An Exorcist Magical Girl!

“Okay, are all the teams for this mission together?”

The director walked in and scanned the room.

 

He continued.

“I’ll start with a brief explanation and then assign you to your training rooms. There will probably be one training room for each of the two teams.” 

With that, he looked at me and motioned for me to come in front. As I walked to the front of the room, I was introduced.

 “Eh, this is Baek Iri, who will be studying with us from today. She’s from Shenlin Girls’ High School.” “Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.”

I whispered to the director.

 “What?” “I’m going to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.”

I said again, a bit louder.

 “Right. She’s a sophomore at Mukgyeong Girls’ High School. She’s new to exorcism, so there’s a lot she doesn’t know, so I need all of you to help her. That’s it. You can go back now.” 

I realized that I hadn’t told the director about my transfer. So, he just remembered what I told him on the evaluation day.

 

As I walked into my seat, the sound of students chattering pierced my ears.

 “Mukgyeong? She said Mukgyeong Girls’ High School, right?” “Isn’t that where Seo Jun goes to school?” “Wow… That’s crazy.” “She was sitting with Seo Jun earlier.” 

This is getting weird.

 

Yeo Seon-yeo, who had made eye contact with me earlier, is now giving me a disapproving look.

 

Wow, I don’t know what’s going on here.

 

I’ll try to summarize the situation so far.

  

***

 

Problem number one. I exorcised a demon in front of Senior Shin, but my progress on the defense work hasn’t increased.

 

Wasn’t exorcism a condition for progress?

 

However, I think the first pop-up about the defense task was triggered by exorcising the scissor ghost.

 

So, it’s not just a random exorcism, there must be more detailed conditions attached.

 

The most likely one is

“location”

.

 

It must be

“To exorcise the ghost of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School”

. 

Considering that they sent me to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School to escape the first deletion, this is the most plausible option for now.

 

In the future, I’ll need to focus on exorcising the ghosts of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School in order to make progress on the defense.

 

I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but only time will tell.

 

Let’s move on to the long-awaited problem number two.

 

My second problem is the atmosphere in this classroom.

 

What is wrong with these guys?

 “You two go to the same school and are on the same team, right.?” “Just like that?” 

I can’t help but feel very anxious. There’s an open dislike for Seo Jun around the room.

 

This morning, at school, Seo Jun declared out loud that she has no friends, so it wasn’t completely unexpected.

 

I knew her peers wouldn’t take kindly to her.

 

I also expected that I, being on the same team as her, would have a similar experience. I expected that…

 

I honestly just didn’t expect it to be this bad.

 

No, I should say, I didn’t know it would feel like this.

 “Looks like the sophomore is going to break down as soon as the mission is over.” 

The vibe wasn’t technically childish, like,

“Baek Iri, the sophomore who’s been hanging out with that ugly Seo Jun, is going to be ugly too from now on?”

.

 

There was a strange mixture of worry and concern in the way she looked at me.

 

It was more of a fear of Seo Jun than dislike or hatred.

 

I tried to get her to explain what was going on, but she had a question mark on her face.

 “Have you done something terribly wrong?” 

I whispered in her ear so only she could hear, and she echoed back,

“What?” “Nope. Never mind.”

I gave up thinking about it.

 

Whatever Seo Jun’s reputation is, it doesn’t change the fact that she helped me tremendously.

 

It also doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to repay what I owe her.

 

Let’s see how far we can go.

 

The training room that Seo Jun and I were assigned was room 2-C.

 

The other team sharing the training room was a female team.

 

As a result, Room 2-C was chilly even though it was packed to the brim.

 “Let me explain our mission first.”

Seo Jun was the only one who openly ignored the cold air.

 

Way to go, my partner.

 “Yeah, you said you picked it. Let’s hear it.”

I said.

 “Here’s the order I picked: Exorcize Exit 9 of the Rapid Transit Station.” “Rapid Transit Station? You’re exorcising the ghost at the station exit?”

I asked innocently.

 “Hmm… I don’t know. I don’t really know.”

Seo Jun said, rolling her eyes instead of answering truthfully.

 “What is it, this vague response?”

utterly

shocked by the sarcasm.

 “Well, there’s only eight exits to the express terminal station. There are exits 8-1 and 8-2, but there’s no exit 9.”

She tried explaining.

 “So, Exit 9 doesn’t exist in the first place?” “Yes.”

Seo Jun said calmly.

“You’ve heard of the missing person at the Rapid Transit Station, right?” “Uh, yeah, it was on the news. They said two people disappeared inside the station.” “The Exorcist Society thinks they went missing when they tried to exit toward the non-existent Exit 9, hence the mission.” “So, you want us to save them?”  “Er—” 

Seo Jun’s jaw clenched, and she blinked. After a moment to choose her words, she opened her mouth again.

 “They’re probably already dead.” 

What’s the point of choosing this training if she’s going to do this?

 

It suddenly dawned on me that I was an exorcist.

 

A magical girl protects and saves people, but an exorcist doesn’t have to.

 

I am an exorcist now.

 “Okay, I see. So, what do we do in training from now on?”  “Raise your skill total.”

Seo Jun said.

 “And?” “And…, acquiring more of your skills if you can? This is not something you can do at will, so put it on hold.” “Oh, right. I forgot to tell you; I just got a skill while training.”

I said, like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Seo Jun was shocked.

“A skill? Already?”  “Uh-huh. Already.” 

Since I didn’t start exorcism with formal training, I hadn’t used a proper weapon since my initiation.

 

First a broom, then a stick made of rolled up notes, and just now a yellow finger wand.

 

The repetition of these unusual situations seemed to quickly lead to the acquisition of a related skill.

 

The skill was named

“A Craftsman Wears No Tool”

, which was perfect for my situation, where I was using just about anything.

 “That’s great. Congratulations.” 

Seo Jun looked a little surprised, but she congratulated me in a deep throaty voice.

 “Thanks.” “Okay. Now all we need to do is raise your skill total.” “Is there a plan or something?” “Well… I guess so, since we don’t have much information about missions right now. We’ll work on that later.” “Okay.” “Just for now, I’ll do my part, and you do yours.” 

I nodded in response.

 

***

 

She paused for a moment to think.

 

Seo Jun, after spending the day with her, she doesn’t seem to have a bad heart. I wonder what’s wrong with them.

 “Oh, Baek Iri, did your exorcism of the straw ghost at school count towards your total score?”

She suddenly asked.

 “Oh, yeah. I got one point in my skill total.” “So, you’re at 23 now.”  “Uh, wait.” 

I quickly brought up the status window.

 【Talent: Exorcist (Aspiring)】【Name: Baek Iri】【Rank: S】【Skill total: 26】【Title: -】【Skill: A Craftsman Wears No Tools】 “Ah, I’m up to three points. I guess all that practicing and exorcizing with Senior Shin earlier has paid off.” 

It’s a rate of growth I never imagined when I was struggling with a lowly talent rating.

 

The S-rank rating is definitely different.

 

Practice experiences that were once just passing events are now meaningful lessons that stick.

 

What used to take me a long time to get right, even after practicing all day, now takes only one or two attempts, and the number of times I practice accelerates my learning.

 “Doing it makes it right.” 

Then I’ll just do it.

 

I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing and happy training.

 

I rolled around in a tangle for the rest of the training session and couldn’t stop smiling.

 “Currently at 12%… It’s not as easy as the basic skill. I used to get 20 every time I used that one. Still, 7% a day is pretty fast.” “That’s right, if you’re consistent, you’ll get there before the mission.” 

***

 

Following the lesson with Senior Shin, I also spent time with Seo Jun, practicing manipulating energy and increasing the level of my new skill.

 

It was hard work, but it felt great.

 

As I was leaving the training center, tired and exhausted, someone called out to me from behind.

 “Baek Iri, get back here!” 

It wasn’t Seo Jun, because she was ahead of me.

 

At the sound of my name being called, both Seo Jun and I turned around.

 “We need to talk.” 

It was a woman. Her orange eyes glowed fiercely.

 “I’m going now.”

Seo Jun walked away without asking why. She didn’t call for me, so it didn’t matter.

 “… uh, uh.” 

The same kid who’s been bossing me around is pushing my teammate aside, and she doesn’t seem to care what she’s saying.

 

No, she’s pretending not to care.

 

When Seo Jun had gotten far enough away that she looked like a stick, she broke the silence.

 “Are you okay? How did you end up with Seo Jun?”

she quickly asked.

 “I think I’m fine, I had a good workout today.” 

Yeo Seon-yeo scrunched her forehead and frowned. 

 

No, what the hell?

 “What’s wrong with you? Honestly, I thought you were going crazy when you were so openly expressing your dislike in the classroom earlier. What’s wrong with you?” 

When she hesitated to say anything more, I stood in front of her and slammed into her.

 

She clutched her head and opened her mouth again. Her usually neatly organized brown hair fell loose and disheveled.

 “Do you know why we’re not teaming up with Seo Jun?” “I don’t want to know.” “Seo Jun’s a little crazy.” *** “Crazy for blood. She’s the crazy kid who runs herself to death on every mission! She’s come back a bloody buck more than once. The problem is, she’ll roll like a dog a number of times, even her own teammates. They say if you’re going on a mission with her, call an ambulance.” 

Hmm, maybe she was right when she said she’d roll like a dog. I remembered what Seo Jun had said this morning.

 

‘And you don’t have to thank me, because I’ll roll like a dog when we go on the mission.’

 

Seo Jun can’t keep a straight face.

 

Even as she was thinking about this nonsense, Seon-yeo was furious and blurted out.

 “I heard in the training room earlier that you’re going to Rapid Transit Station. That’s not a mission for beginners who just started exorcising, even those who’ve been exorcising for years don’t want to do it. That person almost killed someone last time, and she’s doing it again!”

Seon-yeo said, her voice trembling.

 “Seo Jun, she’s really a bloodthirsty freak. If you don’t believe me, check her left arm tomorrow. Look what that crazy person has done to her arm.”

She added.