An Exorcist Magical Girl!

Of all the people who have taken the sudden two-period test, I’m the only one who remembers that we were originally in CPR training.

 

Everyone takes this

“test”

for granted.

 

Even those who initially experienced cognitive dissonance, such as not knowing what the first period subject was or where they had heard about the test, became more comfortable with the situation over time.

 

And I’m probably the only one who recognizes the weirdness of it all, because I’m an S⁺-rank exorcist.

 

I deliberately got zeros in both subjects because the other kids are crazy.

 

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here, but usually bad things happen to the last or first in these tests, right?

 

I honestly didn’t have the confidence to get first place, so I decided to make sure I got last place.

 

It’s some kind of trap set by the ghost, and I’m an exorcist.

 

If something is going to happen, it’s best if it happens to me.

 

I waited for the results to be announced and took stock of my current situation.

 

I don’t have the mirror I always carry in my pocket, and I can’t use my

“A Craftsman Wears No Tools”

skill because the black energy comes out but doesn’t penetrate an object.

 

“Oh, this is like escaping from hell.”

 

So, in the real world, all fifteen people here are unconscious?

 

Wow, that must have been a mess.

 

The fifteen people involved in this are the fifteen people who were in the fourth period classroom at the end of the fifth period when they were collectively held down by the ghost.

 

Earlier, during recess, I went outside the classroom to do some exploring, and the only part of the school that was properly implemented was our classroom, the hallway, and the restrooms and staff offices at either end of the hallway.

 

The hallway was just a straight line between the bathrooms, our classroom, and the staff room. There were no other classrooms, just smooth walls and floors.

 

There were only fifteen of us. There was no teacher in the office, just a sign that said something like

“Computer pens are in the second drawer and will be distributed”

or

“OMR answer sheets are here!”

 

The students, except for me, were crazy and seemed to think this was a normal school.

 

I let out a small sigh and turned my attention to the board.

 

Enrollment: Twenty-two.

Finals: 8

Tested: 15 (1 extra, 1 not taken)

 

The

“22 enrolled”

on the board refers to the original number of students in class 4, the

“failed”

refers to those who were not in the classroom when the dummy self-destructed, the “extra test taker” is probably Yang Ji-won who was in another class but came to class 4.

 

And the one non-taker is the one person who was in the classroom at the time of the ghost’s self-destruction but is not taking this test, Seo Jun.

 

I’m pretty sure Seo Jun mentioned

“closing the books properly”

earlier.

 

“Oh, closing the gates properly means layering defenses to keep the ghosts from invading my senses, not just leaving them open at 0%.”

 

Did Seo Jun close the gap

“properly”

so that she wasn’t crushed by the ghost and that’s why she’s not here?

 

Senior Shin, you said I would learn that in training, but I didn’t!

 

In about 15 minutes, the grading results will be announced.

 

The loudspeaker crackled and spat out a short mechanical sound before shutting down.

 

“You want us to wait 15 minutes?” “Send us home!”

 

The complaints were everywhere.

 

I folded the test paper in half and put it back in my bag, planning to spend another 15 minutes going through it again before the results came out.

 

Yang Ji-won, whom I had seen that day, sneaked up on me.

 

“Did you get stuck?”

she asked.

 

As if to confirm my confusion, she also had a test sheet in her hand.

 

“Do you want to guess the answers together?” “Sure, let’s do it.”

I had no reason to refuse.

 

“English listening question 1 was unique.”

 

Yang Ji-won rhymed first. I was instantly relieved to realize that I wasn’t the only one who found that part strange.

 

“I looked at it for a while and wondered what you were talking about. I didn’t see anything wrong with it.” “No, everyone is still talking about English 1.”

 

Yang Jiwon gestured to the group of students on the other side of the room.

 

I listened to what they were saying and heard things like,

“Isn’t Question 1 just a question to take a picture?”

and

“I don’t know how to deduce the answer from the conversation.”

 

It was a relief.

 

It seemed that everyone had naturally accepted the test situation, but they hadn’t lost their ability to make detailed judgments.

 

“Anyway, Min Jiyoon said she’s going to appeal.” “I see.”

 

Yang Ji-won’s comment was well received, and I asked the question that had been on my mind since earlier.

 

“Anything else? Do you know anything else strange?”

 

For the entire 100 minutes of the exam, I kept my eyes peeled for any hint of a password or message hidden in the exam paper.

 

I don’t know how it works, but this “test” situation was rushed to coincide with the exorcism. 

 

Even in this elaborately ritualized space there was a loophole in the mirror premise. Therefore, there must be a loophole somewhere in this examination hall.

 

I decided that it would most likely be revealed in the form of a letter on the exam paper.

 

The test paper is the object that symbolizes the bizarre setting of the unannounced test and the one that interacts most with the students caught up in it.

 

As the mainstay of the situation, I thought that if I looked closely at the exam paper, I might find a loophole or a clue to escape.

 

I started by checking the fingerprints and handwriting for typos, inconsistencies in font size, and bold or italicized text in the middle.

 

I tried everything from taking the first letter of the fingerprint and connecting it to the first letter of the word, to breaking down and reassembling the words of the correct vision, to reading the ㉠, ㉡, ㉢, ㉣, and underlined parts backwards.

 

I even looked for sentences or words that were similar to the word “bored” that the ghost said just before destroying the core.

 

But even after all that, there was no clue.

 

Oh, hell. Do you really have to make my head hurt so much?

 

I didn’t expect the front of the book to say

“How to escape!”

or

“You can return to reality by running around the elephant’s nose 10 times”

or

“You can return to reality by jumping out the window”

or something like that, but I didn’t expect it to be so clueless!

 

I cursed the dummy for causing this and waited for Yang Jiwon to answer.

 

Yang Jiwon was deep in thought and finally shook her head.

 

“Well…? I don’t know, except for English Listening 1.” “Oh, I see.” “Why is that? Is there something weird about it?” “No, not really, but just in case.” “Hmph.”

Yang Ji-won clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes.

 

Then she opened her mouth again, as if something had occurred to her.

 

“Oh, come to think of it, there was something that didn’t seem like a bug, but it felt a little strange.” “What? What is it?” “The Korean and English fingerprints are…”

 

Suddenly, the announcement sounded, and Yang Ji-won stopped talking.

 

“I’m going to announce the test results, I’m going to announce the test results, so please be quiet and pay attention to the broadcast.” “Mm, come here, let’s talk after the results.”  

***

 

Yang Ji-won turned her head away from me and listened to the sound coming from the loudspeaker.

 

The test consisted of 10 questions in both Korean and English, and each question was worth the same number of points regardless of its difficulty.

 

The broadcast began by briefly explaining how the test was scored.

 

“The scores of the two subjects were combined, and the first place was awarded to the student with the highest average score of 95. The second-place winner is Kwon Sia Kwon. The third-place winner is Min Jiyoon Min. Tied for fourth place…”

 

A series of mechanical sounds.

 

8th place: Haeyoung Seo. 9th place: Hanbyul Cha. 10th place: Yeon-seo Joo

 

From 1st to 15th, the names were called out one by one.

 

Of course, the 15th place was mine.

 

“This concludes the announcement of the test results. Thank you, students, for your hard work.”

  

The mechanical sound stopped after the test results were announced.

 

That was it. There was no further explanation.

 

“You’re putting all this out there like this? Is that okay?” “It’s kind of weird. I thought they were going to give me a report card right away?” “Can we go home now?”

 

Students who had been quietly listening to the broadcast began to raise their voices.

 

Some students questioned the way the test results were announced, but most of them just wanted to go home.

 

The test was over.

 

Suddenly, an ominous feeling that this would be my last chance swept through my body.

 

I quickly grabbed Yang Ji-won and asked her.

 

“Ji-won, what were you trying to say? Hurry up! What are your Korean and English fingerprints?” “Oh, that? No, they’re different subjects and the fingerprints are quite different.” 

But before I could listen to Yang Ji-won’s answer, my eyes turned white.

 

Yang Ji-won’s voice faded into a blur.

 

Damn it!

 

I fainted and when I opened my eyes again.

 

The first thing I saw was the back of Seo Jun’s head.

 

***

 

 

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already summer vacation day.

 

“What time does school end today?” “Eleven o’clock.” “Why so late?” “They want us to clean the classrooms.” “No, the classrooms will be empty for three weeks anyway, don’t you think it’s better to clean them on the first day of school?” “You idiot, of course I’ll do it on the first day of school.” 

In a flurry of activity, the students pushed all the desks back.

 

Soon, they’re reaching for their cleaning tools, following the individual assignments they were given at the beginning of the semester.

 “Wow. Dude, look at this. The windowsill is filthy.” “Ew! Get that away from me!” “Want to go to karaoke when we’re done?” “Sounds good.” “Hey, the mop in front is ready. Move it to the front of the desk!”

 

Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the cleaning went faster than expected. The class president went down to the teachers’ lounge to call the homeroom teacher, and the rest of the students were happily killing time, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of a vacation.

 

Except for one.

 

“Hey, look at her. It’s a vacation day and she’s studying.” “Can she study in this atmosphere? Her concentration is amazing.” “Great, great.” 

I was talking about A, who had just finished cleaning up and sat down like a knife and started solving the problem book.

 

“What’s the point? You always get first place anyway.”

 

A’s head snapped around and she glared at the student who had said that. 

 

When the student flinched and looked away, A dropped her head back into the book, as if she were about to be sucked back into the problem.

 

Her light blonde hair, wavy and bouncy, cascaded down the side of her face.

 

Soon our teacher arrives in the classroom, led by the class president.

 

After a few brief instructions, the teacher announced the start of recess.

 

“Kids, don’t play too much during the vacation, do your homework and attend class! Okay?” “Yes.” “That’s it! Have a great vacation.”

 

Unlike the other students, who were either hanging out in the hallway of the next class or heading down the hall to the school gate, A walked up the stairs to the study room.

 

She settled into her familiar seat and placed the problem book she had been working on on her desk.

 

Just then, the door to the study room opened and someone walked in.

 

“Oh, it’s A. I knew you’d be here.”

 

A pair of piercing eyes, round glasses, and a voice that sounds like an oath.

 

It’s B from the class next door, who’s been at the top of every test she’s ever taken.