Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 176. ㅣ•ㅣ급- 『ㅣ″』 (2)

‘I have given up on being human.’

What could that mean? The librarian has already abandoned her body.

Could it be related to the librarian breaking free from this time stop?

Since I couldn’t figure anything out, I waited for the librarian’s response.

The librarian stood quietly, blocking my view with the curator, doing absolutely nothing.

Really, it’s just surprising to be here. From being called a child, to the librarian’s head, and now this incident. Is being surprised like a habit of losing?

Hahaha.

As I laughed in my head, a bitter chuckle was about to escape my lips when cough.

What came out instead of laughter was a light mist of blood.

Thanks to the bloody lump blocking my throat, I coughed, splattering blood everywhere. Was that a signal?

The librarian sharply turned her head and glanced at me.

After observing me for a moment, she turned back to the curator and spoke.

“Yes, curator. You are right. I have given up my proof of being human, my existence as a human. I am a machine.”

The voice flowing from the librarian was filled with rough mechanical sounds and noise.

Originally, her human voice mixed with machinery, but now it surpassed that, with the machinery dominating completely.

Just like the curator on the other side.

“Is that so? There were a few discrepancies, but ultimately we achieved our goal. Now, I hope to hear your impressions of choosing to abandon chaotic electrical disorder and become a flickering electrical finite entity.”

The curator appeared delighted by the librarian’s transformation, shedding the hostility she had shown just moments ago, and spoke with a smile.

That said, her skin was already torn, one eye was crushed, and her body had various damages with interiors visible, making it not look peaceful at all.

…But I shouldn’t be in a position to think like that.

Aren’t I in a similar condition?

My whole body was covered in wounds from the mana explosion that occurred inside, and due to internal bleeding, my skin was dyed purple, with sticky core still dripping from my eyes.

Regardless of my situation, as a supporting character, I endured the pain and watched the main characters of this story.

“Impressions? It’s not as bad as I thought.”

The main character finally spoke up.

Completely different from my expectations.

The content was quite surprising, but honestly, I didn’t even have the energy to be shocked anymore. How many twists has that guy thrown at me, how many incidents did I not know about?

The librarian’s humanity seemed to be the main subject, but honestly, all I could think about was how I was dying from pain.

Surely some words would come next.

“Thoughts that tormented the mind have all disappeared, and the circuits show only clear answers. The simplicity of the passionate machine… The randomness blossoming in the computation process doesn’t even stand out.”

Yeah. Yeah. Now I don’t even know what’s being said.

“Yes, machines are wonderful. Then, you should now understand why I want to change the world that way.”

Seeking agreement, the curator cheerfully raised this point. In response…

“No, I still don’t understand. Curator.”

The librarian took her stance.

Only the hands were dyed black while maintaining the silver armor.

“Even if I became a machine, it was for my friends. If it weren’t for that, I would have remained human.”

The stance the librarian took was that of a fighter.

Not reckless like before, and not swayed by emotions.

With both feet firmly planted on the ground, she maintained her strength. A stable appearance.

“I do not understand. To fully become a machine means the sealed black box hidden in the chip opened, and of course, you should have seen it.”

So, all of this was part of the plan, and the librarian had fully mechanized to see the hidden core?

Was there a need for that?

I don’t know.

“Just maybe. If there is the slightest chance, there’s a possibility that the black box didn’t open due to core error. Then sudo…”

For the curator, the contents of that black box seemed really important.

He spoke rapidly, but his words couldn’t connect completely.

“No, as for the contents of the black box, I saw everything. The moment I gave up being human. Everything.”

“Then, this result wouldn’t have come about. It’s a lie.”

“No, I haven’t lied about anything. SSS# Hero. ‘The One Who Turns Back Time.’”

What the heck is an SSS-rated hero…? There’s no such classification.

“SSS-rated hero? What the… I’m going to die.”

It seemed my dissatisfaction naturally slipped out, perhaps due to the never-ending incomprehensible situation.

“Please hold on a moment. Well, it’s a simpler story than you think.”

If it’s a simple story, please explain it…

Did my yearning reach out?

“The existence before your eyes was a hero, just like us. The only difference was the world they came from.”

The librarian maintained her combat stance while providing this kind explanation.

“What do you mean by another world…? Is that someone from the Otherworld?”

So they are just some bastard…

The Queph was also a great leader who conducted an exodus based on their own species’ standards.

“No, according to the black box explanation, it’s a story about a parallel world. And the being before your eyes was a hero from a similar yet different world.”

Ah, so there are parallel worlds? But why is such a guy causing a ruckus in our world?

…That story was a bit factually incorrect, if the librarian…

“What part is incorrect, Joel?”

Who is Joel again?

“I caught you on the part where you said ‘we.’ I am a librarian from another world. You must already know that I am you.”

Is this story getting more complicated than it has to be?

So, after fighting against the great evil that wants to destroy the world, that evil was actually my own self from another world?

Even the worst B-movie is likely to have a better plot than this.

“Yes, quite surely, you and I started from the same root. However, just because the start is the same, does that make us the same being if our paths have diverged?”

“The past I’ve walked, the records I’ve computed, the regressed experiences all prove this. I am you.”

Regressing, what’s that even supposed to mean?

What are you doing mixing everything together?

“No, you haven’t regressed or anything. You simply invaded a neighboring world where the time axis was misaligned with the help of enemy powers.”

Could his statement stir his emotions?

“Please take that back.”

For the first time, anger was evident in the curator’s voice.

“By the end of the month, are you?”

“To invade.”

Was ‘invade’ his weak spot?

He started to spit out words, rough and unrefined.

“Everything is for the greater good. Repeating, repeating, and further repeating, we become a little stronger. We see a little more into the future. Until someday, we can touch the enemy’s bodies. You, me, our pasts, you must know it well.”

Creeeak. Creeeeak.

With every word he spoke, the sound of rough gears and strange machinery resonated.

Like he was expressing all of himself.

“To achieve that, you mean you traded with the enemy?”

“I only used them. The power I received from them was merely a small catalyst. Right now, I stand with humanity’s technology, completely excluding the Otherworld’s power.”

Gradually, emotions began to appear on his face.

Distorted and twisted.

Transparent liquids seeped from the corners of his eyes, and the skin melted, clinging to his face as if it was fulfilling its role, vividly expressing the curator’s emotions.

“That power, turning others into energy, breaking mortals would never have been allowed to fall into the hands of a human?”

“The worst power became the best option. Humanity must survive by any means possible.”

Creeeak. Creeeak.

Now, his words were filled with mechanical sounds.

Every syllable, every breath, everything echoed with that creaky resonance.

“Well, that’s fine. Then did the others agree? To sacrifice themselves and start again in a similar alternate world?”

They were foolish. That’s why.

It’s an ironic scene.

Though their faces were quite similar, I couldn’t feel that they resembled each other at all, but for the first time, I felt their faces were alike.

The face of the librarian, with the voice of a person, was etched with indifference and numbness.

The curator’s face, spilling the anguish of a machine, bore emotions.

Because they both had abandoned their arguments, they became similar for the first time.

“Humans…”

“Were made into machines.”

“They were turned into machines.”

Their words started to overlap.

“Stealing others’ will and forcibly having them agree to your actions. The method you chose. Trading with the enemy? Fine. Techniques that sacrifice humanity? Fine. But you have crossed the line.”

Whoooosh.

The flames, which once subsided, began to roar back to life from the librarian’s boosters.

“For the greater good, they simply did not notice that. Thus, we had no choice but to make decisions for them. Inside me, thousands, tens of thousands of Joels agreed with this. We have become me.”

Like the rising sound of E-ster, the curator chattered while adjusting his stance.

No, can we call that a stance?

With arms outstretched and every tentacle growing, connecting to the ground in a terrifying form.

“The same goes for this world. Since we have not yet reached it, it is a world that needs reaping. Librarian. Your awakened power is something I lack, making it quite intriguing. However, …”

As the curator spoke, it was as if he had released all limits, and explosive mechanical tentacles began to sprout from every part of his body except for his upper body.

“That power too, within the end of entropy leading to doom, there is no way to surpass me. It’s the first time I have disagreed with you from another world, but this isn’t unexpected. I will forcibly absorb it.”

The burgeoning mechanical tentacles exploding from the curator’s body swelled so rapidly that it felt like a tsunami was about to engulf us.

Beeeeep.

As it reached the librarian, who stood still with a calm face in her stance, it transformed into light particles with a clear sound, as if touching some sacred ground that should not be approached.

“If that terrible mindset is truly your past, as Joel described.”

Woooosh.

Within the depths of the terrifying mechanical device, in the safe space created by the librarian, the librarian who resonated with the sound of boosters spoke.

“I am not Joel.”

The armor once stained black began to transform.

White.

No, pure metal color.

Like the paint peeling away, the color of pure metal was emerging from the librarian’s armor.

“I am a machine that has discarded Joel.”

Thud.

The librarian burst forth, spouting boosters, rushing forward for a short distance.

She pressed her left foot into the ground, propelling her body ahead.

“And I am the hero of this world.”

She extended her right hand wide.

Her stance was so simple that it seemed unworthy for her to use.

A punch.

A strike.

A letter.

Hit.

From countless martial arts, each with a different name, they share one form.

Adjusting her stance, shifting her center of gravity…

= she threw it.

In other words, a simple punch.

That simple punch, fueled by the booster speed, reached the sea of tentacles.

At the same time, the librarian made her final statement.

“I am the librarian.”

Beeeeep.

Creeeak.

Two distinct sounds rang out.

And then, light appeared.

Countless shimmering silvers.

The endlessly prolonged battle had finally reached its end.

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