Transformation or Death

Get on Board (1)

“Yeah, it’s not over yet. I know, damn it.”

Joo Ah-yoon muttered roughly and looked at the Watcher.

“Now what….”

She slowly assumed a stance while swallowing dry saliva from tension. The Watcher was staring blankly at Aquila’s head that had turned to dust. After the dust completely scattered away, he raised his head.

Soon his gaze turned toward Joo Ah-yoon. Their eyes met, encased in lenses.

Compared to what she had just seen, the light intensity was clearly less. Rather than lightning, it felt like artificial current flowing through the body. Between the flashing lights, white and black armor could be seen.

“Well, wait! I may not be very believable looking like this right now… Ah damn it, even my voice is modulated.”

The Watcher who had been quietly staring at her picked up his axe. Just as he had done when swinging at Aquila, with a cold and thorough attitude like a machine.

Joo Ah-yoon tensed up and got into position. Now there was very little time left. It wouldn’t even be 20 seconds until he consumed all the starlight.

“What am I really going to do about this….”

Her mind was troubled. What would happen if all the starlight was consumed?

Like other villains, he could end up in a state unable to use more power or his transformation might just be undone. But this was nothing more than a hopeful assumption.

What if, when that starlight was all used up, his life would come to an end along with it?

Considering how he had forcibly filled empty spaces in his body with lightning to maintain function, it was quite a possible scenario.

Joo Ah-yoon tensed at the chilling imagination. At the same time, she had to be tense in another way as well.

The Watcher had perfectly prepared to attack.

[Get ready Guardian! Here he comes…!]

He only prepared.

“…He’s not coming though?”

[Um… Well, that’s strange. The probability of him attacking was over 90 percent.]

“Hey you fake bastard. You moved from a parrot head to an iron head but you’re still birdbrained.”

[F-Fake?! The new prediction system I obtained this time is quite accurate! What’s strange isn’t me, it’s that guy!]

“That guy? My, you’re speaking quite carelessly?”

[You swear much more than me but why only scold me….]

Even as the embarrassed mascot’s voice shook Joo Ah-yoon’s mind, the Watcher showed no signs of moving.

He had coldly stopped moving, as if the operation of a machine had been forcibly blocked. Considering the objective, not dealing with the monster before his eyes would classify as abnormal behavior.

[…Is there still memory remaining?]

Such a question flowed in from the belt. The reason for stopping action now originated not from purposeful consciousness, but human consciousness. It was certainly a plausible hypothesis.

‘Even with his heart pierced and dominated by starlight, it means he still cares for me….’

Joo Ah-yoon’s heart grew more troubled.

‘If only I could have transformed a little faster….’

But even this time spent thinking now was precious.

Joo Ah-yoon had to make a choice. Whether to let his starlight be wasted or to block it off.

“Damn it really… If something goes wrong, I’ll at least accompany you to the afterlife!”

Chwarak. She held up a commendation resembling a butterfly. A mysterious pink light flew by her side.

[No wait. Guardian. Your unrequited love seems like it’ll be fine. You don’t have to be in such a rush.]

“I-It’s not unrequited love?!”

Joo Ah-yoon shouted in a shrill voice. She had made a resolution she couldn’t tell others about, but that seriousness disappeared in an instant.

[Don’t you think it’s ugly to still not admit it? Anyway birdbrain. What you need to worry about right

now isn’t that.]

The sky was clear. The lightning rain had disappeared. It was because Aquila was gone. Now that the threatening beams of light that made even taking one step difficult had stopped, naturally those who had been protecting people within those light beams could also come this way.

[Now worry about the ones who are coming.]

Entranced by an eerie presence, she looked to the side. From so far away that the gaze could not even be traced, hostile eyes were being sent in this direction.

Joo Ah-yoon knew the identity of that gaze.

“Orange Altair….”

Since only Orange Altair, that one, was capable of sniping from this distance. She was a rude magical

girl who had often kept Joo Ah-yoon in check and picked fights with her from before.

“What kind of bullshit is that jerk trying to pull…?”

Is she thinking of shooting the Watcher? He wouldn’t even be able to properly resist against a magical girl.

But she was not in a position to only keep Orange Altair in check.

“Hello.”

The surrounding temperature sharply dropped. Even though it was currently December, this was an abnormal cold. Unusual weather comparable even to the rain of lightning. Joo Ah-yoon knew the culprit this time as well.

No, almost any civilized person would know. There was only one figure who could wield ice magic to

this degree.

‘Only a few seconds have passed since Aquila disappeared….’

Blue Sirius, one of Joo Ah-yoon’s heroes and saviors, had appeared.

“Are you very busy?”

“…Blue Sirius.”

“Oh, you know my name? How grateful.”

She laughed huhu, but Blue Sirius’s eyes were by no means gentle. An icy gaze colder than the current air temperature stabbed Joo Ah-yoon.

‘So this is how seniors deal with villains….’

Overwhelming killing intent. With just that gaze, weak monsters would have been easily immobilized.

Fortunately, since she prioritized evacuation and protection over villain extermination, she probably did not participate in the battle just now.

People would have died more easily than flies in that storm. It means she needed to devote all her abilities to protection that much.

But once the conflict between monsters has ended and the lightning rain has stopped, now there is no need to hold back hatred.

“I’ll ask first… What is that power?”

Blue Sirius becomes endlessly merciless towards villains. Among magical girls with deep grievances against villains, she had an especially strong hatred.

It was a gaze incomparable to how she usually saw Joo Ah-yoon. Faced with this clear hostility she felt for the first time, Joo Ah-yoon trembled involuntarily.

In the case of villains, filled with barbaric instincts and arrogance, there were few chances to taste such killing intent.

But Blue Sirius now is not like that. This is an utterly human murderous intent, mixing reason and instinct. The one she cherished most is now trying to kill her.

Realizing this fact, Joo Ah-yoon felt sadness beyond fear.

“I have something to ask. That’s Ah-yoon’s starlight, so why are you handling it? …No, right? It can’t be. Right?”

[Guardian! Take care of your unrequited love first! There’s no need to fight now! If you’re not going to put on an identity reveal show, take care of that guy right now!]

Blue Sirius’ voice and the mascot’s voice from the belt mixed together. Joo Ah-yoon snapped back to her senses at those urgent cries.

[He’s coming undone!]

Joo Ah-yoon looked to the side. The starlight was faint. It was a very fragile light, as if it could disappear at any moment. The lightning and armor that had formed the Watcher’s body scattered into particles of light.

“Oh shit, we’re fucked.”

She threw the butterfly she had been holding towards the air and the Watcher. As soon as the butterfly touched Han Jae-jung’s body, his body flew through the air.

In an instant, Han Jae-jung moved out of Blue Sirius’ line of sight. Joo Ah-yoon didn’t even give him time to turn his head.

In just the blink of an eye, thousands of butterflies filled the sky, disorienting vision. She had already finished training this ability to handle projectiles that closely resembled such creatures back when she was Pink Deneb.

Before Blue Sirius could even react, she had leapt through the world several times. Of course, this meant heavy consumption of starlight.

It didn’t matter. This was the escape route anyway. It’s a path taken while discarding the premise for battles to come.

[Use it moderately, you bitch! You’re burning through it all! Your body will hurt later! Hey, bitch! Hey! Hey!]

She obsessively threw butterflies and repeatedly teleported to their locations.

[Hey! This much is enough! Stop now!]

“Ah.”

Only then did Joo Ah-yoon stop moving. She had wasted most of her starlight. She exhaled deeply, catching her breath, and for a while breathed roughly.

Her body, overworked from tension and strain, screamed. Joo Ah-yoon released her transformation. Pink particles scattered from her, revealing the familiar small body.

“Ugh… I thought I was going to die.”

And beside her was someone who had actually died and come back to life.

“…Brother.”

A sturdy adult male body just under 190 cm, breathing evenly. It was Han Jae-jung’s body. As the mascot said, he hadn’t died. That was truly fortunate.

But she still needed to confirm something beyond survival.

“We’ve already seen each other naked anyway…. So understand, okay?”

Joo Ah-yoon carefully removed his top. Since it was a shirt, she only needed to undo the buttons, which was convenient. Joo Ah-yoon, not having fully stabilized her body yet, was still breathing roughly and her face was flushed.

Even as she lamented her own appearance – unbuttoning a man’s clothes with a reddened face and ragged breathing – her hands moved without hesitation.

“…This is strange.”

The three holes that should have pierced his chest area were cleanly gone without a trace.

“Even for a villain… No, of course, there was that bastard earlier.”

Recalling Aquila, who had spoken and moved just fine even with his head cut off, her mood soured.

“Brother’s body is human. So why is it so perfectly fine like this… Hey Parrot. Do you know anything?”

[I don’t know.]

“…?”

She looked incredulously at him, who had taken the form of a steel ball again from his belt appearance.

“You said it was fine earlier! Didn’t you say that because you knew something?!”

[Something just popped into view! I don’t know if it’s a function of this new body or what, but anyway, predictions have become easier than before! You know too, since you kept getting assistance during battle!]

It was true. Compared to when she was a magical girl, the mascot had become much more useful. It gave real-time advice on enemy attack paths or where it would be good to throw butterflies. Thanks to that, she was able to dodge Aquila’s attacks a few times too.

“So you don’t know why Brother is like this?”

[That’s what I’m saying! It would be faster to ask him yourself… Hey, what are you doing.]

Rustle, a presence was felt from behind.

The eyes that had been prettily closed until now snapped open. It didn’t take long for Joo Ah-yoon’s eyes to meet his.

Han Jae-jung looked around, moving his head. Only then did Joo Ah-yoon realize that she was still holding his shirt hem, not having buttoned it up yet.

“Ah. Brother… this is.”

“…Ah-yoon.”

Han Jae-jung smirked.

“You wanted to see my body that badly? Last time too, and now again.”

“You start talking shit as soon as you wake up, you crazy bastard. No, there’s a reason for all this….”

At that moment, her vision wavered. The symptoms were similar to having a high fever.

No, it was the fever itself. It was the body of a sick person.

[I told you. Your insides would turn over later.]

She didn’t know it would be like this. Before she could say anything, Joo Ah-yoon collapsed onto Han Jae-jung’s chest.

Through dimming vision and consciousness, she heard the mascot’s sarcasm. The last thing she saw was Han Jae-jung’s perplexed expression.

Looking at him, Joo Ah-yoon was worried too.

She recalled the pain she was experiencing now and Blue Sirius’ gaze she had just seen.

Had Han Jae-jung been going through this all along?

“Ack.”

Indeed, he’s quite a pitiful person.

***

Ippotranslation 

***

“Ughk!”

She woke up from sleep and immediately sat up. She was quite taken aback by the unfamiliar interior. This isn’t home.

She saw Han Jae-jung dozing off in the chair next to her.

“Brother! Where is this….”

“Urk?! Uh, um… You’re awake? That’s a relief. Ah! You know what? You had a really bad fever. Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Huh? Yeah… I think I’m okay. Where is this?”

No matter how she looked at it, this wasn’t the interior of an ordinary home. Cheap-looking wallpaper and unnecessarily flashy curtains. Han Jae-jung, still half-asleep, muttered while holding his head.

“Motel….”

“What the fuck?”

T/N: Hi @everyone, sorry to say this but this novel will be dropped due to lack of support, It has been through a lot of mess wherein the subscription platform refunded the supporters their funds and closed the support page and that is why the Illustration page is no longer working. Basically that means there is literally a big loss of funds for this novel and I can not carry on like this as the cost for this novel is too much. Some chapters are still left but that will end in time. Just to note, I am not dropping this novel voluntarily as I prefer completing a translation, but this situation has forced my hands, anyways have a day.

https://ko-fi.com/ippostranslations