Chapter 156
"I'll go in."
Yang Juhee bravely stepped forward. She was truly impressive.
Even Bong Ji-yeon, who usually bickered with Juhee, seemed to admire her.
"Oh, as expected of Juam Middle School's pride, Yang Juhee. Juam Juhee."
"Bong Ji-yeon, I swear I'll kill you."
Juhee exploded in anger. I wondered why she was so upset about her middle school's name.
"Juam Juhee."
I thought it had a nice ring to it, but Juhee punched my shoulder hard.
"Hey! Stop that!"
It wasn't a playful hit, but a real one, and it hurt a lot.
"Ow~"
Why am I suddenly getting hit?
It was so unfair I almost teared up, but then Dahee poked my side.
"Pervert."
Dahee too? Why? What's going on?
I felt really wronged.
Juhee, her face flushed red, knelt down to look at the hole.
"Oh, I can't get in."
Why not?
"The hole's too narrow. The earthquake must have knocked things over inside."
Indeed, it had.
The hole was too small for a person to crawl through. In this case, there was only one option.
"W-why are you all looking at me?!"
Kwon Sua trembled all over. Everything about her was shaking.
Sua had a talent. If her head could fit, the rest of her could too.
It was like octopus-level flexibility.
"I'm scared! I don't want to!"
Sua looked horrified at the idea of going into the science lab. But among us, she was the only one who could fit through.
"Sua, please!"
"......"
Sua frowned, her big eyes squinting and her cheeks puffed out. A girl's aegyo, knowing she's cute and acting even cuter, can be a lethal weapon.
Both Jung-seok and I were struck speechless by Sua's desperate plea. Then, Ms. Hong Mi-ri chuckled.
"How about this. if Sua goes in and clears the way, Young-won will grant her one wish. Can you do it for that?"
"Well, if that's the case..."
Sua seemed to gather her courage and agree. I nodded too.
Finally, Sua lay down on the floor. She started squeezing her body into the hole.
Squish—
Watching this surreal scene, Yang Juhee exclaimed in shock.
"Whoa, what the hell? How can she fit through that? Is that even possible?"
Juhee put her hands on her own chest, pressing as if checking the size. She seemed curious about how Sua's proportions could compress enough to fit through.
I was also wondering about the physics of it all. The possibilities of the human body are truly endless.
"I'm scared!"
Sua had somehow made it fully into the science lab. I knocked on the wall and said.
"Try to clear away the stuff inside. Then we'll use this sledgehammer to widen the hole."
"Wait!"
Clatter, clunk—
Thud— Bang!
We could hear the sounds of things being moved around. It seemed like hard work; Sua was panting heavily.
"Hah... hah..."
Just hearing her breathing was a bit much. I've never been that interested in idols, but watching Sua, I could understand why people spend so much money on them and get so devastated when dating rumors surface.
"It's clear now!"
"Everyone, stand back."
Yang Juhee, gripping a sledgehammer with both hands, made everyone move away. Then, like a baseball player, she swung the hammer at the wall. It was quite a sight.
Crash! Rumble—
The science lab wall crumbled easily. It was now wide enough for a person to enter by ducking.
"Alright guys, let's go in."
We entered the science lab, and it was full of bizarre sights. There were mirrors everywhere, making it look incredibly eerie.
Is this the nest of the mirror ghosts?
Ms. Hong Miri said.
"There used to be rumors about man-eating mirrors. They said hands would reach out from the mirrors and drag people into the mirror world. One of these mirrors might be that one. I heard they paid a fortune for it."
Why on earth would anyone buy such cursed objects?
I couldn't understand the Chairman's hobbies at all. Is this what happens when you become rich?
Rich people must do so many fun things that their dopamine levels go haywire, and they can't feel pleasure from normal entertainment anymore. So they look for more extreme things and end up messing with weird objects.
If I ever get rich, I'll make sure to live a wholesome life.
Then Dahee grabbed my side.
"What?"
"When you place mirrors facing each other, they reflect each other endlessly. Does this have an end? Or is it infinite?"
I don't know. I'd never thought about it before. Dahee must have suddenly become curious about this.
"Probably infinite, I guess."
As I was nodding vaguely—
Jung-seok, who had been sweeping the metal detector around the science lab, seemed to have found something.
"Most of the old school building is made of stone and cement. Why is only the science lab floor wooden? Could it be... guys, let's all break the floor!"
Is this for real? What if the building collapses or something?
I felt a sudden fear, but Jung-seok was already swinging the sledgehammer at the floor.
Thud, thud—
Thud, crash— Crack! Crunch!
The hammering began. The sledgehammer was so heavy that we all had to take turns hitting the floor.
Fortunately, the wooden floor was already cracked and half-collapsed to begin with.
Eventually, the science lab floor was reduced to tatters. It was a ghastly sight, but what lay beneath the wooden boards was even more horrifying.
"Gasp."
I was shocked.
As we cleared away the boards, an intensely rusted, blood-red object appeared.
It was shaped like a rectangular coffin, but I couldn't imagine such an ominous coffin existing in this world. It seemed like something that shouldn't be touched.
"This is it. This is what we're looking for."
Jung-seok beamed with joy as he shone his phone light on it. But his happiness didn't last long.
"It's in terrible condition. We can't make out anything. We can't even read what's written on it. There should be a name inscribed, but it's too rusted..."
Maybe it was because the object was so old. Or perhaps it wasn't stored properly, but this iron coffin was in poor shape.
It looked like you could easily get tetanus just by touching it carelessly.
"...Where's the lid?"
Sua trembled as she spoke.
Come to think of it, it did look like there should be a lid. And the contents were empty too.
Jung-seok scratched his head vigorously.
"This place... it's like a mirror world, right? Young-won, there might be an identical coffin in the Nightmare Corridor. After all, the Yin-Yang Master only exists on that side. The one over there might be the real deal."
"I guess there could be an identical coffin in the corridor. But that means we'd have to explore the second floor where all those terrifying ghosts appear. It's not going to be easy. You know that."
"We have to get rid of the Yin-Yang Master anyway if we want to conquer the third floor."
The cooldown for entering the Nightmare Corridor ends today.
I guess we'll have to face those fearsome evil spirits instead of avoiding them.
***
"Oh, crap."
As I returned home, I was startled to see Kim Geon-ho standing in front of our house. A school bully ghost with blood dripping from his neck, standing right at our doorstep.
It was as terrifying as if a real-life bully had said, "Ha Young-won, let's go hang out at your place."
When bullies come to your house, they'll rummage through the fridge, open doors without permission, and come and go as they please.
Yang Juhee was actually doing that. Whenever Juhee came over, she'd open the fridge and drink yogurt. She even found and ate the pudding I'd hidden away to save for later.
It's making me angry just thinking about it. You think I'm just going to let bullies walk all over me?
"Hey. If you think about it, you're more at fault. You bullied and tormented me. If you hadn't done that, you know what? I might never have opened the Nightmare Corridor! You jerk!"
The day I opened the Nightmare Corridor.
If the world had been just a little kinder, who knows if I would have made such an extreme choice. But the world was cruel to me, and I opened the corridor for the sake of great change.
"If it wasn't me, someone else might have made a truly extreme choice, you know? It's because it was me that I managed to hang on and survive somehow! You have no right to resent me!"
Kim Geon-ho remained silent. His silence made him even more frightening.
"Hey! Okay! I'm sorry! Please just move on to the afterlife! Just let yourself be exorcised quietly! What do you want from me, appearing in front of me like this all the time!"
If I became a ghost... if I became invisible, I'd want to go watch the girls I had crushes on. Any red-blooded man would, right?
But Kim Geon-ho appeared to me, not to Gong Yerin or Im Heeyeon who directly killed him.
Why on earth?
"Huh!"
Suddenly, I started to feel scared. A chill ran down my spine, my neck tingled, and my butt felt weirdly sore.
"You bastard, don't tell me..."
Kim Geon-ho, could this jerk have liked guys? Did he bully me because he liked me?
...A gay bully ghost?
I wasn't prepared to accept something like that.
In some ways, it was as frightening as the evil spirits that appear on the second floor. A psychological and instinctive fear dominated my mind.
I need to exorcise him.
That thought filled my head.
But how do I exorcise this guy?
Suddenly, I remembered the glove in my bag. The glove I received from Kim Cheolyong, Geon-ho's father.
"Take this and move on!"
Whoosh!
I thrust the glove towards Kim Geon-ho.
Swish—
Geon-ho took it, and finally disappeared like dust.
『Congratulations! You have triumphed over the 'Bully Ghost'!』
『Calculating the reward for 1 person's survival.』
Ching—
100 Points were added.
My whole body tingled, as if blocked blood was flowing again.
"Well, strange things do happen."
I thought I was prepared for anything after all I've been through. It was surprising that there were still things that could surprise me.
"Son, what are you doing there? Were you waiting for Mom?"
My mom called out to me as I stood blankly in front of our apartment building. She seemed to be returning from grocery shopping.
"You've hardly been home lately! I'm making your favorite tonkatsu for dinner tonight, so even if you go out, eat before you leave!"
I felt like I hadn't seen Mom in a long time too. Today, I should talk with her a bit before entering the Nightmare Corridor.
They say my mom is the only one who's seen the 4th floor of the corridor.
I wonder what she saw there and what wish she made.