Chapter 02 The Final Boss from the Start
Lee Woojin.
That was the name of the young man I had possessed.
This was his first year working as a teacher.
And whether it was a coincidence or not, he was also the homeroom teacher of the protagonist, *Shin Gayeon*.
After school.
To decide on my future course of action, I had come to a nearby café. I wanted to go home, but I didn’t know the address, after all.
The afternoon café was quite crowded with students stopping by before their academy classes and office workers taking a short break. Though I had stumbled upon this place by chance while walking, it seemed to be a popular spot in the area.
“Looking at it like this, it’s just an ordinary world, isn’t it.”
It still didn’t feel real.
The fact that this utterly peaceful daily life would collapse in just a few months.
I tried to imagine a magical girl flying through the sky, recklessly firing magic without caring about her surroundings.
It wasn’t the kind of thing you see in children’s anime, where they shoot hearts with the power of love and justice.
It was lethal magic—fire and ice that could fatally wound an ordinary person who couldn’t use magic with just a graze. It was by no means the kind of cute thing you could dismiss as ‘magical girl magic.’
“Speaking of which, magical girls…”
Who would have thought that at this age, I’d be talking about magical girls?
Truth be told, the fact that I could immediately arrive at the conclusion of “Magical Girl Happy Life” from the countless works I’d seen and heard over the decades wasn’t mere coincidence.
I only remembered it because it was a popular series when I worked as an instructor at an academy before becoming a teacher.
Back then, for elementary school girls, magical girls were an essential and important topic, and it was just a tool for me, as an academy teacher, to get closer to the kids. That was about the extent of my awareness.
I still remember it clearly.
It was a time when the craze for advanced learning was blowing strong.
That child was already finishing her preview of middle school third-year material, even though she was still in elementary school. She attended a staggering ten different academies.
Because of her parents’ excessive ambition, the child had to endure a schedule that would exhaust even adults every single day. As a result, she couldn’t keep up with the popular anime or cartoons of the time and was completely left out of conversations with her peers.
However, an elementary school girl in the prime of her pride couldn’t possibly admit that fact. She dismissed the magical girl stories everyone loved as childish, effectively isolating herself.
So, I gave that child a special gift: a limited-edition DVD set of “Magical Girl Happy Life.” By recommending it as an adult, saying it wasn’t childish but actually enjoyable, I aimed to protect the girl’s pride while giving her an opportunity to fit in with the group.
The effect was remarkable.
At the very least, after that day, I could occasionally see a smile on the child’s face that had previously looked like a lifeless doll. Well, up to that point, you could say it was all hail the magical girl…
But here, a very minor problem arose.
The thing was, the “Magical Girl Happy Life” I had recommended was not your average magical girl show.
It followed the typical magical girl clichés in the beginning, then around the middle part, it went, “Huh?” and by the latter half, it had completely transformed into dystopian hardcore material.
*’You sure do like your happy things, don’t you.’*
After that, I had to receive an enormous complaint call from the child’s parents.
The main gist was that I had emotionally abused the children by exposing them to such strange works.
As a result, “Magical Girl Happy Life” became a work I would never forget for the rest of my life.
Thanks to that, I know the original work inside out.
The protagonist Univel’s future movements, the events that will occur, the enemies to avoid.
And above all, what I absolutely must avoid is the magical girl death event.
This applies to both allies and enemies. In this work, there’s only one true villain, after all.
*’So, what do I do now?’*
I know what I need to do.
Somehow, as an ordinary person, I have to join the main storyline.
Even if I try to use the advantage of knowing the original work, it’s pointless if I’m completely outside the event scope.
For that, the top priority is getting close to Shin Gayeon, who is Univel.
The problem is how.
Using my position as her homeroom teacher, it’s possible to build a relationship.
I also have the pretext of designating her for individual supplementary lessons, so approaching her should be easy.
But that would only build a connection with Shin Gayeon, the ordinary middle school girl.
Not Univel, the one I truly need to reach.
*’Hide in advance at the scene where the monster appears.’*
The first plan that comes to mind.
Acting like an ordinary person caught up in the incident and getting close to Univel.
But this also has problems.
Univel, as a magical girl, doesn’t want ordinary people to get involved and get hurt.
Her reason for becoming a magical girl was also a very magical-girl-like one: she couldn’t just stand by and watch innocent citizens get hurt.
If I force my way into the incident, she’ll try to keep me far away from the battlefield to prevent me from getting hurt. That would be meaningless.
*’Usually, in possession stories, don’t you get some kind of special ability or talent as a bonus?’*
I thought, and tried various things, but there was no sign of any special power manifesting.
In the end, all I have is information from the original work, which makes me not much different from an ordinary person.
“Seems like there’s no way around it, no matter how much I think.”
I stood up from my seat.
It was about time, after all.
*’Otherworldly Barrier.’*
Beyond the blue sky.
I could clearly see a distinctly alien red space.
The battlefield of a magical girl, created by copying a portion of the world.
And as is typical with such creative settings, ordinary people cannot see that barrier, nor can they even perceive its existence.
“Gotta say, my bad feelings are never wrong, are they.”
At this point, I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse.
**
Beneath a sky saturated with vivid red.
A single girl and a mysterious creature stood.
Before them was a wolf made of black shadows.
– Univel, to the right!
Following the creature’s cry, the pink-haired girl leaped to the side.
Her speed was incredible for a young girl, and the wolf’s speed in response was equally extraordinary.
Barely dodging the sharp claws by a hair’s breadth, the girl thrust her staff forward and shouted.
“Flare Burst!”
In the blink of an eye, a sphere of crimson flame shot toward the wolf.
*Boom-!*
An explosion akin to a household gas blast erupted, and crimson flames surged across the once peaceful vacant lot.
– Grrr!
The wolf, dodging the fireball fired right before its nose by charging forward, bared its sharp fangs at the girl once more.
– Univel!
“It’s okay!”
Despite the wolf’s charge, which was several times her size, the girl was unafraid.
Instead, as if determined to land a hit this time, she thrust her staff straight into the wolf’s wide-open maw.
“Flare Burst!”
Another sphere of flame shot forth.
No matter how fast it was, the wolf couldn’t dodge magic fired from just a few centimeters away, and it was engulfed in the crimson flames, letting out a death cry.
“Did I get it?”
– Univel. That’s a flag where the enemy gets stronger and revives, so be careful.
“Ah.”
Startled, the girl quickly covered her mouth.
This fight was quite difficult for Univel as well.
If she had been even a moment slower in firing her magic, she could have been seriously injured.
The girl’s victory this time was purely down to luck.
If she were to face the same situation again, she couldn’t guarantee the outcome.
“…It’s done, right?”
– You did it! Univel! It’s your victory!
After the scorching flames had finished showing off their presence, what remained was a transparent, star-shaped crystal fragment.
Univel carefully picked up the piece, about the length of her pinky finger.
– That’s amazing, Univel! You’ve only been a magical girl for a short time, and you’ve already taken down a Comet-class!
“Is that really such a big deal?”
– Of course it is. Usually, magical girls are barely able to handle Meteor-class enemies. Looking at it that way, Univel, you’re a real genius!
At the creature’s effusive praise, the girl scratched her cheek.
Even hearing about Meteor-class and Comet-class, as a fledgling magical girl, it still didn’t feel very real to her. She felt she was just doing what she could for others.
“I should be getting back.”
Checking the time on her phone, Univel released her transformation.
The barrier dissolved, and the vacant lot, having returned to its blue sky, was perfectly intact, as if nothing had happened.
She knew it was thanks to the Otherworldly Barrier cast by her partner, Mongmong, but she couldn’t help but find it amazing every time she saw it.
“Come here.”
Gayeon carefully stored the star-shaped crystal, known as a ‘Starlight,’ in her bag and called out to Mongmong, who was some distance away.
According to Mongmong, the one who had made her a magical girl, the reason monsters appear in the human world is because of cracks that form between the two dimensions.
The ‘Starlights’ she collected by defeating monsters were the means to seal those cracks.
*’I’ll have to work hard until then.’*
She clenched her fist and made a silent vow.
As Mongmong said, she had talent.
She had the talent, and she had a way to help people in danger.
If that was the case, she had no choice but to do it.
No matter how difficult and painful that path might be.
Because there was no one else who could do it.
“Mongmong?”
Gayeon called her partner’s name again.
Mongmong, who was always by her side, was today unusually far away, staring intently at one spot. She followed its gaze, but all she could see was eerie darkness.
– Univel.
“Hm?”
– No, it’s nothing.
Shaking its head, Mongmong quickly flew over and landed on Shin Gayeon’s shoulder.
Even as it said it was nothing, Mongmong’s gaze never strayed from the direction it had been looking at moments before.
“If there’s something wrong, I can help.”
– It’s really okay. Let’s just hurry home. I’m hungry.
**
“Hmm, this is certainly… Amazing on multiple levels.”
That was my impression after watching everything in real-time.
Setting aside the flames erupting from the hands of a girl who had just left childhood behind, I was also shocked by the, shall we say, *unconventional* level of exposure.
*’What on earth was I thinking recommending an anime like this?’*
I was beginning to understand the feelings of the parent who had complained to me, knowingly or unknowingly.
When I saw it as a manga or anime, it didn’t feel as intense, but seeing it directly with my own eyes like this, it was even more extreme.
No matter how I looked at it, the area of skin seemed to be larger than the area of her clothes, and honestly, at that level, it looked less like clothes and more like a swimsuit.
At this point, a silly thought crossed my mind.
Would I end up running away in embarrassment when I actually encounter her in her transformed state?
In the original work, there was a scene where she felt embarrassed when meeting someone other than a magical girl while transformed.
“Well, I guess that’s a problem for later.”
I stepped out from the corner of the tree where I had been hiding.
It seemed my presence had been detected.
– Who are you?
In the center of the vacant lot, brightened as the moonlight, obscured by clouds, illuminated the ground.
That strange creature, which should have gone home with Univel moments ago, was staring at me with its red eyes. It wasn’t much of a surprise. I already knew that this creature’s body wasn’t actually a single entity.
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
– Is that supposed to be an answer?
“Do I have any reason to give you a serious answer?”
I shrugged at Mongmong, who tilted its head.
Whatever answer I gave, its actions would be predictable anyway.
– Hmm, I suppose that’s true too.
*The main villain and final antagonist of “Magical Girl Happy Life.”*
Mongmong wagged its tail gently.
