Magical Girl’s Rage

“…Don’t worry, Bubble Person is classified as a D-rank Aberration, so it’s perfect for you to practice on.
It’s not that I’m nagging, but I intentionally didn’t arrange for a senior to accompany you this time precisely so you could get used to going on missions alone.”

“O-okay, I’ll do my best.”

“I’m sending you the information on Bubble Person now.
Take a look at it before you deploy.”

“U-understood.”

In a dark, deserted alley, You Xi carefully held her phone, talking to someone.

“It’s not that I’m nagging, Raging Flame, but you don’t need to be nervous at all.
You want to defeat that A-rank Aberration—Sky Person, right?
Now is the time for you to accumulate experience and hone your skills.
As your [Connector], I will assist you in growing into a powerful magical girl.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s even less need for thanks.
It’s not that I’m nagging, but it’s [us] who should be thanking you.”

After saying that, the person on the other end hung up.
A few seconds later, the information on Bubble Person was sent to You Xi’s phone.

You Xi carefully studied the monster on the screen.

It was a tall, slender figure over three meters high, bluish all over, with thin arms and legs.
It wore no clothes, and no gender characteristics were visible on its body.

Bubble Person, Disaster Assessment Level: D.

Its special move is to continuously spray a large number of soap bubbles.
Anyone who touches these soap bubbles will become extremely fatigued and then fall asleep.

Its last recorded appearance was at an outdoor music festival.
Due to the bubbles it sprayed, over four hundred audience members and staff on site fell asleep on the spot.
Many were injured from falling, with the most severe cases even suffering fractures.

“Ugh…”

‘This guy seems a bit weak.’

You Xi genuinely thought to herself: if her opponent was this Bubble Person, even a novice like her should be able to win easily.

Once confidence set in, the fear and confusion that had been swirling in her mind vanished.

Next up was—

Taking a prismatic crystal ornament from her bag, You Xi gently pressed it to the very center of her chest.

Magical power was gathering.

An intense and pure brilliance dispelled the shadows enveloping You Xi.

When the prismatic crystal was filled with the converging light, a red flame began to dance and flicker in its center.

For humanity, fire has always been an existence that embodies both creation and destruction.

It indiscriminately burns all things, reducing everything to ashes; yet at the same time, it can help humanity escape the primitive society of eating raw meat and drinking blood, creating a splendid civilization.

And now, this primitive and powerful force, together with the crystal—the Soul Gem—will become the weapon for the magical girl [Raging Flame] to fight against Aberrations.

No one knows when Aberrations first appeared in this world.

Subsequently, girls who fought the Aberrations with various abilities, protecting this world, emerged.

They were once ordinary children who, for various reasons, resolutely accepted the fate of becoming magical girls and fighting.

“I will defeat that Sky Person… No, I will defeat all Aberrations and drive them out of this world!”

This was the promise the magical girl Raging Flame made to her [Connector] when she signed the contract.

The pain of losing both parents;

The loneliness of being left alone in the world.

To manifest this anger into strength;

To carry through this longing as justice and faith.

At this moment, the girl held the Soul Gem in her hands, shouting the miraculous incantation.

Magical Girl Raging Flame—

“Trans-form!”

****

…Am I spoiling that child too much?

You Dong sat on a bench in the hospital’s smoking area, smoking and spacing out.
Beside his feet were piles of large and small bags containing things like fruit baskets, snack bags, fresh flowers, nutritional supplements, and so on.

He had bought all of this at the hospital entrance.
Having never experienced this before, he didn’t know what to give in such a situation, so he simply bought everything.

He wanted to show his sincerity, but he ended up missing his chance.

Just as he was carrying all the bags and calling to ask for Mo Li’s parents’ room number, he was told that due to the minor injuries, the family had already gone home after the examination.

After arranging to visit and apologize another day, You Dong suddenly found himself with nothing to do.

He really wanted to call You Xi and ask what she was doing, but he was afraid of disturbing her and earning her disdain.

Similar scenes had happened too many times in the past, so much so that he had begun to fear dialing You Xi’s number.

“—Beep beep.“

A V-Chat notification chimed.
You Dong saw it was from his girlfriend… oh no, ex-girlfriend, Chen Xi.

It seemed to be a trend nowadays to block each other after a breakup, but You Dong didn’t like that practice.
Even if they were no longer a couple, he was happy to help Chen Xi as a friend, an elder, to solve her worries.

[I forgot one thing just now]

Chen Xi sent such a message.

[What is i]

You Dong was still editing his message in the input box when Chen Xi sent another one.

To be precise, it was a sticker.

On the screen, a giant yellow bean-man animation giving the middle finger was ruthlessly mocking and dissing You Dong.

[Haha, feels good!]

“…”

You Dong silently deleted the text in the input box and exited V-Chat.

He had only known that seven or eight-year-old boys were at an age where even dogs despised them.
He hadn’t expected thirty to be the same.

“We interrupt this program for an urgent announcement.”

The TV screen hanging in the smoking room, which had been looping the slogan “Smoking is harmful to your health,” flickered and switched to a live news broadcast.

“The culprit behind the mass sleep incident that affected hundreds of tourists at the [Watermelon Music Festival] four months ago—Bubble Person—was confirmed to have appeared at 4:20 PM in Sunshine Shopping Plaza, Xiapu District, Shangjing City. Our station’s reporter…”

At these words, everyone looked up at the screen.

On the TV screen, the shopping plaza had been cordoned off, and people were scrambling to flee in all directions.

The once bustling area was now left with only a tall and slender, pale blue figure, spewing rainbow-colored soap bubbles as it slowly walked towards the camera.

“This POS looks pretty weak. I could take it out with a slide tackle and a slash.”

“Bubble Person, D-rank. Give me a sniper rifle, and I’ll one-shot it.”

****

The uncles in the smoking room began to offer their expert opinions.

‘It’s probably because they’re in a safe place that they can be so enthusiastic,’ You Dong thought.

However, in the next second, a red beam of light descended from the sky, crashing straight into Bubble Person’s position.

“—Bang!”

With a loud bang, flowing flames scorched the surrounding air, and the camera lens blurred for an instant.

When the lens refocused, the tall, slender blue figure had disappeared.
In its place stood a magical girl holding two blades, standing proudly on the spot.

A red dress, red pupils and hair ornaments, and red twin-tails fluttering in the hot wind.

This highly unified style was a basic characteristic of magical girls.

Magical Girl Raging Flame, a newcomer who had just debuted in the last two months.

The crowd erupted in cheers.
The reporter also rushed forward immediately.
After all, opportunities to interview a magical girl head-on were truly rare.

However, like most of her predecessors, Raging Flame was not keen on appearing in the media and public eye.

After completing her debut with a single blow, she shouldered the greatsword with one hand and bent her knees slightly.
With a “—swoosh,” relying solely on her jumping power, Magical Girl Raging Flame broke the bonds of gravity and disappeared from people’s sight as if she had flown away.

Skillfully wielding various magical powers, with a small body hiding the explosive force of a rocket booster—this was the essence of a magical girl.

The small crisis was resolved, and Shangjing City returned to its usual peace for the day.

The media, with nothing left to report, could only use a series of images captured from multiple angles to conclude their report.

When the screen showed a close-up of Magical Girl [Raging Flame]’s face, You Dong shot up with a “swish.”
The cigarette in his hand fell onto his suit pants, burning a black mark.

‘H-how is that possible?’

You Dong froze.

Although she was a bit shorter and had a different hairstyle and color, he was certain he would never mistake her for someone else, absolutely not.

Truly important people can recognize each other by aura alone.

“You… You Xi?!”