I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 325: Magical Girl

We treated Saebyeok as usual after she returned from venting her anger.

Saebyeok seemed pleased that we weren't giving her special treatment, wagging her tail happily.

"So?! What happened?!"

Levinas asked excitedly.

"I gave her a good knock on the head, like this."

Saebyeok demonstrated by tapping the table.

Thanks to her controlled strength, the table didn't break.

"That's amazing! If Levinas ever meets a bad person, I'll give them a knock just like that!"

Levinas spun her arms like a fan, giggling at her own silly movement.

"Gaeul puppy, if someone bullies you, spin your arms like this and hit them!"

"......"

"Gaeul puppy?"

Levinas asked, but Gaeul didn't respond. She was too engrossed in the television.

On the screen was a children's program. While Levinas usually watched animations for elementary school kids, Gaeul was watching one for toddlers.

I knew Gaeul was young, but I wasn't sure of her exact age. Seeing her so captivated by a program for young children, I realized she probably hadn't reached elementary school age yet.

'She seems to be really enjoying it.'

The animation featured animals as main characters, walking on two legs like humans. Being a children's show, it had some educational content.

"I hate you!" one animal character said.

"I hate you too!" the other replied.

Gaeul's palms grew sweaty as the animal friends argued.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong," one said.

"No, I was more wrong," the other responded.

When they made up, Gaeul smiled brightly. She even clapped her hands and wagged her tail.

"Master!" Gaeul pointed at the TV screen.

She seemed to be saying it was interesting.

"Gaeul, are you enjoying it?" I asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

We all watched the children's animation called "Ppororo" together. While it was quite childish for me, seeing Gaeul's joy made it fun to watch.

[Next time on...]

Soon after, the animation ended and a short theme song played.

"Best, best," Gaeul hummed, repeating a short part of the theme song.

It seemed the full version was still too difficult for her.

Even though the animation had ended, Gaeul kept staring at the TV. She tilted her head, confused by the commercials now playing.

"Master, Ppororo."

Ah, she wanted to watch more Ppororo. Gaeul didn't seem to understand that the show only aired one episode a day.

I thought we might be able to find more episodes on an OTT platform. Just as I was about to reach for the remote, a new animation started on the children's channel.

It featured magical girls about the same age as our children.

"Wow!" Levinas and Gaeul gasped.

The magical girls were flying through the air and fighting, with animation quality that seemed too good for a children's show.

Gaeul forgot all about Ppororo and focused on this new animation. Levinas's eyes sparkled as she watched too.

'That looks more like physical attacks than magic,' I thought as I watched a magical girl punch a monster.

Despite that, the high quality made it entertaining to watch.

We continued watching until the ending song played. Only then did the children turn to look at me.

"Wasn't that just like you, King?!" Levinas exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Gaeul agreed.

"Me...?" I was confused. I couldn't see any connection between myself and the magical girl animation.

"You fight just like that, going pow pow!" Levinas explained.

"Oh... I suppose so."

The girls in the show did enhance their bodies with magic before fighting with physical attacks. It was similar to how I reinforced my body with mana before fighting with my bow.

"King is so cool! Levinas wants to fight like that too, going pow pow!"

"Should we go outside and play that, then?"

"Yeah!"

I took the children to the park. As we walked, Levinas picked up a fallen branch from the ground.

"King, but we don't have anyone to play the villain," she said.

"I can be the villain," I offered.

"No way! King has to be on the good side!"

"O-okay..."

It seemed Levinas didn't want to see any of us playing a bad role. But how could we play without a villain?

As I was scratching my cheek, thinking this, Saebyeok stepped forward confidently.

"I know where we can find a villain."

"The person captured at the guild?" I asked.

"No, not them. There's one at the department store we often visit."

"At the department store?"

I had never seen anyone villainous at the department store. But I trusted Saebyeok's word.

"Should we go there, then?"

"Yeah."

We all headed to the department store together, greeting familiar faces along the way. Saebyeok led us to the arcade area, where we found an unexpectedly large crowd gathered.

There were always a lot of people here, but today seemed especially busy.

"Saebyeok, is something special happening here today?"

"Yeah. I saw they were having a collab event."

"A collab event...?"

Among the bustling crowd, I spotted some standees. They were life-sized cutouts of characters from the animation we had just watched.

There was clearly an event happening, but what kind?

I held the children's hands as we navigated through the event area. I made sure to keep a firm grip because of how crowded it was.

"Wow!" Levinas's eyes widened as she spotted something.

On display was a staff just like the one used by the main characters in the show.

Levinas looked back and forth between the displayed staff and the branch in her hand. Then, without a word, she raised her makeshift staff high.

It seemed she was trying hard not to ask for the real staff. I thought we could probably afford to buy one for her.

I checked the price tag on the staff and was shocked, just like Levinas had been earlier.

'How can a children's toy be so expensive...?'

Wait, was it even meant for children? Looking around, I hardly saw any kids. Most of the people at the event were adults.

'What's going on?'

The animation had impressive artwork, but was it actually meant for adults to watch?

Feeling a bit awkward, I scratched my cheek. That's when Saebyeok tapped my shoulder.

"Gyeoul, look at that."

"Hm?"

Saebyeok pointed to where three game consoles were set up. A long line of people had formed in front of them.

'That's...'

It appeared to be a fighting game featuring characters from the animation we had watched. The grand prize was none other than the staff.

Fighting games that relied on quick reflexes were my specialty. This might be our chance to win the staff.

"King! Levinas will win the staff for you!"

"Okay."

Levinas got in line for the game console. The rest of us lined up behind her.

"We have child customers!" a staff member announced loudly as we joined the queue.

Everyone in line turned to look at us as one.

"It's the Yeomyeong kids!"

"Well, well, we have real-life magical girls here."

The people in line stepped aside, seemingly to let us go first.

"Huh?"

Why were they making way for us? We looked around, confused.

"The child customers can go first," someone said.

"Um..."

It seemed there was a rule about letting children go first. While we appreciated the gesture, it felt a bit uncomfortable to cut in line.

Levinas seemed to share my feelings. She puffed out her chest and said firmly, "No cutting in line! We have to wait our turn properly!"

"No!" Gaeul agreed.

When the two children refused, the adults started looking at each other uncertainly. Since the kids didn't want to go first, it was an awkward situation.

"Are you sure? The line is quite long," someone asked.

"Yeah! Time flies when you're chatting with family!" Levinas replied.

"Okay then..."

Hearing our conversation, the people reformed the line. We peeked out from the back, watching the people playing the fighting game.

The event required beating three costumed villains in a row.

'That's a kick, that's a punch... and that's how you do a combo...'

I observed the players' hand movements, learning the techniques.

I also realized that the costumed villains were quite skilled. Eight out of ten players were eliminated by the first villain, and the remaining two were knocked out by the second. No one had made it to the third villain yet.

'You need to beat the third one to win the staff...'

The villains seemed to get stronger as you progressed. I wondered if I could really win.

As I worried, our turn approached. Levinas, who had been first in our group to line up, went first.

"Hahaha! A little squirt has come to challenge me!" the costumed villain across from Levinas laughed mockingly.

Startled at first, Levinas quickly narrowed her eyes and sat at the game console.

"Bring it on!"

Levinas chose a character that looked like the main character's friend - a blue bunny.

Her strategy seemed to be mashing buttons randomly. She swung the joystick around and pressed buttons haphazardly.

Unsurprisingly, she was no match for the costumed villain.

"Hahaha! Is that all you've got?!"

"N-no..."

The villain taunted Levinas. As her character's health bar depleted, Levinas grew quieter.

The opponent's health was nearly full, while Levinas's was less than half. As the gap widened, Levinas's ears and shoulders drooped.

"Hahaha! Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic! You dare challenge me with such meager skills!"

"......"

Levinas's eyes started to water.

Just as I thought the villain was being too harsh on a child, something changed.

Thwack! Thwack!

Levinas's character started to chip away at the opponent's health little by little.

With my ability to perceive things in slow motion, I could tell what was happening. The costumed villain was deliberately losing to Levinas with incredible skill.

When Levinas defended, the villain would attack quickly. When Levinas used a low attack, the villain would guard high, perfectly timing it to get hit.

It was a level of skill that only a true master could achieve.

"Argh, nooo!"

In the end, Levinas emerged victorious.

Her ears, which had been drooping, perked up at the unexpected comeback.

"I won! Levinas won!"

"Wow, Levinas, that was amazing."

"Yeah!"

The crowd in the arcade burst into applause.

Levinas puffed out her chest proudly. I was relieved to see her confidence restored.

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