An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 109

“Choi Hee-young escaped from prison? The psychopath Choi Hee-young?”

 

“Considering they sent me this…, I think it’s her.”

 

“Are you crazy?”

 

The security alert text announced the breaking news of a criminal’s escape.

 

The noisy atmosphere in the store instantly became tense. The whispering among the group quickly resumed, but the tension in the air remained.

 

Choi Hee-young, a rare psychopath.

 

Choi Hee-young was a serial killer who murdered seven people in about two months from January to early March this year.

 

Choi’s killing spree rocked South Korea earlier this year.

 

A twenty-year-old female killed seven acquaintances, all of whom had never argued with Choi Hee-young in their lives and were actually quite close to her.

 

The first victim was even a friend who stayed with her for three days when her parents died.

 

As a result, her name was always preceded and followed by modifiers such as rare psychopath, psychopath, crazy X, demonic X, and killer in human form.

 

I don’t think there is a person in this country who doesn’t know how heinous Choi Hee-young’s crimes were.

 

I heard that Choi Hee-young was arrested shortly after the seventh murder and finally sentenced to death.

 

But she escaped.

 

“She’s going to be in trouble for a while…”

 

“I bet.” Narea sighed, then spoke up. “Come on, we have an emergency announcement.”

 

“An emergency announcement?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

Narea handed me the phone to read.

 

“If you find Choi Hee-young, can you use magic to subdue her? Crazy, what the hell is going on?”

 

I rubbed my eyes and looked at her phone again.

 

“This is an urgent message regarding Choi Hee-young’s escape. Please see the attached document for more information,” it read, with the bloody words “The use of magic is allowed.”

 

“The use of magic is allowed?”

 

Just as an exorcist shouldn’t use exorcism on the living, a magical boy or girl shouldn’t use magic on non-monsters. 

 

On rare occasions, they were allowed to use magic, but only when a group of wild boars came down from the mountains, an animal escaped from the zoo, or a cannibalistic shark appeared on the beach.

 

You might think that this would be appropriate since Choi Hee-young is a criminal, but this isn’t the case. 

 

This was out of the realm of the magic boy and girl.

 

Choi Hee-young may be the crazed, psychopathic serial killer who has South Korea on edge, but she’s an ordinary person with no magic powers. 

 

There was no room for magical boys and girls to intervene.

 

Their role is only to defeat the “monster”.

 

Up to now, it has never been necessary or allowed to use the abilities of magical boys and girls against criminals.

 

Even if the criminal can use magic.

 

Such special criminals are dealt with by special units within police organizations staffed by magical officers.

 

Apprehending criminals was strictly the domain of the police, and rightly so. 

 

But to officially authorize someone to use magic against anyone other than the police was a bit of a stretch.

 

“I don’t think it’s ever happened before that the general public was allowed to use magic, and why did it have to be a magical girl?”

 

“Well, it’s supposed to be a police matter…”

 

Narea wondered the same.

 

Taking the phone back from me, she opened the attached document and read it with a slight frown on her face.

 

Meanwhile, I scanned the Internet to see if it was in the news.

 

─Choi Hee-young escaped from prison, was there a lapse in prison security…

 

─Psychopathic serial killer escaped from prison and is now on the run…

 

─Police only repeat that they are on the hunt…

 

─Suddenly disappeared? Choi Hee-young evaded surveillance to escape

 

These were all articles that had just been published.

 

There wasn’t much new information in them, just different titles and similar content. 

 

They all reiterated that the prisoner had escaped around 4 p.m. today and that the police were intensively searching for her likely route.

 

I scrolled down and found an old article about Choi Hee-young. It was a jumble of articles I’d read before, some I’d skipped over, and some I’d never seen before.

 

─ [Beaking News!] Serial killer Choi Hee-young captured by police today…

 

─”I killed because I love you”… a statement that outraged the nation Choi Hee-young, who killed seven people, was sentenced to death in the first trial. How did Choi Hee-young decide to commit the murders? A serial killing spree that began at the gate of City Hall Station

 

─”I did it to prove my heart”, questions grow about who ordered the murders.

 

─No accomplices found… Choi Hee-young planned and executed the crimes alone.

 

─Serial Murder from the City Hall Station Gate?

 

As I scrolled through my screen, a headline stuck out like a sore thumb. My heart sank at the sudden encounter.

 

I quietly pushed back and Narea, who had just finished reading the article, spoke up.

 

“Hee-young Choi, that woman, she might have a grudge against the magic boy and girl, maybe.”

 

“A grudge?”

 

“Yes. But it’s just a possibility, not a definite grudge. Like I said, I’m putting it out there just in case. Look.”

 

Narea pushed her phone screen in front of me.

 

              ‘From here. Choi Hee-young has lost family members in past Gate eruptions, and has repeatedly exhibited violent behavior in prison, referencing their deaths and specific Gates. Although she has never directly expressed resentment towards the Magical Boy and Girl, it cannot be said for certain that she does not hold a grudge. Please be aware that she may suddenly try to harm Magical Boys and Girls after her escape.’

 

“Ah…”

 

There have always been such people.

 

People who blame Magical Boys and Girls for the death of their family and want to harm them because they couldn’t save them.

 

That’s Choi Hee-young, who murdered her acquaintances for reasons that don’t even sound like “because she loves them”. 

 

She was a person who pointed a knife at innocent magical boys and girls.

 

“You know what they said about allowing magic, they didn’t mean for us to take over the police work. They didn’t mean for us to go out and catch Choi Hee-young, but for us to use magic to protect ourselves if we are attacked.”

 

“Oh, you mean don’t hesitate to fight back or something like that?”

 

“Yes, I guess self-defense is the only exception.”

 

“I see.”

 

Responding to the violence of ordinary people with magic is a natural progression to mutual attack.

 

“Ha… I just wish she’d get caught before she gets to me.”

 

I nodded moderately at Narea’s words, but my mind was on other things.

 

Could the gate where Choi Hee-young lost her family really be the “City Hall Station Gate”?

 

If it really was the City Hall Gate, would Narea know about it?

 

I quickly rolled my eyes and scanned the entire document that Narea had shown me.

 

It didn’t say when or where the gate with Choi Hee-young happened.

 

From beginning to end, it just said “a certain gate” without giving it an exact name.

 

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

 

“…million.” Narea was the first to speak again.

 

“If Hee-young Choi’s family was among the people I saved at the gate, maybe she wouldn’t have gone on a killing spree.”

 

That was it. The “specific gate” where Choi Hee-young lost her family is the City Hall Station gate.

 

She didn’t know if she had seen it on the news, heard about it from someone, or read the notice and had a hunch, but in any case, Narea knew it was the gate to City Hall Station. She just didn’t mention it in front of me, probably out of respect for me.

 

“Dude, you don’t know what that means…”

 

“You’re not completely wrong, are you?”

 

Narea cut me off and said emphatically.

 

“I’m just talking about the possibility that it could have been, that if I’d been a luckier person, I could have saved more, no, all of them, everyone who was there, yes, even Choi’s family.”

 

I still don’t know how tough Narea is. 

 

Is she hard and pliable? Or is she just the right amount of flexible, and if not, is she too withdrawn to be hurt?

 

I don’t know if what I just said has been festering for a long time, or if I’m just saying it off the top of my head.

 

We weren’t close.

 

So, I could only express the bare minimum of concern.

 

“Narea, you… don’t feel responsible for this possibility. It’s all eating away at your psyche, you know?”

 

“I don’t feel responsible. I just said it because I’d rather hear it from my own mouth than someone else’s. Maybe it’s arrogant, but…”

 

Narea’s voice was heavy but not dark, her eyes tired but unwavering.

 

“I have to learn now, too. That you can do your best and still not be rewarded.”

 

I was relieved.

 

Apparently, Narea was determined to be an active magical girl for a long, long time.

 

Unlike me.

 

“I think I’d better leave before dark tonight, Iri. I was hoping to go to the café with you.”

 

“Maybe another time. It doesn’t have to be near my house or school.”

 

“Okay, see you later. Don’t chew on my number.”

 

“Hey, I may be late answering, but I’m not chewing. Be safe.”

 

Narea and I had dinner and left early. It was an hour earlier than expected.

 

***

 

 

“Damn, I can’t sleep.”

 

Lying down doesn’t bring sleep. The moment I entered the house, I realized. 

 

At this rate, I’ll spend the rest of the night thinking about the past and staying awake.

 

I had to get rid of these thoughts that had taken over my head if I didn’t want to waste my energy.

 

One by one, I pushed the endless stream of thoughts out of my head.

 

It’s a mission… I’ll find out when I talk to my aunt. If I keep it to myself now, all I’ll get is a headache and no answers. 

 

Narea, she’s a wise friend, so don’t worry too much. She wouldn’t get stuck in self-destructive, unnecessary guilt.

 

Once she puts some of it aside, a lump is revealed that she can’t hide anymore.

 

Hee-young Choi, the serial killer, and the City Hall Station gate.

 

I googled the title of the article I saw earlier.

 

Articles, community posts, and broadcast clips popped up with the same story.

 

Hee-young Choi was actually a bereaved family member of City Hall Station Gate. 

 

Her only brother died there… She’s only 20 years old, but life is so hard.

 

‘This guy empathizes with a serial killer while he’s at it… Are you for real?’

 

Please don’t give a criminal a narrative, please write one.

 

They keep referring to her and the station together and it’s honestly an insult to other bereaved families.

 

I skimmed the community posts and comments at the top and hit back. 

 

Serial killer Choi, who was arrested on March 6, lost her brother in last year’s attack at the gate of Seoul’s City Hall Station, which led to the revelation that people on social media…

 

There was nothing new in the news.

 

I kept scrolling down the screen without meaning to.

 

Then it suddenly hit me.

 

“If it’s March 6th…, isn’t that the day Yin Charang and Seo Jun went on their mission?”