Demon King Girl (4)

Demon King Girl (4)

“…”

“Are you okay?”

She saw a woman in a white gown looking at her with worried eyes. Next to her, an old woman was clicking her tongue and gathering yellow talismans.

Kim Su-jung slowly began to recall her memories as she looked at the scene with a blank mind.

Why she was here and what she had done, and so on.

“Just think of it as a terrible nightmare. It’s not your fault. It’s the work of an evil spirit controlled by a wicked monster. You’re just a victim.”

The old woman finally spoke as she saw Kim Su-jung’s face gradually distorting. She told her to forget, to just think of it as a nightmare.

But it’s easier said than done; in reality, it was impossible for that to happen as intended. Although it was a body possessed by an evil spirit, the memories left in the brain cells were still intact. Kim Su-jung recalled the things she had done and was distressed.

Especially about the unimaginable acts she had committed against her friend, whom she could never lose.

“My role is over now. The mental issues are for you to handle. You’re the mental health professionals, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

The old woman left the room, leaving Kim Su-jung, who had burst into tears, struggling and screaming, to the psychiatrist who was standing nearby.

However, Kim Su-jung, the victim of possession, wasn’t the only one who had business with this old woman, who was one of the most renowned mediums in the country.

“You, it’s not going to work after all.”

“W-what? How can you suddenly change your words like that?!”

“Your spiritual power is too biased towards one side.”

The old woman, realizing this was indoors as she was about to take out a cigarette, clicked her tongue and put it back.

“All I can do is help you connect with your guardian spirit. Like other shamans. But not you. Your spiritual power is focused solely on the power of breaking magic, not on connecting with spirits. So much so that it even drives away the guardian spirit attached to you. I’ve never heard of such an extreme power in all my life.”

“So I can’t… use this power?”

“You’ll have to find another teacher, not me. The problem is whether such a teacher even exists.”

The old woman waved her hand and passed by her. Jeon So-hyeon, greatly shocked, only managed to stagger with an exhausted sigh as the old woman disappeared across the hospital corridor.

It felt like the hope she had been secretly holding onto had melted away.

‘Well, what did I expect.’

She slumped down in a chair and leaned weakly against the wall. She consoled herself that nothing had changed. She could just return to school where her attendance was barely hanging on, and live a life no different from now.

With grades at the bottom due to an environment unconducive to studying, barely graduating. A life where even the immediate future was uncertain.

“…Tequilas.”

As she unconsciously accessed the internet on her phone, her eyes caught the name plastered everywhere.

Tequilas, the Code Red magical girl killer who always leaves blood in her wake and becomes a big topic whenever she appears.

The reason for the recent articles about Tequilas, who has become a hot potato not just domestically but globally, was due to the mass execution of public broadcasting station officials just two days ago.

“Employees of the news department who were beheaded alive for the crime of inciting people with false reports and deliberately causing conflicts to divide the nation at the request of external forces. Well done.”

She smirked as she read the well-crafted sensational headline.

Public opinion about Tequilas’ actions, who acted as if she was the only one in heaven and earth, was now mostly negative.

Even those who used to cheer her on as refreshing began to feel uneasy as her uncontrollable and powerful actions disrupting the existing order accelerated, worried that her blade might one day turn towards them.

Of course, not Jeon So-hyeon. She was one of the beneficiaries of Tequilas’ acts of slaughter.

Thanks to Tequilas’ rampage, she was able to secure an uncertain future, leave behind her hellish life, and live somewhat like a human again.

‘A demon? A terrible psychopath? No. That’s absolutely not it. She doesn’t kill just anyone.’

Jeon So-hyeon had a somewhat similar assessment of Taquilas as Aria. She had encountered him twice, and both times she survived.

The image of those red eyes looking down at her as she knelt trembling was still vivid.

*

“Are you really okay?”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go for now. You need to rest a bit more.”

That afternoon, Jeon So-hyeon looked at Lee Seon-yeong, the facility’s teacher, with a face that seemed to ask if this was real, but Lee Seon-yeong avoided her gaze with a dark expression.

In the end, Kim Su-jung and Jeon So-hyeon got into the vehicle and returned to the facility.

-Treatment is absolutely necessary, but it’s impossible right now. We won’t receive any funding. We need to look for other ways to get support.

-Does that make any sense? She’s a child in the facility.

-It’s because her biological father is still alive. The law can’t do anything about it.

“This is crazy.”

Jeon So-hyeon clicked her tongue and leaned her head back on the seat as she read the messages from Lee Seon-yeong in the front seat. It was absurd that she couldn’t receive what she should be able to because of her biological parents, who were practically estranged and didn’t even feel like real parents.

-So, it would be better to keep her away from Jina, right?

-Considering that child’s feelings, it seems like the right thing to do…

She glanced at Kim Su-jung sitting next to her. No matter how she looked at it, her blank stare out the window didn’t seem normal.

It didn’t seem right to let her meet her friend, who was also another victim of the possession incident, in this state. Above all, if Lee Jina showed any aversion, she might completely break down.

“Hey. It’s been a while since you’ve been in your right mind, huh?”

“J-Jina.”

However, that person was neither an ordinary girl, nor even an ordinary human to begin with. When Jeon So-hyeon and Lee Seon-yeong got out of the car, they froze as they encountered Lee Jina, a beautiful short-haired girl who seemed to have been waiting for them as if she knew in advance.

“D-Don’t come!”

“What? Shouldn’t I be the one refusing and shouting?”

Lee Jin-ah snorted at Kim Su-jung, who was hiding behind Jeon So-hyeon. Meanwhile, Kim Su-jung’s body was trembling uncontrollably, unable to hear anything.

‘She, she will hate me. She will despise me. She will… leave.’

The root of this extreme anxiety was ultimately the obsession and dependency that the evil spirit had used as a medium. It was nothing else. Kim Su-jung was afraid that Lee Jin-ah would be scared of her and eventually leave.

“Jin-ah. For now, go inside. I’ll arrange for you to use a different room from Su-jung…”

“Teacher. You don’t know the cause. Didn’t the psychiatrist say something?”

“Well, that…”

Lee Seon-young hesitated and rolled her eyes. The doctor had indeed said something. The best course of action for Kim Su-jung would be to keep her by Lee Jin-ah’s side, but for the safety of Lee Jin-ah, who was the object of obsession, it would be better to separate them.

“There’s no problem if we stay together.”

“No! Su-jung is sick right now. For your safety, until she gets better…”

“There’s no problem, I said.”

Lee Seon-young shook her head, but Lee Jin-ah’s eyes suddenly flashed red as she looked up at her. Lee Seon-young staggered, inhaling sharply at the suddenly changed atmosphere.

‘This is…’

Simultaneously, blue sparks flashed from Jeon So-hyeon’s body beside her.

‘What the…’

Lee Jin-ah, the human name, and Taquilas, the magical girl and demon lord of another world. She was taken aback by the blue sparks emitting towards her.

It was a strike from an unexpected place at an unexpected timing.

“Da-Danger!”

Ren, invisible to others, who had been leisurely sitting on her head, shouted in panic, but it was too late.

Without knowing what was happening, she was directly hit by the sparks emitted from Jeon So-hyeon’s body, flying several meters through the air before crashing and rolling on the ground with a loud thud.

‘This is crazy… the power of Parma. They said it was just an ordinary psychic ability.’

She panted, feeling slightly dizzy. The demonic power of the Demon King and the power of Parma were of such extreme polarity that they surpassed fire and water.

Seeing people rushing towards her, she quickly devised a response plan. After all, she was just a bit surprised, and no matter how extreme the polarity, you can’t put out a massive forest fire with just one bucket.

“I’m fine.”

“You…”

“By the way, you have an interesting power. Are you also a Magical Girl, unnie?”

She stood up abruptly and pointed at Jeon So-hyeon, who was in a state of confusion, with a smirk. So-hyeon, who was actually in a state of mental breakdown, could only gape at the finger pointing at her.

“It’s not like that. Anyway, are you really okay?”

“I’m just a bit surprised. Let’s not make this a bigger deal than it needs to be. Teacher, please explain it well to the higher-ups. They don’t really care about us anyway, right?”

She subtly pointed behind her. There were people coming to investigate the noise. In the end, the final decision was up to the responsible teacher, Lee Seon-young.

Feeling overwhelmed by this complex situation, Lee Seon-young closed her eyes tightly, and finally nodded.

“Let’s go. Unnie, you should go home and rest today too.”

Lee Jin-ah took Kim Su-jung’s hand, who was standing there blankly, and pulled her along.

Jeon So-hyeon could only watch the scene in bewilderment.

‘Why did my power react to that girl?’

However, it wasn’t as if nothing was left behind.