Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Kurokawa's gaze swept quickly over the research materials in front of him.

Just for a moment.

He was shocked by what it contained.

[December 14th, Sunny. F-54, codenamed "Flesh Man," is in stable containment. New orders have arrived, requiring us to explore the "symbiotic possibility" between the human body and the F-54 organization, based on the local absurd legend that "eating it grants immortality." Which "genius" came up with this idea?]

[December 21st. The Ministry of Magic provided a list of volunteers. They were all death row inmates, the kind convicted of heinous crimes. The condition for their cooperation was that they would be spared execution after seven days. And they actually… all signed…]

[January 2nd. The experiment begins. The first batch (5 people) are injected with standard diluted tissue fluid. Within 72 hours, 3 people develop high fevers, abnormal muscle swelling, and exceed strength test limits. On the 5th day, subject number 1 exhibits signs of rejuvenation and becomes emotionally agitated.]

【1月9日。副作用显现。1号于今晨6点23分，在观察室内……融化了。字面意义上的融化。变成了一滩有轻微蠕动能力的蛋白质烂泥。其余4人情况急转直下。3号试图袭击看守，被击毙时身体组织已呈半流体。实验终止。】

[Conclusion: Symbiosis failed. Before completely decaying, we extracted and solidified a hormone that could enhance physical strength and even restore youth; let's call it 'Yayoisu' for now. But the cost was that, without exception, none of the injectors survived more than 168 hours.]

[January 15th. The second batch of "volunteers" (7 people) were given "Yayoisone." Without exception, none survived 168 hours. Three turned into a mushy mass, two suffered organ rupture and mutation, one suffered a mental breakdown and died by self-harm, and the last one... became some kind of... undefined aggregate of flesh, exhibiting low-level aggression, and has been disposed of. The experiment failed. But the data is valuable.]

Kurokawa scanned the shocking words.

Human experimentation is a morally reprehensible act, regardless of the era.

But Kurokawa was not surprised.

In his previous life, during the early stages of the collapse of order, he had heard of things a hundred times darker than this.

Human morality is often untrustworthy in the face of the immense temptations of survival and power.

Finding "voluntary" death row inmates is already considered a kind of... "respectable" thing.

But what he read next made his brow furrow even more.

[February 1st. Day 15 of data reporting. New "material" delivered. ID: Ms-111. Female appearance, no identity information, no language ability, no independent consciousness. Like an exquisite empty shell. But her magical adaptability reading... is ridiculously high. Unprecedented.]

[February 5th. First successful subcutaneous implantation of a trace amount of F-54 active tissue into Ms-111. No rejection reaction. The tissue exhibited extraordinary activity and…controllable growth within the body. Incredible.]

February 20th. Ms-111 broke the previous record of 168 hours. She became a stable "petition dish." We call it "Project Incubator." Progress... is unsettlingly smooth.

I see.....

Kurokawa finally understood the truth about that breeding ground.

The underground sea of ​​flesh, which has the characteristics of a domain, is not the natural expansion of wild vengeful spirits, but a "breeding ground" created by human intervention.

Ms-111 is that core culture dish.

But why did it get out of control?

Judging from the experimental logs, they should have been able to control the 'breeding ground'.

Kurokawa held his breath and continued flipping through the pages.

The handwriting in the journal starts to become somewhat messy from here, and the dates jump around.

[March 10th. New sample delivered. Number: A-003. Name: ████ (repeatedly smeared with thick black ink). Description: Appears as dark red fleshy granules, about the size of a little fingernail. Living. Magical energy rating…C. Some researchers experienced mild headaches and auditory hallucinations upon approaching.]

[March 15th. Anomaly spread. Researcher Yamada suddenly burst into laughter in the cafeteria, asking why he heard the sound of rain when it wasn't raining. Technician Takahashi began refusing to enter the quarantine area where A-003 was stored, saying he felt "being watched." As for myself... last night I dreamt that many eyes were moving inside the walls.]

March 19th. Out of control. Three people have fallen ill, exhibiting symptoms resembling acute schizophrenia, rambling incoherently. Surveillance in the isolation ward shows that the A-003 flesh particle… appears to be slowly pulsating. We haven't actively stimulated it! Order from above: Perform the final fusion test. Implant A-003 into Ms-111. Oh my god…

The last record, with a blurred date and handwriting so shaky it was almost illegible:

[This must be documented. They insist on doing it this way. Ms-111 is stable, A-003's origin and characteristics are unknown, and the risks cannot be assessed. But orders cannot be disobeyed. God or whatever god will protect me; I pray this is just me overthinking. Tomorrow at 9 AM, the injection will be performed. May everything... not...]

My diary ends here.

The following is blank.

Kurokawa stared intently at the interrupted page, his mind racing.

Could it be that they injected A-003's sample into Ms-111's body, and then the entire base went completely out of control?

No.

Kurokawa glanced at the last date of the journal again.

The experiment took place a month ago. Furthermore, they obtained this log data not from an abandoned computer, but from a well-filed box in the archive room.

This means that the researcher died for some reason after participating in the experiment, and his research log was archived and sealed away as important data...

As for the blacked-out name A-003, it's not because the file is damaged, nor is it because of any rule that it cannot be written into the file.

Instead... they dare not!

The number assigned to a vengeful spirit indicates its rank.

A-003 means that it is a Class A vengeful spirit.

Just how dangerous is a Class A danger...?

The threat level of an F-class vengeful spirit is roughly between a pack of out-of-control huskies and a gang of out-of-control motorcycles.

The threat level of an E-class vengeful spirit is between that of an out-of-control small car and a heavy truck.

A Class D tank is equivalent to a main battle tank, capable of causing complete chaos in several city blocks.

A Level C earthquake is equivalent to a localized earthquake or hurricane, which can paralyze a city.

A Class B formation is equivalent to a strategic bomber squadron, capable of plunging several cities into crisis.

A-level threats are national-level threats, while S-level threats are civilization-level crises.

A-rank was already the most dangerous existence Kurokawa had ever heard of in his previous life; S-rank was unheard of, and he even suspected that this was just an upper limit rating.

Among the A-level vengeful spirits, he had never heard of the designation [A-003] before...

The sound of rain outside the window suddenly intensified, pounding against the metal roof with a loud clatter, as if it were trying to drown the world.

Kurokawa leaned back against the sofa chair.

His eyes stared unfocused at the empty space ahead.

Beneath the subway station, in that abandoned laboratory, another place where secret research was being conducted...

The living incubator on level B2...

The humanoid petri dish codenamed Ms-111...

A-003, whose real name is unknown...

There's also Yagi Heavy Industries, the Ministry of Magic... and the magical girl [Tensen] who quietly infiltrated to search for information.

These fragments collided in his mind, trying to piece together an outline.

But the image that was pieced together gave him a chilling feeling.

This was by no means accidental, nor an isolated experimental accident. The web behind it may be deeper, darker, and more... dangerous than he imagined.

In his previous life, he only began the company's containment journey after the magical incident broke out and after the Special Phenomena Management Company was officially allowed to be established.

Nine months later, he began to try to contain the first vengeful spirit, and it took him another six months to do so.

Later, even when his company became a rising star in the industry, he never had the opportunity to access truly confidential intelligence.

But in this life, he seems to be uncovering a deeper secret...

Just as Kurokawa was getting deeper and deeper into his thoughts...

"President!"

Chika's call abruptly pulled him back to reality.

He instinctively turned his head to look.

Chinatsu peeked out from the shower stall, her wet, honey-brown short hair clinging to her cheeks and neck, still dripping water.

She was only wrapped in a dark gray bath towel that was obviously too big for her, barely covering her from under her armpits to above her knees, revealing her rounded shoulders and smooth calves.

The rising steam gave her cheeks a healthy blush, and her amber eyes looked exceptionally bright in the dim light.

She gripped the edge of the towel tightly in front of her chest with one hand, and scratched her still-damp hair with the other, looking a little embarrassed. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she whispered shyly:

"Um... President... I... I didn't bring any spare clothes... and my combat suit is... completely unwearable. Could... could I borrow one of your clothes? I promise I'll wash it and return it to you!"

Kurokawa looked at her like this and remained silent for two seconds.

The heavy thoughts about the conspiracy and experiment that had just occurred to me were instantly washed away.

It gave him a strange sense of detachment.

He stood up, his movements slightly stiff from the previous fight and sitting for so long, but he quickly regained his balance.

"Wait a moment."

He uttered three words succinctly, then turned and walked to the other side of the workshop, where there was a simple metal cabinet where he stored his personal belongings.

He opened the cabinet door and pulled out a black shirt and a pair of dark gray casual pants from several neatly folded clothes.

Walking back to the door of the cubicle, he handed over the clothes from a few steps away.

"Give."

"Thank you, President!" Chinatsu's eyes lit up as she quickly took the clothes, then slammed the stall door shut behind her, leaving only a muffled "I'll be right there!"

Kurokawa stood there, listening to the rustling sounds of changing clothes coming from behind the door, shook his head, and turned back to the computer.

He slowly closed his laptop, deciding not to look at these heavy contents any longer.

Secrets don't reveal themselves.

But at least, he now has a crucial piece of the puzzle.

A moment later, the door to the cubicle was pushed open again.

Chika came out, but her appearance was rather...unnatural.

The oversized black shirt draped over her like a sack, the neckline so wide that it slipped off one shoulder, revealing her defined collarbone and a small patch of skin.

The hem was so long that it almost covered the middle of the thighs.

She struggled to lift the oversized casual pants with one hand; the waistband was loosely wrapped around her waist with plenty of room to spare, and the legs were bunched up at her ankles.

She seemed completely unaware of how ridiculous she looked, and looked up at Kurokawa, her wet hair swinging.

"President, I'm done showering! Would you like to take a quick rinse? The hot water feels really nice..."

Kurokawa looked at her, remained silent for two seconds, and then said with a hint of helplessness, "...Stand still, don't move."

He got up and walked over, first pulling her collar back into place, then grabbing the overly long hem of her shirt on both sides and skillfully tightening it in a knot at her waist that was sturdy but didn't restrict her movement.

The originally oversized shirt immediately became more fitted, at least preventing it from easily revealing too much skin.

Then, he squatted down and carefully rolled up the cuffs of her overly long sweatpants, layer by layer, until her ankles were exposed.

The most troublesome part is the waistband.

Even with Kurokawa's own spare belt, it was still too tight on Chika's slender waist, and it was still loose even when fastened to the innermost position.

Kurokawa looked around, found a piece of nylon cable tie cut off from the workbench, used it instead of a belt to thread through the waistband, carefully tightened it, and tied a secure slipknot.

"alright."

He stood up, took a step back, and examined his "work".

Although it was still an ill-fitting men's outfit, at least it didn't hinder movement and avoided the embarrassment of being barely clothed.

Chika looked down at the nylon cable ties around her waist, then lifted her leg and moved her arms, and found that the clothes were indeed much more fitted, and immediately exclaimed in amazement.

"Wow! President, you're amazing! This way it really won't fall off!"

Kurokawa looked at her oblivious, even somewhat admiring gaze, and a strange feeling inexplicably arose in his heart.

This feeling... is a bit like taking care of a younger sister who can't take care of herself but has too much energy?

No.

He has been reborn three times; strictly speaking, he is more than qualified to be this girl's father.

Although he had never married, the feeling of exhaustion he was experiencing right now, like cleaning up a mess, inexplicably gave him a sense of helplessness, like that of an old father.

However, before he could fully savor this subtle feeling—

Ring ring ring!

A crisp cell phone ringtone suddenly broke the brief silence in the workshop.

Chika exclaimed "Ah!" and frantically rummaged through the pile of wet clothes she had changed out of to find her phone.

The screen lights up.

Kurokawa had no intention of spying, but he inevitably saw it when his gaze swept over the area.

The name on the screen is "Xun".

The moment Chika saw the name, a hint of panic and embarrassment immediately appeared on her relaxed expression.

"I'm sorry, President, it's my sister..." she apologized softly, then took her phone and quickly ran to a corner at the other end of the workshop, away from the workbench, with her back to Kurokawa, and answered the call in a low voice.

"...Yeah, Kaoru, it's me... Yes, it's over... It's okay, it went smoothly... Huh? Now? But..."

You could vaguely hear her speaking in a low voice, which sounded like she was trying to comfort and explain.

Kurokawa withdrew his gaze, having no interest in eavesdropping on other people's family affairs.

He sat back down on the sofa and took out the black-covered "Containment Manual" from his inner pocket.

"Let's sort out our findings first," he muttered to himself, opening the handbook.

This time, we successfully contained two vengeful spirits; quite a few results...