An Exorcist Magical Girl!

The entrance to the neighborhood park is in Seoul.

 

About 90 students from two nearby training centers gathered in groups and lined up.

 

Exorcist Shin Ji Woon was at the front of the line.

 

The exorcist is in charge of managing the training centers within the association, which is why he is also there today.

 

“If you’ve all received the notice, I’ll start explaining.”

 

Upon arrival, the association handed out small pouches, gloves, tongs, and a leaflet to each trainee.

 

The information included emergency contact numbers, a map of the park, and tips on what to do in case of an emergency.

 

“I remember picking up trash in the mountains when I was in elementary school.”

 

Someone in the back of the group muttered, making a clicking sound with a pair of tongs.

 

It got a little noisy for a moment, with each of them chattering about how their school had a scavenger hunt along the river trail, but when the exorcist stepped forward, everyone fell silent.

 

He was dressed in his usual neat clothes and neatly tied hair, but there was an unmistakable air of weariness that gave him an edgy air.

 

He ministered lightly to the students and cut to the chase.

 “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for responding to our urgent summons. I’ll get right to the mission: we’ve received reports of dozens of gourdwood scattered throughout this park, and our investigations have revealed that they’re a powerful type of gourdwood that can even absorb the souls of the living.”

 

Interjecting a brief conceptual explanation for those unfamiliar with what a gourdwood

is, the exorcist continued with the details of the urgent mission.

 

“Tomorrow morning, starting at 9 a.m., there will be an athletic meet for a nearby elementary school in this park. They can’t use the playground because it’s under construction, so they’re having the event in the park.”

 

After glancing at the students to make sure they were paying attention to his explanation, he continued.

 

“The biggest problem, for now, is that the event is a “treasure hunt”. It’s got a power-suppressing symbol on the outside. It’s not like there aren’t any safeguards.”

 

But those safeguards shatter on impact.

 

Dozens of powerful gourdwood, the special circumstances of a sports day and treasure hunt and hundreds of elementary school children.

 

No one cares about splinters, and there’s no guarantee that any of the wood chips won’t get kicked, thrown, or rolled around.

 

I can think of a few scenarios off the top of my head.

 

A piece of wood catches the eye of a child looking for a treasure trail.

 

The child walks past it once or twice. It’s not the treasure scroll he’s looking for.

 

But when the same piece of wood is spotted three or four times, here, there, and everywhere, the child eventually picks it up out of curiosity.

 

He thinks it’s a special treasure marker that gives him something better than the prize on the note.

 

When the child shows the piece of wood to the teacher, he realizes that it is trash and has nothing to do with the treasure hunt.

 

The piece of wood, having lost its usefulness in an instant, leaves the child’s hand.

 

And then… Poof!

 

There were many other things that could have happened.

 

Maybe the kid picks up the piece of wood and makes a bet with it to throw it the farthest, since he’s not going to find the treasure scroll, so he’s just going to collect the pretty trash.

 

Like the simulation I just ran through in my head, the students quickly made the connection between the concept of gourdwood and the events of tomorrow’s athletic meeting.

 

Just as the worst possible ending was playing out in front of everyone’s eyes, the heavy voice of the exorcist cut in.

 

“If left to their own devices, dozens of people will lose their souls to forced fluid separation.”

 

Disembodied souls would fall all over the place, and what should have been a joyous athletic event would quickly become a hellish hell.

 

And the souls that leave the body will fall into the hands of the killer, never to return.

 

It’s unlikely that the culprit is just organizing a surprise fainting event.

 

This is clearly a terrorist attack to steal a large number of souls.

 

Perhaps the perpetrator was trying to sneak into the sports day as a parent and leave with a soul-sucking gourdwood.

 

I don’t know what his purpose was.

 

I don’t know what kind of crazy person would do that, but it’s a terrible idea.

 

“On the back of the handout, we’ve organized the groups into sections, and we’ve included a picture for reference in case you’re unfamiliar with the gourdwood, so I’m going to ask you to go to your section and collect the gourdwood. Please use the tongs I handed out earlier to search through the grass and bushes.” 

And so the treasure hunt began a day early.

 

The reason for the task groups was to assign each team a specific area to cover.

 

It would have been more convenient and timesaving to just assign the teams to the areas they were going to search, rather than having them create new teams.

 

By the way, Yeo Seon-yeo was with Yin Charang.

 

Yeo’s partner, Hwang Hanju, had a class at the training center today, and Yin couldn’t find a mission team, so the two of them were left alone.

 “This asshole has enough trouble with us and now he wants to mess with children?”

 

Seon-yeo had already concluded in her head that the owner of the gourdwood that had gotten her and Hwang Hanju into trouble was the same person responsible for this incident.

 

***

 

 

The area Seo Jun and I were assigned was a small garden at the edge of the park.

 

The garden was located in the innermost corner of the neighborhood park, quite far from the entrance.

 

Still, the park itself isn’t that big, so we didn’t have to walk too far.

 

We walked past the ball court and the octagonal pavilion where the other teams were scouting, and then I stepped into the

“rose tunnel”

.

 

It was an archway of barbed wire covered in overhead rose vines, the kind you see in neighborhood parks like this.

 

“Whoever was assigned this tunnel must have a hard time.” “Yeah.”

I mildly agreed with Seo Jun’s muttering to herself.

 

The Rose Tunnel continued for about thirty meters.

 

At the other end was the garden, our destination.

 

It was an ordinary garden, with a small fountain in the center and alternating flower beds and benches around it.

 

The days were getting longer as it got hotter, but it still felt darker at this time of day.

 

“This is going to be really hard to find if it gets any later.”

 

I checked my phone battery level.  At 46%, how long could I keep the flashlight on? Two hours, maybe.

 

Half of the dull orange color that filled the air now was sunset, and the other half was the glow of the streetlights that were turning on one by one.

 

Shadows slowly melted into the air as the sunlight that remained in the sky shattered into a blur.

 

The symbolic sound of grasshoppers began to emerge from all directions.

 

“I’ll search to the right. Seo Jun, you go left, and we’ll search the fountain together at the end.” “Okay.”

 

We started at the entrance to the garden and divided the area left and right.

 

It was really just benches, flower beds, and a fountain, so it wasn’t the best place to hide something.

 

There was a streetlight and a trash can, but of course there was no way to hide anything in a streetlight, and there was no reason to look in places where people wouldn’t stick their hands in the first place, like inside a trash can or sewer.

 

Even treasure hunters don’t look in those places.

 

Unless the killer was an idiot, he’d have hidden it in a reasonably accessible place.

 

“But there’s no way we’re going to find anything tonight, so they might as well just cancel the sports day, right?”

 

After four flower beds, I was getting tired of digging.

 

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to neglect it or skip it.

 

I was just a little unhappy with the situation.

 

Why put people through the trouble at night when it would be easier to cancel the workout and find each one in the light of day tomorrow.

 

Besides, there were no ghosts. No ghosts, no surprises, and no way to tell if the gourdwoods strange aura had scared the ghosts away.

 

It sounds like I’m a thrill-seeker, but I’m just fed up with this monotonous situation that doesn’t even give Seo Jun and I a chance to escape.

 

Since we’re stuck together again today, I thought I’d observe Seo Jun.

 

We made it through our assigned areas without incident.

 

“All that’s left is the water fountain.” “At least there’s no water in there.” “But there are too many coins.”

Seo Jun grumbled with a small sigh.

 

A small fountain, about a meter and a half in diameter.

 

In the center of it stood a statue of a cherub blowing a trumpet.

That was probably how the water came out of the trumpet.

 

At the feet of the cherub was a pile of coins that people had thrown in, and we couldn’t see the bottom.

 

We used tongs to remove the coins and checked the fountain for wood chips.

 

“There’s nothing in here.” “I know.”

 

We rummaged around, but we didn’t find what we were looking for. We found some trash, like bottle caps, so I tossed them into the trash can.

 

“You look like you’re on some kind of trash pickup volunteer program.”

 

I scowled and sat down at the fountain.

 

Despite my outwardly frustrated tone, I was worried that I had missed something.

 

Maybe that’s why my legs were shaking.

 

Seo Jun patted my knee and suggested in a calm voice,

“If you’re really bothered, why don’t I check the right side and you check the left? I don’t think it’s going to turn up anything.” “Yeah, sure!”

 

The guilt and regret I would feel if a soul-sucking incident occurred in the area we were searching would be unspeakable.

 

It’s a big deal, and it’s better to check it out now than later.

 

***

 

 

Ping!

 

I was about to get up from the fountain when my phone buzzed.

 

“Wait, can I check my phone?” “Slow down.”

Seo Jun rolled his eyes.

 

“Shut up!”

 

Seo Jun was smart. No, I was stupid.

 

I was so stupid that my eyes were assaulted by the glow of my phone screen.

 

It had been early evening earlier, and now it was late evening.

 

I quickly turned the screen brightness down to minimum and checked my messages.

 

It was Yeo Seon-yeo.

 

─Did you find them?

 

I replied that I hadn’t found any.

 

─Huh.

─Neither did we.

─Not found

─We were at the outdoor stage.

─There was really nothing there

─But we weren’t the only ones

─I heard it wasn’t even in the octagonal hall.

 

When I read the message and made a face, Seo Jun made a mouth that said,

“Why?”

 

“I just got a text from Seon-yeo, and she said that not many people have found the gourdwood.” “Really?” “Uh, well, not that she’s seen any.”

 

Meanwhile, Seon-yeo continued to send messages.

 

─I’m returning empty-handed with salted tea.

─We’re on our way to the front gate now.

─Arriving at the main gate!

─Oh~~You all finished so fast!

─There are so many kids gathered at the front gate!

─Hey

─Get back here

─The atmosphere is weird

─Nobody’s found it. There’s like 50 people here right now and nobody’s found it. They’re freaking out.

 “Seo Jun, there are 50 people at the front gate right now, and not a single one of them has found a gourdwood?” 

Seo Jun furrowed her brow in puzzlement.

 

I grabbed her by the arm and started walking briskly.

 

“I think we should go.” 

I quickly retraced my steps through the tunnel of roses.

 

Has a false report been filed against the association?

 

It gave me the creeps to shrug it off as a

“wasted effort”

.

 

No, who had made the

“report”

in the first place?

 

“Hey, come back here.”

Seo Jun, who was coming from behind, suddenly called out to me.

 “Why.” “This road, was it always this long?”