Detailed information wasn’t released to the media.
The information that was released was somewhat censored, so the public didn’t know exactly what had happened.
They didn’t know that warnings were given to prevent anyone from getting hurt, or that if someone fainted, they tried to help them move somehow.
They didn’t know that the reason for initially attacking the monster was to rescue hostages that the monster had taken.
But even within that controlled information, there was one thing that could be known.
That ‘terrorist’ was a ‘magical girl’.
A magical girl who could never be called righteous, who rampaged on her own accord.
And that magical girl had never lost in fights against the ‘federal magical girls’.
Even when she committed terrorism, she walked away confidently.
Countless police chased after her, but she disappeared suddenly in the middle of Seoul, leaving a large wound behind.
She had stolen important items from the heart of the country’s largest corporation and fled without a care.
From the place where the monster and magical girl and numerous police were present, she escaped solely with her own power.
Even crumpled up a police armored vehicle like a piece of paper.
Summing up all those stories, there was only one conclusion.
An entity that could crush an armored vehicle like a piece of paper with her own power was now roaming outside the world.
An entity with the power to tear people apart and kill them if she set her mind to it was hiding somewhere no one knew.
Everyone who testified about the ‘terrorist’ had to hold their breath.
If she were to come looking, they would be the next to be slain.
On the other hand, there were those who cheered.
There were those who believed she was a being who stood against the system that was changing the world.
People who were dissatisfied with the world in some way—those from the government or those beneath it, or people the corporations deemed evil—cheered.
“……….
Damn it!”
And, the person who was burning the most inside in that situation was—
“You couldn’t find James? What the hell makes finding that damn rat so difficult…………!”
Of course, it was the one who created that situation.
The current chairman of Noir Corporation.
‘Former Chairman’, that is, her sister who was much older and now the chairman was declared missing, she was an alien with red skin.
Her appearance as a middle-aged woman with antennae might have seemed somewhat comical to Earthlings, but at that moment, there was no one who could confidently mock her standing before them.
At that moment.
If she couldn’t catch the one who was causing the company’s prestige to plummet, soon she would not only be laughed at but would have to stand before a hearing.
It’s easy to defy this country’s orders and flee.
But doing so would mean immediate pursuit by the Federation.
The only reason she could remain safe was because she was completely in hiding within this country.
Deals were only valid on this planet.
To be valid even beyond space, she had to complete the plan to the end right here, at this spot.
Completing both circuits.
That was what the Federation wanted.
If she failed to complete that and went beyond Earth, it would literally be seen as ‘fleeing’.
Moreover-
“Can’t find the chairman, can’t find the damn rat. What the Federation bastards know how to do…………!”
Yes.
She couldn’t find the ‘former chairman’ either.
The problem wasn’t just the Galactic Federation’s pursuit.
The chairman would be watching from afar, observing as her own company was put in such a situation.
She’d probably reappear and plan to cut out the ‘current chairman’.
So she had even enlisted the help of the Galactic Federation.
“The squeaking adults are quite reluctant to find figures from their own planets—”
“Didn’t you know that, so you’re asking!?”
Boom!
The chairman slammed the desk hard.
The man in front of her, who had his hair slicked back into a “Mohican” style, trembled as his shoulders quivered.
“We didn’t know that, so didn’t we try to handle it properly from the start! What’s the point of working for expensive money if you don’t know how to do it right! If we had handled the initial outbreak properly, none of this would have happened!”
At least, that bastard was with the ‘Black Magical Girl.’
The hammer the magical girl was holding was definitely a technique from the squeaking adults.
Combined with the unique output of the circuit, it produced firepower that was simply “unbelievable.”
“…That magical girl. The fighter. Was her name Jeong Jieun?”
“Yes!”
In response to the chairman’s words, the man with the Mohican haircut stood at attention and replied.
“Find a suitable guy around there. Someone who would show up if taken hostage. From what I saw last time, there seems to be one.”
“Chairman. No matter what, meddling with Earthlings is—”
“What do you think this company has been doing all this time?” the chairman asked, frowning.
“Originally, this company is one that extracts energy by exploiting Earthlings. This country on the Earth planet agreed to it, and most of the giant corporations in other countries are doing similar things. They possess overwhelmingly more magical power than what humans from other planets have, and all Earthlings have it, right?”
The chairman leaned back into his chair as if burying himself and spoke again.
“The fools agreed that it’s better if only they get out of it. Do you think they’d flinch or blink if a few people are sacrificed?”
The man with the Mohican haircut had a slightly blank expression in response to the chairman’s words.
“So, let’s do this properly. It’s a company, right? We need to meet the customers’ demands.”
The chairman spoke with a somewhat tired expression.
“First, let’s summon that magical girl and retrieve the company’s assets. If we can handle it along the way, let’s do so.”
The chairman stared intently at the man and continued.
“Ask the Galactic Federation for help as well. Maybe she can be classified as the first Earthling monster. If the energy affects her and turns her into a monster, isn’t there no reason to say that the source of that energy isn’t a monster?”
“If you seek more help in the current situation……….”
“What. Do you think the counterweight will shift our side and that we’ll just be at a disadvantage?”
The chairman scoffed.
“It’s a company. One of our tasks is to go around finding better clients and probing here and there. Do you think we have an advantage where money is exchanged and sides are taken?”
“No, it’s not like that, but…………. If the core technology falls into the wrong hands—”
“But the government can’t directly create production processes either. Someone has to secure the business, and the companies that handle that technology well are the ones that benefit.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange to blow it away with things like tax evasion? It’s better if that opportunity is taken by those who can proceed with the government’s hope circuit project.”
A company established in another country wouldn’t be ignoring it because they don’t know about it.
It felt like such thoughts were rising to his throat, but the man remained silent.
“Creating a new world by monopolizing technology? Do you think such a nonsensical thing is possible? If it were possible, it wouldn’t be profitable. If resources increase indefinitely, prices would just keep dropping.”
The chairman turned his chair to look down at the building below.
There were countless lights there.
One by one, entities with vast energy sources were bustling around busily.
To the chairman, it looked like jewels.
If you attach efficient circuits to each person and load them onto ships, how efficient energy sources they would become.
How much they could sell them for.
If they could limit the supply and just sell them, it would be a more efficient way to make money.
“Companies aren’t religious organizations. Planning decades into the future is already somewhat nonsensical.”
The chairman frowned again as he spoke.
“She said her granddaughter is on this Earth. Find that granddaughter’s location too. If she’s not an Earthling, it should be easy to locate.”
“…Understood.”
Eventually, the man with the Mohican haircut nodded.
“But, are you okay?”
In response to my question, the antennae of the Earthling’s alien face twitched upward.
“Hmm?”
“So………… You can’t work at the company, right? That was supposed to be the place where you could earn the most.”
“Ah.”
The Earthling alien gulped down some ramen and replied.
“Well, it’s not like I can’t live without it. We’re paying the rent together, and actually, our living expenses have improved a bit.”
It didn’t seem like empty words.
His expression, lost in thought while gazing into the void, looked like he had seriously calculated the living expenses.
After a moment, as if he had finished his calculations, the Earthling alien nodded with a rather serious expression.
“First of all, reducing the monthly rent by half is pretty significant. We can allocate that to food expenses. Well, the number of workdays has actually increased.”
So, it seems that previously, he would go out to work once, earn some money, and spend a few days just having fun and eating.
Now that he’s going out to work more frequently, his financial situation is actually more stable.
“Is that so?”
I looked at him with a somewhat uncertain expression, but the Earthling alien just shrugged his shoulders.
I had no choice but to nod.
What else could I have done?
After the incident in Chungmuro, about two weeks had passed.
My body had recovered much faster than expected, so I was able to go back to work soon.
By the end of February, we were able to live quite peacefully.
Days went by where I went out in the morning for a part-time job and returned with my daily wages.
Everything.
During that time, James had been sitting in his room, constantly creating something.
Even if I asked, he only talked about theoretical stuff that was so convoluted that just listening to it twisted my brain, so I gave up asking what he was making.
He seemed to enjoy my discomfort since he was also quite a twisted guy.
Well, it didn’t really matter.
Anyway, even if I stayed still, he would just go ahead and tell me to do this and that.
I lay back down on the floor roughly.
And stared blankly at the stained ceiling.
I wondered if both of them were okay.
Honestly, I was so worried I felt like going crazy.
I wanted to go find them and ask if they were alright, but the fact that I couldn’t made me even more distressed.
In the end, what surged up was a desire for revenge.
It was because I had been dragged into this situation over an internal power struggle within the company.
Now, it wasn’t because of James’s words anymore.
I also wanted to smash those trash’s heads.
I vowed never to stop until I went and crushed their heads with a hammer.
Because if I thought of anything else besides that, I felt like I would go insane.