Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! Episode 007
— — —
[I can travel anywhere. Whenever you need help, just open any book and call for me with your heart.]
"Then—"
[Move quickly. If you’re not careful, you’ll be trapped in the dungeon!]
The book nudged her back. Iji didn’t hesitate and started moving.
From the direction she was heading, she heard her homeroom teacher’s voice.
"……Iji! Junseo!"
It seemed she had come the right way.
As relief washed over her, a message popped up.
Your mana is running low.
‘I’m so tired…….’
Her body felt limp and heavy. She looked down and realized that the frilly outfit from before had changed back into the clothes she had worn that morning.
"Come quickly, kids!"
Feeling the hood of her hoodie heavy for the first time, Iji sat down on the spot.
— — —
* * *
When she came to, she saw the ceiling of the Career Experience Center. As she sat up, a blanket someone had draped over her slid off.
"Oh my, Iji, you’re awake!"
The homeroom teacher, who had been tending to Junseo nearby, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
A moment later, a man wearing an ID badge that read "Dungeon Management Department" approached them.
He started by saying, "You can stop whenever you feel it’s too hard to talk," and then asked his question.
"What happened inside?"
"In the desert, a bandage human took my tumbler and disappeared."
"I see, that must have been the Bandage Monster that popped out earlier. Weren't you scared?"
"Only at first."
"That’s a relief. But sometimes scary memories can pop up later on. Make sure to visit the counseling center, okay?"
"I was really fine, though……."
The bandage human seemed like a nice person, too.
……Living all alone in the desert, feeling lonely.
Just then, the official spoke in an exaggeratedly stern voice.
"You shouldn't take dungeons lightly! This time, you were lucky enough to end up in a crummy dungeon. Low-grade dungeons sometimes get cleared by accident, like a blind mouse stumbling upon a piece of cheese."
It wasn't luck. I was the one who cleared it!
……She held back the urge to say that.
‘Is this person a Hunter, too?’
Until a few hours ago, she had so many things she wanted to ask if she ever met a Hunter.
But now, that desire had completely vanished.
For one, the worry of being "Unbloomed" was gone, and—
‘I’m a Magical Girl, aren't I? A Magical Girl must never have her identity discovered!’
The Magical Girls in cartoons always hid their identities. For their own sake, and for the sake of their families and friends.
She remembered what the Bunny Princess went through in *Hug Me☆Pink Me!*.
The evil scientists had approached with scalpels and said:
‘A life form never reported before.’
‘Shall we check how it differs from a normal rabbit?’
Iji wouldn't be treated like a rabbit, but…….
Who knows what might happen to a flying book?
It might get dissected in her place, YouTubers might show up at her house, her sister would cry…….
‘I must never let anyone notice I’ve awakened!’
"D-don't worry! Now that I think about it, the dungeon was so, so scary! I never want to go back in there again!"
"Oh, calm down. Yes, yes. It was scary, wasn't it?"
Thank goodness. He seemed to believe her!
But her relief was short-lived.
Iji noticed a small problem when she saw the official talking to Junseo in the back.
What if Junseo said, "Iji told me she saw the dungeon clear conditions"?
‘They’ll find out I’ve awakened!’
It looked like Junseo’s interview was over, too.
Iji sent the official off with a smile, then stealthily followed behind him. Since the area was in chaos, tailing him was easy.
The two officials put their heads together.
The one who had spoken to Iji asked first.
"What did the boy say?"
"He said that while he was running away with the girl, the monster's bandages came off and it disappeared."
"What do you mean, 'he said'?"
"The kid was a bit incoherent……. What did the girl say?"
"She said the Bandage Monster took her tumbler and vanished."
Oh no. Even though she got her tumbler back, the story had been distorted. The only thing she’d actually lost in the dungeon was the cupcake she’d worked so hard to make!
Iji apologized to the bandage human in her heart.
The officials, unaware of the truth, sighed.
"An F-grade piece-of-trash dungeon causing all this property damage."
"Just consider it stepping in dog poop. Let’s go clear out the dungeon now."
The two officials headed toward the dungeon.
Iji let out a sigh of relief.
‘Junseo didn't say anything about me.’
Not that she saw the clear conditions, nor that she transformed into a Magical Girl and talked to a monster.
‘Did he help me so I wouldn't get dragged into something unnecessary?’
But if she asked him now, someone nearby might hear.
She decided to put off asking Junseo until later.
With a trembling heart, Iji opened her Status Window.
‘I didn't dream all that, did I?’
[Awakened Information]
Name: Shin Iji
Awakening Rank: EX
Trait: Magical Girl☆
On the translucent background, the white text stood out clearly.
‘That star wasn't there before.’
So the clear reward was a trait enhancement, and that was the result.
As Iji let out a dry laugh, the screen shifted to the skill window.
[Trait-Related Skills]
[My Being a Magical Girl is a Secret☆ (S)]
(Passive)
: Witnesses of the 'Magical Girl' cannot cause harm to the Hunter's daily life through acts such as leaking information.
A small "new!" sparkled next to the skill name. It seemed a new skill had appeared as her trait was enhanced.
‘So that’s why Junseo couldn't talk about me!’
That’s right. A Magical Girl’s identity is always a secret!
Iji excitedly flipped through the skill window.
[Magical Girl Wants to Talk! (B+)]
— — —
Below the skill she had seen earlier.
The most important skill in the world was shining.
[Magical Girl Daisy, Transform! (B)]
: Become a Magical Girl in the dungeon.
: Additional Effect: Unbloomed
Even with the short description, her heart pounded.
The additional effect "Unbloomed" must mean there’s something else she can obtain, right?
‘I want to transform and see it soon!’
But just then, she heard her homeroom teacher’s voice.
"Class 2-3, everyone gather around!"
"Yes!"
In front of the assembly area.
Even kids she wasn't particularly close to were creeping toward her. They probably wanted to ask about the dungeon.
But the homeroom teacher beat them to it.
"It’s a relief that both of our friends returned safely, isn't it? And absolutely! Do not ask your friends about the dungeon."
"Huh? Teacher, why not?"
"If you were hit by a car, how would you feel if your friends asked you to describe what it was like when you were in the accident?"
"It would suck!"
"……How would you feel?"
"……Bad."
"Yes, you’d feel bad. Please help your friends not to think about today’s scary accident. Understand?"
"Yes!"
Iji hugged her bag, pretending to be terrified. One of the girls who had approached her pressed a strawberry-flavored candy into Iji’s hand.
And so, the Cham-sae Elementary School second-grade career experience came to an end.
While waiting for the bus home, several parents who had received the news arrived at the center.
The one running the most urgently was Junseo’s dad.
"Junseo!"
"Dad…… ugh!"
The big Junseo was tucked right into his dad’s arms. The situation was similar for the other kids.
‘……My sister probably couldn't come here.’
It’s perfectly fine if she didn't. Nothing really happened anyway!
When she turned her head away from the happy tears and noisy chatter erupting everywhere.
The officials from earlier recognized Iji and approached her.
"You’re the student who was dragged into the dungeon earlier, right? Come here for a second."
Her shoulders hunched instinctively.
"Why are you asking?"
These people, they said they were going to clear the dungeon earlier.
‘Did they find traces of my transformation?’
She imagined being dragged to a lab, the magic book being burned, her sister crying, and the world ending for no reason…….
Just as she reached that thought, the official added:
"We got rid of that dungeon earlier. You don't have to worry about being dragged into that dungeon ever again."
"You got rid of the dungeon?"
She had learned at school that dungeons were treasure troves of resources. They said you could go in repeatedly to harvest good items……?
"Weren't dungeons something you could keep using once you cleared them?"
"You’re smart. That’s right, they’re like vending machines that refill themselves. But what should you do if a vending machine is blocking the road?"
Iji understood the analogy immediately.
"……You have to move it."
"Exactly. If it were a vending machine that gave out precious items, we’d leave it, but this dungeon wasn't like that. So we pulled out the dungeon’s 'core'…… its roots."
The official puffed out his chest triumphantly.
"The Bandage Monster is gone forever, so you don't have to be scared anymore!"
She should have thanked him, but the words didn't come out right away.
‘I can’t see the bandage human anymore?’
Even though they hadn't shared more than a few words.
She felt strange, haunted by the existence that had been quite kind and definitely not a monster.
"……Thank you."
"It’s just part of the job. Where’s the boy…… ah, there he is."
Perhaps to reassure Junseo as well, the official headed toward him. But the first thing to greet them was another guardian with an angry expression.
"You’re from the Dungeon Management Department, right? What is the meaning of all this? Is the forecasting team not doing their jobs?"
"We are investigating. It’s not 100% predictable, so……."
"100% isn't the problem, you should have at least predicted 10%! Who’s going to take responsibility for all this?"
"That’s right! Dungeon accidents aren't even covered by the School Safety Mutual Aid Association insurance……."
The adults started getting noisy.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Iji ran to the lab where the dungeon had appeared.
But where the "Do Not Enter" tape was strung up, only a broken lab table sat forlornly.
She couldn't feel any mana, either.
‘I guess it really is gone.’
Iji trudged back to her spot.
And so, Iji failed to notice that something bubbly was wiggling and moving inside the bag she had left at her seat.
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