An Exorcist Magical Girl!

She’s the type to grab one or two people in class and spend 50 minutes telling the entire class,

“I’m here as a class representative, and I want you to know that my opinions are the opinions of my classmates.”

 

A pair of piercing eyes peering out from behind round glasses.

 

She wears her hair loosely pulled up in a ponytail.

 

Anyone could call her a model student.

 

What came out of Yang Ji-won’s mouth was a sentence that was quite far from the image of a respectable schoolgirl.

 

“There’s a teacher I’d like you to screw over.”

 

She sounded like she was announcing her campaign for school president.

 “Like I said, it’s a teacher that all of us in the class are united in wanting to screw over.” “Mm-hmm. Go ahead.”

I urged.

 “Can we get a ghost to haunt the school parking lot? That’s where she always smokes.”

 

What?

 

“Uhm… Can you elaborate on that? You want me to put a ghost on her, not get rid of one? Oh, and tell me what kind of douchey shit the teacher did to make you want to do this. I need to know the whole story.”

 

Yang Ji-won’s face crumpled as if her teeth were shaking, and she began her story.

 

“One of my literature teachers is Ms. Park Eun-kyung, and what she does to our class is really horrible.”

 

Yang Ji-won began to recount the misdeeds of Ms. Park one by one.

 

Her voice was still steady and unexcited, but she couldn’t help but feel annoyed, and her hands trembled as she gripped the swing rope.

 

Yang Ji-won’s story was so ridiculous that I thought,

‘Is that really a teacher?’

.

 

She told me about how she used to get annoyed with the student who was in charge of wiping the chalkboard because it wasn’t clean enough, and how she used to grab her by the hair and pull her hair out.

 

“She doesn’t have a good reputation in other classes either, but from what I’ve heard, she’s especially mean to our class.”

 

Ji-won said it all started with a performance evaluation in late March.

 

“The teacher gave me the wrong date to submit it in the first place, two days late. Then all of a sudden, the whole class got together and started making a big deal out of it, saying that we had to turn it in by today, and that we were deceived by the teacher.” “Ugh.” “And then later, when the proof came out that she made a mistake, she didn’t apologize, she just said it was funny.” “Even after she realized she was wrong?” “The last thing she said was the best part: She blamed us for the whole thing, saying that the organized, fast kids do their homework ahead of time, so it’s no big deal if they miss the due date by a day or two, and that if we hadn’t put off what we were supposed to do, we wouldn’t be pointing at each other.” “Wow, that’s crazy.”

 

She was a typical asshole teacher who was in a hurry to stroke her ego.

 

And judging by the way she’s been acting since the end of March; she’s been an uncharacteristic asshole.

 

“You came to me because you wanted to get revenge on that teacher, and that’s why you asked me to meet you in person so that you could leave evidence?” “Yes, that’s right, let me get back to the point. There’s a ghost that hangs from the ceiling of the bathroom that most of our class uses and pulls people’s hair, and I’d like you to move it to the corner of the parking lot where Ms. Park Eun-kyung smokes every lunchtime. Can you do that?” 

“Hmm…” I pondered.

 

There was a gourdwood among the items available for rent at the training center.

 

Naturally, it’s a weak item that has no effect on humans.

 

Using it would be as easy as transferring ghosts.

 

The problem is that I can’t increase the

“Talent Removal Crisis Defense Work Rate”

with such a request.

 

Couldn’t we somehow shift the work to exorcizing the ghosts?

 

If I want the ghost to continue to follow and torment Ms. Park, I can’t exorcize it.

 

Let’s get this straight first.

 “But you guys do realize that this is a one-time revenge, right? There’s no guarantee that she’ll keep smoking in the haunted place.” “I know. That’s why everyone in the class said we’d settle for one time.” “Uh, really?!”

 

I can’t believe it was all about one-time revenge.

 

How could it be so easy?

 

As I try to control the corner of my mouth that’s creeping up, Yang Ji-won adds.

 

“Anyway, once it takes effect, it will last for two or three hours.” “Wait. Effects? What do you mean, effects?” “Oh, I didn’t tell you that.”

 

Yang Ji-won said, feeling like she had forgotten something.

 

“They say you can hear it for a few hours after you touch it, and some of the stronger ones are fine after a few minutes, but it’s usually two to three hours.” “Hallucinations?” “Yeah. They say they hear what sounds like a snake hissing. I don’t know because I’ve never been haunted by it yet, but all the kids said the same thing: it’s like a snake choking them and sticking its tongue in their ears.”

 

Ji-won said that if they’re only going to get revenge once, they might as well make it as bad as possible.

 

“It’s not satisfying to just scare her for a second and then it’s over. Honestly, I’d like her to be haunted in her own private office. She’ll be haunted the whole time she works at this school. But that’s too much of a risk, and the other teachers might find out.” 

Thank you so much for changing my mind, class president of second-year class three.

 

“Just out of curiosity, do you have any fond memories or anything with that bathroom ghost?”

 

I asked, thinking it was a no-brainer, but just to be sure.

 

“Uhm… I have bad memories.”

Yang Ji-won replied as if this was a question.

 

“That’s why I want that ghost to be exorcize too, so I can take care of the ghost that’s haunting our class and the teacher at once, right?”

 

I don’t think anyone would be sorry if I exorcize the ghost.

 

Now that I’ve gotten that last bit of reassurance, I’m ready to start taking exorcism requests.

 

“Okay, I’ll take your request.” “Thank you so much! How long do I have to pay you?” “Until I start working in earnest. I’m more worried about something else…”

 

I deliberately trailed off.

 

“What are you worried about?” “I wonder if we’re going to get into trouble if we leave it in the parking lot? There are other teachers too, and what if it gets into an accident with one of them? And if it’s long enough, they might even realize that we left the ghost there.”

 

She said she hadn’t thought of it that far, and she was troubled. I gently nudged her to think about it.

 

“You said we were going to scare her once anyway. If we’re going to do that, don’t you think it’s better to make sure we get rid of any ghosts that might be evidence when we’re done?” “That’s true.”

 

Seeing Yang Ji-won nodding in agreement, I spoke up, trying to sound good-natured.

 “Then I’ll even exorcise the ghost as a service. After the effect of the clairvoyance on her is over.” “What? But we’ll have to pay a fee to…” “It’s a service, it’s a service. It’s included in your existing fee.” “Well, we’d appreciate it, but are you sure that’s okay?” “Yes, of course. Hanbyul asked me to do this as an introduction, so I can do that much!”

 

I mentioned Hanbyul’s name as an acquaintance.

 

“Then when should we do the “exorcism”? Let’s schedule it.”

 

And then I said the word

“exorcism”

with a hint of force. If the exorcism is a side project, the defense work might not progress as much. So, I needed to trick the status window into thinking this was an exorcism.

 

“I think we should finish the exam grading and review first.”

Yang Ji-won said.

 

She had a point. If I gave her partial credit for being upset, I might lose a point or two when I could have been more flexible.

 

So, D-Day was set for the following Friday. It would be a week after the exam, so I thought it would be perfect.

 

Yang Ji-won asked me to keep this a secret and left the room.

 

It was my first client since the bug incident.

 

My heart was pounding unnecessarily.

 

***

 

The conversation with Yang Ji-won took about 30 minutes.

 

When I arrived at the training center, I headed to the director’s office first to borrow the gourdwood for the case.

 

While the director went to the warehouse to find the gourdwood, I sat at the counter and wrote my name and date in the rental book.

 

He returned shortly and handed me a piece of wood.

 

Unlike the gourdwood that Senior Shin brought on the first day of the training, this gourdwood is the kind that won’t break even if you seal the ghost and release it again.

 

Well, there was still time before class started, so why not practice?

 

I walked outside the training center and opened my account.

 【Talent: Exorcist (Aspiring)】【Status: Utilized】【Link – Open: ▾■■■■■□□□□□ …50%】【Skill ▸】

 

I saw a ghost wandering around the parking lot, so I threw the gourdwood at it.

 

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

 Bam!

 

The skill was unintentionally activated, and the gourdwood became a weapon, piercing through one of the ghost’s arms.

 

“Oohh, Sorry about that.”

 

I apologized to the ghost as it struggled to hold onto my arm.

 

I realized that throwing another gourdwood at that ghost would be a double whammy, so I turned my attention to another ghost.

 

A ghost was hanging like a cicada from a streetlight about ten meters away. It was a ghost wearing a long shawl.

 

This time, I threw the gourdwood at it, being careful not to use my skill.

 

Bang!

 

The gourdwood hit the shawl ghost’s head, and the ghost was sucked into the piece of wood.

 

The ghost that had attacked my arm looked at the sight and backed away, shuffling slowly.

 

The link between the gourdwood and the spirit was easy to find.

 

I struck the link point like a blow to the chestnut, and the shawl ghost giggled and bounced out of the wood.

 

Suddenly, I had an idea, so I grabbed the shawl ghost as it tried to climb the lamppost.

 

“Excuse me, can I borrow your shawl?” 

At my question, its wide eyes widened even wider, as if they were about to jump out of its head, and it pointed to the shawl.

 

“Aaarh?” “Yeah, yeah. That.”

 

I couldn’t make out what it was saying because I only had my account 50% open, but I’m pretty sure it was like,

“This?”

.

 

The shawl ghost looked around with a puzzled,

“Why this?”

expression on its face, until it spotted the ghost with the pierced arm and looked back and forth between me and the ghost with a look of horror on its face.

 

“Oh, yeah. I, uh, I just happened to be that… I meant no offense.”

 

But apparently taking my words to mean,

“Give me your shawl or I’ll make you do it,”

the shawl ghost untangled it and tossed it to me before scurrying off up the street.

 

“I’ll bring it back to you next Friday, thank you!”

 

With that, I was done preparing the tools for the request.

 

I spent the rest of the day practicing

“tying knots that never come undone”

in an empty classroom.

 

***

 

Late at night, when the whole neighborhood is asleep.

 

A middle-aged man, barely home from a long night shift, nervously presses the elevator button.

 

The sensor light in front of the elevator flickers nervously, then goes dark.

 

He swings his arm under the sensor light, but the old sensor doesn’t recognize the movement, and the light doesn’t turn on.

 

The man clicks his tongue in frustration.

 

Darkness was one of his least favorite things, especially when he couldn’t see a thing, and it made him vaguely afraid.

 

He fixed his gaze on the faint orange glow of the arrow on the button he’d pressed earlier.

 

The man’s house had four floors.

 

He could have walked up, but he didn’t want to wait for the slow elevator in the dark.

 

Ding!

 

The doors opened, and the man stepped into the elevator, shaking his head in disbelief.

 “Eom Jingyu.”

 

A young boy’s voice called the man’s name.

 

“I, uh, I’m so sorry. If you give me a little more time, this time I can really—.” “Time?”

 

The boy’s voice was thick with anger as he cut off Eom Jingyu’s rambling.

 

“You seem to be mistaken about something, so I’ll let you know in person.”

 

Bzz-bzzzt 

The lights on the elevator ceiling flashed one after another.

 

“I’m not doing this because you’ve missed two deadlines, I’m a pretty forgiving person. I was willing to wait one more time.”

 

Eom Jingyu swallowed hard, his head tightening.

 

The boy’s voice weighed heavily on him.

 

“Do you realize how much I’m counting on the genius you touched? She’s so important that even ten lives like yours wouldn’t change him. And you dare touch him?”

 “If she’s a genius, I don’t think she should be in Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.”

 

A contemplative Eom Jingyu knelt down and began to beg.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know she would get it. Please…” “You blamed Koo Young-chun for what went wrong last time, and now that you don’t even have anyone to use as a bullet catcher, you’ll have to take full responsibility.” 

Koo Young-chun.

 

He was the one who was sent to retrieve the gourdwood from Banho Shopping Center, but he was stupid enough to get caught on the spot.

 

That’s how he ended up being destroyed.

 

If he had done his job properly, I wouldn’t be in this humiliating situation right now.

 

A surge of irritation and an uncontrollable feeling of dread coursed through Eom Jingyu’s body.

 

Now it was my turn to be like Koo Young-chun.

 

“Just one more.” “…Yes, huh?” “I’ll give you one more chance.”

 

An eerily high-pitched voice choked Eom Jingyu’s throat.

 

“Exorcist Eom Jingyu. Obey my orders gratefully.”