That afternoon, Se-gi was in an exceptionally solemn mood.

Today was the day she would finally get her hands on the magic wand she had been waiting for.

How could she not be excited?

She didn’t show it, but Teddy Bear, Sea Otter, Shark, and now even Rabbit.

Her plush doll companions, who were like family to her, were growing stronger with magic stone weapons, and she felt terribly frustrated being the only one left at a standstill.

So, she had subtly (or so she believed) told Jung-woo that she wanted a magic weapon, and today, that courage was bearing fruit.

It was only natural that her head was full of nothing but thoughts of the wand.

To a child, a new toy was more than a mere plaything; it was something closer to a lifelong companion.

It added color to the emotions of her age, while simultaneously serving as a catalyst for growth that etched the concept of ‘something entirely mine’ into her mind.

Six-year-old Shin Se-gi.

She was so thrilled she couldn’t even concentrate during class.

When her daycare teacher, Song Mi-ran, gently asked her why, Mi-ran ended up sacrificing her eardrums to a barrage of wand talk, much like Jung-woo had the day before.

4:30 PM.

For the usually energetic Se-gi, whose time normally flew by like an arrow, a single minute now felt like a millennium.

She kept glancing around, waiting for the moment Jung-woo would arrive.

The end of that wait.

4:45 PM.

Jung-woo arrived to pick up Se-gi a full fifteen minutes earlier than usual.

“Daaaddy!”

Even a husband returning from the battlefield wouldn’t cry out with such desperate longing.

The aspiring magical girl, Se-gi, launched herself at Jung-woo with the excitement of a puppy that had just heard the word ‘walk.’

Even after Jung-woo scooped her up, she couldn’t calm down and kept bouncing in his arms.

“You’re here early! Se-gi was gonna wait until five!”

“I came early because today is a special day. You’re keeping track of time so well, how mature of you~”

“Yeah! Se-gi is the most mature! No, magic…!”

At that moment, Jung-woo raised a finger to his lips with a ‘Shh!’

Se-gi froze.

Jung-woo’s expression was far too serious.

“Why, whhy…?”

When Se-gi, having grown cautious in turn, asked, Jung-woo whispered.

“You have to keep it a secret from everyone that you’re a magical girl.”

“Why…!?”

Why couldn’t she tell anyone about something this amazing?

The demon of questions, Se-gi, already had about thirty ‘why’s loaded in her mouth.

But there was no way the veteran father, Jung-woo Shin, wouldn’t have seen that coming.

Jung-woo had learned by now.

The reason a child asks ‘why’ is because the answer is boring and pedantic.

What a child needed wasn’t logic, but emotion.

“It’s cooler because it’s a secret.”

“Whoa…!”

Se-gi was amazed.

It was a flawless answer that left absolutely no room for argument.

At the same time, a worry crept in.

She had already blabbed all about the magic wand to her daycare teacher!

Se-gi’s gaze darted toward Mi-ran.

Mi-ran, who had been listening to the whole conversation from a short distance away, zipped her lips tight, struggling to hold back a laugh.

Se-gi was deeply moved.

Tearfully, she nodded with a look of fierce determination.

The daycare pickup ended in a warm atmosphere of sticky solidarity.

Now, if she went home, the magic wand would be there.

That was as far as Se-gi’s thoughts went, and…

Paang!

The scene that unfolded after the teleportation defied her expectations.

“Where are we???”

Se-gi’s eyes went wide as she looked around.

They were in some mountains. Not just any ordinary mountains, but a field-like mountain filled with fluffy cotton balls and cute little flowers that would surprise even Se-gi.

It felt like a world straight out of a fairy tale.

If there was one part that felt especially so, it was when trump cards, barely big enough to reach Se-gi’s calves, waddled around like dwarves, spotted Se-gi, and gave a little hop.

The trump cards all shouted in unison.

[Gasp! The one who will take the magical girl’s trial has arrived!!!]

[The magical girl’s trial!?!?]

[A new magical girl!!!]

Se-gi tilted her head at the cards, which were buzzing with squawking voices.

However, someone immediately stepped in to help her grasp the situation.

“Hahaha!”

With a stylish laugh, an elderly gentleman appeared, spreading his cape with a ‘Chwaak!’

It was Henry Miller.

Padedeut! A white dove burst from his cape and flew into the sky.

Petals swirled around his body.

Se-gi’s jaw dropped.

“Wow!”

“Young magical girl!”

Henry spoke in English, and Jung-woo translated.

“He’s calling you a young magical girl.”

“The language of the magic kingdom!!! How did Daddy understand it!!!”

“I studied it so I could teach you. Anyway…”

Henry spoke in a very grave tone.

Each time, Jung-woo explained the meaning to Se-gi.

Stripping away all the rhetoric and getting straight to the point, it went like this.

“He says that to become the true master of the magic wand, you have to pass a trial and awaken the wand’s power.”

The moment Jung-woo finished speaking.

The approaching elderly gentleman pulled a wand from his coat.

The Milky Way reflected in Se-gi’s eyes.

“Waaaaah!!!”

It had her favorite navy-blue body, white wing-shaped decorations, a red gemstone embedded in the center, and a massive golden ring encircling it.

It was a magic wand at the pinnacle of modern technology. There was no way Se-gi could know, nor did she need to know, that the toy cost more than a decent imported car.

More than that, the atmosphere itself held a magical charm.

Receiving the magic wand in this strange, adorable space, between the trump card dwarves and the dignified magician, Se-gi felt like fireworks were going off in her head.

Her body trembled with a shiver.

A trial to become a true magical girl!

A dreamlike adventure! The magnificent Se-gi!

She was so thrilled that her eyes grew moist.

Anyone watching would have suspected she was hyperventilating.

Jung-woo said.

“He says there are villains in these mountains who torment the people of the Trump Kingdom. If you swing your wand with a righteous heart, magic will be born that can save them.”

Se-gi nodded solemnly.

Her enthusiasm surged at the intuitive, child-friendly backstory.

“Let’s go! We have to save the Trump Kingdom!”

Se-gi strode confidently down the well-paved mountain path.

Behind her, Jung-woo exchanged a glance with Henry and nodded.

It was the beginning of a show the child would never forget for the rest of her life.

Jung-woo marveled at the event as it unfolded.

First, he realized that Henry’s boast about making the child’s gift a lasting memory was no joke.

Second, he was able to witness Henry’s abilities firsthand throughout the process.

‘Was it Spirit Magic?’

It was a reality-manipulation ability that granted arbitrary sentience to inanimate objects.

According to public knowledge, it was an ability that allowed small objects granted a one-dimensional ego to autonomously navigate and intercept enemies, but its application here was quite entertaining.

He input predetermined lines into the spirits residing in the trump cards and had them recite those lines.

He imbued cotton balls with sentience, making them look like flowing clouds.

To a child, what was created was simply an adorable little world, but in reality, all of those things were bombs that could fly and self-destruct, or infantrymen firing thousands of mana rounds.

The stark contrast between the two, and this peaceful utilization of it, felt exceptionally extraordinary.

Moreover, given his profession and position, Jung-woo was calculating the potential applications of this ability.

To start with the conclusion.

More than anything, there was a specific aspect that captured Jung-woo’s heart.

‘The synergy is incredible.’

He let out a hollow laugh.

It was because Henry’s Spirit Magic and Jung-woo’s All-Ages Filter intertwined to produce an astonishing result.

Kkwoaaang!!!

“Villain! Don’t torment the cards!”

The magical girl Se-gi’s adventure continued as they arrived at a small Trump Village created by Henry.

There, they found a plush magical beast about Se-gi’s size.

It wasn’t a fake magical beast, but a real one.

They had captured a C-Rank magical beast, mutated it with Jung-woo’s All-Ages Filter, and then embedded a few of Henry’s cards in the back of its head.

‘If I turn it into a plush, it’s classified as an inanimate object. If I apply Henry’s ability to that, I can overlay a spirit’s personality onto it and control the magical beast.’

Of course, this only worked because the magical beast’s rank was low enough that it couldn’t resist Jung-woo and Henry’s mana.

From their experiments over the past few days, they found that once a beast reached A-Rank, it developed a resistance, making it impossible to control.

However, if this could be used to restrict movements or destroy specific body parts in actual combat, the value of this ability would be immense.

Such was the nature of reality-manipulation abilities.

Depending on the synergy, there were some that should absolutely never be used together, but there were also those that produced incredible synergy like this.

Regardless, he was gaining a lot from this.

For now, he needed to focus on the show.

He had layered multiple safety measures, so there was no danger.

He just needed to play his part as the director well.

When Se-gi swung her wand, a phenomenon occurred.

“Yaaah!”

Ppyororong!

Sound effects rang out from the built-in speaker.

Immediately after, the wand’s magic stone glowed, and a rainbow swiftly stretched out around them.

It didn’t utilize physical phenomena, but there was someone who could make it happen.

Kkwoaaaang!

“Disappear!!!”

As Se-gi shouted, the plush magical beast melted away and disappeared.

The trump cards erupted in cheers.

[Waaaaah!!!]

[The magic that defeats villains!!!]

[Magical girl!!!]

Se-gi didn’t need to know.

That the plush was actually a real magical beast, and that behind the spectacle lay the beast’s flesh melting away from the poison Sea Otter had planted.

“We won! Daddy!!! I learned rainbow magic!!!”

“Whoa! Se-gi, that’s amazing! At this rate, you might really become a magical girl!”

Seeing his exaggerated reaction, Se-gi bounced up and down.

The trump cards giggled as well.

Seeing the child so overjoyed brought him an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

But it wasn’t just a story that ended there.

【”I am the hero of the Trump Kingdom!” The child has become a hero! A dreamlike scene you’d only see on TV has become reality! [Great Caregiver (4/10)] *Collect stickers to unlock skills!*】

It had been a while since his stack had filled.

Since it no longer accumulated from ordinary events, this felt especially welcome.

More than anything, it served as a lesson for Jung-woo.

It reminded him once again that making each moment of daily life precious ultimately depended on how the caregiver orchestrated that daily life.

“Let’s go to the next village! We have to save them quickly!”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

He took Se-gi’s hand and walked on.

They passed through three more villages like that before reaching the final one.

There was a special guest.

Ho-jong, wearing a cat mascot head, stood with his arms crossed and spoke.

“I am the nicotine-addicted stray cat villain.”

“Gasp! Cigarettes are bad!”

“Ahem.”

“But your voice sounds exactly like Mr. Ho-jong’s!”

“I’m his cousin.”

“Gasp!”

Jung-woo narrowed his eyes and glared at him, but Ho-jong completely ignored him.

He had told him to put some effort into it, and this was the result.

Should he at least be grateful that he showed up?

‘No, come to think of it, that guy just came here to drink.’

The place where this show was currently unfolding was a mountain near the village that Soon-ae was building.

No matter how he looked at it, Ho-jong seemed entirely focused on heading down to the village afterward to have drinks with Jun-ho.

A laugh escaped him.

Fortunately, the villain’s concept or family background didn’t seem to matter much to Se-gi.

“Yap!”

A red light flashed brightly, filling the village.

Ho-jong let out a half-hearted scream and collapsed with a ‘Kkeokkadak’.

With that, they entered the epilogue.

[Wow! The Trump Kingdom is at peace!!!]

[Our magical girl, Shin Se-gi!!!]

The cards praised Se-gi.

Belatedly, Jung-woo’s plush dolls appeared, pretending to be surprised, and bounced around Se-gi.

Se-gi trembled, her face filled with overwhelming emotion.

“Se-gi became a magical girl…!”

She sniffled as she tightly hugged the magic wand.

She was so moved she could almost cry.

It was a moment of newfound realization for Jung-woo.

Paang!

Henry appeared amidst a mist.

With a look of immense pride, he walked over with a click of his heels and knelt before Se-gi.

“You are a good child worthy of becoming a magical girl!”

“He says you’re a wonderful magical girl.”

“This is the final step. We will now commence the magical girl’s oath.”

“He says you have to make a promise to become a magical girl.”

Se-gi’s eyes sparkled as she nodded.

Henry smiled brightly and spoke to Se-gi.

“Please, use that power for justice. A magical girl is on the side of justice, right?”

The moment Jung-woo translated those words.

Se-gi beamed.

It was a brighter smile than ever.

“Yeah! Se-gi is a good person who helps good people! Magical girls are super strong, but hitting friends is what bad people do, so good Se-gi will only torment the villains!”

Henry extended his pinky finger, and Se-gi hooked her own around it.

They had called it an oath and made it sound grand, but it was not grand in the slightest.

At the same time, amusingly enough, Jung-woo found himself feeling unnecessarily sentimental about that promise.

“Alright, now that you’re a magical girl, shall we go eat?”

“Yeah, Se-gi is hungry!”

“Let’s go to Grandma Soon-ae. She’s nearby.”

“Yay!!!”

She was a child harboring too great a potential.

Depending on how she used that heart, the power within Se-gi could become a disaster or a hero.

He hoped that someday, rather than just playing house like this, she would actually gain the power to keep that promise.

And that he would be able to paint such a future for her.

Harboring a small wish and resolve, Jung-woo headed to Soon-ae’s house.

He was accompanied by Se-gi, who chattered away while tightly hugging her magic wand.

“Grandma! Look at this!!!”

[My goodness, Se-gi became a magic teacher~]

That night, after Se-gi had shown off the wand to her heart’s content, she was drawing rainbows in the yard of Soon-ae’s house.

Ttiring!

【”With great power comes great responsibility! The apostle of justice, Shin Se-gi, appears!” The child who became an official magical girl is training hard to become an apostle of justice! Dreams are truly wonderful, aren’t they? [Great Caregiver (5/10)] *Collect stickers to unlock skills!*】

【Please show more to the little treasure who can only learn about the world through you! So that the child’s imagination can bloom more vibrantly!】

【Se-gi’s World (4/?)】

The soil of dreams took root in the child’s world, which expanded with every passing moment.