A few days after the incident of Shiyeon’s lunch box conquest,
the magical girls who had played to their heart’s content, were to bow three times toward Korea as a sign of gratitude.
…At that moment when I thought of this inwardly,
it seemed as if the remarkable moment had been heard by Mr. Monkey’s Hand, as unexpected events were unfolding in the news channels focusing on the magical girl news.
Considering the closed-off magical girl market in Korea, the overseas news was quite something.
It wasn’t exactly about subduing the Arctic monster, but when you think about it, it was two days of intense patrolling.
Then, as luck would have it, while finishing up here, magical girls from various countries were enjoying a satisfactory icebreaker trip.
[Korean magical girls’ performance in handling situations in the Arctic was incredible. All praises….]
[Korea’s ‘ppalli ppalli’ culture is best accepted.]
[Thanks to her, the Arctic schedule became easier… an admirable senior crossing the border.]
On the 16th day, having to stare at white ice became suddenly transformed into a luxury icebreaker trip to the North Pole, the satisfaction must have been sky-high.
Whether it was pure admiration or a sense of repayment, it had become a trend to mention Korea at least once during the interviews following the Arctic monster subjugation.
“Mary is quite popular.”
“…That’s a bit burdensome.”
While watching such news, Shiyeon casually remarked while lying sideways on the sofa.
Even though it’s nice to widely spread Korea’s reputation, it was a peculiar situation for the concerned party themselves to feel burdensome.
With plenty of national pride from abroad, the now quiet domestic media began to test the water, flooding the scene with various articles praising magical girls.
In fact, it was just doing what needed to be done according to their profession, so one could wonder if it warranted this much adulation.
And domestic communities couldn’t resist when such news came out.
They were already digging up magical girls who had no domestic activities on that day according to the Arctic schedule, and the situation had been pinpointed to Magical Girl Sun.
Ignoring the closed domestic magical girl environment, the gallery was already plastered with praise posts about me.
Strange posts combining the faces after transformation were circulating, but it didn’t seem to have a negative connotation, so I didn’t feel unpleasant.
As I passed through interviews filled with unknown countries, the time came for the United States.
If there was to be an interview for the Arctic monster subjugation in the United States, it would be Mrs. Tiara.
With fluency and a clear American accent, she spoke, “The schedule in the Arctic was nothing but fantastic and enjoyable, so I’m planning to visit Korea again.”
Wait a minute, what? She’s coming to Korea?
Could my eyes be mistaken? But the subtitles clearly stated it without a single mistake.
With the unexpected news, I narrowed my eyes and couldn’t help but speak up.
“Why would you come here again?”
“Why? Isn’t it nice to come to Korea?”
The mention of Mrs. Tiara coming to Korea meant that she might very well stop by our house.
Shiyeon spoke as if it was definitely great to come to Korea without knowing who Mrs. Tiara really was.
To help Shiyeon, who still seemed unaware, I added a detailed explanation.
“…That’s the person. She visited our house when we weren’t talking.”
“Oh, that person is that person?”
After explaining once in detail, Shiyeon’s gaze turned back to the TV.
“Oh right! It’s Tiara! The American magical girl!”
Though she didn’t quite remember the face, she seemed to have heard the name often enough to exclaim with wide eyes, sounding excited.
Shiyeon might be thrilled about this new meeting, but it was a face that I had seen repeatedly just days ago during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
It didn’t feel welcoming or exciting at all; rather, I thought it would be exhausting to match the lively vibe of Mrs. Tiara.
Please let it be just a casual tourist visit.
However, as they say, a sadly accurate premonition never goes wrong.
Shortly after, I hesitated to press the green button on my smartphone screen, which had suddenly shown an incoming call.
Caller ID restricted.
In this day and age, it’s not even in use for voice phishing, those seven letters.
‘Should I pick this up or not….’
“What’s this call about?”
As I hesitated to answer, the Gomtaengi next to me threw out a question.
“What do you think a restricted number means?”
I replied casually to the foolish question, still staring at the smartphone screen.
The following vibrations came three times.
Ah, forget it; if I don’t want to talk, I can just decline.
With the mindset that I would manage without bringing in the congressman who helped me two years ago, I pressed the green call button on the screen.
On the other end of the smartphone, the familiar voice of the Minister reached me, now feeling quite friendly.
“Is this student Kim Mary?”
“Yes, what’s this call about?”
Though I roughly knew what the call was regarding, I maintained an oblivious attitude as if I knew nothing.
However, the story that followed began to flow in a direction that lightly exceeded my expectations.
“Yes, you’ve achieved great results during this Arctic business trip.”
‘Huh?’
I expected they would start with the American magical girl, Mrs. Tiara, but instead, the Minister began injecting praise while talking about achievements.
What? Was this call not about that?
Thinking about it, they had mentioned paying incentives based on the results.
Whether I had completely forgotten about it or if the voice on the smartphone continued without a pause.
“As a result of gathering opinions from various countries, it was noted without dissent that the activities of the Korean magical girls stood out the most, and so a performance bonus is to be paid.”
Without a doubt, considering the results, I had secured first place unanimously.
So, now it was time to talk about the performance bonus, but I hardly had any great expectations.
Considering it as a performance bonus made it seem like only Korea would distribute it.
I figured sending magical girls to the North Pole icebreaker wouldn’t come cheap, and given that, it would probably be only a few hundred at best.
Even if it was an extra amount, rather than getting overly excited, I asked in a dull manner.
“Oh, yes… how much will it be?”
“Excluding taxes, a total of 53,185,000 won is to be paid.”
“Excuse me?”
Did I mishear the amount? That seems like more digits than what’s typical for a regular worker’s incentive.
My flustered response slipped out involuntarily, and the Minister’s voice followed quickly.
“Considering the scale, you should rightfully receive more, but the performance bonus is distributed at each country’s discretion… so I hope you can understand that.”
As if the explanation implied that I was surprised by it being ‘too little,’ the Minister’s voice seemed to assume that.
It seems they couldn’t even imagine that my expectations were already quite low.
Well, considering that the prize money for global competitions goes into the hundreds of millions, they might think it’s too low… right?
I don’t know; I wasn’t exactly a budding athlete or someone who could win in world competitions in my past life.
“Yes, understood.”
In any case, who would refuse free money coming in?
Trying to hide my excitement, I transmitted a tone that masked any disappointment relating to the explanations about needing understanding over an assumed low amount.
Just as I thought the conversation was about to end, the Minister continued…
“Ah… and I heard that Ms. Anne visited Mary’s house two years ago.”
Lo and behold, as expected, the main topic was left hanging.
Oh dear, I should have hung up quickly.
The Minister must have called already knowing it was recorded.
In a situation where I couldn’t exactly lie, I simply confirmed.
“Yes, and…?”
“That individual has expressed a wish to revisit this year, would you be willing to coordinate schedules with them…?”
“No.”
It was obvious that if I hung up without responding, they would call back, so I clearly expressed my stance and abruptly ended the call.
The vacation was also nearing its end; why should I be busy with any more schedules?
Of course, there’s spring break, but I wanted at least some time to unwind at home.
With my clear refusal, I looked at my smartphone just in case, but no further calls came in.
Finally relieved, I turned on the computer.
Having been unable to touch the computer for two weeks, I found myself enjoying the computer games that were starting to become fun again.
While I was slaughtering users who were mismatched for my tier and stress-relieving time,
“Yeah, understood! Yes!”
From beyond the door, Shiyeon’s voice sounded as if she were on a call, even using honorifics.
It didn’t seem like she was talking to a friend; perhaps it was a call from a credit card company or insurance agency.
As I was curious about the other person on the line, she suddenly burst through the door and said with a bright voice,
“We’re planning to tour downtown with Ms. Tiara this weekend!”
‘…Ah.’
With Shiyeon’s proud expression, I let out a deep sigh inwardly.
It was only then I realized that the Minister’s second call hadn’t been for me but directed at Shiyeon.
This is like throwing out trash and then picking it back again.
