Chapter 10
"You see, I often have nightmares, so I can't sleep without drinking. Usually I drink alone, but it's nice to have someone to talk to now that you're here, Young-won."
Ms. Kang kept pouring and drinking from a bottle labeled whiskey.
As she got more drunk, her nightgown kept slipping, making it hard for me to know where to look.
"I used to take sleeping pills, but I think I've built up a tolerance from taking too many. Alcohol is the best. You're underage so you can't drink, right? Have you ever tried alcohol?"
"No, never."
"Really? Surprising. When I first saw you, I thought you were a complete troublemaker. Always wearing bandages on your face. Bad boy type? How many girlfriends have you had? Be honest. Were you popular?"
"I had a girlfriend but got dumped."
"That's not good. Young-won, honestly, I want to hit students who waste their golden years. I wish I could trade places with them. They don't know what precious time they're losing..."
"...Um..."
"But these days, with all this talk about student rights, we can't even properly discipline students. Teachers pressure from above, and below we have disobedient students and overprotective parents."
"......"
"Young-won, don't you have anything you want to ask teacher? Right now, I feel like I could answer anything... Whatever you're curious about...? Like final exam questions..."
Isn't revealing exam questions a crime?
It was clearly meant as a joke, but something about the atmosphere made it feel less like one.
"...You can ask more intimate questions too. Even rude or personal ones are fine. Right now, teacher wants to answer anything Young-won asks. Teacher has no guard up today."
The teacher's voice was sticky like honey, and the air somehow felt hot.
Feeling uncomfortable with the increasingly awkward atmosphere, I tried to lighten the mood with casual conversation.
"Then... what about your first love? Or stories about people you've dated..."
"Teacher only studied and never had a boyfriend at this age. Now, since I answered one question, I get to ask one too? Young-won, have you ever had sex?"
"......"
Wait, isn't this sexual harassment? I was dumbfounded by what I'd been hearing for the past five minutes.
I could only sip the milk the teacher had given me, but even that was almost gone, with just a few drops left at the bottom.
More importantly, why am I so sleepy? I was extremely drowsy.
"Oh..."
My body felt heavy like wet cotton, and my vision was so blurry that the teacher's face seemed to multiply. Her mouth appeared to stretch all the way to her ears.
"Young-won, feeling sleepy? You are, right? Good thing I had some sleeping pills left."
In my fading consciousness, I heard Ms. Kang's voice. Did she just drug me with sleeping pills?
Rustle, rustle-
Soon I heard the sound of thin fabric falling to the floor.
Then I heard the sound of sticky lotion being applied to smooth skin.
Thud Pat pat-
I was so drowsy I couldn't help but slump face-down on the table, though somehow I could still move my mouth.
"Tea...teacher... what..."
I was terrified.
I remembered the uproar at school and in the neighborhood when a female student went missing at the start of the semester. Didn't they say the culprit might be someone from school? Since there were no signs of resistance, it could be someone the victim knew.
No way─.
"Young-won, we're going to become one. You said it yourself. That I could come in. Teacher is going to enter Young-won. Don't be tense, just relax. Teacher will take care of everything-."
The voice was sticky. It was the first time I'd heard such a sticky, sensual voice, and it made my temples tingle with goosebumps.
Slide-
The teacher soon flipped my body over onto the floor.
Through her underwear, I could see white skin, and as the lotion-covered teacher finally seemed about to open my mouth... she started pushing her hand and arm into my mouth!
Squirm, squirm-
"Young-won's inside is narrow and warm. Doesn't teacher taste good, Young-won?"
"Urgh-!"
Taste good? This was literally a taste of death! The teacher was trying to wear me like a costume, turning me inside out like a doll!
"Ugh! Ugggh!"
"Why so stiff? Not enough gel? Since it's come to this, I'll have to make it wetter. It's proper to learn drinking from adults."
Glug glug glug glug-
The teacher poured whiskey into my mouth.
"Ugh! Urgh! Teacher, please stop! Please spare me! Teacher, please save me!"
I begged at death's door, but this only seemed to excite the teacher more, her smile stretching to her ears.
"You sleep so well during class, why won't you sleep now? The sleeping pills don't seem to work well, maybe you have a tolerance. Wait just a moment."
Slide-
The teacher temporarily left her spot.
I thought, ‘This is my chance!’
If I stay here, I'll end up killed by either this spinster murderer or ghost or whatever! I can't die like this!
Maybe it was because I was desperately racking my brain in this crisis? Like how a broken clock is right twice a day, a bright idea lit up in my head like a lightbulb.
"Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah!"
I screamed with all the strength I could muster. And just as I expected, it happened.
Bang bang bang!
Someone was pounding on the apartment's metal door. Soon, an elderly woman's voice was heard.
-What the hell is this racket in the middle of the night! Let us sleep, you crazy woman! You're in there, right!? Brought a man home!? I told you I'd introduce you to my son! He works at Seong Electronics! He's only forty!
Just as I expected! The story about poor soundproofing was true, as the neighbor had come!
"Aah!"
-A scream... is something wrong?
"Aaah!"
-Should I call 112 (police)?
"Aack!"
Police! Those words felt like a lifeline. Korean community spirit was still alive!
The bond between neighbors still existed! I'll never let anyone deny this!
-Hehehe.... Three questions.... You answered...?
But-.
A strange voice came from outside the door.
-Let's trade. Trade with me. Trade with me. Trade with me. Trade with me. Trade with me. Tradewithmetradewithmetradewithmetradewithmetradewithme-.
Oh sh*t-.
I was scared enough to wet myself, but extreme fear sometimes drives away drowsiness!
When I managed to get up and sit down, I saw something seeping through the thin gap in the metal door.
"Let's trade."
It looked sometimes like my mom, sometimes like Ms. Kang, and at a glance, sometimes like an unknown middle-aged woman.
"F*ck! An auntie ghost!"
"Tradewithmetradewithmetradewithme."
The auntie ghost approached me, swaying her arms side to side. She gave off a foul smell that was like both rotting apples and chicken coop stench!
"Ugh! Chicken coop smell!"
"......"
The auntie ghost stopped. Could it be working? Yes, maybe she hates those words!
"Chicken coop smell! Old maid! Menopause! Auntie! Auntie! Auntie!"
If only I knew better words!
Still, it seemed to have some effect as the auntie ghost's face transformed into something horrifyingly unfamiliar, then she bent her limbs backwards in a bridge position and scuttled away into the house with a swish swish.
It was creepy, like a giant cockroach.
"Ah sh*t, she hid again.... Wasn't that supposed to drive her away..."
Knock knock knock-
Then, someone knocked on the door.
-Young-won, are you okay? Teacher went out to buy milk. I heard some commotion inside. Why is the door locked from inside?
It was Ms. Kang's voice!
I felt relief like a cold shower in hot weather... but then an ominous feeling struck.
-Young-won, you're in there, right?
"......"
-Look at you not answering when teacher calls. No manners, growing up without a father. Got good instincts, huh?
It was enough to make me cry. Once again, it wasn't the teacher but the ghost!
『《Broken Clock》's Advice: Sometimes silence is the answer.』
So this was what that advice was for!
The problem was...
Knock knock knock-
The knocking sounds started echoing from all directions.
***
Knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknock-
Ceiling.
Door.
Walls.
Floor.
Knocking sounds came from everywhere.
Ring ring ring-
My phone rang, too.
-Hey, are you Ha Young-won? This is Class D president Jung Sojin, I like you. Want to date me? Answer. Answeransweransweransweransweransweransweransweranswer-
"F*ck off! Your voice sounds old!"
The auntie ghost was desperately trying to get me to answer her questions.
"Do... I have to live like this forever?"
Should I never answer phone calls from now on?
My life suddenly became so tiresome.
But when people are backed into a corner and under extreme stress, sometimes stubbornness kicks in.
Even a cornered rat will bite a cat, they say. Right now, I was definitely the rat.
"F*ck it, fine. Let's see who wins. Auntie! Come out! You want to steal my body, right? That's why you keep asking me questions?"
I called out to the auntie ghost, ready to confront her head-on.
Then with crack, crack sounds of joints bending, Ms. Kang emerged from the dark bathroom. It was still terrifyingly unfamiliar.
When I opened my eyes after squeezing them shut to shake off my fear, Ms. Kang spoke.
"That's right. I like younger men. The more you answer my questions, the more thrilling it gets.... After I steal your body, I'll steal your life too. If you don't give me your body, I'll take this woman's body instead!"
Thinking back on everything that happened, I realized this strange auntie ghost asked questions and answered mine too.
And her latest answer was more than enough for me to make my decision. Saying she'll steal Ms. Kang's body if she fails to take mine.
What inconsiderate behavior!
This happened because of me. Like a man, I should end this!
I spread my arms toward the auntie ghost.
"Not anyone else! Use my body! Come inside me!"
"Good. Then teacher's really going in? Just relax~"
Swoosh-
Ms. Kang's body seemed to turn to powder and started entering through my nose and mouth.
It pushed out all the air in my lungs and took its place, making me choke.
If I hadn't gotten the 《Breath Holding》 trait from the shop, I would have passed out from suffocation!
Nothing in this world is useless - thinking this, I recalled the 《Broken Clock》's advice.
『《Broken Clock》's Advice: 《Quirks》 are supernatural anomalies that affect the body, soul, and mind. Possessing 2 or more quirks results in death. 《Quirks》 can be cured by spending 100P at the Treatment Center, which needs to be unlocked in the shop.』
Quirks are supernatural anomalies affecting body, soul, and mind. Just like this auntie ghost trying to steal my body!
"...huff... Status window."
I squeezed breath from my increased lung capacity to call the status window.
『Name: Ha Young-won Lv.1
Traits: 《Broken Clock》 《Breath Holding》
Quirk: 《Ghost Possession》
Funds: 110 Points
Description: Once promising, you now spend meaningless days just killing time. But even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day.』
『Quirk 《Ghost Possession》 - tradewithmetradewithmetradewithmetradewithme』
Fck off, you btch!
『Treatment Center ◀ Click to open』
『Spending 100P to cure quirk.』
『Quirk 《Ghost Possession》 has been cured.』
"...Did it! I won!"
Saving my remaining points just in case turned out to be the right choice. I would've been screwed if I hadn't unlocked the Treatment Center.
Beep beep beep-
Then came the sound of someone entering the door code. Ms. Kang was coming in with convenience store bags full of things. Looking closer, I could see milk and snacks among them.
"Young-won, what happened? What on earth happened! Why is the house such a mess! I just went to buy milk and briefly talked with the English teacher on the way!"
"Teacher... do you like younger men?"
"Wh-what's that suddenly about?"
I collapsed on the floor.
『Congratulations! You have defeated the 'Curse of Becoming a Ghost After Three Answers'!』
『Beginning settlement for 1 Survivor.』
Clink-
100 points came in.
I got back exactly what I spent on curing the quirk, which felt like breaking even after all that trouble and chaos.
I guess I should be satisfied with surviving. What was all this? The nightmare wasn't just in that corridor. To think I'd meet ghosts in reality too.
『Level up as experience points exceed threshold.』
『Some traits change according to level.』
『Probability of being tracked by supernatural entities and watchers increases.』
Oh-
So levels do go up? I wondered about the level in my status window, and it actually does increase!
The part about traits changing with level was interesting too.
But what worried me more were the next lines that appeared.
Supernatural entities and watchers...?
As I wondered what this meant, I heard sirens wailing.
"Anyone home? We received a report that a student might have been kidnapped."