It all began with a simple punishment, not torture.
Not knowing where everyone’s head was at, they were made to maintain a painfully awkward position for about five minutes.
Ugh, the sound of agony mixed with stifled moans during those brief minutes.
Once the time was up, I stood up straight, like an instructor, and spoke.
“Right.”
“Phew, phew….”
The heavy breaths of the monsters following a bit of punishment.
In this moment, where it seemed like they would learn best as living beings.
Raising my fist tightly gripping the cane, I declared a few sentences.
“If this happens again, I won’t let it slide. Tell that Makenguin what’s going on.”
“Yes….”
An exhausted response, as if all their strength had been drained.
It was hard to gauge how painful it truly was for them, as they looked distinctly different from humans, but I thought they understood well enough and turned my back.
“Alright, you can go back.”
“Uh, Sun…”
“Why again?”
At the voice that sounded as if it was clutching at my clothes, I glanced back.
Although I said they could go back, not a single monster operated or held the transmission device.
As I stared at them in confusion, one of the monsters spoke cautiously.
“Please kill us.”
“What’s up with that? Why don’t you have it?”
“There’s a risk of damage during this mission….”
“Ugh.”
With a sigh mixed with disappointment and sympathy at such an obvious excuse.
“Well then, gather over there.”
With a droopy gesture, I gathered the monsters into one spot.
Seeing them line up neatly, as if all clustered together would disperse their power, I approached them irritably.
“If you gather like that, your strength gets diluted. More like this, huddle together.”
I rearranged the ones standing at the ends to more evenly distribute the monsters, gathering them like bowling pins.
Afterward, at a certain distance, I aimed, closing one eye, as if to fire a gun.
Extending the cane forward, I left a few heartfelt pieces of advice for the monsters who might be having their first experience.
“Make sure to close your eyes, okay? It’ll be easier if you just go all out in one shot; if you hesitate, it’ll hurt more.”
The tip of the cane blazing red, a tiny red fireball grew to the size of a demolition ball in the blink of an eye.
With a rush of hot air, the fireball left the cane, leaving nothing behind in its wake.
As if a droplet of water was swallowed by a stream, the monsters vanished without a trace.
What remained in the wake of the flames was a surreal sight of a portion of the cement road melting.
‘Task complete.’
Smelling a charred, meaty odor, I stepped out of the redevelopment area, carrying a slight sense of achievement.
The first transformation point, where I had taken off and flown, was occupied by teenage smokers.
Reluctantly, I undid my transformation somewhere around the third point.
“Release.”
The overwhelming strength and clear mind disappeared as I reverted, leaving only weary muscles and a hazy consciousness.
Though I moved a bit further from home, it was unavoidable.
“Haah—”
Stretching both arms upward and then grabbing my right elbow with my left hand, I let out a lazy yawn.
As the yawn flowed out sluggishly, my palm went to my mouth.
Today was productive. Twisting my body side to side, Gomtaengi added a few comments beside me.
“Today was quite a scale, huh?”
“Yeah, hurry up and get in my pocket.”
In the alley past midnight, it felt carefree with no CCTV, leaving me in a relaxed state.
For the first time in a while, it felt like I really did the work of a Magical Girl?
Whether it was an amalgamation or an artificial monster. Anyway, having finally been able to give it my all and hit something felt refreshing.
If only I could just lie down on my bed like this, I’d probably fall asleep comfortably.
The fact that I wasn’t near home was the only disappointment.
With quiet footsteps, I walked down the lonely street.
In the darkness settled over the road, the familiar lights of a convenience store open 24/7 shone.
Other lit stores like a jokbal house or a chicken shop, bustling even at this late hour, filled the air with greasy fragrances, replacing the daytime vibrancy.
‘Wow, that smells amazing.’
Whether it was to vent heat from the shops or to tempt guests with their dark motives.
I wasn’t sure of the intent, but the strong scent of chicken overwhelmed my dreamy mind.
Without a care for tomorrow, I felt an impulse to immediately go in and order a whole chicken.
However, I pressed on, steadily putting one foot in front of the other, determined to escape the smell.
Not wearing socks, the rough texture of the insoles rubbed against my soles.
Bearing the discomfort I had called upon myself, I resisted all temptations and finally returned home. Stripping off my clothes and lying in just my underwear on the bed.
‘……’
In a state of blank emptiness, I covered myself with the blanket, closed my eyes tightly, and tried to fall into the dream world as quickly as possible.
Tossing this way and that.
Even after kicking the blanket into shape with my feet to wrap my body properly, a sleepless night lingered.
I picked up my smartphone and clicked the side button; the bright screen made me squint.
Adjusting to the darkness, I caught sight of the time: 12:42.
Twenty minutes had passed lying down, yet I still couldn’t fall asleep.
To make matters worse, the strong scent of chicken I caught just before coming home.
It seemed it wouldn’t be forgotten, as my brain commanded my empty stomach to fill it with something.
‘Something simple….’
I tore open a pack of milk from the front compartment of the fridge and poured a glass.
Setting the microwave for one minute and starting it, I rummaged through the fridge with the crinkling sound.
After munching on a vegetable steamed bun for a while and getting weary of it, I remembered it had been a couple of days past its expiration date.
As I pondered when I should throw it away, the moment just right now, with my stomach empty, seemed fitting.
I took the steamed bun, which I had set aside, out of its plastic and placed it on a small dish.
Beep, the microwave rang right on time.
I took out the moderately warm milk and placed it on the table with a thud.
Next, I put the bun dish in for 1 minute and 10 seconds.
I stirred the small teaspoon into the milk glass.
A moderately warm mix of milk and vegetable steamed bun set.
‘Delicious.’
A simple late-night snack after subduing monsters.
This sense of achievement was akin to enjoying a can of beer after arduous labor.
Savoring all of it, all that’s left was to fall asleep.
…Of course, life doesn’t work out so smoothly.
‘Can’t sleep.’
Another thirty minutes passed, and even with my eyes closed, the consciousness refused to fade away.
Though yawns were escaping and my body screamed of weariness, I still couldn’t fall asleep.
I needed to get some good rest, so I could wake up ready for school.
I thought so, yet my hands kept fiddling with my smartphone.
Would staring at this keep me from dozing off?
Of course, I’d developed a habit of playing with my smartphone to wake up in the morning, so it was unlikely to help.
I’d played enough games, and while I was bored, I opened a community thread that appeared to be algorithm-generated.
[Did anyone feel the earthquake in Incheon?]
[Magical Girl earthquake entry HAHAHAHA]
[No disaster messages, so I was like, what’s happening HAHA]
[I just dove under the desk, scared out of my mind]
[Wow, I thought a bomb had exploded or something]
[It was really intense, wasn’t it?]
The chaos left in the wake of battle wasn’t in the Magical Girl Gallery, but surprisingly, in the earthquake gallery.
Feeling the vibrations from the ground, people first flocked to the community related to earthquakes.
Once they realized the earthquake originated from the Magical Girl, those who were initially panicked laughed it off, like “What the heck.”
“Haah.”
As I read through the community posts, before I knew it, it was 3 AM — a time for yawning.
Finally, it felt like my eyelids were closing on their own, so I placed my smartphone beside my head and tried hard to keep my eyes shut.
The time I’d spent unable to sleep felt like a lie, as my consciousness drifted away with great ease.
However, the price for my late-night slumber would be thoroughly paid at school.
“…Ugh.”
Thunk, as someone nudged me while I carelessly filled out the test and fell asleep, my eyes flew open.
Glancing toward the person who woke me up, it was my history teacher, who was overseeing the room.
Feeling a tinge of unease, I looked down at my desk; it was clear I had been sleeping well as the test paper where my face had been resting was slightly damp.
“It’s fine to sleep after finishing, but try not to snore so it doesn’t disturb others.”
“Urrgghh.”
I wiped my wet mouth with my sleeve and bravely sat up straight.
No way, how would that even be possible if I had fallen asleep?
With the teacher’s soft touch, I barely kept my eyes open for a few minutes.
“Alright, 5 minutes left—”
‘Please, please, please, please, make it end quickly.’
With the teacher’s announcement that only five minutes remained, I silently muttered crazed pleas while waiting for the break.
As the cheerful school bell rang over the PA, the OMR cards passed from the back to the front.
Quickly flipping mine to the front, I buried my face into the test paper, using my pencil case as a pillow.
Good night.
