Transformation or Death

Chapter 31

First Meeting with the Belt

When Han Jae-jung returned to the hospital with Alkaid, he immediately rushed to the bathroom and vomited what he had eaten. Being exposed to the gazes of an unspecified number of people was still a difficult thing to adapt to. The problem was not just mental. His body was generally in poor condition.

It was the result of forcing his still-recovering body. It was similar to a player competing in a match the day after an injury, or taking an exam with a high fever. Looking back, it was quite a risky move. If Libra had been vigilant, it could have been Jae-jung himself who would be reduced to ashes on the spot, not Libra.

Thinking about it sent a chill down his spine. Next time, he would be better prepared and step forward. That’s what Han Jae-jung resolved to do.

His head was dizzy. The usually noisy Belt was silent. It was the device that most accurately informed him that his body was not normal.

He lay down on the bed, collapsing like a rag doll. It was more comfortable than the floor with the yellow tiles at home, but his mind was uneasy.

‘I should have just gone home.’

He felt like he was in debt to Blue Sirius. To be protected by the one he was supposed to protect, it was embarrassing.

Of course, this was not the only reason.

Han Jae-jung could not be sure that the current him was indeed Han Jae-jung. That’s why he couldn’t be happy about Blue Sirius’ kindness. She was looking at him, but not him. Receiving unintended kindness was simply uncomfortable.

It was like a wrongly delivered parcel or a mistaken bank transfer, it leaves an unpleasant feeling. The difference from the latter two was that there was no legal punishment for accepting it.

He could brazenly take it all and pretend not to know, but unfortunately, Han Jae-jung was not that kind of person.

Furthermore, this body called Han Jae-jung was her former lover. It was a past relationship that he should now forget. Continuing to meet would only bring up the past and cause pain to each other.

There was nothing good about it, but there was a reason he had stubbornly returned to the hospital.

The current Han Jae-jung was an important witness who had been kidnapped by a villain. With the return of all the people who had been kidnapped due to the battle that night, he was now officially under the protection of a government agency, even if not as important as before.

A brief stroll would have been fine, but just going home would have been a problem.

“Phew…” He sighed, placing his hand on his throbbing head. It was good that he understood the abnormality. It was also good that he could wield his full power almost perfectly.

But this was just the starting point. He still lacked the strength to fight and kill the representative villains of the dilemma. Moreover, he was in a position to kill while protecting, making it even more difficult.

There were also living problems. Since he could not openly reveal his face, it was impossible for him to receive a salary like a magical girl. Regular work was hindered by the quests, and while receiving a sponsor was an option, it was out of the question since there was no reputable company that would sponsor villains.

It was perplexing. The ideal was clear, but the path to move beyond it was so dark. He was tired, so he decided to think about it tomorrow and closed his eyes.

At that moment, the Belt emitted a flash of light. The glowing Belt woke Han Jae-jung with a loud noise.

[I have detected a star.]

“Fuck, that scared me.”

Startled, Han Jae-jung turned towards it.

“A star?”

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[While collecting Libra’s starlight, I have succeeded in illuminating a star that had been hidden until now.]

What did that mean? Puzzled, Han Jae-jung tried to interpret the meaning of the Belt’s words.

‘Completely illuminating a star… Wait, could it be?’

After a moment of contemplation, Han Jae-jung had an idea.

The reward for the quest was the fragments of stars. The Belt had collected the starlight that flowed out when the villain was defeated, and finally completed it into a single star. The discovery of the star must have meant the completion of a new star.

For Han Jae-jung, who had just felt the lack of power, this was the best news.

“Great, show it to me quickly.”

[Understood. Please lie down comfortably.]

Following Belt’s instructions, Han Jae-jung relaxed his body and lay down on the hospital bed. He closed his eyes.

There was nothing special. There was no flash of sacred light or anything. Something felt strange, but Han Jae-jung was so sleepy that he gradually slipped into the unconscious world of sleep.

As he fell asleep, Han Jae-jung dreamed.

***

Ippotranslation

***

It was a late night, and I was walking on the street. I no longer had the money to continue studying for the civil service exam, and I had no time to go to college and build up my credentials. My social anxiety was still severe, and it was not easy to have a conversation with anyone.

I was one of the information-vulnerable groups in a society where the internet solves everything, suffering from internet phobia.

There was still money in my bank account. Blood money from my parents’ death and heavy money that my ex-lover sent out of guilt. The moment I touched either, I felt like I was losing my humanity.

It was a kind of stubbornness that everyone has. I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to crave the money of my parents, who died because of me, and my ex-lover, who was hurt.

Someone might criticize it as a well-fed stubbornness, saying how many people are struggling in poverty and dying without a penny. But it didn’t matter to me. Ethical standards are different for each person. Their standards and values were simply different from mine. Money is very important, but I had values more important than that.

It was better to live hungry, not knowing when I’ll die, than to live by committing sins.

“Fuuuuck…”

I let out a long curse instead of a sigh and moved my feet listlessly. No matter how much I walked, the night didn’t seem to pass at all. It was hopeless.

Now what should I do? How should I live? As I was walking, pondering such worries, I saw a light in a back alley.

Going into a secluded alley just for that reason was a crazy thing to do. But I moved my feet towards it.

There was no logical reason. It was just a gut feeling.

I felt that if I went that way, new possibilities would open up for me.

As I went deeper, a sticky and slimy feeling began to spread in my feet.

I didn’t know it at the time, but thinking back, it was probably blood.

Fearlessly, I was able to see the source of the light. It was a lens, brightly reflecting the moonlight.

A belt.

There was a strange, telescope-like belt there. To be honest, I didn’t even think of it as a belt at first, since there was no waistband that a belt should have.

I picked it up and examined its structure, hypnotized. In the process, my eyes met the lens.

A burning pain, like being electrocuted, rose from the fingertips gripping the belt. What I saw in my memory was recollected.

It was like a dream within a dream. Memories within memories. Faintly, someone else was peering.

A figure lying peacefully on a bed, playing with a smartphone. The face, body, and situation were all different, but I somehow knew with certainty that it was me. It was strange. There was no evidence to judge that.

It was like meeting a doppelganger, a complete duplicate of my soul, not my body. Yes, that was the only way to explain it. My parallel self. Must be something like that.

On the smartphone screen I was holding, a webtoon was drawn. Scrolling down a bit, the title appeared.

The Golden Age of Magical Girls.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Ugh!”

The bed sheets were damp. The evidence that I had sweated a lot while sleeping. My breathing was rough.

“Ugh… Hah… Hah…”

What was that just now? Han Jae-jung calmed his rapidly beating heart and pounding chest with difficulty. At the same time, he turned his head to look at the belt.

Unlike the appearance in the dream, it was a clear, concrete form. It was still taciturn, and said nothing about the star.

Rubbing his face a few times, he massaged his tired eyes. Even though he had just slept, he didn’t feel refreshed at all. He was still tired, and even felt unpleasant.

The dream he had just had was not a simple fantasy, but a clear memory. Perhaps by observing the completed star, he had recovered additional memories. The belt’s previous claim that completing the stars could recover memories was indeed true.

Even though the possibility was high, he had been careless and let his guard down. He didn’t expect it to hit him so hard.

“Phew…” He exhaled a long sigh and barely composed himself. Han Jae-jung began to theorize based on the memory he had just seen.

The encounter with the belt was before he was chased by the villain, and through that belt, he had observed someone. That someone was most likely his parallel self with very high probability. The name of the webtoon he was reading was ‘The Golden Age of Magical Girls’.

‘Did I confuse that memory and mistakenly think I was possessed?’

Then all the familiar aspects of Jae-jung’s body, values, traumas, and behaviors would be fully understandable. However, it was still too early to be certain. There was a lack of clues. He needed to recover more memories.

‘So it’s back to taking down the villains, huh.’

Well, that was a good thing. It was also Han Jae-jung’s own wish.

Just by defeating Libra’s clone, he had been able to steal so much starlight. He realized that the fastest way to recover memories and power was to complete S-grade villain extermination quests.

But if he just kept looking for shortcuts, he might end up taking a shortcut to the underworld as well. Han Jae-jung decided to carefully select the situation and obtain the stars.

He turned his gaze back to the belt.

The belt had become even more suspicious through the memory he just had.

How did this belt show him that? Originally, who made this belt and for what purpose was it designed?

His head was in a mess.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I just had trouble sleeping.”

Han Jae-jung naturally answered, then startled and turned towards the direction the voice came from.

“Wh-what?”

“I’m sorry. I’m often told that I don’t have a presence.”

“No, that’s not it… Who are you…”

Pausing mid-sentence, Han Jae-jung closely observed the woman. A woman with light beige hair neatly tied up. Dressed in casual clothes, but there was no mistaking her.

“Golden Aldebaran…?”

“Thank you for recognizing me.”

It was the magic girl, the master of stealth.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to take your testimony.”

“In the morning?”

“Yes. I thought it would be better to finish this quickly.”

“Isn’t it a bit early in the morning?”

He glanced at the clock. It was 7 o’clock in the morning. It was a bit early to be looking for someone.

“The working hours of a magical girl are 24 hours a day.”

“That’s a commendable work ethic. Except when applying the same spirit to others.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“That was sarcastic…”

Looking at the dignified Aldebaran, Han Jae-jung let out a deep sigh.

“Ah? But wait a minute… Pink Deneb…. Snowflake… Hmm, wasn’t Blue Sirius originally the investigator?”

“Yes, that was the case originally, but…” Aldebaran hesitated to speak. “The two of them cannot come here right now.”

There were only a few things she was sparing with her words about. Han Jae-jung guessed the rest.

“Because they were attacked by the S-grade villain Scutum… The two of them are currently in a coma.”

Despite that, hearing those words made his heart sink heavily.

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