NOVEL WEB Chapter 2
[In short, being a Magical Girl is kind of a slang term.]
[This incident can be seen as a happening related to a cult.]
[It’s a sign predicting the destruction of 2012!]
[God has descended personally to choose ten thousand Apostles!]
[It’s an unprecedented scale of transmission hijacking shown through monitors worldwide.]
[The culprit will find it hard to escape responsibility as various accidents were almost triggered.]
[Who could be the one delivering stars to all those girls?]
Three days had passed since the opening declaration, but Japan was still burning hot.
Radio, newspapers, and all forms of media added baseless stories in unison, naturally covering themselves with disclaimers saying, “The content of this broadcast solely reflects the opinions of the cast.”
It felt strange lying in my six-tatami-mat room, listening to the radio. Thanks to lucky encounters, I could earn some living expenses as a minor, but buying expensive electronics was tough, so I relied on the radio.
“To think I’d end up living with a radio that I never even listened to in my past life.”
From the day I came to this world, I lay here in my school uniform, with only three colorless stars filled with starlight for transport money and an ID card with my name on it.
“……”
It felt eerie as if the person who brought me here was explicitly instructing me to go to school, but after experiencing a bit of bad luck, I had no desire to go back for school lunches.
‘Going back for school lunch at this age? No, didn’t Japanese schools stop serving them?’
There was a description of Shikishima Yuki, the protagonist of this work, eating her lunch in the restroom while being bullied.
‘Poor thing, I totally get that feeling.’
During my middle school days, I too locked myself away in the library, engrossed in the books I brought. I had read a used copy of [Magical Girl HAZARD] from a second-hand bookstore.
[What is Magical Girl HAZARD?]
[Well, it’s presumed to refer to a metaphor or specific event.]
[The word ‘hazard’ implies risks and threats to the subject.]
It’s literally a meaningless term. The author mentioned in a postscript after finishing the series that they suggested the title while playing a zombie shooting game and was surprised that it got approved.
[What do fate and evolution related to ‘stars’ mean?]
[Could it be a religious metaphor?]
[This is why I view this incident as the doing of a cult.]
[In my opinion, this situation… ]
With no one knowing anything, everyone kept repeating the same things differently, responding with surprise to each as if it was new, filling time with meaningless chatter, which made me sick, so I turned the radio off.
“Ugh~”
Stretching, I saw two hills that I hadn’t noticed in my past life majestically spread out below my field of vision.
Creak
The legs peeking out from the shorts I wore comfortably at home were white and slender enough to resemble a porcelain doll.
A girl’s body I had become too accustomed to over two years.
Now, I felt nothing at all.
I slipped my hands into the sleeves of the black tracksuit I had tossed on the floor and pulled up the zipper.
Zip!
“Ow?!”
I occasionally faced some pain as the zipper got stuck on the grand hills that weren’t there in my past life.
‘Damn it.’
To think I’d only touch them after dying—I shook off this weird melancholy with a brief massage.
As I fiddled with them, it felt like fluffy things were breaking free between my fingers, proudly flaunting their texture.
‘Damn, the sensation feels unnecessarily nice…’
I had no one to brag to, nor did I intend to, but I took those two entities with me as I headed toward my familiar workplace.
A white building splendidly built against the seaside.
Neatly decorated antique items.
A stylish café you’d stumble upon while passing through Yokohama.
The pride of Kanagawa Prefecture,
For the past two years, I had been working here as a waitress.
“Good job.”
“You too, Master.”
“Yeah.”
The Master was an old man who had bought a small building on the outskirts of Tokyo with his retirement money to run this café. He preferred being called “Master” instead of his name or surname.
“Take care on your way home today.”
He’s usually quiet but sends me off with a gruff voice after I change clothes at the end of my shift.
“Yes, Master.”
In fact, this man is a character from the original work.
The scene where the protagonist, Shikishima Yuki, was treated after collapsing on the street following an unreasonable fight described this place in detail.
‘It left a strong impression since it was one of the few peaceful daily events in [Magical Girl HAZARD].’
After a massive fight that embroiled all of Japan, including near Tokyo, the store was shattered, and when Yuki returned here, she despaired while looking at an empty cup filled with rainwater.
Since the first day I came to this world, I couldn’t escape the shock and anxiety for three days, crying until I thought, ‘If there’s a place like this, then this world is that place,’ so it was the first place that came to mind when I aimlessly sought a refuge.
‘The hours are over, but…’
‘One special lunch, please.’
‘…Got it.’
I can never forget the kindness of the Master who didn’t kick me out when I stumbled in just before closing, wanting to eat. More so, I also remember how he readily accepted my inquiry about part-time work without asking many questions.
“What are you staring at?”
“Ah… Sorry. Just deep in thought.”
“No need to apologize.”
Our conversations always went like this.
His blunt words held a subtle concern.
Perhaps it was because he lost his daughter in the past…
“Speaking of which, Hikari.”
“Yes?”
“Are you okay not going to school?”
“Ah~ I’m trying to get a job quickly, so I only graduated from middle school and am trying various things.”
It was a lie.
In this world, I never entered or graduated from middle school at all.
Thinking about my future, I won’t have the time to get a job either.
“Even so, there’s no way you’d completely give up on high school, right? You’re still young.”
“It’s fine. I found it by chance, and I enjoy working in Master’s shop, wanting to learn more.”
Another lie.
I knew about his shop through the original work.
The only reason I first offered to work part-time was I realized it would be convenient to use his longing for his deceased daughter to continue my living.
“Just because you’ve endured for two years doesn’t mean you can let go completely.”
“……”
“Whenever you get interested in attending high school, let me know.”
“Yes, Master. Thank you.”
Not long after I came to this world,
when a silver-haired girl who screamed youth declared she wanted to work part-time, Master accepted without hesitation.
-Okay, I’ll first teach you how to clean.
In the days that followed,
Master subtly asked me about my family situation while I was putting in diligent work at times when I should have been attending school.
-My dad is Japanese, and my mom is an illegal immigrant from Russia; both died in an accident…
From that question onwards, Master never brought up family matters or my parents again. Though his blunt demeanor remained, I could sense his kindness deepening.
“…….”
Was it purely due to the lies I told to deceive him, or was it the guilt of knowing the story of the daughter he would never reveal until the end of the work?
I stopped lying to him after that.
I revealed my true feelings to Master as much as possible.
Even if I concealed the truth from others, I stopped deceiving him.
Still, he helped me silently without asking too much.
“I’m really fine.”
“…Yeah.”
Thanks to my eyes being slightly upturned, even a small smile turned into peculiar slits.
No one would deny my suspicious appearance, but
he still trusted me.
“Be careful going home. The rumors are getting more severe lately.”
“Yes, Master.”
If the awkward-smiling employee and the café’s Master had a bit more time and space, they might open up to each other and develop a father-daughter relationship.
But at least for now, this distance was the most suitable for both of us.
＊
It took about 30 minutes by train from the station in Isakawacho, where my part-time job is, to my home in Shibuya.
In 2011, smartphones were starting to spread in Japan.
As I wasn’t in a position to buy a smartphone yet, I opened a flip phone with Master’s help.
I heard rumors that if you buy a smartphone that can receive TV signals, terrible collectors come to demand the public broadcast fee.
‘I don’t want to get involved with anyone anymore.’
With no one to exchange emails with and having given up on further studies, I could only contact Master on my phone.
Looking blankly around the train, many people were still reading books or newspapers.
[What is Magical Girl HAZARD?]
A shocking opening declaration with the mention of that word.
What exactly is a Magical Girl?
What destiny do the stars hold?
How will this incident lead the girls?
People address that word with pure curiosity.
Every time I saw it, I felt fear.
That’s why I was the only one preparing for it in this world.
[The next station is Shibuya, Shibuya Station.]
Passing by the open space of an alleyway on the outskirts of Shibuya, there stood my small, shabby apartment.
Don’t mistake it for the kind of apartment you’d imagine in Korea.
It might be closer to a villa in the impression of Koreans.
Based on my experience living here for two years, aside from me living on the third floor, it’s certain no one else resides here.
Rent is left in a cash envelope under the sign the owner has posted on certain days.
’Aside from the notice I found in front of my door a month after entering this world, I haven’t seen any traces of anyone else.’
It’s quite chilling, but given how hard it is to find a place where a lone high school girl can safely live in Tokyo, I just stayed here.
‘There’s so much about this residence that I don’t even know myself.’
Since it’s hard to find in the alleys, this vicinity near Shibuya, despite being a central area, had a sparse population, creating a tense atmosphere.
In such a tense space, there was something I could do freely.
That’s magical practice.
Once the stars are received, every Magical Girl can use basic magic.
Knowing the secrets relating to stars can grant one even greater powers.
Among them, I possessed the same power as the strongest four from the original work.
The strongest four.
Born as a 3-Star Magical Girl.
The four magical girls with absolute strength, likened to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, occasionally opposed or collaborated with the original protagonist, Shikishima Yuki, and all survived until the late parts after the protagonist’s party perished.
[Death’s Magical Girl] Dark Blue
[Revelation’s Magical Girl] White
[War’s Magical Girl] Reddish Brown
[Plague’s Magical Girl] Black
These four girls, possessing the colorful stars, bore the title of Magical Girls with the boasts of names that seemed light-years away from that title and held corresponding powers.
What is needed to wield that power?
Blooming.
The true strength of a Magical Girl.
A stage where one can truly accept the fate pouring down from the starlight.
The beginning of a Magical Girl.
I had already achieved that ‘Blooming.’
And perhaps I was the first Magical Girl who completed the blooming process at this very moment.
“…Transformation!”