The giant hammer slammed into the asphalt road, sending rubble flying everywhere.
Mizuki Hana’s figure spun gracefully like a white swan dancing atop a music box.
The silver sword in her hand traced a dazzling arc of magical sword light across the night sky, brilliant as a shooting star.
The blade tip struck like a serpent’s tongue, its piercing whistle cutting through the air as it landed a rapid series of hits on the monster’s hardest back armor.
For a moment, the crisp clang of colliding metal interwove with dazzling sparks.
“Too slow.”
The silver sword thrust precisely into the seam of the armor on the monster’s back.
Yet this surefire strike only left a shallow white scratch on the shell that Steelback Man prided himself on.
No wonder he was called Steelback Man—a pure punching bag with maxed-out physical defense.
Steelback Man roared, thrusting out his steel spine that would never bend:
“Aaaaaah! My flawless back! Magic Girl Mizuki Hana, how dare you scuff my armor, I will never forgive you! You can forget about ever shaking my hand in this lifetime!”
Mizuki Hana’s brow furrowed slightly.
This monster’s back was actually that tough?
That attack just now was her full-power strike with almost no restraint, since she was in a hurry to get home and play <sky record>.
She silently calculated the angle for her next strike, her mind entirely focused on ending this boring fight as quickly as possible—steel back or no steel back, she’d just slice it all apart.
Steelback Man chuckled and said, “Magic Girl Mizuki Hana, is that right? I know all about your little fanfiction.”
Mizuki Hana’s hand gripping the sword paused for a moment.
“What?”
“Heh heh… Mizuki Hana? Ah, that name—just saying it sends a sickly-sweet, bitter metallic taste rolling off my tongue.”
Cute?
Of course she’s cute.
“Those eyes, when she smiles, they look like they hold all the starlight in the world—but only I know that beneath that starlight lies a bottomless black hole that can suck in a person’s very soul.”
“I love her. I love her so much it’s killing me.”
“Every time I see her flash that gentle yet distant smile at ‘everyone,’ my heart feels like it’s being gripped by an icy hand and torn apart piece by piece. Everyone? Heh… What ‘everyone’ are you? You’re just ants peeking at a goddess through a screen, background noise, dust that defiles her purity.”
“Only I, only I can hear the sigh behind her smile, only I can see that fleeting madness and emptiness in her eyes—so identical to my own.”
Mizuki Hana froze in place entirely.
‘This… isn’t that the insane fanfiction that damn Grey Ivy keeps posting on the forum to stir up drama?!’
The cringe hit her like a tidal wave straight to the top of her skull.
‘Damn Grey Ivy! Fine, stir up drama all you want, but now you’re messing with me during real combat?!’
Just as Mizuki Hana was distracted for that half-second of lethal embarrassment, Steelback Man seized the opportunity, his eyes blazing crimson.
“Now! Feel my love! Steelback Charge—!”
His massive steel body transformed into a howling cannonball.
Mizuki Hana, unable to dodge in time, took a brutal hit to her side.
Her pure white figure flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the rubble at the street corner, tumbling awkwardly across the gravel-strewn ground several times before barely coming to a stop.
“Cough…”
Mizuki Hana used her sword to push herself upright, struggling to stand.
She gritted her teeth and glared at Steelback Man across from her.
This defensive-type monster countered her agility type, and he even used psychological attacks!
‘Damn Grey Ivy!! I’ve told you to write less of that insane fanfiction! Don’t let me find you offline, or I swear I’ll slice you into sashimi!’
She wanted to finish this quickly and go back to gaming, but she was an A-class Magic Girl—even going all out would be enough to handle this.
“Hmph!”
Then, another hunched figure slowly stepped forward.
His right hand was perfectly fine, yet hung limp at his side, while his left arm had swollen to three times the size of a normal person’s, bulging veins visible across its surface.
This was an attack-type monster who had sacrificed all the power of his right hand in exchange for three times the destructive force in his left—Left Hand Monster.
“Haha, I’m here. They say strike while the iron’s hot—this is the perfect chance to take down Mizuki Hana.”
Chang Hansui hid in the corner.
‘What’s happening? What’s happening? A monster actually recited the fanfiction I wrote, cringe-broke an A-class Magic Girl, and even made Mizuki Hana get hurt because of the distraction?! And now it’s two against one.’
A wave of guilt spread through Chang Hansui’s chest.
If Mizuki Hana had been able to take down that monster quickly, this would at most be a consecutive battle—but two against one…
Could Mizuki Hana end up at a disadvantage…
One with maxed defense tanking up front, one with explosive attack dealing damage from behind.
A tank-plus-DPS combo, perfectly countering an injured assassin.
Chang Hansui watched from afar as she could only struggle to defend under the combined pressure of the two monsters.
Just as Chang Hansui was about to explode from guilt, he caught a faint silver-blue glimmer.
The shabby bracelet he’d casually tossed on the bedroom computer desk before leaving the house today was now lying quietly on the pile of rubble at his feet.
Chang Hansui swallowed hard.
He knew this was that damn goat’s scheme, but wasn’t this just like some magical girl anime where, when left with no choice, you make a contract with QB even knowing it’s a trap?
‘I know that sheep isn’t simple either.’
Chang Hansui listened to the cries of Mizuki Hana barely holding on and the mournful clang of clashing blades in the distance.
‘I’m sorry, Magic Girl Mizuki Hana. I keep stirring up drama about you on the forum every day, purely because you’re too gorgeous and your design hits all my buttons. I don’t want you to die… If you died because of my fanfiction, I’d feel so guilty I’d go find a tofu block and smash my head into it.’
‘Can’t delay any longer. Maybe backup would come, but if I have the power to help someone and I just look away— That won’t do. With great power comes great responsibility. Deep breath. Close your eyes.’
Chang Hansui hesitated no more, he grabbed the bracelet from the ground and snapped it onto his wrist.
“Magical Girl Transformation!”
A blinding stream of blue-white data erupted from the bracelet, forming a massive cocoon of light that engulfed Chang Hansui.
Chang Hansui’s originally neat short hair transformed into a cascade of waist-length light beige locks, the silky strands gradually shifting at the tips into a dazzling multicolored gemstone hue, clad in an adorable magical girl outfit.
She instinctively reached for a weapon, only to discover that the smart bracelet on her wrist hadn’t turned into a wand or sword—instead, it unfolded in midair into… a smartphone?
And the phone screen looked like a third-person view of <sky record>, and in the frame was… Chang Hansui, now transformed into a magical girl.
And Mizuki Hana and those two monsters?
There was a green HP bar in the top-left corner, and neatly arranged in the bottom-right were basic attack, dodge, and several ability icons on cooldown.
They actually… adapted it for the mobile platform?
<sky record> doesn’t even have a mobile version.