IBTMG 15

Chapter 15

Gocheok Sky Dome.

It was the largest indoor performance venue in South Korea, with a maximum capacity of 25,000 people.

Today, nearly 20,000 people would gather here for Seol Ha-ran’s concert.

“…Amazing.”

Two hours before the concert entrance began.

The area in front of Sky Dome was already extremely crowded with fans who had arrived early.

The advice I had found online saying “For concerts, the earlier you go, the more comfortable it is” turned out to be completely correct.

“The line for on-site ticket sales is over here!”

A person who looked like a staff member shouted loudly from a distance.

The fans who had been wandering around taking pictures immediately gathered into an orderly line.

For some reason, the sight reminded me of new recruits standing at attention in the military, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Was it 831 to 1?”

Since Seol Ha-ran rarely held concerts despite her popularity, the competition for tickets was no joke.

From the fans’ perspective, they probably wanted to enjoy this day as much as possible because it might be their last chance.

As proof, every single fan standing in line had a face full of anticipation.

‘Was it really okay for me to accept this?’

This was a ticket that had been obtained after overcoming competition of hundreds to one.

Although I had said that I only received it from someone I knew and that I wasn’t particularly interested in going, I wondered if that was truly how I felt.

In fact, there were quite a few women among the fans waiting in line.

It was different from what I had expected.

I had assumed that since it was a female singer’s concert, the majority of attendees would be men.

“Staff and related personnel, please use the ticket booth located separately on the second floor.”

That was what I was told after waiting in line for nearly an hour and presenting the QR code on the ticket Hye-jin had given me.

‘Related personnel?’

Looking closely at the screen, I noticed that in tiny letters it really said “Staff/Guest Section.”

If I was considered related personnel, wouldn’t they need to verify my identity?

Even though this was my first time attending a concert, I knew at least that much.

I briefly considered calling Hye-jin right away, but decided to follow the staff member’s instructions and go up to the second floor first. I could decide what to do afterward.

“Yes. Everything has been confirmed. Guests in the staff section may use the free lounge here until the performance begins. If there is anything else you need or any inconvenience, please let us know at any time.”

Contrary to my worries, I passed through without any problems.

Judging from the situation, the person who gave Hye-jin the ticket must have informed them beforehand.

And realistically, there was only one person who could have done something like that.

“Have they known each other for a long time?”

They had to be quite close if they could even give her a staff section ticket.

Since they were both middle school students, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to have met somewhere.

But something about it still felt suspicious.

“No way.”

If there was one possibility I could guess…

It would be that my little sister was also a magical girl like Seol Ha-ran.

…No, that was taking things way too far.

They probably just happened to meet by chance a long time ago and became friends.

Anyway, following the staff member’s directions, I arrived at the guest section located on the second floor.

It was the same as in movie theaters, but when it came to a good seat, being too close or too far from the stage was actually bad.

If you were too close, the stage structure could block your view, making it difficult to properly see the singer.

If you were too far away, you would end up having to watch the singer’s face only through the screens despite coming all the way to the concert.

In that sense, the place I was sitting was the perfect VIP seat.

Since only invited guests could enter the guest section, there were naturally plenty of empty seats.

Even lowering my head slightly allowed me to see the entire stage.

From what I could tell, the section itself wasn’t very large.

Maybe around ten seats in total.

And except for the center seat where I was sitting, the rest were completely empty, making it feel as if I had rented out the entire place.

At this point, calling it a staff section seemed inappropriate.

“VIP section” or “special guest section” would have been more fitting.

I stood up from my seat and looked down at the area below.

As the concert time approached, the empty seats inside the venue gradually began filling up one by one.

‘This is incredible.’

People said there were 20,000 attendees, but seeing it with my own eyes made the number feel even larger.

People filled not only the second floor where I was sitting but also all the way up to the fourth floor.

Looking at the banners and light sticks everyone had brought for cheering, the entire crowd almost looked like one enormous, living painting.

“Will she be okay?”

Standing on a stage that so many people were watching with their full attention was impossible for anyone without a strong heart.

And if that person was a young middle school girl, it was even more so.

The lights in the concert hall went out.

The noises coming from all around gradually faded away, and a bright light descended onto the stage located at the center.

“Thank you all for coming to my concert. It’s nice to meet you.”

On the stage where 40,000 pairs of eyes were focused.

A single girl appeared.

A white blouse decorated with frills, a black pleated skirt.

Her black hair was neatly braided and tied behind her.

Her overall outfit gave off a calm yet mature impression.

Perhaps because of that, even knowing that the girl before them was only a middle school student, it was difficult to see her as one.

‘No, is that really it?’

I corrected my own thoughts.

What made Seol Haran look more mature than anyone else wasn’t her outfit.

It was her posture on stage, her voice when she spoke, and the way she looked at the people watching her.

The confidence that naturally belonged to Seol Haran herself prevented her from looking like a child, even in a place filled with people far older than her.

Rather, it was the opposite.

She overwhelmed them.

In the original story, Seol Haran was described as a famous and popular singer, but like many fictional works, her actual image was never clearly portrayed.

The story always revolved around Unibel, and within it, she was always Lania—the protagonist’s rival and companion.

The reason people were so passionate about her was simply because that was how the story’s setting worked.

I had always just accepted it.

But the Seol Haran I was seeing with my own eyes was undeniably a singer.

A singer capable of captivating anyone, regardless of age or gender, with her voice.

“I’ll take a short 20-minute break before we continue!”

After performing on stage for about an hour, Seol Haran announced her break.

At the same time, the darkened concert hall lights came back on.

“Then… I guess I should start moving.”

The destination was the backstage area where Seol Haran was currently resting.

A privilege only those with special tickets could enjoy.

**

“You really did great! Keep it up like this for the second half too.”

“Don’t talk to me. You’re annoying.”

Right after coming down from the stage.

I saw her manager, who looked even more excited than the fans.

He kept making a fuss, asking how her condition was, whether she was glad she decided to hold the concert, and all sorts of other things.

So she immediately pushed him away.

She had expected that after five years of experience, he would be calmer than other managers.

But somehow, he was even worse.

‘Should I replace my manager?’

With that thought in mind, Haran turned her gaze toward the staff seating area on the second floor of the concert hall.

If the phone call from a few days ago was true, then sitting there right now should not be the senior she liked, but someone else.

“I don’t like this.”

The person she actually wanted to come hadn’t shown up.

Instead, some random stranger had taken the seat.

The situation irritated Haran greatly.

If things had gone according to her expectations, she would have been happily talking with him backstage by now.

Then she remembered something she had forgotten.

Anyone with a staff ticket could come to the backstage area.

The person she wanted hadn’t come.

And now some random person was coming here claiming to be her fan.

Just thinking about it already gave her a headache.

“…Everything is annoying.”

Acting on impulse, she kicked the plastic chair beside her.

The staff members who had been rushing around preparing for the next stage froze in surprise.

However, after Haran simply said,

“Ignore me and do your jobs.”

they immediately returned to their work as if nothing had happened.

“What?”

Or rather, that was true except for one person.

A face she had never seen before.

There was no staff badge either, which was mandatory to distinguish workers from ordinary audience members.

She immediately realized.

This man was the person who had come to her concert in place of her senior.

“Hello.”

The man who noticed Haran waved lightly.

A completely ordinary face that could be seen anywhere.

His clothes were just as plain.

If this had been the Haran from usual times, she would not have even spared him a glance.

But Haran couldn’t take her eyes off him.

No, she was unable to.

‘What is this person?’

The reactions of people meeting her privately for the first time usually fell into two categories.

Either they were so nervous that their bodies trembled.

Or they underestimated her after realizing she was younger than expected.

The man in front of her was neither.

He lowered himself to match the eye level of Haran, who was several inches shorter than him, and smiled.

It was obvious that he had dealt with many children younger than himself before.

‘Well, whatever.’

The important thing was that he had casually invaded Haran’s personal space.

Haran was not kind enough to forgive someone who entered her territory without permission.

“Get on your knees in front of me right now.”

After finally regaining her composure, Haran gave an order.

She spoke clearly and calmly, making it impossible to mistake her meaning.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of hobby.”

The man smiled awkwardly.

As expected.

It wasn’t a coincidence.

Haran’s power did not work on the man before her.

Based on her experiences so far, there were two possible explanations.

The first was that the man possessed the same kind of power she did—as a magical girl.

However, she had never heard of a man becoming a magical girl.

Therefore, the first possibility was discarded.

The second possibility was that the opponent was not human.

‘A monster using a disguise?’

Such cases existed, although rarely.

Monsters that hid among humans and deceived magical girls before launching surprise attacks.

Until they revealed their true power, they couldn’t even be detected by radar.

Their intelligence and potential were extremely high.

A disguised monster’s minimum level was comet-class.

If the man before her was a comet-class monster that had never been discovered until now, even Haran could not confidently guarantee victory.

Haran’s eyes instantly became sharp.

If this man was a monster disguised as a human, why had he come here personally?

If he intended to attack her, it would have made far more sense to hide among the audience and wait for an opportunity rather than reveal himself openly.

‘How did he even get the invitation ticket that was sent to my senior?’

Thinking about it, there were even more suspicious points.

This was not the first time Haran had sent her senior an invitation ticket.

She had sent them several times in the past.

Every single time, they had been ignored.

Yet only this time, her senior’s side had contacted her first.

That senior, who had never once asked her for anything.

Various possibilities repeatedly appeared and disappeared in Haran’s mind.

Had her senior been deceived?

No.

The senior she knew was not someone who would fall for such a poor trick.

Had someone stolen his phone and pretended to be him when calling her?

That was excessive paranoia.

What if the person who originally had the staff ticket was someone else, and they simply happened to end up here?

Then the staff would certainly have stopped him at the entrance.

“What is your purpose?”

“…Purpose?”

“You didn’t come all the way here because you had something to say to me?”

After thinking it through again and again, Haran decided:

First, test him.

If he really was a disguised monster, he would definitely reveal a weakness somewhere.

No matter how similar their appearance was to humans, their essence was still that of monsters.

Monsters tended to view humans as inferior creatures beneath themselves.

The moment she became certain he was a monster, she would attack first.

“Well, it’s true that I came looking for you because I had something to say, but… huh?”

Suddenly, the man turned his head toward the audience area beyond the backstage.

Haran instinctively followed his gaze.

The backstage area was designed so that the audience could not see inside.

Therefore, even if someone looked toward the audience from backstage, all they should be able to see was a wall.

That should have been the case.

But the man continued staring at the wall as if he could see something beyond it.

“…Are you serious?”

The man muttered to himself.

The faint smile that had been lingering around his lips disappeared completely.

“What exactly is over there…?”

Just as Haran was about to question his sudden behavior—

Ding.

The ring on her left ring finger suddenly emitted a blue light.

…A signal that a monster was about to appear.

“When the boundary of the world is broken, another world becomes visible.”

The spell of promise flowed from Haran’s lips faster than expected.

The twilight-colored sky turned blue, and space separated.

The noisy world regained silence, and the figures of people scattered throughout the area gradually disappeared like mist.

A dimensional barrier.

This was the domain of magical girls.

A battlefield where no one without permission could ever enter.

A place where lives were risked.

Their workplace.

“Are you sure you don’t need to transform?”

The man ignored that common sense as naturally as breathing and asked Haran.

He wasn’t teasing her.

He wasn’t mocking her.

He was genuinely looking at her with concern.

“You’re interesting.”

Haran smiled.

How long had it been?

How long since she had become interested in someone who wasn’t a magical girl?