An Exorcist Magical Girl!

The Rose Tunnel must have been about 30 meters long when I came in, but it felt like I’d been walking for much longer.

 

I can’t tell how many antique lanterns I’ve passed hanging from the barbed wire.

 

From the garden fountain with its cherubic trumpets, to the design of the light fixtures in this tunnel, it was clear that they were trying to create the feeling of a garden in an old European manor house.

 

The light fixtures were a nod to a more distant time, and they were as dim as candles.

 

I couldn’t see the other end of the path, as the faint light wasn’t enough to dispel the darkness.

 

Even when the exit was in sight, the path continued on.

 

“It feels twice as long as it is?”

Seo Jun muttered.

 

All around them, the leaves and petals of rose vines rustled in the breeze.

 

Unable to discern color, the swaying appeared as an undulating mass of black.

 

Only the occasional spot illuminated by the light of a lamp floated white and round like a buoy on the night sea.

 

We pushed forward with anxiety.

 

We had no choice but to move forward.

 

There was only one way out of the garden, this tunnel of roses.

 

“Ah, there’s the exit.”

Seo Jun pointed ahead.

 

Thanks to the streetlights outside, we could clearly see where the tunnel’s arched outline ended.

 

We quickened our pace.

 

We were assigned to a garden at the edge of the park, so it was a long way to the main gate.

 

But at the end of the tunnel, we stopped, unable to go any further.

 

“What the hell”

 

We had been walking in a straight line, so there had to be an exit.

 

At the end of this path should have been an open space with a ball court and an octagonal pavilion.

 

The other end of the tunnel we’d been walking through… In its place…

 

“It’s the garden.”

 

It was the garden we had been searching for earlier.

 

We walked out of the garden, and there, waiting for us, was the garden from which we had come.

 

It was physically impossible.

 

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

 

“Ugh, what did I see?”

 

Of course, that didn’t change anything.

 

The fountains and cherubs, the alternating flower beds and benches, the trash cans, and the streetlights were all still there.

 “Let’s go back” “Huh?” “Let’s go back, before it’s too late.”

 

Seo Jun tugged on my arm, her pale hands shaking.

 

It’s early May. It wasn’t what you’d call cold by any means.

 

Was she freaking out?

 

Was this the same girl who remained calm in the belly of a man-eating ghost?

 

Well, that aside.

 

I turned and followed Seo Jun’s lead, retracing our steps back the way we came.

 

Our pace quickened, and at some point we were running.

 

And then, at some point

 

Thump!

 

We were thrown backwards.

 

***

  “Ouch!”

 

An invisible wall was blocking our path.

 

I groped through the air and felt the cold touch of a glass pane.

 

It was about twenty to thirty meters away from both gardens, in the middle of the two gardens.

 

The structure made sense.

 

From this wall, the real garden, the real rose tunnel, the fake rose tunnel, and the fake garden faced each other.

 

“What the hell is going on?”

 

I pulled out my phone to use my flashlight.

 

There was still plenty of battery left.

 

But as soon as I turned on the phone’s screen, I was dismayed. I could hardly believe there was more to come.

 

Except for the battery indicator, the date, time, Wi-Fi icon, and the network connection icon at the top of the phone’s screen were all marked with X’

s.

 

It was the beginning of the month, and I hadn’t even used half of my data.

 

I couldn’t even send regular text messages, let alone videocall.

 

I realized it must have been similar to when I was eaten by the man-eating ghost in the Rapid Transit station.

 

My phone didn’t work then either.

 

“Hey, Seo Jun. You don’t have a phone either, do you?”

 

I asked, turning my head to look at Seo Jun, a little surprised.

 

“Oh…”

 

Her normally calm, deep navy blue eyes were tinted with embarrassment.

 

Aside from the occasional hint of a smile, Seo Jun had always remained expressionless.

 

Seo Jun’s complexion was, to say the least, unfamiliar.

 “Are you pissed?”

I ask, punching her in the arm, and Seo Jun rolls her eyes.

 

“What did you say?”

 

Seo Jun’s rare display of panic almost frightened me.

 

It was almost as shocking as seeing someone who’s always been so nice and quiet get genuinely angry.

 

I’m kidding, but it did make me realize the seriousness of the situation in an instant.

 

Fortunately, Seo Jun quickly regained her composure.

 

We brushed a few rose leaves off the archway’s barbed wire and peered out.

 

Normally, there should have been a road on one side of the tunnel and a stream on the other.

 

But the outside of this tunnel was empty.

 

The rose tunnel and the garden at the end of it seemed to be floating in space.

 

It was a strange scene for the man-eating ghosts’ stomach, but I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility.

 

If we were indeed in the grip of another man-eating ghost, we needed to escape before its stomach began to digest.

 

❰Skill: “A Craftsman Wears No Tools” is active❱

 

The pincers in my right hand were energized.

 

I swung the pincers at the transparent wall in front of me.

 

Ting—!

 

The wall didn’t even scratch, and the pincer bounced back helplessly.

 

I swung it at the rose vine, but the leaves didn’t even touch it.

 

This didn’t seem to be the man-eating ghosts’ stomach like the last time.

 

If it was its stomach, it would have been easy to break through the stomach wall.

 

A transparent wall is one thing, but a leaf?

 

Even though it wasn’t the stomach wall, this was a bit odd.

 

When I touched the leaves, I felt the texture of a normal plant leaf.

 

However, the strength of the blow was much different.

 

No matter how much I tugged and impacted them with my hands, the leaves didn’t rip or tear, and they remained intact without a scratch.

 

It was clear that this was not the real world.

 

Seo Jun, who had been watching my attacks with no effect, slowly spoke up.

 

“This is it. I was hoping it wasn’t.” “What? This place?”

I asked.

 “It’s like a prison beyond reality. A prison you can’t get out of.”

she explained.

 “I don’t know the exact concept, but beyond reality? Is it like a gate?” “Why a gate?” “Why, a gate is supposed to open when the reality we live in collides with a monster colony that exists somewhere outside of reality.” “I guess it’s a similar concept. In the exorcism world, they call it the Otherworld. I’m sure you’ve heard of some of the famous names.”“Like?” “Kisaragi Station or the Nether Market.” “I’m not sure about the former, but I know the latter. I read about it in a book at the training center.”

 

I quickly read

“Curious about Ghosts”

, and I read through the library of the training center, looking for books that looked interesting.

 

One of them was a book that collected stories of bizarre experiences in everyday life, and the story of the afterlife market came up.

 

It was about people who passed by a strange market while walking down the street, and it was a market for ghosts, a space that was different from the world of people.

 

“They said that the people who entered the market just naturally exited,”

I thought,

“so it’s not like everyone can exit this space similarly?”

 

Seo Jun muttered, as I knocked with a thud on the still unbreakable transparent wall.

 

“You’re so enlightened, you’re not even scared.”

 

If I detect a hint of self-loathing in her voice, it’s because she’s in a good mood.

 

One thing was for certain, it was not sarcasm, but rather a calm tone of voice, spoken to herself.

 

Seo Jun quickly wiped away any trace of emotion that had briefly surfaced on her face and answered my question.

 “There are many other dimensions,”

she said,

“and by that I mean worlds that aren’t real. Conceptually, that includes the “other world” you were talking about earlier, the one where monsters live. It’s just not the one the exorcism industry cares about.” “Oh, I see. I see. If it were a term reserved for places associated with ghosts, this place would be called something other than the “Otherworld”.”

 

The place was silent without a single ghost.

 

I once again organized the situation in my mind.

 

Two gardens and two tunnels, symmetrical to each other with this wall in the middle.

 

It was as if a giant mirror had been placed at one end of the tunnel— a mirror?

“Hey, is it hard?” “Tough. I’ve moved a hundred times.”

 

Seo Jun shook her head in response to my question, her face obviously tired.

 

“Then follow me. I need to check something.” 

I took Seo Jun with me to the garden, and while we were talking, I wanted to see if my guess was correct.

 

We walked another twenty or so meters down the dark path until we reached the entrance to the garden.

 

“Ah, there it is.” “What is it, explain it to me.” “I think we’re in a mirror world here. Look at the position of the trash cans and streetlights in the garden. It’s the opposite of the garden we were searching.”

 

Seo Jun muttered,

“It’s true,”

and scanned the garden.

 

Of course, my guess had the biggest flaw of all.

 

We had never encountered a

“mirror”

on this road.

 

So I quickly corrected myself.

 

“I mean, it’s a space that resembles a mirror, or something like that. It’s pretending to be a mirror, or it has the properties of a mirror.” “That’s entirely possible.”

 

Seo Jun’s eyes lit up. But the glow quickly faded.

 

It felt like we’d made a huge breakthrough, but in reality, we were still stuck.

 

I knocked and knocked, but the garden hadn’t taken any damage to my skills.

I still hadn’t found a way out.

  

***

  

So, my bad habits kicked in again.

 

My thoughts began to branch out in inefficient directions.

 

Maybe someone will come looking for us. Yes, maybe Seon-yeo will find it strange that I’ve suddenly lost contact with her and come to help. Bring the teachers.

 

My thoughts would lean toward the positive for a moment, then quickly reverse course.

 

I’d do some kind of ritual in front of the mirror at dawn and it would open the door to the afterlife, or I’d play rock-paper-scissors with my reflection and lose.

 

These stories usually ended with the mirror being smashed from the outside.

 

Either they stepped into the other side and the mirror shattered, or they couldn’t get back to reality.

 

The mirror was shattered to keep the ghosts inside from coming out.

 

If you’re out there trying to help us, and you touch the wrong thing, and this mirror breaks, we’re trapped forever.

 

No, but there were a few people gathered outside. Maybe one of them knows how to get us out.

 

Seo Jun was leaning against the fountain, her head buried in her hands, while I was digging.

 

She can’t come up with any solution either.

 

I raked my hand through my hair.

 

I couldn’t let my mind wander.

 

“What are you doing?”

Seo Jun asked, blinking as I suddenly stood up and waved my arms in the air.

 

I was just drawing a makeshift contact circle. I knew it wouldn’t work because I had no magic, but I wanted to do something.

 

Again, nothing happened.

 

“Uh, just gymnastics.” “It’s not gymnastics.” “It is.” “It’s not.” “It is.” “No, it’s not.” “Yeah, no, it’s not gymnastics! You’re so persistent!”

 

Seo Jun smirked at my reluctant admission.

“Were you a magical girl before you became an exorcist?”

 

My heart sank for a moment.

 

There was absolutely no reason for it to.

 

I nodded my head in response.

 

“That thing you were just drawing, the magic circle, right?” “How did you know that?” “Because I’m fascinated by them. I don’t know how to draw them, but I’ve seen them a few times.” “I see.”

I mumbled something in reply and plopped down next to Seo Jun.

 

Seo Jun was trying to draw something in the dirt in the garden.

 

The grains of dirt that should have been easily dug out were refusing to budge as she scraped them with her tongs.

 

This scraping would have scratched a stone floor.

 

It seemed that dirt was immune to physical damage.

 

“I didn’t have any paper, so I tried drawing on the dirt.”

Seo Jun muttered, noticing my gaze.

 

Seo Jun was trying, too. She was trying to draw a talismanic symbol in the dirt, just in case.

 

We’ve done all we can do in this situation.

 

The feeling of helplessness that comes with this is terrifying.

 

It’s scary because you know you can’t do anything about it, and it feels darker and heavier.

 

So I had to do something to keep from being overwhelmed by this feeling of helplessness.

 

Like, for example.

 

“Seo Jun.”

 

You know, the kind of question you’d expect an honest answer to in a situation like this.

 

“The Rapid Transit Station mission, I thought it was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission?”