REAPER SCANS
Mr. Magical Girl
[Translator – goguma]
[Proofreader – ilafy]
Chapter 26: If I Had a Bit More Time and Money… (4)
Whirrrrrr—
A golden drill ground into the earth, its afterburner flaring up as it pushed deeper into the ground.
It had been a while since I last used a drill.
Although I attached transmitters to their bodies to keep track of them and listen in, I had no intention of walking through the massive base on foot.
Instead, I drilled in the direction the transmitter pointed me toward.
"How are they doing?" I mumbled to myself Judging by their vitals, they were still alive. I listened in on my students through the listening device in my hammer.
- Ahhhh, Sihyeon! What the hell is thattttttt?
- I don’t know eitherrrrrrr!
I heard something crumbling along with their dumb voices. My students were as lively as ever.
It was clear they were under attack, but the fact that they could still joke with each other meant they had enough energy and breathing room to do so.
If they were truly in trouble, they wouldn’t have been talking at all.
I had considered the worst-case scenario—them being captured—but they seemed to be holding up well.
Whirrrrrrrrrr—
Sparks flew from my drill when it struck metal. It was drilling through, but not particularly fast.
Was it lacking mana? I poured more mana into the drill, and it picked up speed, boring through the metal. I shot through the hole, emerging to meet my students.
“Are you guys still alive?” I asked.
“Sunbae, save us!”
“Abin, help! Help! Ahhhh!”
‘What a mess.’
The scene below me was utterly chaotic—a swarm of monsters had cornered the pair of magical girls in a narrow hallway. Sihyeon held the front line, while Abin provided support from the rear.
Had they lured the monsters into that hallway on purpose? The monsters below me were all large. A few were medium-sized, but none were as small as the leopard I'd fought earlier.
My students likely led them into the hallway to force a bottleneck where they could face them one by one, rather than risk being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Seeing that they weren’t in any serious trouble, I planted my hammer’s handle into the ceiling and casually sat on its head.
“Don’t just watch, help us!” Abin cried out, though she still had the strength to loose another arrow into a monster’s eye.
“It wouldn’t be real battle training if I helped. I’ll step in if you’re really in danger. Keep going.”
Most of the monsters were C-Rank, with a few B-Ranks mixed in. If my students put in the effort, they could take down at least half of them.
I watched the fight unfold, swinging my legs leisurely…
“Master, behind you!”
“I know.” I grabbed the tentacle flying toward me with my bare hand, enduring the sickening, sticky mucus coating it.
Unfazed by the all-too-familiar feeling, I yanked it off and shot a glare filled with bloodlust at the monster. “If you don’t want to get sent to hell early, behave yourself, you damned beast.”
‘Play nice and become a training doll for my students’ real battle experience.’
The moment I released my bloodlust, all of the monsters froze and looked up at the ceiling. Perhaps they sensed someone far stronger than them, or maybe it was just their instincts kicking in at the presence of a predator.
The rampaging monsters backed away slowly.
“What are you doing? Keep going. Unless you want to die by my hand right now.” I spoke directly to their primal instincts. ‘I am the predator above you, and I have more than enough strength to kill you all.’
The monsters had been created by humans, so they were probably intelligent enough to understand words. The scientists must have had some way to control them, right?
“Grrrrrrr!”
“Awooo!”
“Grar! Rarrrr!”
The monsters roared and charged with renewed ferocity, faster than before.
Moments earlier, they were merely hunters seeking prey. Under the influence of someone much stronger, they had turned into soldiers ready to die.
“Sunbaeeeeee!” Abin teared up even more.
“They only became a bit wilder. Good luck.”
“Okay!” Sihyeon spun her weapon with sudden excitement. She had seemed bored just a moment prior, but something had changed. What was the difference?
Was it because I was watching, or was it because the fight had grown more intense?
Whatever it was, something had ignited a fire in her.
As if to confirm my thoughts, Sihyeon unleashed a barrage of weapons to stop their advance, swinging her hammer at the monsters who still dared to close the distance.
‘Wrong.’
It was flashy, but that’s all it was—the weapons she materialized failed to strike any vitals and were easily deflected. Although she swung her hammer the way I had taught her, she didn’t aim at a specific target, causing it to whiff.
The attack was random, like a child flailing in a fight. The only reason it even resembled a battle was because of her precognition.
‘See? Even now…’
Despite the countless claws swiping at her from all directions, she didn’t set up a proper stance to block them all. She could have seen it coming if she just turned her head for a second.
To counter, Sihyeon swung her hammer wider than usual, her right hand pressed close to her body as the hammer arced behind her.
Clang—
She managed to block the claws in front of her but wasn’t prepared for what came next. Another monster followed up with an attack. She didn’t have time to free her arm and ready her weapon for another swing.
She would have swung again immediately, but that would have greatly diminished the power in her blow.
It was a critical mistake.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - goguma
Proofreader - ilafy
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Fighting was all about anticipating the next move, and that mistake was the result of someone relying solely on precognition without thinking ahead.
That wasn’t how you used precognition… You were supposed to plan a few steps ahead, decide on a course of action, and adjust when the future became uncertain.
The mistakes were happening precisely because she was trying to compensate for her lack of experience with precognition.
I wondered if it was time to intervene…
“Watch out, Sihyeon!”
A pink light sliced through the battlefield. The arrow struck the monster's joint perfectly, giving Sihyeon a brief opening.
In that split second, she quickly adjusted her stance, readying for another attack.
Woosh—
She swung her hammer cleanly, her posture nearly identical to mine. Planting her foot forward for balance, she swung with all her strength, as if she didn’t care if her arm might pop out of its socket.
It was an attack that combined all of her power and weight into one swing.
Crush—
The monster's head vanished, sounding like someone had crushed a melon.
She wasn’t strong enough to cause an explosion of flesh like I could, but it was more than enough to ensure the monster died.
‘Not bad at all.’
“Good job!”
“Let’s keep going!”
Even though they had only killed one monster, their expressions brightened. There was no competition for credit or arguing over who performed better—they just encouraged each other.
They had better chemistry than I thought. Sihyeon, despite her strength, made frequent mistakes due to inexperience. Abin, though weak, knew exactly when and where to strike.
What caught my attention most was Abin's growth. She had always been talented, capable of predicting my attacks and dodging them, but her flaw had made everything pointless.
No matter how precisely she could exploit an enemy’s openings, it didn’t matter if she couldn’t even pierce their flesh. Even if she aimed perfectly for vital spots, her opponent always saw it coming.
While her enemy made dozens of moves, she struggled to execute a single one in time—these were flaws that talent and effort alone couldn’t overcome.
With those basic weaknesses gone, her true potential was starting to shine. She could tear through skin, react faster, and keep up with her enemies.
With that, she dominated the battlefield.
‘Sihyeon might not be the only gem, Abin could be one too.’
I was reminded of Meteor. A sniper from the Soviet Union, he always provided support exactly when you needed it most.
He was a morphing ranger, only capable of summoning a sniper rifle and his suit, with all of his abilities relying on his bullets. The sole reason he earned an A-Rank was because of his battle IQ.
‘Abin might follow a similar path if I train her well. Perhaps… she could even surpass him?’
A healing ability, even when weak, was always useful. Since her arrows were created through her mana, the potential for variety was much greater than his, depending on how she trained.
The monsters fell rapidly, as if offering a glimpse of that future.
Trusting in Abin, Sihyeon shifted her combat style, using one powerful technique after another. Meanwhile, Abin focused solely on supporting her, chipping away at enemies from a distance.
She finished off the monsters Sihyeon missed, fired brief flashes of light to distract and turn their attention, and did it all while maintaining perfect positioning.
When Sihyeon didn’t need direct assistance, Abin targeted their limbs, crippling their mobility.
Sihyeon tore through the battlefield like a storm, but anyone with combat knowledge would clearly see the one who created the storm wasn’t the magical girl wielding the hammer but the teary-eyed girl with the bow.
With each passing second, the storm intensified.
As their trust in each other deepened, their tactics evolved. Instead of cautiously controlling the hallway and fighting the monsters one by one, Sihyeon—the stronger of the two—moved forward, swinging her hammer in wide arcs.
It was a risky strategy, but after watching her, I had to reconsider.
It was a perfect wall…
Sihyeon, blessed with incredible physical strength, formed an impenetrable barrier with her hammer. No enemy could get through without being reduced to a corpse.
“Sihyeon, don’t go too far forward—”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let a single one through! Keep firing, trust me!” Sihyeon had made a decision, but it wasn’t the wrong one. Even if her eye for detail was lacking, her battlefield awareness was surprisingly sharp.
I had to reassess my view of Sihyeon—she wasn’t just a reckless boar, charging in with blind faith in her strength. Rather, she was a vanguard who understood her limits.
She still had some boar-like tendencies, pushing into dangerous territory, but that was likely because she trusted Abin as her comrade.
“What a shame.” They would have been perfect if they could better combine their abilities and split the burden evenly.
Sihyeon was the ideal charging type hero, knowing when to take initiative and wielding overwhelming physical strength; Abin, on the other hand, prioritized safety. Though physically weak, her battle IQ was exceptional.
At first, I was concerned that I wouldn’t learn anything valuable from the way they fought, but… I ended up learning far more than I expected.
I understood their talents, personalities, and determinations, which seemed almost contradictory to their appearances.
One was a beast hiding her intelligence; the other, a theorist disguised as a weakling.
I realized I had to rewrite the curriculum I had set for them. I’d misjudged them based on their appearances.
Sihyeon needed training for her heart. I had to spar with her frequently to sharpen her combat sense and teach her new ways to use her abilities in various situations.
For Abin, I needed to focus on improving her decision-making, pushing her to take more risks, and teaching her as many tactics as possible.
Thinking about it, I found Abin’s abilities slightly lacking.
“She would make a perfect commander if she had a mental manipulation ability.” With such a skill, she could have instantly relayed commands and shared emotions with those under her command.
I thought of the Infinite Castellan, but Abin’s path was different.
‘She should lead smaller units, perfect for small to medium-sized teams.’
I didn't know much about large-scale strategies, but I could definitely teach her about small-scale tactics, and… I could also teach her theoretical countermeasures on fighting the Otherworld, here and there.
I reorganized their curriculum in my mind, and the monsters dwindled.
The dozens of monsters had been reduced to an amount I could count on my fingers, and even those were being picked off by Sihyeon’s hammer.
“Last one!” Sihyeon swung her hammer.
The massive wolf, with tentacles writhing from its body, tried to dodge, but…
Fft. Fft—
Two arrows pierced its front legs.
Crush—
In the same moment, Sihyeon smashed its head. The last monster was down.
“We’re done, Master!”
“We survived…”
They immediately let their guard down once the fight ended. One of my students waved at me from the ceiling, while the other collapsed onto the floor.
‘How sloppy.’
I drew my hammer, swinging it down as I dropped.
“What?” Sihyeon started scrambling away when she saw me swinging toward her.
“Hold still.” I brought the hammer down fully.
Crush—
I destroyed the stomach of the monster next to Sihyeon.
“Grar!” The wolf-like creature, which had been waiting for an opening, let out a final cry as it stopped moving.
“There are monsters whose weaknesses aren’t their heads.” I tapped on the dead wolf with my hammer to show them the hole in its body.
My students caught sight of something strange—a white object inside the pierced stomach. It was a skull, completely out of place, and the pink brain it had been protecting was turned to mush.
“In this case, it had multiple brains. Always double-check their vitals.”
“Okay!”
“Okay…”
At least they were good at responding. Hearing their weak replies, I scanned the surroundings once more.
Monsters felled by arrows, others with their skulls crushed—dozens of B-Rank and C-Rank creatures littered the area.
While Sihyeon was an A-Rank, it was purely due to her potential. I hadn’t expected her to defeat all those monsters.
It was the result of both Sihyeon and Abin playing their roles flawlessly.
Most half-baked heroes wouldn’t have been able to do what they did, even if they had the same powers.
They deserved praise.
I dismissed my hammer and gave them both a pat on the shoulder. “Good work. Honestly, I thought you’d only be able to handle half of them and then end up begging for help.”
While I’d need to give them a proper scolding later after analyzing the fight, for the moment, they deserved to be complimented.
‘Good job, you two.’
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