Transformation or Death

A Little Money and a Place to Live Tomorrow is Enough (1)

“Sister Seol-hwa… Why did she suddenly act like that?”

‘Sister Seol-hwa’. Han Jae-jung could sense from that expression that Joo Ah-yoon was still emotionally agitated.

After becoming a magical girl, she had consistently used the term ‘senior’.

Unlike their past when they lived like family, she changed the way she addressed him to maintain some distance and make rational judgments.

Language created by reason dissolves like water when emotions run high.

Even after she stopped crying, Joo Ah-yoon didn’t leave Han Jae-jung’s side. After the doctor came to examine him and left, she immediately clung to him like a butterfly and embraced him again.

Han Jae-jung’s hand now naturally and repeatedly patted her back like breathing, and feeling this intermittent vibration, Joo Ah-yoon leaned her face even deeper.

“…Was she lonely?”

During their school days, the three were always together. Even when Han Jae-jung and Yoon Seol-hwa were dating, whenever they went out somewhere, Seol-hwa would always invite Ah-yoon first to join them.

Sometimes she declined, telling them to enjoy their date alone, but sometimes she accepted and joined them.

Though Ah-yoon was an outsider to their relationship, she never felt lonely. There was no sense of alienation during the time spent with them. She traced memories of joyful and warm times.

But after Han Jae-jung’s disappearance, all relationships changed. He was no longer someone to protect. He became someone who couldn’t be innocent. She always had to speak lies.

Being human who could transform into a villain, she couldn’t be carelessly honest.

The same became true for Joo Ah-yoon soon after. After she too gained the ability to transform into a villain, while her relationship with Han Jae-jung grew closer, her relationship with Yoon Seol-hwa became distant.

A clear outsider was created in what was once a relationship of three without exclusion.

While this was consideration, it was also cold silence.

The two people who always spent time together started excluding her and having more secrets between themselves. They had different workplaces, and being busy made it hard to meet every day. Physical distance grew while they grew closer.

What emotions must Yoon Seol-hwa have felt?

She must have been lonely. Joo Ah-yoon was certain of this. For her, loneliness was an easily relatable emotion. Because she had experienced being left out.

“That could be the case.”

Han Jae-jung didn’t deny it.

“…! I knew it…”

After hearing his affirmation, as someone who would know Seol-hwa better than herself, Joo Ah-yoon became even more confident in her emotional reasoning.

I went too far. After her sadness and resentment had evaporated, Joo Ah-yoon felt sorry. Well, she did act quite hatefully.

Hugging someone you like right in front of them. If she had seen something like that herself, she wouldn’t have been able to contain herself and would have gone berserk.

[The Guardian goes berserk even without seeing such things.]

‘Shut up.’

[And someone you like? Didn’t you used to make a fuss about not having anyone you liked?]

‘It’s hypothetical! Hypothetical! You crazy bird-brain always nitpicking…’

While briefly arguing with her mascot, Parrot, who was raising unnecessary objections, Joo Ah-yoon unconsciously tensed up and her arms tightened.

“Ah-yoon? Ah-yoon. My back hurts. Hey, nails, nails! Don’t dig in your nails! I’m a patient, you fool!”

“Ah, sorry…”

She came back to her senses at Han Jae-jung’s shout and relaxed her grip.

“Anyway, from now on we need to be nice to Sister Seol-hwa.”

“Specifically how?”

“Um… We can’t reveal our identities… Ah, right! Like giving her service at the cafe…”

“What service. Would Seol-hwa be happy with that… Actually, she would be happy.”

She’d probably be really happy. She’s unnecessarily kind and has good reactions to strange things. It was easy to imagine Seol-hwa’s eyes sparkling while eating service coffee and cake.

“Still, that seems a bit like showing off.”

“Then maybe brother could serve customers while doing cosplay.”

“Is our place really a cafe…?”

Han Jae-jung released his arms and looked at Joo Ah-yoon with drowsy eyes.

“…A judgment that we can’t make money without some objectification.”

Joo Ah-yoon avoided his gaze and answered in a cold, stiff tone.

“You pushed for a mood cafe and now you’re saying something else… Why don’t you do it then.”

“Who would want that kind of service from a body like this…?”

She’s short and doesn’t have a particularly glamorous figure. While she maintains herself well enough to not look bad, there’s nothing particularly good-looking either. Joo Ah-yoon coldly evaluated herself while looking over her body.

“I think brother has a bigger chest than me… Don’t you think brother’s body would be better to work with?”

“Ah-yoon, what vulgar way of speaking is that. And your body has plenty of charm. Don’t put yourself down like that.”

“…Really?”

Joo Ah-yoon ignored her reddening ears and slightly stretched the collar of her t-shirt. Come to think of it, she had heard there were some with minority tastes who get excited by small bodies like hers, could he have such tastes? Hearing words like that gave her confidence for no reason.

I’m such an easy woman.

She raised her head and met his eyes. Perhaps because she had just heard such words, her heart was beating frantically. Suppressing her embarrassment, she opened her mouth.

“Th-then, when brother looks at me… Do you get… ex-excited?”

Trying to hold back her embarrassment, she forgot to filter her thoughts. Han Jae-jung sighed deeply and put his hand to his forehead.

My already aching head started to hurt even more.

“…Ah-yoon?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“From now on, stop hanging around with Ah-hee.”

“Uh, uh, why!”

“Looking at those speech habits of yours gives me the answer.”

He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. His tone was like that of an elderly person who always had phrases like ‘kids these days’ on the tip of their tongue.

“… Ah-hee and Haru have really corrupted the magical girls….”

To think that even Joo Ah-yoon, who seemed unlikely to be influenced, would use such explicit language. The Association needs to be more vigilant about the corruption of magical girls’ language and ideology.

No, maybe they were all crazy people to begin with.

Come to think of it, when I saw them before, all the magical girls seemed odd somewhere. I felt this way when I saw them in the original work, but encountering them in reality made their irrational way of thinking even more prominent.

The hypothesis that all magical girls were mentally ill was gaining more credibility.

“Anyway, don’t just copy what Ah-hee says because it seems fun….”

“I’m older than her?! Who are you saying is copying who!”

Although Joo Ah-yoon was rebellious like this, she too was internally shocked. To think that what I just said was on Ah-hee’s level. She had a sense of how much she had failed to maintain proper boundaries.

“You, young old-timer! All talk but no money! Homeless person!”

“Ugh…!”

Each word flew cleanly and struck his chest like a dagger.

“Use our café like your home after discharge or don’t…!!!”

Joo Ah-yoon said that and jumped up and ran out. It was because she felt shame and self-loathing for not being able to provide any help to these two people right now.

Her worries weren’t just about Yoon Seol-hwa. She also had her own concerns about Han Jae-jung, who had been relying on her less and less recently.

Giving Yoon Seol-hwa a sense of alienation, and conversely feeling alienated from Han Jae-jung because she couldn’t get close enough. It was truly pathetic.

After proudly swearing to help fulfill their dreams, what kind of situation was this.

The rising self-hatred instead caused her to show her thorns outwardly.

Those thorns were quite minor and small, but Joo Ah-yoon fell into self-hatred once again, worried that she might have hurt Han Jae-jung.

“Hey, where are you going!”

“Now that I think about it, I forgot about managing the café!”

“There aren’t any customers anyway!”

“Shut up!”

Joo Ah-yoon ran out of the hospital room. Not long after her rough footsteps faded away, the sound of a nurse scolding her with ‘No running!’ could be heard.

“Tch….”

Han Jae-jung laughed dejectedly and lay back down. The hospital bed with its slightly uncomfortable feeling unique to hospitals welcomed him. For someone who usually slept on the floor, even this was something to be grateful for.

With a bitter heart, he tossed and turned meaninglessly.

When he woke up, the doctor explained his physical condition to him.

Today’s results were normal too. Rather, they say he’s miraculously fine despite being injured like this. Even though he complained of headaches and dizziness, there was nothing special to note. The healing speed is exceptionally fast. His body continues to easily heal external wounds.

However, he clearly knows that this healthy body doesn’t lead to a good life. As his healing speed increases, he feels his body being eroded by starlight, and as incidents that can’t be explained by modern medicine increase, he feels his body transforming into something different from human.

He’s dying. Living like this, he’ll probably die suddenly one day like being struck by lightning.

He needs to tell them. He knows that silence in this situation isn’t golden but poisonous.

“Hah….”

But it wasn’t easy to bring up the subject. It was crystal clear that the moment he spoke up, his actions would be controlled. Far from protecting magical girls, he would become the one needing protection, with surveillance following every movement of his arms and legs, needing permission even to open his lips.

It might be an extreme imagination, but it wasn’t a completely deniable assumption. Those who care about his life aren’t ordinary people but magical girls and humans who could transform into villains.

If they set their minds to it, they could easily confine and subdue an ordinary person’s body.

But he can’t give up on his dream.

If he’s not careful, it could lead to conflict with them.

How should he convey this as diplomatically as possible.

Han Jae-jung closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

Right now, rather than that, he should think about getting discharged quickly.

Ah, he needs to think about where to stay after discharge too.

For now, Ah-yoon did say it would be okay to stay at the café temporarily… But he can’t keep imposing at her workplace.

He’ll have to try his best to find a place.

There probably won’t be another place as cheap as that house….

Even a hero needs food, clothing, and shelter. These ordinary civilian worries were what troubled him the most right now.

‘Just a little money and one pair of underwear for tomorrow would be enough….’

But there would be no shortage of people to scold him if he slept outside.

Most of his worries stemmed from others.

Several days passed like that, and he was discharged without finding any answers.

Ignoring Joo Ah-yoon’s offer to accompany him for discharge, he packed his belongings alone and left the hospital.

And not long after leaving the hospital, he went missing.

***

Ippotranslation 

***

“It’s a gift.”

“Huh?”

Libra threw a pouch at the Archer, who was lying down absent-mindedly looking up at the night sky. The Archer, who watched the pouch hit his forehead and fall to his chest, suddenly sat up in surprise.

“W-what is this….”

There’s no doubt. It’s stardust. The special drug made by Libra. A top-tier drug imbued with starlight. He had heard that the supply was cut off, but…?

The Archer accepted the pouch respectfully with trembling hands.

“Thanks to you, I was able to obtain various data. That’s your gift. Work should be properly compensated. There’s no need to be afraid of accepting it.”

“I’m not afraid of a pig like you. Wow… This….”

The Archer, who was examining the drug pouch in a daze, soon burst into loud laughter.

“Wow kid, unexpectedly you’ve got some loyalty? That’s romantic. Huh? It’s romantic! Hahaha!”

“Hah, still vulgar as ever. I’ll be going now.”

Libra withdrew without any hesitation. The Archer didn’t spare a glance at his retreat and continued focusing on the drug.

Licking his lips, he suddenly pulled out a syringe. Though it was rusty and discolored, it was still adequate for injecting the drug.

“How long has it been….”

Though it hadn’t even been a month since he quit (forcibly), how he had missed it. The Archer immediately opened the pouch and was about to pour the drug powder into the syringe.

“…How long, has it been….”

Drop. He stopped like a child bored with a toy.

“Tch, feels like a waste.”

He closed the pouch and put the syringe away.

It would be a waste to use it all carelessly right now. Who knows when he’d get this again. It feels too empty to use it all up giving in to immediate desires. There’s no romance in that. Scarce resources should be used for special occasions.

“This, I’ll use it when I figure out my memories and goals~”

It felt like it would be more meaningful to use it as a reward for himself later. The Archer closed it again, saving it for that special moment.

Come to think of it, he can’t remember why he got addicted to this drug. They say that even though there’s starlight in the drug, it’s such a small amount that most villains can’t even feel the light.

But the Archer was obsessed with wanting to take in even this tiny bit of starlight to an unusual degree.

“I probably just liked it in the past or something.”

It was probably something he enjoyed before losing his memories. The Archer brushed it off like that and got up to look around. When bored, watching the world is the best thing. The movements of the world with its ten different colors of characteristics and stories always provide good entertainment.

Something interesting immediately caught his eye as he opened them wide.

“Huh? That’s….”

He remembers seeing it. When Libra was investigating the Argo family.

“Compass?”

The villain of the Compass constellation. The weakest among the high-ranked villains, a pathetic and foolish guy.

“Hooh….”

Why would that guy be here in Libra’s territory? The Archer, finding it interesting, began to move.

“This should be fun.”

Other people’s fights were always entertaining. What kind of trouble would he cause? Suppressing his excited heart, he quietly moved to a point to monitor him.

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