Mary, who had fallen asleep early in the afternoon, woke up at three in the morning.
She let out a long yawn, barely taking in a little breath, and scratched her belly with her blunt nails.
The first thing she looked at to wake herself up was her smartphone.
The bright screen shone back at her.
Mary, lying on her stomach with one eye tightly closed, peered at her smartphone with her open eye.
‘This is….’
On the screen was a hot trending post from the Magical Girl Gallery, which had emerged while she was sleeping.
An unfamiliar post containing a familiar scene.
It caught her eye: a photo of an apartment whose rooftop structure had been partially destroyed while trying to capture a monster.
It seemed a monster had appeared again during her sleep, freezing the entrance and damaging part of the wall with Shiyeon’s magic.
It looked like the situation had been handled without waking her up.
There was nothing to be done about what had already happened… she could have just woken her up.
[Why the hell does this only happen to me, you bastards?]
The author of the post, who appeared to be the owner of that apartment, lamented with a mix of cursing under the photo of the broken rooftop structure.
However, the author quickly changed their tone and added their true feelings.
[ps. Actually, I’m about to receive a very sweet compensation, so I’m not really upset, lol]
[I guess I could redo the wallpaper since I feel good and am throwing a burger party.]
The damages from the battle seemed to be covered by national funds with a little left over.
Despite that, the author said they felt good and scrolled down to find a plethora of hamburger gift certificates extending below the post.
The author was praised as a chairman or a king of gifting, and the post ended on a warm note.
Be that as it may.
Ignoring the advertisements and marketing campaigns of large corporations all fired up with the New Year’s atmosphere, she had gotten up, her mind clearing as the time spent looking at the bright screen increased.
Amidst the rustling sounds of fabric, a dark figure squirming in the dark room spoke up.
“Uh, did you wake up?”
“Yeah, I’m awake.”
The black figure was, as expected, Gomtaengi.
Pressing down their tousled and fluffy hair with their palm to calm it down, they continued speaking slowly during this rare conversation.
“What’s up? Why are you talking to me at this hour?”
“Well, it’s nothing special, but I thought I should tell you about what happened when I went out with Shiyeon yesterday.”
Gomtaengi was explaining the events that occurred while Mary was asleep.
As they plugged the smartphone, which had been by her pillow, into the charger near the desk, Mary nodded with half-open eyes, thinking, ‘I must listen.’
“Okay, go ahead and tell me.”
They began to speak, regardless of whether Mary was watching or not.
The monster capture operation that had barely failed that day.
The second capture operation carried out without her knowledge because the same monster from the same apartment appeared again.
Just like last time, Shiyeon had been hiding within the rooftop structure.
With a suddenly opened door and a startled reaction, she accidentally captured the monster with her abilities.
Though it wasn’t very vivid, Gomtaengi’s explanation was somewhat comprehensible.
Mary also vaguely understood that monsters had their own circumstances and pride.
However, there was undoubtedly something that did not sit right with her…
“So, are you saying I was used as a bait tester?”
“Uh….”
Specifically, it was the part where it had ‘spread among the monsters like a trend.’
She pinpointed that aspect and asked Gomtaengi.
Gomtaengi seemed surprised, not expecting her to cut right to the heart of the matter; their hesitation stretched out like a long sigh.
“If you cut through the context and just put it that way, yeah.”
As if acknowledging that there might be a valid reason from the monsters’ side, Gomtaengi tilted their head with a puzzled expression for a moment before adding a side comment.
In the end, it was just a matter of “crabs care for crabs.”
Ignoring Gomtaengi’s subtle defense of their own kind, Mary clenched her fist and slammed it into her palm.
“Alright, should we revise the strategy?”
She now knew some of the conversations that had happened among the monsters and their circumstances.
But, ‘understanding’ and ‘feelings’ were different realms altogether.
At her ambitious remark, Gomtaengi reacted.
They looked confused, as if asking, “What is this out of the blue?”
“Revise the strategy?”
“Yeah, what’s the scariest thing in the military?”
She threw the question at their surprised face.
Gomtaengi rumbled for a bit with an “Um…” and after some thought, declared their own conclusion.
“Rebellion?”
“Well, that’s pretty scary too…”
While acknowledging that Gomtaengi’s guess wasn’t entirely wrong, she nodded slightly, indicating that it was also not the right answer.
Her gaze shifted to a large red button device well kept in the corner of the room.
As she directed her attention there, Gomtaengi’s gaze followed.
As if the answer had already been in the room.
“Have you heard of missing shell casings?”
“Ah.”
Gomtaengi had absorbed more information than expected while wandering around the community.
Shell casings, missing.
Just hearing those two crucial words made Gomtaengi realize something, letting out a succinct exclamation.
“Let’s see if you can react properly.”
This was merely her personal way of venting her frustration towards the monsters that had used her as a mere response time tester.
If they failed the response time test, the unidentified device would be confiscated.
Thus began her little achievement of collecting items.
“They said they lost the transmission device again…”
“What? Again?”
The reverse transmission device collection from Magical Girl Sun.
The monsters inevitably affected by that ominous news.
The information quickly began to spread.
Mary’s actions called for a sense of urgency amid the relaxed atmosphere among the monsters.
Even if they banded together to retrieve the device, it would only assist in activating the recovery device.
From the monsters’ perspective, the reverse transmission devices were dwindling with no way to act.
Eventually, the distribution to monsters heading towards the Black Zone was also halted.
A discussion was held in the cabin to analyze Sun’s actions while also reflecting, turning into a forum.
“First, let’s talk about the monster that headed to the black zone during the last outing… ■☆%^.”
The monster’s name was a collection of sounds that could not possibly be pronounced with Earth’s phonetics.
The monster, ■☆%^, took a quick look around after taking over the flow of conversation.
A monster resembling an insect with a mouth split like thorny branches.
He coughed twice, reminiscent of phlegm, and reluctantly opened his mouth to the cross-examination of those around him, urging him to recount everything he saw related to the recent Magical Girl Sun.
However, even he, who had witnessed Sun recently…
Had little to share.
“I was defeated in an instant.”
Among the many, if a monster met Magical Girl Sun, they would not have had a chance and only have tales of being defeated.
The remaining ten had either been critically injured and remained in intensive care or retired after recovering, leaving their spaceship.
They were all those who had thrown off the shackles and burdens of the world in search of happiness.
In response to ■☆%^’s obvious answer, the monster who had handed over the flow of conversation spoke to him with a cold expression.
“No, that’s obvious.”
“Is it back to square one, then….”
Though they gathered for a discussion every time a device was lost, no significant progress was made.
There was a sigh of despair, asserting that they were once again stuck at a standstill.
The monsters had no intention of blaming anyone.
They were the same as the combatants; even the capable upper management members would share similar reactions when it came to “Magical Girl Sun.”
That day, without any progress, the discussion seemed to be folding up once more.
“…But you know.”
Until someone’s question, mixed with doubt, popped up.
“When did Sun start collecting the devices again?”
“Yeah, when did that start?”
The questioning serpentined into further inquiries.
The monsters, who were about to disperse to their respective places, gathered back together.
The point in time when the first reverse transmission device vanished and when Sun began to collect devices intersected.
The monster that had gone to the Black Zone during that timeframe was identified, and one monster, uncomfortably dragged into the conversation, came forth.
The monster that had lost the first device, which had been smashed by both Sun and Mun.
‘…It’s my fault, isn’t it?’
He could never forget that moment when he was trapped in ice, judgment clouded by vivid pain.
Naturally, there were too many things he could identify as his blame.
Even if he were to go back to that time, it was likely he would have sung right away…
Considering the emotions one should inherently have as an intelligence, saying ‘I was used for a response time test’ might not have needed to be voiced.
Swallowing all the tension, his fellow monsters spoke to him, assuring him that there was no need to be tense.
“Come now, brethren monster… we’re not here to blame you.”
“We’re just curious about what happened to you that day when you met the door.”
“W-well…”
In a comfortable atmosphere that eased his tension, he unconsciously put his guard down.
“Actually….”
The moment he let his guard down and uttered the truth.
He would not have expected that the kind words and actions of his fellow monsters would turn into curses and group beatings.
