There were a few things I wanted to ask, so I came to a nearby café first.
This was a privately operated café with fewer than eight tables, making it a small establishment.
Still, its single display case was as well-stocked as any brand-name café’s. It was filled with a variety of lavish desserts like slice cakes and gelato.
I went up to the counter to place my order.
“One bowl of dangmyeon tea, please. With plenty of pine nuts, if you would.”
“What, do you think this is a teahouse or something!?”
PANG!
Choi Soo-eun struck my back. She then repeatedly bowed her head in apology to the young female owner.
Unfortunately, it seemed they didn’t have dangmyeon tea. Finding a place that properly brews dangmyeon tea these days is as difficult as plucking stars from the sky.
“That… if you’re looking for traditional tea, we do have hibiscus tea…”
The young female owner pointed to the menu board.
After taking a good look around, I decided to order something else.
“In that case, I’ll have a strawberry banana shake. Would it be possible to add some whipped cream on top?”
“How can you go from dangmyeon tea to a strawberry banana shake…?”
Choi Soo-eun gave me a look as if I were a bug.
What’s wrong with a strawberry banana shake? Don’t tell me you don’t know that taste knows no age, gender, or anything. I have preferences too.
“…I’ll take a blueberry latte, then.”
The POS system beeped as the young owner input the orders.
“Is that correct—a blueberry latte, a strawberry banana shake with extra whipped cream? Payment will be after you’re done, and I’ll bring it over to your table.”
It was a café where they served the tables directly. Suddenly, dangmyeon tea seemed irrelevant.
….
…
We began chatting after sitting down at the table.
Apparently, Choi Soo-eun had come out for a little stroll since there wasn’t much to do this weekend, and she didn’t appear to be with anyone else.
Next, I talked about artifacts and asked Choi Soo-eun whether the accessories she was wearing were of that kind.
“Artifacts? This necklace and bracelet?”
Choi Soo-eun set down her mug and extended her wrist adorned with a bracelet.
“It’s just an ordinary bracelet. The necklace is the same.”
“So, they’re not artifacts then?”
“What would I need those for?”
I had assumed that she at least carried artifacts imbued with additional skills. But everything turned out to be ordinary jewelry—quite unexpected.
“So, did you get the artifact you wanted?”
Choi Soo-eun asked this time. She inquired whether I had picked up anything decent.
I shook my head.
“I couldn’t find one. They were all mediocre.”
“Carrots? I thought that place gets some good stuff occasionally, too.”
“There were only scammers.”
“There are still scammers around, huh.”
Choi Soo-eun lifted her mug to savor the aroma once more.
I, too, placed my lips on the straw and greedily sucked down the strawberry-banana shake, along with the sweet whipped cream.
“…”
“…”
As we silently let time pass, Choi Soo-eun broke the silence first.
“Do you really need an artifact that badly?”
“Arna carries one too. I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”
“Arna…”
Choi Soo-eun briefly turned her head to look outside the window and fiddled with her teacup.
What could she be thinking while looking outside the window? Given her usually expressionless face, it was hard to tell what was on her mind.
This was a point where she differed from Arna.
“Hey, that artifact, I….”
WHOOSHING─
Just as Choi Soo-eun was about to start speaking, a siren wailed from outside.
Looking out the window, we could observe the hectic movements of people.
“Monster…?”
“No. More accurately, it’s a lesser monster.”
Sirens sound differently based on danger levels.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a monster but a lesser monster. A warning signal indicating the appearance of a lower-tier creature.
“Anyway, it means we’re in a dangerous situation, right.”
Choi Soo-eun quickly got up and dashed outside the shop.
What is she trying to do? Just in case, I decided to follow her.
“Excuse me, sir…?”
But the young female owner grabbed me and showed me a receipt with the food prices listed.
“You haven’t paid yet.”
? What?
Choi Soo-eun headed towards a nearby parking lot and pulled out a smart key.
BEEP.
CLOUNK─!
The trunk opened, revealing a rather classy mid-size sedan.
“You also had a car? Can I borrow it sometime later?”
“Stop talking nonsense and take this.”
Choi Soo-eun shoved a first-aid kit and emergency bag into my hands. It was surprising to see such things stocked in a personal passenger car. You’d think she was running an ambulance or something.
PLOP.
Following that, Choi Soo-eun equipped a red cross armband on her right arm, transitioning back into her role as a Medical Division student.
—WOOAAHHH!
A cry of alarm from far away caught our attention.
Is that the accident site? We hurried over.
“What’s going on?”
I asked someone nearby to understand the situation. A bald-looking older man.
“Aah, it was terrible! This lesser monster just popped out of nowhere and snatched my wig!”
“Excuse me? You’re talking about your wig?”
“That thing right there! That’s the one!”
The bald man pointed somewhere. It was the rooftop of a nearby shop building.
—WOH! WOO!
Up there, a beast was pounding its chest and roaring. It was a lesser monster modeled after a gorilla and on its head was the stolen wig.
—WOOOOOOO!
The lesser monster was effortlessly jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It was a parkour expert.
“Why me! That wig ain’t cheap, you know! If it escapes now, I’m as good as dead in front of my wife! I haven’t even finished the installment payments yet!”
“Relax. This student here is an Awakened. We’ll get your wig back.”
Choi Soo-eun pointed at me while saying so.
The bald man’s face lit up.
“An Awakened? Could you be a student from Han-yul Military Academy?”
“Excuse me… I didn’t say I’d do it…”
——— Quest ———
: Villain’s Deed
: Protect the citizen’s hair (artificial hair).
Quest Clear Reward <1 SP Point>
———
“Leave it to me.”
Even a villain wouldn’t joke around with someone else’s hair. There’s a line that even villains shouldn’t cross.
But that gorilla beast had crossed it.
It’s time for some punishment here and now.
—WOO! WOO!
The lesser monster freely jumped around the buildings. It was an incredibly agile creature.
We had to catch this lesser monster somehow.
But I currently lack the strength to chase after such a creature. I can barely ride on a spoon, after all.
I decisively disregarded the option of going after it directly.
“I’ll borrow the first-aid kit for a moment.”
If I couldn’t catch it, then coaxing it here would suffice.
I took all the gauze and a 10% Dextrose Water (DW) intravenous bag from inside the first-aid kit.
“What exactly are you planning to do…?”
“I’m going to make bait to lure it.”
I gathered the gauze into a little ball resembling bait and soaked it with the dextrose water.
CHACK—!
The gauze, now fully saturated with dextrose water, was attached to a spoon using a medical plaster as a connecting cord.
WHOOSH—
Though it couldn’t carry a person, this spoon lifted it with no trouble.
I sent the spoon towards the lesser monster.
—WOO?
It smelled it. Tentatively sticking its tongue out towards the bait.
—WOO! WOO!
Fortunately, it understood sweetness. I lowered the spoon to lure the monster down to the ground.
Now all that was left was to send it far away in the direction where there were no people….
—WOO?
But then, it tore its eyes away from the bait, turning its body in the opposite direction.
“Eh, mom…!”
Straight towards where a child was—right in the child’s hand was a shine muscat tanghulu.
It boasted sweetness far beyond that of the dextrose water.
What the heck. Isn’t tanghulu cheating…? Tanghulu is just unfair!
“No…!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Choi Soo-eun raced towards the child. I followed behind her, retrieving the spoon on the way.
THUMP! THUMP!
The monster ran towards them at a terrifying speed. The child, out of fright, collapsed to the ground.
“Gasp!”
At that precise moment, Choi Soo-eun hugged the child and rolled once on the ground. That instant allowed the child to stay safe.
BANG—!
The monster charged past like a bull in a fighting arena and smashed into a nearby wall.
—WOOOOOO!
The monster roared. Now, the tanghulu didn’t matter. It redirected its target to Choi Soo-eun, having been thoroughly riled up.
BREATHING heavily, it charged.
THUMP! THUMP!
But now, I was in front of Choi Soo-eun.
“I’m sorry, as a fellow male…”
With that, I aimed a massive spoon at the beast’s jaws and thrust it in.
DING—!
It was the perfect size. The lesser monster bit down on the spoon and flailed around, unable to shake it off.
This is my chance. I need to take advantage of this moment when the beast has revealed its weakness.
I placed one leg far behind me.
“To the same guy…”
With all my strength packed into my leg, I delivered a powerful kick straight to its groin.
POW—!
After the commotion, peace returned to the shopping district.
The lesser monster’s corpse was collected by the response team, and later, an employee from the Hero Management Department visited to assess damages.
“Wow! Thanks, student! This wig was really expensive! I’ll surely return this favor someday! I truly mean it!”
We managed to retrieve the quest target wig. Given how expensive it was, fortunately, the wig was in perfect condition without any damage.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Nothing feels inconvenient?”
By the way, Choi Soo-eun continued to check on the child until the very end. She thoroughly examined whether there were any wounds or bone issues.
“Yes, I’m fine…but…”
The child’s gaze dropped, noticing Choi Soo-eun’s knees. Due to the earlier aggressive sliding, the skin had been completely scraped off.
“Don’t worry about it. Things like this heal really fast with disinfection.”
“But still…”
“I’m a Medical Division student. This level of injury is nothing to me.”
Choi Soo-eun gently patted the child’s head to reassure them.
“By the way, where do you live? Can you go home by yourself?”
“Yes, I can go home alone.”
“That’s good. What a responsible child.”
The child stepped away from Choi Soo-eun and glanced at me, bowing deeply.
“Uncle, thank you for saving me.”
“It’s my fault I couldn’t save your tanghulu.”
“It’s okay. I can buy it again tomorrow.”
The child then turned to Choi Soo-eun and bowed deeply.
“Auntie, thank you.”
“W-WHAT? Wh-where did ‘auntie’ come from?!”
Choi Soo-eun’s lips wobbled momentarily. The word ‘auntie’ seemed to hit her hard.
“Well, I’ll be going now! Uncle, Auntie! Thank you!”
With that, the child waved as he left. I continued to wave at him until the very end.
“…”
Meanwhile, Choi Soo-eun didn’t utter a word, her mouth only moving silently.
“Auntie, is your knee doing alright?”
“You…”
Choi Soo-eun slightly turned her head and shot me a menacing glare.
I decided not to tease her anymore.
Because I could feel her immense hostility.
“Do I… really look that old?”
She was still bothered by it, asking for my opinion.
“Why take a random child’s words seriously? Just let it slide and move on.”
“B-But… the word ‘auntie’… I’ve never heard it before…”
Choi Soo-eun looked down at her palms with a mournful expression. Her palms shook violently, failing to maintain stability.
“Did I put on too much makeup?”
“Well, I think you look much better now.”
“Eh?”
Choi Soo-eun’s eyelids widened abruptly. She fixated an absentminded gaze on me.
“What did you just say…?”
“I said you look more beautiful now. Isn’t this the first time you’ve gone out fully made-up?”
Choi Soo-eun almost always showed up in the ER with a bare face.
Objectively, her current well-dressed version seemed much more beautiful.
“Hmm, so… it’s better this way… right?”
Maybe she found some comfort in it.
Choi Soo-eun kept absentmindedly twirling her hair.
—
End.
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=151,215 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
