Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 189. Otherworld (3)

I kept walking forward.

That frustrating substance that’s stealing my core attack is hindering my actions.

“Ah-”

If I wave my hands big, everything around me flies away and the pressure evaporates.

At those times, I feel as if someone is watching me, and whispers of the core attack drift in, but I’m not interested right now.

There’s something much more intriguing.

A bright cluster of light filling one side of my field of vision.

I am captivated and chasing after it.

I don’t know how long I’ve been chasing, but I can’t seem to get any closer.

I can’t reach it.

And again, the long whisper tempted me once more.

No need.

Every time I followed those words, my sponge-like empty head got filled bit by bit, but now I’m not interested in that either.

I know enough.

Thus, I chased the cluster of light.

Chasing the light scattering above my head, I walked forward.

To avoid falling down, I spread my arms and balanced myself with the hammer in my right hand.

I kept walking.

And when I got hungry, from somewhere, I bit into something that tasted like meat and something else from the pouch hanging at my waist.

A taste that stimulated the sponge in my head.

It tore apart in strands, filling the inside.

In the center of that something, there was a taste completely different.

At first, I tried chewing it a few times, but it gave me no stimulation.

So, I threw it into the air every time.

Then, the things that watched me rushed toward it.

The whispering grew sharp and loud, and the things that moved like the flow of the core attack clashed fiercely and slowly disappeared.

And the surroundings became a bit quieter than earlier.

If I don’t pay attention to them for a moment, before I know it, the whispering has increased again.

But that’s fine.

Reducing their attention on me, even if just for a moment, is more beneficial than chewing on something without stimulation.

And I walked.

Kept walking.

In the midst of my wandering, I noticed that the whispering filling my head had grown quieter, and the many gazes felt more distant.

One question arose.

Where is that cluster of light coming from?

In this dark place, moving slowly yet steadily.

A multitude of waves of light.

Despite shining so brightly.

Not pushing away the surrounding darkness, it gleamed with grace.

Entranced, I moved forward, yet curiosity about that light arose for the first time.

And at that moment.

Numerous clusters of light rose around me.

I wondered why I hadn’t seen them until now – countless clusters of light filled the surroundings.

However, that cluster of light was not as bright as the sky.

At most, it gathered a few hundred, a few dozen lights.

The smallest clusters climbed slowly, one by one, toward the light above, just like me.

Slowly. More slowly.

Falling behind my step.

Each cluster rose one by one.

Turning to look at them.

And, through the light of the cluster, I could perceive new stimuli.

The groups that had been whispering around me.

Blending with the dark side, their boundaries blurred.

Formed of shadows and shapes.

All tangled together.

Yeah. A mosaic.

Mosaic-like beings.

The fuzzy shapes of those entities surfaced beneath the light cluster.

Their strangeness made it hard to discern their identities even under the light.

Countless numbers of them ceased their whispers toward me and charged toward the light cluster.

Tearing apart their own shapes, they created gaps, narrowing down as they swallowed the light cluster into their insides.

In the process, other beings’ forms and shadows were consumed.

Those whose shapes were part of the handful consumed couldn’t maintain their structure and crumbled down, yet they didn’t stop such actions.

It seemed more important to devour the light cluster than to watch their kind fall apart.

Even with relentless efforts to consume the light cluster, other beings gathered around.

And they, too, widened their shapes to make room.

They thrust into the one who devoured the light cluster.

The being that first devoured the light cluster struggled against them, but with so many pushing against its body, it ultimately couldn’t hold on and crumbled.

From the scattered shapes, the flickering light cluster slowly rose.

And that same action was repeated.

Although I saw it by chance, when I turned my head, such events were happening everywhere.

Countless shapes poured down, and the light clusters briefly disappeared.

However, not a single one of the visible light clusters vanished.

They merely lingered for a moment among them.

In the chaotic scene where they contained each other, the light cluster rose again.

As I witnessed such a spectacle, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Is that tasty? Like meat?’

I halted my steps and moved sideways toward the nearest light cluster.

I worried that this light cluster might be far away like the enormous one ahead.

But it came closer far too easily.

I reached out towards it.

My hand submerged in bright light.

Thinking I felt nothing and gained nothing, I pulled my arm out from the light cluster.

But light seeped between my fingers.

As I opened my hand, a dot-sized light was rolling around in my grasp.

That light placed upon my palm slowly moved upward like other light clusters.

But it was so slow that with just a slight shake, it couldn’t escape my hand and danced around my palm.

Small, delicate.

Yet something that emitted light.

I was captivated.

Knowing I was enchanted, it still looked too beautiful to resist.

I extended my fingers toward it and picked it up using my index and thumb.

And slowly, I moved it toward my mouth.

Of course, it seemed only natural.

As those outside had done.

Chomp.

The sound of my mouth opening seeped into my ears.

Just as the brightness emitted by the light turned my vision white.

‘How about stopping?’

With the voice of someone.

I felt a knocking sensation on my head.

With something hard, my entire head was tapped, and startled, I lost the light, which swiftly passed before my eyes as if realizing its own danger.

Seeing that, the thought of wanting to consume the light inexplicably vanished completely.

Instead, as I sought who had knocked on my head, I turned my body around.

There stood a mosaic entity.

“Comparing with these things? Rude.”

Since the being in front of me said that, I compared it with those watching us from afar.

Sure enough, it was a rude thing to say compared to them.

The being before me that was staring at me.

Was me.

••• A living being from Earth.

Yeah. A human.

Since it resembled a human, except for having no arms and its abnormally thin legs.

Where there should be a left eye, there was a huge hole seeing the opposite side.

Except for the fact that the body, clothing, hat, and hair were all one mess like a squashed watercolor painting.

Except for the teeth sticking out where there should be a neck.

Except for the hands floating due to having no arms whatsoever.

Except for the fact that one of those hands was gazing at its left eye.

Except for the mouth, which was tied up with flesh like a doll and could not be opened.

It looked somewhat human-like.

‘Could you not mock me for having broken?’

No, I was shocked purely.

Meeting something that at least looked human in this trash-strewn mess.

Moreover, speaking with an intelligent being made me feel some clarity.

Does one need stimuli?

••• Definitely should have refrained from speaking. The awakening is faster than expected.’

The being before me ••• a woman? Probably a woman.

Who cares?

She must regret having spoken to me.

“You don’t seem like you’d regret, do you? I thought an incredibly rich and tasty prey had come along for a long time; then that thing went and did something it shouldn’t, a crazy guy trying to process it multiple times failed.”

Hmm. Did I experience such things?

I have no memory of such events. Or perhaps, due to the nature of the Otherworld, it might be something I’ll experience in the future.

But, even if it looks like a human, it seems it’s not one.

Seeing how it views me as prey.

“Watch who’s talking. You’ve got something at your waist that you’re munching on, too.”

Something at my waist?

Hearing that, I looked down at my waist, and there it was, Al’sel… No, the pouch given by the octopus was visible.

Then briefly, a memory of the vital energy I had been consuming flowed in.

Dates… Turned out to be more beneficial than I thought.

“Ah, anyway, enough of that. It seems I almost regained everything, so I’m leaving. Tch. Just thought I might finally get to feast.”

As the grotesque creature in front of me said that, it started to merge with the shadows ahead, fading a little.

I stared blankly at that sight for a moment.

Wait a minute.

An idea popped into my mind, and I stretched out my hammer to pull it back.

With a sound that could be heard as colorful as it caught on the hammerhead, it toppled before me.

That peculiar expression held a strong emotion that I could surely sense.

Clear bewilderment.

“Wait a second, how did you interfere with me?”

Uh… Just because?

I thought I could just do it.

“Just? Wow. You really are a crazy one. Why? Trying to eat me? Seemed calm enough, and it turned out you had such ulterior motives.”

What are you talking about?

It looks obviously unappetizing. Why eat you?

“Then why are you holding onto me? Is it that bad to tear off a bit?”

Hmm. It probably is a bad thing?

But I have no intention of getting mad over something I can’t remember. I just wanted to ask something.

Have you ever seen a white trash and an octopus head around here?

“What’s white and what’s octopus?”

Hmm. A failure.

Then let’s give up on this.

If I float around in this unpleasant place, I might be able to find it on its own.

The pouch is still hanging at my waist.

Then shall I change the question.

What about those lights?

“Huh? Don’t you know? •ㅣ can’t be expressing it that way.”

The speech got garbled.

That was honestly the only way I could express it.

Not noise or censored speech or incomprehensible sounds.

I just didn’t comprehend that word the moment it entered my mind.

What?

••. If you touch that, we’ll all get eaten. Ha. What is this? A guy who doesn’t even know that was going to eat it? I thought it was a lucky day, but it’s been a cocky day instead.’

This is my first experience like this.

Then why did you leave what those mosaic beings were eating?

“The surrounding trash can’t be eaten forever, so I left it, and with that much power, it’s something that could genuinely happen. No, why am I telling this damn thing all that.”

She said that and glanced at me with what seemed an irritated expression as she brushed me off and widened the distance.

For a moment.

She created distance, shrinking down to the size of a dot.

“If you don’t have business with me, don’t grab me. I’m leaving.”

With just that phrase left, her dot-like figure blurred and then vanished.

And the mosaic beings whispering at me also disappeared.

I was left alone.

It became dull.

So, I slept.

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