REAPER SCANS

Mr. Magical Girl

[Translator –  goguma]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 10:  Kids Grow Just Fine on Their Own (1)

Rustle rustle—

The sound of Hyunseok’s hand rummaging through the snacks I’d opened was slowly starting to get on my nerves.

Despite only drinking water, claiming he couldn’t drink alcohol because he was still on duty, he was wasting the precious food in my house.

Meanwhile, Unho seemed simply happy just to have snacks. He dug into them eagerly, stuffing his cheeks full.

“The reason you’re not growing any taller is because you keep eating things like this,” Hyunseok said.

‘What ridiculous nonsense is this?’

“I can’t grow regardless, dumbass,” I retorted.

“Have you tried?”

“I didn’t grow any taller after having my arms and legs pulled by monsters. After that, I gave up.”

To pay back the two monsters that helped me with the experiment, I tore off their limbs. Since they pulled my limbs, it seemed only fair that I returned the favor.

I’m sure they were satisfied with the results since we essentially did the same things for each other.

“What about milk?” he asked.

“Are you serious or are you joking?” If he was being serious, the idiots at the UN who made him a branch manager would also need to be taught a lesson.

“Obviously, I’m joking. You’re as bad with jokes as ever.”

‘Your jokes just haven’t been funny since you were the Blue Ranger. The other rangers in your team all laughed awkwardly because it seemed like you genuinely thought that you were funny.’

Wait, had he intentionally made bad jokes that dampened the mood because he was the Blue Ranger?

“I feel bad for your subordinates,” I said. ‘I’d want to kill myself if I had to react to those bad jokes every day. It must be hard working in a group.’

“I don’t crack jokes in front of them. I’m their branch manager, responsible for overseeing them. I don’t know them personally.”

“Ah, is that so?” I swallowed my beer, its bitterness spreading through my mouth. The slight carbonation tingled in my throat.

It was all just for show; I was simply pretending to drink beer. I had to at least pretend to feel some semblance of a slight buzz from the alcohol that didn’t actually affect me. 

Knowing it could drag on until morning if I stayed silent, I used the courage from my pretend buzz to ask him a direct question. “So why did you come over? If you had something to say to me, you could’ve just sent one of your subordinates.”

‘You even made me talk to one of your subordinates the last time I tried to see you, saying you were too busy.’

“I thought I should come see you in person since I’m the one making the request.”

“A request? Is there another corrupted hero we need to kill? It’s been a long time since the last one, so it’s about time another one showed up, right?”

“Those cruel times are long gone. Isn’t that also why you left the Association?” he asked.

“I don’t know… People often turn to evil once they gain power. You can never be sure of someone’s true intentions.”

In fact, I returned that day after dealing with a woman who tried to kill another hero. Even if powers were only granted to righteous individuals, you never know what feelings might be lurking in their hearts.

“I doubt we will ever come to an agreement on that matter. Regardless, I'm not here today to request anything so bloody or foul from you."

Hyunseok, after taking another sip of water, sighed. “We have confirmed that the Hero Ambusher is a monster. Codename: Black Marauder. We detected traces of the Otherworld’s powers at the incident locations, and a hero given the story of defeating them also appeared.”

‘What is he saying? I’m a monster? The Otherworld’s powers?’ My jaw dropped slightly. I hadn’t been expecting that at all.

“As such, the Association has determined that Black Marauder is a monster mimicking Crimson★Hammer. Although some people were initially skeptical, they changed their minds after a hero’s story included defeating the Black Marauder.”

I masked my shock and responded to Hyunseok. “You’re talking about it so openly when I’m the one involved.”

That was just like Hyunseok.

“Didn’t you already know, though? We received a report that you ran away from the person we assigned to watch over you.”

“Obviously. Who the hell were they trying to tail with skills like that?”

A surveillant should’ve at least been able to hop over buildings like it was a casual jog.

He shook his head. "Let’s move on for now. If you follow this procedure, it will clear up most of the suspicions around you."

He pulled out a small, black device that somewhat resembled a hair dryer and pointed it at me. “I, Hyunseok Park, hereby exercise my authority as Branch Manager of the Hero Association’s Korean Branch. You are required to comply without refusal, and any form of excuse or objection is expressly prohibited.”

“Go ahead,” I said.

Though I wasn’t certain if the device could actually detect the Otherworld’s powers, it was a concern for later. It wasn’t as if I could harm my friend without having a valid reason.

Beep beep. Beep—

Hyunseok examined the small piece of paper that printed from the device.

“…”

“And the result?” I asked.

“You’re clean. There’s a bit of contamination, but all within the normal range.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried for a second after all the monster flesh I’ve been covered in.” I smiled energetically at him, as if the results had been obvious all along.

While a part of my heart was growing darker by the second, that cleared me of all suspicions. I’d managed to escape them in an unexpected way.

More importantly, the Otherworld’s powers… did transforming into my black costume spread such powers?

I couldn’t believe my new power was connected to monsters. Once again, Unho proved himself to be useless.

Hyunseok put away the device before reaching for another snack.

As empty snack bags piled up in the corner of my room, I heard the hiss of yet another bag opening.

At that rate, he was going to eat every snack in the house.

“Are you not going to leave? Haven’t you finished your business?” I asked. ‘You better pay if you want to eat more.’

“I’m not done yet. I was simply having trouble deciding whether I could leave this to you or not.”

“You came to see me, so I’m probably your only option, right? You would’ve picked someone else if you had other choices.”

“While that is true, I am starting to have doubts after seeing you.”

“What about me?”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be spreading your legs and scratching your stomach like that, especially when you look like a girl.”

“What does that matter?” If I cared about the difference between my actions and appearance, I’d have started by changing the way I talked.

“It’s important, the—”

A wish~ that everyone~ has~

My phone’s ringtone went off. Why did I have to get a call at a time like that?

“I’ll be back after taking this.”

“Go ahead.”

I glanced at the screen to see which idiot was calling me: Octopus Head.

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - ilafy

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‘Damn it.’ I stepped out of my apartment to take the call. “Your timing is seriously incredible, you know? I was in the middle of a conversation with someone high up in the Association. Do you want to die?”

“Then couldn’t you have just not taken the call? Why are you getting upset at me?”

“Aren’t I supposed to be avoiding suspicion? Was I just supposed to say it was nothing with a straight face and hang up?”

‘Huh? Wait… I feel like I could have just done that.’

“Couldn’t you have done that?”

“Shut up. More importantly, get to the point.” Not wanting to admit my mistake, I spoke to him more harshly.

“The monster is nearly complete. How will you be retrieving it?”

“I thought you said it was difficult. It’s already done after a day?”

“The difficulty and the time required to complete it are two different things. Since it wasn’t a monster with its own consciousness, the time needed to develop it wasn’t necessary.”

I thought for a moment. “On that note… could you make it again, but this time with its own consciousness? Try to give it a personality like mine. You can do that, right?”

Since I was no longer under suspicion, there was no reason for me to control it directly. It would be more useful as a monster that operated on its own or one that could transform into me while I was active.

I heard him quietly mutter, “…Does he think we’re his servants or something? Why is he telling us to create another one when we just finished it?”

‘Is talking to themselves a part of their species' instincts? I've told him so many times, but he still hasn’t changed.’

“Would you rather be my servant, or would you prefer to see your Korean Branch completely destroyed and forced out of the country?” I asked.

I just happened to have someone high up in the Hero Association right next to me, and I was sure I’d receive a lot of rewards if I reported them.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. We will prepare it as quickly as we can.”

“Ah, and it needs to be an extremely strong monster, so I’ll give you some of my DNA as well.”

“What are you trying to make?”

“I was planning to use it as a copy of myself, so… it needs to be at least as strong as one of the Four Heavenly Kings in someone else’s story, right?”

Originally, I wanted a monster I could defeat with a single swing of my hammer. However, with the change in plans, the specs I needed for the monster had changed as well. If it was going to act like me, it had to be at least that strong as well.

“It’s too expensive. Even for us, that’s impossibl—”

“Name an organization. A hero organization, a hostile organization, whatever.”

Obviously, I would have to do them a favor for it.

“Are you serious?” he asked.

“I am. As long as it doesn’t involve killing heroes, I will completely destroy whatever organization it is.”

“What about the Hero Association’s Korean Branch?”

“Do you want to be the ones to die instead?”

‘There are things that you can joke about and things you can’t.’

“I was just joking. I will send you data on a suitable organization later.”

“Yeah, I'll leave it to you.”

Click—

I hung up. As I went back into my apartment, I saw that the mound of empty snack bags had grown. At that rate, he was going to get into my rice and ramen.

‘How can he eat so much? Could he just fuck off already?’

“What was it?” he asked.

“There was trouble at the volunteer group.”

“I see.”

Our conversation was going in a strange direction again. I had to get rid of at least one of those pigs as quickly as possible. Though I wanted to get rid of both, that would be a little difficult.

“So what did you want to say? Spit it out already.”

‘Get out before all of my food is gone.’

Seemingly having resolved himself, he finally put down the snacks in his hand and turned to look at me. “Haram, what do you think about taking in a student?”

‘Why is he being like this today? Has he already gone senile?’

“Do you think I’m crazy? Why would I take in a student when kids grow just fine on their own?”

Ignoring my answer, he tossed me some documents from his bag. “Read it.”

“If it’s something stupid, I’m going to kick you out.” I started scanning through the documents. 

‘Sihyeon Baek. 18 years old. From Cheongju, South Korea. Awakening Type: Magical Girl. Awakened today.’

I sighed. “Why the hell would I train someone who just awakened today? She needs to at least know the basics before I can teach her anything.”

“Keep reading.”

‘Confirmed abilities are physical enhancement, weapon materialization, telekinesis, lightning magic, healing magic, and near-future precognition.’

“…What the hell are these abilities?” I asked. “What kind of ridiculous story was she given to get abilities like this?”

Even just two of the six abilities would have been more than enough to label her as an elite, and there she was with all six. The fact that she also had both weapon materialization and telekinesis was incredibly ridiculous.

“Keep reading.”

Below was information about her life, but since I didn’t particularly care about it, I skipped to the section about her awakening. It was the classic story of someone awakening after meeting a mascot, followed by details about the organization she needed to defeat…

“…Black Marauder.”

“Yes, it’s an unusual case. It isn’t an organization… it specified one individual.”

“…”

“The higher-ups at the association predict that the Black Marauder is an O-Rank monster capable of ending the world. That’s probably why she was given so many abilities.”

“Didn’t you say the monster was probably a copy of me? How is it that strong?”

“While unlikely, there’s also a chance the monster might be stronger than you. Or they could be the type who is weak now but grows quickly.”

I finally understood why he asked me such an absurd question about taking in a student—he wanted me to beat her up repeatedly to give her real battle experience and prepare her for facing my clone.

I quickly began calculating things in my head. If I could closely monitor an enemy so overwhelmingly strong who was tasked with facing me…

If I could influence her with my ideals…

If I could figure out her weaknesses while watching her grow…

I would be able to sway things in a way that would work favorably for me, no matter what.

“How much are you paying?” I concealed my dark intentions and asked a materialistic question, trying to maintain my usual demeanor.

“At least enough to feed two people.”

“Alright, I’ll train her.” I gave a cheerful smile, accepting his request. It looked like my life was about to get quite noisy from then on. At least more lively than when it was just me and Unho.

‘A girl, huh?’ I said, “Are you going to get a place for us too? This place is too cramped for three people.”

“I’ll consider it.”

In other words, it was difficult.

“Ah. I'll ask you one last time… about defeating the Black Marauder myself…”

“No, you’re not allowed to. You should already know what happens if someone accidentally interferes with another person’s story. Especially in this case, since it involves a single monster rather than an organization. In the worst-case scenario, there’s a chance of a hole being formed.”

“Got it.”

With that, I had a justifiable reason for not fighting the Black Marauder. Things were going well.

“Well, I’m done with what I wanted to say. I’ll be going now.” Hyunseok immediately stood up before heading toward the front door. There wasn’t a single crumb on his clothes—almost as if they were symbolizing his meticulous personality.

“Next time we meet, it will be to introduce you to Sihyeon Baek,” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll work hard.”

‘I’ll work hard, Hyunseok… for justice.’

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