Chapter 6

A blue status window appeared.

[Awakened Information]

Name: Shin Iji
Awakening Rank: EX
Trait: Magical Girl

“Magical Girl? What’s that supposed to mean?!”

The stack of papers that might have provided an answer had vanished, the bandage monster was still standing there, and Junseo couldn’t even get back on his feet.

The only thing that had changed was that Iji had gained a trait.

“How is a magical girl supposed to fight?”

She didn’t have a magic wand or a magical companion.

Then, the moment she remembered the Bunny Princess sticker she had left behind, realization struck.

“How does a magical girl fight?”

The question itself was wrong.

Iji opened her mouth and called out to the bandage monster.

“U-Um, excuse me!”

Her voice trembled like a balloon losing air.

Still, the monster stopped moving for a moment, and Iji forced herself to continue.

“H-Hello! Is this… your home?”

Junseo stared at her in disbelief.

“Shin Iji! What are you doing?”

“Greeting him.”

“…I can see that! But you can’t even talk to monsters!”

Meanwhile, the monster slowly turned its head toward Iji.

Until now, it had only made groaning noises, but suddenly its head twitched.

Then a surprisingly cute voice emerged.

“…Hello, two guests.”

The speech was slow, but the pronunciation was clear.

Iji hurriedly replied.

“H-Hello!”

“Now… you can understand… me….”

Judging from the way Junseo’s eyes widened in shock, he could hear the bandage monster speaking as well.

“This… is our neighborhood. Who are you?”

“W-We’re elementary school students. We got dragged into a dungeon all of a sudden!”

“Ele… mentary? Is that the name of your town?”

The monster—no, the bandaged person—tilted his head.

Communication wasn’t exactly smooth, but at least he didn’t seem hostile.

“Thank goodness…”

Iji let out a sigh of relief.

Earlier, when she had remembered the Bunny Princess sticker, another memory had surfaced.

In Pink Me, Bunny Princess had once said:

“When I first came to Earth, Earthlings looked so scary that I was shocked! Your ears are tiny and wrinkly, your front paws split into five branches, and you’re so huge!”

“But if I ran away just because you’re different from me, I’d only remember you as frightening creatures.”

“So I gathered my courage and greeted you. If you also have a word like ‘hello,’ then that means we share something very important in common.”

No matter who you met, greet them first.

After all, nobody wanted to get hurt.

“Thank you, Bunny Princess.”

And the reason she could suddenly communicate with the bandaged person…

Iji instinctively realized she had gained a skill.

“Skill window!”

[Garden of Shin Iji (EX)] (Passive)
Allows the user to act as a magical girl within her territory.

“There’s already too much English in the first line.”

And there was that annoying EX again.

But beneath it, another skill immediately caught her eye.

[A Magical Girl Wants to Talk! (B+)]

• Allows communication with living beings inside a dungeon.
• However, the other party must also be willing to communicate.

“So that’s it.”

She was genuinely relieved that a peaceful approach was possible.

The bandaged person looked at Junseo.

“You’re hurt, right? You’ve been limping this whole time. Your footsteps sounded… creaky.”

Junseo looked completely overwhelmed.

When he shot Iji a pleading glance, she stepped in.

“He injured his leg when we entered this place.”

“Oh dear. That must hurt.”

“About that… could you spare some of your bandages?”

When they first entered the dungeon, the clear condition had been:

Remove the bandages.

“It never said we had to remove all of them.”

They had no idea when rescue would arrive.

She wanted to try everything she could.

“Of course, if you’re wearing them because you’re injured, then that’s different.”

“I’m not hurt.”

The bandaged person pulled back part of the wrapping around his left arm.

A sticky, slime-like substance stretched out from beneath the bandages before retracting.

“I leak… without them.”

“Ah…”

So that was why his limbs had twisted into strange shapes earlier and then returned to normal.

Junseo grimaced.

“Let’s just wait for rescue.”

“Be careful.”

The bandaged person interrupted.

“The sunlight here… is harsh. Stay too long, and your eyes will be damaged.”

“Ah…”

“Like mine.”

A chill ran down Iji’s spine.

“Come to think of it, he’s always moved toward sounds.”

Suddenly, every grain of sand sparkling in the sunlight looked as dangerous as shards of glass.

And would only their eyes be affected?

“Cough… my throat hurts.”

When had Junseo’s lips become so dry and shriveled?

Iji still felt okay, but Junseo looked like he was reaching his limit.

“Another way… Ah!”

An idea came to her.

“Excuse me, Mr. Resident. Could you still spare a little bandage?”

“Then what about… my body?”

“I’ll give you this instead!”

Iji picked up the tumbler she had dropped earlier.

Not the tumbler itself, but the cloth pouch wrapped around it.

“You can use this pouch to cover the parts that leak. It’ll probably be easier than bandages.”

Goodbye, Bunny Princess face pouch.

“If you put your arm in here and tie it…”

“What’s that?”

The bandaged person stretched out his arm.

But instead of touching the pouch, he touched the tumbler.

“Good sounds… coming from bottle. What’s inside?”

“Wait a second. I need to open it too.”

It was the homemade drink her older sister had packed for her that morning.

What had she made?

Carefully, Iji opened the tumbler.

Fsssshh!

A refreshing burst of carbonation escaped, accompanied by the sweet-and-tart scent of strawberries.

“Strawberry soda!”

It was a springtime drink her sister had made using homemade strawberry syrup.

At almost the same moment, the bandaged person’s shoulders began trembling.

“Smells good!”

“Right? My sister made it!”

“Can I use bottle… instead of pouch?”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll give lots of bandages!”

“Um… even if I empty it, the inside will still be sticky.”

“I’m stickier.”

The proposal was so unexpected that Iji couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

“If he’s offering, I should do it now.”

“Just a moment!”

She gulped down the strawberry soda.

The soda mixed with ice and strawberry syrup was delicious as always.

“My sister made it. I have to drink it!”

She didn’t want to waste even a single drop—

“Puhaaa!”

Shotgunning a carbonated drink was impossible.

The moment she lowered the tumbler from her mouth—

“Here! Bandage! Wrap your friend well!”

The bandaged person couldn’t wait any longer.

Riiip!

A strip of bandage nearly a meter long flew through the air.

The inside shimmered like the shell of a jewel beetle.

The moment Iji’s attention was stolen by the sight, the bandaged person snatched the tumbler.

There was no time to stop him.

A couple of slime-like chunks dropped from his unwrapped left arm and plopped into the tumbler.

Inside, bubbles began popping one after another.

The bandaged person tilted his head toward the sound and murmured:

“The sound is pretty too…”

Those were his final words.

The tumbler suddenly floated into the air.

The bandaged person had vanished.

“Ah—Eek!”

Iji hurriedly grabbed the tumbler.

Junseo looked around.

“The bandaged guy is gone.”

“…”

“But why does everything else look the same? …We’re not trapped here, are we?”

The ominous thought made Iji look around too.

At first glance, everything seemed unchanged.

The barren wasteland.

The blazing yellow sun.

But—

Dungeon Cleared!

The message floating before her immediately eased her worries.

This was her first dungeon, but even she could tell the problem had been solved.

“It’ll be okay.”

“Really?”

Another message appeared.

Clear Reward Obtained

A reward notification.

“A reward?”

Come to think of it, she’d read that hunters who cleared dungeons could obtain rare treasures or amazing abilities.

A small spark of anticipation appeared.

“Not that I cleared it because I expected a reward! But what could it be?”

Clear Reward Obtained

Trait Passive Ability Increased by 0.01%

“…”

This was her first time clearing a dungeon.

And her first reward.

But she was fairly certain this reward was incredibly pathetic.

“Still… maybe something improved?”

She could check her stats later.

Instead, she surveyed her surroundings.

Perhaps because the reward process had finished, subtle changes were becoming visible.

Beyond the sky that had been scorching them moments ago, the ceiling of the experience center was beginning to appear.

Iji raised her hand.

Instinctively, she could sense where the concentration of mana was weakening.

“I think a door is opening over there. Go first.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll catch up soon. I’m a hunter, remember?”

“…Come quickly. If you’re late, I’m calling the rescue team immediately.”

After a moment of hesitation, Junseo finally started limping toward the opening.

The word hunter seemed to have convinced him.

The instant he left, a rustling sound of turning pages came from behind Iji, accompanied by a strange voice.

[Your realization was correct. Follow the light.]

Iji turned around and gasped.

The thing that had been nothing more than a stack of papers moments ago had grown as thick as an encyclopedia and was now fluttering its covers like wings.

“It’s just like a real magical companion from a magical girl anime!”

But another question arose.

It had told her to follow the light.

Did that mean the paper stack—

No.

The magic book—

Was staying behind?

“What about you, Mr. Book?”