Chapter 38: See you next time

Even if she hadn’t been attacked by Happy.

Even if her legs hadn’t been bent in bizarre directions,

and blood wasn’t flowing from her chest and stomach,

and one of her arms hadn’t been torn from her body,

and her pupils hadn’t been damaged, turning half of her vision into darkness.

No.

Let’s not dwell on the minor injuries.

If it’s broken, fix it, and if it’s severed, reattach it.

I, who have completed the 99 missions given by the ‘Quest Jewel’ and repeated the 100th mission 131 times,

wouldn’t be flustered by mere wounds on my body.

That was the case even in the 132nd life.

After absorbing the water poured on her head and restoring her bent legs to their original state, she stood up.

Ignoring the dripping blood for a moment, with the thought of filling what was lacking,

she used her only remaining arm to open the refrigerator.

Fortunately, there were many water bottles left.

She took them all out and opened the lids one by one.

Crack.

Crack-crack.

The first was the sound of opening the water bottle lids,

and the second was the bizarre noise heard during the process of the water-absorbed body regenerating.

Since reattaching the severed arm, the cycle of sounds and noises had been getting faster and faster.

“Hoo.”

After filling the holes in her chest and stomach, she finally fixed the vision that had only been half visible.

When she opened her mouth and let out a deep sigh, residual blood flowed out.

The dizziness she felt at the same time was clearly because she had spilled too much blood.

With her appearance intact but her insides a mess, she brought three 500mL plastic water bottles to her mouth in a row.

Before she knew it, the empty water bottles piled up around her exceeded double digits.

It would have been easier to heal if she had used the sink or the toilet.

She smiled wryly at the thought that only occurred to her then.

It was too late now, and either way, the goal had been achieved.

The traces of being attacked by Happy had completely disappeared.

But the scars etched in her heart remained.

She tried to fix them, judging them to be broken, but it was in vain.

She thought they were severed and tried to reattach them, but she failed.

Then that meant they were lacking.

Knowing how to fill them, she slowly walked towards the front door.

“No.”

When she shook her head from side to side, she heard the creaking of the broken bones that hadn’t properly solidified yet.

Even though she was so broken, she found it ridiculous that she was longing for the person who had made her this way.

“I’ve really gone completely crazy.”

It was certainly a situation that couldn’t be endured without going crazy.

The events that had befallen her in the past two days had forced her to surrender.

She tried not to care, but she failed.

But… was she trying not to care about the past she had been forced into?

Or was it the noise coming from her neck that was the subject?

She increasingly hated herself for concluding that she had failed without even knowing exactly what the thought she had recalled was.

She plopped down in her seat and sprinkled the 500mL plastic water bottles on her body and brought the rest to her mouth.

She started self-rationalizing, saying that it was because only the traces had disappeared, but she hadn’t been properly healed.

She tried not to care about her creaking neck and the instinct to want to meet Happy.

When she finally restored the lost vitality, she decided to end the punishment given by the ‘Quest Jewel’ here.

“Ouch.”

She lowered her gaze at the sudden pain she felt.

Blood was flowing from her palm.

She had unconsciously created a blade and cut it.

She chuckled at the habit that was so useful, but shouldn’t be picked up.

Then she furrowed her brow, cutting the blade a little deeper.

To reiterate.

Even if she hadn’t been attacked by Happy.

No, even if she hadn’t come here.

What I desperately wanted wasn’t love, but nothing more than a moment’s rest.

I had vowed to rest sufficiently in the rented room I had contracted, wanting an ordinary life.

Then perhaps she should express her gratitude to Happy.

She had shown her the ordinary life she had so desired, even if it was only for a brief moment,

and had not only rescued her from wallowing in the punishment given by the ‘Quest Jewel,’

but at the last moment, had unleashed an attack that was more intense than ever, as if telling her to forget all of this.

However, in terms of practical power, the most painful was when her chest was pierced by a spear made of light before she was kidnapped by her.

Because the attack a little while ago had mercilessly ground down not only her body, but also her mind.

As a result, she had lost her love for Happy.

She was confident that she would no longer be swayed by the punishment given by the ‘Quest Jewel.’

But because the weight of it was so considerable,

she felt that she would miss Happy again if she didn’t fill it with something else.

So she rummaged through her head and listed the things she loved besides Happy.

That’s right.

There was that.

She opened her mouth and hummed the song that what she truly loved used to sing to her.

It was a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her before she lost her parents.

Her head throbbed as she tried to revive memories from decades ago.

Just as she was worried about whether such a thing could replace the feeling of loving Happy,

it was quite effective, so she continued to sing it, endlessly.

As time passed little by little, but without rest, it was already 8 PM.

In four hours, the long and arduous day would finally come to an end.

With the intention of finishing a sufficient rest, she shook her neck from side to side.

Not hearing the creaking sound, she immediately got up from her seat and walked towards the front door.

As she went outside, the sweltering heat of the day was as if it had been a lie, and a pouring rainstorm greeted her.

She didn’t dislike the environment where she could infinitely supply the ingredients because she cast magic using water as a source.

Humming the song a little more vigorously, she took out her smartphone and checked the resident registration card inserted in the case.

I have to end it now, right.

If I want to kill Happy in the next life, I have to do my best.

Thinking that, the one who was once the Queen of the dark organization Darkmoon,

Yeres,

had not only regained her pride and self-esteem to the point where she didn’t feel any shame about the past where she had shared love with Happy due to the punishment given by the ‘Quest Jewel,’

but also glared and straightened her back in order to forget the carelessness that had allowed Happy’s attack at the last moment.

“I am Happy’s enemy.”

And that she must kill her.

An archenemy that she must never love.

She finished humming the song.

From now on, a peaceful tone would not flow from Yeres’s mouth.

She took off the clothes that had been tattered by Happy’s attack.

Frowning at the thought that she had been wearing this until now, she cast magic.

Then the water droplets that roamed freely in the sky and on the ground, between them, stuck to Yeres’s body and formed a single shape.

It was the outfit she used to enjoy wearing when she was the Queen of the dark organization Darkmoon.

Although there were no jewels containing magic and a necklace to decorate the ‘Quest Jewel,’ Yeres unfolded her frowned expression as if this was enough.

Are you ready?

The change didn’t end there.

A voice that hadn’t been heard for a long time… well, it’s a strange expression since I heard it in the afternoon.

But it was largely due to the fact that today had been very long.

She thought of the voice of the ‘Quest Jewel’ that was rippling from within her heart as being very old.

“I’m ready.”

Then you have to start.

I’ll tell you the way.

The ‘Quest Jewel’ told Yeres how to use the app installed on her smartphone.

Without any suspicion, she operated her smartphone exactly as the ‘Quest Jewel’ told her.

As a result, she was able to use the map to check where the address written on her resident registration card was.

“What I desire is.”

Road

The rain falling from the sky created

An infinitely 펼쳐진 flow

As she chanted the incantation, she, dressed in a luxurious outfit that didn’t match the simple rented room, disappeared.

When she reappeared, the scenery that came into her view was clearly different.

She had moved from the middle of a complex city to a secluded forest, and Yeres bit her lip at the foreign energy she felt there.

“There’s definitely a magical girl management department here.”

Fortunately, the rain falling from the sky was still falling.

Moving her fingers to cast a spell to gather water, she slowly walked towards the foreign energy.

“Is that it?”

The building she faced was very small to be a magical girl management department.

Even just the magical girls she remembered numbered over 20.

She didn’t think they could manage all of them with just a two-story building.

Judging only by its appearance, she even wondered if it was a cafe.

However, the foreign energy emanating from the building clearly indicated that this was the magical girl management department.

Even after checking the tables and machines for making drinks installed inside, as well as the exterior, Yeres didn’t let go of her tension.

“There are no people or electricity.”

Her words were true.

If this was a cafe, there was nothing that should naturally be there at 8:30 PM on a weekday.

Feeling a sense of unease, Yeres operated the button attached to the wall, but the lights on the ceiling didn’t turn on.

Then

[The door is opening.]

Her eyes and ears were captivated by the noise that echoed in the desolate space.

Yeres, who immediately turned her head to check the source of the noise, was flustered.

“An eleva…tor?”

A machine that moves in a space without electricity.

Even the fishy smell flowing out from inside it stung her nose.

It was the smell of blood.

And she could also smell Happy’s scent amidst the stench.

Therefore, Yeres approached the space that anyone could see was dangerous without hesitation.

There were only two buttons inside.

1st floor and basement 1st floor.

Since this is the 1st floor.

[Basement 1st floor.]

When she pressed the basement 1st floor button, the elevator closed and slowly went down.

[The door is closing.]

…

…

[The door is opening.]

Below was hell.

When the elevator opened, the magical girl leaning against the door fell over.

It was Joy, with blue hair and makeup to accentuate her beauty, stained with blood and faded in color.

Judging by the hole in her chest, it was clear that she had died instantly.

From then on, Yeres’s emotions began to twist.

That doesn’t mean she was flustered.

She had countless pasts where she had killed all the magical girls except for Happy, after all.

Rather, she wondered why a ‘magical girl’ had died in such a miserable state at the ‘magical girl management department’.

After stepping over Joy’s corpse and moving on, her question amplified to an unfathomable extent.

Magical girls and mascots were lying everywhere in a space that was several times larger than the 1st floor.

They were all bleeding, their limbs had been cut off, and she could easily find gruesome corpses with their bodies and faces separated.

“Could it be…”

Is this the work of just one person?

Ominous thoughts arose in Yeres’s mouth and head.

Judging that the water she had been holding back was not enough, she decided to make a hole in the ceiling right away.

Creak

If there was a reason why she couldn’t do that.

It was because she had her gaze stolen by the door that was opening with an ominous sound.

When she came to her senses, she was already walking towards it.

And inside there was

“It’s been a while, Yeres Unnie.”

Happy, covered in blood.

Yeres immediately created a blade and cut her palm.

In a desperate attempt not to love Happy, her and her lips began to twist.