Chapter 5: Sleeping room.

I didn’t go to the demon world to get the elixir.

It was more of an accident.

The trigger was Stella’s death.
Losing a teammate in the final battle, I vowed revenge and recklessly crossed the gate.

I left the aftermath to another teammate, Spica.

I thought I’d fulfilled my duty as a magical girl by defeating our nemesis.

But over the past ten years, a lot happened, and the monster invasions started again.

In the end, things aren’t much different from when I first debuted.

“Ha…”

I sighed, staring at the empty glass vial.

I’d used up the elixir I’d somehow acquired.

My plan to untransform and retire went up in smoke, and unless I find another way, I’ll be a magical girl for life.

“I can’t exactly call it a waste…”

It was used to save a life.

Frozen Princess is my junior.
I couldn’t ignore her on the brink of death.

Even if I was there to gauge how well they fought, standing by with my arms crossed was my own fault…

[Title: Frozen Princess Discharged]
She’s completely fine.

[She tanked that beam?]
[It was the monster’s beam, not Scarlet Beam.]
[Don’t get hurt ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

Hearing she was safe, I felt relieved.

It’s not as intense as before, but magical girls still maintain some mysticism.
She probably visited the hospital as a civilian.

Or maybe there’s a specialized medical team.

Either way, sacrificing my retirement ticket was worth it.

“They’re treating her like an idol.”

Browsing communities, I saw Frozen Princess had quite a fanbase.

Fans poured out affection, worrying about her health.

“Well, even in my day, there were things like figurines…”

On a whim, I ego-searched.

Typing “Scarlet figurine” into the search bar brought up a few sites.

“Used… 20,000 won.”

Despair.

It’s been ten years since I was active, so it’s no surprise, but it stung.

…Why am I getting worked up over this?

I was embarrassed enough to kick my blankets when new figurines came out back then.

“Ugh… still, shouldn’t my value go up a bit?”

Was my fake Scarlet act not enough?

I thought proving I’m the real deal might get me reappraised, but facing a fanbase bigger than before made me nervous.

If I had to redebut now, I honestly don’t have the confidence.

Old-timers like me only know the elusive, classic magical girl style!

While surfing the sea of information, a video caught my eye.

“Vtuber…?”

Short for virtual YouTuber.
Seems to refer to streamers using 2D or 3D avatars.

A new concept to me.

“All kinds of things exist.”

Come to think of it, some magical girls were streamers.

I looked it up on a whim.

A few were live.

Among them, a familiar face.

“Aurora Lora, still at it.”

Not a trendy Vtuber, but magical girls boast comparable popularity.

Aurora Lora’s followers were in the tens of thousands.
She doesn’t fall far behind even big Vtubers.

“Might as well check it out.”

I only briefly met her on my first day back on Earth, but I was oddly curious.
Maybe because she snapped a photo when I took down that monkey monster.

While watching, a message popped up in the corner.

[‘PastelFlavor’ donated 10,000 won!]

So you can make money this way too.

Being a magical girl guarantees a baseline audience.
No need to craft a separate persona.

Above all, interacting with fans looked fun.

“No wonder they’re tempted…”

I started to empathize with my juniors a bit.

Weekday afternoon.

As the sun began to set, the doorbell rang.

“Who is it?”

Yusia, preparing dinner, headed to the door.

She didn’t have a wide social circle, so she had a guess who it might be.

Opening the door, Haeun Gil stood there with a big smile.

“Hehe, I was bored, so I dropped by.”

She held a plastic bag.

Probably stopped by a convenience store on the way.

“You could’ve called.”
“You live right nearby, why bother?”
“It’s called manners.”
“So uptight~. You were free anyway.”
“I wasn’t, actually.”

Haeun kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the sofa.

“Your place is cozy, Yusia. I could live here forever.”
“Don’t even dream of it.”

Yusia sat beside her, exasperated.

“By the way, you look healthy! Fully recovered?”
“I’m healed, but mentally, I’m still drained.”
“Used too much magic?”
“Maybe. Could be the potion I took that day.”

Yusia is a third-generation magical girl, active as Frozen Princess.

And her close friend and teammate, Haeun Gil, is Aurora Lora.

They often met privately like this to catch up.

“An elixir from the demon world, right? Saving someone on death’s door is wild. If you’d kept some, it could’ve revolutionized medicine.”

Haeun joked, but it wasn’t realistic.

“It purifies and amplifies magic power. For non-magical girls, it’s just water.”

Still, it was remarkable.

Yusia, who’d prepared for death, survived thanks to it.

Her wounds healed in minutes, and she returned without needing a hospital.

“Were you making dinner?”
“Yeah. What’s in the bag?”
“Oh, snacks.”

Haeun pulled out the contents.

Various snacks and a few cans of beer went on the table.

“Trying to get a patient to drink?”
“You look fine to me. How about a drinking stream tonight?”

She took out her laptop and powered it on.

“No streaming in my house.”
“Kidding, kidding. I don’t do stuff that’d expose my identity.”
“I don’t even like transforming for streams.”
“Cut me some slack~.”

Yusia returned to the kitchen, ignoring Haeun’s playfulness.

“Staying for dinner?”
“Eating Frozen Princess’s home cooking? An honor.”
“We agreed not to use those names untransformed.”
“Hehe, right.”

A voice came from the laptop.

“Having fun?”

Yusia asked, chopping vegetables with a knife.

“With what?”
“Streaming.”
“Just something to do. Not like I’ve got much else going on.”
“I don’t get what’s fun about it.”

Not every magical girl becomes a streamer.

Not all contractees have a knack for entertainment, so those unsuited can’t do it even if they want to.

“Give it a shot. I bet you’d be popular.”

Yusia had heard this before but wasn’t interested.

“No way. I’m bad at talking to crowds.”
“You’re talking fine now.”
“That’s different.”
“Such a shame. I wanted to collab with Frozen Princess.”

Being a magical girl doesn’t guarantee streaming success.

It takes skills like charisma or humor, which Yusia didn’t have.

“About Scarlet, do you think we should catch her if we meet again?”

She changed the topic.

Her voice carried concern.

“Hmm… I’m not sure we could even catch her, but do we have to?”

Haeun didn’t have a clear answer either.

“Even if she’s not on the roster, Scarlet’s a magical girl. We should treat her as a teammate.”
“Sounds like you’ve changed your mind since last time.”
“I didn’t know her then.”
“Saving your life makes you wanna defend her, I get it.”
“It’s not just that. It’s about our identity.”

Other members were split.

Some said unilateral actions weren’t okay, while others said she hadn’t done anything wrong and should be let be.

“Why not talk to her?”

Haeun suggested out of the blue.

“Didn’t we not know where she is?”
“Yeah, but we might figure it out.”
“…?”

Haeun turned the laptop toward Yusia.

“Look at this.”

A pink-haired girl was sleeping on a hotel bed.

It seemed to be a live stream.

“She looks like Scarlet…”
“Her username’s Scarlet Lily. Barely any followers, so the account’s probably new.”

Only three viewers.

Online videos and photos were blurry from a distance, but Yusia, who’d met her up close, recognized her.

It’s her.

“What’s she doing?”
“It’s a sleep stream. Literally just showing herself sleeping.”
“Why?”
“Lots of reasons, I guess… but she seems like a clueless newbie.”

Yusia stared at the screen for a while, then stood.

“I’m going.”

She started getting ready to head out.

“Where?”
“To where Scarlet is.”
“You figured out her location from that?”
“Not exactly, but I have a way.”

Without hesitation, she opened the door and left.

*

“Yawn…”

I stretched and sat up.

Trying to adjust to this changed world, I’d wandered the streets aimlessly.

After walking all day and returning to my lodging, I passed out.

I tried a sleep stream on a whim…

“What the…?”

For some reason, a towel was over the webcam.

Getting off the bed, I removed it and checked the laptop, nearly fainting.

“Why are there so many people!?”

[1039 viewers]

Way beyond my expectations.

[Woke up lol]
[She’s up.]
[Finally awake lol]
[You were being watched lol]
[So cute.]
[Didn’t even notice Frozen Princess was here, slept like a baby lol]
[What’d you do yesterday to sleep that hard?]
[Lmao]
[Frozen Princess was in your room earlier.]
[Let’s hear your voice!]

What’s going on…

My brain went into overdrive, then gave up.

Stream ended.