Chapter 150
Wang Ja-hyun's group was in a state of panic due to the ghost they encountered in the real old school building.
'We managed to drive it away for now.'
Wang Ja-hyun belonged to Gwanak First Presbyterian Church.
Gwanjejang was one of the largest churches in Korea that adopted charismatic practices, and one of the few churches that still talked about Satan, devils, and ghosts.
As a result, their pastors were sometimes condemned as heretics, but it also meant they knew well how to deal with ghosts.
Crumble-
The cross in Wang Ja-hyun's hand burned black and crumbled to ashes. The crosses Kim Geon-ho and Gong Ye-rin had probably met the same fate.
"You bitch, are you out of your mind trying to get us all killed?"
Kim Geon-ho yelled at Im Hee-yeon, who was sitting on the floor of the old school building.
He was angry because Im Hee-yeon had collapsed in fear when they were dealing with the dancing ghost earlier. Gong Ye-rin seemed just as angry.
"Could it be her? The mafia. Didn't she sell us out to Ha Young-won's group?"
"Wh-what? It's not me! It's not me! Gong Ye-rin, what are you saying! Why are you slandering me! It's definitely not me! Ja-hyun, you know me!"
Grab-
The cowardly Im Hee-yeon clung to Wang Ja-hyun's leg. Wang Ja-hyun was just annoyed.
'...Women.'
He knew that Im Hee-yeon and Gong Ye-rin were jealous of and disliked each other. In fact, Wang Ja-hyun had half intended it.
It was convenient to use them as they competed and fawned over each other like loyal dogs, vying for Wang Ja-hyun's affection and obediently following him.
But he didn't expect them to attack and slander each other even in this situation.
'They might look different, but in the end, all women are the same.'
Wang Ja-hyun had none of the fantasies about women that boys his age typically had. That's why he could think coldly.
'Is Im Hee-yeon really the mafia?'
Wang Ja-hyun looked closely at Im Hee-yeon clinging to his leg. She was a girl with her hair tied back.
Originally, Im Hee-yeon had long hair that she wore freely, but since Wang Ja-hyun told her to tie it up, she had been tying it every day without fail.
The same was true for Gong Ye-rin. Gong Ye-rin also had long hair, but as soon as Wang Ja-hyun told her to cut it short, she did.
'They'd both play dead if I told them to. Would Im Hee-yeon betray me like that?'
Something didn't add up.
Even as Wang Ja-hyun was lost in thought, time was ticking away. Gong Ye-rin spoke urgently, like a rabbit chased by a lion.
"Im Hee-yeon is the traitor! Ja-hyun! There's nothing more to see!"
"It's not me! It's not! Gong Ye-rin, you! Why are you trying to drive a wedge between us? Aren't you the traitor? What do you gain by interfering between me and Ja-hyun! You're the traitor!"
"What are you saying! You crazy bitch!"
Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon started fighting, clinging to each other. Watching this, Kim Geon-ho sighed.
"Shit, this is a mess. What are we doing now? Shouldn't we either get out of this place or find out who the mafia or whatever is! Can't you all get your act together?"
Kim Geon-ho's words had no impact on Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon. The girls were still pulling each other's hair or biting each other's arms.
Wang Ja-hyun calmly looked at his phone and thought.
"If we fail to find the mafia, the citizens will die..."
Wang Ja-hyun recalled the rules of the "Mafia Game".
It was a game where you had to identify a criminal hidden among a group of citizens, and each night, someone was hanged by 'vote'.
If that citizen was the mafia, it would be confirmed with a message like 'The mafia has died', and if they were an innocent citizen, it would say 'They were an innocent citizen'.
In the end, you could only confirm whether someone was the mafia or a citizen by killing them.
'...One of these four has to die within an hour. Excluding myself, that leaves three. Gong Ye-rin, Im Hee-yeon, and Kim Geon-ho.'
In Wang Ja-hyun's opinion, the most suspicious was Kim Geon-ho, who had joined recently. He had the weakest bond with the group and the highest probability of being a traitor.
Also, Wang Ja-hyun was confident that the girls would never betray him.
'The culprit is Kim Geon-ho.'
Wang Ja-hyun, Im Hee-yeon, and Gong Ye-rin had an alibi of going to church together on the day they were robbed. At that time, Kim Geon-ho said he was meeting with the female teacher, Hong Mi-ri.
'Hong Mi-ri is a teacher from the Yeongji Foundation. That means she's the chairman's person. The chairman and Yoo Dahee are family. And that Yoo Dahee is friends with Ha Young-won...'
It was a rough deduction, but it was convincing.
The probability that Kim Geon-ho was in cahoots with Ha Young-won through Hong Mi-ri. The question was 'why'.
'Didn't Kim Geon-ho dislike Ha Young-won?'
The moment he suspected that Ha Young-won's group had stolen the talismans, Kim Geon-ho was the one who gritted his teeth saying, "I'll kill that bastard with my own hands." But what if it was all an act?
'It wouldn't be strange if Ha Young-won had persuaded Kim Geon-ho. There's a story passed down among those who walk this corridor. They say there's a clock at the end of the corridor that grants wishes...'
What if Ha Young-won had promised to grant Kim Geon-ho's wish?
'It makes sense.'
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious things he noticed about Kim Geon-ho. The problem was how to hang Kim Geon-ho.
'If Kim Geon-ho goes wild, we can't stop him.'
After a long silence, Wang Ja-hyun came to a conclusion.
"Everyone stop fighting. We should probably talk individually. Hee-yeon. Come here. Let's talk. Ye-rin, Geon-ho. You two wait here."
Saying this, Wang Ja-hyun rubbed his neck.
Soon, Wang Ja-hyun and Im Hee-yeon disappeared into the teachers' office, leaving Gong Ye-rin and Kim Geon-ho alone in the corridor. Kim Geon-ho looked around the corridor and shivered slightly at the creepiness.
'What an unlucky place. Every time I come here, I feel dirty.'
Gong Ye-rin spoke to Kim Geon-ho.
"It must be Im Hee-yeon."
"What? The traitor?"
"Yeah. Ja-hyun told only me, but the talismans that were 11 have been reduced to 10. Im Hee-yeon must have stolen one."
"Is that so? Now that I hear it, Im Hee-yeon does seem really suspicious. She's always trembling in fear at everything. Like someone with a lot to hide."
"You and I need to protect Ja-hyun well. Even if it costs us our lives."
Gong Ye-rin spoke to Kim Geon-ho with a sense of determination. Kim Geon-ho suddenly became curious.
"Even your life?"
"Yes."
Kim Geon-ho thought women were truly terrifying creatures. But at the same time, it was also funny.
"The consultation will take a long time, right? We don't have much time left, do we? How about we do it here now?"
Glance-
As Kim Geon-ho put his hand on Gong Ye-rin's shoulder, she freaked out.
"What? Are you really crazy?"
"Five minutes is all I need. Five minutes. Depending on how you act, I'll decide whether to cooperate with Wang Ja-hyun or not. Don't you desperately need my strength right now?"
Kim Geon-ho was mentally strained after being attacked by the creepy place and unexplained supernatural phenomena.
It was natural for a high school boy steeped in chilliness to want to feel human warmth. It wasn't particularly unusual; Kim Geon-ho and Gong Ye-rin occasionally shared each other's warmth in secret from Wang Ja-hyun.
'Gong Ye-rin, aren't you the real traitor?'
Kim Geon-ho found Gong Ye-rin ridiculous, but he didn't show it. Gong Ye-rin soon leaned against the wall, bending over.
"Make it quick."
"Alright. I'm not bragging, but I'm confident in finishing quickly."
"Wait, let's kiss first."
"What? I thought you didn't like kissing?"
Kim Geon-ho smirked at Gong Ye-rin.
'She didn't say it, but maybe she was scared too and wanted to rely on someone.'
Just as Kim Geon-ho and Gong Ye-rin were about to kiss, Kim Geon-ho felt a sharp pain in his neck.
"Ugh!"
Hot blood gushed from Kim Geon-ho's neck. Gong Ye-rin was holding a folding knife in her hand.
It was something she always carried with her.
"Gack..."
"It's you, isn't it? You traitor. You stole the talisman. You sold all our information to Ha Young-won!"
As Gong Ye-rin approached Kim Geon-ho with the knife, he stepped back, clutching his neck.
Even for Kim Geon-ho, it was too dangerous to face Gong Ye-rin with a severely cut neck. Soon, Im Hee-yeon and Wang Ja-hyun, who had gone into the teachers' office, rushed out.
"Ja-hyun, the plan really worked."
"Ye-rin, good job. You understood well."
"When you two came out touching your neck, it meant to get rid of Kim Geon-ho, right?"
"You... you crazy bastards..."
Thud-
Kim Geon-ho collapsed on the floor. Gong Ye-rin kicked his body violently.
"You bastard, did you think I actually liked you? If Ja-hyun hadn't asked, I wouldn't have even held hands with a jerk like you. You idiot. Idiot! Bastard!"
Thud-! Thud-!
Kim Geon-ho flinched at Gong Ye-rin's kicks. His fading mind couldn't understand at all.
'...They'd do such things just because Wang Ja-hyun asked? These crazy bitches...'
To Kim Geon-ho, women seemed more difficult and scarier than ghosts and the school. Soon, a phone rang.
[Geon-ho: Kim Geon-ho was the mafia.]
[Geon-ho: The citizens' peace has been protected.]
"Let's go, guys."
"Okay!"
"Let's go!"
Im Hee-yeon and Gong Ye-rin grabbed Wang Ja-hyun's arms. They were finally able to leave the dreaded old school building.
Thud-!
As they were about to exit through the back door they had opened earlier, there was a flash before their eyes.
Someone waiting at the entrance of the old school building had struck them on the back of the head.
***
"......"
Kim Geon-ho disappeared from the player list. That meant only one thing.
It meant he was dead.
I felt like ants were crawling all over my body. A complex mix of fear, tension, guilt, and relief made my heart race.
I couldn't calm down easily.
To think that I had someone killed.
He was someone who had bullied me and threatened my life, but I didn't have the guts to say "He got what he deserved."
Slap slap-
I slapped my cheeks as if to wake myself from a drunken stupor. I needed to pull myself together now more than ever.
"It's okay. I started this, so I have to take responsibility."
It was better for me to dirty my hands than to put my friends in danger because of me. In the end, there had to be a hierarchy in our lives.
"Kim Geon-ho brought this on himself. He brought it on himself."
How should I explain Kim Geon-ho's death to my friends? Would my friends be scared of me if they knew I had someone killed?
As I started to worry about various things to the point where my head felt like it was splitting, my phone rang.
[Wang Ja-hyun: Hey, let's meet, just the two of us. Keep it secret from the others]
"......"
My heart sank. I hadn't expected him to contact me so directly.
Meet in secret from others? I immediately called Jung-seok.
"Hey, Wang Ja-hyun wants to meet secretly without telling others. What should I do?"