Momo's going through the woes of a normal college student, until she encounters something entirely out of this world — or maybe an entirely different world she's had no clue about. 

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Momo stretched her arms upwards, groaning in satisfaction when the tension slowly eased out of her body. 

Her laptop illuminated a portion of the room, enough to maintain a relaxed ambience. Her college website sat there in an open tab right next to the youtube page. 

Another satisfied groan slipped out as her arms let out a popping sound. 

She was chilling in her college dorm trying to pick a program. Trying was the key word. 

The semester was over and all she needed to do now was to pick some kind of activity to do over the break. 

After a couple hours of attempted researching and watching videos on the internet instead, her stomach growled. Seeing that nothing productive would be happening any time soon, she headed out, intent on filling her stomach at the campus cafeteria. 

Good thing the food court stays open late. 

Dressed in a big comfy sweater and some track pants, Momo strided casually through the campus. It was the Fall season and the trees in New York were just beginning to change their colors. The lines of trees were mixed with pretty shades of green, yellow, and orange that still left her in awe sometimes. 

The canteen wasn’t too far from her dorm but on this night, it felt particularly distant. 

Momo was walking when she heard a hissing sound, like steam coming out of a pipe, followed by what she thought was metallic clanking. She turned her head, curious on what could be making the sound at this time. 

She instantly regretted it. 

About 50 yards off away from her stood a giant bronze mechanical bull. The bronze bull was about half the size of an elephant. And Momo had only ever seen an elephant in person once at the zoo. The thing was massive! 

Well, that’s new. 

Maybe she didn’t get the memo about the shiny new contraptions… actually, when was the last time she checked her college email? 

It stared straight at Momo while she stood with gaping open. She didn’t know how or why a giant mechanical bull was on campus. 

Actually, she didn’t want to know at all! Not with the way its red eyes were glaring at her. 

Momo knew she had to get away from it. She’s seen enough videos on YouTube to know that bulls were hilariously dangerous. She didn’t want to know what a metal bull could do. 

She backed away slowly. Momo held her breath, hoping the bull couldn’t hear how hard her heart was hammering in her chest.  

The bull hissed out hot steam from its nostrils—more like metallic vents, really. One of its legs started to hoof at the ground as it prepared to charge. 

“Shiiiiiit !” 

Momo spun around and ran . She didn’t know where to go but it was definitely going to be as far away as she could get from the thing. 

The bull let out an angry and menacing roar as it charged. Momo started sprinting, keeping a good distance between her and the bull. 

Now, Momo was a good runner. She was on the track team in high school back in Japan. She was even offered a scholarship that brought her all the way to New York!  

Bulls however, were NOT on the track team. The bronze heap of metal was gaining on her—and gaining fast! 

“No, no, no, no—!” 

Momo chanted in a panic as the bull’s sharp horns were inches away from her rear. 

“INCOMING!” 

Just as Momo thought she’d be rammed in the , a golf cart shot out of nowhere and slammed right into the bull, effectively t-boning it. 

The thundering sound of a collision rang out in the night air. 

Momo had ducked in time thanks to the warning; she dropped to the ground with a yelp, hands cradling her head and curling into a ball. 

After a hot second, she looked up to see that the occupants had dived out of the cart before it hit the bull. 

A girl got up from the ground, brushing herself off like it was nothing. Another girl was laid sprawled next to her. 

“This is why we let Jeongyeon drive!” 

The girl standing up laughed at the words of the prone girl on the floor. She helped her up before doing the same to Momo. 

“Watch out, the fight isn’t over yet.” 

Girl-who-shouldn’t-drive said. She then proceeded to whip out a golden glowing sword out of nowhere. 

“Whoa…what...” 

Surprisingly, this didn’t shock Momo that much. The giant mechanical bull took precedence over that. 

Girl #2 looked back at Momo with a gentle, radiant smile. “Don’t worry. We’re here to help you.” 

She didn’t know her that well—hell, they just met!—but Momo believed her. How could someone with a smile like the sun lie to her? 

Girl #1 brandished her sword as the bull got back on its... feet? Hooves? It let out another irritated roar, more steam hissing from it this time. 

The bull kicked up its legs before it charged again. Girl #1 did the unthinkable in Momo’s mind and charged at the bull with a fierce battle cry. 

“What—“ 

Momo muttered a small cry of disbelief as Girl #1 jumped on the bull’s head, using it as a launching pad to flip herself onto its back. Once the bull realized there was something on its back, it started bucking. Despite the rough treatment, the girl easily sank her sword into the bull’s metal back before leaping off—all the while crackling madly. 

“Don’t mind her. She’s usually like this in battle.” Girl #2 chuckled as Momo stared at the scene with confused awe. 

Who are these people? 

“I’m Jihyo.” Jihyo then pointed at the girl on the bucking bull. “And that’s Nayeon.” 

Oh… nevermind. 

//

Nayeon repeatedly dodged the metal beast’s attacks before stabbing it vigorously. In this case, the best damage was internal; Jihyo had mentioned a power switch mechanism hidden inside the center. 

The outline of her body gradually glowed dark red and it remained for the remainder of the fight. 

This was different from fighting monsters. Usually the monsters would disintegrate with a few good stabs from her trusty celestial bronze sword. Mechanical creations of Hephaestus took a different approach; Rather than a one-and-done fight, they needed to be shut down or completely obliterated. 

The bull let out groans and hisses of steam as Nayeon added a few more stabbings. 

“Man, you’re one thick piece of metal!” She reared back with a yelp as a puff of hot steam got too close to her face. 

A loud click! was heard after her last . 

“Finally!” Nayeon gleefully shouted as the bull slowly shut down. Its glowing red eyes dimmed before its hulking body slumped in a heap of bronze metal and curling wisps of steam. Nayeon relaxed and sheathed her sword with a twist, where it shrunk and reappeared as her ring. 

//

Momo watched as Nayeon approached them. With a happy grin, like she didn’t just slay a rampaging metal bull, she introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Nayeon!” 

Momo stared blankly at the two in front of her, wondering if this was all a college-stress-induced dream that she was having. 

...maybe I’m still in my dorm, dozing off in front of my laptop…  

She jumped a little, tentatively responding when she realized that they were waiting for her. “I’m Momo…” 

Nayeon looked at Jihyo before chuckling. “Well, at least she didn’t faint like the last one.” 

Jihyo nudged her companion before shooting another sunshine-smile at Momo. “C’mon, we should get outta here before more monsters show up.” 

That snapped her out of it quickly. “Huh! There’s more?!” 

“Yes, if we don’t skedaddle right now!” Nayeon glanced around, keen and alert like she’s done this a dozen times. Her hand flexed and her ring gleamed in the moonlight. Meanwhile, Jihyo gave her a look of baffled amusement and murmured, “Who even says skedaddle?” 

Jihyo turned to Momo with a dazzling smile and big swirling eyes. “We’ll explain on the way. Promise.” 

Momo looked at the two girls she just met, literally out of nowhere. They looked confident and experienced enough for this whole ordeal to not be a prank. She glanced back at the heap of bronze metal that moments prior, was ready to turn her into… well, whatever metal bulls eat! She turned back to the two who were waiting for her answer. 

Well, what was she gonna do? Say no?