An Exorcist Magical Girl!

Luckily, I arrived at the training center about 10 minutes before the class started.

 

I had called ahead to let them know that I was involved in the Eom Jingyu incident, so no one would have criticized me for being late, but it was still nice to arrive early since it was my first time showing my face to the sophomore class.

 

I was about to enter the sophomore training room when a familiar face appeared from behind the counter.

 

“Hey, I heard you almost caught the killer.”

 

It was Senior Shin Wook.

 

“Ack! You scared me, Senior!” “Don’t be so surprised.” “Why are you here today?” “The director called me to help with the freshman class. Why? Aren’t you happy to see me?” “I saw you last week, so there’s nothing to be happy about. No, and how the rumors are twisted. I didn’t get anywhere near that guy, I just happened to step on some tracks.” “So you almost caught him. Did you come with Ji Woon?” “Yes. The exorcist gave me a ride.” “Oh, well, I’d better say hello then. You should come in too.” “Okay. See you later.” 

That was the end of the small talk. The senior called the exorcist and headed for the parking lot, while I made my way to the sophomore classroom.

 

“Hi!”

 

I greeted with a cheery hello and was greeted by a stern looking middle-aged woman.

 

“I heard you were here, I thought you’d be late. I’m In-Joo Kang, the sophomore class teacher.” 

After a brief introduction, Mrs. Kang gestured for me to sit anywhere.

 

“Hey, over here!”

Seo Jun called me from the corner of the training room.

 

All four of us who watched the horror movie together on Saturday were gathered there.

 

I joined them and was immediately bombarded with questions.

 

“What is going on? Did you catch Eom Jingyu?” “Hurry up and tell us.” “I’m dizzy, just give me a three-line summary.”

 

I wondered why they were standing so close together, but it was because they were curious about the story of how I found Eom Jingyu.

 

I explained the situation as simply as I could, and the reactions were intense.

 

“That is crazy. She must have been hit by a car.” “I mean, it’s not that he couldn’t kill himself, it’s that he almost got her life ended over a pathetic thing.” “Honestly, isn’t the biggest victim the bloody ghost that lives on the fence?”

 

While I was cursing at Eom Jingyu, I looked at my watch and realized that it was already one minute before class. The other sophomores entered the training room one by one and took their seats.

 

“Who’s not here?”

 

Mr. KANG In-Joo looked around from the center of the room and smiled with satisfaction when he saw that no one was missing.

 “As I told you last week, you’ll have a new friend in class today. Baek Iri, come out!” “Sure.” “Introduce yourself and get in.” 

Didn’t I introduce myself the first day I came to the institute? It was a bit of déjà vu…

 

Nevertheless, I came out without saying anything and greeted them warmly.

 

 

“Hello, I’m Baek Iri, a new student in the second grade. I hope you’re doing well.”

 

This greeting was still awkward, but it was better because I knew the girls.

 

“Kids, don’t be so bossy and take care of each other. Okay?” “Yes.” “Okay, let’s start the lesson.” “Yep.”

 

The students nodded and moved aesthetically.

 

Who would have thought that the lesson would end as soon as it began.

 

Beep, beep, beep!Beep, beep, beep!

 

The air in the classroom instantly froze as everyone’s cell phones rang eerily at the same time.

 

It was an emergency text alert.

 

“Uhhhhh…? What’s happening?”

 

Someone began to mutter, followed by a word or two here and there.

 

“There’s a gate opening and that’s too close.” “Are you crazy? Where exactly is it? The station office?” “Why the hell am I not texting you?” “Dude, look at this. The video’s already up.” “Dude, it says we’re in a danger zone!”

 

The danger zone indicated in the disaster text included the training center.

 

A danger zone is an area where a battle between a monster and a magical boy/girl from the gate is expected to take place.

  

***

 

Normally, the gate only controls access to a 50-meter radius, and if it’s a small gate, the citizens are allowed to watch the battle, but the fact that the danger zone was set meant that this gate was quite large.

 

Just in time, an announcement sounded.

 

“Attention citizens. A gate has opened near the feeding station. Residents in the danger zone, please evacuate the area as soon as possible.” “Teachers, put the middle school students on the buses outside!”

 

The principal shouted as he opened the doors of the classrooms and training rooms one by one, telling us to get out.

 

Evacuation buses were already moving through the streets, taking people out of harm’s way.

 

“Teachers, we sent all the juniors and seniors on the buses first, with two first grade teachers who didn’t bring their own cars as chaperones.” “Okay, the sophomores and juniors will go in the teachers’ cars.” “I think we can fit some people in the police car!” “The danger zone is too big to evacuate on foot!” 

The teachers scrambled.

 

Because of the lack of vehicles, we were mobilized by Exorcist Shin Ji Woon, who was about to leave after talking with Senior Shin for a while.

 

Five of us who knew the exorcist got into his car.

 

“Can we all get in? Uh… who’s already in the car?”

 

Seo Jun asked worriedly, and I told her that it was a ghost, so it wouldn’t take up much space.

 

“Is that the little ghost you told us about?” “Yes. Say hello.” “Nice to meet you. Bye.”

Seon-yeo waved awkwardly at the ghost.

 

“Hey, you should say hello too.”

 

Seon-yeo didn’t want to be the only one to say hello, so she grabbed Seo-jun’s hand and shook it.

 

Still, it was good to see that they had become a little closer since Saturday.

 

“The person in the front seat is a ghost.”

 

Hwang Hanju said this and naturally took the rear passenger seat. Yin Charang sat beside him.

 

“Then I’ll sit in the front seat. We both know each other.”

 

I sat with Pale Ghost on my lap.

 

In the back seat, starting from the driver’s side, were Yeo Seon-yeo, Seo Jun, Yin Charang and Hwang Hanju.

 

“Director, we’ll go first.”

 

Exorcist Shin Ji Woon made a quick report to the director and took the wheel.

 

“Where’s the seat belt?”

 

Pale Ghost asked as she patted her seat belt.

 

“Oh, right. I’m in a hurry.” “Backseat too.” “Hey, backseat buddies, we’re buckling up.” 

The kids in the back seat giggled.

 

“Uh, how do we buckle up? There are four of us.” “You figure it out. The two in the middle can sacrifice themselves, or you can hug each other and buckle up.”

 

Meanwhile, the car was pulling away.

 

In the distance, I could see that a gate had been created on the roof of the building. It was still tightly closed, but at first glance it was two or three times larger than a normal gate.

 

If it was this big, surely Narea would be there, I thought, and I should leave her a text.

 

“Are you going to get the bastard now?”

Pale ghost asked.

 “Uhm. Not now. Later.”

I answered.

 

Off to the side, a small truck rumbled by with people in the back, and behind it, a regular city bus stopped at a stop that wasn’t even a stop, cramming as many people as it could.

 

This was a common sight when a gated danger zone was set up.

 

It’s impossible to evacuate on foot from the center of the danger zone to the outside, so people help each other.

 

I’m sure it’ll be on NewTube again talking about good citizenship.

 

“By the way, can we just go home today… and not have class?”

Hanju asked cautiously from the backseat.

 

Was he asking the exorcist who was just…?

 

For a moment I doubted my ears. No, he thinks Exorcist Ji Woon was a teacher at our training center.

 

The exorcist replied,

“I guess so, right?”

and then Seon-yeo added another word.

 “Hey, don’t you think it’s obvious? How can you teach a class with monsters jumping out at you, and you might not be able to do it for the rest of the week if you have to recover after the battle.” “No, no, no, I don’t think you realize that I can’t teach at the gate, I’m not that stupid!”

Hanju protested, banging his hand in frustration.

 “Maybe we can send them somewhere safe, out of the danger zone, and then have an outdoor class, or maybe tomorrow I’ll suddenly rent a gym and ask them to come over!” “Oh, that’s a good idea. Why don’t we ask the teachers?”

Seon-yeo nodded her head in agreement.

 

Seon-yeo made a gesture to pick up her cell phone, but Hanju stopped her.

 

“Oh, please. Please don’t say anything.” “Well, at least you won’t take a week off, right?”

Seo Jun said, checking the news.

 

“Scans inside the gate have confirmed that the monsters are numerous, but each one is weak in power, and the damage within the danger zone is not expected to be significant…” “Oh Hanju, what are you going to do? We can resume normal classes in an hour.” 

As Yin Charang teased, Hanju wrapped his head around himself and screamed.

 

“What can I do, Charang, I’m not that stupid. I’m so lucky that the damage will be minimal. Ha… But can’t they just destroy the training center building?” 

Pale ghost on my lap giggled at the sight.

 

***

 

 

We drove for about five minutes.

 

A hundred yards ahead, I could see people pouring out of an evacuation bus. 

 

The evacuation buses that had poured out the people turned around to pick up those who hadn’t yet been evacuated and drove past us.

 

That meant the danger zone ended there.

 

“Maybe we can go that way.” “Yes. I’m glad we got out without incident.”

 

Exorcist Ji Woon breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Unless you’re in a dangerous area, public transportation runs normally, so I’ll drop you off at the nearest station.” “Okay, thank you!” “Hey, Charang, aren’t you getting off fast here, you’re on a bus.”

 

Seon-yeo’s words made Charang grumble.

 

“Yes, but I don’t mind going to the subway station. Why are you talking back to me? Shouldn’t you be super respectful this week?”

 

“Oh, right.” “Okay, then why don’t you get off the train with us.”

 

Seon-yeo immediately changed her tone, making the pale ghost giggle again.

 

Hanju hastily put on a respectful face.

 

“Seon-yeo, I’m sorry…?”

Hwang Hanju suddenly blurted out.

 

“What is it?” “No, I was wondering if that person over there is going into a dangerous area…”

 

I looked over to where Hanju was pointing and saw a man with a tightly pressed hat walking in the opposite direction of us. He had crossed the police line while the officers were frantically evacuating people.

 

“Huh? Yeah, I don’t think he’s a rescue worker.”

 

Yeo Seon-yeo, who was sitting by the driver’s side window, stared at the hat as if it were strange.

 

Just then, Pale Ghost stuck his head out of the window.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

I asked.

 “I smell something. Hee-hee-hee!” “What?”

 

She exclaimed, waving her arms like she was going to jump out at any moment.

“That stinks!”