Chick 209
by Cristae209
The moment Zhang Wei transformed with his item—
Watching from inside her soap bubble, Groo felt a jolt of electricity run through her.
‘Th-that’s…!’
It was the very ‘miracle change (transformation)’ she had longed for.
The dream of her five long years as a child was right there before her eyes…!
Whenever Groo mimicked her favorite cartoons, shouting “Miracle Change—Transform!” Joorim always responded with:
“Shouting won’t make it happen, so just eat your food,” or, “Guess you can’t because you’re no magical girl,” or, “Work on your pronunciation!” and so on…
The endless days of teasing instead of encouragement flashed through Groo’s mind.
With steely eyes, Groo locked onto the transformation item on the man’s chest.
‘It looks sort of like the magic stone on Bailyach’s earring that Taemin oppa wore before…’
It seemed to use explosive magic power for transformation, but she’d need to study it up close to be sure.
‘I want that item…! I want to see it!’
She wanted to pull up its blueprint in her and take it apart!
Groo clasped her hands together tightly, desperate.
‘Groo too… Groo too! I want to do Super Miracle Change Trans-for-mation (pronouncing it carefully)!’
Her expression hardened. The five-year-old’s desire to transform was more sincere than ever.
Meanwhile, Zhang Wei, now outnumbered, could hardly hide his confusion.
Ssshh—!
The armor around the bullet mark was still smoldering.
His right arm, all the way up from his shoulder to the back of his neck, made of metallic fiber—completely blown away.
The power was tremendous…
Pale, Zhang Wei had to defend against Chuen’s onslaught while also keeping wary eyes on the drone’s movements.
Still, if he could stay close to Chuen, the drone wouldn’t be able to shoot.
Zhang Wei maintained the closest possible distance, keeping up the melee.
Chuen gave a faint smile.
[“You’re quite the coward now, Zhang Wei.”]
[“…!”]
[“When you die, I’ll summon your spirit among the vengeful ghosts you created.”]
With that, Chuen kicked him in the chest to break the distance.
At the same time—
One of her goldfish maneuvered Groo’s fork, aiming it at Zhang Wei.
“Bang!”
Zhang Wei, bracing for the attack, shifted into a defensive posture.
But—
‘What’s happening?’
The drone remained still, doing nothing.
While he was left puzzled, Chuen, closing rapidly behind him, jabbed a pressure point at the back of his neck.
“Ugh!”
Thud!
With a brief groan, Zhang Wei collapsed on the spot.
“Huff…”
Chuen caught her breath and rolled him over with her foot.
Zhang Wei was rigid, paralyzed, his eyes rolling in panic.
At that moment, Groo, having run over in delight, used her fork as a lever to pry the item from his chest.
Pop—!
Groo snatched up the item as it rolled to the side, triumphantly lifting it high above her head.
[Metallic Armor Changer (S)]
‘Now Groo can transform too!’
Seeing Groo’s joy, Chuen gave her a quiet round of applause.
‘Uhehe.’
Groo, chattering “camja, camja” in thanks, hugged the item tightly to her chest.
Chuen, watching the child with a gentle smile, stepped closer to Groo.
“Thank you, On Groo.”
Assuming a martial artist’s salute, she continued,
“You were the true ‘supreme one’. Even Master ‘Nosa’ was impressed by your power.”
‘Supreme one!’
Hearing such a title for the first time, Groo blushed with excitement, wiping her nose.
‘Groo, a supreme one already…’
The fork in her hand felt heavier, as if bearing the weight of the title.
Then, Chuen held out her palm—and a cerulean goldfish leapt onto it.
“This is my master. The name is Nosa.”
“Wow!”
Groo bowed at the waist.
“Hello!”
The cerulean goldfish brushed Groo’s plump cheek with its tail.
Then, drifting to Romi, it gently lifted her up and carried her to the porch.
“Huh?”
“I’ll only bring her this far. I have to leave now. Sorry.”
Hoisting fallen Zhang Wei onto her shoulder, Chuen’s apology sounded genuinely rueful.
“…I’ve only caused trouble.”
“Groo is okay! I even got this.”
Groo proudly held out her transformation item.
Still, Chuen pressed her lips closed and looked down with a blank face.
“You won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
However neutral her tone, there was a trace of sorrow—regret, even self-reproach.
Chuen, who stole from fields out of hunger.
Chuen, who once said she had no home because she was always being chased.
Chuen, who had been fighting villains just a moment ago.
Whatever her story…
“Goodbye, On Groo.”
“Chuen unni.”
Groo called, stopping Chuen as she was about to leave.
“Mm?”
“This year, Orchestra is recruiting new members.”
“New members?”
Nod, nod.
Groo didn’t know all the details, but she knew Chuen was kind and strong.
“If you become Orchestra, they’ll give you a house, the break room is always stocked with snacks, and you can make lots of friends.”
Groo held up her fork, resolute.
“And, Groo is the youngest in Orchestra. The guild members are protected by Supreme Groo.”
“…”
Groo hurried over and wrapped Chuen in a tight hug.
“So if you join, I’ll protect you too, unni.”
“Ah…”
Chuen hesitated for a moment, but as Groo clung tightly, she gently returned the embrace.
A small child promising to protect her.
Did Groo know how much danger she was in?
Even a single toy drone meant so many people had their eyes on her.
It was for that reason that Chuen had vanished; so many were after her, trying to unmask the identity of “Fake Claws.”
She ran away simply to not endanger the child. As always… Running away was the easiest choice for her.
Chuen parted her lips.
“…Now I really must go.”
“Ye-es! See you next time, unni!”
With a hint of new resolve, Chuen gave a faint nod and leaped away, vanishing into the night.
“Whew…”
Groo went to sit beside Romi.
Romi was sleeping soundly, showing no injury, but just in case, Groo sprinkled syrup here and there.
Then, a goldfish swam through the air, gently tickling Groo’s cheek.
Groo broke into a wide smile as the goldfish sank into Romi’s body.
A moment later, Romi mumbled in her sleep.
“…Yeah, get that bastard…”
Was she talking to the goldfish?
Soon after, the goldfish popped free and waved at Groo in farewell.
“Bye-bye~”
Groo waved back, and the goldfish darted away.
Sitting beside the sleeping Romi, Groo gazed up at the stars that seemed ready to tumble down like a waterfall.
She’d wanted to watch the stars with her dad.
“When is Daddy coming back?”
Ssshh—
The tip of his cigarette glowed as Joorim exhaled deeply.
With magic drained all at once, he staggered, trudging through the snowy field step by step.
Lately, the owner of the 99th floor was appearing far more frequently.
It was a warning sign.
Even as he broke into a cold sweat, Joorim put on a nonchalant front.
“You’re coming out more often.”
—Necess… zzzt… ary.
Necessity.
The sentences spoken by the 99th floor’s owner were growing longer, but now static crackled in them.
“…I guess there’s still no change in those stupid ideas of yours?”
The 99th floor’s owner simply closed its eyes in response.
As the snowy landscape faded, Joorim stubbed out the cigarette with his foot.
A faint crack appeared at his brow as he looked up at a sky awash with stars from horizon to horizon.
“This is bad.”
Leaning his back against a tree trunk, arms folded, he murmured almost to himself.
His mind flickered back to the time when magical control was almost beyond him.
—Danger. Groo.
At that time, the 99th floor’s owner had classified Joorim himself as a risk factor for Groo.
Joorim, human after all, is sometimes swayed by emotion, and sometimes can’t properly control his power.
The 99th floor’s owner is different. It is a being whose thinking is utterly alien, not remotely human.
It processes the world almost algorithmically—a program that identified Joorim as a potential threat who could harm Groo.
That was where the problem began.
After that, the 99th floor’s owner began in earnest to try and swallow Joorim’s soul to keep him in check.
Wiping the sweat from his neck, Joorim closed his eyes for a brief moment to recover himself, then resumed walking.
Dawn was close.
Lately, every chance she got, Groo had been giving him more magic, almost as if she’d noticed his nightly excursions.
“……”
He had to go back. He couldn’t keep making his child worry about her parent.
Limbs still trembling, his gait soon straightened as if nothing had happened.
Joorim straightened his back and lifted his head.
A cool breeze dried his sweat-soaked clothes.
For now, he could only hope the armored glove maker he’d brought from Japan would somehow be of help.