Chapter 33
Once again, I emphasize that the stock market in this world’s South Korea is significantly overvalued relative to its size.
There are several reasons for this. However, the most prominent reason is clear: South Korea is considered a relatively safe country from monsters.
Due to the presence of S-rank magical girls like Bing Seol Hwa and an unmatched level of security and magical girl power compared to other nations, the low risk of monster attacks is the reason for the high valuation of South Korea’s stock market.
But what happens when a monster appears that even South Korea’s magical girl forces cannot stop?
This is the result.
[South Korean Stock Market Plummets… ‘Black Knight Shock’ Rises Again]
[Is South Korea Truly a Safe Country?]
[Mirinae’s Magical Girls Suffer a Crushing Defeat. Is There Mismanagement of Magical Girls?]
An S-rank monster appeared boldly in the heart of Seoul. Not only that, but it mocked and effortlessly defeated the magical girls who fought against it.
While there were no civilian casualties, that doesn’t mean the situation improved. The Black Knight only refrained from harming civilians, nothing more.
During the battle between the Black Knight and the magical girls, the city was destroyed. But this is insignificant compared to the real issue: the trust in the magical girl forces was shattered.
A simple defeat wouldn’t have mattered. After all, the Black Knight is an S-rank monster, one that even Bing Seol Hwa couldn’t stop. However, it wasn’t just a defeat. The magical girls from Mirinae showed signs of turning their backs and running away from the monster.
Magical girls running away from monsters. Naturally, trust in magical girls began to plummet.
From Mirinae’s perspective, what was even more frustrating was that these magical girls spouted nonsensical excuses.
They claimed, “It suddenly felt like I would really die if I didn’t run away.” But have monsters up until now ever intended to kill magical girls? Several of them made such absurd claims, leaving Mirinae in an even worse situation.
Sure, that’s possible. It’s an S-rank monster after all. It wouldn’t be surprising if it had some kind of ability to create an oppressive aura.
…But then why didn’t Reina, whom they were targeting, try to run away and instead stood against the Black Knight?
Reina faced the Black Knight in the middle of the city after it had defeated the magical girls. Despite her mental state being vulnerable due to media manipulation, she stood her ground against the Black Knight.
Seeing the girl, the Black Knight instantly disappeared. Reina tried to catch the Black Knight, but it vanished completely before she could. In response, the media quickly changed its tone, claiming “Reina stood up to an S-rank monster once again.”
As a result, things turned out like this. Mirinae, already dealing with the crash in South Korea’s stock market, had to bear particularly heavy losses.
Not only that, but the Reina they were targeting managed to recover her image, making her impossible to recruit. It was no surprise when Reina rejected their recruitment offer, which they had sent before the Black Knight incident.
Thus, the internal situation at Mirinae became as chaotic as the plummeting stock market.
“This is a joke, right? Are you kidding me?! The magical girls we recruited are making a mess, while the one we were aiming for is soaring on her own. What the hell are we supposed to do now?!”
The recruitment department at Mirinae was on the verge of losing its mind. How could the Management Company be so careless in managing the magical girls? How could they lose their target just because the magical girls made a mistake?
As they pondered these thoughts, someone called out to the head of recruitment.
“The Lady requests your presence.”
The head of recruitment’s eyes widened. In Mirinae, there was only one person referred to as the Lady.
“I-I understand.”
The head of recruitment hurried to where the Lady was. At the top of the building, her room came into view.
“W-what did you call me for?”
Despite it being summer, there was an unusual chill in the room. A woman in white stood inside.
“Why don’t we stop messing with Reina at this point?”
“Pardon, excuse me?”
The recruitment manager blinked in confusion at the woman’s words. What was she suddenly talking about?
“I-I’m sorry, Miss. I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Looks like the media manipulation didn’t work anyway. There’s no point in pushing further, don’t you think? Just leave her be. Sure, she’s incredibly talented, but putting all your bets on her is too risky. She’s caught the Black Knight’s obsession, for reasons I can’t figure out.”
The manager’s eyes widened in disbelief. An S-rank monster was fixated on a single magical girl? A B-rank at that?
“Again, I don’t know why, but the important thing is that she’s not as easy prey as you might think. You’re just increasing the risk. Things don’t seem to be going well for you anyway, so it’s best to just give up.”
With that, the recruitment manager bowed his head deeply and hurriedly left the room.
After the door closed and the man disappeared, the ‘young lady’ quietly gazed at the now-empty room, before turning her eyes to the view outside the window. From the top floor, the entire Seoul skyline stretched before her.
With this, the excessive media pressure on Reina would cease, more or less.
…They said she was close to her manager. Apparently, they lived together and shared every moment of their lives.
The young lady saw a reflection of her former self in Reina. Once, she, too, had spent all her time with her manager.
Though, those happy days didn’t last long.
Her resolve to save people was tarnished. Her first moments of happiness were crushed under outside pressure. Now, she was nothing more than a ghost clinging to those blissful memories.
Still, for that person to see her, she had to be the brightest star of all.
Bing Seol Hwa, Korea’s strongest magical girl, blinked and took out her phone. She stared at a single article.
[“Is there no magical girl who can stop the Black Knight?”]
If she was to be the brightest star, she had to do what no one else could.
…
“Wow, this is amazing. All the news is praising Reina’s actions. Not only will this recover the losses, but it might also be an opportunity to increase her recognition.”
I smiled and spoke to the girl in front of me, who was chewing on tteokbokki. It seemed that Mirinae’s media campaign against Su-hui had ultimately failed. Everything was going according to plan.
In a situation where all the magical girls had been defeated by a monster, people were desperate for something positive. They hate seeing nothing but gloomy news, so they always search for a silver lining.
And the media had chosen Reina as that silver lining. After all, she was the only magical girl who stood her ground against the Black Knight, without running away.
It was surprisingly easy to instill fear in the magical girls from Mirinae. All it took was a single display of power, and the B-rank girls fled in terror. Reina, though, didn’t run away when she was just a C-rank, even after experiencing the same aura. Maybe that’s because she’s just different? Who knows.
Of course, there was the minor inconvenience of the Korean stock market crashing, but compared to protecting Reina, that was nothing. I mean, without Reina, it’s not just the country that’s in danger—the whole world is at stake.
…Though, there was something odd. Despite all the media attention shifting in her favor, the person at the center of it didn’t seem all that happy.
“Uh… Aren’t you happy?”
“Huh? Oh, um… It’s not that I’m not happy or anything… It’s just, well, with so many people suffering, is it okay for me to be the only one feeling better? Can I really be happy when I’m the only one getting out of a tough spot?”
Her words made me cover my mouth in astonishment. This is the protagonist, right? Her brilliance was blinding. She was blushing slightly, scratching her cheek awkwardly, but still.
I let out a small laugh and opened my mouth.
“Well, regardless, it’s undeniably good news for you, Su-hui. You’ve got another broadcast appearance lined up. There are two guests, and do you know who the other one is?”
“Who is it?”
As Su-hui asked, I gave her a sly smile.
“Bing Seol Hwa.”
“…What?”
That’s right. The strongest magical girl in Korea, Bing Seol Hwa, would appear alongside Reina as a guest on the broadcast.
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