpo due to the alarm.
Wondering if she had arrived safely at her accommodation, a whiny voice coming through the phone made her freeze in mid-air.
“What’s wrong, Shiyeon? Are you lost?”
“It’s not that…”
“Mary, finish off the monster before we talk…”
The Gomtaengi interrupted the call, unable to prioritize what was important.
It seemed to imply that they could talk after dealing with the monster, but in reality, her acquaintance was a hundred times more important than some monster that was just going to get damaged on the road.
She momentarily covered the bottom of her smartphone where her voice came through with her fingertip and gave Gomtaengi a brief and clear reply.
“Shut up.”
Removing her finger from the smartphone, she pressed it back to her ear and spat out words again.
“What? Don’t cry, just take your time.”
“The accommodation, there are no available rooms…”
At that moment, she thought a huge problem had arisen, only to realize it was a call about her accommodation.
Grabbing her heart that felt like it might drop, she calmed herself and continued speaking.
“Have you checked anywhere else?”
“Yeah… three places.”
Shiyeon had checked out three accommodations.
Given that news had gone out about the gaming boom in their country which has a strict stance on video games, it probably wasn’t a usual occurrence…
If it had already made the news, it was likely around the peak time.
Finishing her brief thought, she shifted to express her willingness to help find accommodation and asked about Shiyeon’s location.
“Where are you right now?”
“Sokcho terminal…”
“Got it, hang up and wait for a moment.”
Click, the call was cut off by Shiyeon.
Wondering how anxious she must have been to call me while on a trip, I hurriedly opened the map app and pulled up a list of accommodations near the Sokcho bus terminal.
Standing still in the sky of Gunpo, I frantically tapped on my smartphone during that brief moment.
Along with Shiyeon’s feelings, the Gomtaengi, crossing its arms and hopping impatiently in the sky, silently pressed me.
Half a kilometer walking from the terminal, I found some decent accommodations and called the number listed.
On the other end of the smartphone, I heard the voice of an elderly woman.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. Is this X Motel?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Do you have any available rooms?”
“It’s a peak season, so it’s a bit pricey, 160,000 won for one night.”
The lady suddenly quoted 160,000 won for a regular motel room.
With summer vacation in full swing, it seemed they were abruptly doubling the price because of the news that this game was a thing.
‘Wow, these thieving bastards.’
Yet another instance where the business mindset trying to profit off the Olympic Games or World Cup is evident.
Swallowing the urge to curse that threatened to spill from my throat, I made an effort to remain calm and continued.
“I’ll reserve the available room right now. Shiyeon will be going, so please leave the bank name and account number at this number.”
After hanging up the phone, I deposited the funds for the bank name and account number that came through in a message and called Shiyeon again.
She must have been staring blankly at the dark smartphone screen because, before the call tone even rang once, a clicking sound was followed by her voice coming from the other side.
“Hello…”
“Hello, hey Shiyeon. If you search X Motel on the map app, there’s one accommodation about 500 meters away! Just head there, and they’ll tell you what floor it’ll be on if you mention the name.”
“Okay… I’m out of battery, so I’ll call when I get there…”
“Uh, let’s talk later—”
Click, just like that, a few minutes of tension-filled conversation ended.
Just like Shiyeon, feeling like her heart was being burnt, I instructed the Gomtaengi to guide me.
And so, arriving at the site of monster appearances in the urban center.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
As soon as the monster caught sight of me, it let out a scream like it had seen something it shouldn’t have.
‘Sorry about that.’
Scratching my head, I wore a somewhat awkward expression myself.
The cane, swinging in the air, caused its eyes to spin around.
Come to think of it… the last time they encountered a monster, they had said it felt like an excuse to come down to meet a celebrity.
From the monster’s perspective, it must feel like encountering a murderer wielding a chainsaw while trying to catch a glimpse of a celebrity.
Here, it was said that the magical girl had gone on a journey; there’s nothing that could be done.
“Just think of it as getting hit by a car…”
