The Burden of a Late Heroine

Breaking News! The C-City Aquarium has been attacked by a monster!!

Feeling utterly dejected, Liu Li left school. While on his way to his part-time job, an urgent news alert suddenly flashed across his phone.

‘Why now, of all times?’

Hastily, Liu Li sent a message to his fast-food manager, explaining his inevitable delay, before rushing into a nearby alleyway.

“Transform.”

Magical Girl Grey Moon soared out of the alley, her petite form ascending beneath the clouds. With a look of intense determination, she sped with all her might towards the C-City Aquarium, located just outside the city.

After a considerable time, Magical Girl Grey Moon finally spotted the aquarium in the suburbs.

To her astonishment, she found that the Magical Girl Tri-color had already cleaned up the battlefield and were now gathered, deep in conversation.

‘How could this be… so fast?’

‘I didn’t waste a single moment, and I even pushed back my shift!’

Unfortunately, from her current distance, Magical Girl Grey Moon couldn’t discern the Tri-color’s conversation; otherwise, she might have felt a little better.

Emerald Magical Girl: “I have to admit, Scarlet, your sudden informant’s intelligence was indeed accurate…”

Scarlet Magical Girl: “Hehehe~ My monster ambush plan was a huge success!”

Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl interjected, “At least this wasn’t a trap set for us, meow.” She wasn’t clustered with the other two; instead, she turned her head to gaze at Magical Girl Grey Moon, still far off in the distance, and met her eyes as Grey Moon approached.

The other Magical Girls, however, only noticed Grey Moon’s arrival as she was about to land.

Scarlet Magical Girl: “Ah, look who finally arrived! Magical Girl Grey Moon! Are you late again because you’re hoping to snatch our glory?”

Scarlet snarled at Grey Moon aggressively, only to have Emerald sharply reprimand her from behind.

Emerald Magical Girl: “Don’t be rude.”

Emerald Magical Girl: “Grey Moon has helped us a great deal.”

Emerald offered Grey Moon an apologetic smile, but Grey Moon didn’t even spare her a glance, her attention completely captured by the blue news helicopter.

Above them, a familiar female reporter spoke into the camera. As the helicopter descended to a suitable height, Grey Moon watched, utterly still, as the cameraman aimed the lens directly at her.

“Viewers, as you can see, Magical Girl Grey Moon has only just arrived on the scene, long after the Magical Girl Tri-color finished clearing the area.”

“The theory that Magical Girls intentionally delay their arrival has been continuously fermenting online, and our station’s reporters will continue to follow up to ascertain the truth.”

“Some netizens have also taken this opportunity to send our station scathing critiques directed at Magical Girl Grey Moon.”

“They claim that if Magical Girl Grey Moon continues like this, she’ll lose all credibility. They hope Grey Moon, as a Magical Girl, will remain grounded and focus on fighting monsters, rather than constantly trying to claim credit for others’ achievements…”

Grey Moon clenched her fists. Having flown all this way from afar, she abruptly turned and departed. The female reporter, exhilarated, urged the cameraman to capture Grey Moon’s retreat. Seeing this, Scarlet grew gleefully smug, and, hiding from her two teammates, she stuck out her tongue at Grey Moon’s retreating back.

****

Manager: “Liu Li, you left early yesterday, and you’re late today.”

Manager: “What’s going on? I don’t care what you were doing; even if you were saving the world, it has nothing to do with me! Get your uniform on, and that’s a fifty-dollar fine.”

Having wasted considerable time in his back-and-forth journey, Liu Li returned to his workplace, only to be subjected to a harsh, finger-pointing lecture from his manager. A profound sense of injustice welled up within him.

He lowered his head, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal.

Liu Li: “Oh.”

With a dispirited expression, he returned to the storeroom, changed into his fast-food uniform, put on his mask, and plunged back into the store’s frantic pace.

He worked until his head spun, having to deliberately carve out moments just to wipe away his sweat.

During a brief glance upwards, he saw the store’s television broadcasting news that a ‘Half-Awakened’ monster had attacked another middle school.

Liu Li hastily flung off the hat from his head and, without a second thought, burst out through the back door.

“Transform.”

Daring the risk of exposure, Magical Girl Grey Moon immediately took flight. She then propelled herself through the night sky, channeling her full magical power towards the middle school under attack by the Half-Awakened monster. Such unrestrained expenditure of magic would exhaust even Grey Moon.

Yet, upon reaching the middle school,

she witnessed the Magical Girl Tri-color having already successfully repelled the monster, with countless students from evening study sessions poking their heads out of windows to thank them.

‘How could this be?’

‘The Magical Girl Tri-color weren’t this fast before, were they?’

Grey Moon gazed in astonishment at the middle school below, which buzzed with an excitement reminiscent of a graduation ceremony. The Magical Girl Tri-color were clearly receiving an overwhelming welcome.

“Ah, Magical Girl Grey Moon is late again!”

With the innocence of a child, a young first-year middle school girl, spotting Grey Moon in mid-air, uttered these words. Her cry drew the attention of countless others to Grey Moon’s presence, and many students began to mock and joke about Grey Moon’s perpetual tardiness.

Grey Moon could hear every word.

Her cherry-blossom lips pressed tightly together, she chose not to descend, instead drifting alone and forlorn in the cold night sky.

This presented a stark contrast to the Tri-color, who were surrounded by children, their faces radiating warm smiles.

Grey Moon lowered her head, intending to depart, but her gaze unexpectedly collided with Scarlet’s, who had just looked up.

Scarlet was holding a paper flower given to her by a student, and with her lips, she silently mouthed a taunt to Grey Moon:

Scarlet: “Do you have one?”

A flicker of vulnerability crossed Grey Moon’s usually stoic face, her delicate, youthful features momentarily overwhelmed with a multitude of emotions.

In that moment, she resembled a helpless, pitiable little girl, staring at a coveted toy she couldn’t possess, yet looking around, she found herself utterly alone.

Up in the sky,

‘It’s so cold.’

She couldn’t bring herself to pretend she didn’t care.

After all, the very reason she had become a Magical Girl was because everyone adored Magical Girls.

However, she had no leisure, no time to confront Scarlet.

Since everyone was safe, she needed to return to the fast-food restaurant and continue her shift; she couldn’t afford to give her manager any more excuses to deduct her wages.

Grey Moon found an excuse for herself, turning to flee under everyone’s watchful eyes. Her speed was even greater than when she arrived, accelerating relentlessly across the sky, faster and faster.

Grey Moon hardened her heart, showing no regard for her magical reserves.

Her sole desire was to escape that place.

By the time she plummeted into a dark, grimy alleyway and reverted from her transformation, Liu Li’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the soiled ground. Leaning against the wall, he painfully gasped for several deep breaths; the intense flight had left his lungs feeling as though they might burst.

“Ugh…”

Liu Li clutched his chest, the pain so intense it brought him to the verge of tears.

Just then, the fast-food restaurant’s back door swung open. Noticing his absence, the manager had come looking for him.

Manager: “Liu Li? Where have you been, kid? You don’t have time to be idling around! Get up and get to work!!”

Without another word, the manager hauled Liu Li to his feet and marched him back to his station.

He was unceremoniously muffled by his mask, and the kitchen was thick with grease and smoke. Liu Li felt as though he couldn’t breathe, on the verge of collapsing right there in the back, but he couldn’t afford to; too much of his pay had already been docked this month.

Any more deductions, and he wouldn’t even be able to cover his rent and utilities.

Liu Li forced himself to rally his spirits, his arms moving with numb, mechanical motions. When he finally came to, he couldn’t even recall how he had endured the rest of the day.

After turning off the lights and locking up the shop, he dragged his half-crippled body back home.

He was too exhausted even to remove his clothes. Lying on his bed, he closed his eyes and rested for a few moments, only then finding the strength to, as always, open his phone and search for himself.

[Magical Girl Grey Moon]

However, all the friendly comments of the past were gone. No one offered Grey Moon praise; instead, a deluge of scathing remarks, ear-splitting criticisms, and fake, slanderous videos had taken their place.

“Leach,” “Glory-hound”—each comment was a personal attack, a complete denial of Grey Moon’s character.

The hope in Liu Li’s eyes vanished. He tossed his phone aside, turned over, and buried his face in his pillow, leaving tear stains on the fabric.

Before, Liu Li would always spend half an hour scrolling through his phone in bed at night, smiling, unable to stop, replenishing his energy for the next day.

Today, however, he had only taken one glance before losing all desire to look further.

In his heart, the thought couldn’t help but arise: ‘Why did I even become a Magical Girl?’

“It’s okay…” After he had cried, Liu Li lay on his bed, comforting himself, his voice thick and hoarse.

Liu Li: “Tomorrow’s Saturday. If I don’t have class, things will definitely be better, as long as Grey Moon can just be a little faster.”

Liu Li: “I’ll definitely be able to utterly shame those haters.”

His eyes red-rimmed, Liu Li held onto a surge of determination, vowing that tomorrow, he would not lose!