An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 125

“Hey, Ms. Genius, you walk around like you’re not tired. Mentally wild. I told you not to aggro.”

 

Choi Hee-young became nervous as I walked around looking at each light fixture.

 

She still wouldn’t move, but she didn’t follow me as closely as before. Instead, she stayed lying down and scolded me in a voice that could be heard from a distance.

 

“Are you incapable of learning? You got yourself into that mess on the bus with the Core, and you forgot what it was called, the ‘vanishing spell’? Try it again in a hundred days, see if it works.”

 

Choi Hee-young seemed to think that I would try to find and destroy the core again.

 

It was funny to see her tongue in her cheek, constantly teasing me about a completely wrong topic.

 

It was almost harder to resist the urge to sew her mouth shut than it was to find the real thing.

 

“Ugh, shit. If I ever catch one, I’m gonna bite that motherfucker.”

 

I harshly criticized Choi Hee-young in my mind.

 

I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth because I was concentrating on the core. Too bad.

 

The bulbs here were all opaque bulbs with no visible filament inside. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn‘t see any noticeable differences.

 

They all had the same dull reddish color, the same accumulation of dust, and even the same subtle warmth.

 

Each bulb gave off a slightly different amount of light, but none was noticeably brighter or dimmer.

 

【Talent: Exorcist (Aspiring)】

【Status: Utilized】

【Link Open ▾: ■■■■■■■■◧□… 85%】

 

I wasn’t sure if there hadn’t been a real core in any of the lights, I’d looked at so far, or if I’d just missed it, and I’d already left the link open to 85%, the maximum I could.

 

If I hadn’t been so frustrated, I would have held it up to my ear.

 

Of course, there were no lights screaming “Ting Dong, it’s real!”

 

❰Skil:l ‘Simple Clairvoyance’ is active❱

 

I kept reactivating the clairvoyance skill, even though I knew it wouldn’t produce any dramatic effects.

 

I’ve been in the exorcism business for almost three months now, and clairvoyance is still my basic skill.

 

“That’s because it’s still enough,” Senior Shin said.

 

The limitations of the basic skills were clear, but they weren’t particularly “flawed” skills.

 

It was literally the foundation for all the complex and fancy applied skills. If I couldn’t properly internalize the basic skill, it would be difficult to grow beyond a certain level of the advanced skills derived from it.

 

“Surprisingly, there are many people with a high level of talent like you who can last a long time with just one basic skill. Even if you’re good at the basics, they’re just as effective as the more advanced skills that others use.”

 

Senior Shin was right. I was able to quickly and accurately locate the core of most ghosts with just the basic clairvoyance skill.

 

However, the limitations were obvious.

 

“Simple clairvoyance” can’t find the true cores here. Just like I couldn’t find the cores of the disguised ghosts.

 

“Hmm… even the professionals can’t do that.”

 

I remembered Seo Jun’s words from the subway station.

 

It would be incredibly difficult to find the core of a disguised ghost directly.

 

The only good news is that they’re not disguised as straw men or cannibals.

 

The way the spirits change form here is similar to camouflage, but it’s different.

 

Instead of being replaced by an object or a room, each soul was just material, a chemical reaction that formed a room.

 

In other words, it wasn’t an illusion overlaying its true form, but a complete dissolution of the spirit body itself, which then solidified into a new form.

 

“Hey, little sister, why don’t you stop fooling around and come over and talk to your big sister? I think we need to strengthen our sisterly friendship before we go to see our father.”

 

 Choi Hee Young was still angry.

 

Instead of trying to use the Simple Clairvoyance skill again, I activated the Creator of Something Out of Nothing skill.

 

❰Skill: ‘Creator of Something Out of Nothing’ activated❱

 

The skill materialized into a long string about the width of a bandage. I picked it up and approached Choi Hee-young.

 

“What is it, bird brain?”

 

“Please be quiet.”

 

Then I wrapped the string around Choi’s face. Except for her nostrils.

 

“Hmp, hmp, hmp!”

 

I heard that magic was allowed against this person, so why not an exorcism?

 

Choi Hee-young flailed around, but only for a moment. After being strangled once by a strap that was pulled back as she struggled, she could only claw at the cloth covering her face, but she couldn’t fight the ZX glow.

 

“HMP!”

 

As soon as I covered her mouth, she was quiet. I should have known better. With the remaining cloth, I bent her arms behind her back and tied them tightly.

 

I turned back to the last light I’d checked. With my eardrums relaxed, I could concentrate a little better.

 

‘What is Seo Jun going to do? I wonder if she’s done with the whole… thing.’

 

Just as I thought that Seo Jun’s disembodied spirit appeared again. This time, it came through an urn labeled “The late Hee-jin Choi”.

 

The urn, made of plain white porcelain, had melted into a part of the outside unit of the air conditioner.

 

“I did everything I could to prepare the outside.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m not yet…”

 

My voice dropped to a whisper and Seo Jun nodded.

 

“It’s okay, take your time.”

 

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I only have basic clairvoyance.”

 

“Oh, ‘basic clairvoyance’?”

 

Seo Jun shrugged like it was no big deal.

 

“Don’t obsess about the skill. You’re trying to see with your eyes, and it doesn’t work.”

 

“……?”

 

“I wish I could help you more, but it’s hard to tell the difference between a real core and a fake one in this state. My senses are generally pretty dull.”

 

While out of body, her exorcism abilities will be reduced. She won’t be able to exorcise 100% as she would if she were in the flesh.

 

“Come on, you’re more than capable.”

 

With these words, Seo Jun disappeared back outside.

 

“Hey, wait—”

 

‘I can do that?’

 

After hearing that, I couldn’t back down.

 

I’ll do it, damn it.

 

“Don’t be obsessed with skill. You’re trying to see with your eyes, and it doesn’t work.”

 

I thought about Seo Jun’s advice.

 

“You mean don’t get stuck on the naked eye method of picking up the core, but I’m pretty sure I can feel the temperature and the sound and everything— ah!”

 

And then I realized.

 

I realized that eyes that aren’t fully open are more of a distraction.

 

You might as well close them.

 

As long as your eyes are open, meaningless visual information is constantly coming into your head.

 

This prevents your other senses from being fully utilized.

 

No matter how much you listen and feel, if you still have a desire to discover something with your eyes, you’ll naturally rely on them.

 

So this time I closed my eyes completely.

 

The core of the countless spirits I’ve destroyed so far.

 

Recalling the sensations one by one, I relaxed my right hand.

 

The black aura from my fingertips trickled out into the air. Thin, thin, and nimble.

 

This was different from the way I had used my skill to permeate the space in the mirror during the incident in the park, bringing the entire space under my control.

 

The skill of “A Craftsman Wears No Tools” does not apply to living or once-living souls.

 

So this was more like spreading my sensory cells in all directions.

 

Further, further away.

 

The black energy stretched out, slicing through the air here.

 

I could feel it in the chill of the unlit streets, in the slippery dampness of the undrained parasols and the uncomfortable wetness of the pavement, and in the unclear boundaries between our minds as they seeped into this place.

 

【Talent: Exorcist (Aspiring)】

【Status: Utilized】

【Link Open: ■■■■■■■■◧□ …85% …90%】

 

I knew intuitively, without looking at the status window, that the account had opened to 90% for the first time.

 

The black energy emanated from my right hand, penetrating every nook and cranny.

 

It passed by dozens of moderately lukewarm lights, sensitively probing its surroundings.

 

My senses were sharp, even though I was out of breath and dizzy from expending so much energy.

 

How long has it been?

 

“Found it…”

 

I felt it inside me, surrounded by a cool, silky touch.

 

A contradictory temperature, like pouring hot water over a cold hand, where the life that had already been extinguished was tightly condensed with the desire to exist in this world.

 

It was the unmistakable feeling of the core.

 

I quickly gathered all my black energy and rushed to the source of the sensation.

 

“What is that? A box…?”

 

It was in a paper box under a stall in a shop.

 

“It wasn’t a light?

 

I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes. Until now, I’d assumed it was one of those red lights mixed in with the real thing.

 

I thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe they’re all fake.’

 

Choi Hee-young and this and that, throwing out a bunch of doubts and planting answers in passing glances, all of which were just pieced together.

 

I carefully lifted the paper box onto the stall, tore off the top, and stared at the familiar red core inside.

 

The next moment, a status screen flashed before my eyes.

 

❰You have acquired the skill: ‘Light only visible with eyes closed’.❱

❰Light with Eyes Closed: Detect core with senses other than sight.❱

❰Currently at 5% Embodiment❱

 

It was a notification that I had acquired a new psychic ability.

 

But there wasn’t time to celebrate.

 

“We’ll have to say hello later.”

 

I examined the core in front of me.

 

“There must be some kind of enchantment attached to the core, probably one that completely envelops it.

 

Seo Jun was right.

 

A thin layer of red cloth was tightly stretched over the surface of the glowing orb.

 

The cool, silky touch I’d felt earlier must have been a spell.

 

“She wants me to rip it off?”

 

My fingertips trembled as I realized that if I touched it the wrong way, the room would change. The spell was probably reacting because I was trying to make physical contact for self-inflicted damage, but I couldn’t help but worry.

 

As carefully as I could, I grabbed the red cloth by the hair and gently peeled it off.

 

Each time the cloth fell from the surface of the core, black smoke rose, accompanied by an eerie sound like fingernails scraping against steel.

 

I felt sick to my stomach, like I was being flayed.

 

When I was about halfway through, the room began to shake.

 

The spell separated from the core and the room collapsed.

 

“Mhm?! Mund, mund!”

 

I could hear Choi Hee-young screaming as hard as she could, her mouth covered in surprise at the sudden vibration.

 

I quickly removed the spell, holding it in one hand and the core in the other.

 

The wall in front of me collapsed and the fresh night air entered through the gap.