YM778.TV Chapter 14 - Magical Girl@Master (1)
"Thank you. You did well, too, Mi-Na."
"Did you know that your popularity has been skyrocketing lately?"
"My popularity?"
"You made headlines for sealing the Class A Gate recently, and your recent victories over monsters have been effortless," Lee Mi-Na remarked, extending her smartphone to Jung Ha-Yeon. Displayed on the screen was a post from a fan cafe dedicated to Jung Ha-Yeon.
[I\'ve been crushing on her lately.]
[She\'s got a stunning face, and her prowess as a magical girl is truly impressive. As a guy, it\'s hard not to be drawn to her.]
[For real, she\'s my favorite hero these days.]
[I\'ve always liked her, but I\'m so proud of how much she\'s grown these days.]
[I love her cold, piercing gaze.]
[Please take me away!]
[When I saw Jung Ha-Yeon fighting the monsters, I realized she\'s a real magical girl.]
[She can use six spells at the same time. There aren\'t many magical girls who can do that in other countries, right?]
[Awakened Crime Division\'s Team Leader 5; she\'s also a magical girl.]
[Oh, you mean the magical (physical) girl, lol.]
[For real, lol]
There\'s always been a fan cafe dedicated to Jung Ha-Yeon. However, due to her rare appearances on TV, the cafe hasn\'t been very active. But lately, there\'s been a surge of new members joining.
"Ha-Yeon is so popular these days; what should we do? If she gets promoted to S-rank hero, won\'t she become the national magical girl?"
"It\'s not easy to get promoted to S-rank. Don\'t get carried away."
Jung Ha-Yeon didn\'t seem overly pleased when she noticed people admiring her. It\'s not that she\'s upset about it, but she didn\'t engage in hero activities seeking popularity in the first place.
"And it\'s because of her that I became this popul—"
"You mean because of Shin Hye-Rim?"
Jung Ha-Yeon confided in her friend Lee Mi-Na, recounting everything that had happened.
She explained that the reason behind her growth in strength was the advice she received from Shin Hye-Rim.
"That\'s interesting. I didn\'t think she was such a kind person when I heard the other heroes talk about her. Wasn\'t she supposed to be very scary?"
"Rumors are always exaggerated. That\'s why the heroes are scared of her, because they don\'t see her real side and just accept what they hear."
Jung Ha-Yeon is aware of why the heroes fear Shin Hye-Rim—it\'s because of the Hero Association bloodbath. Rumors suggest that Shin Hye-Rim fatally beat S-ranked Hero Kim Min-Seok in the midst of the Hero Association. However, Jung Ha-Yeon doesn\'t readily accept these rumors at face value, recognizing that rumors often tend to be exaggerated. In her view, while Shin Hye-Rim may have resorted to physical confrontation, it\'s improbable that she would have beaten Kim Min-Seok to death, leaving the hallways of the association drenched in his blood. That\'s Jung Ha-Yeon\'s perspective on the matter.
"Come to think of it, you\'re doing well, but he\'s been on a roll lately, too," Mi-Na remarked, gesturing towards Shin Chul-Min, who was resting nearby.
"He\'s only just become a hero, yet he sealed an A-ranked gate and defeated one strong beast after another today. What a guy."
Ha-Yeon silently turned her gaze to Shin Chul-Min. Despite hearing some negative rumors about him, she didn\'t believe he was a bad person. It must have been a misunderstanding when he touched Baek Shin-Hwa\'s chest.
"Kyaaaa?!"
"I-I\'m sorry!"
"Y-you again...! You want to touch my breasts that much?!"
"No, I don\'t! I just fell down again today and accidentally-"
Even now, as he stood up, he tripped over a rock and fell, grabbing Baek Shin-Hwa\'s chest as she passed by, but this was still an accident.
\'...It is an accident, right?\'
Jung Ha-Yeon was about to start doubting Shin Chul-Min again.
"He\'s good, of course, but I still think Ms. Hye-Rim is much better."
"There you go again. You\'re such a fan of hers; I bet you\'re also a member of Team Leader 5\'s fan cafe?"
"......No."
Of course, Jung Ha-Yeon admires Shin Hye-Rim, but not enough to call herself a fan. Since they met at the cafe, she\'s been visiting Shin Hye-Rim\'s fan cafe more often, but not to the point of becoming a member. She just read the new posts. Jung Ha-Yeon thought so.
"By the way, Mi-Na, I\'ve always thought that I should repay Ms. Hye-Rim, but what kind of gift should I give her to make her happy?"
Shin Hye-Rim said she didn\'t need to reciprocate, but Jung Ha-Yeon wanted to show her gratitude somehow.
\'I\'m just happy to see you happy.\'
When she remembered Shin Hye-Rim\'s words at the cafe, she felt something in her heart. Even if it\'s only for this feeling, she wanted to give her a gift.
"How would I know? She\'s just like us, so wouldn\'t she appreciate cosmetics or a luxury bag if you gave her one?"
The hero earns a lot of money, so she can afford luxury cosmetics and handbags. But the question is, would Shin Hye-Rim like it?
\'I saw her in a fan cafe, but her civilian clothes weren\'t fancy.\'
In the photos taken by her fans, she was always in a T-shirt or hoodie. This led Jung Ha-Yeon to believe that they were the same type of person. She was not someone who cared about dressing up.
"I don\'t think Ms. Hye-Rim would be happy to receive something like that."
"Umm... I don\'t know, then. How would we know what she likes? Ask her directly."
"...... I don\'t have her contact information."
Jung Ha-Yeon didn\'t ask for Shin Hye-Rim\'s contact information that day. She regrets it now.
"You idiot! That was a golden opportunity, and you missed it. You\'re disqualified as a fan."
"I said I\'m not a fan."
Jung Ha-Yeon remained silent in response to Lee Mi-Na\'s lecture, because it was definitely a chance to casually exchange contacts then. With a disappointed expression, she sealed the gate and returned to the Hero Association.
Jung Ha-Yeon and Lee Mi-Na were about to take a break in the rest room of the association when she noticed-
"...Hmm?"
She realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the Association.
It was quiet. Strangely quiet. Normally, you\'d expect to hear the heroes chatting amongst themselves, but now she couldn\'t even hear anyone breathing. The heroes in the Society were all still, holding their breath.
\'What\'s going on?\'
The other Heroes who had returned with Jung Ha-Yeon must have also noticed something strange. Just as they were wondering....
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of footsteps came from inside the Association, causing the Heroes inside to flinch and shiver.
Just as Jung Ha-Yeon was wondering who could be coming from the inside, the person appeared.
"...Huh?"
After recognizing the person, Jung Ha-Yeon couldn\'t help but make a stupid noise.
Shin Hye-Rim.
It was Shin Hye-Rim who had come to the Hero Association.
As soon as they laid eyes on her, the heroes fell silent, averting their gaze. However, unlike the other heroes, Jung Ha-Yeon quickly approached Shin Hye-Rim as soon as she saw her.
"Chief, you\'re done talking to the Hero Association, right?"
[Yeah, I told the head of the Hero Association over the weekend, and he said he\'s ready, so you just need to go there.]
"Yes sir. Please do your best."
[...Yeah, I\'ll do my best. You too.]
With a tired voice, the chief hung up the phone.
I have two people to arrange separately to stop this terrorist attack. One is Kim Min-Seok, whom I just met, and the other is Alice, a magical girl who is both a hero and an idol.
I\'ve already informed Alice that I\'m coming, so all I have to do is go to the Hero Association and meet her.
As I entered the Hero Association, I noticed heroes and their staff wandering around. The building bustled with unique personalities, and even in the absence of any special event, the place was noisy with hero chatter.
However, the excitement died down as soon as I entered.
"Oh sh-!"
"What\'s she doing here?!"
"Holy sh-! Hey, newbie. Turn your head quickly!"
"Team Leader 5 came directly to the Association...?"
The heroes either scrambled out of their seats or whispered under their breath as soon as they saw my face, and I inwardly sighed.
\'Sigh.\'
This is why I dislike coming to the Hero Association; everyone acts like rats in the presence of a snake when I show up. Of course, it\'s all my fault, so I can\'t complain. Other team leaders love it, though.
\'Haha! Thanks to Team Leader 5, I feel so comfortable whenever I go to the Hero Association. In the past, there were a lot of Heroes who would argue and refuse to follow me, but now there\'s no such people.\'
\'Whenever I go to the Hero Association to pick up materials, the work gets done quickly because everyone thinks that you\'re going to be there, and all the preparations are done when I go to pick it up.\'
\'Hye-Rim, I\'m sometimes proud of your Magical★Punch.\'
The problem is that I don\'t feel happy at all when I hear such compliments. I was a bit of an ass back then, but I\'ve changed a lot since then.
"Hello, you must be Team Leader 5, right?"
I was immediately greeted by a staff member as I walked in.
"Ms. Alice is in the reception room. I\'ll show you to her."
"Sure."
The staff led me into the reception room, where I found Alice, a star idol who is popular not only in Korea but also overseas.
She\'s a magical girl who tops the billboards with every song she releases and becomes a trendsetter. I loved her in the manga.
An idol-magical girl is the best, right? As a magical girl geek, I couldn\'t help but love her.
"Hello."
She was my second favorite character after Jung Ha-Yeon, so I greeted her with a bright smile to make the best impression possible.
"Hic...?! Ah, ah, hello!"
But all I got back in return was a reaction akin to encountering a hideous monster.
The star idol\'s shoulders were hunched, and her face turned pale. Alice\'s expression was as if she saw the Grim Reaper coming to get her.
"......"
This is the second time today. Every person I meet has this reaction.
I hate my past self today.