An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 110

Wednesday, March 6, the day serial killer Choi Hee-Young was arrested.

 

It was a familiar date.

 

It was the first Wednesday in March, the same day Yin Charang collapsed in a pool of blood after going on a mission with Seo Jun.

 

What a coincidence…

 

While I thought it was an amazing coincidence, I also wondered if it was really just a coincidence.

 

With trembling hands, I typed “Choi Hee-young arrest” into the search bar.

 

‘On March 6, the police, responding to a call from a resident who reported seeing a suspicious person, found and arrested Choi Hee-young in an apartment complex in Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul.’

 

“What the hell, in Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu?”

 

The veil hiding the tight knot was slowly lifted.

 

It didn’t take me long to figure out where the apartment complex was.

 

─Captured in front of my house

─I didn’t know what was going on, but they were caught in the middle of the night 

─I don’t know why they came to my neighborhood, but it gave me the creeps ─(Photo)

 

The moment I saw the name of the apartment in the photo, my blood ran cold.

 

Choi Hee-young was arrested at the same apartment complex where Yin Charang and Seo Jun went on their mission.

 

She was arrested at ten o’clock at night. 

 

“Ten o’clock at night…, right after Yin Charang was taken away in an ambulance.”

 

There was too much overlap. The date, the place, the time.

 

There was a clear connection between the serial killer Choi Hee-young and the March mission they both went on.

 

Did Seo Jun really not know that?

 

“Ha, I’m so crazy, I’m mentally full of crap.”

 

It was embarrassing. My friend might have met a serial killer, and my first thought was suspicion, not concern.

 

I know it’s better to get rid of your doubts while you still have the chance than to bury them. 

 

To bury them is to take them with you.

 

I immediately called Seo Jun.

 

─Hello? Baek Iri?

 

Her voice sounded sleepy, as if she’d just woken up. 

 

She must have heard the ringtone and woke up. 

 

I felt a little sorry for her, wondering if I shouldn’t have called her now since I would see her at school tomorrow, but I put that aside and got down to business.

 

“Seo Jun, did you see that the serial killer got away?”

 

─Ah, yes. It was Choi Hee-young.

 

“Did you know that she was arrested on the day of the March mission you and Yin Charang went to?”

 

─Yes. I saw it on the news the other day.

 

“Then where was she arrested? Do you know?”

 

─Is it important?

 

“Where Choi Hee-young was arrested, near the location of your mission. She was arrested within a nose’s reach if she fell, and right after your mission was over.”

 

─That’s… I didn’t know that.

 

Seo Jun seemed to realize why I was calling her at such an odd hour and bringing up the whole murderer thing.

 

─You’re wondering why my chosen mission is so deeply intertwined with Choi Hee-young’s arrest.

 

“That’s right. Can you explain?”

 

─Well, I really don’t know, and I wish I did. Why would a serial killer be in the same place as us at that time.

 

Without giving me time to answer, Seo Jun continued. Her voice was outwardly calm and collected, but I could read the trembling in it.

 

Afraid of revealing something she was hiding, afraid that I wouldn’t believe her if she wasn’t lying.

 

I’d find out soon enough.

 

─I chose the mission purely from its description, for no other reason than the fact that it involved a human-sized spherical articulated puppet. That’s all I knew about it. Really.

 

Seo Jun paused for a moment, then added quietly.

 

─I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, I was the one who broke the trust in the first place, but this time… this time I’m telling the truth, nothing but the truth, nothing hidden.

 

Even though I could only hear her voice, I felt like I could see Seo Jun’s expression in front of me.

 

“Dude, don’t be an idiot. I’m not calling to argue with you. I’m calling to trust you… and I’m doing this because I want to.”

 

I didn’t want to put off giving Seo Jun my full trust until tomorrow. I didn’t want to give her another minute of doubt.

 

I reached for the hand mirror. It seemed like only ten minutes ago that I had heard Seo Jun’s entire painful past in front of the caravan.

 

I didn’t want to write this to the woman who had told me her story with such a face and voice, but it was the best I could do for now.

 

“I have a way to find out if you’re telling the truth, can I use it now?”

 

─No problem, but what are you going to do, bring a lie detector or something?

 

“Something like that. You know that mirror I always carry with me? I can use that.”

 

─Can you do it right now?

 

“Yes. Seo Jun, are you sure you’re telling the truth this time and not hiding anything?”

 

─Yes. I didn’t lie, I didn’t hide anything. I have told you everything about myself.

 

 

❰Sub-Skill ‘Master of Mirrors: Mirror of Truth’ activated❱

❰Peevish! It’s true!❱

❰You have 1 activation of Mirror of Truth left!❱

 

I was relieved. I could still trust Seo Jun.

 

“I see, it’s true, you were right. I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

 

─No, you don’t have to be sorry, it’s natural. I’m not one hundred percent sure you…, no.

 

“Am I what?”

 

─Nothing.

 

“What? Why did you stop talking?”

 

─I was just surprised that you were willing to believe me, that’s all.

 

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

 

So it was all a coincidence that the kids’ mission and the serial killer’s arrest overlapped?

 

“No.

 

My gut told me it couldn’t be, that I shouldn’t treat it as an exquisite coincidence.

 

Seo Jun seemed to feel the same way.

 

─Anyway… I’m not sure, but I feel like we’re strangely intertwined.

 

“Did she target you or Yin Charang?”

 

─I don’t think so. I heard that all the victims were acquaintances of Choi Hee-young. Even if she is an unpredictable psychopath, I don’t think she would suddenly try to kill two people she doesn’t even know.

 

“Oh, sure.”

 

─Shall we go again?

 

“What?”

 

I doubted my ears for a moment.

 

─The location of the March mission. Maybe we can find out something if we go back there.

 

“Are you crazy? You want to go back to the place where a serial killer was captured? She’s out of jail and on the loose. Seo Jun, you’ve heard the saying that criminals always return to the scene of their crimes, right?”

 

─I thought Choi Hee-young didn’t commit the crime at that apartment complex.

 

“You’re an idiot, that’s what they say. She was arrested after a resident called the police, and she might come back to hurt the resident who called the police. What if you happen to run into her?”

 

─That’s why I have to go. She might come back for revenge and try to finish what she started that day. This is our best chance to get a clue as to why Choi Hee-young was there that day.

 

“You’re crazy. You’re crazy.”

 

Seo Jun should have looked at herself instead of worrying about how reckless I was.

 

Now that I think about it, Seo Jun is in more danger from the resident who called the police and from Seo Jun, who doesn’t know where she’ll run to at any moment, than from the magic boy and girl.

 

“If you get out of your house. I’ll sting you like a wasp.”

 

─I didn’t say I was leaving. 

 

Seo Jun protested, her voice rising in anger.

 

“Don’t make excuses. I know you were putting on your shoes to run out the door as soon as you hung up the phone. You should stay home for now, not run around. If you do go, come with me after I catch Choi Hee-young. Do you understand?”

 

─Yes.

 

“Stay at home.”

 

─Yes.

 

“Stay at home.” I said.

 

After repeatedly getting Seo Jun to agree to stay home, I hung up the phone.

 

It was a tough decision, but Seo Jun wasn’t wrong. 

 

It would be worthwhile to revisit the mission site at least once to refresh my memory of what had become blurred over the months and to see what I had missed.

 

Well, it wouldn’t be too late for that after Choi Hee-young was back in prison.

 

“Should I call Yin Charang?”

 

I was half tempted to call Yin Charang, hoping that he might be able to ghostly point out some clues from his memories of that day, and half convinced that he wouldn’t be able to give me any helpful information.

 

I left a message just in case, and it was the latter.

 

─?

─?

─So there was a serial killer within 500 meters of us that day?

─And a crazy truck.

─That could have been X. 🙒

─Wait a minute.

─What the hell do you know about this otherworldly place?

─What do you know?

─Baek Iri?

─????

─Hey. 

─Answer me.

 

After Seo Jun told me that, the calls started coming in at a frightening pace. 

 

I chewed on it three times, but the fourth time I couldn’t ignore it anymore, so I answered.

 

“Dude, stop calling me.” I said 

 

─How the hell do you know that?

 

“Because Seo Jun told me.”

 

─Why would Seo Jun tell you about this place?

 

“Oh, that’s weird. I’m her friend, shouldn’t I know something? And does it matter now? There’s a serial killer involved, now.”

 

─Okay, I gotta go.

 

“What?”

 

─I have to go on a mission. Now!

 

“Are they a crazy pair…”

 

***

 

What a pair.

 

Of course, it’s not that I didn’t think about going there when I first realized the connection to Hee-young Choi.

 

But it’s one thing to think about it, it’s quite another to say “I’m going” out loud.

 

At least Seo Jun had the decency to change her mind and say that she would stay at home, but she didn’t seem to be able to convince Yin Charang.

 

Oh, if Seon-yeo only knew what was going on, she would have said, “You crazy people!” 

 

At this moment, Yeo Seon-yeo’s scream is desperately needed.

 

It’s better for all three of us to go together, because two people are safer than one, and three people are safer than two.

 

“Hey, Yin-charang. If you’re leaving, I’ll go with you- What, did you just hang up?”

 

Yin Charang had already hung up.

 

“You’re so damn controlling. Just don’t pick up. I’ll leave you ten missed calls.”

 

I had to stop him from running off on his own and getting into trouble. 

 

I was in a hurry to call Yin Charang again.

 

My cell phone rang with an exquisitely timed call.

 

I reflexively picked up the phone without even looking to see who was calling me. Of course, I assumed it was Yin Charang.

 

“Yin Charang, you have no right to hang up on me.”

 

But the person on the other end of the phone was silent for a while. 

 

“Hello? Yin Charang? Why aren’t you talking?”

 

─Hello.

 

I heard a strange woman’s voice.

 

I checked my phone screen.

 

─Restrict caller ID.

 

That’s what it said.

 

“Who is this?”

 

─Sorry, little sister. Didn’t Father tell you?

 

“Sister? Father?”

 

I frowned at the strange title.

 

─You better make some friends or Father will be sad.

 

“Excuse me, what kind of bullshit is this?”

 

An unpleasant chuckle rang out in response.

 

─I don’t think there’s any need for respect between us…, hmm, but you should learn to be polite.

 

“Oh, who are you? You must have the wrong number, I’m an only child.”

 

─Ahhhhhh! Wrong? Not at all! Ahhhhhhh!

 

The mysterious caller laughed out loud.

 

─Ahahaha! I’m looking forward to it. See you soon, Baek Iri.

 

She knew my name.