Transformation or Death

Loss, Preparation (3)

“Brother, what are you doing! Come quickly!”

“I’m coming.” 

Joo Ah-yoon, walking briskly down the street, seemed quite excited. The intense makeup she had carefully applied blended with her innocent candor, accentuating her cuteness.

Han Jae-jung followed behind her with a faint smile.

“This is the place I looked into yesterday. What do you think?” 

“Uh…okay…”

“Look at it properly! This isn’t some part-time job you can quit easily, it’s a business we need to view long-term! At least for a few years, so take a good look when you have the chance.”

The place Joo Ah-yoon had brought him to was a modest detached house on a sloping street. Despite being a house, its modern design suggested it could be utilized as a cafe with some minor remodeling.

“I don’t want to be in a busy area. It’s too noisy. More importantly, we’ll be operating with a small staff, so we couldn’t handle that intense workload. A residential area like this, away from the hubbub, would be better.”

Her vision was more concrete than expected. Scrutinizing the potential cafe location with sharp eyes, she looked like a shrewd young businesswoman. Her small stature even gave her a charismatic aura despite her young age. 

“Ah, and while I have baking and barista certifications…you should get them too, brother. Since it’ll be our cafe, you need to know how to brew coffee.”

“Oh…okay…”

Han Jae-jung was flustered to be included in this startup plan.

“Uh…Joo Ah-yoon? I don’t know when it was decided, but I don’t recall agreeing to help with your cafe.”

“What? You’re saying this now?” Joo Ah-yoon asked incredulously.

“Do you have a job, brother? No, do you at least have money?”

“No…”

“I even bought the chicken we ate earlier. So do you have a place to live?”

“No…”

“Any specs, future plans, or industries you’re interested in?”

“No…”

Han Jae-jung’s self-esteem dwindled with each answer. A typical unemployed mid-20s high school graduate. He had dipped into his parents’ insurance money and what Seol-hwa sent, but that was practically debt.

Karma that would eventually need repaying.

Self-respect may not put food on the table, but it was a value worth preserving even through starvation. For him, it was a sense of guilt – he felt uncomfortable freely spending others’ money as his own.  

He really did feel like a complete waste.

“Brother, close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“What do you see?”

“Darkness.”

“That’s your future if you keep living like this.”

“Ha…”

Joo Ah-yoon let out a small mocking laugh. Han Jae-jung couldn’t bring himself to refute her.

“It’s hard to find a job, you have no money or house, right? You know how difficult that is in modern society, don’t you? But it’s okay.”

She declared confidently, hands on her hips.

“I’ve got it all. This charismatic and hip little sister has a plan to support you.”

“I’m not some kept man…”

“That’s why I’m going to get you employed.”

Joo Ah-yoon knows Han Jae-jung’s character well. Despite his unsavory appearance, he has an overly delicate heart and strong aversion to relying on or clinging to others.

“I won’t just give you fish, but teach you how to fish them. True noblesse oblige.”

So rather than simply giving him money, she’s giving him an opportunity to earn it.

“From now on, you’ll address me as company president.”

“Understood, madam.”

“Don’t call me madam, it makes me sound old.”

“Understood, my little kitty.”

“You’re pushing it.”

Exchanging playful banter, they turned to leave.

“You don’t like this place?”

“Hmm…I do. But the location is a bit disappointing. Since it’s uphill, it might be hard for people to come. What do you think, brother?”

“Of course, we must follow our princess’s opinion.”  

“Stick to one way of addressing me. And don’t use nicknames like princess or baby cat. It’s cringeworthy. Just because I’m short doesn’t mean I won’t kick your shins.” 

“Got it, Joo Ah-yoon.”

“Good.”

Satisfied, Joo Ah-yoon nodded and opened her map app to find another potential location.

“Oh, and brother, let’s look at clothes too while we’re out.”

“Clothes?”

“Yeah. Your looks aren’t the most approachable, so we need to adjust your vibe so customers don’t feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s too much. I’m clearly a smiling merchant.”

“But that smile has an undercurrent, like a seedy, lecherous smile. Brother, did you know you sometimes look at me with lecherous eyes?”

“…Me?”

“That’s just how it comes across! You can’t look at anyone else like that, got it?”

“But when did I ever…”

“Anyway! We need to completely change your look – dress you in stylish formal wear, maybe glasses to frame an intellectual vibe!”

Joo Ah-yoon’s voice was strangely excited.

“Joo Ah-yoon, you’re getting too worked up.”

“No, I’m not! I’m totally calm!”

“Sure, let’s go with that, my lady.”

“I told you to stick to one way of addressing me.”

“Our Joo Ah-yoon.”

“Our… That sounds like a couple. Drop the our part.”

Though she said that, Joa-yun didn’t feel too bad about it. Her slightly reddened ears hinted at her excitement.

In her mind, a happy future path had unfolded. Han Jae-jung, styled to her tastes, greeting customers and the aroma of coffee brewing in their cozy cafe….

[Quest Appears.]

As Joo Ah-yoon imagined happiness, Han Jae-jung’s expression hardened ominously. 

[Protect her.]

“…Brother?”

“We’ll worry about clothes later.”

Han Jae-jung reached out and grabbed the empty air. There, metal balls appeared, similar to the ones hovering around Joo Ah-yoon. The balls unfolded in his hand, transforming into a belt buckle, with a lens design reminiscent of a telescope. Joo Ah-yoon was already familiar with this transformation.

“I guess now is not the time for that.”

With a bitter smile, Han Jae-jung attached the buckle to his waist. With a clattering sound, a metal wire shot out from the right side of the buckle and coiled around his waist.

The sky trembled, like the earth shakes when soldiers march, the sky too shook as an army marched.

In the distance, a force was marching this way. But this army did not have a human form, instead taking the shape of birds, briefly resembling the movement of migratory birds.

Just like migratory birds forming a formation as they soar through the sky, this force too marched in formation.

However, they were far too massive to simply be called birds. Giant bird-like forms rivaling the size of cargo planes, marching in formation, made for an awe-inspiring yet ominous sight.

It was the march of geese with wings of steel.  

The march of villains.

Of course, they did not remain passive observers. If there are villains, citizens have magical girls. Several spells were fired towards the geese, and some broke off from the formation to come crashing down.

But their numbers were overwhelming.  

Greedily overwhelming, and from their apparent disregard for the sacrifices, this march seemed more an exercise in showing off.

At the center was an arrogant, greedy villain who loved to flaunt himself to others.  

Han Jae-jung gazed at him.

“Transform.”

Green particles gushed out from the belt.

[ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION.]

[■■■■■■■■■■]  

The original transformation sound was drowned out by an unpleasant noise. After an ear-splitting mechanical sound, a new transformation sound played.

[I obey my fate.]

The green starlight that had decorated the surroundings like fireflies illuminating a pond gradually turned pure white.

Thrashing violently like a blizzard on a snowy mountain, the pure white starlight enveloped him, transforming him into an increasingly savage and fierce form—more violently, like blood vessels bursting from a beast or something exploding.

[Big Dipper.]

Finally, his body was completely dyed pure white. One half was wrapped in lightning, the other in rugged armor like an animal’s fur.

“I guess the outing ends here for today.”  

He was lightning incarnate in human form, as if manifesting the wrath of the heavens on earth.  

He stood in front of Joo Ah-yoon, shielding her.

Soon, one of the birds charged straight at them. In form only—in reality, it was no different from a cargo truck ramming into them.

An axe appeared in Watcher’s right hand, completely enveloped in lightning such that its shape was indiscernible.

With a single unremarkable swing,   

It was more than enough.

The charging goose was cleanly bisected. No blood splattered—the blood vaporized before it could even spurt out.  

The ground split open along the trajectory of his swing, revealing its insides.

A cruel sight.

“Get on.”

Watcher extended his left arm and curtly said. Joo Ah-yoon hesitated before hugging him tightly. Despite his brusque words, he gently embraced her then took to the skies.

“We’re escaping.”

As Watcher held Joo Ah-yoon, an arrogant voice boomed like thunder from above.

“That is mine!”

The ruler controlling these eagles.  

“Do not let it leave!”

The Aquila, villain of the Aquila constellation.

At the center of the formation, an exceptionally bejeweled eagle. Looking down on them from atop it, Aquila declared, “Too precious an object for the likes of you! I shall claim it myself, so remove your vulgar hands and step aside! This is my final mercy! Oh? Wait a moment…you too are quite alluring. Ah, what a delight!”

Aquila spread his arms wide. Following his motion, scores of eagles formed a ring in the sky, like a cast net.

“Rejoice! Not just the girl, but you too shall become mine.”  

Watcher held Joo Ah-yoon tightly.

“Escaping is no longer an option.”

If Aquila sets his sights on them even once, escape becomes impossible. He would do anything to claim Joo Ah-yoon.

Han Jae-jung knows this villain’s desire to collect and greed.

Truly befitting the Aquila constellation, whose mythological origins lie in Zeus transforming into an eagle to abduct the beautiful youth Ganymede.

Like the anecdote of this myth, Aquila possesses an extremely arrogant greed. 

Instead of paying a fair price and taking it, the moment something catches his eye, he treats it as his own and tries to take it. He thinks that since it’s already his possession, a price is unnecessary.

He also knows the ultimate fate of humans possessed by Aquila.

Taxidermy. He taxidermied humans like butterflies or animals. 

He’s an exceptionally vicious kind, even among villains.

He’s also pointlessly obsessive and stubbornly tries to get whatever he fixates on.  

The previous kidnapping seemed like a mere whim, but listening to what he’s saying now, he already seems quite fixated. Fleeing would just be a war of attrition.

“Not fleeing…”

So he chose to defeat rather than flee. He would protect Joo Ah-yoon and take down the villain. He had to succeed in all this within a limited time.  

Watcher’s lenses gradually started darkening, and the lightning bolts also expanded their range, devouring his body.

It was quite a difficult task, but.

“I’d like an execution.” 

It wasn’t impossible.

“Having both the Star of Magic and the Star of the villain, and being able to switch between human and villain forms… You’re quite appealing to me! Watch this!”

Aquila casually flicked his wrist.

“Bring them before me!”

Dozens of geese charged at them. The sight could be likened to a meteor shower. Each one a massive cluster of stars.

“Grit your teeth again this time.”

Watcher ran while carrying Joo Ah-yoon.

A straight white line rapidly traced. That line sliced through the descending geese like tofu, burning and shattering them, and without any pause, extended all the way to Aquila.

Aquila is arrogant. He also values his authority.

So, he’s complacent.

He thinks showing sincerity undermines his authority and makes him seem vulgar, so he initially takes everyone he meets lightly. He’s always off guard.

It was a very good thing for Watcher.

If he lets his guard down, the task becomes much easier.

“Who’s taking whose neck?”

There are many villains who don’t die even until the end of the original story. One of them is Aquila.

One reason is that after the magical girls awaken their divinity, their characteristic complacency weakens.

But he is different now. He underestimates Watcher and treats all the magical girls even more arrogantly. He doesn’t actively defend or attack.

Like now.

Crunch.

His neck can be easily taken.

Watcher, who soared to the sky at lightning speed along with the diamond eagle, cut off Aquila’s neck. It was a very simple task. It didn’t even take a second. It was an extremely tidy, mechanical execution.

The tidy movements of the eagles turned to chaos, and Watcher landed from the sky.  

Ka-gwagwang! The loudest sound among his movements so far occurred during this landing. As if thunder was rumbling, Watcher landed on the ground and put down Joo Ah-yoon, whom he had been carrying.

“Ugh, ueck… what, is it over?” 

“Yeah, it’s over.”

Since it happened in an instant and she had her eyes tightly shut, Joo Ah-yoon didn’t realize what had just occurred.

Thud. Something followed after them and fell from the sky.

“Look.”

“Uwaaaaak fuck!”

It was Aquila’s neck. Joo Ah-yoon was startled. 

“What, what is this? Did you do this, bro? Can it really end this easily?”

“It’s better if everything ends easily.”  

“That’s true, but…”

More than half of Watcher’s lens had darkened. It meant he had less than a minute left to maintain his emotions.

The moment he raised his hand to his belt to cancel his transformation, a scene replayed in his mind.  

The full utilization of the Ursa Major’s ability with his belt’s function.

The observation of possibilities infinitely close to the future.

As if entranced, Watcher pushed Joo Ah-yoon away.

“Kkyak!”

Right after, lightning struck. Dazzling golden lightning. But it didn’t fall down, it shot upwards.

Kwajik!

Joo Ah-yoon, who had rolled on the ground, looked up at the ominous sound from above.

“…Bro?”

A hole had been punctured. A perfect circle, cleanly drilled into a person. So intricate that it sent chills down her spine.  

It was the mark left by lightning passing through the area around Watcher’s chest. The scar looked closer to being stabbed by a drill than being struck by lightning.

“…Congratulations.”

A voice flowed from the severed neck.

“You’ve managed to enrage me greatly.”

A cold, frigid voice straining to suppress rage as much as possible. 

“You’ve made me take on such a vulgar form! This is the second time for you!”

The decapitated villain was not dead. His voice was lightning. Whenever he spoke, golden lightning erupted, shredding Watcher.

“So you will not be leaving.”   

Joo Ah-yoon had often provided first aid to Blue Sirius when he was injured, so she knew the body a little. That’s why she knows where the hole in Watcher is located.

The heart, lungs, liver.

All vital spots.

“Die as my nemesis.”

The severed neck hovered in the air as Watcher’s lens fully blackened.

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