Chapter 138
『Name: Kim Geon-ho Lv.5
Trait: 《Destroyer》
Disposition: Arbitrary
Quirk: None
Possession: Bat
A delinquent who looks down on the world and adults. His exceptional physical abilities make him effective at surviving in various places. However, it's uncertain whether he can be a good teammate.』
『《Destroyer》: Can destroy locks and locked boxes without a key. It takes time and makes a very loud noise, so be careful as it may attract the attention of bizarre beings.』
『Bat: A heavy baseball bat. Swinging it hard can easily injure people.』
Looking at the status window, I saw that Kim Geon-ho's level had reached 5. And the 《Coward》 quirk I had nailed into Kim Geon-ho had disappeared.
I can't believe this is happening.
"Kim Geon-ho has joined hands with Wang Ja-hyun. I'm sure of it."
'Talismans' can also remove quirks. Wang Ja-hyun must have used that method to remove Kim Geon-ho's 《Coward》 quirk.
And Kim Geon-ho must have agreed to cooperate with Wang Ja-hyun in return.
"For Kim Geon-ho's level to have risen to 5 means he's done quite a bit of corridor exploration."
This was due to my lack of management. I never imagined this would happen.
"Juhee, what's going on?"
I asked Yang Juhee.
Yang Juhee had been spending time with Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon recently. Although Yang Juhee herself disliked those girls, I had told her to act as a spy and gather information.
Yang Juhee said.
"I don't know either. They must have done it when I wasn't around. They never talked to me about the corridor or anything like that in the first place. And whenever they went to Wang Ja-hyun's house, they always excluded me. Not that I wanted to go anyway."
So Yang Juhee's spy operation was a failure.
How did Wang Ja-hyun end up approaching Kim Geon-ho? My brain's speculation was that it might be because of Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon.
Maybe the girls said something like, "There was this guy in our class named Kim Geon-ho who used to be the class bully, but suddenly he stopped coming to school. He'd foam at the mouth and get scared when he saw people...!"
Hearing that, Wang Ja-hyun might have said, "Really? That's interesting. Could I meet him?" And when they met, Wang Ja-hyun realized it was a 'quirk' and treated Kim Geon-ho with a talisman?
It makes sense. Just then, Kwon Sua blinked her large eyes.
"What's going on? Who is this Kim Geon-ho person?"
Kwon Sua didn't know who Kim Geon-ho was.
As I was wondering how to explain this, Jung-seok, who had been deep in thought, spoke instead.
"He's a guy who was preparing to be a martial arts fighter but got kicked out of the gym for nearly killing someone during sparring. He likes hitting people and is very cruel. He's like a tyrant."
It was the first time I'd heard Jung-seok criticize Kim Geon-ho so harshly. But it was all true.
I hadn't heard about him being kicked out of the gym before, but it was entirely possible. Jung-seok continued his explanation.
"Remember how Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon's group was killing people in the corridor when we met them? If Kim Geon-ho has joined that group... it means they can kill people more easily."
If we got caught in random matching and encountered Kim Geon-ho and Gong Ye-rin's group-
It meant we'd be as good as dead.
Of course, we had Yang Juhee. The current Yang Juhee could probably use superhuman strength and not lose to Kim Geon-ho.
But the rest of us, from a combat perspective, were practically nonexistent.
We'd all end up dead.
As everyone was pondering what to do, Jung-seok came to a conclusion.
"The good news is that we're aware of them, but they don't know about us. We need to use this informational advantage to target them. If necessary..."
If necessary─ Jung-seok didn't finish his sentence.
He was clearly about to say something scary.
To think humans could be more troublesome than ghosts.
I fell into thought for a moment. And I wanted some time alone to draw various conclusions.
Swish-
As I slipped out of the secret base, the world was really hot. How can the world be this hot?
"Hey."
Just then, someone called me. It was Yang Juhee.
"Juhee, how are you feeling?"
"Much better. I still feel like I hear hallucinations sometimes and my body itches, but not to an unbearable degree. So about last night... that wasn't me. Got it?"
Yang Juhee said angrily, her face red. Last night's Yang Juhee had many cute aspects.
Thinking that I might never see that side of her again made me feel a tiny bit regretful.
"Hey! Forget about it!"
"Okay."
"So what are you going to do? You know as well as I do what will happen if we keep clashing with them like this. Either they die or we die."
Die.
Yang Juhee bluntly revealed the conclusion everyone had been avoiding, as if stabbing it with a fork. Yang Juhee was right.
There were many people but a limited number of escape talismans.
Those who couldn't escape would accumulate quirks, and if this process repeated, they'd eventually die.
After all, my points were limited too.
In other words. To survive, we had to kill our own classmates before being killed.
"Ha Young-won. You can do it. Just make the decision. I'll take care of the rest."
Swish-
Yang Juhee put her hand on my shoulder. She seemed to be trying to give me courage.
However... this wasn't something that could be done with courage alone.
"You can do it! It has to be you!"
"Ooh...?"
I felt strength rising in my body. Yang Juhee shouted with even more force.
"Ha Young-won! Everything depends on you! You have to decide!"
"Oooh!"
"Believe in yourself! You're stronger than you think!"
"Yeah! But I still need to think about it."
We were exploring the corridor to return to our daily lives. But would there be peace in the daily life we return to after getting blood on our hands?
I felt that crossing that line might lead to lifelong regret. The us who gather at the secret base, eating chicken and laughing happily, would disappear.
But we couldn't just sit back and take it either.
I thought so hard I worried I might get circular hair loss, and finally came to a conclusion.
***
This was the conclusion I reached.
"Let's steal the talismans."
Everyone's expressions widened in surprise. Was my explanation too vague?
Soon, Jung-seok exclaimed as if he understood.
"I see, I was thinking the same thing. What Young-won means is this: Remember how Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon didn't want to show even Yang Juhee Wang Ja-hyun's house? That means there's something there, a precious secret they can't show others. There's a chance that could be the talismans. Right? We're saying let's steal those talismans to make them act more passively?"
What's with this Jung-seok guy? It felt like he'd looked right into my head.
Is this the power of the 《Computer》 trait? He pierced through my thought process sharply.
Jung-seok wasn't done talking.
"Since they were able to remove Kim Geon-ho's quirk, there's a high chance they have physical talismans. That must be giving their party confidence to stir up trouble in the corridor. If we steal them, it'll benefit us a lot too. Talismans are 400P items each. We can treat quirks with them. We can also escape."
Well, I'm left speechless.
It's convenient that he's saying everything I wanted to say, but still.
"Honestly, I think... it might be easier to just take them out. But stealing the talismans is a good idea too. Young-won, that's an excellent answer for such a short time thinking."
"Uh... yeah, that's what I wanted to say. Let's steal the talismans!"
I think there might be talismans and other 'secrets' in Wang Ja-hyun's house. We'll sneak into Wang Ja-hyun's house and... well, take everything, whatever it is!
"How?"
Bong Ji-yeon, who was looking at her phone, asked.
"How are we going to steal what's in their house?"
"We'll... have to come up with a plan. I think we can manage somehow using Dahee and Sua's traits once their training is complete."
"What if things don't go well in the middle? For example, what if they come back while we're robbing the empty house?"
I thought for a moment at Bong Ji-yeon's words.
There was no guarantee such a situation wouldn't happen. Plans always tend to betray our hopes, after all.
"Then we... need to be prepared to get blood on our hands."
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
With that feeling, our "Operation Rob Wang Ja-hyun's House" began to take shape. The plan was to maximize the use of all our capabilities.
"The operation date is Sunday. Wang Ja-hyun goes to church, right? From what Juhee said, I heard Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon go to Glory Church with Wang Ja-hyun too?"
"Yeah."
Wang Ja-hyun's family home was in Seoul, and he lived alone here in Gaeryong.
Sunday.
His apartment would definitely be empty during service time. The sooner the better, so this Sunday is the day of the operation.
"Juhee, can you keep them at church for a long time?"
"I'm not confident."
"I'll go to church too."
Jung-seok volunteered. Yang Juhee and Jung-seok became the team going to church.
Then Yoo Dahee, Bong Ji-yeon, and Kwon Sua will rob the house with me. Ms. Hong Mi-ri asked.
"What should I do?"
"Ms. Hong Mi-ri, could you possibly lure Kim Geon-ho? As far as I know, he had some connection with you when you were Hong Ye-ri."
"How are we going to pick locked doors? There'll be things like digital locks."
Dahee was curious.
After thinking for a while, I looked at Bong Ji-yeon. It was a moment when Bong Ji-yeon's updated character sheet came to mind.
"What, why?"
"Bong Ji-yeon will be able to pick the locks. Or more precisely, we won't be going in through the door."
『Name: Bong Ji-yeon Lv.3
Trait: 《Wall Climbing》
Disposition: Arrogant
Quirk: None
Possession: None
An arrogant and disrespectful female student. If you can't control her, you'll be controlled, so she's tricky to handle. However, she's versatile and might be more helpful than expected in unexpected situations.』
『《Wall Climbing》: Good at climbing walls. Can easily hang onto even the smallest grooves anywhere.』
When I first saw Bong Ji-yeon's 《Wall Climbing》, I sighed a little.
It felt like, what good is being good at climbing walls in the nightmare corridor? But in reality?
"I heard Wang Ja-hyun's house is on the third floor. Bong Ji-yeon will climb up to the third floor window and open the door for us!"
"Me? How am I supposed to do that!"
Bong Ji-yeon started trembling in shock. Soon, Dahee firmly grasped Bong Ji-yeon's hand.
"Ji-yeon. You need to be careful not to get hurt."
Blink blink-
Attacked by Dahee's pure, moist gaze, Bong Ji-yeon made a groaning sound before finally nodding.
It seems Bong Ji-yeon couldn't refuse Dahee's words because she was Dahee's fan.