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I coughed and spat out some strange liquid, my eyes meeting Pang-pang’s.

Pang-pang’s eyes widened. I could see my reflection in her pupils.

Right now, she’s laughing, but not long ago, I had abandoned her. Even if Pang-pang tried to explain something—

There was no excuse for not having time. All it would have taken was a single word: “It’s okay.”

That could have been the last time.

If it weren’t for Pang-pang’s life but just her mind, or if something was merely hidden within her body, then in that moment, Pang-pang would have died. By the Chairman’s doing.

“Ji-eun.”

Pang-pang looked at me, a hint of fear in her voice.

It was a distinctly different atmosphere from what she usually showed me.

“…”

“Ji-eun, I’m sorry.”

Is that the thing you say after almost dying and coming back to life?

I hate myself for feeling relieved after hearing that.

What if she starts blaming me the moment she wakes up?

What if she says she regrets having come back to life? I had thoughts like that.

But actually, the first thing Pang-pang said when she saw me was just that. Simply an apology.

“…No.”

I gently touched Pang-pang’s face as I spoke.

“I’m the one who’s sorry. It should have been easy for me to understand if I had just tried a little.”

“…”

Pang-pang’s eyes widened.

And soon tears rolled down her big eyes.

She was the kind of child who, even while living in a moldy, half underground space, never lost her joy despite being beaten down.

Even while running away from the immense forces chasing her, she held onto her dreams, never allowing the mocking words of others to shatter them.

That girl was crying because of me.

What should I do?

How can I make it up to her?

I didn’t know. Somehow I felt that Pang-pang would say she didn’t need compensation.

I looked at her for a moment and slowly leaned toward her.

And gently pressed my lips to her forehead.

“…Huh.”

Pang-pang’s mumbling abruptly stopped.

It seemed she not only stopped talking but even held her breath for a moment.

“…”

Then I silently stood up.

When I turned around, the Magical Girls had gathered.

They all wore expressions that seemed to say they didn’t know what to say.

Having fallen into the depths of my despair, they didn’t know what to make of the hope I had come to find.

I knew they wouldn’t say something like “That’s great.” Because that’s just how they were. They were always those who lived looking for hope.

I too pondered what to say, finally opening my mouth to utter just one thing.

“I’ll be back.”

“Wait, wait, Ji-eun.”

Pang-pang grasped my arm and forced herself upright.

Fear that couldn’t be concealed was written all over her face.

As if she were worried that I might leave her forever.

“I have to go.”

I told Pang-pang.

“…If I don’t—”

This matter can’t go unresolved—

But before I could finish my sentence, I noticed something strange.

When Pang-pang grabbed my wrist, the circuit moved.

Looking again, the circuit was in a state that was nearly frozen. It was damaged and stuck in various places. Perhaps I was currently maintaining my transformation due to the generator that had absorbed all the energy from that circuit.

Just like when I first used the hammer to split the booster, it had completely changed its properties.

I silently stared at the circuit before releasing the wand I held in my hand. The wand didn’t fall; like a black hole floating in the universe, it just hovered, clinging to the little black sphere at its tip.

With that hand, I loosened the circuit from my wrist.

And placed Pang-pang’s hand on top of it.

…The damaged circuit slowly turned. It wasn’t enough to produce energy, but it reacted to Pang-pang, who wasn’t human.

That could be called a miracle.

“…This is…”

Pang-pang muttered, staring blankly.

“Because I twisted the truth.”

To save Pang-pang, I used an enormous amount of energy. If James were here now, he would surely be yelling about what that energy could do. Though he couldn’t seem to say a word about the events happening right in front of him.

“…You came to save me?”

Pang-pang said, staring at me in shock.

“I wished for it.”

What happened to that enormous amount of energy? I didn’t know. Scientists haven’t even figured out how it applies to the world.

But one thing was clear.

Part of my miracle and hope had now remained inside Pang-pang’s body.

It wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, it would all fade away.

But at least for now.

“…Pang-pang.”

I knew this was crazy. Telling a girl who had been in a glass tube for so long that we should go fight was clearly nonsensical.

But somehow, I felt that I needed to do just that.

I looked up at the sky.

It was starting to turn red. If just a bit more time passed, it would be completely night.

A night when stars shined brightly.

“…Pang-pang, I remember your words.”

“My words?”

“Sometimes, dreaming of the impossible might not be so bad.”

I took Pang-pang’s hand. And I clasped the circuit onto her left wrist.

The broken circuit barely functioned, but—

As I held Pang-pang’s hand with one hand while gripping the wand with the other, it began to rapidly spin again.

I could hear the sound of people holding their breath around us.

I had seen transformations of Magical Girls before.

But never had I seen a non-human become a Magical Girl. Aliens can’t handle circuits—

It was different from when I transformed; it was a dazzling light.

After the light disappeared, standing before me was a girl wearing a deep blue dress. An off-shoulder dress, darker than her own skin color. In some ways, it might be the most elegant design among us.

The blue-skinned girl didn’t understand at all what had just happened.

“…Our personal colors overlap a little. Don’t they?”

I turned to Delphinium. Delphinium shrugged her shoulders, looking utterly dumbfounded.

No one questioned how the girl who had been collapsed just moments ago became a Magical Girl. They were merely surprised that a non-human had transformed.

…The hope of a Magical Girl could be, in a sense, a fantasy.

Well, it can’t be said that these teenagers, engaging in battle with monsters, were sane from the start.

I locked eyes with Ha-yoon. Ha-yoon simply smiled gently.

As if to say she would follow my words.

It was the first time I had seen that expression on Ha-yoon in a long time.

I met Ji-hye’s gaze. Yes, perhaps Pang-pang is similar to Ji-hye. Being suddenly thrown into battle and then just turning into a Magical Girl.

I made eye contact with Jua. Jua looked at me as if she found it a bit ridiculous. Her gaze was not much different from usual.

So did Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium.

“…Huh?”

Pang-pang exclaimed in surprise.

“Pang-pang, didn’t you do the same thing as me?”

“Uh…”

“And you’re the one who didn’t give up until the very end, even without a circuit.”

“…That’s.”

For some reason, Pang-pang’s face turned a bit red.

“That’s because you…”

“Me?”

“…You made me want to fight until the end…”

I chuckled.

“This time, let’s fight together until the end.”

And, gripping Pang-pang’s hand tightly, I said.

“Pang-pang, this is our only chance. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to look like this again, and you might never transform again either.”

Pang-pang looked at me straight in the eyes.

And I could read deeply within her expression.

Pang-pang was definitely happy.

To become something she had only looked up to.

“…Let’s go. Let’s take our revenge.”

“It’s a bit odd for a Magical Girl to say she wants revenge.”

Seeing Pang-pang’s face light up as she said that, I laughed.

Ah, right. Once in a while, fans are more meticulous than the original creators.

“Let’s go.”

Pang-pang nodded.

The Magical Girls, Cherry and James gathered around me. We could hear the sounds of commotion outside the truck, but we all weren’t particularly concerned.

We had one goal.

The last goal as Magical Girls was, of course, to defeat the final boss of that story.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again—

“…What?”

There was an extremely bewildered expression on the ‘final boss’ in front of me.

I liked this kind of final boss.

A boss that fumbles and flails around but ultimately gets their ugly, pathetic beating before disappearing.

“…Finally met you.”

I looked at the red-faced alien and said that.

“Well, we’ll soon part ways again, in more ways than one.”

 

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