An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 150

“You’ll never see it again.”

 

“Thank you so much. You’ve given me peace of mind.”

 

After talking to Kim Hae-yoon, I went to the third-grade classroom and was greeted by the class president, Jeong Sae-eun.

 

It would have been embarrassing to show her naked in the video, but fortunately or unfortunately, the thermal camera only went through her once. There’s no point in looking too closely at the shredded soul, so I’ll just assume that the dark blue blob is a ghost.

 

 “Honestly, I thought the request was so strange… I was afraid that you would suddenly decide to hit me. Thank you, Iri.”

 

“Aww, you’re welcome.”

 

 Jung Sae-eun snorted happily.

 

 “I didn’t expect you to do it so fast, I’m impressed.”

 

“Haha, I don’t know if you’re really impressed…”

 

“When I say impressed, I mean it 100%, so be proud. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who can do something perfectly in one day? My teacher takes three days to fix a sentence in my biology book, and she always makes me go back twice because she makes a typo.”

 

“Well, you must have accumulated a lot of stuff.”

 

 I think the class president herself realized that the meaning of pass or fail was ridiculous, but I can see why the process of entrusting me with the assignment was so quick and safe.

 

It was probably because it was less frustrating to just get it over with quickly than to spend time trying to convince her classmates to make a rational decision.

 

 “But why did you call me?”

 

 I cut to the chase, realizing that if I left her alone, she’d continue to lament the slow pace of the world.

 

There was no way she would have summoned me to her third-grade classroom to watch an exorcism video; it would have been easier to just chat, and the fact that she insisted on meeting in person must have been for some other purpose.

 

 “Oh, right. Why don’t you sit up front instead of standing?”

 

 Of course.

 

 Jung Sae-eun quickly pulled something out of her desk drawer.

 

At first glance, it looked like an A4 sheet of loose-leaf paper.

 

 “The vice president of our class found it today during the second period break, so I took it.”

 

“This is…, the menu for April…?”

 

 ‘Why is she showing me this all of a sudden?’

 

I didn’t think a school lunch menu would be such a big deal.

 

 “What’s wrong? Tofu kimchi, eggplant sprouts, and hamburgers? We had hamburgers in April? Why didn’t I know?”

 

“Come here.”

 

“What?”

 

 While I recited the menu one by one, lost for words, Jung Sae-eun shook her head.

 

 “Come here, it’s not on our school’s lunch menu.” 

 

“Oh…?”

 

“What did you use to check your lunch today?”

 

“The school app…?”

 

“Yes, it’s all on the app.”

 

 It turns out I haven’t gotten a paper letter home since high school, and middle school was the last time I marked my favorite menu items with a highlighter on the first of every month.

 

I have a few friends who insist on printing out their lunch menus to create a nostalgic lunch clock, but even the most analog nostalgia-crazed kids don’t go to the trouble of finding and printing out “real home-letter paper.”

 

 “So why is there a lunch menu paper, and is it our school’s?”

 

“Yes, it is our school. Look here. It’s on the curriculum.”

 

“Oh, I see.”

 

 I took the paper from Sae-eun’s hand and studied it carefully. There was no year on it.

 

 “Where did you pick this up?”

 

“Outside the first and second grade palm room. It was sticking out from under the door.”

 

“The palm room? Oh, you mean the one they remodeled over the summer break last year?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“…….”

 

 A haunted classroom. And in front of it, a school lunch menu handed out years ago.

 

‘What did she expect to find there?’

 

 A look of embarrassment crossed Sae-eun’s face, as if she thought I’d understand if I pretended to.

 

 “Uh… didn’t you hear that the study hall was haunted during midterms last year?”

 

“Oh. Yeah. I heard that it was haunted and closed after a month, but I don’t know exactly what happened.”

 

 When I answered, Sae-eun solemnly raised her clasped hands in front of her mouth.

 

 “Aha… well, it’s finally time to tell you this long story.”

 

“What?”

 

“Sorry, I forgot you were a transfer student.”

 

 The real story was about to begin.

 

 “No, what kind of paper is this?”

 

 She can’t believe lunch is already over and keeps looking at the clock on the board, then at her cell phone, then at her wristwatch.

 

I don’t know what she’s going to say, but I’m more worried about the embarrassment of breaking her grip.

 

 “I’ll leave the details of the Palm Room to my friends, just tell me what you wanted me to do.”

 

“Oh, right, right. I wanted you to find out why it suddenly appeared, because I was worried that something was going on in the tutorial room.”

 

“Okay. I’ll get back to you.”

 

 ‘Does that count as a request?’

 

We’ll have to talk about it again so I can frame it as a request for an exorcism once I’m sure there’s a spirit involved.

 

 “Where did this really come from?”

 

 I pace, but my mind continues to speculate on the identity of the old meal ticket.

 

 “Is it the ghost of someone who didn’t get lunch?”

 

 Of course, I could only come up with such a crappy guess.

 

 ─Ms. Cha Hanbyul!

─I really want to ask you a favor!

 

I sent her a text on my way to class. The reason I send her a message that I’ll be there in a minute is because I know she’s a fan of making a big deal out of nothing. Her heart jumped as if she’d been spied on.

 

 As for the incident that caused the students to run out of the Palm Room to study, I thought I’d ask both Hanbyul and Seo Jun about it. 

 

It’s a long story, but I’m sure she’ll tell it like it happened yesterday. And Seo Jun will want to find any connection to the secrets of the school.

 

In short, I had a plan to get the details from Hanbyul and go over the important things with Seo Jun.

 

 “I think you’re busier than a high school senior.“

 

 Seo Jun blurted out as soon as I walked in and sat down.

 

 “Haha, that’s a lot of calls.”

 

“What did Hae-yoon say?”

 

“Hae-yoon? Oh, right, I’m a tutor. I already gave her a homework assignment: watch a horror movie.”

 

“……?”

 

“We’ll talk about it later. For now, this.”

 

 I pushed the April menu under Seo Jun’s randomly spread textbook.

 

 “What’s this?”  Seo Jun asked.

 

At the same time, Hanbyul came over to our table.

 

 “You said you wanted to ask me a favor, come here!”

 

“You’re in luck.”

 

 Our fifth period teacher was still there.

 

 “Tell me about last year’s Palm Room Ghost later.”

 

“……!”

 

Hanbyul’s eyes immediately tripled in size.

 

 “How much detail do you want? There’s a one-hour version and a three-hour version.”

 

“Oh, do you have a version that’s done in 10 minutes with a 10-minute break?”

 

“I’ll try.”

 

 Hanbyul clenches her fists and returns to her seat.

 

 “Palm room? Ah…”

 

 Seo Jun overhears our conversation, glances back and forth between the menu and me, and nods as if she understands what’s going on.

 

 “It’s a hot, hot, hot new statue that was discovered this morning.”

 

“A new statue? Isn’t it too old to be new?”

 

 Seo Jun muttered to herself.

 

 “I guess I’ll have to listen to this story with you.”

 

“Don’t you know the whole story already?”

 

“It happened right after I arbitrarily decided that the school and this place had nothing to do with each other. There was a lot of talk here and there, but I wasn’t really paying attention. So I don’t know the details.”

 

 She says that she deliberately didn’t pay attention to the ghosts of the school because she prioritized getting Chun Chan-young’s soul out, as she had no idea that the two were connected.

 

 “Huh, why did they all seem like annoying noises back then?”

 

 The tone was self-help.

 

 “It couldn’t be helped, I guess.”

 

 I tried to sound comforting, but Seo Jun reflexively repeated, “Yes…”.

 

I tried to change the mood and told her about my mentor-mentee relationship with Kim Hae-yoon.

 

When I told Seo Jun that I was going to teach Hae-yoon how to exorcize ghosts in my spare time, she rolled her eyes and said, “You’re busier than a high school senior.”

 

 “What did I tell you about Hae-yoon? She seemed really scared.”

 

“That’s why she’s so great, she’s so determined.”

 

“Yeah, that’s great.”

 

 While we were exchanging such words, the class president, Min Jiyoon, came to see us.

 

 “Hahaha, I’ve been forgetting things lately, hahahaha.”

 

 Min Jiyoon frowned as she turned away from the teacher who was laughing because he forgot that he had a class in the fifth period. The faces of her classmates turned sour as well.

 

Most of the time, the teacher would have preferred to be late. 

 

The reason for everyone’s sharp reaction was that Mr. Lee had forgotten to show up as a proctor during the mock exam in March. He finally showed up just before the English Listening 1 question, so I can understand their dislike.

 

 “Hahaha, this is the chicken gangjeong from today’s lunch…”

 

“Teacher, we’re slow, page 132.”

 

 Min Jiyoon’s words were filled with deep anger. If he said one more word, she would not let him go.

 

 “Wow, shouldn’t the line be the other way around?”

 

 Someone at the table said sarcastically, but fortunately the teacher didn’t hear it.

 

Whenever the conversation threatened to go off the rails, Min Jiyoon would call out, “Teacher, next page,” and the class would never go to recess.

 

 “Hahaha. That’s it for today’s class. Please tell the class president that we can start from page 143 next time.”

 

“Yes…”

 

 Min Jiyoon replied through clenched teeth.

 

 “Oh, I feel like I’m going to be sick. What are you talking about?”

 

“If he wants to talk so much, he should learn to rap. I can hear at 1.7 times my strength.”

 

“No, why the hell does he keep talking about chicken gangjeong? Was it that good?”

 

“Wait, I was just imagining myself rapping with a chicken shank.”

 

“Oh, keep that shit to yourself!”

 

 As soon as the teacher left the classroom, several people grabbed her by the neck.

 

It was clear that if Min Jiyoon hadn’t intervened, the recess would have lasted less than three minutes.

 

As I applauded the class president for her hard work, Hanbyul asked us to leave.

 

 I folded up my April lunch ticket, put it in my pocket, and followed Seo Jun out the door.