Chapter 40
[Title:Rookie Magical Class Is in a Major Emergency OMG]
[Author:ㅇㅇ]
Apparently Aia is doing a collaboration for the next class OMG
ㅇㅇ:What do you mean, Aia? She's so busy she won't even budge for most major programs. You think she'd appear on Rookie Magical Class?
ㄴㅇㅇ:And yet it actually happened.
ㄴㄴㅇㅇ:What the fuck?
ㅇㅇ:How did someone this important end up at a place this important?
ㅇㅇ:? What's going on? What happened?
ㄴㅇㅇ:(Link)
ㄴㄴㅇㅇ:Is this for real????
ㅇㅇ:But why is this an emergency?
ㄴㅇㅇ:It's bad for the viewers' hearts.
ㄴㄴㅇㅇ:Ugh.
ㄴㄴㄴㅇㅇ:Aha.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㅇㅇ:◼◼◼◼
[Title:Alice vs. Aia Popularity Poll]
[Author:ㅇㅇ]
Upvote if Alice is cute, downvote if Aia is cute
Upvotes:892(103) Downvotes:194
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[Title:Seriously, Who's Stronger, Alice or Aia?]
[Author:ㅇㅇ]
Are faction wars prohibited here? But what can I do? I'm honestly curious.
토끼사랑해:Alice wins.
ㅇㅇ:Do you take the number-one S-rank for a joke?
ㅇㅇ:If we're seriously comparing them, Aia has the higher rank, so wouldn't it be Aia? Even if you count Kariel and Emerald's faction points, Alice and Aia both work solo, yet they have different ranks.
ㄴㅇㅇ:But if that's the case, then even if we give Alice a pass, isn't it amazing that Aia is ranked number one among magical girls without a faction? Why doesn't she have any gravitas on this forum?
ㄴㄴㅇㅇ:But she's a crazy magical girl who thinks she's a machine...
ㄴㄴㄴㅇㅇ:Ah.
* * *
'Hmm... If I'm going to debate magic with that woman, I should at least organize my thoughts beforehand.'
Although all sorts of major incidents had occurred after filming, I managed to make it home safely.
Although I was a little uneasy because Aia was the kind of woman who could suddenly go anywhere at any time, as far as I knew, she was a magical girl who kept her word, so she wouldn't break a promise made between magical girls.
The problem was that, based on the information Aia had already obtained, she had probably figured out that Han Se-jin... in other words, I was Alice's older brother.
If she went further and found 'the younger sister' from the information about 'Han Se-jin,' then identified that person as 'Alice'...
'...This is getting pretty dangerous.'
I didn't know exactly how far Aia's abilities extended, but considering what she had shown me, I didn't think it was impossible.
If she really wanted to, she could identify Alice's true identity by piecing together the information that had come to light so far.
Tracking down 'Alice,' who was risking her life to hide her identity, would probably be too much even for Aia. But a mention of an older brother and a man who looked suspiciously similar to Alice—weren't those clues that anyone could put together, even without knowing the full story?
'...Still, it's a relief that I managed to throw her off the scent once.'
Unless Aia dug even deeper, finding out 'Alice's' identity was within the range I could tolerate.
After all, one of the scenarios I'd anticipated in case I was exposed was revealing that I was Alice's older brother.
There really wouldn't be any problem.
I'd prepared safeguards so that even if Alice's identity were exposed, it wouldn't lead all the way to Han Se-jin being Alice, much like how the phone 'Alice' was currently using had been registered in her younger sister's name.
...In the truly worst-case scenario, even Han Se-jin being Alice could be exposed. The most important secret—the one that absolutely couldn't be revealed—was that the real Alice had already died, and I'd been living while impersonating her.
If only the former secret were exposed, I could bluff my way through it by claiming that Han Se-jin had been Alice from the very beginning.
A contract between a man and a magical girl violated a taboo among mascots, but Tokkaengi said it would still be easier to persuade the other mascots about that than to explain that Alice had already died and her older brother had been impersonating her all this time.
The mascots themselves didn't know why contracts with men were forbidden, and the story 'The contract went through despite him being male due to an error. But there was no problem, he worked well, and he even reached fourth place in S-rank' seemed less deliberate than 'Alice died, but her older brother pretended to be Alice and lived as her.'
If Alice had truly fallen in battle, her mascot, Tokkaengi, should have vanished with her. In that case, Tokkaengi would naturally become a deliberate fraud who contracted someone who looked like Alice as a replacement to avoid vanishing, deceiving all the mascots in the process. That was why I'd already discussed the priority of the secrets with Tokkaengi.
...The best outcome would be for Aia to remain quiet like this...
If Aia couldn't overcome her curiosity and decided to dig into my secret, then...
-Clench...
-Ding-dong!
"Mr. Se-jin! Are you in there? Could I see you for a moment!!"
-Startled!
...Just when I was thinking about Aia, an even bigger headache than Aia came to visit: Mia.
More precisely, Mia's real form. Kim Shin-ah.
-Creeak
"Yes... Did you call?"
"Uh... um, it's just... Well... Has anyone else come by to see you?"
"...Someone else?"
After Aia's bombshell announcement, Aia had disappeared somewhere with Mia for a while.
After that, Alice naturally left the filming location and returned home, so of course I arrived first. And considering the time, Mia had probably just finished her schedule and returned home as well.
"No one... Why? Did something happen?"
"N-no! I was just worried something might have happened to you. Hehe. You know how things have been lately."
...I wouldn't deny that public safety had gotten worse than before after the Abyssals began appearing.
But in an era more than ten years after the Abyssal invasion had begun, saying 'you know how things have been lately' was... questionable.
It was even stranger coming from a twenty-year-old who had only just become an adult.
Still... well...
"...Nothing happened."
"If that's... the case, then that's a relief. Phew..."
"...Did something happen?"
I generally disliked prying into other people, but when someone made it that obvious that something was going on, I couldn't help getting curious too.
Especially now, when she seemed to have come after talking with Aia.
...Could Aia have told her?
"Um... uh... I met Aia... I mean, Miss Aia. You know I'm a magical girl, right? So there was something I had to do as a magical girl... and I met Miss Aia there. And..."
"...And?"
"Oh, she still hasn't given up on Mr. Se-jin! She suddenly called me aside when we were alone, so I thought she was going to say something serious, but then she asked how our relationship was going, how far we'd gotten, how I felt about it, whether there was anything I disliked, and told me to contact her before we broke up if we were going to break up because Aia would place a bid right away. Can you believe that?! I was so dumbfounded I didn't know what to do."
"..."
It was a fairly unhinged thing to say... but if the speaker was Aia, it somehow seemed plausible.
Especially the part about telling her to give Aia advance notice so she could place a bid immediately. I could practically hear Aia saying it in her voice.
...Did Aia like Han Se-jin that much?
I knew my looks were at least somewhat desirable, but did she really need to cling to me that obsessively?
Someone like Aia could surely meet a man with much better qualifications than some shut-in unemployed man like me.
If Aia put her mind to it, she could probably seduce most men, so I couldn't understand why she was fixated on a man like this.
Even if I didn't look it on the outside, I was approaching thirty, had no proper job, and made a living by cross-dressing. What on earth did she find so appealing about me?
...The same was true of Mia, who was standing in front of me now.
I already knew that she'd gone far beyond merely helping me out of the goodness of her heart. Even though I'd never dated anyone, I had enough awareness to realize that much.
It might have started with her saving a citizen being persecuted(?) by the number-one S-rank magical girl, but the feelings in Mia's eyes when she looked at Han Se-jin were something more than that.
I didn't know if it went as far as serious love, but at least it wasn't some fake act put on for business reasons.
"A-anyway! The reason I came to talk to you is... This time, let's go see a movie together!"
"...A movie?"
"Yes! I suggested it a few days ago, but you couldn't go because you weren't feeling well! If you're feeling okay and have time today, let's go together! Who knows when Miss Aia might come looking for you again? She could even show up today, and when she does, we can show her how happily we're dating! Even if it isn't today, practicing ahead of time will make it easier to act later, too..."
"...No. I'm sorry, but I have something else to do today. I don't think I can go."
...Now that I'd realized that, I couldn't take another step.
'Han Se-jin' was... someone who had died long ago.
He was merely another life I needed in order for 'Alice' to go on living. As long as the role kept my life going, that was enough.
Forming relationships with other people or fulfilling some personal desire—I'd given up on all of that eight years ago, when I crawled out of that damned pit.
"Th-that happens! Th-then when do you think you might have time? I... I'm usually home whenever I'm not out working..."
"...I've been a little busy lately. I don't know when I'll have time."
"Ah... I... I see...?"
For my sake and hers, it was best to cut off any further development in this relationship ahead of time.
What would be the point of pouring water into a bottomless jar except to waste time?
Pouring affection into a man who was sick to death of women would only leave her at a disadvantage.
...As I'd originally intended, if our fake relationship was only meant to serve as an excuse to drive Aia away when she came looking for me, then the distance we'd maintained so far was already enough.
Taking another step forward from here... would no longer be fake.
"Y-you're not sick, are you? Is it possible you still haven't recovered from being sick before...?"
"Thank you for worrying about me, but... I'm feeling fine."
"I-I see..."
'...When I think about it, I've been far too lenient until now.'
I'd been unconsciously drawn in by the warm feeling I hadn't experienced in a long time.
Even though I'd already experienced that warmth becoming a stake that burned everything and drove itself into my body.
...I still.
I hated women and younger magical girls.
Truly. Horribly.