The Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! - Chapter 7

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Magical Girl Hunter Builds a Dungeon! Episode 007
[I can go anywhere. When you need help, open any book and call for me with your heart.]
“Then—”
[Hurry forward. If you linger, you’ll be trapped in the dungeon!]
The book pushed against her back. Eji didn’t hesitate and moved forward.
From the direction she was heading, she heard the Class Teacher’s voice.
“…Eji! Junseo!”
She’d come the right way.
Relief flooded through her, and immediately a message appeared.
Magical Power remaining is low
‘I’m exhausted…’
Her body felt heavy and limp. When she glanced down, the ruffled dress from before had changed back into her ordinary school uniform.
“Come on, you two!”
For the first time, the hood of her hoodie felt unbearably heavy. Eji stumbled and sank to the ground.

* * *
When consciousness returned, she saw the ceiling of the Experience Hall. As she sat up, a blanket someone had draped over her tumbled to the floor.
“Oh my, Eji’s awake too!”
The Class Teacher, who’d been tending to Junseo, let out a long breath of relief.
Shortly after, a person wearing a staff ID that read “Dungeon Management Department” approached.
After a gentle introduction—saying she could stop at any time if talking became difficult—he asked his question.
“What happened in there?”
“In the desert, a Bandage Human took my Tumbler and disappeared.”
“That must be the bandaged monster that came bursting out earlier. Weren’t you frightened?”
“Only at first.”
“Good to hear. Still, scary memories can resurface without warning later. Make sure to visit the counseling center, all right?”
“I was really fine, though…”
The Bandage Human seemed like a kind person.
…Spending time alone and lonely in that desert.
Just then, the official’s voice took on an exaggerated severity.
“Never take dungeons lightly! This time you got lucky and wandered into a pathetic Low-Grade Dungeon. Sometimes you Clear those by sheer accident, like catching a mouse by backing up with an ox.”
It wasn’t luck. I cleared it myself!
She held back the words she wanted to say.
‘Is this person a Hunter too?’
Just hours ago, she’d had so many questions she wanted to ask any Hunter she met.
Now that urge had vanished entirely.
Not only had the worry about my “Sealed Potential” disappeared—
‘I’m a Magical Girl, after all. Magical Girls can’t let their identity be exposed!’
Magical Girls in manga always kept their identities secret. For their own sake and for the sake of their families and allies.
She remembered what happened to the Bunny Princess in
Evil scientists with scalpels had approached and said:
‘A lifeform we’ve never received reports of before.’
‘Shall we check what makes it different from an ordinary rabbit?’
Eji wouldn’t be mistaken for a rabbit, but…
There was no telling what could happen to a flying book.
It could be dissected in her place, YouTubers could come looking for her at home, and her sister would cry…
‘I absolutely cannot let anyone suspect I’ve Awakened!’
“W-wait, don’t worry! Now that I think about it, dungeons are absolutely terrifying! I never want to go in one again!”
“There, there. Of course you were scared, weren’t you?”
Good. He believed her!
But her relief was short-lived.
Eji caught sight of the official talking with Junseo in the distance and realized a small problem.
What if Junseo said, “Eji told me she saw the Clear condition”?
‘They’ll find out I’ve Awakened!’
It looked like Junseo’s interview had just ended.
Eji smiled and saw the official off, then quietly followed him. Trailing him was easy with the room in such a mess.
The two officials put their heads together.
The one who’d spoken with Eji went first.
“What did the boy say?”
“Sounds like he and the girl were running around when the monster’s bandages came off and it vanished.”
“‘Sounds like’? What does that mean?”
“The kid was rambling a bit. What did the girl say?”
“The bandaged monster took her Tumbler and then disappeared.”
Damn. She’d gotten her Tumbler back, but the story had gotten twisted. The only thing she’d actually lost in the dungeon was the Cupcake she’d worked so hard to make!
Inwardly, Eji apologized to the Bandage Human.
Unaware of the truth, the officials sighed.
“An F-Class pathetic dungeon and it still manages to cause all this property damage.”
“Count it as a loss and move on. Let’s clean up the dungeon.”
The two officials headed into the dungeon.
Eji let out a breath of relief.
‘Junseo didn’t say much about me.’
Not that I saw the Clear condition, not that I transformed into a Magical Girl and talked to the monster.
‘Did he help me avoid getting involved in something unnecessary?’
But asking him now would risk someone overhearing nearby.
She’d save the conversation with Junseo for later.
With trembling hands, Eji opened her status window.
‘That wasn’t a dream, was it?’
[Awakener Information]
Name: Shin Eji
Awakening Rank: EX
Characteristic: Magical Girl☆
Against the translucent background, white text jumped out at her.
‘That star wasn’t there before.’
They’d said the Clear reward was Characteristic enhancement. Was this the result?
Eji let out a nervous laugh, and the screen shifted to the Skill window.
[Characteristic-Related Skills]
[Keeping My Magical Girl Identity Secret☆ (S)]
(Passive)
: Witnesses to the “Magical Girl” cannot cause harm to this Hunter’s daily life through information disclosure or other means.
A small “NEW!” sparkled next to the skill name. It seemed a new skill had appeared as her Characteristic strengthened.
‘So that’s why Junseo couldn’t tell them about me!’
That’s right. A Magical Girl’s identity is always secret!
Eji flipped through the skill window with excitement.
[The Magical Girl Wants to Share Stories! (B+)]
Below the skill she’d seen before.
The most precious skill in the world gleamed before her.
[Magical Girl Daisy, Transform! (B)]
: Transforms into a Magical Girl within a dungeon.
: Additional effect: Sealed Potential
Even that brief description made her heart race.
The additional effect “Sealed Potential”—did that mean she could gain something else?
‘I want to transform right now!’
But then, the Class Teacher’s voice rang out.
“Everyone from Second Year, Class Three, gather here!”
“Coming!”
At the gathering point.
Even classmates she wasn’t particularly close to gradually drifted toward her, probably wanting to ask about the dungeon.
But the Class Teacher beat them to it.
“I’m so glad the two of you came back safely. And everyone, absolutely do not ask your friends about the dungeon.”
“What? Teacher, why can’t we?”
“If you were hit by a car and your friends asked you to describe what it was like in a traffic accident, how would you feel?”
“Gross!”
“…How do you think you’d feel?”
“…Bad.”
“Right, you’d feel awful. So please help your friends by not bringing back today’s frightening experience. Understood?”
“Yes!”
Eji clutched her backpack like a frightened child. One of the girls who’d approached gave Eji a strawberry-flavored My Tea.
The Second Year career experience at Sparrow Elementary School ended that way.
While waiting for the return bus, several parents who’d received word arrived at the Experience Hall.
The one rushing most urgently was Junseo’s father.
“Junseo!”
“Dad… sniff!”
The big boy practically melted into his father’s arms. The other children’s situations were much the same.
‘…My sister probably can’t come here.’
It was fine that she wasn’t here anyway. Nothing had actually happened, after all!
From all around, joyful cries erupted and cheerful chatter filled the air. When she turned her head away from it all—
The officials from before recognized Eji and approached.
“You’re the student who got pulled into that dungeon earlier, right? Come here a moment.”
Her shoulders tensed involuntarily.
“What’s wrong?”
These people, they said they were going to clean up the dungeon…
‘Did they find traces of my transformation?’
Eji imagined being dragged to the Laboratory and the magical book burning and her sister crying and the world inexplicably ending—
When the official added:
“We’ve eliminated that dungeon. You won’t be pulled into it again, so don’t worry.”
“You eliminated the dungeon?”
At school, she’d learned that dungeons were treasures of resources. You could enter them repeatedly and harvest good items from them, but…?
“Isn’t a dungeon supposed to keep producing once it’s been cleared?”
“Smart kid. That’s right—it’s like a vending machine that restocks itself. But what do you do if a vending machine is blocking your way?”
Eji grasped the analogy immediately.
“…You have to remove it.”
“Exactly. If it were a vending machine dispensing treasure, we’d leave it be. But this dungeon wasn’t like that. So we extracted the dungeon’s ‘Core’—its roots.”
The official puffed out his chest proudly.
“The Bandage Human is gone forever now, so you don’t need to be scared anymore!”
She should thank them, but the words wouldn’t come.
‘I’ll never see the Bandage Human again?’
Despite having barely exchanged words with it.
The kind existence that was never truly a monster left an odd, hollow feeling in her chest.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s our job. Now where’s the boy…ah, there he is.”
Apparently intending to reassure Junseo as well, the official turned toward him. But they were met first by another guardian with an angry expression.
“You’re from the Dungeon Management Department, aren’t you? What is all this? Isn’t the Forecast Team supposed to be doing their job?”
“We’re currently investigating. It’s not 100% predictable…”
“It’s not the 100% that’s the problem—it’s the 10%! Who’s taking responsibility for this?”
“Exactly! Dungeon accidents aren’t even covered by the School Safety Mutual Aid Association insurance…”
The adults began growing louder among themselves.
Using this chance, Eji ran toward the Laboratory where the dungeon had appeared.
But in the place cordoned off with “NO ENTRY” tape, only a cracked experimental table sat forlornly.
No trace of magical power remained.
‘It’s really gone.’
Eji trudged back to her original spot.
So Eji didn’t notice that something in her backpack left behind on the ground was stirring and moving with a soft, crackling sound.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————