REAPER SCANS

Mr. Magical Girl

[Translator –  goguma]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 19: Association - ??? 『????』 (1)

“What is this?” I asked.

“Dinner,” Sihyeon replied.

“It looks like ramen to me.”

“Well, ramen can also be dinner! It’s not like we have to have rice with every meal!”

‘I thought it was going to be an actual meal because she said that she would cook.’

“Are there any side dishes?”

“Nope!”

‘I guess it’s fine. Who cares as long as our stomachs are full, right? Sure, my student might not be great at cooking, but I’m used to eating ramen and instant foods. Nothing’s really changed.’

I was sure she used the big pot to cook a lot all at once. It was definitely that… it had to be that.

“Where’s the rice…?” Unho, who had been eager to eat rice after such a long time, stared at the ramen with watery eyes.

That wasn’t my fault. Who would have thought she’d make instant ramen after saying she would prepare dinner?

“Let’s eat first. Abin can eat later.” At my signal, we all began serving ourselves portions of the ramen. Oil floated to the top of the red broth, and the noodles snapped off whenever we tried to lift them.

I was very worried. How could she ruin instant ramen? All you had to do was boil water and put in the noodles at the right time.

Noticing that the noodles snapped off too easily to use chopsticks, I decided to use a spoon instead to scoop up both the noodles and the broth together.

It tasted bland, and I saw chunks of powder floating around, not dissolved by the water. Finally, the noodles were muddy and unpleasant to bite into.

‘This isn’t right.’ I had eaten a lot of awful things on the battlefield, but never anything that bad. I doubted anyone could make that abomination even if they intentionally tried to make it taste terrible.

Slurping up the noodles with magic, Unho had a confused look on his face, as if he didn’t recognize what he was eating. The only ones eating excitedly were Rin, who remained expressionless, and Sihyeon.

‘You're fine with the taste because you’re the one who made it, is that it?’ I paused for a moment, thinking about how to handle the situation.

‘Should I flip the table and yell at her, asking how she could call this food, or should I just close my eyes and force it down my throat?’ Since my body was fine without food anyway, I also thought about running, saying I had no appetite.

Unho’s eyes looked miserable as countless thoughts crossed my mind.

Beep beep beep. Click—

Someone entered the door password and entered.

“I’m back…” Abin weakly announced her return.

It was a golden opportunity to get rid of the abomination on the dining table. I rushed to the front door. After all, it was only right to welcome my precious student, who had just returned from the difficult training I assigned them, right?

“Welcome back.”

Though she was drenched in sweat and collapsed near the front door, she still maintained her transformation. She must have completed the 150km run but stayed transformed since she had a bit of mana left.

‘So she kept her transformation for eight hours with what little mana she had left, huh?’

I wasn’t sure whether she had excellent mana efficiency or naturally good mana control, but it was definitely a talent. I would’ve normally complimented her for it, but there was a much more important matter at hand.

“For now, wash up and then eat. Sihyeon made ramen.”

“Ramen…?” Even while gasping for air, Abin seemed to be listening well, judging by her reaction to ‘ramen’.

“Yeah, ramen’s a bit heavy on the stomach after a run, right? Is there anything else that you’d prefer to eat?”

“No, if Sihyeon prepared it, then even ramen is fine—hieek!”

‘Shut up and tell me what you want to eat. Now.’ I shot her a hint of bloodlust. She gave me the perfect chance to get rid of that abomination, and I wasn’t about to lose it.

“That ramen is disgusting,” I mouthed, trying to get my point across, but I wasn’t sure if she caught on.

“Me…”

“Me?”

“Meat…”

“Yeah, it’s important to get protein after exercise.”

While I didn’t expect her to say that, anything was better than what was on the table.

“Go wash up. I’ll grill some meat.”

“Okay…” Abin, legs weak, responded faintly, likely due to the bloodlust I directed at her earlier.

There was probably some meat in the fridge. I’d only had a quick glimpse of the house in the morning, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but since the Association left behind food, I was confident there would be some meat as well.

After tossing the exhausted Abin into the bathroom, I returned to the dining room with a smile.

“The ramen’s all soggy now,” Sihyeon said with an upset expression. 

I honestly didn’t care about her feelings as long as I could get rid of it. “Abin said she wanted to eat meat.”

“What about the ramen I made?”

“Who would want to eat ramen after exercising? It’s greasy and hot.”

“But meat is also greasy and hot.”

‘Meat is different.’

“Ramen is… too salty.” Even I thought that was a shitty excuse.

“What kind of training did you put her through to say something like that?”

Thankfully, that shitty excuse worked well enough to give me a question I could actually answer. “A 150km run.”

“You mean 15km, right?”

“150km. A lap around Seoul.”

Shocked by my answer, Sihyeon’s expression changed. “That’s possible?”

“It’s possible if you’re a hero. I bet it would take you less than an hour to do it.”

I then gave advice to her, who was hesitating and unsure if she could actually do it. “Forget the common sense you learned before becoming a hero. You’ve already transcended normal humans, and you can do things that were impossible to you in the past.”

“Okay!” I doubted if she fully understood the meaning behind my words. She was only acting that way because she didn't understand the extent of her powers.

Unlike a car, there was no gauge to tell you how fast you were running, and when you punched with all your strength, no number flashed like it would on an arcade punching machine.

Since anyone could run or punch without being a hero, it was hard to gauge just how much stronger she had become.

In time, I was sure she'd figure it out on her own. It was fine as long as she figured it out before killing anyone.

“Well, it should still be a bit difficult for Abin since her physical enhancement is weak.”

“How long did she run?”

“Since she ran without resting… around eight hours?”

“What about food?”

“I don’t know, but she probably hasn’t eaten yet.”

Realizing the severity of the situation, Sihyeon quickly pushed aside the pot containing the abomination. “Then she should make sure to eat well.”

“That’s why we’re grilling meat.” Things were starting to fall into place. At that rate, everything would be perfect.

“That’s a shame… Then what if we eat ramen after—”

“By that time, the noodles would be too mushy. It would be inedible.”

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - ilafy

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* * *

‘I don’t know why you are so obsessed with your monstrosity, but please just throw it out.’ After a brief exchange of glances, I grabbed the pot and poured it down the drain.

I’m sure the coal-black lumps of ramen powder floating around and the mass of flour stuck to the bottom of the pot were just my eyes playing tricks on me. I started to channel some of my strength to salvage the damaged pot, and a familiar smell entered my nose.

The second most common smell at a field hospital, after blood… disinfectant.

“How was the bath?” I asked.

“It was good. Hot water comes out pretty quickly, too,” a slightly high-pitched voice replied.

Was that Abin’s normal voice? Her soft tone was slightly more high-pitched than before. 

I took my eyes off the ruined pot and turned toward her. She had short, brown hair and was slightly tall. The petite, pink-haired magical girl was nowhere to be seen, and a woman in her prime arrived in the dining room.

“So you’re also quite different from your transformation,” I noted.

“I was at least somewhat similar in size when I first got my powers…” Though her voice was a little different, her personality remained the same. She still trailed off at the end of her sentences, lacking confidence.

“Oh, so your resemblance to your transformation form changed over time. There were a lot of people like you in the past.”

Back then, a lot of heroes stayed active for a long time.

“What about the meat?”

“Sihyeon’s grilling it.”

“…That’s not charcoal?”

‘What are you saying?’ I’d definitely given Sihyeon an electric grill. Sure, she used alchemy to turn ramen into an abomination, but who couldn’t grill meat?

I turned my head in confusion… and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The protein had turned into charcoal, and the oil from the meat burned to the point where it resembled more the kind of oil you’d put in a car. The smell of something burning filled the air. 

My precious meat was being incinerated.

“Okay, cook the meat until it becomes as soft as your palm, and…” Sihyeon stabbed the meat while staring at her smartphone.

“The meat! The meat is… poyo!” A white furball desperately tried to replace the burning charcoal with fresh meat.

‘Sihyeon, you’re reading how to cook a steak, but these are thin slices of meat. They've already turned into charcoal; they're not going to be soft.’ At a loss for words, I stole the tongs from Sihyeon.

“It’s still not fully cooked yet! You need to make sure to cook meat thoroughly.” She was probably reciting a few things she’d read, but even that was wrong. Even if she were right, the meat was well past the point of being cooked thoroughly.

In the end, I left behind the pot that’d devolved into scrap metal to grill the meat myself. Although Abin offered to cook it, I felt it was only right that I did it after she returned from such difficult training.

“You have to cook meat properly…” Still, Sihyeon was the first to reach for the properly cooked meat.

Next to her, a white furball happily buried his face in the rice.

After the chaos of dinner, Abin and I exchanged glances. It was a seemingly understanding look as to why I had been so desperate to throw out the ramen earlier. 

She gave me a nod, which I returned in kind.

Even if I, their teacher, had to cook, we would never let Sihyeon cook again. We’d die if we had to eat that every day.

* * *

I raced through the dark night.

It was a night like before, with black particles that supposedly absorbed the powers of the Otherworld scattering around me and concealing me.

The phone in my hand flashed, keeping the darkness from consuming me completely.

‘I should also try to get the monster for my disguise as quickly as possible.’

Although I’d left after confirming my students were asleep, I had to return quickly to avoid being caught.

That monster would be crucial for what I planned to do later.

As I thought about it, I glanced back at my phone's screen. It was a report detailing what Taejoon Kim, my target for the day, had been up to.

At first, I looked away, unable to believe it, but looking away wouldn’t change the contents. “Why is someone who is a representative of the Association living in the Association’s dorms?”

According to the information Danger Rifle had given me, he lived in the Association’s internal dormitory. While I could understand it if he was at a lower-level position in the Association, why would a high-ranking public official like a representative stay in the dormitory? 

The facilities weren’t even that good. I knew that firsthand since I had stayed there when I worked at the Association, though I was kicked out after a certain incident.

For a moment, I considered the possibility of them having significantly upgraded the dormitory, but… knowing how the Association was stingy in the strangest of places, I doubted it.

I figured he would be staying in the Association's official residence after hearing he lived on site, but it turned out to be the dormitory. My plans were already off to a bad start.

Not only were the walls thin, but any noise in the cramped space would immediately draw attention. Originally, I planned to interrogate him to find out who gave the orders, but… I thought I might have to kidnap him instead.

Readjusting my plans, I shifted my focus to the tallest structure in sight—a black tower standing at the heart of Seoul.

It wasn’t a single building but a complex of multiple structures intertwined together. That tower was humanity’s last bastion, designed to detect the powers of the Otherworld and prevent Otherworldly corrosions.

I was near the Hero Association's Korean Branch, responsible for overseeing all of Southeast Asia.

Even at night, the building gleamed brightly, symbolizing its mission of protecting humanity and advocating for heroes' rights.

Its light pierced through the night to reach me, shining on me as if it were casting judgment. ‘The Association stands for justice. Did you not work for it? Are you really going to attack it just because of your personal stubbornness?’

Though only the light reached me, it felt as if a voice were calling out as well. Perhaps the voice was my feelings about the Association affecting my perception. “I don’t plan to fight the Association.”

The association was necessary—for both humanity and the Awakeners.

“I just… want to restore justice,” I whispered to myself, even though nobody was listening.

If I wanted to protect the ideals and justice of the Association that we all worked so hard to build, I had to be willing to cut away its twisted elements.

The black particles gradually obscured the light, and I stepped into the darkness once more.

____

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