Taking on the active name Blackberry, she awakened as a Magical Girl at the remarkably young age of nine.
This was an extraordinarily rare talent, especially considering that most Magical Girls only fully awaken after reaching puberty.
According to the principle that an early awakening significantly amplifies a Magical Girl’s growth potential, Blackberry, by the mere age of fifteen, had single-handedly vanquished seventy-five Titans.
Yet, perhaps her brilliance shone too brightly, for soon, a faction consumed by jealousy began to emerge against her.
‘Reflecting on it now, the Magical Girl Association truly was abnormally stifling.’
Initially, the bullying was subtle.
It began with small acts, such as deliberately neglecting to fetch Blackberry’s coffee, or feigning an accident while spilling water on her clothes.
These were the spiteful, petty torments typically inflicted by malicious high school or middle school students.
Yet, Blackberry, without betraying any emotion, relentlessly continued to cultivate her extraordinary talent.
Her overwhelming gifts remained untarnished, much like a graceful swan remains dignified regardless of a duck’s incessant quacking.
Could this resilience be the reason? The Magical Girls who had sought to ostracize Blackberry only grew more malevolent.
‘If only those thoughtless fools had ceased their petty torment, Blackberry would undoubtedly still be an active Magical Girl.’
I had learned that once a person awakens as a Magical Girl, specific hormones are secreted in far greater abundance than in ordinary individuals.
This physiological change empowers them to undertake actions that would be utterly inconceivable for a typical person.
After all, to bravely confront colossal monsters hundreds of meters in height, such an extraordinary capacity would be absolutely essential.
Naturally, those elevated hormones must have inflamed their jealousy, causing uncontrollable emotions to surge without respite.
Driven by this, they committed the gravest error in the annals of Magical Girl history.
No sane individual would have dared hurl abuses at a woman capable of cleaving a ten-meter behemoth’s torso with a single punch.
They would not have exposed the whereabouts of her family’s home.
Nor would they have callously mocked the tragic death of a comrade’s family, slain by drug-crazed assailants.
“Hmph…”
Some theorize that Blackberry’s descent into darkness stemmed from PTSD.
This might hold some truth.
Even with an overabundance of hormones enabling acts of extraordinary courage, the mind of a Magical Girl remains, at its core, that of a young girl.
Given that even adult men find it arduous to overcome war-induced PTSD, how much more challenging would it be for a mere girl?
Such a mind is akin to a volatile bomb, poised to detonated at any moment.
‘While her past is undeniably pitiable…’
It provides no justification for her actions.
On the day of the mission, Blackberry transformed into a monstrous entity, tearing apart and slaughtering every Magical Girl in her unit—the very teammates who had subjected her to relentless ostracization.
Moreover, wasn’t it said that she reappears every few years, unleashing localized acts of terror?
I’d heard that numerous Magical Girls had been swayed and corrupted due to this woman’s influence.
This stands as a glaring misstep by the Association.
Truly, those inhumane bastards.
[Emergency! All Magical Girls of Team 4, please gather immediately!]
Barely thirty minutes had passed since the message was dispatched when, without warning, a piercing alarm shrieked.
‘It seems they’ve finally realized the truth of my words, haven’t they? Even those obstinate higher-ups are now moving with unprecedented haste, spurred by the imminent threat at their heels.’
Under normal circumstances, these individuals would have leisurely procrastinated for hours.
Their unusual swiftness now stemmed from the fact that the corrupted Blackberry had, in her subsequent acts of terror, chosen Association members as her prime targets.
Clearly, they harbored no desire to become her next victims.
Their intentions were utterly transparent.
Crystal clear.
‘Now, I have nothing left to do…’
From this moment forward, the stage belonged to creatures that defied all conventional understanding.
There was no conceivable opening for a mere civilian like myself to intervene.
Just as this thought crossed my mind, another blinding flash erupted.
Concurrently, an unfamiliar voice resonated within my head.
[40BP added.]
40BP? What could this possibly mean…?
[BP stands for Buntan Point.]
“Bun, Bun… what?”
[It is pronounced Buntang Point (TL Note: ‘Buntang’ is a Korean slang term referring to someone who sows discord, causes trouble, or disrupts a situation).]
What?! Are you implying that I’m a troublemaker? Why, I ask?! I simply located and reported a villain who was endangering lives!
[I shall now inform you of the BP acquisition criteria.]
[Stalking a user with a fixed nickname: +10]
[Discovering the residential area of a user with a fixed nickname: +10]
[Discovering a residence and disclosing it to another: +20]
Confronted with such a breakdown, I found myself momentarily speechless.
However, my intentions were far from impure.
I merely shared the information for the sake of the Magical Girls whose safety I felt compelled to protect.
It held no further or lesser meaning.
“No, who exactly are you?”
[I am a program specifically designed for your cultivation. Please feel free to call upon me!]
It was as though an unseen entity was addressing me directly.
As I remained rooted to the spot, utterly dumbfounded, the program spoke to me once more.
[You may transform by expending BP.]
Transform? Did this imply I could command formidable powers, much like a Magical Girl?
For reasons I couldn’t quite grasp, these words sent an inexplicable thrill through my chest, causing my heart to pound.
[You can unlock the Titan, ‘Behemoth,’ by expending 40BP.]
[Would you like to proceed now? YES or NO.]
A profound sense of confusion washed over me, a consequence of the overwhelming influx of information that had just been jammed into my brain.
And a Titan? This was…
“If I unlock it…”
[Unlocked!]
“No! I wanted to consider it a little longer—”
[To transform into Behemoth, you merely need to utter the word ‘Transform!’]
What exactly was this formidable power? How had such a thing inexplicably manifested within me?
[To begin, a forced teleportation will commence to test your newfound abilities! We wish you the best of luck.]
[Tutorial Start: Defeat Blackberry]
Lost in a haze of confusion, I suddenly felt a sickening lurch, accompanied by a strange, squirming sensation throughout my body.
This was… teleportation.
It was the primary mode of transportation employed by Magical Girls.
Upon receiving a deployment order, specific Magical Girls are forcibly relocated, much like fighter jets being scrambled.
‘Ah, seriously…’
Had I foreseen this, I would never have purchased it.
****
BOOM!
Beneath the ash-gray sky, a deafening roar erupted, and a colossal mushroom cloud of crimson flames and black smoke billowed upward.
In the very heart of the city, the once-solid asphalt ground had been warped like molten taffy, while the surrounding buildings, stripped bare to their skeletal frames, leaned precariously.
The scorching heat of the explosion, laden with a pungent, acrid scent, seared the ambient air, and a potent shockwave reverberated throughout the entire metropolis.
“Push forward!”
Clad in resplendent golden armor and brandishing twin pistols, GoldRose’s voice tore through the air like a shriek.
Magical Girl Team 4.
True to their reputation as veterans who had single-handedly annihilated Titans in the past, their movements remained impeccably coordinated even amidst the chaotic maelstrom.
Their teamwork was akin to a precisely honed blade.
“Do not allow that monster even a moment to retaliate! Unleash every ounce of our firepower upon that monstrous b*tch and obliterate her without a trace!”
BOOM—!
A deafening roar, potent enough to rupture eardrums, erupted, followed by a blinding flash.
Anti-aircraft cannons, originally engineered to bring down steel birds soaring through the skies, now relentlessly spewed fire towards the grotesquely ravaged ground.
The ‘personal firearms,’ meticulously modified for Magical Girls, each discharged a projectile possessing destructive force comparable to a small missile.
This overwhelming firepower, concentrated mercilessly upon a single target, was sufficient to instantly reduce even a fortress of solid steel to mere ashes.
“GoldRose…! My magazine is nearly depleted!”
BlueSky, the Magical Girl with flowing blue hair, cried out with a desperate urgency.
The gatling gun clutched in her hands glowed incandescently red, spewing forth a torrent of furious flames.
“Contact the kids from Team 7 and tell them to bring every last bit of remaining ammunition!”
“They’re all dispersed, currently evacuating civilians!”
GoldRose’s expression momentarily hardened into a grim mask.
“Damn it! Provide covering fire and retreat in sequence as your ammunition runs dry! Maintain formation!”
Twenty-three agonizing minutes had elapsed since the battle commenced.
The ground, once bombarded by thousands of specialized rounds, had been transformed into a desolate wasteland, scarred only by colossal craters and scattered, molten debris.
But even amidst that horrifying deluge of fire, no one could truly confirm the demise of the ominous black shadow.
A palpable sense of dread hung heavy in the air.
“Now—!”
As their ammunition reserves dwindled, the once-ferocious barrage of firepower visibly receded.
Seizing this critical vulnerability, the counterattack finally commenced.
“Do junior Magical Girls these days greet their seniors by riddling them with bullets, rather than offering a proper salutation?”
A deceptively soft voice, almost a whisper that tickled the ear, resonated with an unnerving chill.
SWISH—!
As if activated by a colossal vacuum cleaner, the dense dust that had cloaked the city like a shroud of fog miraculously dissipated.
All these events unfolded simply because someone had willed it, and that will had been answered.
“Blackberry….”
The name, a mere pained whisper, barely escaped GoldRose’s lips.
“Oh my? How incredibly impertinent of you to utter a senior’s revered name so casually.
Such audacity.
Tell me, what is your name?”
The girl, Blackberry, cloaked in a jet-black dress adorned with intricate frills, advanced with a faint, unsettling smile.
Her porcelain skin gleamed with an even more stark pallor against the encroaching gloom, while her crimson lips formed a chilling, vivid contrast.
With every sharp click of her high heels upon the jagged fragments of shattered concrete, a piercing sound further heightened the already taut tension.
Could that monstrous being truly be unscathed?
After enduring such an overwhelming deluge of firepower directed at her entire form?
Perhaps her current composed demeanor was nothing more than an elaborate bluff.
Yet, GoldRose instinctively perceived that Blackberry had suffered absolutely no ill effects.
“GoldRose.”
Blackberry’s gaze gleamed with an icy chill.
“Ah… yes, I’ve heard the name.
Your mother, you see, was a contemporary of mine.”
“You knew my mother?”
GoldRose’s eyes flickered with intense agitation.
“Yes.
Though we only knew each other by sight.
She was one of the precious few contemporaries of mine who survived that day.
Didn’t your mother ever tell you what I did back then?”
Blackberry’s voice, though soft and smooth, conveyed a content that conjured up a brutal past.
More than anyone present, GoldRose knew deep in her bones just how horrifying an entity this black witch before her truly was.
As if a nightmare from the past had resurfaced, the hairs on her entire body stood on end.
“I’ll fill that mouth of yours with bullets.”
Blackberry merely shrugged her shoulders at GoldRose’s cry, a volatile mix of fury and apprehension.
“…Why not desist?
My junior colleagues.
I truly have no desire to fight with any of you.”
With a flash of movement, GoldRose drew two intricately gilded pistols, her action serving as a signal for Magical Girl Team 4 to unleash another synchronized assault.
A cascade of vibrant magical energy surged toward Blackberry: flames, ice, and lightning.
The Magical Girls, true to their name, employed a diverse array of magical abilities in their fierce attempt to annihilate their foe.
Their magic ranged from simple elemental manipulation to the miraculous healing of dying comrades, embodying humanity’s last bastion of hope.
“I truly do not wish for this.”
And then, that hope shattered into countless fragments.
Blackberry sighed lightly and extended her hand forward.
Her response was remarkably simple.
She merely needed to sweep aside whatever obstructed her path.
A powerful gust of wind erupted, engulfing everything in its vicinity.
Broken shards of glass, fragments of shattered concrete, and even massive chunks of rebar were caught in the vortex, spiraling high into the sky.
“We’re screwed…”
BlueSky, the blue-haired Magical Girl, muttered in a voice laden with despair.
Blackberry’s magic was wind.
Yet, it was no mere breeze.
It was a destructive force capable of perfectly dominating atmospheric currents and altering the very weather at will.
The potent gale she conjured effortlessly deflected the trajectories of all the magical energy unleashed by the Magical Girls.
The multicolored magical rays scattered impotently in the air, leaving approximately 42 Magical Girls utterly dumbfounded by the realization that their ultimate techniques had been rendered utterly powerless.
“It seems you have no intention of gracefully retreating from this place.
Am I not correct?
Then this won’t do.
One of you must perish as an example.”
Blackberry’s eyes gleamed with a chilling intensity.
“Shut up!”
GoldRose gritted her teeth and unleashed a furious volley from her twin pistols.
Her golden magical bullets hurtled towards Blackberry with fierce velocity, only to be helplessly deflected by an invisible barrier of wind.
Even as she painfully realized that her attacks were futile, she could not stop.
To turn tail and flee now would only ensure their complete annihilation.
“Though it pains my heart immensely, considering I knew your mother…”
SWISH!
A razor-sharp gust of wind sliced across GoldRose’s pale cheek like a blade, drawing an immediate trickle of crimson blood.
The ability to freely manipulate the speed of air currents meant the capacity to create countless invisible blades at will.
With each gesture from Blackberry, innumerable blades of wind mercilessly lashed across GoldRose’s entire body.
Even her robust magical shield was uselessly torn apart, and crimson blood gushed incessantly from the formidable Magical Girl’s body.
“I should kill you here…”
Just as Blackberry was about to truly end GoldRose’s life, she felt a familiar yet ominous presence rapidly approaching from behind.
A colossal thudding sound that seemed to shake the very earth, an overwhelming presence that stole her breath.
“This is… has it appeared at this precise moment?”
The nemesis of Magical Girls, the terrifying entity that had once driven humanity to the brink of extinction: a Titan.
Why was it here?
“This has become truly bothersome.
Yet, perhaps it doesn’t matter.”
Blackberry observed the situation with a cold smile.
Titans instinctively attack the weakest beings first.
On one side stood herself, who had hunted such monsters as casually as eating meals since childhood, and on the other, Magical Girls who were trembling in fear, unable to properly fight.
Moreover, they had no proper personal firearms left.
Facing a Titan empty-handed would be almost impossible…
Having considered this, Blackberry manipulated the surrounding air currents with a mere flick of her hand, causing her body to slowly, almost weightlessly, ascend.
“I hope we meet again.
Though whether you’ll survive is certainly questionable.”
With these words, Blackberry attempted to soar into the sky with an unparalleled speed that no one could match.
“Huh?”
However, an unbelievable sight unfolded before her eyes.
A colossal shadow, accompanied by a deafening roar, charged towards her with incredible speed.
Why was that grotesque monster coming for her…?! At that speed, in just a few seconds…
“Why is that coming for me? No, more importantly, it seems a bit smaller…”
BOOM—!
With a breathtaking roar, the gigantic monster, having instantly closed the distance, struck Blackberry squarely in the face with its fist.
It was an incredibly fast and powerful blow, granting her no time to even manipulate the air currents.
‘I never expected this.’
With the dull, unfamiliar sensation felt in his fist, Park Hyunseong, hidden within the black shadow, found himself flustered by the unexpected situation and felt a bitter pang of guilt.
The power contained within his fist was something he had never desired.
