I Became an Academy Counselor

Chapter 42

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it...!"

Orca wiped the cold sweat from her brow as she paced the hallway.

Hide and seek. Treasure hunting.

She had been relieved, thinking she wouldn’t hear those words again since she hadn’t heard them since she was a child.

...I shouldn’t have come. I only followed because I was curious about what that woman was up to.

Orca closed her eyes, desperately trying to forget the horrifying memories.

But the more she tried not to think about it, the more the memories came flooding back.

Her mind was overwhelmed by memories from her childhood.

The terrible memories of that day.

"Huff, huff..."

They say that sometimes people erase certain memories from their minds to avoid facing truths they can’t handle.

Orca truly wished that such a miracle would happen to her again.

But it seems that the desires of someone with a demon inside them aren’t something that God is willing to grant.

As she was struggling with the memories of her past, someone’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"...!"

"Are you okay, Orca?"

"How... how did you get here... What about the children...?"

"I told them I was taking a short break. Ugh, handling those kids is exhausting. They have so much energy. It’s been over an hour, and they’re still going strong."

An hour?

Has it really been that long?

Orca realized that her sense of time had completely collapsed.

"Are you alright? You don’t look well."

"Damn it, I’m fine, so leave me alone!"

The headache wouldn’t go away, and she lashed out in frustration, waving her hands to push the teacher away.

There’s no way I can talk about this. This is a secret that I can’t tell anyone.

I’m already shunned just because I’m a demon-possessed person. If they found out what I did, what would happen then?@@@@

Orca had no intention of ever telling anyone.

"Teacher, stop being so... nosy..."

"Tell me what’s going on. Right now."

"Uh, well... it’s the memories... they’re coming back."

"I thought so..."

Her mind was foggy, and she couldn’t think straight.

I’m sure I looked into the teacher’s eyes... and then...

...What was I doing?

"You’re receiving counseling from me. You were just about to tell me a secret you didn’t want to reveal. That you told me is something you won’t forget."

"Won’t forget..."

"Now, tell me. What happened in the past?"

...That’s right. I was in the middle of telling the teacher about that horrifying incident from my childhood.

Orca stared blankly at the teacher and began to speak.

"...Where did I start?"

"Well, if you don’t remember, it might be best to start from the beginning."

"Yeah, alright..."

Sitting on the bed, I cried softly. I felt like something was coming toward me.

It wasn’t just a feeling. The demon was coming for me—not my body, but my mind.

I couldn’t fully understand what was happening, but I had a gut feeling.

If this continued, something terrible was going to happen.

So I dragged my heavy body back to that house.

Tragically, my actions only caused more concern among the village adults.

They began to worry. What’s wrong with Orca? Orca looks really sick.

The strong bonds in the village ended up leading to a bad outcome.

It would have been better if the adults hadn’t cared about me.

The adults thought that if something was troubling Orca, her friends would be the best ones to comfort her, not them.

They were good people. I’ll say it again—it would have been better if they were bad people.

Naturally, my friends, who were close to me, confidently stepped into that house again.

They’d already been there once and had decided the rumors were just that—rumors.

They said, "Orca, are you okay?"

"Orca, if something’s wrong, tell us."

They came up to me, drenched in cold sweat, and sincerely worried about me...

And at that moment, one of them dropped dead.

In a daze, I had no choice but to tell the others in a strained voice,

"Please run. I don’t feel like myself."

"It feels like there’s someone else inside me. Please. It feels like I’m bigger than my body and smaller than my body at the same time."

What kind of nonsense was that? I didn’t know. It just felt that way at the time.

Of course, with one of their friends suddenly going berserk, the kids tried to run. But the door wouldn’t open.

Looking back, maybe that was the final barrier? If the seal weakened and the demon was released, at least it wouldn’t be able to leave the house.

Think about it. The box inside the house was that old. Naturally, the house itself would be just as old, right?

The seals must have been layered. But time had caused them to break.

The kids, now completely panicked, hid throughout the house. The places where they had searched for treasure the day before became hiding spots.

I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t. The demon had temporarily taken over my body.

One by one, the kids lost their lives at my hands.

Some of them shouted,

"Please stop, Orca. You’re scaring me. Stop playing around."

Those kids couldn’t accept it until the very end. They couldn’t believe their friend would do something like that.

But I couldn’t find a way to control or stop the terrible power within me.

...Until all my friends were dead.

Damn it, that’s right. They should have been scared of me. Because in that moment, I wasn’t in control—the demon was.

How much time had passed?

I wandered aimlessly through the house. Blood was everywhere, and nothing was left alive. Nothing but me.

If it had ended there, it would have been just another tragedy.

But the adults began to worry. All the kids had disappeared at once.

They figured the kids must have gone to the haunted house, and though they were terrified, their determination to find the kids made them open the door.

The door that couldn’t be opened from the inside.

And then? ...Ha. What do you think?

Why do you think I’m still here, standing in one piece?