Chapter 12
"Wow, what's going on? Move aside. Let me see too."
"Juhee really came to school."
"Hey! Everyone get back!"
The area in front of the faculty office was packed with students like a swarm of clouds.
Though teachers tried to control the situation, Yeongji High's authority had long since hit rock bottom.
I also peeked into the faculty office through the crowd.
I could see Juhee talking with the homeroom teacher, but naturally couldn't hear their conversation.
Right now, appearance was more important than sound.
"Looks like she removed the dye."
"It suits her well."
As the students noted admiringly, Juhee's bright yellow hair had returned to a color similar to most students'. This completely changed her impression, and it suited her so well that her whole atmosphere was different.
Ding dong-
Then the bell rang for first period.
The students who had been camping out in front of the faculty office like fans waiting for idol concert tickets had to disperse, and I returned to the classroom too.
Slide-
Soon Juhee entered the classroom.
Since Juhee's seat was right behind mine, naturally all eyes turned our way. It felt a bit uncomfortable.
The atmosphere was so tense it felt like it would burst if someone pricked it with a needle.
As this situation felt increasingly awkward, there was suspicious movement among the female students.
Poke, poke poke-
The girls elbowed each other. It seemed like they were saying "Hey, you do it" or "No, you do it!"
After this back-and-forth went on for a while, An Young-mi, class president Sojin's quiet and introverted desk mate, slowly approached Juhee.
Then she said:
"Um... Juhee. We were talking in the class group chat over the weekend... Today... um... after school, could you come behind the auditorium...? The Class C kids said they'll wait for you after school..."
"Class C?"
Slide-
Juhee glared around with narrow eyes.
Though her hair color had changed from delinquent to normal, her style hadn't died - she had a snake-like gaze, and Young-mi trembled like a frightened rabbit.
"What? I didn't see anything like that. Ha... these b*tches. Did you make another class group chat without me? Are you trying to ostracize me this time?"
Bang!
Juhee stood up, forcefully pushing her chair back.
"F*ck! You're planning to beat me up with Class C kids behind the auditorium?"
Everyone fell silent, as if startled by her loud voice. Juhee stood out like a musical actor commanding the stage.
"Wow, I can't believe this. You think I don't know what you're up to? Hey Geonho, did you put them up to this?"
"...What are you talking about. I have nothing to do with this? Go talk things out with Class C. Bong Ji-yeon from next door never liked you anyway. Clear up any misunderstandings."
Geonho seemed a bit flustered at being called out by Juhee.
In Class C, there was a girl named Bong Ji-yeon who mostly hung out with seniors, holding a position similar to Geonho in Class D.
Even Geonho seemed to want to avoid conflict with Ji-yeon, who had backing from second and third-year seniors. Coward.
More importantly, there was a "Class D group chat"? I was never invited from the start?
These bastards!
Not being invited to the group chat hurt more than being directly bullied by Geonho or Juhee!
So… what happens now?
Will Juhee get beaten up by Bong Ji-yeon's gang from Class C?
No matter how tough Juhee is, she's still just a first-year. If all 29 members of Class D deliberately bully her, even Juhee would eventually break.
Then what should I do?
If I stand by and watch Juhee being ostracized, I'd be no different from those who bullied and ignored me.
Still, Juhee was my girlfriend for one night. I should probably step up. I had a few ideas in mind.
"Hey, teacher's coming."
Jung-seok, Class D's vice president who was watching the hallway, tapped the blackboard and quickly sat down.
"Okay, everyone sit down and open your books. Class D president Sojin... is briefly in the nurse's office. Vice president Jung-seok, lead the greeting and let's start class?"
As always, the chaotic classroom atmosphere quickly quieted down, and ding my phone rang loudly.
Wondering what it was, I looked at my phone and saw an unfamiliar chat room.
"User 30 has been invited to Class D chat room."
"4: Added everyone in our class except Juhee lol"
"14: lol a group chat without Juhee feels new but why make it an anonymous open chat?"
"......"
So this is the class group chat.
Even during class, the chat kept scrolling rapidly. Looking around, I could see everyone tapping on their phones behind their desks or propped-up books.
"2: sex"
"15: wtf is that Jinsung? So f*cking gross lol must be horny"
"17: what're you talking about I'm Jinsung"
"21: actually I'm Jinsung and Young-mi I love you date me"
So this is how kids these days whisper and play during class.
It was all new to me. My heart was actually pounding.
Being invited to this group chat might mean I'm finally being accepted as a member of Class D. The bullying I experienced has probably shifted to Juhee.
But something bothered me.
Maybe it was just my feeling... but isn't this strange?
Did no one else notice?
***
Our class has 30 people including me. And I thought there was an informant among these 30 people.
"Bullying is occurring in Class D."
The informant who wrote this note. I was looking at the photo of the note I'd asked Ms. Kang to take.
Class D's last conscience.
That would be a fitting name for them, someone clearly suitable to be my companion.
Buzz, buzz-
The constant phone vibrations were getting annoying. I definitely turned off notifications, so why do messages keep coming?
Currently, Class D was fired up in the new anonymous open chat.
Even taking just a 5-minute break from it would result in 300 new messages. Well, with 30 class members, one comment each makes 30 messages.
"2: Honestly I hate seeing Yang Juhee"
"3: Right she bullied our Young-won every day ㅠㅠㅠ"
Was it because Juhee wasn't in the chat? Or was the chat created specifically to badmouth Juhee?
"7: She thinks she's a princess crazy b*tch honestly not even pretty isn't Hee-yeon prettier?"
"15: 7 must be Hee-yeon lol"
The insults toward Juhee kept coming. It was amazing how they could tear down someone they had worshipped until recently.
If Juhee herself saw this, she might have burst into tears.
Just to make sure, I asked in the chat:
"30: Juhee's really not here, right? You sure?"
"1: yea ofc not lol would we talk like this if she was?"
"4: chicken lol I could talk like this even if she was here"
"......"
Are you sure Juhee's not here?
No, something's strange.
Our Class D has exactly 30 students. If Juhee's excluded from the chat, shouldn't there be 29 people?
I was number 30 in the chat. This means there are 30 people even without Juhee.
"Ah, f*ck."
Someone cursed.
It was Park In-bae, the buzz-cut delinquent sitting in the far right back seat. I wondered why he cursed, but looking at the chat, I soon understood.
"15: ah f*ck disgusting pic"
"2: admin kick number 5"
"7: is that crazy bastard Jinsung?"
Someone was terrorizing the chat by posting inappropriate pictures. It was pretty common in anonymous chats.
In a group chat with 30 students, there's bound to be at least one attention seeker.
But...
A bigger problem suddenly emerged.
"1: Now"
"2: we"
"3: will"
"4: be"
"5: gin"
"6: the"
"7: game"
"12: what's this?"
"8: if"
"9: you"
"10: can't"
"11: find"
"12: out"
"13: who"
"14: I"
"15: am"
"16: you"
"17: will"
"18: all"
"19: die"
"20: in"
"21: thi"
"22: rty"
"23: mi"
"24: nu"
"25: tes"
[And so on...]
"......"
There were strange messages.
Moreover, messages appeared under my number "30" that I hadn't written.
The message's intent was clear.
─Now we will begin the game. If you can't find out who I am, you will all die. Minutes(?)─
"What's this?"
"Who's playing this prank…?"
Murmurs spread through the quiet classroom. Everyone seemed confused by this strange occurrence.
"14: What is this? I can't leave the chat"
"15: Can't leave either"
"4: wtf? Who's playing this prank? Everyone reveal your names"
"22: f*ck that lol if we reveal ourselves here school life is over"
"11: we've all said things we shouldn't, it'd be so embarrassing to reveal names lol"
The chat was buzzing with activity, but they seemed to think it was just a 'prank.'
I would have thought the same if I hadn't experienced several supernatural incidents. But I thought this was the work of something supernatural, and it likely was.
"...We'll all die if we don't find their identity?"
My number 30 said "minutes." "30: minutes" Does this mean we have 30 minutes left?
Looking at the clock, there were exactly 30 minutes until first period ended. In other words, if we don't find "someone" before class ends, we'll all die─that interpretation made sense. And I could easily guess who that 'someone' was.
"30: Hey guys I think there's someone else besides our Class D here since there should be 29 people without Juhee but there are 30 here ㄷㄷ looks like we need to find someone who's not from our class"
"12: Is this some kind of surprise?"
"11: Kind of fun lol"
"1: whoever's not from our class write ㅇㅇ here"
"2: idiot like they'd actually write that lol hey ㅇㅇ"
You idiots! This isn't a joke! You could all really die!
It's so sad that there's not a single person I can trust.
"Advice...!"
『《Broken Clock》's Advice: Sometimes counting prime numbers can ease tension.』
Counting prime numbers? Is the culprit a prime number?
No, this was just suggesting a way to calm down.
Prime numbers.
Numbers that can only be divided by 1 and themselves, perfect and lonely. I thought carefully while counting them slowly.
The easiest way to find the culprit would be for everyone to write their names in the chat.
That would make it easy to find the culprit.
If the 30th person is impersonating a classmate, we'd just need to find which number belongs to the student whose name appears twice.
But the problem was that nobody in the chat wanted to reveal their identity.
They'd already posted inappropriate pictures and made all sorts of crude jokes anonymously, so they were extremely reluctant to have their names exposed.
And being in class made it awkward to move around openly.
Finding one person among thirty… This is exactly like finding the informant.
"The informant..."
Wait, finding the informant...!?
Flash-
An idea suddenly struck me.
I opened my phone and looked at the photo of the note that read "Bullying is occurring in Class D."
This is the hint.
Not the words or content, but the paper!
"The paper is the answer...!"
You ghost bastard in the chat.
You think you can fool me, an expert on ostracism?
The real outcast isn't me who wasn't in the chat, but you who only exists in the chat!