Chapter 30: Networking is the best.
Grading monsters isn’t straightforward.
Specialized agencies use detailed criteria, but subjectivity creeps in.
With their wildly varied traits, applying uniform standards is tough.
“Based on the scale of destruction, it’s A-grade, but overall, doesn’t it feel S-grade?” a subordinate asked during a break in the support team’s chatter.
“You’ve got to factor in subjugation difficulty. Consider how long it’d take other magical girls,” Kim Tae-hyun replied.
The lobster was a walking fortress.
Its sturdy exoskeleton deflected bullets and magic alike.
Without Spica, it would’ve been unstoppable.
Slowly but surely, it’d have leveled the city.
“What grade do you think, sunbae?” the subordinate pressed.
“Dunno.”
“C’mon, ballpark it.”
Kim, cautious by nature, disliked guessing, but this was just banter.
“S-grade.”
“See? Told ya!” the subordinate crowed.
A female colleague chimed in, “I say A.”
A differing opinion.
“No way that giant’s just A-grade,” the subordinate scoffed.
“Size doesn’t matter. All it did was swing pincers.”
“You’re underestimating raw power. There’s a reason sports have weight classes.”
“Sports are sports. That monkey climbed grades by shooting beams. The lobster had nothing like that.”
“Well, that’s…”
Who’s right?
Even the magical girl support agency couldn’t say for sure.
I spent ten years in the demon world fighting monsters, so why do gates keep appearing?
Simple: it’s too vast.
“Demon world” is just a convenient term—think another dimension or realm.
Wiping out an entire ecosystem is impossible in a lifetime.
Say one punch kills one monster.
Earth has eight billion humans.
Mammals like dogs, cats, cows, and pigs number in the billions too.
Punching ten thousand times a day, from waking to sleeping, that’s 3.65 million a year.
Ten years at that pace? Barely over 100 million.
Rough math.
Even assuming infinite stamina, magic, and suicidal monsters lining up, that’s the limit.
It’s clearly a pipe dream.
“We meet again.”
At the playground, Spica, untransformed, was waiting.
Alone this time, no daughter.
“When did you realize I’m Scarlet?” I asked.
“From the start. Or maybe before? I knew after seeing news footage.”
She wasn’t sure at first, but as evidence piled up, she grew certain.
Others might miss it, but old teammates see things.
“I didn’t think you were alive.”
“Yeah, I thought I’d die out there too.”
Humans are tenacious.
I shared my demon world life, finding a gate to return, and how I survived the past decade.
“Why hide who you are after coming back?” Spica asked.
To her, it looked like I was playing a role.
I just hadn’t admitted it, but she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Prepping for retirement.”
“Looks more like a re-debut.”
“It just happened.”
I didn’t plan a comeback.
I went with the flow.
Perception-blocking magic glitched, I missed chances to explain, and circumstances snowballed.
I’d love to ditch the mess and dump it on juniors, but that feels wrong.
Some know my identity now, and the Dark Magical Gem organization’s targeting me.
After summarizing the chaos, Spica looked stunned.
“One hurdle after another.”
“Tell me about it.”
We sat side by side on the bench, catching up.
I learned a lot about Spica.
Early marriage, having a daughter.
Quitting magical girl work because of it.
Passing the baton to juniors and quietly stepping back.
Pretty much as I’d guessed.
“So, when are you retiring?”
I couldn’t answer definitively.
“When I feel I don’t need to transform anymore.”
A casual remark, but Spica’s eyes widened.
“…That’s still so cool.”
“Still?”
“I’ve always liked that about you.”
I racked my memory, but she’d never said that before.
“As a teammate, right?”
“What, hoping I meant romantically?”
“No, it’s just… weird rumors on forums lately.”
Somehow, I’d become a polar bear slayer.
Never even been near the Arctic.
Those stories make you self-conscious, even if you try not to be.
“You got cuter without noticing,” Spica teased.
“We agreed no ‘cute’ talk.”
“You’ve heard it a million times and still get shy.”
She grinned cheekily.
She hasn’t changed a bit.
It’s comforting, like old times.
Oh, almost forgot.
“Got a sec?”
“Sure, why?”
“Someone really wants to meet you. You can say no.”
I didn’t want her tangled up with magical girls, but at this point, it’s fine.
“Wow, Spica… Spica’s right in front of me!”
On a secluded rooftop, a girl’s dream came true.
“You’re Aurora Lora, who wanted to meet me? I’ve heard a lot,” Spica said.
“It’s an honor to meet you!” Aurora Lora gushed.
“Don’t magical girls drop honorifics?”
“Well, yeah, but being rude to Spica feels…”
“Not rude at all, so treat me like anyone else.”
Seeing Aurora Lora flustered was surreal.
What a day.
“You’re all casual with me but formal with Spica?” I asked.
“She’s your fan, but I’m a Spica stan!” Aurora Lora shot back.
That subtle difference stings.
“Feels like we’re hogging a privilege. Kinda bad for the juniors,” Frozen Princess added.
Six of us were there: me, Spica, and the crew who know I’m Scarlet.
It felt unfair to just call Aurora Lora, so I brought everyone.
“Take a group pic!” Sonya blurted.
“Don’t be a nuisance. Meeting her is a miracle already,” Reaper Mors scolded.
Spica agreed readily. “It’s fine. For Scarlet’s friends, I’ll do it.”
“Yes! Connections rule!”
“Then… me too!” another chimed in.
After snapping photos, Spica turned to Aurora Lora.
“Can I ask what you like about me?”
Beaming with fan-girl joy, Aurora Lora answered, “Your lively yet bold vibe is so charming! I got a ponytail to be like you—”
[Title: Scarlet’s New Move Unveiled]
(Photo of Scarlet Lily flying over a stadium with a giant gauntlet)
Thought she couldn’t transform her wand.
– Damn, that looks brutal
– Glove? Gauntlet?
– Use that downtown? No way
– One swing would wreck 100x what monsters do
– No wonder she doesn’t transform it
– Totally Gear Th—muffled!
└ Lily copied it
└ Got a problem? Come to Korea and fight her
└ Scarlet Lily’s the OG now
└ Technically, it’s a weapon, so different
– Heard a magical girl’s weapon reflects their essence
└ So Scarlet Lily’s a brawling delinquent?
└ Maybe a hothead who smashes everything
└ Scary part? She hasn’t even used proper magic yet…
└ A magical girl who doesn’t need magic 😱
And so, the new technique was revealed.
A weapon sealed for its excessive violence.
Its striking form thrilled netizens.
Attention also turned to its first target.
– Mirage Illusion’s alive
– The jerk who killed Armo!
– Heard she activated the gate too
– Kinda harsh she’s a fugitive for killing a mascot. A fine would do
└ What, a cat?
└ If it’s a cat, isn’t that a slap on the wrist?
└ Armo works hard, that’s too much
– What happened to Mirage Illusion after that hit? Must be mush
└ No body found. Probably escaped
└ Weaker than Scarlet Beam?
└ She held back. No way a wand’s basic spell outdoes it
Mirage Illusion, the fourth-gen who killed the second-gen Armo and vanished.
No one welcomed her return.
News of her opening the gate tanked public opinion.
(Video of Scarlet Lily punching Mirage Illusion with the gauntlet)
How far did she fly, lol?
Surviving that’s impressive
– Treating a person like a baseball
– Few fourth-gens could take that
– That acceleration’s no joke
– Out-of-the-park homerun
└ LOLOLOL
└ For real 😂
People cheered the villain’s spectacular defeat, and the video spread fast across forums.
– Heard the lobster was S-grade. No way it’s A with that size
– Spica soloed it… Who is she?
– Class is eternal
– Same tier as the monkey?
– It was all-in on defense, but Spica’s one-shot was too strong
– Nova Strike punched a hole in the clouds
– Cinematic as hell
– She’s got a lot to lose fighting monsters now, but she showed up. Respect
– Did it all, hyped the fifth-gens and Lily, then dipped. Touching
Spica, a paragon of magical girls.
This incident spotlighted her noble spirit.
Everyone was a star, but some went unnoticed.
– Shoutout to the magical girls in the rural cities!
The mastermind and their decoy strategy stayed under wraps.
Praise to the unsung members who fought in the shadows.