An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 155

A dark classroom without a single ray of sunlight.

 

The pale beige tiles, unnaturally wedged into a corner of the creaky wooden floor, slowly fade into a blur.

 

The soul, sensing that the end is indeed near, lazily scans its surroundings in vain.

 

It’s as if it’s trying to somehow take in the dreary landscape of this place to which it will never return.

 

If it were a loving gaze, but it was not. The only reason for its affection was already gone.

 

The soul felt regret for a moment.

 

“I should have closed my eyes the moment when my back was pressing me to never look back, to leave no trace.”

 

“It would have been better not to remember the departure. I wish I hadn’t remembered the way I left, because it would only make me want to move on.”

 

“I’ll be moving on to where you are soon enough, but…”

 

Less than half a day after their parting, they were to exist in the same space once again.

 

But the object of the soul’s affection would not recognize the soul.

 

The moment the soul had exhausted all the strength it had mustered to send the child to the place where it belonged, the soul had contracted to take on a different name.

 

The floor had completely reverted back to its original patina of bronze-colored wood.

 

“All that’s left of the place now is a pane of glass, and I hope you’ve packed away your regrets.”

 

I hope you’ve taken all the regrets left in this classroom before my power to see you off is completely gone.

 

The dirty pane of glass that returns to its place must have lost all of its warmth. The misery that was once so graciously attached to this place must now be entirely in your hands.

 

His gaze, moving only ceremoniously, stops at the half-open locker.

 

The top hinge had come off and the door swung precariously open, revealing last year’s efforts.

 

Things I’d brought here, things I’d traded in.

 

It was too late to return them to their rightful owners.

 

I wasn’t sorry.

 

Life is a process of losing and moving on.

 

Even if the losses are not trivial.

 

The last pane of glass, once pristine, began to show the signs of time.

 

As I watched the scratches and smudges return to the surface of the glass, my soul accepted the new name that had grown on me.

 

 

***

 

 

Seo Jun was about thirty percent of the way through the amulet.

 

Pzzt–!

 

The fluorescent lights in the classroom and hallway flickered brightly, then went out in unison.

 

“Whoa!”

 

“Is it a power outage?”

 

Joo Yeon-seo, who was about to enter the classroom, flicked the fluorescent light switch several times, but the lights didn’t come back on.

 

Seo Jun stopped drawing the amulet and looked at the situation with suspicion.

 

“What timing…”

 

Any thoughts that it was nothing more than a fluke were quickly dismissed when the fluorescent lights flickered on simultaneously.

 

In an all-girls high school, where there are countless upsetting incidents, there is no need to worry about whether it’s something unusual or not.

 

A hundred things are a hundred things.

 

In this school, it’s efficient to start thinking by wondering if something just happened is the beginning of something new or an extension of something old.

 

I tried to give both possibilities a fair shake, but sometimes I couldn’t help but lean toward the blackout being an extension of the study hall.

 

Seo Jun seemed to agree.

 

“The whole fourth floor must be out. Even the lights on the restrooms don’t work.”

 

“How are we supposed to have class if the computers and TVs aren’t working?”

 

“So we’re just self-studying?”

 

“What about the other floors?”

 

“I just came down from the fifth floor, and it was fine there.”

 

“Someone check downstairs.”

 

“Dude, it’s just the fourth floor that’s screwed up. All the other floors are fine.”

 

“But how can they just pick one floor to lose power? I’m just curious.”

 

Seo Jun and I exchanged a silent glance while everyone else was talking, unable to hide their anxiety.

 

The class president, Min Jiyoon, had a similar thought, and she sneaked over to our table.

 

“Guys, this isn’t just a simple power outage, is it?”

 

“No, probably not.” Seo Jun replied, “Take the others down to the third floor, I think something’s going to happen.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Min Jiyoon nodded and headed to the front of the classroom.

 

“Hey, guys, I think it’s better to get off the fourth floor first. Everyone grab your cell phones and get downstairs. Hurry!”

 

The murmuring quickly died down at Jiyoon’s command, and everyone began to rush out of the classroom in unison.

 

Despite the haste of their escape, their faces seemed less anxious than before.

 

In a situation where everyone is scrambling because they don’t know when something will happen, a simple instruction like “do this” can calm their anxiety to some extent. 

 

Even if it’s just a “get out of here because it’s dangerous” instruction, it’s still better than shuffling their feet because they’re not sure of anything.

 

 The stairs were directly across from our classroom, so we were able to get downstairs quickly.

 

 One or two of the other classes slipped out and wandered down the hallway, but when they saw our class escape, they rushed back into the classroom to share the news.

 

 “Dude, class 4 is leaving.”

 

“Isn’t it just a traveling class?”

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“Wow, they’re just going like this?”

 

“You’re honestly scared, aren’t you?”

 

 Occasionally, I heard a few voices asking what the big deal was about the electricity going out in broad daylight. Some of the voices were teachers’, some were students’.

 

The fluorescent lights were all out, but the day was bright enough that it wasn’t too spooky, and they didn’t feel a sense of urgency because it hadn’t happened immediately after the outage.

 

 A similar tack was taken by us.

 

 “It’s the beginning of 7th period, what are you doing in the hallway?! Why don’t you get back to class?!”

 

“The classroom computers aren’t working, we’re on our way to a special room, sorry for the noise.”

 

 When the teacher, who was coming down from the fifth floor, scolded us, Min Jiyoon casually deflected the situation.

 

“You still need to move quietly. There’s another class in the middle of the day, so don’t make too much noise and move quickly.”

 

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

 

 The teacher smiled in satisfaction at Min Jiyoon’s good-natured response and continued on her way. She didn’t even notice that all the fluorescent lights in the hallway were out.

 

It was bright enough that you wouldn’t know it was a power outage if someone didn’t mention it.

 

 “Hey, Min Jiyoon! Jiyoon!”

 

 After she let the teacher go, someone else came running, this time from a distance, calling out to Min Jiyoon.

 

 “Jiyoon, where are you going?”

 

 The voice sounded familiar, and when I looked up, I realized it was one of my friends from the student council who I hid in the student council room with for a while yesterday.

 

I didn’t recognize her name, but she had a reddish-brown layered cut.

 

 “Huh? What? What’s wrong? Can’t we go?” Min Jiyoon asks, sounding suddenly anxious.

 

 “No, I don’t know, I’m just asking because the teacher checked to see if the other classes have computers and TVs, and I’ve been here for a long time, and you guys are suddenly running away.”

 

“Uh, we’re not moving for nothing, it doesn’t seem like a normal power outage…”

 

“Not a normal power outage…? You mean it’s a ghost problem?”

 

 My student council buddy casually looked at me and Seo Jun as she said the word ghost.

 

I answered, “Most likely.”

 

“Gee, really? No, I mean, there’s been talk in my class about ghosts too… Hearing that from an exorcist, it’s really scary. How do you guys know?”

 

“Because something happened earlier.”

 

“What happened…?!”

 

“The ghost of the study hall is back, though I don’t know if it’s responsible for the power outage yet.”

 

 I explained as simply as I could.

 

My student council friend understood immediately and shuddered, because the study hall ghost was famous.

 

 “Oh, my God. You’re talking about the ghost from last year, right? I’ll pass it on to the rest of the class through the student council.”

 

“I think some of the classes have already started, do you think they’ll call it? No, I’m not sure if it’s okay to rush to tell the other classes what to do when it’s not even a full-blown incident in the first place…”

 

 Min Jiyoon trailed off. Unlike earlier, when she had shamelessly told the teacher that we were going to a special room, she was nowhere near as excited. Being the president of a class was sometimes a limitation.

 

Then my student council friend gave me a hearty laugh.

 

 “Hey, isn’t that what the student council is for, to be “rash” in times like this? I’ll yell at you if you don’t read the message.”

 

 It was reassuring.

 

 “Okay, then.”

 

“Uh, please.”

 

 Min Jiyoon sent her friend from the student council and asked us what we were going to do from now on.

 

 “Aren’t you guys coming down?”

 

“We’re going to stay here and watch the situation. If we can stop it beforehand, we will.”

 

 She hurried down the stairs, leaving Min Jiyoon hesitant to leave the two of us alone on the fourth floor.

 

 “What if we just jumped to conclusions?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

 Seo Jun shook her head in confusion. 

 

I was beginning to wonder if we’d overreacted when it was just a fire on the fourth floor and nothing had happened yet.

 

 “Wait, why does it seem to be getting darker?”

 

 Seo Jun sensed a slight change in the surroundings.

 

At the same time, Min Jiyoon came running up the stairs again.

 

 “Why are you coming back?!”

 

“The door, the doors are closed.”

 

“What?”

 

 Instead of elaborating, she ran past us and went up to the fifth floor.

 

Then she rushed back down.

 

 “All the doors are locked. I can’t go through the third and fifth floor!”

 

 Jiyoon said that all the iron gates on the stairs were locked.

 

 “There are students down on the third floor. Can’t they open it from there too?”

 

“It doesn’t seem to open on either side, but I keep pulling.”

 

 Thump, thump, thump!

 

 “Why won’t it open?!”

 

“It says “pull”.”

 

“I’m pulling, but it won’t open!”

 

 Thump! Thump!

 

 Suddenly, I could hear our classmates banging on the iron door from downstairs.

 

 “Oh, geez…This is really f*cked up.”

 

 Min Jiyoon ran back downstairs, clutching her head and shouting.

 

 “Guys, we’re fine, calm down!”

 

 An angry chorus of voices followed.

 

 “Hey, what’s wrong!”

 

“All the other stairs are blocked!”

 

“Okay, go somewhere else. Stay away. What are you going to do if you escape and get caught again?”

 

“How are we going to leave the three of you?!”

 

 As the bickering continued below, Seo Jun quietly climbed the stairs, activated her Detection Dog skill against the solidly closed fifth floor door, and returned.

 

 “It must be a ghost.”

 

“Oh…, doesn’t that mean we can open it?”

 

“Remember the music room in the Head Collector incident? It’s a similar condition.”

 

“What conditions?”

 

“I don’t know yet, it was just formed, so I’m not gathering much information.”

 

“Damn it.”

 

“Huh, what the hell are you trying to do…?”

 

 Seo Jun clicked her tongue slightly.

 

 “Sir, the stairs are blocked?”

 

“Hey, go to the other stairs!”

 

“All the other stairs are blocked too.”

 

“Even the main one?!”

 

 Other classmates, who had been in class in the annex and were trying to get out when the student council was called, also realized that something was wrong with the stairwell doors.

 

The commotion spread to the entire fourth floor.

 

 “President, go out and report the situation. The rest of you stay put!”

 

“The rest of the class is leaving?”

 

“The stairs are blocked…?”

 

“Hey, don’t run!”

 

 Meanwhile, the fourth-floor hallway was darkening in real time.