“Right, I’m going straight home—”
“Yes—”
It’s 2 hours of talk, but if the club teacher is flexible enough, it can be wrapped up even sooner.
After smoothly finishing a club activity, I was on my way home.
Thinking of the snack that was stuck in the drink the teacher ordered, I stopped by the mart on my way back and bought a box of OXO.
Since I dropped by the mart, Shiyeon’s choice was a bag of corn snacks as she didn’t want to come back empty-handed.
After returning home, while Shiyeon was getting ready for her academy, I spent the time doing the piled-up laundry and cleaning the house.
“I’ll be back—”
“Oh, be careful, and have a good time.”
Click, as the front door closed, I was given a bit of free time in the quiet house.
Free time doesn’t mean there are any special activities at home.
It barely means I have enough time to mess with my smartphone that was confiscated at school from morning until afternoon.
Other than that, a bit of exercise, it felt like the waiting situation of a military standby unit.
After finishing my workout, I stretched my body like a cat, lightly wiped myself, and lay on the couch, focusing on my smartphone screen.
These days, I tend to browse humor boards at game cafes or various galleries.
Then suddenly, a post on the humor board caught my eye.
[(Repost) Updates on Resellers of Official Magical Girl Goods.jpg]
Unable to resist the title of the post, I pressed it and saw a large capture of a post from the second-hand trading board filling the smartphone screen.
Figures were lined up neatly in the photo.
An unsettling number and value that must have cost thousands in cash, along with the product description written below those photos.
[Official figure at 300pp each, negotiable down to 250 if you buy 2 or more]
And beneath that description was the resounding mockery from the humor board writer escaping the photo.
[Trying to salvage the principal at all costs LOL]
The internet was still buzzing with official Magical Girl goods.
The status of comments on that humor post was, undoubtedly, predictable.
[Serves you right, idiots LOL]
[That’s 300 LOL, good luck with that]
[I’m so satisfied LOL]
[Who’s threatening to make resellers hold a knife????]
[Isn’t this reportable if they post like this?]
It seems that as it carries the name of official goods, it has garnered attention in terms of low quality and price.
Even normal people with common sense were shaming the quality and price, but as the fact emerged that most of the quantities had passed to resellers…
Resellers became the subject of mockery not only among those interested in the goods but even those who weren’t interested in Magical Girl merchandise.
Especially with terms like “reseller” and “investment strategies,” the malicious deeds and frantic antics of those trying to escape from the ‘reseller’ recognition were suddenly exposed to the light.
Moreover, perhaps due to the karma they had built up, people sharpening their knives had also begun to take action.
[A report review on Magical Girl goods resellers.jpg]
A manual for reporting people reselling Magical Girl goods was spreading online, and actual reports were being posted occasionally.
Even in the realm of physical items where law enforcement typically hesitates to intervene.
As mentioned repeatedly, those goods are officially released by the government.
In other words, compared to ticket scalping or items purchased on other sites…
The procedures for reporting, receiving, and confiscation are very straightforward in legal terms and in many other areas.
Jokingly saying, “Did they lower the quality and raise the price like this to take down resellers?” the community’s joke finally gained credibility.
Goods worth several million won were recovered in one report, and there was even a method of randomly giving out goods to the reporter.
Thanks to that, fans could satisfy their fandom, while resellers suffered immense losses, leading this official goods venture to be evaluated in the community as one of the ‘few good things the government has done.’
In a way, only those who bought at retail price amid competition every second ended up feeling wronged…
“Excuse me? Can you not hear me?”
“Uh, uh?”
While I was happily engrossed in my smartphone for quite a while, Gomtaengi, who had come over at some point, spoke up.
The way he seemed to be questioning why I didn’t hear him raised a slight question in my mind as I tilted my head back.
It seemed he had called me at least once before asking if I could hear.
With a cold expression, he sat on the sofa armrest, resting his chin on his elbow and tapping his cheek with the tips of his fingers, wobbling his opposite leg, asking me.
“What’s so funny that you can’t even hear me?”
“It’s a report review on goods resellers, why?”
“It feels like a monster is going to show up, what are you going to do about that?”
“Ha… should I go or not?”
If a monster appears, it’s only natural for a Magical Girl to deploy.
But why was I sighing, contemplating whether to go or not?
‘If I don’t go, it stays as is, but if I go, it runs away… what should I do with these bastards?’
These monsters have been acting suspiciously lately.
When I finally flew to the appearance site, they often vanish as soon as they see me.
Starting to do this without any prior agreement or words, they now look like elementary school kids who ring the bell and run away.
Once the monster reaction goes away, they treat it as defeated, so there aren’t any major issues, but…
It’s like throwing a pencil eraser cut with a fingernail from the backseat.
To put it simply, it leaves a bad taste.
Anyway, if I don’t deploy, the monsters won’t run away, so I reluctantly got up.
With nothing else to put on, I just slipped on my coat over the clothes I was already wearing and threw a question at Gomtaengi.
“Should I catch one and interrogate it?”
“They usually run away pretty quickly, do you think that’s possible?”
Hearing that, he seemed doubtful if it would be possible, and questioned back.
I’m not entirely sure either, but since whether it succeeds or not wouldn’t change the outcome drastically, I’ll at least give it a try.
Removing the hair tie from my mouth, I tied my hair that would flutter in the winter wind into a single braid, leaving a few parting words to Gomtaengi.
“If I can’t catch it, then that’s it. It’s been a while since I’ve done some stealth action, so give me a good location briefing.”
“Understood—”
As a Magical Girl and a Mascot stepped out of a certain apartment in Incheon, a monster was anxiously scanning its surroundings, clutching the teleportation device as if it were a lifeline, not imagining what would happen.
Reaction speed test.
It was a dangerous game that was trending among the monsters heading to the Black Zone.
Although they had been able to mass-produce the teleportation device, it was impossible to use it to return the moment they landed.
The monsters had their pride, but if they returned willy-nilly before the Magical Girl arrived, it would seem odd.
So, it had been established as a rule to turn back at a close range where they could visually confirm the Magical Girl.
‘It would be better if she shows up quickly…’
The monster’s uneasy gaze scanned the surroundings.
No matter where he looked, there didn’t seem to be any sign of a Magical Girl yet.
As the saying goes, it’s better to be hit quickly on Earth, he desperately wanted to hit the button and lay down on a comfortable bed for at least 0.0001 Setre of time.
The Magical Girl in the Black Zone would show up within 5 minutes at the latest.
Gulp.
The monster swallowed a lump of saliva mixed with tension, rapidly moving its four eyes.
To avoid blind spots like a human’s, he was moving in a way that covered all angles of vision.
His eyes were flexible, capturing not only the left and right but also above and straight ahead simultaneously.
The rear that was out of sight was leaning against the wall in the first place, so it was a safety zone with nothing to worry about.
However, that strong belief that the back was a safe zone was easily shattered by the element of overwhelming force.
He felt his body being pulled backward as a small crack suddenly formed, and the teleportation device he had been clutching tightly slipped from his grasp.
With a dull sound, as he backed into the crumbling debris, the monster faced the being revealed in front of him with all four eyes.
“Hey buddy, I’ve got a question for you…”
“Ahhhhhh!”
The monster’s consciousness and life functions came to a halt, along with the scream.
The one most taken aback upon seeing the monster dead with eyes rolled back and mouth agape was, above all, a single Magical Girl and her Mascot present there.
The Mascot, having slipped out of a pocket, poked a spot that was similar to the monster’s carotid artery and delivered unfortunate news to Sun.
“Looks like it’s dead, huh?”
“Really?”
“Real.”
After a brief dialogue, the monster’s body began to dissipate into mysterious powder, providing evidence that it was indeed dead.
“Did it really have to end this way?”
Sun couldn’t believe that someone died just by looking at her face and felt worse than simply disappearing, so she scratched the back of her head and nervously kicked the thin wall debris.
A heavy stone moved a bit, shifting around and raising a cloud of dust.
“Ugh…”
Although the stealth mission succeeded, I ended up gaining no information.
Filled with frustration, I stepped over the debris and tried to exit through the building’s rooftop.
Suddenly, a sound that didn’t match the concrete or stone debris came to my ears.
“Huh?”
Looking down at the sound, there was a black device with a single red button on it.
