An Exorcist Magical Girl!

I can’t see the classroom beyond the waving blonde hair.

 “Holy shit.” 

Did I see it right?

 “Hey, come on.” 

I barely held on to my fading sanity.

 

I quickly pulled Yuri out of the classroom. At the same time, I grabbed Cha by the back of her neck to stop her from entering the classroom.

 “What? Why? What is it?”

Hanbyul’s eyes widened in confusion.

 

Yuri’s trembling voice poured out like a rapid-fire cannon.

 “It’s hell in there.”

she said, her voice trembling.

 

I nodded vigorously in agreement.

 

Inside the classroom, bugs the size of thumbs were flying around.

 

I could only see three of them.

 

Hanbyul, who had seen the situation through the window, stood back in disbelief.

 “There are bugs in the classroom, and it’s flying! Four of them!” 

Oh, no. Four of them.

 Bam! Bam! Bam! 

The front door burst open and other students ran out into the hallway.

 “Are you crazy?!’ “How many were there?! Five, no, six!” 

‘There were more?’

 

Inside the classroom, everyone rushed out.

 

Only three people, including the class president, Min Jiyoon, remained in the class, swinging their shoes.

 

When I looked again, I realized that only Min Ji Yoon and Seo Ha Young were fighting with bugs.

 

The other one just couldn’t get out because the exit was blocked by bugs.

 “Aaaaahhh! My head! My head!” 

Another piercing scream erupted.

 

But this time, it wasn’t from our class.

 

The screams came from the next class over.

 

A pale, frightened student ran out of the next class.

 

She shook her head frantically, as if possessed by the ghost of a heavy metal band.

 

Something dangling from the ends of her scattered, shaking hair fell off.

 

How I wished it was heavy metal.

 

It was a bug stuck to her head.

 

The student dropped it and went on a rampage, flying all over the place, until she finally stepped on it and killed it.

 

And then she freaked out again.

 

***

 

Soon there was a chorus of yells from the next class.

 “Someone get me some bug spray!” “I’m going to the teacher’s office!”

yelled one of the students.

 “How many of them came in at once?!” 

The situation in the next class didn’t seem to be much different from ours.

 Bam!–  “Aaaaahhh! What the hell!” 

Something hit my shoulder, and I jumped, startled out of my skin.

 “What is it?” 

I thought I had a bug on me, but thankfully it was Seo Jun.

 

Seo Jun had just returned from the library and was holding the book she promised in one hand.

 “There’s bugs in the classroom. The class president and Ha-Young are holding it right now.” “Really?” 

She didn’t sound too surprised.

 “You don’t mind bugs?” “I don’t like it.”  “Wow, Seo Jun, you’re so calm. I run away whenever there are bugs in the house. The last time there was a moth in my room, I thought I was going to die. It was 2 a.m. and I ran out the door and my mom kicked my ass.” 

Hanbyul Cha, who was listening to the story, suddenly interrupted and made fun of me.

 

Time passed, and the bell rang, signaling that there were five minutes left for lunch.

 

The last three students who were still in the class came out to the hallway in a huff.

 “What the heck is going on outside the window? What the heck is going on here?” “I’m going to fucking die. In my 18 years of life, I’ve never heard of bug nesting.” “Joo Yeon-seo, didn’t you get this confused with the news that the police were called because a wasp built a house on the veranda of your apartment?” “Damn it, Yeon-seo, you’re not getting anything right.” “Ha-young, you have to understand. Yeon-seo was besieged by bugs earlier, and she’s losing her mind right now.” 

Joo Yeon-seo didn’t stay in the classroom by choice.

 

She was in a daze and talking nonsense.

 

Min Jiyoon and Seo Ha Young, who were the first to stay, received a standing ovation.

 “Hey, you guys are amazing.” “How many were there?!” “Don’t tell me. There were more than ten-” 

Just as Min Jiyoon was about to tell us what happened inside, a student from the next class who had gone to get the bug spray returned with a loud bang.

 

The students from the other class, who were out in the hallway like us, shouted at her for being so late.

 “Oh, sorry I’m late. They said they weren’t in the office, so I went to the cafeteria… Why are you mad at the person who ran to get the bug spray? You’re suddenly so angry.” 

Hmm, did the cafeteria sell bug spray?

 

I had a momentary doubt, but it was soon resolved.

 

Someone else asked the question for me.

 “They don’t sell it at the cafeteria. Did you go to the convenience store to buy bug spray?” 

I wondered why the canteen manager went to the convenience store, so it was for bug spray.

 

Did the canteen also sell bugs?

 

Something was wrong.

 

It wasn’t during class time, when there were no customers, but during lunch break that the cafeteria was selling well.

 

There’s no way he would have gone to the cafeteria at that time of day just to buy a bug or two.

 

It’s a lost sale.

 

The flip side of that is that he needed the bugs so badly that he put sales aside.

 

Maybe it was lunchtime and the bugs were too much to handle.

 

Like in my classroom just now.

 “Ha…This crazy school. I want to drop out.” 

Someone in the hallway muttered incoherently.

 

The bell rang just in time to signal the start of fifth period, so it was a monologue heard only by those in close proximity.

 

They were probably all thinking the same thing.

 

A school with four monsters in the morning, and then a bunch of bugs later in the day.

 

And a school that’s usually haunted.

 

Who wants to go to a school like this?

 

***

 

Fifth period class has barely started after cleaning up the mess from the bugs.

 

I’m sitting in the back of the class, reading a copy of

“Curious about Ghosts”

that Seo Jun lent me.

 

It doesn’t matter because I’m in the back, so the teacher won’t be able to see if it’s a textbook or something else.

 

I thought about reading the book from the beginning, but something in the table of contents caught my attention, so I opened to that page.

 

It was a section on demonic camouflage.

 

─When a straw doll used as someone’s alter ego is possessed by a ghost, it is said that the doll has taken on an identity. The blunt armor they use is very easy and simple compared to other camouflage techniques.

 

Is this the first straw man I exorcized at this school?

 

At the words

“very easy and simple level”

, I recalled how that ghost had reverted back to its true form as soon as I’d slapped it on the back of the head.

 

It was certainly much weaker and easier than the ghost that had disguised itself as space.

 

I stopped reminiscing and plowed through the next paragraph.

 

It was a comprehensive theory book, with simple concepts introduced.

 

The explanations were not detailed, so even a person like me could read it quickly.

 

─You can break the camouflage by applying physical attacks.

 

Oh, it was funny to see the first thing I learned in practice written down in a sentence.

 

I’ve seen demons in disguise before, and I’ve smashed their noses off before, whether it’s a straw man or a monster, I’ve always beaten them to reveal their true colors and core.

 

So I thought it would be the same with this one.

 

The ghost just disappeared.

 

I thought,

‘What was that? Did I just get lucky and hit an invisible core?’

 

Yes, but it was very different from the sight of the ghost disappearing when the nuke was destroyed.

 

Well, it was all speculation for now, so I turned my attention back to the book.

 

After the section on physical attacks, there was a brief introduction to the youkai known as the masters of camouflage. Things like gumihos and doppelgangers.

 

Then I noticed an interesting phrase and reread it.

 

I quickly flipped through the pages.

 

-Possession can also be considered a form of camouflage.

 

Possession?

 

I’m hearing ghosts. That’s a form of camouflage?

 

→Since possession is when a disembodied spirit takes over another person’s body and pretends to be that person, some people see it as a form of camouflage

.

 

It wasn’t in a mainstream opinion in the industry, and the topic of possession was only mentioned in one or two sentences.

 

I went back to the table of contents and searched for another interesting title.

 “Let’s see, “What are nukes”, “Location and discovery of nukes”, um…” 

“How to protect nukes”,

page 98.

 

Let’s read this.

 

-There are ways to wrap a nucleus in layers of crystals so that it cannot be easily destroyed. The stronger the demon’s power, the stronger the bonds surrounding the core, and it takes skill to exorcize it.

 

As I read, I suddenly had a question.

 

I kept my voice low and turned to Seo Jun.

 

It’s nice to be next to her.

 “Hey, hey, hey. Can I ask you something?” “What is it?” “About the man-eating ghost at the Rapid Transit Station. It’s pretty strong, isn’t it?” “Yeah, it can eat people.”  “But how were you able to find its core right after it turned back into itself?” “Ah, that. I think it used all of its power to transform into space, and didn’t have enough left over to create the cords to wrap around the core, which usually takes a lot of strength to disguise, except in the case of straw men.”

Seo Jun explained.

 “Aah.” 

It made sense, considering the camouflage it had been able to pull off with a punch or two, and the way it’d altered its visual and auditory appearance.

 

It had taken all its strength.

 

Of course, the camouflage itself could hide the ghost, so it would have been a pretty good

‘nuclear protection’

if it hadn’t been undone.

 

-Camouflage is also a means of protecting ghost by making them invisible. For more information on camouflage, see page 120.

 

The very next paragraph has a relevant explanation, but it’s not very long.

 

There’s a whole chapter on camouflage, so I guess I should read it there. Of course, I had read that section first and skipped over it, so instead of turning to page 120, I tried to read the rest of the book.

 

But I wasn’t able to read the next sentence.

 “Isn’t a textbook, is it?”

The teacher realized I wasn’t paying attention.

 

When did she get to the back?

 

My classmates around me giggled.

 

I reluctantly put away the book and opened my textbook.

 

***

 

It was halfway through the fifth period.

 

A combination of spring fever and food hunger had set in, and one by one, heads dropped from sleepiness, including mine.

 

There was a sound that shattered the silence.

 

A muffled, rumbling sound that traveled through the walls, ceiling to floor.

 

The source was upstairs.

 

It didn’t take me long to realize it was a scream mixed with profanity.

 “What’s that noise in class?” 

The teacher, unaware of what had just happened, flinched for a moment at the sudden outburst, but quickly returned to tapping the board to get the class’s attention.

 

But in the minds of the students, a picture was slowly and vividly forming of a situation they didn’t want to imagine.

 

Similar screams began to come from all directions.

 

From downstairs, from the line across the central garden, from the staff room.

 

This time, even the teacher poked her head out the front door to see what was going on.

 

At that point, my suspicions became complete conviction.

 

Lunchtime, my class, the class next door, and probably the cafeteria, were in a commotion.

 

And that was just the beginning.

 

The whole school was being taken over by bugs.