Chapter 1
So today, we've invited a very special guest to join us! Our production staff says it was incredibly difficult to book her! Let me introduce her! Magical Girl Celine!
Ahaha... H-hello. This is our first time meeting like this, isn't it? I'm Celine.
Yes~! It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Celine! As I understand it, you haven't appeared on television much until now. Was there any particular reason you decided to appear on our talk show?
Ten years ago, strange incidents began occurring all over the world: black holes suddenly opened up, and monsters began emerging from them.
After appearing without warning, the monsters would smash everything around them, then return through the black holes they had come from once they accomplished some objective. No matter how much firepower humanity poured into stopping them, the monsters displayed horrifying resilience, not suffering even a single scratch.
Just as humanity was wondering whether it would have to stand by and watch monsters periodically run rampant like this, certain beings suddenly appeared.
[That's far enough, monster! With the power of love and justice, I shall defeat you!]
Magical girls whose appearances were those of young girls covered from head to toe in all kinds of flashy, childish decorations—girls anyone would assume loved that sort of thing—astonishingly began defeating the monsters.
Following the magical girls' first appearance, which threw the entire world into shock, monsters continued to emerge. Each time, either new magical girls or ones who had appeared before would show up again, and the process of exterminating the monsters would repeat.
Naturally, there had been attempts to uncover the magical girls' identities. People had plenty of questions: How exactly had they defeated the monsters? What were the monsters, and what were their goals? Were they really the age they appeared to be? And so on.
But the magical girls vanished like ghosts every time after defeating a monster. Then, one day, as people gradually adapted to their existence while remaining grateful that the girls defeated the monsters,
[Hello, everyone. Today... shall we talk about us magical girls?]
The story told by a magical girl—who was normally seen only where monsters were fought—when she appeared on a terrestrial broadcast drew plenty of attention and was more than enough to answer the questions people had long held.
1.Monsters are beings from a dimension called the 'Abyss,' and their purpose is to invade other dimensions and generate negative energy in the process.
2.Magical girls are beings who contracted with entities called 'mascots' from a dimension different from the Abyss and received the power to stop it.
3.Unlike the Abyss, magical girls and mascots draw their power from people's positive emotions.
4.Since magical girls have no way to recognize one another, a magical girl's true appearance cannot be known unless she reveals her identity herself.
There were also questions about magical girls' appearances and ages, but the only answer people received was that their transformed appearances depended on the mascots' characteristics and could differ from how they looked without transforming.
However, because of the mascots' characteristics, contracts were generally more effective with young women, so people who were too old or too young were not considered eligible.
In reality, the magical girls visible to the public never appeared older than their early twenties at most, so women around that age came to be regarded as the primary candidates for contracts.
After this, people learned that many magical girls operated while concealing their identities, but as time passed, more and more magical girls also began working in the public eye.
Some started out merely appearing as occasional guests on television, while others went further and became models, actresses, or idols. There were quite a few such cases.
Another piece of information revealed by these women was that magical girls could terminate their contracts and return to their original lives once they fulfilled certain conditions.
In fact, it was not uncommon to find former magical girls who had once appeared on television in that role and were still working as actresses or idols even after their contracts had ended.
Because they drew power from people's positive emotions, it was widely accepted that magical girls who exposed themselves to the public through television or online broadcasts were stronger than those who operated while keeping their identities completely hidden.
After all, even if they appeared on broadcasts, their identities would not be exposed as long as they maintained their transformations. If they could withstand the pressure, it was a shortcut to becoming stronger more quickly and comfortably.
The magical girl named Celine who was on television right now had probably appeared for the same reason.
"Another poor victim of a contract scam, huh..."
What sweet words had she been lured by this time?
Anyone who signs a contract to become a magical girl in the first place isn't exactly sane.
Does this job pay well, or bring you honor?
It's only called being a magical girl. When a monster appears, you rush out in a panic to fight it, and if all you hear afterward is thanks, that's the best-case scenario. After being asked why you were so late and what you planned to do about the building you destroyed while fighting a few times, even whatever sense of duty or love for humanity you had would disappear in no time.
"Ah, I'll keep working hard from now on! P-please keep watching and supporting me! Ah! A-and my XTube channel, too..."
"Tch."
-Beep.
No wonder. I wondered how someone who looked like she was about to freeze to death on the spot had managed to get up there, but she'd gone to promote her channel.
If that personality wasn't an act, she would have a hard time becoming truly successful.
There were already countless channels made by magical girls with similar personalities, so competing would be difficult unless she had some other standout quality.
...Well, that was her problem from now on.
Seeing that irritating scene made my stomach twist. I should have another drag...
-Click.
"Ah."
The cigarette I'd smoked while watching had been my last.
"Damn it..."
There was a convenience store right in front of my house, but as someone who hated the outside air, I couldn't help cursing.
I wanted to have cigarettes delivered too, but apparently that was illegal. What a pain...
'...Maybe I should just quit smoking.'
It was only five o'clock, so it was still broad daylight.
I already hated the outside air, and just thinking about getting sunlight on me made it feel as though hives were already breaking out on my arm. Rather than put up with that and go outside, I could at least wait until the sun went down...
-Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.
"...Hah."
When I forcibly clasped my shaking right hand with my left, the tremor began spreading to my left hand as well.
I clearly wasn't going to be able to hold out until sunset like this.
-Rustle.
I pulled on a roughly discarded gray hoodie, straightened the shoes strewn across the entryway, and slipped them on.
-Clink.
Finally, after removing the chain hanging on the front door and taking hold of the doorknob, I found that my hand was still shaking.
'...If both of them are going to act up, what the fuck am I supposed to do.'
It was easy enough to tell that this trembling had a cause other than nicotine deprivation.
Thinking what a useless body this was, I was just about to force the door open when—
-Pop!
[Han Se-jin!!! A passage to the Abyss has opened! I've sent the coordinates to your mind!]
A rabbit-shaped doll appeared out of thin air and spoke to me urgently.
-Throb-throb
"...Bunny. I don't think I can fight right now because I'm going through withdrawal, okay? So send another magical girl..."
[We're the closest ones to there right now! The next-closest one has already been dispatched somewhere else!]
"Ha, seriously."
In any case, neither the mascot nor the Abyss ever let me have any peace.
What could I do? It was my fault for signing a contract like this.
"Bunny. I'm going back as soon as I deal with this, so don't try to keep me there with talk of additional support or a new passage or whatever when the time comes."
[I'll, I'll try.]
'Transform. Alice.'
-Flash!
I recited the activation phrase in my head, and my body was enveloped in brilliant light. A moment later, a beautiful, white-haired, blue-eyed girl appeared in the room.
The dress and stockings that covered her entire body in white and blue seemed to betray an obsession with preserving her beauty while keeping even the slightest hint of bare skin from showing anywhere but her face. The crescent-moon hairpin and wand helped complete a look anyone would call a magical girl.
Of course, transformation only changed my outward appearance; it had no function for reversing my biological sex or anything like that.
No matter what anyone else thought, the person inside was male.
"It feels fucking awful every time."
'Get ready to jump right away. I'll finish this quickly and head back.'
The skirt was long enough that I didn't have to worry about anything underneath showing, but the feeling of air flowing over my legs was still intolerable for a man.
[Your words and thoughts seem to have switched places, Alice?!]
"Ah."
I almost made a mistake.
In this state, I needed to be careful not to let a swear slip out.
[Well... anyway, I'm off!]
"Ahem. Ahem. Hmm."
Before flying to where the passage had opened, I cleared my throat, used mind control, and finished preparing to depart as always. Then my vision twisted, and the scenery before me changed to an unfamiliar place.
-Crash! Kaboom!
The Abyss monster I'd seen countless times before was smashing buildings and wreaking havoc.
Once I confirmed that the jump had gone smoothly, I pointed my wand at the monsters and shouted, channeling magic into the line I'd recited countless times.
"I fill the starlight with love! Magical Girl Alice makes her entrance!"
No matter how many times I said it, it was a line that made my insides twist.