Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

"Wake up~ Wake up quickly."

Inside the abandoned factory, sunlight streamed in through holes in the roof, shattering in the rainwater tanks underground.

The water shimmered, and the trails of flying dust were almost visible to the naked eye.

In a daze, Kurokawa opened his eyes.

The view was blurry, and the light was somewhat dazzling.

A woman was bending down and calling to him; her features were familiar yet indistinct.

Upon seeing the familiar figure, Kurokawa wearily closed his eyes again.

Consciousness rises and falls.

Is this a scrolling slideshow after death?

In my memory, the cold rain, the burning flames, the excruciating pain in my ribs—all of that has vanished, leaving only this peace.

He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time; it was as if he had reached the end of an abyss and finally found this warmth.

Kurokawa curled up on the worn-out sofa, unwilling to wake up from the dream before him.

But the next second, a small hand grabbed his ear and pulled hard.

"Get up! Did you stay up late again last night?"

The indistinct sound became incredibly clear.

"Hiss—!"

The stinging pain swept away the last trace of drowsiness.

Kurokawa sprang up from the old sofa, the thin blanket on him falling to the ground with his weight.

He stood frozen in place, staring in shock at the woman before him.

She had long, dark chestnut hair, which was tied into a low, loose bun at the back of her head, with a few stray strands falling down her neck, softening her facial features.

She wore a loose-fitting knitted cardigan on top, an ankle-length skirt on the bottom, and silent, soft-soled indoor shoes.

Her well-proportioned and full figure gives people a soft and reassuring feeling.

The woman watched helplessly as the white blanket fell to the dusty ground.

"Ah—!" she cried out, yanking the blanket up. She patted the dust off the blanket with her hands, but inevitably left marks.

She muttered to herself, "Ugh, you don't have a washing machine here. If I get the blankets dirty, I'll have to take them back and wash them again."

The woman's motherly murmurs took on a different meaning when they reached Kurokawa's ears.

Kurokawa couldn't believe what he was seeing, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a question: "Kondo Sakurako?"

"Huh? Why are you calling me by my full name?"

Sakurako tilted her head and looked at Kurokawa, who had suddenly called out her full name, with a puzzled expression.

The next second, Kurokawa couldn't help but reach out and pull her into a tight embrace.

The movements were very forceful, and his arms were even trembling slightly.

"Eh? Yo-Yo-kun?" Sakurako froze on the spot.

She had never seen Kurokawa like this before.

From childhood to adulthood, he has always been calm, restrained, and even somewhat aloof.

Such a passionate embrace had never happened before.

Kurokawa didn't answer, but buried his face in her shoulder and took a deep breath.

It is the actual body temperature.

It's a real heartbeat.

It was that familiar scent of lilies.

It's not a hallucination.

It wasn't the name that [Sakura] mocked and mentioned on that cold, rainy night, a name that had been frozen for fifteen years.

"What's wrong with you?" Sakura was still out of sorts and didn't understand what had happened.

For a very long time.

Kurokawa finally loosened his grip on her a little, but still held her tightly, his voice low and hoarse.

"...I had a nightmare. A...very bad dream."

Sakura stared blankly at him, watching the complex emotions surging in his eyes that she couldn't understand.

There was relief, lingering fear, a certain heavy pain, and an almost overflowing... determination.

She had never seen Kurokawa Yoru like this before.

But the next second, she raised her hand and gently wrapped it around his back, patting him tenderly, just like she did when Kurokawa was sick as a child.

"It's alright now." Her voice was soft and reassuring. "It was just a dream. I'm here."

Kurokawa closed his eyes.

Yes.

She is here.

She will be here again this time.

The hug lasted for a few seconds before Kurokawa finally calmed down, released his grip, took a step back, and returned to his usual calm demeanor.

But something had completely settled deep within his eyes.

Released by Kurokawa, Sakurako blushed slightly and muttered softly, "So suddenly so cheesy... It's not like you at all."

"I'm sorry," Kurokawa said.

"There's no need to apologize..." Sakura looked away.

Kurokawa was still somewhat confused about the situation. He looked around and asked, "Sakurako? Where is this? Heaven?"

"Heaven? What nonsense are you talking about? This is the secondhand factory you bought, have you forgotten? Are you out of your mind?"

Sakura casually folded the blanket and placed it on the sofa.

A hint of worry crept onto her pretty little face.

She took two steps forward, brushed aside the black wisps of hair on Kurokawa's forehead, and gently tiptoed, forehead to forehead.

After checking her forehead, Sakura asked doubtfully, "It doesn't seem like I have a fever."

That familiar, warm touch triggered Kurokawa's distant memories.

Kondo Sakurako, his childhood friend.

They met in kindergarten when they were young, and they attended the same school all the way until they graduated from university.

After graduation, the two went down different paths.

He started his own business to pursue his dream, while Sakurako, due to her outstanding abilities, joined [Yagi Heavy Industries].

Until fifteen years ago, he died in an attack by the magical girl [Hiroaki]...

Now, she stands here alive, her forehead pressed against her own.

Kurokawa even suspected that time was out of place, but the sunlight felt real.

The factory was silent, the only sound the dripping of water buckets echoing in the air, reminding him that this was not a hallucination.

Reborn again?

Kurokawa was shocked. Suddenly, he thought of something, grabbed Sakura's arms with both hands, and pushed her away.

His eyes widened, and he asked eagerly, "Sakura, what year is it? Is it 2038?"

"2038? What are you talking about? It's only 2023 now."

"2023?"

Kurokawa's gaze swept over the calendar on the small table next to the sofa.

2023 4 Month 12 Day.

Have I traveled back to fifteen years ago?!

Kurokawa looked around in disbelief, trying to find more evidence to support his conjecture.

The factory he is currently in is located on the outskirts of Tokyo and is an abandoned car factory.

The only furniture in the factory was a second-hand long sofa and a small cabinet for storing odds and ends.

The rest were all machine tools that he had personally modified. At first glance, Kurokawa's eyes were drawn to a set of one-piece combat suits on the design table not far away.

He released Sakura and strode to the design table.

Reaching out to brush against the material of the combat suit, I felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity – ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber.

On either side of the design table are two straight katana connected to batteries.

High-voltage wires were wrapped around the blade of the weapon.

From his current perspective, the overall design of the suit was incredibly rough, like a child's doodle.

But a hint of nostalgia still flashed in his eyes.

"The original combat suit... I really miss it..."

I never imagined I would actually be reborn...

Kurokawa quickly accepted reality; after all, this wasn't his first time being reborn or reincarnated...

Beep beep beep—!

The alarm clock on his phone interrupted Kurokawa's thoughts.

It was Sakura's alarm clock that went off.

"Oh no, lunch break is almost over." Sakura turned off the alarm clock and hurriedly picked up her warm yellow motorcycle helmet from the table.

She only had time to give the instructions to Kurokawa.

"I have to go back to the office. I brought you a bento box, you can eat it yourself."

She pointed to the lunchbox on the table.

"Also, I'm going on a business trip this afternoon for a month. Take good care of yourself this month."

"As for your blanket, I'll change it for you when I get back from my business trip. Just make do with it for the rest of the month; consider it punishment for getting the blanket dirty."

Before she left, she was still thinking about the dusty blanket.

Kurokawa silently followed Sakurako to the outside of the factory.

Sakura's scooter was parked outside the factory.

As Sakurako put on her helmet and started her motorcycle to leave, she suddenly stopped and looked at Kurokawa with a serious expression.

She offered advice like a mother.

"Yoru-kun, you should give up on your search for so-called 'ghosts' and find a proper job. There are no ghosts in this world. You're a PhD in materials science from the University of Tokyo, after all; there are plenty of companies that want you."

Kurokawa just smiled and joked as he used to, "If they're willing to invite me to be a director, I might consider joining them."

After nearly 20 years of childhood friendship, how could Sakurako not know that Kurokawa was just going through the motions?

She wanted to say something more, but the alarm clock rang again, leaving her no choice but to drive away.

"I'm leaving now. We'll have a proper talk when I get back from my business trip."

Kurokawa watched the little motorcycle disappear at the end of the road.

The smile on his face gradually faded.

"Are there no 'ghosts' in this world? I never thought Sakurako would start lying too."

He knew perfectly well that [Yagi Heavy Industries], where Sakura worked, was one of the few companies that had known about the existence of magical vengeful spirits for a long time...

He turned and went back to the factory.

Close the door.

The world quieted down.

Kurokawa walked to the calendar, picked up a pen, and heavily drew a cross mark on the page for October 24, 2023, then wrote six words next to it:

[Magical Outbreak Event]

"Six more months..."

He muttered to himself.

10 month 24 day.

This is a turning point for the entire world and society.

According to his memory.

Magical spirits and magical girls appeared as early as 5 years ago.

However, because the frequency of magical vengeful spirits appearing is still very low and the affected area is small, the government has been trying to conceal the truth.

To the outside world, they would say it was a gas explosion or a building collapse.

They kept it a secret from the public.

It wasn't until six months later, when a large number of magical vengeful spirits appeared, causing the deaths of at least 500 million people nationwide, that the truth about the magical vengeful spirits and magical girls could no longer be hidden.

That is, at the end of December of the same year.

The government officially announced the establishment of the "Magic Province" in order to deal with the ever-increasing number of magical vengeful spirits.

The government has enacted the Special Phenomena Management Act, which allows private companies to develop magical technologies.

Thus, companies called "Special Phenomena Management Companies" came into being. The sole responsibility of these companies is to reduce the workload of magical girls and deal with some relatively weak magical vengeful spirits.

When the law was first enacted, companies that already knew about the existence of magical spirits took advantage of the information gap to harvest large numbers of magical spirits and research related technologies.

They reaped the benefits of the times, making countless investments and becoming the new era's tycoons.

Sakurako joined [Yagi Heavy Industries], which is one of them.

In his previous life, his Kurokawa Group, relying on its unique containment technology, fought its way out of countless competitors amidst such a great tide and finally stood on the threshold of going public.

Then--

The magical girls, under the guise of "purification," completely destroyed the building and its inhabitants.

Kurokawa put down the calendar, walked to the design table, and ran his fingers over the rough first-generation combat suit.

From his current perspective, the design is ridiculously naive.

But he remembered that it was this equipment that enabled him to successfully contain an F-class vengeful spirit for the first time, obtain his first investment, recruit his first employee... and begin that difficult but hopeful path.

And this path was ultimately crushed by the magical girls.

No.

Kurokawa's eyes turned completely cold.

It wasn't just the company that was crushed.

They crushed not only Sakura's life, but also hers.

In the previous timeline, Sakura would "die from a natural disaster" six months later in the events.

Now he knows that it wasn't a natural disaster.

That was murder.

It was [Hiyō] who committed the murder on a whim because of the absurd reason that "she just finds him annoying".

It is the truth that was easily covered up by the Magical Girl Association.

Kurokawa's fingers slowly tightened, his knuckles turning white.

"Now that I've been reborn..."

He spoke in a low voice, which echoed in the empty factory, cold and clear.

"Then this time, all magical girls should pay the price."

It's not "should", it's "must".

It's not about pursuing an IPO.

It is for those lives that they so easily took away.

For the justice that they trampled upon with their privileges.

For Kurokawa Yoru, who was dragged, mocked, and thrown into the pit of vengeful spirits in the rainy night.

Also for Sakurako, who is currently on a business trip and knows nothing about this.

The more the enemy fears containment technology, the more it proves that his direction is correct.

They attacked the company not because the contained object "breached containment".

It is because the containment technology itself threatens their monopolistic position and shakes their myth of being the "only savior".

It's because they're afraid.

They fear that ordinary people will acquire the means to counter magic, they fear that they will no longer be needed, and they fear that the order built upon magical privileges will be overthrown.

"Let them be afraid to the end."

Kurokawa turned around and walked towards the sofa.

In this life, he will move faster, more steadily, and more ruthlessly.

He wanted to establish a sufficiently strong technological reserve and armed force before the magic erupted.

He wanted to transform the Kurokawa Group from a small company that had to carefully curry favor with capital and eked out a living under the shadow of the Magical Girl Association.

He wanted to make it an armed group powerful enough to overturn the privileges of magical girls.

It seemed to sense Kurokawa's desire for revenge.

A notification sound suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Containment Manual, officially activated. Please complete the mission, build the strongest magical armed group, and unleash divine punishment upon the magical girls.]

The sudden sound made Kurokawa freeze in place.

"Containment manual? What's this?"

Kurokawa closed his eyes, trying to investigate, but received no response whatsoever.

At that moment, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that a black-covered book had appeared on the sofa where he had been lying.

Did this exist before?

I picked up the manual. It was about the size of a pocket and only about half the thickness of a thumb.

The cover style of this handbook looked familiar to him; it resembled the handbook the company used to issue to its employees before his rebirth...

What exactly is this...?

When Kurokawa opened the manual.

The first page contains a great deal of detailed information.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

[Operational Tasks (Tasks refresh randomly; it is recommended to complete all)]

1. If you can't sweep one room, how can you sweep the world? Please clean up the factory as soon as possible; this will be the starting point for a legend.

2. Magic can only be countered with magic. Please modify the original combat suit to possess the most basic power to resist magic.

3. The era of working alone is over. Please recruit your first employee.

(Note: The operational tasks will be updated in real time. Completing the tasks will earn you corresponding rewards based on their difficulty.)

Containment Missions (Refreshes weekly; please choose one of three to complete)

1. Can you hear the sound of running deep underground? (Easy)

2. The head hanging from the top of the tower seems to be saying something. (General)

3. She could no longer be contained within the old school building. (Nightmare)

(Note: Some containment missions are extremely dangerous; please choose carefully.)

[Company's current reputation: 0]

(Note: Reputation can be used for prize draws. Please increase the company's visibility.)

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After quickly glancing at the contents of the manual in his hand, Kurokawa took the manual to the mirror and looked at himself.

The first page of the manual inside the mirror was empty; only he could see its contents.

"Operational missions, containment missions, and reputation points? Is this some kind of cheat code?"

Strangely, he didn't have any cheat codes in his last reincarnation, but he has cheat codes this time?

And the style of this manual is so familiar...

With a skeptical attitude, Kurokawa decided to first assess the true value of the "golden finger" (a magical ability).

He chose the task of cleaning the factory.

The factory covers an area of ​​approximately 15 acres, or roughly 10,000 square meters, of which the factory buildings occupy only about one-tenth of the area.

The cleaning and sanitation work should refer to the factory area, right?

Thanks to Sakurako's usual help with cleaning, Kurokawa finished cleaning in just half a day.

"It's not good if the area is too large; it's too difficult for one person to maintain it..."

The problem of insufficient manpower was immediately exposed.

At 17:32 p.m., Kurokawa slumped onto the sofa and picked up the containment manual.

The content on the first page has changed.

[You have completed the cleaning task. Your company has now been upgraded from an abandoned factory to a scrapped factory. Keep up the good work!]

Congratulations on receiving the mission reward – 5 Class F containment cages!

"A containment cage?"

While Kurokawa was still in shock, the space in front of him suddenly began to flicker and distort.

It was as if a curtain had been torn open, another dimension had been opened, and a briefcase was spat out from the other dimension and smashed on the ground.

This is dimensional transmission technology...?

Kurokawa couldn't believe it. He tried the password several times, finally opening the box with the scheduled listing date of the Sense Group as the password.

Five silver cubes, each the size of a Rubik's Cube, are embedded in a black pearl cotton foam board.

Kurokawa picked up a containment cage in disbelief; it weighed about the size of an apple.

He checked repeatedly before confirming that he had not made a mistake.

"Isn't this the company's product from thirteen years in the future?!"