Transformation or Death

Chapter 4 – 

First Encounter

Fortunately, the police weren’t looking for me to interrogate about the incident of neutralizing the villain and defeating the magical girl that happened  early this morning. 

From the beginning, there was no way I could be caught. There was no evidence like my face, fingerprints, or bloodstains, so how could they have identified and caught me?

Well, if they investigate my alibi, they may find it suspicious, but such an investigation couldn’t have been done in such a short time.

In other words, the purpose of the police looking for me wasn’t to catch the one who had just been designated as an S-grade villain yesterday.

“Um… Sorry, but student… This might be a sensitive question…”

It was because of the suicide commotion, not the transformation commotion.

“You were… Trying to commit suicide…?”  

It seems the motel owner discovered the suicide note or rope that I didn’t clean up properly. Thanks to that, the police received a report that there was an attempted suicide case here.

Dammit.

I was so flustered that I only took my wallet and didn’t take anything else. At least I should have cleaned up afterwards. I feel sorry for the owner. How shocked they must have been.

“…”

“Excuse me…?”

Perhaps because I was identified as a would-be suicide victim, the police officer was being very careful with me. Well, there’s no point in provoking me unnecessarily. 

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah, I see… If you don’t mind me asking, what was the reason…?”

“Just an ordinary reason. I’m an orphan who dropped out of high school and failed the national exam, so I wanted to throw my life away.”

Those reasons should have been written in the suicide note.

Didn’t they see the note?

If not, then that’s fortunate. My previous self had written something about having a connection with Blue Sirius in there.

It wouldn’t be good if there was a connection between a magical girl and a would-be suicide victim.  

Do I really need to give those who search for gossip every day more food for thought?

I don’t need to unnecessarily revisit the past love rumors about Blue Sirius again, for my sake and for hers.

“I understand you weren’t in your room last night… What were you doing during that time?”

“Well, when I came so close to dying, I suddenly wanted to live again, you know? So I just walked around aimlessly.”

It wouldn’t do any good to add anything else. I told the most plausible lie I could and cut the conversation short.

After receiving the typical follow-up questions and getting me to promise several times that I wouldn’t attempt suicide again, the questioning finally ended.

‘Damn it…’

I felt annoyed. Just because I couldn’t clean up that one thing properly, I haven’t been able to rest until now.

[Your current heart rate is not good. Calm yourself down.]

Whose fault is that? I clenched my teeth and held back the curses that were about to come out.

Judging from the fact that the floating metal ball is talking without anyone around reacting to it, it seems only I can see and hear this thing.

No, how does it know I’m seeing it? Maybe this is just my hallucination. In fact, everything that happened last night could just be a fantasy I experienced, like a dream…

[Do not deny reality. What you are experiencing is clearly real.]   

Alright, brat. People sometimes try to escape reality when things get tough.

This thing can read my thoughts.  

As much as I didn’t want to believe it, it seems to be true.  

This metal ball (disguised as a belt) is my mascot.

A mascot that magical girls commonly have.

It helps with transformations.

People other than the transformed cannot perceive it.

We can communicate through thoughts, not just words.

Excluding its not-so-cute appearance, it meets all the criteria of a mascot. From transforming with the power of stars to being called a guardian for the mascot’s existence.

It means my transformation and that of a magical girl are fundamentally the same.

But what exactly is it guarding? Citizens? Then why did it defeat the magical girl? It’s so confusing…

“Excuse me.”

As the conversation was coming to an end, the police officer spoke up carefully again. “Sorry, but in cases of attempted suicide, we have to contact a guardian, you see. So could I get that contact information…?”

“I don’t have any.”  

“Pardon?”

“As I mentioned earlier, I’m an orphan. I don’t even know if I have any relatives, and I have no friends or lovers. I don’t even have a cell phone.”

As I answered truthfully, the officer’s expression became serious. He hurriedly took out a business card from his drawer and handed it to me.

“This is the contact for a suicide counseling center. The villain appearance rate has been quite high recently, you see…”  

Villains are creatures that grow stronger by feeding on negative human emotions. 

That’s why those suffering from depression like would-be suicide victims are easy prey for villains.

It’s understandable that the country is paying more attention to potential suicide victims than before villains appeared, for the sake of overall public safety. If a villain is attracted to a would-be suicide victim, it doesn’t just kill that one person and leave.

I can understand the officer’s reaction.

But I pushed the business card away, rejecting it. “Sorry, but…”

“If you receive counseling, they provide basic financial support.”  

“I’ll gratefully accept it then.” I slipped the business card into my pocket.

This too is unavoidable.  

Money is precious. Especially considering that I may not be able to get a proper job from now on.

Because of this belt.

Whenever it detects a villain, it will urge me to quit my job regardless of whether I’m working or not.  

How can I keep a job with random death events happening?

[Quest triggered.]

Yeah, like this. After the third time, annoyance came before tension.

“Thank you for your hard work today.”

“Ah, can I give you a ride home?”

“I don’t have a home!”  

I really don’t.

According to the original work, when Blue Sirius went to search for Han Jae-jung’s home, he had already moved out.

He must have cut off all possessions and relationships when he decided to commit suicide.

[A villain has been detected at 7 o’clock from here.]

I got up hurriedly and asked, just in case, “Oh right. This incident won’t be reported in the news, will it?”

“Huh? Oh no… A suicide is just a common occurrence, so no reporters came.”  

“That’s a relief then.”

It would be troublesome if it was reported in the news. Not because I’m worried about my identity being exposed, but because of the trauma this body has.  

[Transform.]

“I’ll do that later. Oh, I wasn’t talking to you. Alright, I’ll be going now.”  

With that, I hurriedly left the police station.

Ah, I’m so sleepy.

***

Ippotranslation

***  

-A new mysterious S-grade villain has appeared. Is the magical girl going to be okay…?

The news article displayed on the smartphone shone without hiding last night’s crushing defeat at all. 

-It’s really been ominous lately. Even in our neighborhood recently…

-But it’s a relief that our brave Red Vega handled it. Thank goodness there were no casualties.

In the comments section of the article, slightly filtered comments were receiving many likes at the top, thanks to the ‘spread positivity about magical girls’ movement that has been going on for years.  

However, a little further down, the reactions were much rawer, vivid, and fresher. It felt like looking at the guts of a freshly cut fish.

-Is that all Red Vega’s got this time? Lolㅋㅋㅋㅋ She’s been acting so unpleasantly, how does it feel to get beaten down?

-To be honest, I’m not sure if she was that promising of a holy maiden… She was just so-so.

-The Red VeKa fans were going on about her being a supernova, but this is a nice look ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Undefeated? Hah… Think before you speak.

Deliberately misspelling ‘Red Vega’ to avoid triggering the keyword search and then insulting her. And this is still on the tamer side.

-Vega! Since you’ve been defeated, why don’t you go to Japan and do AV now? You were useless anyway ㅋㅋㅋㅋ.

└Crazy bastard ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Even the Japanese would reject you.

-Anyone got pics of Vega getting pounded and rolling on the ground? Need it urgently.

  

└Oh… Nice.

└A ‘pounded’ Vega, what a sight.

└Hah can’t take it, blood is rushing to my lower body.

On this side, they don’t bother avoiding keyword searches at all. They’re not worried about getting sued since they wrote it through a VPN, I guess.

“As expected.”

The magical girl ‘Red Vega’, real name Baek Ah-hee, threw her smartphone and collapsed onto the bed.

She considered checking the reactions from overseas but gave up. They would be more interested in the newly appeared S-grade villain than Red Vega’s defeat anyway.

People often ask if being a magical girl isn’t great since you earn money and get a lot of attention.

They don’t realize that getting attention from the general public also means being targeted by insecure losers.

Money? It’s all over if you die to a villain.  

There’s a reason magical girls retire faster than figure skaters.

But what was gnawing at Baek Ah-hee’s heart now wasn’t because of such reactions.

“Aaaaaahhhh!!!!” She screamed as she rolled around on the bed. “I lost!! I freakin’ lost!!!”

It’s been half a year since she became a magical girl. Her record until now was undefeated! Her goal was to stay undefeated until retirement! It’s what she always said in every interview.  

Undefeated.

An unwavering strength that doesn’t allow even a single loss.

A legendary achievement that no other magical girl has ever recorded. A dream that every magical girl has at least once. And she could have been the first to accomplish it.

But that dream of being undefeated was shattered last night.

“Damn it all!!!” Spouting profanities she couldn’t say in her transformation form, she rolled around on the bed.

If she had at least put up a somewhat equal fight, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.  

A single blow. Without being able to land even a slight hit, she was instantly knocked down like an insect with a single attack.

It’s unbelievable.

One Path, Hwaeum (Fire Sound) was supposedly her ultimate technique that she had continuously developed along with herself. That skill symbolizing her growth and journey was blocked by just a single hand.

A crushing defeat. 

A perfect loss where she couldn’t even get a rebuttal in.

Her seniors consoled her, saying that’s just how S-grade villains are and that she should be grateful to still be alive. That S-grade villains are like natural disasters.

Then what’s the point of magical girls existing if they’re meant to deal with such natural disasters?

Their consolation didn’t resonate with Red Vega’s heart at all.  

Even now, the villain’s words from last night were ringing in her head.

‘Weak.’

‘Don’t think of it as humiliation. It’s only natural.’    

‘Pitiful.’

Just recalling those words brought a crushing anger that made her heart feel like it was crumpling. They didn’t even have a deep exchange, but his words embedded themselves deep in her heart, trampling on Baek Ah-hee’s dream.

‘I’m sorry for being weak! Don’t think of it as humiliation? You’re the one who said I was pitiful for being weak, so what do you mean don’t think of it as humiliation!!!’

It was only after thrashing around like that that she was able to calm down.

“Whew….”

[Di, did you calm down?]

The mascot, a small fluffy cat-like creature floating beside her, asked worriedly.  

“Thanks for worrying, Ribbon.”

Calling her mascot, who becomes a ribbon during transformation, by her name Ribbon, Baek Ah-hee sat up.

Sitting on the bed, she evened out her breathing and reorganized her mind.

“I have to accept it. I was defeated.”  

The reason she deliberately read the raw comments and stressed herself out earlier was as a punishment for that defeat.  

The raw reactions serve as a bitter but useful medicine that clears her mind. While a minority, those reactions certainly exist.

“My dream has ended like this.”  

However.

“Now I’ll have a new dream.”

Red Vega erased the dream of being undefeated and added a new dream on top of it.

“I will definitely get my revenge…!”

A crunching sound of grinding teeth could be heard.

‘I’ll make sure you can never call me weak, say it’s only natural, or say I’m pitiful ever again!’  

After reaffirming her resolve like that, she changed clothes and packed her belongings.  

“Then, let’s get going now!”

Her mental preparation was done, so it was time to work.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Villains that grow stronger by feeding on human negativity.

Magical girls are the complete opposite, able to intensify the light of the stars through love and peace.  

While the power of love is quite dangerous and not recommended, peace is different.

Contributing to maintaining peace can safely increase one’s power without any side effects.

This is why magical girls often participate in community service activities.  

Red Vega, a half-year magical girl veteran, had also done numerous community service activities until now.  

This suicide counseling center volunteering was for the same reason.

“Fufun~”  Red Vega hummed a tune in her usual transformation form shown in the media. 

This counseling center activity was meticulously planned as a surprise event since advertising it beforehand might have drawn non-suicidal people as well.

What kind of shocked expressions would the people beyond this door have?

‘Even if I was defeated, the holy maiden Red Vega has arrived!’

With that confidence-boosting thought, she energetically opened the door.

“Hello! Shooting across your heart like a comet! The crimson star Red Vega is here… Huh?”

Hurrr-

What greeted her wasn’t shocked screams or gasps of stunned silence.

An avant-garde artistic expression of comfort was present there.  

It could almost be mistaken for a one-man performance, it was such an unconventional and unique sight 

A tall man lying on the desk, using a guidance booklet as an eye mask while enjoying a quick nap. His drooping arm and the dangling name tag below the desk.  

The three letters written on it.

Han Jae-jung.  

The name of today’s first counseling client.

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