Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 180. Who Is This Year?

I had a dream.

A dream from a long past.

A dream about how we became friends from just knowing each other’s faces.

And I saw another place.

The Librarian with a completely emotionless expression.

swish swish

A scene where I faced off against her, wielding black hands and mechanical tentacles.

Myself, roaring at that enemy, swinging a hammer.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.”

Upon hearing that voice, I found myself in that place.

Inside a circular space engulfed in a purplish mana storm.

And on the opposite side, that thing was sitting on a couch, staring at me intently.

No, it was a bit misleading to say it was sitting.

She was lying stretched out on the couch, puffing on a hookah.

Unlike everything that had seemed similar to me so far, this magical girl looked a little more decadent than me.

There were dark circles under her eyes, and the color of her clothes was a bit duller, adorned with black patterns and silver ornaments here and there.

However, all of that was only slightly different from my form.

It was so natural that I could mistake it for the way I originally looked.

I didn’t realize the difference between me and her the moment I first saw her.

“What? Did you finally notice the differences in our appearances? Is it late or early…”

That black thing, as if reading my mind, continued to speak.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about the gap in perception.”

That pleasure-seeker said this while pulling the hookah from her mouth and walking slowly towards me.

Sitting on a mechanical chair, with her chin propped in front of me.

“Is it quiet today? It’s usually noisy.”

“Thinking about something, you see.”

“I get it, thinking is food, knowledge, and a signpost. Didn’t you particularly feel that this time?”

silence

“You and I are different.”

There’s no way I could say something that intellectual.

“Different? We’re all the same. Her, him, that thing, that one, that race, that future, that past, that present, that guy, that event.”

She said this while bursting into laughter, staring at me intently.

No, that sound came again.

That ‘thing’ laughed. The woman in the clothes merely smirked.

She didn’t make any sound.

The one laughing was the clothes themselves.

What appeared as black patterns were just her mouth and eyes, which were staring at me or laughing.

“Oh, does it look a bit disgusting? Don’t worry. It’s a good kid. Fundamentally, it’s not much different from your clothes.”

“What does that matter now? More importantly, I’ve had one question since I talked to Al’sel.”

“More importantly, I have a question.”

“What is it? I’m busy, so I don’t have time to answer. You see…”

creak

That strange sentence remains as it is.

“No. The sentence I said is an entire and multidimensional truth while also being a unique lie. It’s not wrong. It sounded statistical right now.”

What is she talking about?

And why does she read my mind but not my questions?

“Oh, that? You noticed the difference between you and you. Of course, in the past. So based on your standards. In fact, fundamentally, it’s the same, but for now, different is different. So, I can’t read your mind as much as that error. Just surface psychology or words that come to mind, knowledge?”

blah blah blah

Was that being so talkative before?

“You’re the one who talks too much.”

Oops, is that so? Well, whatever.

Not knowing the question is one thing I’ll have to voice.

“To someone I know, there is…”

I tried to continue my question with those thoughts, but…

“Go on.”

The counterpart abruptly cut me off, cheering me on in a strange way.

Ignore it.

“The end’s existence said that she needs to be an ascending target. Then did you do this work to descend into my body?”

In a way, it’s an incredibly bizarre phrase.

Like a pig asking a human to eat it.

If the counterpart is such an existence, I’m practically doing the same thing.

“A column? That’s an interesting word. But why would that be necessary?”

crackle

A loudly irritating screech echoed through the room.

That thing suddenly appeared in front of me.

Opening a mouth made of floating teeth in the space, right before me.

“We’re all within you.”

Saying this, that existence emerged from a blue space, reaching out with its purple-clawed fingers, touching the jewel that hung on my chest.

A small sound, yet it pierced deep into my ear.

At the same time.

BOOM!

I too swung my hammer towards it.

The wind generated by the hammer slicing through the air rushed fiercely like a whirlwind.

But…

“Oh, how scary. Scared enough to tease me?”

That thing was simply lying on the couch again, smoking the hookah.

“What do you mean by ‘being inside me’?”

Not panicking in such a bizarre situation, I hurled the question at that existence.

It was obvious that that ridiculous existence Omega wouldn’t get hurt.

“No, I can get hurt like anyone else. But thinking of it like a monster would make me feel pain.”

She seemed to enjoy teasing me, twisting her smile while bringing a tone of heartbreaking sadness into her last phrase.

But.

“Hello, I’m glad to meet you, but more importantly, about the question…”

The feelings of that existence were so impossible to be sensed as human emotions.

No matter how much sorrow was contained, it didn’t affect me at all.

“I can give you an answer to that question.”

creak

A teeth-grinding sound resonated.

“Today, we wasted too much time messing around.”

When both the words and the sound overlapped, my mind began to plummet into the abyss.

“Next time, come with your questions all sorted out. Don’t be wild. Wouldn’t that be a waste?”

Unable to withstand that temptation, I closed my eyes.

A dustless ceiling, an immaculate sheet, a fluffy bed.

It was a somewhat familiar room.

Recalling my last memory, it was probably a hospital room somewhere.

I had no way of knowing which hospital it was.

Would some oxymoron pop up again?

Thinking that, I laid my hand on the soft cloth covering my body and sat up.

crack.

With the sound of the hospital door opening, a woman in a soiled doctor’s gown stepped in quietly.

Straight golden hair and blue eyes.

Not too big in stature.

A thin body with a poker face.

A female stranger I had never seen before.

“Are you awake?”

As soon as the woman entered the room, she turned to me and without any hint of surprise, threw the question.

Actively, she moved closer.

“I’m fine but…”

“That’s a relief. You were in a state of excessive blood loss, blood vessel rupture, and your heart had even stopped, so I thought you might die. But somehow, you’ve come back to life again. I suppose the body of a permanent magical girl, despite having the same numerical values as a human, shouldn’t be treated the same…”

blahblahblah

She kept mumbling while looking directly into my eyes, but most of what she was saying didn’t register in my ear.

The content was specialized, and its nuance was so mundane that it was beyond my understanding.

But the bigger reason was…

Who is she?

I couldn’t recognize who this woman was.

She acted like we were incredibly close, yet her identity didn’t come to mind at all.

If she was that close, there should at least be some basic familiarity.

Ugh… who in the world is she?

I kept squeezing my brain but there was nothing coming out.

My human connections are too limited; unless there’s amnesia or mental manipulation, a woman that unique should have made a lasting memory…

“The oxymoron was trying to tear me apart. How did you bring me here? Oh, and by the way, I really lost an arm. I had no idea the scalpel was that sharp. Please tell the oxymoron I said thank you later. Right now, I’m just groggy from post-surgery.”

blah blah blah

…She talks a lot and has a face familiar with the oxymoron?

I really have no idea. Who in the world is this?

While I was deep in thought…

“Therefore, are you dealing with that biomechanical thing? Or has a sensory organ gone haywire?”

Her never-ending tongue ventured forward without a care.

The blonde woman’s lips moved, and as she seemed worried, she furrowed her brow slightly and reached out to my forehead.

“Excuse me.”

Though she asked for my permission, I could have avoided the cold hand of a stranger if I wanted to, but I let it touch me in a daze.

I felt a strange intimacy and genuine emotion from her.

About ten seconds passed, and finally, she pulled her hand back and spoke.

“I don’t see any special issues numerically.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. For now, this is the only measurement I could take.”

Measuring? Did she measure my temperature or something?

Well, I don’t really care about that.

“I’d like to ask you something.”

“Not just one, but dozens would be fine. You must have a lot of questions.”

Of course, I do. But right now, all those queries were devoured by just one question.

After taking a deep breath…

Due to my overwhelming tension, I swallowed that breath back and opened my mouth.

“Are you, perhaps, someone I know…?”

Such an embarrassingly submissive question slipped out of my mouth.

If I had lost my memory and the person in front of me had a close relationship with me, I wondered how the actual party would perceive this question.

And probably, it would be as I expected.

The recipient of the question looked at me in disbelief, mouth agape.

How long had that awkward air consumed the room?

“Ah. Ahhhh! Right! Yes! I see! My mistake. I apologize.”

Suddenly, the woman shouted so loudly that it seemed like the hospital would shake, her head bobbing up and down as if she finally understood the situation.

“It makes sense now; you were too polite for Haram Lee. Thinking back, it’s only natural that I wouldn’t recognize you since your body feels so familiar.”

No, I mean, who are you?!

Although her tone sounded familiar, could this woman truly be that one?

“It’s me. The Librarian.”

This world is doomed.

I truly thought that.

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