An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 122

“This is…”

 

As Seo Jun wandered around, unable to enter the house, her eye caught a piece of paper lying in the dirt of the flower bed.

 

It was an amulet.

 

“She must have used this to control the bus.”

 

Seo Jun knew at a glance what it was for.

 

“It will save me time.”

 

Originally, Seo Jun had planned to track the location of the bus and maneuver it himself, but with this amulet it was different.

 

Instead of having to go to the location of the bus, they can call the bus right here.

 

If F-ranked Choi Hee-young could commandeer a bus with just this amulet, there was no reason why A⁺-ranked Seo Jun couldn’t do the same.

 

The problem was that the amulet was completely tattered, with only half of it left, whether it was torn from being stepped on or burned from a spark.

 

“In this state, I can only give one command.”

 

She might be able to summon the bus to her location, but she wouldn’t be able to give another command after that.

 

Even that would require a drop or two of blood to be absorbed to be effective.

 

“…No matter.”

 

Seo Jun had already figured out how the spirits organized space.

 

As long as she could summon the bus to her, it didn’t matter.

 

Transforming the bus according to her needs was something she could do without the amulet.

 

 

* * *

 

 

A single lie.

 

The effect of that one word was profound.

 

My carefully organized thoughts were once again disrupted by a seed of doubt that dropped like a bomb with no direction.

 

 To make matters worse, I can only use the mirror of truth once more.

 

 No, the stress is that I have to go through all the things I heard from Choi Hee-young today.

 

She was pretty consistent in what she said, without any inconsistencies, so where were the lies?

 

Choi never took her eyes off my face to see if it was funny.

 

It was clear that she was enjoying watching my expression change in real time.

 

“Think about it, little sister. Is it too hard even for a genius?”

 

Maybe that last statement was a lie.

 

Maybe she just wanted to see me squirm at her every word. If that was all the bait she needed for her entertainment, I’d appreciate it.

 

Then it was.

 

Thump—

 

The room around us vibrated.

 

Kugugugugugung─

 

The vibration didn’t stop.

 

The space began to wriggle and move forward.

 

“What the hell?!”

 

Choi Hee-young frowned at the unexpected movement.

 

“Is this something that can move, like a bus or a train, or this market alley?”

 

“I don’t know. Ha, did Father move it, ah, no, it’s not Father!”

 

Judging by her genuinely confused reaction, it didn’t seem like he was pulling us out of this room.

 

If it wasn’t, did that mean that the room was moving arbitrarily? Like the bus carrying us earlier?

 

Regardless of where we were going or why, it was pure amazement that this form of space could move at all.

 

I was even floating in the air. I couldn’t see outside, but I knew I was rising into the sky. The whole ground rattled and vibrated, and then suddenly the room tilted like a hill, and I couldn’t help but notice, even though I didn’t want to.

 

“What the hell, Mr. X, why are we floating?!”

 

Choi Hee-young screamed as the room rose almost vertically, trying not to fall.

 

This was not an act, but the reaction of someone who really didn’t know anything.

 

After a rollercoaster-like rise, the room leveled off.

 

“Ha, all that crap…”

 

Leaving Choi wobbling on her feet, I started walking towards the other end of the market alley.

 

“Hey, hey! Where are you going? Where are you going alone?!”

 

Choi followed closely, wondering what’s so disturbing.

 

“Why are you following me? Are you afraid to be alone?”

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re a bitch, I get it.”

 

“I’m afraid you’ll hurt yourself like you did before, bird brain!”

 

Choi spat on the ground as if the whole situation wasn’t bad enough.

 

“Why are you all acting like a bunch of assholes, like X?”

 

I didn’t react to Choi’s snide remark and just walked forward carefully.

 

We knew so little about this new place. We didn’t even know what was across the street.

 

Maybe if we took a good look around, we could find out why the space around us had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, or where we were going.

 

Whatever cursing was going on next to me fell on deaf ears. I could only hope that my belated exploration would yield a small harvest.

 

Choi quickly realized my intentions and redirected the conversation.

 

“Do you think there’s some kind of instruction manual over there? Or do you think it has a steering wheel and brakes like a bus?”

 

“Shut up. You can’t do anything without the amulet, so shut up…”

 

The annoying comment must have really scratched Choi’s inferiority complex.

 

“Oh, you’re S⁺ class, so you can do everything without a talisman? You’re a prodigy or a great legend. Go ahead, try it.”

 

 And with that, she ran down the street with a furious glow, but she didn’t see the rubber basin on the floor and tripped over it.

 

“Oh, shit!”

 

“Pftt.”

 

“What are you laughing at?!”

 

I almost feel sorry for her for continuing to chase after me despite her temper, “I’m afraid you’re going to hurt yourself” is an excuse, but honestly, I think she’s scared.

 

It’s hard to find the real core in all those lights, so I know I can’t repeat what I did on the bus.

 

And it was a self-inflicted blackmail that failed in front of her in the first place, so to use that as an excuse, I guess I’ve run out of things to say.

 

She didn’t know what was going to happen next, and she was afraid of being left alone, so she decided to pretend she didn’t know.

 

I continued for another 15 to 20 meters, but there was nothing special.

 

It looked like a very cramped market alley or underground shopping mall, with empty stalls and shutters down or doors tightly closed so I couldn’t tell what exactly they were selling.

 

In the few cases where there were windows, they were all darkened.

 

Perhaps they were in a hurry to create the room and didn’t have time for such details. It was also clear that the interior of the shop was darkened to hide the fact that there was nothing inside.

 

“Uh…?”

 

I sluggishly turned my head to look around, slowing my steps when I spotted something.

 

“…6, sophomore, Choi Hee-young.”

 

“What?”

 

“No, I didn’t call you that.”

 

“Breakfast is served/ Open 24 hours/ ?Jjigae? 00 won/ Tofu ?,?000won/ Kongna??? ?,?00won”

 

Behind the unfinished air sign with question marks, I saw a strange object.

 

It was a refrigerator door that didn’t belong in this alley.

 

It wasn’t an entire refrigerator, just a door.

 

Behind the outdoor display case, where the sliding door to the store should have been, there was a refrigerator door hanging out of nowhere.

 

It was there shamelessly and casually, as if it was meant to be there.

 

And on top of the door was a plaque with Choi Hee-young’s name on it.

 

“Attendance Award? Soheon Elementary School? What is this? Why is your name on it?”

 

Choi Hee-young, who found it later, was also confused.

 

“What the hell, why is this…”

 

“Explain.”

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

 

Choi Hee Young was scared and backed away.

 

This woman was so incapable of hiding her emotions, when had she ever brazenly lied to them?

 

No, this was for real.

 

“Have you ever received an attendance award?”

 

“Yes. The day I graduated from elementary school.”

 

“You were in the second class of the sixth grade at Soheon Elementary School?”

 

“Yes, this is the certificate I got, right down to the little smudge on the end. Damn.”

 

It’s completely based on a true story.

 

I wonder if they didn’t just write random words on it like they do on signs.

 

“And this is my refrigerator from before we moved, with this magnet and this tape marking it. I’m sure of it. Crazy, what’s going on?”

 

“…on the refrigerator door?”

 

“That can’t be, Mr. X, what the…”

 

While Choi stared at the refrigerator door in disbelief, I looked around to see if there was anything else strange.

 

And I found it.

 

A tent draped to serve as a partition between the store and the shop. It was hard to see, hidden by a plastic table and a few chairs set up inside, but I couldn’t help but notice.

 

A piece of paper that had been part of the original awning, naturally soaked into the fabric underneath.

 

─ First Grade Class 3’s Praise Tree

 

A large illustration of a tree with a title written in a colorful POP font and several pink Post-it notes attached to each branch.

 

— Praise Han Jae-yoon!!! He came from behind in the sprints and our class won.

 

— Completed by: Eunseo Park/ Praised by: Kim Joo-ah/ Reason: She gave me ice water when I was thirsty.

 

─ Bumjin, you were very pretentious, but I praise you for picking up the trash^^ (written by Lee Songhee)

 

─ Praise Ye Jinzhi, the chairman of Wool, who always struggles with homework. 

 

Among them,

 

─ I praise Baek Iri.

 

There was also my name.

 

This was the praise tree that hung next to the blackboard in my first-grade classroom.

 

I remember scoffing at the idea of such a thing, thinking I wasn’t even in elementary school, but as soon as it was announced that there would be a prize for the class with the most compliments, my eyes lit up and I started looking for things to praise.

 

“Damn, I didn’t expect anything to do with me.”

 

I pushed the boxes out of the way and covered the tent.

 

I didn’t want her to see it, because it was more likely that she’d piss me off with a bunch of stupid shit than that she’d come up with something meaningful about the room.

 

“Are you going to keep doing that? Let’s leave. Maybe we’ll find something else.”

 

So I deliberately walked ahead again and called out to Choi Hee-young who was still wrestling with Gae Geun-sang.

 

“Damn, you’re in a hurry. I’m not going to look for you, it’s none of your business…”

 

Yeah, it just became my job. I’m impatient too.

 

Choi Hee-young’s complaints were met with a muttered response.

 

“What the hell. Is it a dream…? Yes, it must be a dream. Ha, I feel like a dog.”

 

When she tried to deny reality, I slapped her hard on the back of the head to remind her that it wasn’t a dream.

 

“Ouch!”

 

“How about that, does it hurt? It’s not a dream, so cut the crap.”

 

“You fucking b*tch…!”

 

Choi Hee-young snapped. Part of me wanted to hit her a few more times, but I realized that it would turn into a real “you’re dead, I’m dead” dogfight.

 

Instead, I wiped her mouth.

 

“Hey, by the way, you were surprisingly diligent in grade school. You got all the awards.”

 

“Since when is an attendance award something you have to earn? It’s just something they give out at graduation to kids who don’t get special awards.”

 

“Oh, I thought it was like a family honor.”

 

“It’s a great award because it’s the first and last award I ever got in K-12 and I used to yell at my mom to put it on the fridge because it’s an award and why did I do that? It’s embarrassing.” Choi Hee-young added and walked away.

 

Wow, that’s a lot of nonsense.