After the hollow muttering of Medik Tenkl, a few days passed by in Earth time.
In a distant spaceship far away from Earth.
In Earth terms, it was a spaceship where ‘high-ranking’ Monsters resided.
Though utterly lacking in combat skills, simply due to sheer luck.
Or perhaps through masterful manipulation, they sat in high positions.
They were the ones who prioritized numbers and armchair strategies over effective solutions.
Their casual suggestions of ‘What if we try this?’ were actually the bane of the combat-responsible Monsters.
“Isn’t the claim coming from this Earth-assignee spaceship excessive?”
The Earth’s performance stood out in a bad way compared with other spaceships.
Claims for the intensive care treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders, totalling 147 cases.
From the perspective of higher-ups, the development fee claims for euthanasia were incomprehensible.
Though there were no issues in the paperwork, certain Monsters aboard the spaceship were displeased at the amount continuously leaking out, like blood from a deep wound.
‘They’re just whining over a minor wound, there’s no way.’
So, they streamlined the costs in a flash.
The Monster who achieved the cost-cutting was promoted as a result.
Unaware of the turmoil brewing among the field Monsters.
The news of the cost-cutting reached the recovery room instantly and fatally, and soon spread all the way to Medik Tenkl via the Monsters working there.
Medik Tenkl, finding it odd that the funding which regularly flowed had halted, questioned it.
“What? Cost reduction? Why?”
“We don’t know either.”
“We’re in trouble. What should we do about this?”
Medik Tenkl, facing the sudden cost issue, grimaced as he brought his tentacles up to his face.
Already dealing with the headache of handling Sun, the question from an underling only worsened his condition.
“Should we halt the treatment room’s operations?”
“Then shall we release them onto the spaceship?”
With a whooshing sound, the door to the intensive care unit opened.
The door was rarely opened when recovery room personnel were present to avoid disturbing the recuperating Monsters. Beyond it only darkness lay.
“Light! Light! Aahh!!”
“That, khh… the costume… huhuhu.”
“Oh, fear the name of the one who brings us our end…”
“Sun, Sun, Seon.”
In the pitch-black dark, designed to stabilize the environment, various Monsters exhibited varied symptoms, controlled solely by the fear of one being.
Among them, the Monster that met Sun twice and maintained a relatively human-like shape and animal face was an anomaly.
Of particular interest to Medik Tenkl was the fish Monster, Delphiret, who not only avoided injury upon their first meeting but even managed to engage in conversation.
The sudden cost problem amidst these partial discoveries was what prompted Medik Tenkl to make a big decision.
“I’m going to visit the Black Zone.”
“…Excuse me?”
Stunned by this unexpected bombshell statement, the Monsters in the recovery room could only alternate their gaze between their superior, Medik Tenkl, and each other in dumbfoundedness.
Did he no longer care about the Monsters who might fail due to damage anyway?
One of his subordinates suddenly raised their hand and asked:
“Are you giving up on everything?”
Maybe life had become unbearable, driving him to explore the genre of suffering.
But Medik Tenkl shook his head. With a solemn expression prepared for death, he declared:
“No, I’m planning to negotiate. It’s more accurate to refer to it as a compromising negotiation.”
“Would she even agree to negotiate?”
The recovery room Monster’s skeptical question was certainly reasonable.
Especially considering that she, as a human, but more accurately, because she was human, recognized Monsters as different species, there was legitimate curiosity about her potential cruelty.
“Still speculative, but… despite wearing the guise of a monster, she’s human too; if there’s a mutual interest, she’ll surely listen!”
Despite the valid question, Medik Tenkl confidently replied, citing the essence of humanity as an example. And while still not entirely confident, he whispered as if to himself:
“…Likely.”
Medik Tenkl, fitting this incomplete confidence, picked up a mechanical device only granted to high-ranking Monsters.
The desire of all Monsters heading for the Black Zone becoming a reality in a miniaturized spaceship transporter, the product of lost technology.
It was a precious item, as even the methods of its creation were lost—all remaining ones were invaluable.
Lifting it signified that he was truly resolved to head down to Earth.
“…Good luck to you!”
With this staunch resolve from Medik Tenkl, the recovery room Monsters tightened their fists with a mix of worry and hope, cheering him on.
After all, if his negotiation was to succeed in whatever form, their workload would decrease.
Instead of departing right away, Medik Tenkl grabbed a nearby white metal plate, smeared some ink-like secretion on his tentacles, and began to write something on it.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m writing in the Earth’s language. It’d be troublesome if I die from pre-negotiation bombings, wouldn’t it?”
Meanwhile, Medik Tenkl, preparing what he hoped to be a convincing persuasion, Earth had just finished a school’s opening ceremony.
Amidst the summer vacation, students were submitting their assigned homework, followed by seat arrangements that matched the occasion.
In this school, Sun, who had adjusted to the disrupted circadian rhythm over the break, found herself assigned to the back row immediately upon surrendering her sleep.
“Shit.”
She silently cursed under her breath, realizing the situation she had longed for had finally arrived.
Now her stubborn body no longer craved sleep during school hours.
Following this, she would experience the rare event that was class time immediately after the school reopening.
“Hmm…”
Despite not being sleepy, yawns involuntarily escaped her. While doing so, she felt something stirring in her pocket—a signal from Gomtaengi.
Without needing to say anything, she raised her hand and, feigning urgency, spoke with an anxious expression.
“Teacher, may I use the restroom?”
“Go quickly and come back.”
A strategy that was still viable for elementary students.
However, once students hit their higher grades, or even earlier at middle school level, if the response was ‘hold on,’ that would be troublesome too.
She couldn’t keep using the restroom excuse every time and would need to devise other excuses soon.
Walking to the 4th-grade girls’ restroom.
It was nearly impossible for older students to use the restroom during class. Moreover, 1st and 2nd-grade restrooms were often populated by students from other classes, making them unsuitable for transformation.
Thus, despite the inconvenience, she ascended to these less congested facilities.
Looking about the corridor and confirming no one was in the stall, she quietly uttered the transformation word.
“Sun.”
Outside the stall, a window stood much taller than what was suitable for kids, wide across but narrow vertically.
She squeezed out through this and ascended into the sky with Gomtaengi’s guidance.
“There, that way!”
“Huh?”
Far away from school, on a large highway, was an empty scene where people had already evacuated. After the deafening alarm had died down, a Monster stood in the middle, holding up what seemed to be pieces of metal with both its hands—or hand-like appendages—over its head.
The metallic plate had scribbled, imperfect English and Korean characters, likely done with some form of ink.
[i want 대화 원해요.]
“…What the hell is that bastard doing?”
Usually, Monsters were to be exterminated without question.
Especially on a summer day when being outside for too long was unwelcome, and being away from school during class was undesirable.
Under normal circumstances, she would have swiftly dealt with it and returned. However, intrigued by the unfamiliar pattern, she decided to engage momentarily.
Regardless of any impending threats, her transformed physical form held near-invulnerability comparable to having entered cheat codes, so she decided to hear the intruder’s proposition.
“What are you?”
“Ah, I thank you for agreeing to converse.”
The octopus-like Monster brought the enthusiastic banner-like sign closer to its chest, beaming, and offered a pretentious bow.
“Is it you, Magical Girl Sun?”
The Monsters’ polite inquiry, though seemingly cordial, felt ominous, as she’d never encountered this particular Monster before.
While tapping her own shoulder with her uncharged cane, she asked mockingly:
“So, what brings us together today?”
“Sunn…? No, that’s irrelevant…the matter is, I bring a mutually beneficial proposal.”
The Monster, identifying as Medik Tenkl, explained, positioning himself as a high-ranking officer. He suggested a negotiation solely to Magical Girl Sun, citing the extensive damages caused by her actions.
From their point of view, the Black Zone would see no Monsters dispatched here under any circumstance unless absolutely necessary, asking Sun to remain within certain limits.
Medik Tenkl lowered himself onto his knees before her as if a repentant student.
“So, what’s the duration?”
“For 20 Setres…that means 1320 diurnal cycles by Earth standards.”
“Hmm.”
The exact definition of Setres aside, 1320 days roughly equated to a few years with no Monsters appearing in their living area—certainly acceptable for both sides.
In truth, on this side, there was no reason to refuse.
“Um…how do you find that…?”
Medik Tenkl, displaying unprecedented humility, rubbed his tentacles together.
“I’m very satisfied. Let’s do it.”
He nodded in approval, enthusiastically accepting the proposal by extending her cane.
“Er…then why are you pointing that cane at me?”
“Hmm? Don’t you need to be killed instantly so you can return?”
Startled by her casual mention of death, he shook his tentacles vigorously in protest.
Some kind of device emerged from his human-like robes, and he insisted he could return alone, refusing death adamantly.
“Ah, no! No, thank you! I can return alone, so no need to!”
Medik Tenkl pressed the device hard, and a hologram-like streak emerged, ascending skyward.
In this manner, the first day a Monster appeared and was not eliminated but returned safely concluded.
An effective Monster removal method acknowledged by the high-ranking Monsters.
I guess I was right all along.
