REAPER SCANS

Mr. Magical Girl

[Translator –  goguma]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 24: If I Had a Bit More Time and Money… (2)

“Is this it?” The map flashing on my phone screen kept insisting we had arrived at the Future Science and Life Production Organization.

“There’s nothing here, though,” Sihyeon mumbled.

There was nothing there, yeah. I looked around, only to be met by the vast, desolate fields of North Korea.

On the flip side, that emptiness made it the perfect spot for weirdos like them to set up shop.

“Unless there was an issue with the GPS, we’re at the right place.”

We’d run there faster than a speeding car, so we were able to arrive hours before our original estimation. Abin was a bit exhausted from it, but that was also solved thanks to an unexpected encounter.

“Sunbaeee… Sihyeonnn… Wait for meee…” A distant voice, distorted by the doppler effect, grew closer. Abin, riding on the back of a wild boar, was yelling as loudly as she could.

As quickly as her voice reached us, it zoomed past. The boar, unsurprisingly, wasn’t great at stopping. Still, I knew she’d make her way back to us soon enough.

“Master, that’s not a boar, right?” Admittedly, it was hard to call something the size of a car, with horns along its back, a boar, but what else would we call it? I knew it was a boar—I’d tasted its kind before.

“It’s definitely a boar. It just became a bit more monstrous after being affected by the Otherworld’s powers.” Since it was still an animal at its core, it would continue to listen to us as long as we continued to beat it.

Honestly, I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with the idea to make Abin ride it.

“Does this mean beast-like monsters can listen to people? That’s pretty interesting.”

“All monsters can listen to people. The only differences are their personalities and levels of intelligence.”

There was once a humanoid monster who had a child with his enemy, and there was a beast-like monster who fought the Otherworld’s army to protect a little girl who was its owner.

“Didn’t I tell you before? Some monsters have gotten used to society and live among us. There are even a few at the Association.”

While it was hard for them to suppress their violent instincts at first, once they adapted to human society, it wasn’t much of an issue.

“I’ve never heard of monsters working at the Association!”

“What do you mean? I’m pretty sure the people in charge of your basic training were…”

‘Hold on. Is that supposed to be classified information?’ I’d thought it wasn’t a secret anymore, given how natural those interactions had become.

“…Don’t go telling anyone I said that. There are only people at the Association.” Beast-like monsters, regular monsters, humanoid monsters… Forget it—they’re all people.

“Okay!”

‘You won’t tell anyone, right? I trust you, Sihyeon. It’s not like I can just knock it out of your head with Magical★Memory Remover… or can I?’

“Master?” Maybe I had stared at her head a bit too long. Sihyeon gave me a slightly confused smile.

‘Stop. What am I even thinking?’ I sighed. “To give a bit more detail, it’s easy to tell them apart since they wear a device that restricts the Otherworld’s powers.”

I think it was put around the neck those days? It was a big improvement from the early models, which had to be implanted near the heart or brain.

As I continued chatting with Sihyeon, I noticed the boar returning from the horizon. Seeing that it wouldn’t stop in time, I raised my hammer to cut off its charge.

“Stop.”

Skid—

Recognizing the hammer that had beaten it before, the boar dug its feet into the ground, bringing itself to a screeching halt.

“Kyaaaaaaaa.” Abin screamed as she was launched through the air, caught off guard by the boar’s sudden stop. 

I wasn’t too concerned. If she wanted to call herself a hero, she’d have to handle things like that on her own.

“Thanks. You can go back now.” I helped pull the boar’s feet out of the dirt and gave it a pat on the rear.

Squeal—

The boar gave me a quick bow before charging back off into the jungle—its home.

I’d worried I’d have to put it down if it broke its legs with that sudden stop, but it seemed fine… probably because it was a monster.

It was quite a relief

“It left… Just when I thought we were getting close…” Abin appeared behind me, waving goodbye to the boar with one hand while rubbing her sore backside with the other, slouching slightly.

‘Did she… miss her landing?’ I wondered.

“You got closer to it? Did you feed it or something?” I swallowed my words and asked another question to preserve her pride.

“Oh, it rubbed its tusks on me in thanks after I healed it.”

“Well, it would’ve suffered from those injuries for months if you’d left them. Even animals know how to be thankful.” In truth, those wounds could’ve festered and killed it, but that wasn’t important. 

No one would cry over a dead monster. What mattered was that Abin healed the injuries caused by my hammer in just a few hours.

“Did your healing magic get more efficient?” I asked.

“It did. I can even heal festering bruises in an hour now.”

…An hour? For just that?

“How long did it take you before?”

“Three hours.”

‘This awful world…’ I took a moment to gaze up at the sky, seeking a little peace for my soul. The sky seemed so clear, and the sun's rays felt so warm.

It was slow… so awfully slow. Even with all that extra mana, she was still that slow? From what I sensed, her mana had increased to around a C or D-Rank Awakener’s level, and it still took her that long?

“I want you to show me your healing magic,” I finally said. 

“Huh? Okay!” Pink mana flowed from her hands, but I couldn’t pinpoint any particular issue. I had to know something about it to actually give advice, after all.

“Good. Keep going like that…” Without much to go on, I gave her a half-hearted compliment and moved on.

“Okay!”

While it would’ve been nice if Lisa could teach Abin herself, there was no guarantee that she’d reappear in her dreams.

‘I should start searching for a healing expert while I’m hunting down Thunder God. Who can I reach out to again…? Oxymoron? Anyone but her. There’s no reason to increase the number of crazy people at the Association.’

There really wasn’t anyone else… The issue was going to give me a headache…

“Master, where are the monsters? Don’t tell me we have to go looking for them now?” Sihyeon asked while casually playing golf with pieces of gravel using her hammer.

I tried to escape my headache and worries. “They’re probably beneath us.”

“Beneath us?”

“Strangely enough, all of the things from the Otherworld have a habit of creating their bases either deep underground or high in the sky. I even asked them once, and they acted like I was the strange one for questioning it.”

If I had to guess, I’d say around 90% of them preferred it that way, and since I’d heard it directly from them, I was confident in my answer.

Judging by how even human organizations showed a similar tendency, I was sure the Otherworld’s powers had corrupted their brains.

Yeah, it was all the Otherworld’s fault.

“Then should we start digging?” Sihyeon, recalling something she'd seen or heard before, summoned a silver e-tool—an entrenching tool—into her hands.

Was she really planning to dig with that?

“There’s an easier method.” If they wanted to burrow underground and never come out, I had to make them come out.

Normally, we’d use a large-scale explosion, a biochemical weapon, or send in a small, elite task force, but… “Sihyeon, take Abin far from here. Far enough that neither of you gets caught in this.”

“Can’t we watch you do it?”

“You might walk away with only severe injuries if you take it head-on, but Abin wouldn’t survive.” There was a good chance Sihyeon would get knocked out if debris hit her head. Getting hit on the head was always dangerous, after all.

“Sihyeon, let’s go now!” Terrified, Abin shouted and clung to Sihyeon, who promptly started running with Abin on her back.

Still, she kept glancing over her shoulder, as if she were sad she couldn’t stay and watch.

“She’ll be able to see it from far away anyway. Why does she want to watch up close?” How many years had it been since I last used my strength like that? At least a few, surely.

I summoned my hammer, resting it on my shoulder, and extended its handle, gripping it with both hands as it grew.

Clunk. Clunk—

The hammer swelled and absorbed my mana. Its head expanded, wide and flat, at my command.

“Argh.” I wobbled for a second when the hammer grew too large, almost losing my balance.

‘I almost fell over. How embarrassing.’ After correcting my stance, I let the massive head touch the ground behind me.

It was time to bring out the ants.

Inhale.

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - ilafy

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I took a deep breath, channeling more mana into the hammer. It was the only place I, someone who couldn’t release mana outside my body, could actually direct my energy.

Rumble. Rumble—

The hammer kissed the earth, its weight increased at an alarming rate, and the ground groaned beneath it.

The pressure on my shoulder intensified, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I had also released my limiter to prepare for the swing.

The hammer's weight made the ground beneath me sink.

Crumbled rocks shot into the air from the impact, only to be instantly pulverized by the shockwaves radiating from my body.

Woosh—

Steam hissed from the cylinder at the back of my hammer, signaling that I had gathered all the mana I needed.

Clunk—

Chains materialized, wrapping themselves around the clattering cylinder, which looked ready to burst at any moment.

‘This should be enough, right?’

“Hahhhhhhhhh!” I stamped my left foot down, making it the axis for my swing. Tightening my grip on the hammer, I brought it down like a pickaxe.

The massive head slammed into the earth, and my vision turned black.

Ringggggggg—

A sharp ringing pierced through, even though I’d blocked my hearing with mana.

Still, I knew the sound echoing around me was far louder—so loud that the ringing in my ears was insignificant in comparison.

My students must’ve been seeing a mushroom cloud, while I, standing at the epicenter, couldn’t see anything through the swirling debris and smoke.

“I’m not done yet.” All I’d done was scare them. That wasn’t enough to bring them out. “Fire.”

Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting—

The chains snapped from the cylinder and scattered into the air, glowing brightly.

Thud—

The suppressed cylinder released the immense mana it had stored, pouring it into the hammer.

A shockwave burst from my body, scattering the swirling smoke and debris, reclaiming the light. I saw the massive hammer before me, embedded deep in the ground and sinking further by the second, driven by immense power.

The energy from the cylinder flowed entirely into the hammer with not a single drop wasted, forcing it deeper into the earth.

Thud—

The ground trembled. Judging by the vibrations, it felt like something beneath the surface was starting to crack.

‘Alright, come on out.’

There’s no way an organization with B-Rank and C-Rank monsters would break that easily, right? 

‘I made sure to hold back—please don’t tell me everyone got killed by that. I doubted anyone wanted to be buried underground like that, either.’

As if responding to my thoughts…

Clink. Clink. Clink—

Weeeeeeeeee—

Countless buildings erupted from the ground, accompanied by a blaring warning siren. The structures, despite being riddled with cracks, still held their shape.

They likely weren’t foolish enough to expose their main base and what I was seeing were elevators or cargo containers. Either way, we’d just secured our way in.

“You guys can come back nowwwwwwww!” I shouted loudly, making sure it was enough to reach my students.

Sure, the enemies would hear it too, but what did that matter? Did they have an O-Rank monster? No. Did they have anyone important backing them? Also no.

Even if they did have an O-Rank monster, I could’ve just killed it easily, unless… unless it was exceptionally strong.

The dust that had soared into the sky began to settle, casting shadows over the area, and the ringing in my ears slowly faded…

“Sunbae!”

“Master! Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

My students rushed toward me, clearly worried.

“Didn’t something just explode? Like a nuclear bomb, or maybe their secret weapon, or…?”

“Nuclear weapons are brighter and generate more heat than this, making them a bit easier to kill people with.”

Not that my technique was weaker—everything had its pros and cons, like supply and range… I had my limitations as well.

“A bit? Are you saying you just withstood something as strong as a nuclear weapon?”

“What am I supposed to withstand? It was my hammer.”

If I had swung hard enough to the point that I couldn’t withstand it, everything around me would have been vaporized.

There was a reason why nuclear engineering had become a useless major—there were a ton of people capable of withstanding a shower of nuclear weapons. However, it wasn’t as if nuclear weapons were useless against O-Rank monsters.

My students stared at my shrinking hammer with perplexed expressions, but I ignored them and pointed toward a random elevator. “You girls can go now. There should be monsters down there.”

“Uh… Isn’t that dangerous?”

Both Abin and Sihyeon were so shocked they didn’t even glance at the elevator I’d pointed to, still staring blankly at my hammer.

‘I guess I’ll just have to force them in.’

“Shut up and go already.” I grabbed my stunned students and tossed them into the elevator. I was sure they’d snap out of it if they wanted to survive.

Hummm. Clunk.

“Master?!”

“Sunbae?!”

The elevator doors quickly shut, and the steel box shot downward, plunging underground.

‘Ah. I think I forgot to tell them something.’ I walked over to the closed doors, pried them open, and shouted as loudly as I could down the shaft. “Scream if you’re in danger! I’ll save you!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I heard a scream echo through the darkness, but I ignored it and headed toward another elevator. They weren’t screaming because they were in danger but because they were scared. I was sure it was fine.

It was time to take care of my own business. ‘Let’s see which of these elevators leads to their lab…’

I wandered through the devastated plains, looking for any markings on the elevators.

1, 2, 3, 4, α, β, 𝛾…

Each elevator bore a different symbol. They didn’t show any consideration for their guests at all, as if only their members were meant to use them.

“I doubt this is everything…” As I checked them one by one, a certain elevator caught my attention—an elevator without any symbols, only locks. Though it looked similar to the others, the extra security suggested it led to something more important.

‘Is it this one?’ I pressed the button, attempting to open it, but was met with a warning and an electrical shock.

‘These guys sure don’t know how to welcome guests. Luckily, I happen to know a technique for situations like this.’

I struck the elevator door with my hammer—it was a technique for creating a path where there wasn’t one.

Thud—

“It withstood that?” To my surprise, the door survived my light swing, though the metal sunk in. “That’s some tough metal.”

I swung lightly a few more times. “If I had a spell for opening doors, what would I call it? Open Sesame? Ex Machina Showtime?”

Inwardly, I felt a rush of excitement—it had been so long since I’d done something heroic. Nothing beat smashing up a base and hearing your enemies’ screams for a good workout.

For a second, I recalled a comrade who used to shout “Magical★Door Opener” after planting bombs. That would be too embarrassing to say out loud.

After five more swings, the door finally gave in, tearing apart under my hammering. I peered inside the shaft.

“There’s nothing here.” The only thing that greeted me was an empty, dark shaft—whether it was out of service or to keep intruders out, who knew?

Clang. Clang–

The broken pieces of the door fell, clattering into the abyss below.

What did that matter? I could just jump in. Was that really their idea of safety precautions? The Infinite Castellan would have been furious if he saw it, probably demanding the architect’s head and wanting to rip up the blueprints himself.

If they wanted real security, they should have filled it to the brim with laser scalpels, plasma cannons, and maybe even Otherworld transporters.

“Here we go…” I calmly leaped down the chute.

Just when I thought it was going to be safe…

“God damn it.” Gravity pulled me down, and the wind rushed up beneath my dress, causing it to billow out and ruin my mood.

‘How annoying.’ I channeled mana into my clothes, hardening them to prevent them from puffing. I used to always do that, but it hadn’t been necessary with the black outfit I wore when wielding my crowbar—it didn’t flutter as much, so I’d forgotten.

When I thought about it, it had been a while since I jumped down like that wearing those clothes. 

I glanced at the endless maze of pipes and closed doors passing by as I fell. Even after twenty seconds of freefall, I still hadn’t reached the bottom.

‘This is taking forever.’

Sure, I could stop and enter through any of the doors to infiltrate the place, but what I really wanted was the monster seed in their laboratory.

An important facility like that would definitely be in the deepest room. 

Thinking about how much work it must have taken to dig that deep, I unleashed a powerful kick at the elevator car ceiling that finally came into view.

Crash—

My kick split the car in half, sending pieces flying off to the side.

The floor came into sight, and I rolled as I landed to absorb the impact.

‘Is this the bottom floor?’ It was clear the elevator had stopped at the lowest level, so the door in front of me had to lead there.

A faint ray of light slipped through the closed elevator doors—subtle, but enough to confirm someone was on the other side.

I rushed forward and jammed my fingers into the gap.

Crush. Crush—

The doors groaned, struggling to keep me out, but there was nothing that couldn’t be solved with overwhelming strength.

Thud—

The metal gave way, crumpling under my grip, and I tore it apart before stepping inside the room.

“An intruder?!”

“What happened to the monsters?! How is there a hero here?”

I saw a white room filled with bright lights, scientists’ lab coats fluttered in the air, and the smell of medicine and blood hit my nose.

‘Found you.’

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