Ichiro awoke at 9:00 a.m. to the alarm clock on his phone, suffering from a severe headache. He was used to it; it happened every time he had a nightmare. He stood up grudgingly from the comfortable bed and massaged his temples.

His dream was vague. He couldn’t remember much, and the details were hazy. But he could remember the feeling of dying. And that made him sick.

As always, Ichiro went straight to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. This hotel room looked medieval, but it had modern amenities. He showered and wore his clothes, then walked downstairs. There were maid-like women walking around the halls, cleaning the place and waking up guests. They bowed whenever he passed them by. They were pretty western-looking ladies, and Ichiro wondered how the owner of this hotel had found so many of them in Japan.

When he reached the lobby, he saw the yesterday receptionist sitting there fresh and rested. She smiled at him warmly.

“Good morning, sir! You woke up early than you said you would!“

She spoke Japanese, but she pronounced her words strangely. Her accent was thick, and it gave Ichiro a strange vibe. He didn’t mind though, since he was used to people pronouncing their languages differently.

“Morning,” said Ichiro. “I forgot to take a breakfast coupon yesterday. Can I get one now?”

“Of course! Would you like extra large breakfast, or normal?”

“Normal would be fine.”

She handed him a paper coupon and spoke while writing something down on her clipboard.

“We had a major reconstruction during these months. Follow that corridor all the way to the end until you see the double doors. Come in and check out our new restaurant. We have great food!”

Ichiro thanked her and grabbed his morning breakfast coupon. He then proceeded down the pointed wooden corridor until he arrived at the ornate glassed double doors, which he entered through.

Ichiro was impressed by the interior design of a restaurant, which appeared to be better than the last time he visited. The previous layout comprised wooden tables that were randomly placed in the open space, but now the floor was covered with red carpeting, the walls were lined with dark brown wallpaper, and the ceiling was adorned with chandeliers. It was a very cozy atmosphere. Besides the regular dining area, there now was a bar counter that served alcohol. Tables are now divided into sections by large ornate partition walls, and the outer walls are more ornately decorated with various paintings which Ichiro didn’t recognize. Ambient lighting was dimmed, making the whole place look mysterious and romantic. There were no windows, however. That hasn’t changed since the last time.

People dressed in a variety of outfits, from modern to cosplay-like, occupied the tables inside the establishment. Some were eating, others were drinking, and some were chatting among themselves. All of them paid attention to Ichiro when he came in, and he noticed several pairs of female eyes gazing at him.

Ichiro walked to the open table, wondering if there was a new convention going on, to which he could go if there was no job for today.

The beautiful blonde-haired woman in waitress attire had approached him as soon as he sat at the table. She had long ears, similar to the elf species in fantasy games. Because it was a role-play in this hotel, he said nothing. Every isekai inn required at least one beautiful maid elf. No exceptions. Before she could say anything, Ichiro handed her a coupon.

She nodded and walked away to the kitchen area. Interaction that didn’t cause the use of words. He sat for a few minutes, scrolling through TweetTweet and liking the new art while massaging his temples.

Then the door opened, and she returned with a food tray brimming with food. She set it down on the table and left without saying a word.

Ichiro picked up his fork and knife and began digging into his breakfast. As expected, the meal was delicious, and he savored every bite. The aftertaste of divine noodles he ate two days ago finally wore off. The breakfast comprised scrambled eggs with cheese, sausages, toast, fried potatoes, and a cup of coffee. A perfect European-looking breakfast.

After finishing his meal, his phone rang. It was Chief Manager-sama. He answered the phone.

“Moshimoshi. Ichiro speaking.”

“Good morning, Ichiro. You have a new delivery job today. You’re still in Tokyo, right?”

“Yes, I am. I’m currently in the city.”

“Excellent. I’ll send you a PDF file with a delivery description in a few minutes, so read it carefully before accepting the order.”

“Understood. Thank you. I’ll be ready in an hour.“

He hung up and went back to his room. The elf moved her ears up and down as he walked inside the doors. She was confused why she couldn’t move her ears while Ichiro was present. She went to the kitchen room after picking up the dishes he had left.

Ichiro returned to his hotel room a few minutes later, laying in bed and massaging his head. His severe headache had almost completely subsided, but he wanted to rest for another ten minutes before getting up. He turned off the lights and got under the covers. Then he started reading the document sent to him via the CURVE app.

In short, drive to yesterday’s research facility, pick up as many boxes as possible, join the convoy to Osaka, and deliver it to the warehouse where he was two days ago. They’ll start packing at 13:00. Ichiro now had two hours of free time rather than one. It’s simple work, he thought, and relaxed instead of doing something productive. He opened NueTube and watched random videos on his feed.

An hour passed by, and Ichiro finished watching a video on how to draw cute anime girls. He now respected his next-door neighbor even more. Ichiro felt refreshed and energetic, as far as someone who just had a terrible headache could be considered. He jumped out of bed, threw on his hoodie, and headed towards the stair. He left early.

He returned the key to the receptionist, and said goodbye to the ‘Inn From Another World’, the hotel where he was third time already.

Ichiro approached his armored truck, opened it, sat inside, and started the engine. He waited a few minutes, waiting for the engine to reheat before driving to the research facility using the GPS system.

***

Ichiro arrived at the research facility half an hour later. He could enter easily because the guards had found his license plate number on their list. He entered the underground depot, as he had done the day before, and stopped in the depot’s parking lot. There were a few of trucks parked here, and not every lot was filled. He arrived early, so he parked closest to the depot entrance.

He exited the vehicle, locked it, and meandered around the depot. He was inspecting the mechanical suits that the workers wore and overhearing conversations between the staff.

Toshio, the scientist he delivered the documents, eventually found him. He, like Ichiro, had black bags under his eyes, but he was looking more joyous than Ichiro.

“Ichiro, *YAWN*... good morning. Thanks to the Great One; you’ve arrived early.”

“Good morning, um... Fukuhara-sama. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes, I’ve heard that you have a *YAWN* ‘special ability’... I need to get this to a nearby violent girl. She likes to make me the first target, which bothers me. Please, Ichiro, help me. I’ll pay!”

Toshio held up a magical girl... wand (?) in his right hand for Ichiro to see. It resembled a magic stick from a cartoon, but it wasn’t made of wood or plastic. It was actually a small metal rod about 60 centimeters long. Purple-white color with a star shape at the tip. It looked quite interesting.

“This is a *YAWN* *WINK* ‘wand’. Its power can only be activated by its master (her), meaning that I cannot use it myself.”

Ichiro sighed inwardly. Toshio was asking him to perform a task, to be an errand boy. He had nothing to do right now because the trucks were just arriving and he had two hours before the packing began. After pausing for a few seconds, he opened his mouth.

“If I may ask, what kind of ‘violent girl’ does this belong to? Where is she at the moment?”

“I’ve got a GPS tracker on her; take this. Her name is Akiko. You’ll find her if you head in the dot direction. Thank you very much, Ichiro-sama.”

Ichiro grabbed the girlish wand, and the black device with a radar interface, thinking, why the hell he has a GPS tracker on her, anyway? He shrugged and opened his mouth to ask something absurd.

“So, what exactly does this... wand do? Shoot projectiles with the strength of friendship and love?”

“What? Ha-ha, no. This prototype only shoots beams of light that will disable electronic devices. For example, it disables cameras and microphones...”

Toshio began muttering incomprehensible things even for Ichiro, who had an IT graduation degree, while pointing at the device.

“It also emits waves of negative energy that cause headaches and nausea, but those effects are minor compared to the other two features.”

Ichiro shook his head, forgot what Toshio just said, labeled him as a crazy scientist, and continued walking towards the depot exit. He left the building without a truck, telling the guards that he would be there soon, and went outside.

***

A homeless man sat on a cardboard box in the alleyway between two high-rise buildings. He was haggard, but he had a nearly normal life. Homeless man sat there for a few minutes, half-sleeping, until a girl dressed as a magical girl fell from the sky near him. He didn’t even bat an eye. She ran away, yelling, “Hey, don’t run away, let me kill you!” to a black blob of something that the homeless man didn’t notice. 30 seconds later, a man in glasses jogged by, holding a child’s wand and some sort of phone and muttering, “That GPS device is faulty! How did she get so far away in such a short time?” and then disappeared into a nearby alleyway.

It was a typical day in that Tokyo’s downtown district.

Ichiro had been jogging at the dot in the device for a few minutes and had already traveled about 3 kilometers, making it a great distance from the research facility. He couldn’t see her, but he could see the tracks of the small wet boots on the nearly dry walkways. He jogged lightly on the dot, knowing he was close to her. But the dot was swinging its position. The sky was overcast, with the sun peeking through the clouds from time to time.

The Magical Girl Akiko (prototype) chased the small black blob through the streets until it became trapped in the closed, abandoned alleyway. It attempted to climb up but was stopped by a steel fence that surrounded the place. It tried to escape again but failed, and eventually, the girl grabbed it with her bare hands.

“A-ha! I got you!”

Akiko yelled triumphantly. She squeezed it while channeling spiritual energy into her glove. She was a head of the research facility, Sasayama kid, and had been a fan of the magical girls since she was six years old. To appease her, he created a prototype watch device that could transform a typical supernatural girl into a magical girl based on a manga and anime she liked. With clothing changes and light effects, just like in the old school anime. She also had asked for a weapon that would allow her to defeat all enemies quickly and efficiently, and Ichiro was holding exactly what she had waited for so long.

But before that, she was distracted by a ghostly presence in the ghostless downtown area. And she chased it, this blob, to this location. She was a hot-headed one, and it showed when she saw ghosts everywhere.

Her grip tightened as she squeezed harder and tighter. The blob squirmed, trying desperately to break free from her powerful grasp. But the blob didn’t die. She didn’t have enough spiritual power to destroy it, and she didn’t realize it yet.

Akiko’s grip eased, and she muttered in frustration.

“Why... won’t... you... die!”

The blob smirked (?), seeing that it was unharmed, and did something unexpected by her standards; it spread to her hand, swallowing it, and continued to spread to her arm. She screamed and shook her arm, trying to shake it off.

It scratched her arm like a cat. This small ghost didn’t have powers to defeat her. A strange situation indeed, considering the fact that she should have defeated it instantly.

Akiko poured spiritual energy into her other glove, attempting to peel the ghost off. It didn’t work out. It went on for a few seconds until something strange happened.

The blob stopped swallowing her arm and tried to flee like it feared something scarier than itself, separating itself from her. It scrambled to the wall and attempted to flee by climbing up the concrete structure.

She watched helplessly, unable to stop the creature from escaping. She charged her glove as an energy launcher, intending to fire it at the fleeing blob, but suddenly, the ground shifted, startling Akiko, and black tendrils erupted from it, grabbing the blob and pulling it closer.

Then everything froze. The world slowed down for her. All sounds ceased, except the sound of the wind blowing against the walls and the screeching of her own heartbeats. It slowly swallowed the ghost, absorbing it like a sponge absorbs water.

After several seconds, it finally ended, leaving nothing behind.

Akiko slumped to the ground, started to sweat, and thought hard. What just happened? Am I still alive?!

She stood up, feeling dizzy and weak. Something bad happened, and she didn’t know what it meant.

“Hey, are you all right?”

The young man’s voice came from behind her. She screamed because she was surprised.

“Eek!”

Akiko returned her gaze and noticed the man wearing glasses. His eyes were hidden by the gray light reflected in his glasses, but his face was visible. He had a menacing appearance and was probably in his mid-twenties.

“Wha-“

Akiko stumbled backward and tripped on herself.

“Whoa, calm down. Are you Akiko-san? Fukuhara-sama sent me to bring you this.”

He held a metallic wand in his hands and handed it to her. It was MS-1, her main weapon prototype, which Toshio-sensei had promised her the day before!

“Here, take it. I’m exhausted from running around in circles.”

He walked toward her, and she took the wand from him. He smiled gently and bowed politely.

“This is not the place for a magical girl, especially a prototype like yourself. I apologize for scaring you earlier.”

Akiko nodded.

“Thank you.“

She replied softly. She massaged her hand that was scratched, wondering how it hurt so badly. He saw it and smiled with a predator’s smile.

“Did you run after a cat? Don’t worry about scratches. They heal fast, and they’re not serious injuries. Well, no matter, I should return. Looks like rain is pouring soon. Bye!”

He laughed nervously, then he turned back and walked away. Akiko didn’t even respond. He handed her over the wand and ran away, as if avoiding her. She looked behind him, piecing together the last few moments. When the ghost fled, it was devoured by the ground, and a man appeared.

Something odd occurred. And that man is the culprit. Why...?

“Who is he?”

She muttered it and sat there thinking. She didn’t even know what his name was. When she returns, she will ask Toshio-sensei after firing her new weapon at his butt.

***

When Ichiro returned thirty minutes later, the depot was crowded with large semi-trucks parked side by side. People running around frantically, loading boxes onto them.

Ichiro began by looking for Toshio, who was in the testing room. Ichiro found him by asking people in mechanical suits in the area. He was still standing near the broken ‘pillar,’ inspecting it with a magnifying glass. He reported back to him, returning the GPS device, and Toshio gave him two ten thousand yen bills. It was excessive, but Ichiro gladly accepted it. His wallet was empty after filling the tank with gasoline. He said his goodbyes and exited the testing room.

Ichiro then looked for the man; the photo was in the PDF file his boss had sent. He was the convoy’s organizer, so he needed to talk to him. He approached a middle-aged man in a formal suit, carrying a clipboard and a cellphone that was surrounded by drivers, talking to each other. Ichiro stood near the group, but he immediately called out to him as soon as he saw him walking.

“Oh, Ichiro-san, you’ve arrived! The most valuable items will be inside your truck. Your truck is only an armored truck in this whole convoy, so make sure you keep it safe. If anything happens to that precious cargo, I swear I will come back here tomorrow morning and kick every single one of you, including myself!”

Ichiro chuckled quietly and shook his head. Feeling burdened by the responsibility, he opened the back of his armored truck while the organizer summoned the movers. They began inserting box after box into the truck, and Ichiro kept watching the coordinated operation next to them. They eventually crammed his truck to the brim with materials, and the organizers moved their way towards another vehicle.

The packing of the other trucks took an hour, and they were finally ready to travel. Convoy to Osaka was ready to deliver materials to Hidetaka’s warehouse instead of money.