Light scattered. A flash burst forth, splitting the sky.

“This… is the end… right…?”

The girl was smiling. No matter how much blood she shed, no matter how deep her wounds, she stood tall and unleashed her final strike.

Her battle with the last boss was fierce, desperate—and beautiful.

And in the end… it was a draw.

When she came to, her vision was filled with a canopy of cloth.

…Cloth. Rough. Scratchy. Definitely not made in Japan.

She moved her hand—her fingers were tiny. Her arms and thighs were soft and pudgy.

A crib. Or something like a crib, at least.

She was… a baby?

(Wait. Don’t tell me…)

Thus did the magical girl, Maikado Mai, complete her reincarnation.

“Well, well… so you’ve opened your little eyes?”

The woman who appeared before her had soft lilac hair and eyes that gleamed with a gradient of gold and blue.

Her mother—or so it seemed. And then, casually, the woman floated into the air. Literally.

(Huh? Gravity… doesn’t apply?)

Back in her previous life, Mai had been a magical girl. Magic was supposed to be miraculous, something that turned wishes into power.

However, magic was already woven into everyday life here.

Which meant: just being able to use magic didn’t make her special anymore.

(Hold on a second.)

A magical girl’s strength came from people’s desire to help and their wish to be saved.

But in this world, magic users were everywhere. Nobody was crying out for salvation.

(Wait, what? Am I… doomed already?)

“Uwaaaaaaaahhhh!!”

Her first cry burst out. A reflexive scream born of panic—but it worked perfectly.

“My, my… such a lively child. Your name is decided, then.”

The mother gently held her close and whispered her name.

“Mai. My precious little Mai.”

Thus, even in another world, Maikado Mai carried the same name and was reborn once more as a magical girl.

Only this time, her greatest foe would be… the everyday reality called life.

From between the curtains, light spilled into the room, heralding the beginning of her new world.

Macikado Mai, age zero—already painfully aware of how harsh life could be.