Chapter 76

Invader ⅠI

The aircraft carrier boasted by the Magical Girl Association (40 tons, equipped with kitchen and rest facilities, formerly used as a fishing cleaning ship before commissioning as an aircraft carrier in 1996) arrived at the target waters in less than two hours.

The Magical Girls immediately took their positions and started fishing. They had the skills of seasoned fishermen.

“Wow—just when we were starting to run low on food, I was thinking about going fishing.”

“By the way, Undateikeo. I heard rumors that there are awakeners in Korea with the ability to foresee the future. Is that true? You're moving with such certainty that an anomaly will appear at sea this time too.”

I shrugged.

“That’s a secret. But at least this time, it wasn’t a prophet. It was a constellation that told me.”

“A constellation...? Oh, those gods that only exist in Korea.”

The Magical Girl nodded in understanding.

It might be surprising, but the awakeners from Japan didn’t question why Constellations were so active only in Korea. They considered them a kind of local deity.

Even though they were now obsessed with their strange Magical Girl cosplay, before the void burst forth, they were all people with strong ‘spiritual senses.’ Mediums, shamans, and the like.

“...!”

While they were enjoying fishing, a quiet Magical Girl perked up her ears and pointed to the sky.

“Nya? What’s wrong, Ciel?”

“Hmm?”

The people aboard the aircraft carrier looked up. Their eyes widened.

A UFO was falling from the sky.

“Nyaaa?! Wh-What is that?”

“...Good grief.”

Boom!

The UFO tore through the Earth's fragile atmosphere as it fell. But from about 600 meters above the ground, its speed slowed dramatically. As if welcoming the alien visitor, the sea’s waves surged violently.

With a roaring sound, the UFO landed, no, splashed down into the sea.

The tsunami caused by the UFO shook our aircraft carrier.

“Nya! Somebody save me!”

“Decelerate—stabilize—defend.”

The ship, which almost capsized, regained its balance thanks to the crew’s magic.

As the water spray slowly cleared, the enormous UFO gradually floated up on the water's surface.

“Unbelievable. Undateikeo was right. An anomaly really came from the sky.”

“...! ...!”

“Amazing. Evidence for the hypothesis that the origin of anomalies might be space. We need to prepare a paper.”

“Even if you publish a paper, there’s no society to review it! Besides, is it even an anomaly? Maybe it's a real alien?”

Wiping the seawater from my face, I calmly spoke.

“Prepare for combat. Whether they're friendly or hostile aliens, we’re about to find out.”

“Hmm.”

“Right. Good idea.”

Shock gave way to caution. I and the others quickly assumed defensive positions.

“Warning. Detecting a presence.”

The blind Magical Girl, specialized in scouting and detection, muttered as steam hissed from the UFO.

Unlike in the previous cycle, where all the aliens inside had been slaughtered, this time there were clear signs of life.

“......”

“......”

Everyone held their breath at the moment that might lead to humanity’s first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life.

A shadow loomed from beyond the steam and mist.

A whiff of gasoline hit our faces.

The blind Magical Girl muttered.

“Approaching.”

Thud!

As soon as she finished speaking, the figure leapt from the steam and landed on the aircraft carrier.

Such tremendous jumping power. And if the figure intended to engage in friendly conversation, it was certainly not the right approach.

“Enemy!”

“It’s a hostile alien!”

The creature, presumed to be an alien, extended its arms on the violently rocking ship.

Shriek!

Perhaps it was trying to say, ‘Hug me,’ by spreading its arms wide.

However, the alien had not two, but eight arms, and instead of hands, each arm ended in a one-meter-long scythe. Hardly suitable for a friendly embrace.

My subsequent judgment was hardly an overreaction.

“Engage in combat!”

Clang!

I met the eight swinging scythes of the alien with my blade. More accurately, I tried to meet them carefully.

‘What kind of strength is this?’

A heavy blow. Despite expecting it to be at most on par with the Ten Legs, my sword almost flew out of my hand from just one scythe strike.

The strength wasn’t the only surprising thing.

Shriek!

The eight naturally equipped scythes launched a rapid and dazzling assault. Although it was difficult to fully comprehend, there was undoubtedly a highly developed martial arts system embedded in the alien's scythe strikes.

One blow, two blows, three blows. Just when I thought I had blocked one, another scythe came from the side. I tried to cut off its eighth arm with my aura, but it was to no avail.

“Damn.”

It wasn’t easy to make me, in the 99th cycle, exclaim in such awe.

The alien creature was clearly stronger than the Ten Legs. Not just a little stronger—six, seven times stronger, if not beyond calculation.

“Undateikeo? Are you okay?”

“Not at all! This bastard is strong!”

“Serious. Ciel, turn the ship around. We need to retreat and call for reinforcements. I’ll assist the Undateikeo—”

The Magical Girls made the right call, but just because something is right doesn’t mean others will follow the logic.

Thud! Thud, thud!

Alien creatures rained down from the UFO onto the aircraft carrier. The ship shook uncontrollably, and waves crashed from all sides.

Shriek! Shriek!

I saw seven alien creatures within my line of sight. Their skin was melting like wax. The smell of gasoline was overwhelming, emanating from their melting skin.

“Fuck.”

A cold sweat ran down my neck, a rare occurrence despite my countless regressions. Fighting just one was tough enough, but seven more?

But cold sweat alone wasn’t enough to describe the urgency of the situation. The memory of the corridor inside the UFO from the 98th cycle flashed through my mind.

The corridor filled with corpses.

‘So, there could be at least 120 of these things?’

A scream erupted from the Magical Girls.

“Aaaah!”

A quick glance showed that the Magical Girls were being overpowered by the aliens.

A flurry of scythe strikes. The limbs of the girl who always said ‘nya’ were severed, soaring into the air along with her black umbrella.

“Damn,”

“...!”

Even in the face of death, the Magical Girls tried to remain calm. Sparks flew, and magic flared. But with each passing second, their bodies were dismembered, scattering blood.

[Undateikeo, escape—]

Thud! The blind Magical Girl who survived till the end had her upper body pierced by a tail, and her voice was cut off. Blood gushed from the alien creature’s sharp tail.

Time taken for total annihilation: a mere 11 seconds.

It wasn’t due to negligence in preparation. The awakeners weren’t lacking in skills.

Though not as experienced as me, they were veterans who had survived in Japan’s anomaly-ridden environment.

Yet they were obliterated. In 11 seconds.

“Goddammit—”

It had been a while since such a harsh curse escaped my mouth. The feeling was familiar yet unwelcome. It was the same damn feeling I had when fighting that damned octopus-head Ten Legs.

“Bastards!”

Somehow, I summoned as much aura as I could and swung my sword. With my comrades wiped out, staying here even a second longer would mean getting surrounded. I had to at least kill the one in front of me.

Shriek!

Pouring all my aura into my blade, I delivered a savage strike. Rather than a slash, it was more of a brute force assault that turned the alien creature into chunks of flesh.

Shriek?

Shriek! Shriek!

The aliens were shocked at their comrade’s death. The dozens of aliens on deck turned to look at me.

They clearly seemed wary.

They slowly, very slowly, began to surround me like hunters cornering prey.

I took cautious steps back, trying to keep the angle of encirclement below 180 degrees.

The aliens clicked and shrieked, seemingly displeased, but didn’t immediately charge. I had been given a moment’s reprieve.

......

The sound of waves echoed quietly. We maintained our distance, leaving the bodies of four Magical Girls and one alien between us, in a tense standoff.

“......”

I could retreat if I wanted to.

The aliens were strong and fast, but I didn’t think they could keep up with my speed. The Magical Girls must have sensed this disparity and told me to [run] at the end.

However.

‘I can’t let 120 of these monsters roam the world.’

I gripped my sword hilt tightly and adjusted my stance. One sentence repeated in my mind.

I’m taking you down with me.

‘Rather than that, I’ll gather as much information as possible in this cycle and prepare for the next.’

The decisive reason I couldn’t commit to retreating was the thought that there must be another entity that had slaughtered all 120 of these powerful aliens.

‘I need to see its face. And learn its features and abilities if possible!’

It might be the queen of these aliens, or an entirely different entity. I had no information yet.

It was fortunate that I realized such a powerful anomaly existed. In previous cycles, this anomaly had crashed into the East Sea and disappeared, hiding somewhere without me knowing.

‘This anomaly must have a continent-class, or more likely, an ocean-class danger rating.’

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many civilians and awakeners it had killed over the cycles while hiding from my sight.

‘No matter how many cycles it takes, no matter how many decades or centuries, I’ll annihilate it completely!’

As I steeled myself for a life-or-death struggle,

Shriek...

Shriek, shriek... shriek...?

The alien creatures, which had seemed ready to pounce at any moment, suddenly hesitated. They weren’t afraid of my aura... no, that wasn’t it.

All eight of their arms were trembling, and their tails were flailing wildly from side to side.

They stretched their necks out like deer, looked up, and shrieked at the sky. They twisted their limbs and scratched their skin furiously.

It looked like they were...

‘...In pain?’

One of the aliens flipped over and started writhing on the ground, rubbing its body against the deck of the aircraft carrier like a bear scratching its back against a tree.

The difference was that the bear was in agonizing pain while doing so.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

The other aliens followed suit, each writhing and scratching itself in apparent agony. One even crashed into the control room, while another used its own scythe-arms to peel its skin off.

“What in the world...?”

Just moments ago, these creatures had seemed like the ultimate lifeforms. Why were they suddenly acting like this?

I lowered my sword in confusion. Approaching one of the aliens, I stabbed it in the belly, but it didn’t react at all and simply slumped over.

“Ugh...”

On closer inspection, the skin that had been melting like wax earlier was now literally pouring off like chocolate in a fountain.

The flesh was disintegrating. It looked as if they had been doused with acid, as their skin melted away.

Shriek! Shriek!

They writhed in agony, but the melting process only accelerated. Muscles were exposed, thick bones jutted out, and strange organs spilled out.

All of it melted away.

Within just two minutes, the deck of the aircraft carrier was littered with black, slimy remains.

“Gross...”

I went inside the UFO to check, but there was no twist. Just fewer numbers this time, but the corridors were still filled with alien corpses, just like in the 98th cycle.

These creatures, which might have been the strongest species in the universe, were all dead.

And humanity hadn’t even done anything yet.

“......”

I scooped some seawater into my palm and poured it over one of the relatively intact bodies.

A remarkable thing happened. The alien’s skin instantly melted away.

“Ugh...”

I tested it again, this time with fresh water from the aircraft carrier, and the result was the same. The alien’s skin, bones, and organs turned into a sticky liquid.

“Oh...”

I realized why these powerful creatures had been annihilated and why they hadn’t appeared in previous cycles.

“Their weakness is ‘water’...?”

They should have avoided Earth. Idiots.

I named these alien creatures the 'Warrior Race.' From the 99th cycle onward, I paid no attention to UFOs or the Warrior Race that fell into the East Sea.

No matter how strong the Warrior Race was, no matter how tough they were—even for me, a regressor—it didn’t matter.

Their weakness was water.

As obvious as it sounds, 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. And, amusingly enough, on Earth, H₂O often falls from the sky. Sometimes it rains for days on end.

Oh, don’t you know? Aliens, this is called ‘summer monsoon’—

‘How can a creature’s weakness be water?’

It was bizarre, but considering how rare water is in the universe, it might be that Earth’s inhabitants and its life forms are the strange ones.

“Hey, guild leader! Look over there! A shooting star...!”

“Hmm.”

In some cycles, I saw meteor showers over the East Sea, but I simply watched the night sky with a bittersweet feeling.

The idea that these anomalies, potentially my greatest foes, were diving into the East Sea and dying every cycle was... a bit strange.

‘What if the Warrior Race isn’t actually an anomaly but real aliens?’

What if the UFO was just a small reconnaissance ship and the main force was elsewhere?

What if they realized their weakness was water, developed high-tech waterproof suits, and came back for another invasion?

And if humanity and anomalies alike were wiped out by the Warrior Race’s invasion?

“Wish. Make a wish quickly, guild leader/ If you make it before the star falls, it will come true!”

With Sim Ah-ryeon’s special skill of whining, I raised my hands in surrender.

“Alright, fine. Let’s make a wish.”

If the aliens launch a full-scale invasion, what can I do? I’ll just keep resetting the cycles and deal with it then.

Praying that such a disaster wouldn’t happen, I clasped my hands together.

‘Please give up on Earth. Aliens. No matter where your home planet is, I guarantee it’s less of a hellhole than ours.’

Twinkle—

As if acknowledging my wish, a shooting star twinkled over the East Sea in the 9th year.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried