An Exorcist Magical Girl!

“Huh? What’s wrong with you, you look like an exorcist who’s been purified…” “Haha!”

Hwang Hanju interrupted Yin Charang with a self-mocking laugh.

 

“Fools, the abbot tricked us!” “Huh?” “You’re going home early, ha!”

 

With that, Hwang Hanju stomped up the stairs.

 

The exorcist waved at us with a faint smile.

 

“Come, let’s go upstairs and talk.”

 

Within 30 seconds of arriving on the ground floor, we were back in the classroom.

 

The director was sitting at the desk.

 “You’re having so much fun, I thought I’d have a little fun myself. Please go to classroom B.”

 

The director chuckled and handed me the key.

 

“No, I wasn’t playing… I don’t know what to say because you did.” “Still, it’s not fair to take it away from me, director. I was so happy when I thought I was going home.”

 

Yin Charang and Yeo Seon-yeo grumbled and took the keys.

 

I was more surprised than anything that a sour exorcist would go along with this prank.

 

After all, what was there to talk about with these people other than the culprit behind the mirrors on Banho Mall and in the park?

 

And that he could afford such a little prank.

 

“I’m here to give you the good news. We got him.”

 

At that one word, their angry faces lit up.

 

The exorcist began his story with a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

 “You heard yesterday that the killer originally targeted random high school students, right?” “Yes. I heard it from Senior Shin.” “We also know because the director told us.”

 

After confirming that we all know the information we shared yesterday, Exorcist Ji Woon continues.

 

“The culprit is Eom Jingyu, an exorcist from the association. He’s currently being investigated by the police, but he doesn’t seem to be in his right mind, so it won’t be easy to find out his true motive. That’s why I came to see you in person.” 

Exorcist Ji Woon pulls out a tablet and opens a video.

 

In the video, a middle-aged man with a scar on his left temple sits in an interrogation room facing two people who appear to be police officers or detectives.

 

“This is Eom Jingyu.”

 

Exorcist Ji Woon pointed to the middle-aged man and gave a brief introduction, then flipped to the middle of the video.

 

—Koo Young-chun? He is just a pawn, a pawn. Heh, heh, heh, heh…

—I am not like him. I wanted to be a priest. I wanted to sacrifice my soul to become a priest!

—I’m a priest, not a mortal. Hee hee hee hee!

—Did I kill him? Did I? Did I? No. He was punished, but now I’ll be punished too!

—Damn it, what’s a priest for, I’m going to be a damned pawn!

 “Wow, this is crazy.”

 

Hwanju muttered without looking at the video. Yeo Seon-yeo and Yin Charang chimed in.

 

“How can we find out his motive if he’s like this?” “Isn’t he in a cult or something?”

 

In the video, one of the detectives conducting the interrogation shakes his head and walks away, and the video ends there.

 

“As you can see, this is the situation, and I’d like to ask you if you can guess anything from what Eom Jingyu said…”

 

The exorcist trailed off as he replaced the tablet.

 

He’d come to us in the vain hope that we, the victims of the incident, might have seen or heard something firsthand, that we might be able to remember some important connection.

 

“I don’t know?” “I know what he’s talking about…” “Isn’t that guy a real cult?”

 

All five of us didn’t know anything.

 

We had only heard Koo Young-chun’s name for the first time yesterday, and suddenly we heard some gibberish about heavenly punishment…

 

“We don’t know anything because we got disembodied the moment we heard it.” “That’s right, we don’t remember.”

 

Yeo Seon-yeo and Hwang Hanju, the victims of the Banho Mall mission, once again nailed down their ignorance.

 

“What about Baek Iri, Yin Charang, and the student you tried to save?” “We don’t know anything about them either, right?” “Yes. That’s all I told you at the time.” “I see,”

the exorcist said, tapping his fingertips on the desk and glaring at Seo Jun this time.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t make any connections to what I just saw on the video.” “Then what about you, Baek Iri? You came out of the mirrored room a little later than Seo Jun.” “I don’t know, it’s not like the room we were trapped in was modeled after a religious room. Oh, there was a cherub fountain with trumpets, but I don’t think that has anything to do with it.” “Yes, it has nothing to do with that.”

 

Despite not getting any information out of us, the exorcist didn’t seem too disappointed.

 

“I’m just asking, just in case.”

 

He adds that if we come up with anything in the future, please let him know, and apologizes for taking up our time.

 

“And this is the only one?”

I ask and the exorcist says yes.

 

“It turns out that the only two people who had anything to do with this were the dead Koo Young-chun and Eom Jingyu. I checked everyone in the Exorcism Association, and no one else helped. The police said that it didn’t look like an organized effort and that the process was too sloppy.”

 

I agree. It was sloppy even for me and Seo Jun. 

 

It would have been a successful kidnapping if someone had been lurking and popped out with a mirror at the same time we were trapped in that space. 

 

Proof that they were so understaffed that they didn’t even have someone to lurk.

 

“I’m open to the possibility that some organization used this as a way to get rid of the two of them. Eom Jingyu didn’t kill Koo Young-chun himself, so whether it was an organization or an individual behind this is another unknown.”

 

The exorcist’s explanation made Yin Charang jump.

 

“This is a cult! It makes perfect sense if we assume that a secret cult is behind this!” 

Was he really talking?

 

His statement in the interrogation video that he wanted to become a priest by sacrificing his soul sounds incredibly cultish.

 

Just when I was about to be convinced by Yin Charang’s theory about Eom Jingyu’s cult, I had my doubts.

 

“Eom Jingyu’s main focus is on the soul, not the body. If he wanted to target souls regardless of the existence of the body, he could have targeted ghosts who had lost their bodies long ago. And ghosts that are estimated to be around the age of high school students are easy to find if you put your mind to it. Then why did Eom Jingyu have to go to such lengths to kidnap a soul?”

 

As soon as the question was out of my mouth, the exorcist answered as if he had been waiting for it.

 “We also wondered about that, and we asked him a few times during the interrogation, but we never got a clear answer.” “Ah…” “I don’t know why he would use a powerful gourdwood to induce disembodiment or create an interdimensional space to kidnap a person alive, but it seems like he only targeted souls that had just separated from their bodies.” “He probably planned to disembody you and Seo Jun after he moved the hand mirror to a safe place,”

the exorcist added, but just as he finished, his cell phone rang.

 “Excuse me for a moment.”

 

As soon as the exorcist stepped away, we were busy speculating.

 “Either Koo Young-chun or Eom Jingyu said the killer was a “priest,” so of course it’s a secret religious organization!” “But we shouldn’t get too caught up in the “organization” theory. Like the exorcist said, it could be an individual plan. Don’t you think so?”

 

Yeo Seon-yeo interrupted Yin Charang as he continued to push the cult theory. Yin Charang’s eyes lit up again and he changed the course of his hypothesis.

 

“Oh, it’s a bit like the chairman of a company personally hiring a gangster to do the dirty work. Usually, when the chairman has to deal with private and confidential matters, he calls the gangster through his secretary.” “He’s seen too many movies.” “But he’s right.”

 

Soon, the conversation turned to whether the shooter, Eom Jingyu, had really lost his mind or was pretending to.

 

“He’s doing it on purpose to get a backup plan.” “That’s right, he’s just talking nonsense.” “No. If you wanted to get a DUI, you’d just say, “I was drinking”, “I don’t remember.” Who comes up with such a weird concept? It’s a junkie’s line.”

 

Hwang Hanju and Yeo Seon-yeo, the hard line

“acting”

plan, and Yin Charang, the hard line

“real”

plan, were at odds.

 

Seo Jun and I watched the debate and chewed popcorn.

 “Charang and Seon-yeohave a point. What do you think, Seo Jun?” “I’m voting for him.”

answered Seo Jun.

 

His eyes lit up at our conversation.

 “See, they think it’s real too!”

 

Just as Yeo Sun-yeo and Hwang Hanju were about to protest, the exorcist Shin Ji-woon came back into the room.

 

His expression was incredibly stern, unlike when he left, and we all shut up as if we had made a promise.

 

“Everyone. I am so sorry to bring you this news.” 

Exorcist Shin Ji-woon spoke with a voice much too heavy for him.

 “The culprit, Eom Jingyu, is said to have escaped.” 

***

 

On the subway ride home, Yin Charang mumbled to himself.

“Ah… So there’s really no camp this year? I thought we could go because the culprit was caught.” 

“Ah, well, it turns out that they’re not just picking on wannabe exorcists. Why don’t you let me go to the training camp?” Yeo Seon-yeo comforted Yin Charang.

 

“That’s right, isn’t it? Please!” “Yin Charang, were you always so fond of the camp?” “No, there was something I really wanted to do at the camp…”

 

What did you want to do in the camp? Why are you looking at me?

Oh, right.

 

I was supposed to challenge him to a contest for a prize at camp.

 

I thought he’d forgotten.

 

But now that I think about it, my biggest problem right now isn’t whether or not I can go to the camp.

 

Exorcist Eom Jingyu had been working behind the scenes, carefully setting traps to avoid being recognized.

 

But now that he’s been exposed, he has nothing left to hide.

 

If we don’t get him back soon, it will be disastrous.

 

Is there anything we can do?

 

Just sit back and watch the news for kidnappings?

 

“Back off.”

Seo Jun snapped at me as I nervously bit my lip.

 

“It’s not our job to deal with criminals. I understand how you feel, but you have to learn to let it go.” “Ah.” “Cooperate. It’s the best we can do, and it’s greedy of you to try to control what happens next.” “Is that so…” “You’ve done your part just by getting out of there alive.”

 

Those words sobered me.

 

I hated being in a situation where I couldn’t make a difference.

 

But it would be too much personal greed and arrogance to even try to make a difference in such a situation.

 

“Okay, thank you.” “If… ever he dies and becomes a ghost, you’ll be the one to catch him.”

 

Seo Jun sometimes says strange things. I guess it’s her way of comforting herself.

 

“Hey, what are you saying? You can’t kill.”

 

Seon-yeo interrupts, having only heard the end of the conversation.

 “I don’t plan on killing.” “You just said you do.” “I did not say that! Seo Jun, explain yourself!” “I don’t think she can kill… people.” “Hey, Seo Jun!” “Baek Iri, why are you arguing with her? She said the right thing.”

 

I don’t know if I should be happy that Seo Jun and Seon-yeo got the memo, or sad that I have become a piece of trash with minimal morals.

 

But at least I went home with a clearer head.

 

***

 

The weekend passed with no word from the exorcist, and now it’s Monday again.

 

For the fourth time in a row, I’m disappointed to see a message from him and wonder if he’s caught Eom Jingyu.

 

Woof!

 

When another message rang, this time I cleared my mind and turned on the screen and was surprised to see an unexpected name.

 

—How are you? It’s been a while. I was wondering if I could apply for a job.

 

Why did she contact me out of the blue?

 

What do you mean by

“ask”

?

 

Oh, she meant after what we talked about on the school field?

 

But you’re not a student at Mukgyeong Girls’ High, Narea, you stupid friend.