Transformation or Death

Chapter 176

Holy Power (6)

The Archer recalled the past.

When his armor had not yet rusted.

“Why, why are you with the villain?!”

“Ah~ What a misunderstanding~ Don’t be too scared, just listen. This one…”

“Are you crazy!”

The appearance of that little girl shouting angrily.

“Keeping an enemy on the same side! I, I didn’t know you were such a person. I’ll cancel my request to learn. I’m sorry. I’ll be going now.”

“Hey, wait a moment! There’s a misunderstanding!”

“This child is human! The name is Kim….”

The name isn’t remembered. He only knows it’s Kim.

“…Kimu?”

“That’s right! Most people living in Korea have the surname Kim! If you don’t know, just call them Kim. Who else would give such a sweet tip? Now, first lesson!”

“I said I’m done with lessons! Wait, human?”

When the little girl asked again, he nodded.

“Yes.”

“Did you say something?!”

At this time, meeting a high-level villain was not so common. Come to think of it, it’s still the same now.

Just a year ago, most magical girls in Korea hadn’t met high-level villains. They were planning in the shadows, repeatedly engaging in secret struggles to get the first opportunity.

The Dilemma organization was more like a marketplace than a place for cooperation. If a villain helps another villain, they thoroughly collect payment. It’s no different from a street market where labor is used instead of money.

And after receiving payment, they become complete strangers.

In reality, most are not helping each other at all, but are instead ready to backstab and steal the stage the other has prepared.

Perhaps because of this, there was a trend for a while of not wanting to set up any stages at all. Whether due to the different time perception of villains and humans, that period was quite long for humans.

Thinking about it now, this might be one of the reasons he had been leisurely living as a mercenary.

A few years seem short. No matter how old he gets, he doesn’t age and feels no discomfort. Nothing seemed urgent.

“T-This is definitely an S-class villain….”

“No! I’m telling you, it’s human!”

“Then how will you prove it? Can a villain suddenly become human?”

“Uh… Right.”

But now it’s different.

“T-Then please prove it!”

“So… Well… Originally, that’s how it was supposed to be.”

“…What?”

He was different back then too.

“Unable to return to human form.”

He was always impatient.

***

Ippotranslation 

***

“So in the past, after transforming into a villain, you couldn’t return to human form?”

“Yes. More precisely, it’s limited to ordinary people who are not magical girls.”

“What a crazy thing to make….”

Sky Polaris. She was a woman beyond imagination.

Would Red Vega still admire her like before if she knew this? Such a question arose.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. It was an accident.”

“Not intentional?”

“Yes.”

Magenta Helios drank her umpteenth cup of coffee and spoke.

“Originally, Kimu accidentally touched the belt that was still in the experimental stage. Unfortunately, he had the aptitude, and because of that, the transformation system was activated.”

“So Sky Polaris had no intention…”

“Something like that.”

“Anyway, you’ve heard this story too, Helios. There’s a possibility of deception….”

“Believe what you want. I’m just relaying what I heard from Kimu and the senior.”

Hmm. Han Jae-jung groaned. His feelings about the transformation system were not good, and he couldn’t have good feelings towards its developer.

The first magical girl and whatever else, her dislike was stronger than any sense of duty or role.

But fabrication and prejudice are not good.

“After all, most technologies begin with good intentions and convenience….”

Dynamite was originally a construction tool, not a weapon of war, and communism was meant for all people, not to feed the upper class.

Sky Polaris might have had technology flow differently from her original intention.

“Does this mean ‘not now’?”

“This isn’t such a good technology.”

Thanks to that, I became terminally ill. I deliberately swallowed these last words. There’s no point in explaining further.

‘Of course, I did receive quite a lot of benefits.’

If this hadn’t existed, I would have either become a cold corpse pursuing self-realization and dreams, or become a villain and gone to the afterlife.

“Co-, Would you like another coffee…?”

Joo Ah-yoon, who caught the latter part of Han Jae-jung’s words, uncomfortably stood up from her seat.

“If honorifics feel awkward, you can speak informally.”

“Oh, really? Then I’m grateful.”

Because of her appearance, honorific speech felt awkward, so she was thankful he said that. Joo Ah-yoon went back to the counter and poured coffee.

While enjoying the fragrance and the sound of water streaming, Han Jae-jung asked,

“How many cups is this now?”

“7th cup. It’s not like I’ve had that many.”

“If you keep drinking like that, you won’t grow tall.”

“Shut up.”

“You weren’t supposed to talk about my height!”

“I wasn’t talking to you, why are you getting mad at me….”

How unfair.

“Do you even know how much caffeine intake I’ve been controlled by with that excuse? For modern people, removing caffeine is like blocking oxygen. People can endure about three days.”

“Oh, you’re something else.”

“Since I’ve come abroad, I’m going to drink without caring what others think. So don’t say anything.”

“But still, excessive caffeine intake is kind of….”

“I’ll pay three times per cup.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

I wonder if she’ll come every day. Han Jae-jung suddenly smiled at the unexpected pocket money.

But only for a moment. As the coffee rose to the table again, a solemn atmosphere arrived once more.

“It’s quite strange.”

“What is?”

“The guy who was a villain just yesterday is now sitting in front of me like a person.”

“I was never a villain. I was always human.”

Who knows about the future, Han Jae-jung swallowed his words again.

Instead of saying unnecessary things, he thought about the Sagittarius villain.

‘Listen, Kim. How did you end up like that.’

He, who died from overusing transformation and became a villain. Perhaps he could be Han Jae-jung’s future.

The surname Kim somehow felt strangely familiar.

Is this why names are important? Han Jae-jung chuckled.

But what was his name?

The surname is evidence of originating from this land, indicating his blood has inherited something and had connections with someone.

But names are different. Something unique. Not meant to be continued, but to distinguish. In this Chinese character cultural sphere, each name contains a unique meaning. This meaning was the only mark that distinguished him among numerous people with the same name.

What meaning was contained in that name? What kind of life did the person who named him hope he would live?

Han Jae-jung suddenly became curious.

‘I’ll probably find out and be told about it later.’

That’s not the important thing.

“So, Helios. Can you tell me?”

“Choose either honorifics or informal speech… Yes, what is it?”

“Why was this transformation system created?”

The past figure named Helios is right in front of him. Moreover, a precious person who knows about Sky Polaris’s lifetime.

He must obtain as much information as possible.

Knowledge leads to understanding. If he could understand the transformation system more deeply, he might someday escape its constraints and completely control this power.

[What a big dream.]

‘Shut up.’

The information-controlled guy should stay quiet.

Han Jae-jung waited for Helios to speak. Joo Ah-yoon was the same.

Why did this system provide a blessing to her while giving him restraint and punishment? His desire to help the terminally ill person transformed into curiosity.

A moment of silence. Helios moistened her lips with coffee and exhaled with her voice.

“I’ve only heard stories, so I don’t know the details. Keep that in mind while listening.”

That’s enough. Han Jae-jung smiled slightly.

“The original purpose was to be a magical girl enhancement item. They say it was meant to hold just one star to confront villains with multiple stars. However, when one of her colleagues retired due to an accident, they midway modified the plan and added functions.”

“A second chance for a retired magical girl….”

Joo Ah-yoon murmured. She was, after all, a beneficiary of the technology mentioned.

“That’s right. Even if they lost their power and health as a black dwarf star, it would restore them and give them even stronger power. That was its original function. An object to give hope to all magical girls, or those who were once magical girls, to move forward.”

This was something they had already anticipated. The belt was originally meant for magical girls. With remarkably few side effects and the ability to use magic even as a villain, it was overwhelmingly advantageous for magical girls.

“Originally… That was the case.”

The problem was with ordinary people. The fact that it was possible for men, not just women. If the belt was only meant for magical girls, then Han Jae-jung and the Sagittarius were clearly anomalies.

“While creating this object, my senior had a doubt. ‘Why can only we fight?'”

“….”

“Isn’t a sense of justice present in both men and women? She said she once saw an uncle who died fighting villains to protect children. She saw a brother of a younger sister who delayed time to protect his still young sibling and died. She saw an elderly person. She said she had seen the deaths of numerous young people.”

The world is unfair. This obvious fact had become even more severe since villains appeared.

Magical girls have the unique characteristic of only being girls. This uniqueness was enough to ignore everyone else.

Recent gender ratios demonstrate this. The birth rate of male children has decreased to an excessive degree, causing significant gender imbalance. There are even cases of parents lamenting why their daughters can’t become magical girls.

Magical girls were a blessing. However, heroes limited to only certain people were close to a curse when viewed from a societal perspective.

“Of course, I’ve seen similar things, and probably that person over there has too.”

But the true culprit behind all this was not human malice, but the villains. They, who provided a society that needed heroes, had caused this terrible situation.

Therefore, villains must be eradicated. Han Jae-jung once again burned with murderous intent towards villains.

Instead, Joo Ah-yoon secretly looked at Han Jae-jung. A madman and a good person who would charge at villains even without transformation.

“So, everyone should have the opportunity to fight. A sense of justice is not limited to just girls. This was my senior’s logic. That’s why the plan was modified again. This time, as a power for everyone.”

This was the full story of how Han Jae-jung came to use the belt.

“Well, that’s the background explanation.”

There was no particular great impression. Only the impression of a rather unique and capable person remained. He still didn’t know why ordinary people couldn’t use magic.

“Next… Yes, a detailed technical explanation would be appropriate.”

Helios moistened her mouth with coffee and began speaking again.

“That ball you all carry around. That iron ball is merely a passageway. It’s a device to mediate and contract with stars. Hmm… Where have I heard something like this before?”

Joo Ah-yoon glanced at her iron ball.

“…Mascot.”

A magical girl’s mascot. A passageway connecting stars and humans.

“That’s right. A mascot. But my senior called it something else. ‘Spirit’.”

“What’s the origin?”

“Hm? I don’t know. Knowing that senior’s personality, she probably just thought it sounded cool.”

Indeed, quite unique. Han Jae-jung thought once more.

“Anyway, that iron ball is something that connects you and stars – a pseudo-spirit. In other words, an artificial spirit.”

“How did they make something like that?”

“I don’t know. I’m not the senior, am I?”

Helios shrugged her shoulders.

“Do you know why you become villains when transforming?”

“Oh, that. I asked about it too.”

When Joo Ah-yoon asked, Helios nodded expressionlessly.

“Didn’t I say earlier? That artificial spirit is an object for magical girls. But magical girls have already accepted one star into their body, right? So, another body is needed.”

“And the most suitable body for accepting a star is a villain’s body….”

“Yes. Correct. You understand quite quickly? Transformation requires an artificial spirit to contract with an artificial body. And that form became the most efficient villain.”

This was the reason why both magical girls and ordinary people ended up looking like villains.

Doubts were being resolved one by one.

But instead of the pleasure of understanding something, an unpleasant feeling persisted. Because they still didn’t know the most important fact.

“Well… Do you know about the side effects of transformation?”

“…Side effects? There are such things? Oh… Are you talking about not being able to revert? But that doesn’t apply to you guys. I wonder if anyone else is using the transformation….”

“No, there’s nothing like that.”

As expected. I learned from her boasting about the technology (her expression was blank, but her nose was subtly raised). She doesn’t know about the misfortunes this technology causes.

Perhaps rather than thinking Sky Polaris deliberately concealed it….

‘It seems more realistic that Polaris herself didn’t know at the time.’

That’s why Botis is particularly looking out for himself and the Archer. Since he didn’t know, this is probably manifestation of his guilt.

“What’s with this uncomfortable feeling? Well, never mind. Do you have no more questions?”

“Oh, I have one.”

Joo Ah-yoon raised her hand hesitantly.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Well, this might seem a bit random… but I’m still curious….”

“Oh, just spit it out.”

Helios slightly furrowed his brow. Joo Ah-yoon, having finished her insurance work, asked confidently:

“What was that person’s dream?”

“Dream?”

“Yes. What was the purpose of creating this belt… No, even artificial spirits?”

“I already said that….”

“That was the purpose of making the belt. This is just a means. A means to give others an opportunity to struggle. Wouldn’t it be normal to think there was a dream they wanted to achieve while giving this opportunity to others?”

She, who admired the dreamer and vowed to protect the dream, it was natural to feel curious about the dream of someone she had only heard about.

She was like a butterfly drawn to dreams.

“That… Well, sorry. I need to think about it a bit.”

“Take your time.”

“I’m not okay. Yes… A dream? A dream… Oh, I think you mentioned it subtly before.”

Helios indicated her realization by hitting her palm with her fist. She’s really using that gesture, Han Jae-jung thought, admiring something else.

“World peace.”

But that admiration was quickly erased by the following words.

“…What?”

Contrary to world destruction, in fact, an even more absurd dream. A dream-like statement. A goal that would be impossible if it weren’t just a dream, something that could only remain a dream.

“I mentioned it subtly before. You guys will contribute to world peace~ Oh, I got a message.”

Helios looked at the sparkling jewel near her chest and stood up.

“I’ll be going now.”

“You said you could skip the meeting.”

“If it’s not a meeting, I can’t skip it.”

A roundabout response. But its content was easily guessable. She, who was so leisurely that she could skip meetings, must absolutely participate in this task.

Scorpion extermination.

“See you later.”

Helios waved and disappeared. The goodbye was quite unique. A farewell with the certainty of reuniting soon.

Actually, they will see each other again. Han Jae-jung swallowed a bitter smile.

The radio message to Archer and Jason came shortly after Helios left.

“Damn it!”

The Archer swore as he drew his bow.

“Why am I in the rear!”

Unlike before, he was assigned the role of constraining enemies with sniping from the rear. Naturally, he protested and spat out harsh words.

But for the two men who had already gotten used to his swearing, and the woman who was equally fond of using profanity, it was no great threat.

Instead, the threat was turned against him.

‘If you don’t do it properly, I’ll teleport your skull with a Scorpion tail.’

Joo Ah-yoon’s threat. With the real possibility of it happening, the Archer had to remain in the rear, gritting his teeth.

“Daaaamn, I’ll accidentally hit that bitch!”

Of course, he had no time for such nonsense. The enemies’ sniping was also quite fierce. He shot down flying bullets and arrows, suppressed Silver Luna’s divine power, and took out those interfering with Watcher killing the Scorpion.

Doing these four things simultaneously was quite overwhelming. Without these eyes that could comprehensively grasp the situation, it would have probably been impossible.

He drew his bow tirelessly. Not stopping for a single moment.

Thanks to this, even though Silver Luna had been constraining Watcher from the beginning, the battle unfolded similarly to before.

Which was good.

Watcher fought the Scorpion, Jason made dangerous attacks ineffective, and Odette brilliantly used Butterfly, showing three-dimensional movement without distinguishing between herself and her allies.

Finally, Watcher drove the Scorpion to near-death. Cutting its tail and performing a jump kick like before. A large gap formed above the Scorpion’s forehead.

Just like before, inserting the tail into that gap would end it.

The difference from before was that Silver Luna’s offensive had become even more fierce.

Silver Luna interfered with Watcher preparing the final blow. The tail in his hand lost balance and fell. The final strike failed. The Scorpion was trying to rise again.

Another difference from before,

“As expected, we can’t do this without this supreme one!”

The Archer was doing sniping according to his role.

He released the bowstring. The direction was not suppression, but a decisive blow. The weakness of the Scorpion created by Watcher. For someone who could hit a falling leaf from a thousand li away, inserting an arrow into such a large gap was not particularly difficult.

Thus, the Archer’s arrow pierced the Scorpion.

It was the final blow.

“Ah, taking the kill shot isn’t romantic. Ah, no! Hahaha, this is revenge! How dare you confine me to the rear? The Scorpion you fought hard, I’ll take it. I’ll tease you later big time… Huh?”

As the Scorpion’s breath was cut off, a brilliant explosion occurred from its corpse. The moment he etched the end with his eyes.

“Oh fuck, what is this….”

Pain filled his entire body.

Starlight entered his body.

[Star ■■■ed ■■■. ■■ regeneration ■■■.]

A noisy voice rang out from the damaged belt.

The Archer’s consciousness drifted far away.

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