Transformation or Death

Chapter 63

The Tail of the Villain (1)

Cho Ah-yoon did her best to take it easy. 

She decided not to consume her mind and emotions more than necessary on the various complicated matters from yesterday.

Of course, she failed.

“…Why isn’t he contacting me?”

She gazed endlessly into her phone. Even when the sun reached the center of the sky, there were no signs of him contacting her. She had definitely given him her contact information, or had he lost it?

Or had he encountered some kind of change that made him unable to contact her?

The suicide consultation, memory loss, the villain of the Big Dipper, and the words he left behind. There was nothing that didn’t make her anxious. Each one made her tired and drained her of energy. 

She lay still on the hotel bed, trying not to think about anything. She didn’t want to go home. She disliked the thought of Han Jae-jung’s traces being left there. It seemed like she would unnecessarily fall into regret.

I should have asked more. I should have probed deeper. I should have just told him to stay home. Little regrets like these.

Besides, she didn’t really like her home that much anyway.

Cho Ah-yoon would often rent a hotel room like this.

Whenever there was a tiring matter, or it seemed like things would get tiring, she would do this. 

An unfamiliar, personal place is nice.

Because she can have truly alone time without any disturbing presences.

By now, there must be an uproar on the internet. It seems a video was taken of her swearing while evacuating people yesterday. 

They’ll probably bring up the issue of her attitude again, saying things like Is this how a hero should act?

It’s something Pink Deneb has become extremely familiar with.

With a miserable win rate and consistently unruly attitude, it’s hard for good public opinion to be formed.

For some people, that unruly attitude seems like resistance against society, giving her a ‘sida’ (badass) sensibility, but Cho Ah-yoon had no such intention.

‘Boldness stemming from a small stature?’ Who are they kidding?

It’s said that celebrities with many anti-fans have stronger internal unity among their fans. Pink Deneb’s fans were the same.

In a past interview where she mentioned having dreamed of becoming a singer when she was young, that was distorted, and Pink Deneb became seen as a ‘wonderful girl who suppressed her dream of being a singer but didn’t give up being a magical girl’.

In fact, the Magical Girl Association pushed image marketing using this, and even released an album. It was an exciting rock music album.

It was absurd. The kind of songs Pink Deneb liked were calm, indie-style ones. 

She just had rock posters up at home because they looked cool, but she didn’t particularly like rock music.

Having many piercings, heavy makeup, rude speech, unrestrained behavior and demeanor, and being hip, these kinds of images were just a kind of defense mechanism.

If she was going to be looked down on no matter what she did, if she was going to be disliked no matter what, then she would provide the reasons for that dislike herself with her twisted mindset. At least if she put on these strong images, it would be better to some degree.

Not her original self, but a recreation of an ideal.

It was closer to a recreation of an aspiration of who she wanted to be.

She disliked being insulted at random, but also disliked being praised at random.  

She just wanted to live without any attention.

Cho Ah-yoon threw her phone onto the bed and tried to cut off the various temptations. Worries and concerns would do no good. Especially since they wouldn’t be resolved. She pursued peace of mind.

Naturally, she failed. She blankly stared at the ceiling.

The turned-off luxury lighting faintly glowed as it received the sunlight.

Anyway, she had half given up on checking public opinion on the internet after Blue Sirius’s dating scandal. In fact, she didn’t often look at the internet. At most, she would watch a few cute animal videos.

Suddenly, she recalled the words Virgo had said to her yesterday.

‘To force this matter…’

She let out a muffled laugh.

‘Of course she’s saying something obvious. It wouldn’t be strange to dig into this right away, and who would want a job where they just get insulted no matter what they do. Only crazy bitches would want that…’

Realizing there were quite a few crazy bitches, Cho Ah-yoon turned over and buried her face in the pillow.

“What’s so good about this kind of thing…”

Cho Ah-yoon sincerely couldn’t understand.

While reading news articles every year about our retirements or deaths, knowing that all those ages are young people, why would anyone want to become a magical girl?

Why would they enroll in a magical girl academy with the slim hope, despite knowing it’s a scam?

Why do they admire us? Envy us?

What’s so good about helping people while withering away?

Bzzzz.

Her phone vibrated. As usual, she was going to ignore it, but then she remembered giving Han Jae-jung her number yesterday, so she quickly sat up and looked at her phone screen.

It was a text from an unknown number. Normally, she would have thought it was a malicious fan who got her number, but today was different.

In the very first line of the text was an unforgettable name in four letters – Han Jae-jung.

Cho Ah-yoon raised the corners of her mouth and let out a husky laugh.

“Why did you contact me so late…”

The text was written in a surprisingly polite style.

But despite the flowery language, the content was nothing special.

It was a drawn-out string of common expressions like, I was glad to have an in-depth conversation after so long. I’m sorry I couldn’t show my face for a while. Let’s meet again next time.

“This guy really…!”

The raised corners of her mouth had already drooped down. There was none of the content she wanted. Whether it was about his memory loss, the connection to the villain and its cause and effect, or at least setting a specific time to meet again, or even just calling her.

Feeling annoyed, she threw her phone back onto the bed.

Once again, the villain’s words came to mind, causing her head to become confused.

“That crazy Dick Fucker… That damn philosopher speaking in riddles… Is Han Jae-jung not here? Is saving me the goal? What the hell kind of nonsense is that!! Ah fuck, can’t you speak properly, why?!”

Whap whap! She hit the blanket to vent her frustration.  

With so little known, it was difficult to make guesses recklessly.

Not just difficult, but frightening.

If he really was the villain, what should she do? Even if he wasn’t the villain, the fact that he was deeply involved was true, so what if that involvement was helping the villain’s activities? Should she punish him?

Ignorance is frightening.

Sometimes, knowing is even more frightening than ignorance.

She wanted to approach to satisfy her curiosity and intellectual desire, but she was afraid of what result might lie beyond that truth.

Then her phone vibrated again. Not a short vibration, but a continuous one. It was a signal that a call was coming in.

Cho Ah-yoon quickly reached for her phone and brought it to her ear.  

“Ah, you finally felt like contacting me?”

“Ah-yoon…ah?”

“Eehh?! Senior….”

It was not Han Jae-jung, but Yoon Seol-hwa. She even had the curse words ready in the back of her mind. She felt a chill down her spine thinking she almost committed a huge discourtesy.

She was already hiding something from her. A part of her heart felt weighed down with guilt for no reason.

“Ah, no, the words I just said weren’t meant for you, senior….”

“Aha, you thought it was a prank call? It’s okay. It’s me, Yoon Seol-hwa.”

“Yes, yes…?”

“You’ve been getting a lot of prank calls lately, right? From someone, whether a fan or an anti, you can’t tell… I thought they had decreased recently, but it seems they’ve started again?”

Yoon Seol-hwa asked with a concerned tone. Her attitude pricked Cho Ah-yoon’s conscience even more.

“Maybe it’s time you changed your number…?”

It was something she often heard. As a magical girl, it wasn’t uncommon for her phone number to be found out by fans and such.

However, Cho Ah-yoon hadn’t changed her number despite being troubled by such malicious calls for years. Just in case he would contact her one day. It was all because of this kind of hope she clung to.

“Ah… I’m sorry! I didn’t call to say things like that… It’s not that, are you free tonight, Deneb?”

“Of, of course! Why, is something the matter?”

“No, nothing much… I just thought we could get together for drinks after a long time.”

“Drinks won’t work.”

She flatly refused.

“Why, whyyy! It’s fine, isn’t it? I haven’t had a sip since the last time I drank, you know that right? Just one glass! Huh? It’s been a while since we drank together!”

Cho Ah-yoon could picture Yoon Seol-hwa’s sullen expression on the other end of the call. She relaxed and chuckled. No matter what she was hiding, she felt at ease in front of this person.

“Alright. Just one glass! Okay?”

“Yes! I trust you, senior!”

***

Ippotranslation

***

“One glass is bullsh*t…”

“Han Jae-jung… I’m sorry… Come back… No… You don’t have to come back… Hic! Just be happy…”

Cho Ah-yoon walked while supporting the much larger woman. 

It was of course Blue Sirius, Yoon Seol-hwa.

It was difficult for her petite frame, barely reaching 150cm, to carry someone over 170cm tall.

“Hey senior… Hey senior! Get a hold of yourself!”

“Uhh… Ah-yoon… I’m so grateful to have you… Thank you…”

Yoon Seol-hwa clung to her small body, embracing her, conveying her sorrow mixed with alcohol and gratitude over and over.

“…What’s there to be grateful for. I’m the one who should be grateful. No, not now. Walk on your own, dammit! Is this how you act, senior?!”

Cho Ah-yoon responded indifferently. To her, those words of gratitude always sounded awkward.

She recalled the past. 

When she was even younger, smaller than she is now, the times she was bullied for being petite.

The times she was ostracized for trivial reasons, the people who saved her.

“That the great heroes of our nation have to rely on an alcoholic, what a world we live in… A society that leans on an addict for everything, the darkness runs deep. Isn’t that right, senior?”

“Nooo… Alcoholic, hic! No… Ah-yoon is cute but her words aren’t…”

“Well, at least you know you’re the one being talked about. You’re still not fully conscious, are you?”

The one leaning on her shoulder now, and the one weighing on her heart.

The heroic acts of Pink Deneb were just imitations of them back then. Cho Ah-yoon could assert that much.

She hated doing such things, but thinking there may be others shaking in fear like she once did, she could only grit her teeth and take action.

Cho Ah-yoon sat Yoon Seol-hwa down for a moment and took out her phone to call a taxi. There were a few cursing texts and missed calls, but she blocked them all. She had already registered Han Jae-jung’s number.

“Ah-yoon… Don’t you… hate me…? Everything got ruined because of me…”

Yoon Seol-hwa was still drunk and rambling. Severely self-deprecating. She had been like this ever since Han Jae-jung disappeared. Perhaps this drunken state simply revealed her true self, which she usually suppressed.

Sighing, Cho Ah-yoon picked up the phone. She didn’t bother responding to those words. In her mind, she had already determined that she alone was the sinner. No matter what she said, it wouldn’t be heard.

Her hand manipulating the screen stopped.

-Crunch.

An odd sound, unsuitable for the city, came from nearby. Like an animal growling.

-Crunch.  

-Growwwl.

It wasn’t just one. They resonated from multiple locations simultaneously.  

“Sh*t…!”

It was a pack of villains.

Cho Ah-yoon grabbed her mascot, expecting this night to be considerably long with no proper rest, as well.

The swan-shaped mascot instantly transformed into a ribbon. She swung it in the air and muttered,

“Dress up.”

[Dress up your star!]

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Transform.”

The suspicious person in front of her muttered, mimicking putting on a belt around their waist.  

“Hahaha, of course I can’t. There’s no possibility for me to use this.”

It was the villain Botis at the Shepherd’s position.

“If you want to joke around, do it with the lambs you adore. I’m busy.”

Regaining his ragged breath, he muttered.  

He hadn’t had a moment’s rest to get here. He had slaughtered all the villains that came crashing like waves to arrive at this place.

Watcher’s body was covered in blood, filth, and scratches.

“Oh, of course not.”

The villain at the Shepherd’s position chuckled as he stood up from his spot. He swung the belt he had around his waist and approached Watcher.

“I told you before, I’ll give you this. But there’s a condition! You have to answer one quiz I give! And that is…”

“The magical girl Green Arcturus.”  

Watcher reached out his hand.

“Quickly hand over the belt and recite all the information you know.”  

He seemed quite urgent.

“What have I done here?”.

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Anyways… Happy Reading!!!

/ippostranslations

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