Chapter 1: The Ever-Positive Angel Is in Charge of the Magical Girl's Mental Care

Magical Girl Black

Chik, chiik—…

Sparks fly from the flint.

With a whoosh, a small flame flares up, casting light across the dark room.

I light the cigarette between my lips and inhale deeply.

The acrid smoke fills my lungs, and I frown at the sharp pain that makes them feel like they’re shriveling.

“Fuuuu—…”

A long breath escapes me, and the white smoke brushes past my face as it scatters.

Was it the cigarette smoke? Or my restless mind?

Tears trickle down, and I close my eyes.

Ssshhh…

The sound of the cigarette burning down is accompanied by a warm sensation swirling inside me, while a cold chill creeps across my skin.

After a few drags, once the cigarette’s burned down to the filter and my lips start to sting, I open my eyes and stub it out in the ashtray.

The ashtray’s already overflowing, but as long as it puts the fire out, I don’t care.

Then I light another one and stick it in my mouth.

My stomach churns.

My vision spins.

My head throbs.

It feels like my whole body is sinking underwater, and all my strength drains away.

I close my eyes—not to sleep, but to sink into this drug-like dizziness.

How much time has passed?

When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was leaking through the blackout curtains covering the window.

I fumbled to the side and found a cold, empty cigarette pack.

I’d just bought it not long ago… and it was already empty.

“…Haah.”

The sun’s rising again.

For me, the flame of a lighter and a burning cigarette are all the light I need.

But here comes morning again.

The harsh smoke in my lungs is already noise enough.

Tomorrow has arrived.

That damn day is starting again.

“…”

I set the lighter down and picked up the flashy accessory in my hand.

In this gray smoke-filled, colorless room, it was the only thing with any color.

It didn’t smell like gas or cigarettes, but something sweet and sickly I couldn’t even place.

Just holding it filled me with a gross, fake sense of happiness.

This disgusting thing glowed in my hand.

I slowly closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, the cigarette stench was gone, replaced by the scent of camellia flowers.

All the smells, all the sensations faded.

My body was overwhelmed by emotions that weren’t even mine.

As I drifted further from reality, my heavy body felt lighter.

A vague sense of hope clouded my head.

Then came the discomfort.

But even that passed.

When I opened my eyes again, the room was bathed in vibrant color.

“Hyaaaawn~ Good morning-myeong! Ah! Seo-ah-myeong!! You were smoking again-myeong!? I told you smoking is bad for you-myeong!”

Yoo Seo-ah (兪徐娥).

That’s my name.

And the little doll with bunny ears shouts it out while flying around me like a maniac.

This isn’t a drug trip or a hallucination.

It’s just, this goddamn reality.

That’s Myoa (卯兒), the magical girl’s mascot.

“Let’s do our best again today-myeong!”

“…Shut up. You’re giving me a headache.”

“M-myeow…”

Even as it fell silent, it kept chirping with that annoying ending.

I glared at Myoa but gave up.

No matter how much I hit it or swore at it, it wouldn’t change.

Getting worked up would only wear me out.

The transformation was just so I could go outside.

Without it, I wouldn’t even be able to leave.

Instead of the front door, I opened the window and jumped out.

I used the air as a foothold and soared into the sky.

Nothing held me down.

That sense of freedom made me breathe—not smoke, just breath—for a moment.

Eeaang――――!!

“Ghh…!”

A shrill siren stabbed at my hypersensitive ears, making me wince and clamp my hands over them.

“It’s a monster alert-myeong!! We need to deploy right away-myeong!!”

“I know, shut the hell up…!!”

As if it wasn’t noisy enough already, Myoa kept squawking in my ear.

I grabbed it and chucked it far away, then flew in the direction my instincts lead me.

Because magical girls have a sense for where monsters are.

They say it’s something we were given, so we don’t have to wait for reports of where the monster appeared and react too late.

And so, I arrived in the middle of the city.

[Shaaaak!! Krrraaah!!]

A beast-type monster, bigger than a small commercial building, was rampaging.

It looked like a cat, but with too many eyes and grotesquely large fangs.

A distorted creature.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

“R-run!!”

“When is the magical girl going to show up!?”

Those cliché screams and lines made me hesitate for just a second.

Then I charged toward the monster.

“Lance Charging Mode.”

Killing monsters isn’t hard.

They’re living things, after all.

Crush the head—they die.

Pierce the heart—they die.

Bleed them out, burn them—same result.

Just like humans.

Crack!!

A sharp, long lance pierced through the monster’s skull.

The tip tore flesh, shattered bone, and drove forward.

It mushed through the squishy brain, exiting out the other side.

I had become a bullet, flying straight through the monster’s body.

Monster flesh is soft.

Not like a human’s, but to a magical girl, it’s all the same.

Of course it is.

Just being a monster doesn’t make it some grand thing.

It's just a beast that has transformed into an unnecessarily large and alien form.

[Myeooow…]

Was it an instinctive action?

The monster let out a small death cry as it took its last breath.

Thud—...

Its massive body collapsed to the ground, and brain matter mixed with blood splattered everywhere.

Chunks of brain and gore stuck to my body and dripped off in heavy clumps.

Every breath I took filled my lungs with the rancid stench of blood.

I felt like throwing up.

I wanted to drop down in front of a toilet and puke everything out.

But I couldn’t.

“Waaaah!! It’s Black!! Black is here!!”

“Whoa…!! She took down that huge monster in one blow!! As expected of Black!!”

“Kyaaah!! You’re amazing, Black!!”

I forced a smile at the crowd cheering and waved my hand.

Even though the monster lay right in front of them, gushing blood and brain fluid, no one paid it any mind.

More precisely, they didn’t have to.

Thanks to the magical girl’s “magic,” all of this would look like dazzling sparkles to their eyes.

Not blood and guts, but flowers and glitter.

However, that magic doesn’t apply to the magical girl herself.

The hand I was waving was still smeared with the blood and flesh of the monster I killed.

At my feet, a crushed skull spilled its brains onto the pavement, and a giant eyeball rolled beside it.

I had to smile even while looking at all of that.

I had to smile.

Because that’s what the people wanted.

Because I am the symbol of hope—Magical Girl Black.

“You were amazing-myeong!! Black really is the strongest magical girl-myeong!!”

“…”

Shut up. Just shut up.

I never asked to be a magical girl.

I never wanted to be the strongest.

I wanted to grab Myoa, still yapping away beside me, and throw it again.

But I held it in. There were still people watching. I just kept smiling and waving.

“Well then! I’ll be off now! Have a great day, everyone!!”

“Thank you, Black!!”

I waved, spouting lines I didn’t mean, and flew up into the sky.

As soon as I left the scene, I slipped into an empty alley and released the transformation.

Splat…

The blood and brain matter soaked into the magical outfit disappeared instantly, but the bits stuck to my weapon dropped and scattered onto the ground.

“Urgh…! Bleeeergh!! Gah, cough—hack—! Bleeergh!!”

“Myeow… Seo-ah-myeong… Are you okay, myeong…?”

“There’s no way… I’m okay…! Urgh… Bleeeeegh!!”

I hate this. I seriously hate it.

I don’t want this anymore.

I hate getting hurt.

I hate killing monsters.

I hate having to smile in front of people.

I hate throwing up in secret when no one’s looking.

I just wanted to live a normal life.

Why… why me…?

“Cheer up-myeong! Thanks to Seo-ah-myeong, the citizens can live safely-myeong!!”

“…Fuck.”

“Y-you can’t say bad words-myeong!!”

“Shut up… I-I’m done for today… I’m going home…”

Dragging my feet, I transformed again and flew into the sky.

I rushed home as fast as I could, immediately released the transformation, and headed straight for the bathroom.

I washed. Washed again. And again.

Until the stench of blood clinging to my body was completely gone.

Until my skin felt like it was peeling off, until handfuls of my hair were coming out.

Only when my pale skin turned red and raw—so irritated it started to bleed—did I finally stop the shower and step into the living room.

I threw on a comfy pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and as usual, I dug through the drawer looking for cigarettes.

But nothing came out.

“…Right. I ran out…”

Because I’d smoked all night, even the multiple cartons I’d stocked up on were already gone.

I hated going out more than anything, but I had no choice.

If I didn’t have cigarettes, I wouldn’t even be able to get a hint of sleep.

Sighing, I threw on a long coat and opened the door to head outside.

Thump!

“Kyaah!?”

“What the…?”

Someone had come to my door…?

I should probably apologize first…

Thinking that, I opened the door wider—

And standing there, rubbing her forehead, was a person.

No.

“Ah, um… Is this Yoo Seo-ah’s house?”

I lost my words.

Because the person standing at my door wasn’t a metaphorical angel—

She was a literal angel, wings and all.

*

I hurled 5,700 characters at the insane bastard of an author who keeps brutally abusing magical girls.

And what do I get in return? “Then you manage them yourself.”

Next thing I know, I’m thrown straight into the story as an angel character that doesn’t even exist in the original plot.

So I came to see the worst-case girl first.

Black. Yoo Seo-ah.

“…Who’re you…?”

Looks like things are way worse than I thought.

Ugh. Cigarette smell.

No—wait, introduction first!

“Hello! I’m an angel! I just wanted to have a quick ta—”

Slam!!

The door slammed shut.

…Was that not the right approach?

Next Chapter

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