An Exorcist Magical Girl!

“Ouch, that’s hard.”

 

Monday, after the weekend, was the day of the sports fest.

 

I tried to just go through the motions, but I was too eager to participate in the tug-of-war.

 

My class made it to the finals and came in second place.

 “It’s not fair, we just played the final game right after the one before it, and they were just coming off a break, so of course we’re the ones who have to catch up physically!”

 

Seo Jun asked in disbelief as I poured water down my throat, gulping it down.

 

“I thought you said you weren’t going to work hard?” “Is that how you feel, I don’t work hard at all?” “Because I work just the right amount of hard.” “How can you have that attitude when you’re so close to winning the championship! You’re stupid. Stupid!”

 

I grumbled and grabbed Seo Jun to get in line for the face painting booth.

 

The booth was only open during lunch, but there were a few clubs that had booths at athletic events.

 

The art club had a face-painting booth, the student government had a raffle booth, and the World Culture Studies club had a food booth. According to Hanbyul, the broadcasting department also organized a storytelling event.

 

Although the festival wasn’t as big as the one in the second semester, there was still something to enjoy.

 

“What are you going to pick?”

 

I asked, glancing at Seo Jun’s arm. She’d been wearing a cardigan for a while, so it had been a while since I’d seen her bare skin.

 

If she didn’t have a specific design in mind, I thought I’d suggest she get some lettering painted on her scar lines. Like a tattoo.

 

But Seo Jun’s left arm was unmarked. Do scars really fade that fast?

 

“Dude, where do you go for derma?” “What are you talking about, all of a sudden?” “If you don’t want to talk, don’t talk.”

 

In the midst of all the small talk, it was our turn to get face painted.

 “Wow, so many designs! That flower-.” “This one needs a cat whisker on her face.”

 

As we were looking at the designs, Seo Jun spoke up.

 “Hey, it’s my face! Why? You?”

 

I was about to ask her about the absurdity of it all, when the art club student sitting in front of me interrupted her.

 “I think a cat whisker would look really good on you! I’ll draw a heart on your nose!” “Yeah. Okay. Please do that.”

 

I’m about to clap my hands in excitement, but I can’t even throw cold water on the idea by saying, “

I don’t like it”.

 

Instead of taking it in stride, I chose to get back at Seo Jun.

 

“Then I want you to make her face into a x-nashi, with lines under her eyes. Got it?” “Gaona X?” “See, that’s exactly what she looks like, with her flabby skin and blind eyes!” “Isn’t that right…? Still, Gaona X is a bit… Since it’s a cold image, I was going to draw you a snowflake or something… A light blue snowflake on her cheeks would be perfect…  Mmm…”

 

The young artist in front of me shook her head in disbelief at the request, which was far from the direction she was pursuing.

 

I raised a white flag to her burning artistic spirit.

 

“I take it back; I want you to draw a snowflake on her face.” “Oh, that would be great, yes, I’ll draw it right away!”

 

The art club student’s face lit up.

 

With cat whiskers and blue snowflakes on our faces, we headed to the food booth.

 

Cafeteria, canteen, food booth at the World Culture Studies Club, and sneaky delivery.

 

With these four options for lunch, the lines at the food booths weren’t too long.

 

“Huh? Hanbyul!” 

In the tteokbokki line, we ran into Cha Hanbyul.

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the broadcasting department? I heard you’re broadcasting a story reading during your lunch break.”

I asked.

 “Oh, it’s about to start. The other girls are getting ready inside, and I came out to buy them lunch.” “Oh, I see.” “I’m going to hang out at my class’s after-party and then join class three!”

Hanbyul announced.

 

Seo Jun replied.

“We have to go to the training center again today.” “Hehe, you can’t just skip training on a day like today. That’s amazing, you guys!”

 

Cha Hanbyul, who understood the substitution of

“academy”

for

“training center”

, pouted her lips in regret.

 

***

 

It was time for the June 8-hour practical evaluation season.

 

The June evaluation will be recorded, so of course I had to prepare hard and do well.

 

Of course, I didn’t start preparing for the assessment right away, but I knew that a beginner like me wouldn’t be able to do well if I practiced haphazardly.

 

It was natural for me to try my best.

 

Moreover, this week was my last class with Senior Shin.

 

I didn’t want to be remembered as the student who didn’t know what to do in the last week of class.

 

“Let’s play together next time!” “Yeah.”

 

Hanbyul wormed a promise out of us and headed to the broadcasting room with both hands full of tteokbokki.

 

Lunch was served, and in the afternoon, there would be a two-person triangular competition, a first-year creative dance competition, and the much-anticipated class relay to end the day.

 

Oh, and the second grade’s group

“Campaign for Tobacco-Free Schools”

dance ended early in the morning.

 

This was because the dance was to be performed for guests, including officials from the school board.

 

So, after the principal’s opening remarks, our campaign dance performance was next.

 

As the familiar melody and lyrics began to echo through the speakers, nothing particularly funny happened except that Ms. Park Eun-kyung walked away with a very grim expression on her face.

 

Oh, and by the way, I returned the scarf I borrowed from the cicada ghost in front of the training center after school last week.

 

The afternoon games also went off without a hitch, with lots of cheering and yelling.

 

There were a few minor hiccups, such as someone being fooled by a ghostly starting signal and someone picking up a baton from the previous runner, but it all went off without a hitch.

 

 

***

 

 “This is the last week I’ll ever have a student as gifted as you.”

 

After the athletic competition, I went straight to the training center. Senior Shin Wook couldn’t hide his disappointment when he saw me.

 

Because of my high talent level, he could teach me like a knife, and he was happy that he was able to teach me to the point where he knew the material like the back of his hand.

 

He said that if he had students like me, he would want to teach for the rest of his life.

 

“Are you sure you won’t come to the training center anymore after my class?” “Not at all, I’m not sure yet, but I might get a secondary basic class, the director suggested. But I’m not sure if I can cover all of them.”

 

Senior Shin trailed off and shook his head.

 

I thought back to the vibrant energy he’d consistently displayed since our first class.

 

“I think the tension will be good.” “Hey, that’s not a compliment.” “It is a compliment! No, I mean, tension is important for teaching younger students.” “But the problem is, I don’t know if I’ll have that tension when I have multiple students to take care of. I’m not sure if I’ll have it when I’m in a rush. I’ll be on edge, and I might lose my temper.” “Um, so why don’t you come up to my sophomore class with me?” “You already have a full-time teacher there. You don’t realize how scary that teacher is!”

 

The senior grunted, as if he was creeped out just thinking about it, then remembered something.

 

“Oh, by the way, I might go to his class sometimes.” “What?” “Sometimes I’m called in for special lectures by the association, since I’m working freelance. Um, I once went to a camp as an assistant counselor, but I heard that there might not be a camp this year.” “Yeah. The exorcist had a lot of work.” “Oh no, I’m sure he’s having a hard time too” “Huh? Did you know Exorcist Ji Woon?” “Of course.” “Okay, enough small talk, let’s start class!”

Senior Shin exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

 

“Today, let’s practice opening the account without hands.”

 

Opening the account without hands was a skill that all students who had been practicing exorcism for some time could do.

 

In fact, I hadn’t been putting much effort into the motion of opening the account lately. 

 

It’s become as natural as breathing, and once I’ve opened a skill, opening additional skills is as simple as concentrating without motion.

 

Senior Shin, who understood my learning phase, said.

 “It’s annoying to gesture every time, so let’s learn how to open the account without gesturing from the beginning. Also, I think it would be a good idea to develop your clairvoyance skill before you go to class with your friends.” 

Oh, and by the way, the clairvoyance skill for locating ghosts was still in the default skill.

 

Basic skills don’t show up in the skills section of the status bar when they’re not being utilized.

 

So there was only one skill listed in my status bar right now. The “Craftsman’s Wears No Tools” skill with an unidentified secondary skill.

 

Suddenly, I realized that my senior might be able to help me figure out how to use the secondary skill: Master of Mirrors.

 

“Senior Shin!” “Yeah?” “Please take a look at this.”

 

I pulled a hand mirror out of my pocket and handed it to him.

 

He looked at it without thinking, and when he realized he couldn’t see himself, he jumped.

 

“Is this a mirror?! It doesn’t reflect people!” “Well, actually…”

 

I started with the story of how I became the owner of the hand mirror, and then explained that the

“Mirror of Truth”

and

“The surface of a calm lake is like a mirror”

were triggered on their own.

 

After listening to me, Senior Shin’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

 

“Other than that, did you find out anything else?” “Nope. I don’t know how many features are available, and I don’t know what the conditions are that trigger them.” “But it seems to be working in your favor?” “It recognizes me as the owner, isn’t that what it’s supposed to do?”

 

I whined, and Senior Shin burst out laughing.

 

“Hahaha! You don’t like the mirror, do you?” “I don’t think so, it’s just that it’s a bit creepy. I don’t know anything about it. Do you have any guesses?” “I don’t know. We don’t have a lot of information right now.” “Oh…” “Haha, come on, don’t get too caught up in looking for regular patterns or manuals or anything.” “What?” “This stuff is more likely to work based on your own personal experience and hodgepodge. I can’t say for sure because I’ve only had a few instances of things like this having a master, but they’re not like normal skills. Most of them function without any specific steps or regularity. I’d say they’re triggered by a very personal principle.” “Uh, well… Yeah…” 

My face must have said,

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”

because Senior Shin raised his eyebrows.

 

“Aigo, it’s so hard to understand, isn’t it?” “Yeah.” “Well, to summarize, the source of this additional skill’s function is inside you. You should be able to tell if you use the mirror a little more.” “Uhm, I’ll just learn it by doing.” “Okay, okay. Don’t be too impatient, take it easy. For now, let’s focus on practicing your clairvoyance and dealing with the skill. From what I can see, it won’t be long before your new clairvoyance skill activates.” “Is that so?” “Yes, but I’m hoping for a trigger. You seem like the kind of person who learns best by doing. It’s a shame we can’t get you out there right now.” “Well, I guess we’ll start with the accounts today.” “Okay, let’s do it!”

 

I wasn’t too worried because I would have to face this problem many times in school.

 

For a moment, I thought that maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I was attending an all-girls high school.