An Exorcist Magical Girl!

Kwon Yuri used her head well.

 

She mentions a new person, C, in the situation to prevent Yang Ji-won from committing suicide as the ghost story wanted.

 

By blaming the suicide attempt on a completely different person, the ghost story that controlled Yang Ji-won lost its influence.

 

It also weakened the power of the ghost.

 

“I really wanted to kill you.”

 

“But I was wrong.”

 

“I can’t beat you if you’re dead.”

 

“You’re number one just because you’re number one? If that’s what you’re saying, then you’re number one even if you spent money to be number one.”

 

With lines like that, she’s pretty much cemented the fact that she has no intention of killing number one.

 

She’s completely blocked the possibility of the original story going the way it did.

 

Because the intended flow of the original story was blocked, the story could be completely reorganized into

“punishing C, who cheated and unfairly won first place.”

 

Of course, Yuri’s talent as an actress also played a role.

 

She realized for the first time that she has the talent to be an A-lister, even if she’s not.

 

At least A-list acting talent.

 

It was a very convincing performance that completely changed the background and direction of the story.

 

***

 

 

October 17th.

 

Today’s date, written in the upper left corner of the blackboard in the classroom, was October 17th.

 

According to the academic calendar on the bulletin board next to the blackboard, this was the first week of the second semester midterms.

 

Apparently, the play was originally set after the summer break, with the second semester midterms just over a month away, but Yuri’s performance changed the temporal setting of the play.

 

She even changed the setting, so maybe there’s a new prop or something for the next installment.

 

Yes, like evidence of the corruption committed by my character, C.

 

Why did they choose me as C?

 

Because I’m the closest to the character of C than the other two out there?

 

If it’s because we’re similar in that we both got to the top through some dirty trick and I’m the new guy, I don’t know what to say.

 

Of course, I didn’t get S⁺ by cheating, but the nuances of C suddenly becoming the top student and me suddenly becoming S⁺ are similar.

 

Now that I think about it, I wonder if the extra credit question in English Listening 1 was a device to determine who most resembled the person named A.

 

A for Asian?

 

It’s a bit surprising, but you never know.

 

As I wandered around the unfamiliar classroom thinking about such things, I heard a voice out of nowhere.

 

—“Hey, Baek Iri, you’re alive, right?”

 

This was the second time that I had collapsed in front of Hanbyul.

 

I’ve unintentionally caused her mental damage again and again. I’m sorry, Hanbyul.

 

“My mind is fine. How is my body?” 

Is my body okay? I let Seo Jun hold my head up at the last minute. She didn’t freak out and miss, did she?

 

—You’re not hurt.

 

Oh, thank God, but did she just say

“you”

?

 

─You’re fine, but Seo Jun fell too! —She’s too heavy. 

That’s not true! She was just shocked!

 —That’s because you’re heavy.

 

Huh?! Well, at least my body was safe.

 

“So what should I do from now on?”

 

Should I just wait for Yuri and Ji-won to come get me, or should I take the initiative and turn myself in?

 —Hey, wait a minute. Seo Jun is going to turn the room into… Seo Jun, what did you say you were going to do with the room? Oh yeah. She’s reading the room!

 

At that moment, there was a crunching sound in the hallway outside the classroom and the back door of the classroom flew open.

 

“Is that…?”

 

It was Yuri.

 

“Yuri!” “Thank God you’re here.” Yuri hesitated, relieved to hear her real name coming out of my mouth instead of A’s. “Do you know how I was really standing there, I thought you were going to die, so I did everything you said, but I was so afraid it wouldn’t work, so I really didn’t want to do it!” I said. “I heard you talking about adding an extra actor, and I thought you meant you were coming to the rescue…”

Yuri explained.

 

No, I got caught.

 

Swallowing the words, I asked about Ji-won’s whereabouts.

 

“Where’s Ji-Won?” “I left her in the study hall. I told her I was looking for evidence of cheating.” “I see.” “What do you think we should do now?” “Maybe I should pretend to have a budding affair in front of you and Ji-won.”

 

Just then, I heard the voice outside the dream again.

 

─Somehow, the space seems to have changed from before… I don’t know exactly, but I can feel the space expanding down below where you are now.

 

I think it’s safe to say that the story has changed, and there’s an additional stage we need.

 

“Let’s go.” “Yeah!”

 

The two of us walk out of the classroom and down the stairs.

 

***

 

At the bottom of the stairs, we were greeted by a hastily constructed stage space.

 

Doors flanked both sides of a short hallway.

 

“This is the broadcast room.” “This is the faculty office.”

 

There was no need for the stage space.

 

Both were meant to be used as backdrops for plays.

 

So, the new stage is the

“broadcast room”

and the

“faculty room”

.

 

─Find the evidence in the staff room, then go to the broadcast room and expose the cheating to the whole school…? ─Oh, that’s it! But what’s the evidence of cheating, an envelope of money?

 

A voice from the other side, transmitted through the shards, followed us.

 

Yuri answered Hanbyul’s worried question.

 “Evidence of cheating is the most important theater prop, so I’m sure they’ve made it intuitively recognizable.”

 

Hanbyul sounded convinced, and this time Seo Jun asked a question.

 

“Baek Iri, is the door open? “Uhm, the broadcast room is locked.”

 

Luckily, the door to the staff room was unlocked.

 

In my middle school, the broadcasting room was right next to the staff room. So there were two doors: one to the hallway and one to the staff room.

 

When I heard Hanbyul’s words, I looked around the staff room, but there was nothing on the wall facing the broadcast room.

 

Instead, there was a wooden door on the opposite wall with the word

“equipment”

written in large letters.

 

“There’s no door to the broadcast room, just some kind of supply room.”

 

I turned the doorknob and the wooden door creaked open with an unpleasant sound.

 “It’s not locked.”

 

Isn’t this where you keep the keys to special rooms?

 

“Yuri, don’t you think there might be a key to the broadcast room in here?” “Oh, yeah. It’s a good place to put it.”

 

Yuri glanced around the supply closet, then reached over to the wall and flipped a fluorescent light switch.

 

The dimly lit supply closet came to life, illuminating the small, cluttered room.

 

“Let’s split up. I’ll find the key. Yuri, can you look for evidence of foul play?” “Sure. It’ll be faster.”

 

Yuri disappeared behind the partition.

 

I opened every cabinet and drawer in the supply closet.

 

“Nothing but file cabinets in this one. Next.” 

I chuckled to myself as I closed the filing cabinet, then the stationery cabinet, then the attendance book.

 

“Funny. You’re helping me expose myself.”

 

Why the hell was I called here?

 

I was prepared to take a few hits, but if this is how it’s going to play out, I don’t need a C-actor, do I?

 

“Wow, that box looks suspicious!” 

Please, there’s something inside.

 

I eagerly opened the lid and was greeted by the smell of rusty metal.

Inside was a bunch of keys.

 “Now I have to figure out which one of these is the key to the broadcasting room.

 

The good news was that the keys were grouped by floor.

 

This was the second floor, right?

 

I remembered that the sign I’d seen on the way down the stairs said

“second floor”

and pulled out a bunch of keys to the classrooms on the second floor.

 

Just then, Yuri called out to me that she had found something.

 

“There’s an envelope with money! There’s some kind of USB thing in the envelope, and there’s an SD card too!” “Yuri, I also found the key…”

 

I turn to leave the supply room.

 Thud— 

Someone is blocking my way.

 

“It’s B.”

 

It was Yang Ji-won.

 

“You shouldn’t be here. Do you want to destroy the evidence?”

Ji-won yelled.

 

Yang Ji-won, no, B, the best student in the whole school, grabbed my neck with both hands and squeezed.

 

That’s right. She was out of her mind.

 

I could feel the ghostly will to kill a person in Yang Ji-won’s grip.

 

Shit, this is why they brought in a C actor.

 

Now that the story of killing the real number one, B, is blocked, they’re going to kill the fake number one, C!

 

The original ghost story, already weakened, squeezed the last of its strength to resist the flow of Kwon Yuri’s narration.

 

“Kaaaaaah! Ji-won, what are you doing!”

 

Yuri screamed when she saw the two of us,

 

“Don’t come!”

 

I managed to pull B’s hand away from my neck, but I stopped her.

 “Take the keys!”

 

There’s only one way to stop Yang Ji-won from being possessed by the myth.

 “I’ll do whatever it takes!”

 

Yuri takes the key with shaking hands.

 

Unable to hide her worry, she keeps looking back as she runs out of the school office.

 

Realizing that this is her last chance, B reaches for her neck, ready to snap it.

 

“B, What are you doing?!” —Yuri, stay calm and do as I say!

 

I sprinted down the hallway, leaving Yuri behind as she prepared for the exposé broadcast with the help of Hanbyul, the broadcaster.

 

Yang Ji-won chased after me at a crazy speed.

 

“Damn it, if I get caught this time, I’ll really die…!

 

The hallway on the second floor was short, so I had no choice but to run straight up the stairs.

 

This is the second time I’ve disembodied like this.

 

It was the same when I escaped from hell, and it’s the same now.

 

‘Why do you keep making me run!’

 

I was so close to being caught that I couldn’t escape into the hallway on the other floor, but I kept climbing the stairs, and I was already on the roof.

 

Oh, it’s the roof. I have a bad feeling.

 

“Mm, ah, ah! Can you hear me? Hello, classmates and teachers. I’m A, who has been relegated to third place in the whole school this time.” 

Luckily, Yuri started broadcasting just in time.

 

I’m here to expose the truth about the top student in the class. C, the top student in the class this midterm, has been cheating, and the proof is right here!

 

Yuri’s, or rather A’s, voice boomed through the speakers.

 

I found an envelope with money on Mr. D’s seat. Please look at the screen.

 

Not only did the sound come out, but it was transmitted to the screen.

 

“Of course, we can’t be sure it’s fraudulent just by looking at it, so I prepared something. The SD card from the car dashcam that came with the money envelope had this video on it, right? It looks like Mr. D used his own car to leak the answer sheet, and then tried to get rid of the SD card?” 

“This is a multiple choice answer sheet in Korean and English…So how much money…”

 

The sound of what appears to be a conversation from the dashcam footage is broadcast over the airwaves.

 

“You recognize the face, it’s C!”

 

Bam! 

My back hit the roof railing. There was nowhere to run.

 

“C, give up and just die, apologize in death.” “Oh, wait. Damn it, there’s a law, why-“ 

B shoved my shoulder.

 

The worn railing shattered, sending my center of gravity backward.

 

“So the real first place winner of this midterm is B, and the second place winner is me. The cheating teacher, C and Mr. D will be punished by the court. This concludes the revelation.”

 

At the same time, Yuri ended the show.