LIGHTNOVELSTORY “Magical Girl said, ‘Tteokbokki and kimbap have arrived-‘”
Entering while playfully mimicking a biblical tone and kicking open the front door.
“You’re here?!”
In her hands were black plastic bags filled with kimbap and tteokbokki.
As the glorious treats made their way into the house, Siyeon’s face lit up with delight.
She quickly dashed to the kitchen, grabbed a deep adult-sized bowl and four chopsticks, and returned to the low table.
She took the warm tteokbokki straight from the bag, placed it into the deep bowl, and opened it up.
The timing was impeccable, arriving just as her hunger peaked with the delightful combination of tteokbokki and kimbap.
Had she her way, she would have wanted to buy assorted fried goods as well, but…
With her small frame, it was impossible to fit more than six tteokbokki pieces, two pieces of oden, and one roll of kimbap in her belly.
After giving a piece of kimbap to the Alarm Monster duo to keep things lively, she glanced at her smartphone while listening to the TV chatter.
With her right hand, she dipped the kimbap into the thick tteokbokki sauce and brought it to her mouth.
“Cat mom… eradication methods…”
While keeping her gaze on her smartphone, her opposite hand searched for helpful information.
Various community posts, galleries, and all kinds of random news.
There were reviews and advice about how to deal with those pesky people, but most were methods that were impossible for her to actually implement.
“Join the apartment app and post a review about cats in that apartment.”
“File a complaint to get rid of them.”
Either way, as an elementary school student, these were methods far beyond her reach.
Why, you ask?
Think about her age, it was only natural.
“Damn this country where no one under 14 can do anything…”
Realizing that most of the methods offered online were useless, she cursed her unfortunate situation.
“Maybe I should just trust the juvenile delinquents and give it a poke?”
She barely pushed the dark thought away, rinsing out the sticky tteokbokki bag and tossing it in the designated collection spot.
The aluminum foil that wrapped the kimbap followed suit, crumpled up and thrown towards the general trash can.
Feeling full and sleepy from the lack of proper rest, she lay down right away.
Ah, how wonderful it would be to just fall asleep like this.
A lazy Sunday afternoon.
There wouldn’t be a better time to drift off into sleep.
Still dressed in the clothes she wore outside, she pulled out earplugs from her pocket to avoid the noisy distractions.
Bright orange, squishy earplugs, larger than her fingertip knuckles.
She skillfully crumpled them up and shoved them into both ears.
While they wouldn’t block out all sound perfectly, it was the best option.
And just as she began to drift off in the momentary silence…
A soft sensation pressed against her shoulder, waking her up.
“What’s that?”
It was the bear cub.
It seemed like he had something to say.
“…It’s a monster.”
“What?”
To hear the muffled voice blocked by the earplugs, she pulled one out and blinked, replacing her confusion with a question.
“It’s a monster.”
Just as she suspected, hearing the fact voiced out loud made her body twist in agony and resentment.
“Damn it… Just leave me alone, please…”
“Uh, should I go alone…?”
In the midst of her wailing, she heard a voice.
Seeing how tired she looked, Siyeon said that.
“…”
Had they been adults, or even middle schoolers, she might have graciously thanked them for that.
But cooling her boiling anger was nothing but Siyeon’s pure-hearted concern.
Her resentment towards the monster and the world faded away in an instant.
Right, how could she send this kid alone?
Rubbing her eyes and sitting up, she squeezed them shut and furiously fidgeted.
Sitting there, using only her hands, she approached the wardrobe, pulled the door open, and felt the magnet detach as she retrieved the mask from inside.
“No, let’s go, we have to go…”
With a yawn and feeling sluggish, she stepped onto the first floor.
As she stepped into the kitchen, the cats that had gathered around the bowl scurried into the nearby flowerbed.
Excited by seeing a wild animal not often seen around, Siyeon tugged on her sleeve and pointed to the gleaming-eyed cats in the flowerbed.
“Wow, cats! Mari, Mari! Look over there!”
“I saw them earlier.”
“They’re so cute-”
‘They’re so gross-’
She muttered something too difficult to say to Siyeon, who was spilling compliments about how cute they were, as they walked towards a less populated area.
The monster’s appearance zone was guided by the bear cub to a rather distant apartment in the city center.
There, where kids would likely be playing, was a playground with equipment.
A huge cat, mixed orange and white fur, much bigger than a large dog, was lazily wandering around.
‘Of all things, a cat?’
Already troubling her apartment with cat-related issues, a monster being a cat too was just too much.
“It’s a cat!”
“Ahhhh-!”
As Siyeon shouted in excitement, the giant cat’s fur stood on edge as it hissed in caution.
Though it looked just like a cat, it was indeed a monster.
It lacked the intelligence to speak and kept hissing with wide-open eyes.
At that size, it was basically a tiger.
Imagine a tiger escaping from the zoo right in the middle of an apartment playground filled with kids.
That would turn the world upside down.
“This time, I’ll do it by myself!”
Rarely showing enthusiasm, Siyeon stepped forward first.
“Okay, give it a try.”
Perhaps because this monster looked less scary than the previous one, she appeared braver compared to when they faced the werewolf monster.
“Moon Shower-!”
The cool, blue energy extending from Siyeon’s round crescent-shaped staff froze the monster cat’s legs.
Now immobilized, the cat monster jerked, eyes widened, attempting to pull its legs back while continuing to hiss.
While it was great that they had immobilized it, the problem came after that.
Since she always handled the finishing blow, it was uncertain how Siyeon would handle the next step.
The two of them made one complete set.
If Siyeon restrained or suppressed the monster with magic, then on this side was overwhelming destructive power.
…Even though my strength was so strong that Siyeon rarely had any chance to shine.
So in the various community posts about magical girls, their stories always flowed in a similar way.
In the destruction power tier, Sun always ranked high, while Moon was always at the bottom.
In terms of cuteness, Moon ranked high, while Sun was at the bottom.
In many ways, they were polar opposites.
Well, the reason Sun ranked low in cuteness was mainly due to the essential black mask.
“Ugh, what now?”
It was good that they had immobilized it as expected, but now Siyeon hesitated to finish it herself.
While overtly villainous monsters were easier to finish, this mute beastly monster made her uneasy.
Let alone how hard it was for someone like Siyeon, who simply loves animals, this role was excessively cruel.
“Close your eyes and turn around.”
“Okay…”
“It’s alright, you did well.”
Siyeon’s voice was downcast.
But still, the fact that she was attempting this on her own was worthy of praise.
The cat monster, even with its legs frozen, was nervously nudging its head towards me.
Even if it was a beast that couldn’t speak, being a monster that could cause harm to people should not be taken lightly.
It shouldn’t be regarded with mere sympathy.
As I had thought earlier, it was akin to a wild beast released from a zoo.
If left alone, it could lead to harm.
The lighthearted name of magical girl carried with it a heavy conviction.
One day, Siyeon too would have to face this thought head-on.
‘Until then, I must take charge.’
“Sun, you’re so kind.”
“If you keep babbling, I won’t end it painlessly.”
“Eep.”
As the bear cub quietly complimented, I silenced the one making pointless chatter with a threat.
One step.
Standing before the fiercely resisting cat monster, it struggled for its life.
Two steps.
The series of hisses displayed an extreme sense of panic from the monster.
“Ahhh! Ahhh!”
‘At the very least, without suffering.’
With both hands tightly gripping the magic wand.
Like a scene from a martial arts manga.
The poised transition for a master swordsman to unleash their ultimate move, raising the big staff high into the air in a solemn stance.
A clean, powerful downward stroke created a colossal shock that met the monster’s forehead at the tip of the staff.
A massive shockwave could be felt, measuring the degree of its power.
Dust clouds rose, and the ground cracked.
The enormous cat, unable to even scream, began to scatter into magical dust.
Not allowing the monster to show even a drooping silhouette, only after it completely vanished did I look at Siyeon, who was still tightly closing her eyes, and opened my mouth.
“It’s over, you can open your eyes.”
“Okay…”
After defeating the monster, we arrived a little distance from home, and I released my transformation, heading back toward the apartment.
With a sullen expression, Siyeon seemed downhearted to anyone looking.
It appeared she didn’t feel like she had handled it on her own, looking pretty gloomy.
Knowing that offering clumsy consolation would do more harm than good, I walked alongside her in silence.
“Ah, the cats…”
Once again, the cats were huddled by the entrance on the first floor.
Siyeon, who had been looking down, finally showed some reaction.
But those cats didn’t seem to be tamed at all.
Even after three brief encounters, they stealthily vanished into the flowerbed before I could get close.
‘…Huh?’
Besides the cats, I felt an inexplicable gaze around, and upon checking, I cautiously turned my head toward our upstairs window.
There was that woman, presumably the one who put out the cat bowls, staring intently at where the bowls were located.
‘That crazy woman…’
A chill ran down my spine from a fear stemming from an unexplainable obsession.