Transformation or Death

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – 

A Temporary Alliance (or Not)!

The first step is conviction. 

The trust that the path I’m taking now is right.

A ring of stars formed on my leg.

The second step is anger, anger at the things I’ve forgotten.

It’s anger at my current ignorance, and anger at everything that led to this situation.  

A new ring was added on top of the ring of stars.

The third step is resolution.

Three steps, three rings.  

The fourth step.

Once again, memories came flooding back. Not just memories, but emotions too.

The feeling when I laid against the villain’s body. 

The fear of encountering villains with a normal human body at the end of my burning vision after drinking the water.

Blood gushed out from my stomach, and with it, helplessness. The fear a living being should rightfully have. 

The fear of death.

The fifth step. 

I chewed on that fear.

The fear of death is as sharp as an awl in your pocket, as scorching as the sun obscuring the stars – even if it’s a thing of the past, it weighs down your steps.

The sixth step.

Not the fear of death, but the fear of my own power welled up. 

Is this the power of a villain after all? Is my will the will of a villain?

What is the true nature of this power, and who am I?

It was also the fear of ignorance.

The seventh step.

It was a step to shake off that fear.

I steeled my resolve, looking at the opponent before me.

Compared to Paradox and Libra, Virgo is a piece of cake.

She’s weak compared to the 15 stars.

She may be annoying for a magical girl, but not for me.

Seven steps, seven halos layered with conviction, anger, resolution and fear.

Virgo was still floating, caught by her defensive ability when transforming.

Even before she could land on the ground, the seven steps were complete.

The long shadow of my leg loomed over her head.  

Kwaaang!!!

Virgo’s body turned to a nail, shattering the floor. The tiles beneath her broke in the shape of the Big Dipper, as her body alone couldn’t withstand that force. The starlight gathered in my leg radiates outwards, shooting up like a tower. Like a bonfire of sorts.

“I’m returning what you dealt with me earlier.”

[Seven Star Bogak manifested successfully. Reenactment rate 70%.]

Finally, seven. 

What was Han Jae-jung’s ideal that raised the reenactment rate like this?

No, was this really Han Jae-jung’s ideal?  

Actually, was the ideal I was supposed to reenact my own?

Then what was that webtoon I read, and what is this unfamiliarity?

I don’t know.

But there is one thing for sure.

“Kuhuk…kuhwik… How many times can you use that technique? It must be quite a burden on your human body… ah.”

“Human? You just called me human!”

“Kukk…”

I’m not a normal villain. 

To borrow Paradox’s words, I’m an exceptional being who is neither human, villain, nor magical girl.

Of course, I do intend to keep living as a human, but if we start dissecting definitions, it’ll be endless.  

“Indeed… You can’t be sure whether I’m human or a villain. Paradox was right. Since I’m nothing, I’ll choose what I become.”

The villain and magical girl transformation are intermixed.

A characteristic of a villain is losing memories. And fundamentally transforming from a human form into a vastly different appearance.  

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Both apply to me.

Let’s assume I underwent Han Jae-jung’s villain version.  

Even then, there are more than a couple suspicions.

The fact that I can keep recalling memories from my human life, or that I can revert to my original mundane human form from that appearance.

These would be absolutely impossible for a normal villain.  

Villains gradually forget their human memories. Not recall them.

Villains can disguise themselves similar to humans, but their appearance is never perfectly identical and has inhuman qualities.

Like Paradox with the cactus pot on his head.

Even Virgo has inhuman features like wings and pure white eyes.

But I don’t.

[What is your business?]

This rigid mascot too.

I transform from a complete human form into a villain.

The most distinct thing is the original sin I felt when I possessed.

The knowledge of the webtoon ‘The Golden Age of Magical Girls.’  

The story in that webtoon is highly likely to be true.

Not just the characters being the same, but their abilities, personalities, and pasts all match up too. 

The future developments also have sufficient justification.

Whether I’m the Han Jae-jung who lost his memories, a reincarnator, or a reincarnator who went insane after witnessing the future.

It’s quite intriguing.

There’s a mountain of things to uncover going forward. 

The ideal I should reenact, my identity, occupations I can take on with this body, and so on.  

“I’ve been rather disturbed for a while, almost to the point of going insane. Thanks to you, I can now confirm my insanity. I can go to the mental hospital without hesitation now. I’ll send the bill your way, is that alright?”

What an intriguing life. At least it won’t be boring. Thinking positively, I asked Virgo, “So you won’t tell me what your objective was?”

She gritted her teeth, seeming resentful at feeling betrayed. 

Her dilemma wasn’t revealed till the end in the webtoon before she died, so there’s no way to know.

“I’ll tell you…?!”  

“You seem to be in pain. Just stay still. I’ve got more to say to you.”

Was it an unexpected blow? 

She seems quite shaken.

As expected, while she can unleash explosive physical power in an instant, sustaining it is difficult.  

Just as I read in that original webtoon, or whatever it was.

“A Virgo losing to Seven Stars, how pathetic.”

“Kuhwik…!”

Even with fifteen stars, their brightness isn’t all equal.  

Spica’s brilliance can’t be ignored, but the rest are mediocre.

Unlike Paradox or Libra, she couldn’t make all her stars shine as brightly as possible.  

What’s more, now that she’s become a constellation-level villain, she can’t increase her stars’ brightness anymore.

One of the differences between villains and magical girls.  

Villains gain strength by increasing their number of stars, but their growth ends once they complete a constellation.  

However, magical girls can endlessly increase the brightness of their stars and continue growing stronger.

No matter how many stars there are, what use are they if they’re outshone by a single brilliant star?

“I haven’t lost yet…”

“No, you’ve lost Virgo.”  

Then Libra came walking out from behind the wall.

“I thought you had some grand plan since you killed all my pawns, but you’re just retrying that failed recruitment attempt? You really are lacking in intelligence. Is it because you’re so fickle?”

“I’m not stupid! I… My choice was…”

“Just stay asleep. No, since you ruined my plan, it’s better if you die here.” 

It seemed quite unpleasant that Virgo acted differently from his own thoughts.

Libra shouted angrily, “If you interfere one more time, I’ll kill you!”

After shouting like that, he laughed creepily, as if his mind was relieved.

Still, there is no sense of camaraderie or unity between them at all.

Their conflict is none of my business.

“Hey Libra. Do you think I’m a villain too?”

“Your current appearance is that of a villain. But your bare face before was clearly human.”

“Thanks for the answer.”

Enraged by Libra’s answer, Virgo got up. Despite blood flowing from her forehead, she just wiped it off roughly.

“This crazy bastard. You just answer obediently when asked?” 

“Why should I help with your self-realization? You left me here thinking I’d be killed. Surely you didn’t think I’d have no thoughts about that…”

A scathing evaluation.

It’s actually true.

Did you think I’d change my behavior if you made me think I was a villain?

Since I’ve obtained memories and clues to my identity, it ends up only benefiting me in the end.

“Then I just have to defeat you now?”

I took a stance pointing at Libra.

“No, wait a moment.”

She made a stop gesture with an open palm.

“I have something to ask you.”

Closing that palm, then extending just her index finger, she pointed it somewhere.

Obediently following where she pointed, I saw the bronze villain she created.  

The problem was that there was not only the monster there, but also a young man.

“Kuk…kek…!”

The young man whose neck was gripped by the bronze villain’s hand couldn’t even scream as he flailed about.

“If we leave that young man to die here, we’ll withdraw from here peacefully.”

“Who decided that!”

“I did. I have more status and power than you. In other words, my existence is heavier. A defeated body shouldn’t speak so impudently.”  

“It can’t be a defeat just from getting hit once… I…”

Virgo’s moving body staggered greatly. Symptoms of a concussion. How inconvenient that the villain resembles the human body so closely.

“Kku…ik!”

“So what will you do? What will you choose? The young man showing signs of being rejected from the reproduction market? Or the humans gathered in that shelter over there?”

Just saying she’s unattractive is too harsh. I stared hard at that villain, then suddenly realized and raised my finger to the sky.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t ask this.”

A red starlight twinkled.

“Have you ever seen a star before?”

“Like a red comet in your heart!”

Kwaaang!

The brilliantly descending Red Vega crushed the bronze villain’s body and snatched the young man from its grip. 

After carefully laying the young man down on the ground, I stood up clenching my fist.

“The Red Vega appears…!”

The starlight was even more intense than I’d seen before.

To grow this much in just one day….

You must have gone through a lot of hardship.

More than admiration, I felt pity first.

***  

Ippotranslation

***

“The Red Vega appears…!”

Even when news came that a villain from the Big Dipper appeared at the university, his duty remained the same. 

True to her resolve, Red Vega instantly defeated the villain that appeared at her alma mater and rushed to this place.

On the way, she received cheers.

– Hang in there! 

– Senior, you’re so cool!

Such cheers. As there was blatant disappointment, someone also openly cheered her on.  

Each time, she realized that what she had been doing was not wrong.

Fired up with passion in her heart, the Red Vega appeared.

‘This is a big deal….’

She realized the current situation was not good.

She appeared boldly, but the situation was dire.

[Virgo, Libra, even the Big Dipper… Will the Guardians be okay?]

‘But I have to try anyway!’

There were three S-grade villains. But she could not retreat here. 

There were people behind her!

Red Vega boldly wrapped her fist in flames.

If she could just endure for a few seconds, her seniors would soon arrive.

She was trembling and sweating, but Red Vega chose to move forward.

She is a magical girl, after all.

Even if she knew she would lose, she must not retreat.

“Oh, you came at the right time.”

In the midst of this, the villain of the Big Dipper calmly waved his hand and approached her.

“I was struggling to deal with them alone. You evacuate the people at the shelter. I’ll hold off those two as much as I can.”

“…Huh?”

“What are you doing, get ready. You know I’ll cover you, right? Did you contact Deneb?”

“Ah, no you’re also my enemy…”

“Ah, right, that too.”

The villain of the Big Dipper boldly declared. “Then let’s form a temporary alliance!”

“…Huh??”

“Tch… This Red one is annoying.”

“A dangerous alliance is born.”

The other two villains did not seem to take issue with that declaration. 

In fact, Libra’s voice sounded very troubled, as if she truly thought so.

“The plan is completely ruined… Hmm, I admit it. Today is my defeat.”

“What, what is it?”

“Let’s wait for the next time. Virgo, move out.”

“Tch….”

Libra opened her hand. A scale rose above it. Virgo clicked her tongue.

Thump.

When that scale tilted heavily to one side, their figures were obscured by thick black smoke. The clanking sound of a steam engine and a thick smell of oil.

It was a miracle manifested through her bargaining ability.

All the magical girls succeeded in guarding, and no harm came to the one space that was lacking due to Han Jae-jung’s interference.

Moreover, the villain of the Big Dipper, who had intended to kill them here, ended up siding with the magical girls.

If this causes the image of good to arise for the villains?

Or if it causes the image of evil to arise for the magical girls instead?

For Libra, both were unacceptable.  

The plan failed.

But the bewildered Red Vega was just confused.

With the two villains gone, only Red Vega, Han Jae-jung, and the fallen citizens remained.

“Look like they left.” 

He looked at Red Vega.

Red Vega stepped back and took a combat stance.

“Is this because of what happened yesterday? Don’t worry. Yesterday was just a special circumstance, I won’t attack unless absolutely necessary.”

“What is your goal!”

Red Vega was curious.

You are a villain, yet why do you act in such a way?

Why do you attack villains, why do you protect citizens? 

Moreover….

“Was that to protect us from Scutum yesterday?!”

Even them, the magical girls.

“That’s right.”

“…!”

He chuckled.

“…If I say so, can you trust me? Can you protect me and cooperate with me?”

Red Vega could not readily answer.  

The history of humans and villains she read all day yesterday always had a tragic ending.

“If I become a precedent for a safe villain now, won’t you hesitate to attack villains next time and the time after that? Then how will the citizens see you? A woman gone crazy playing buddy-buddy with villains? That would be a relief, I suppose.”  

The flames wrapped around Red Vega’s fist gradually faded smaller.

“Tell me your true intentions…!”

“What would you do if you knew?”

Han Jae-jung’s dream was just to live quietly. Having this long conversation was not his intention at all. The temporary alliance was just something he blurted out going with the flow, but thinking about it now, it was something he shouldn’t have said to her. He felt apologetic.

He tapped his head with his finger.

It was a mocking gesture.

“Think about your position. The magical girl who stoked citizens’ anxiety. Think about your place, don’t give anyone an excuse to attack you. Don’t you have a dream? Then you should make it come true. Will befriending me now help your dream?”

Meaning, if you don’t want to become the crazy magical girl who befriends villains, just stay still. 

People are so scary these days, don’t give them an excuse to go after you.

Come to think of it, suggesting a temporary alliance earlier pricked his conscience.  

But he didn’t want to create a situation where Red Vega would attack all three of them at once. People’s minds are just complicated like that.  

His hand was already on his belt.  

“It’d be nice if this is our last conversation.”

[ALKAID.]

Like the villains before, he scattered along with the smoke.