An Exorcist Magical Girl!

It’s 6th period club time and the school is deserted with most of the students gone.

 

Kwon Yuri, Yang Ji-won, and Cha Hanbyul have naturally gathered in a classroom for night study.

 

Mukgyeong Girls’ High School accepts applications for night study every month, and the three of them have been attending since March, the beginning of the school year, without missing a month.

 

There were about thirty first and second grade students who signed up for the program even though it was not the official exam period.

 

Some of them were so enthusiastic that they signed up for the program, but when it was time for dismissal, they just went home because they didn’t want to bother, so there were always less than twenty people who actually stayed up late to study.

 

So during exam periods we have separate classrooms for freshmen and sophomores, but during these low enrollment periods both grades would share one classroom.

 

It was too early to call it “night,” but there was nothing else to do until dinner, so Yuri, Ji-won, and Hanbyul sat down early and started studying.

 

In fact, Hanbyul was one of those who just put her name on the palm list and went off on her own, but today she quietly joined the study session to prepare for the performance evaluations that will take place next week. 

 

She said that having someone like Yang Ji-won next to her who studies as hard as she does helps her concentrate because she feels like she’s being watched. 

 

Although Yang Ji-won doesn’t know it yet, Cha Hanbyul has even thought about inviting her to a study cafe one weekend.

 

About 30 minutes into the dinner break, Yuri got up from her seat.

 

When Hanbyul, who was sitting a few feet away, said,

“Toilet?”

Yuri shook her head and said no. 

 

She tapped her cell phone.

 

“Hey guys, have you seen the menu for tonight’s dinner?”

 

Hanbyul took out her phone and checked the menu.

 

Instead of looking at the menu herself, Ji W-won put down her pen and listened to them.

 

“How bad is it?” “Honestly, I’m a little surprised… Oh, this is yesterday’s and this is Friday’s dinner.” “What is this, eggplant rice?”

 

Hanbyul’s mouth fell open.

 

Ji-won, who had overheard, quickly grabbed her purse and said.

 

“Let’s buy it.” *** 

 

Without a second thought, the three of them rushed out.

 

They briefly considered ordering takeout, but Hanbyul’s suggestion to go out and eat while the weather was still nice made them leave the school gate instead of going back to class.

 

They didn’t have the energy to walk far, so they went to a nearby restaurant and ordered three rows of kimbap and rabokki to share.

 

“There were no people here today. There were maybe four or five people besides us?” Ji-won muttered as she set the cutlery down. “I guess everyone just goes home on club days, like last time.”

 

“I’m scared if there aren’t too many people,” Yuri replied as she filled a small side dish bowl with beets and bean sprouts.

 

After experiencing the ghostly activity firsthand during the midterms of the second semester last year, Yuri was so scared that she didn’t come to her nightly study session for about a month.

 

But when she heard that the ghosts weren’t as scary as before, she started practicing again.

 

“There are some juniors in the broadcasting department who are also scared, but they said they study in the library before dinner. If you join them later in the evening, there will be more people than before.” “Oh, yes, that’s great. How many people are there?” “Two juniors from the broadcasting department. Three if you count their friends.” 

Hanbyul wagged three fingers, and Yuri’s face lit up.

 

“There are probably some of them in the sophomore class as well, so the classroom will be half full after dinner! Oh, and by the way, among the five people who were in the classroom earlier, there are probably some who just ran away when they saw the dinner menu…” 

Her expression quickly darkened as she calculated the number of such cases.

 

Hanbyul changed the subject and told her not to be afraid.

 “Hey, I need you to pick something for me to do later. Do you want to write a paper on magic and ethics or do research for a literature presentation?” “Which one do you hate more?” “The magic and ethics paper.” “Then do it.” “Ji-won is too much. Yuri, you should choose one for me.” “Um… the Magic and Ethics report?” “Ew, that’s too much!”

 

After another two or three minutes of chatting, our food arrived.

 

It was quiet for a while as the three of them concentrated on eating.

 “Oh, right. Speaking of magic and ethics.”

 

It was Ji-won who broke the silence when they were more than halfway through the fried rice.

 

“I heard that the PTA might have an insider. I’m not sure if it’s true, but…”

 

Mr. Jang Jin-cheol, the teacher in charge of magic and ethics, was also the teacher in charge of the student council.

 

As Ji-won ate her food in silence, she remembered what she had heard about Magic and Ethics, Mr. Jang, the student council, and today’s student council.

 

“What? An informant?”

 

Hanbyul exclaimed in disbelief. Yuri’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, unable to say anything because she was shoveling kimbap into her mouth.

 

“The choice of words is a bit ambiguous, but it sounds like there’s a parent who’s in cahoots with Heo Kyung-wook.” *** 

Heo Kyung-wook.

 

The man the students of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School considered to be the source of all evil, the teacher who wielded so much power because he was the son of the school’s president.

 

“This is crazy. Tell me more.” “Remember the last time the PTA complained to the school board?” “Oh, I told you he stabbed me before, but didn’t I just brush it off like it never happened?” “Uhhhhhh.” “Yeah. I heard that the reason it went down the drain was because a parent filed a petition to defend the school. She said that everything the PTA was saying was wrong and that the school should not be stigmatized. Apparently, they made such a fuss that the PTA’s complaint was completely invalidated.”

 

Ji-won added that Heo Kyung Wook must have bribed the parents.

 

After hearing all these explanations, Hanbyul couldn’t contain her frustration and slapped the table.

 

“Oh, I thought they bribed the school board, but they bribed the parents! I’ve seen parents bribing teachers, but I’ve never seen teachers bribing parents!”

 

Finally, Yuri, who had swallowed all the kimbap, spoke up.

 

“Maybe it wasn’t money, but something else.” “Wow. If she’s right, that’s a really big deal. How low will they really go?”

 

Hanbyul swallowed water to keep her stomach from burning.

 “Is it okay to just tell us?” Yuri asked carefully and Ji-won shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “It wasn’t just one or two of us who were there, and the whole school will know tomorrow anyway.” “Oh, right. I guess.”

 

With that one topic of conversation now closed, the three of them returned to eating in silence.

 

A few minutes later, Ji-won and Hanbyul were getting ready to leave when they saw Yuri pushing the last bits of kimbap into the corner of her plate.

 

“You’re done eating, right?” “Yes.” “How are you going to pay the bill?” “I’ll do it all at once. Send me the money.”

 

Ji-won swiped her card at the register, and Yuri divided the price by a third and added it to the price of the kimbap.

 “I can send Ji-won 6,000 won… Hanbyul, you can send 6500 won.” “6500 won? Okay.” “We both confirmed that the money came in.”

 

After paying, the three of them left the restaurant.

 

When Ji-won asked if they were going to go back to school or spend some time outside, Yuri checked the time.

 

“We ate really fast. It’s only 5:20.” “Wow, that’s right! Then why don’t we get something to drink?” 

Hanbyul suggested stopping at a nearby takeout place, and the three of them returned to the study hall with a drink in each hand.

 

Yuri hesitated, worried that if she drank now she would have to go to the bathroom later when the school was pitch black, but the other two promised to accompany her to the bathroom.

 

When the night study began in earnest, there were seventeen people in the classroom: eight second graders and nine first graders.

 

That was it. The principal came by at the beginning and end of the day to take attendance, but there were only seventeen students in the classroom at any given time.

 

In fact, seventeen students in both grades combined was not a large number at all.

 

It was the maximum number of people that

“Friday’s no-holds-barred all-girls high school with clubs, no exams, and a terrible lunch menu”

could attract.

 

This meant that, regardless of their actual grades, the seventeen people studying here right now were obviously incredibly dedicated to their studies.

 

For the first two hours and fifteen minutes after the study session started at 6:00 a.m., the classroom was quiet except for the careful flipping of papers, sharp clicks, and the opening and closing of doors as some students went to the bathroom.

 

Yuri, Ji-won, and Hanbyul went to the bathroom together at 8:30.

 

Although it was getting hotter and the days were getting longer, it was still completely dark outside the window.

 

On the way back to class, the fluorescent lights in the hallway flickered ominously.

 

Sore from all the sitting, but with no desire to stay outside the classroom for long, the trio quickened their pace.

 

Later, about ten minutes later, they regretted it bitterly.

 

They should have washed their faces, done some stretches to loosen their stiff bodies, walked up and down the stairs, and had a drink from the water fountain.

 

They should have returned to class as late as possible.

 

8:45.

 

A sound pierced the previously quiet air of the classroom.

 

A squeak.

 

An unpleasant friction sound, like a used pen rubbing against paper.

 “……!”

 

The uninvited guest has made his presence known.

 

A few people unconsciously look up, searching for the source of the sound, but none of them look around.

 

Everyone jerks or lets out a small gasp of surprise.

 

Eyes remain fixed on their desks, on the pages of their workbooks, printouts, and handwritten notes.

 

Some sophomores have just gotten up from their seats, some freshmen are staring at the ceiling with fake tears in their eyes, and some are staring blankly at the clock in front of them.

 

They lowered their eyes as if they’d made a promise.

 

It wasn’t because all seventeen people in the room were exercising superhuman concentration, not even paying attention to the bizarre sound that suddenly came out of nowhere.

 

Everyone’s eyes were glued to their desks,

 

This was because the source of the eardrum-scraping sound was their own desk.

 

No one tried to engage in a formal conversation to verify the authenticity of the sound, such as

“Did you hear that?”

or

“Is that just me?”

 

Everyone knew in their gut.

 

They didn’t have to look around for worried looks, they could tell.

 

The same thing was happening to all seventeen people in the room.