Chapter 20
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-
The bell sound grew closer.
Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-
The sound of a head bouncing around, searching for its body, followed me.
"If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come."
A voice that made me feel like I was going insane was right behind me. I felt like I was really going to lose my mind.
Why do these things keep happening to me?! What did I do wrong?!
I decided to lock myself in the library bathroom and figure out a way to deal with the situation. Fortunately, I had my status window, which I could call my external CPU!
"Advice!"
Please tell me the right answer to overcome this situation!
『Advice from 《Broken Clock》: There's a proper cause and effect for everything.』
There's a proper cause and effect for everything!
That's right. There must be a reason why I'm experiencing these terrible things every day!
When did all of this start?
Thinking about it, the supernatural events started flooding into my daily life after I pressed the "Open Old School Building" button in the shop I opened with 100 points.
That was the problem!
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-
The bell sound grew closer.
Is it trying to enter the men's bathroom in the library?
No. I realized that this sound wasn't coming from outside the bathroom.
The sound was coming from... above me... right above where I was sitting and trembling in the bathroom stall.
"......"
Creak. Cre-creak-
Ding. Ding.
Strange noises and bell sounds came from above my head.
If I look up now, I'll be able to see what's above my head.
But... if I do that, I'll surely die. I'm going to die!
I felt the blood drain from my entire body.
The feeling of blood sinking to my feet and turning cold.
My body temperature must have dropped by at least 2 degrees in an instant.
"...Oh, shit."
Swish-
I slowly raised my body, keeping a low posture and being careful not to lift my head.
Like a snail extending its tentacles, I very quietly and slowly reached out my hand to unlock the bathroom stall...
Click-
Good.
Now I just need to push this open and get out...
Thud-
At that moment, something grabbed my shoulder.
Even through my clothes, I could feel an icy cold touch that seemed to freeze me to the bone.
"Ugyaaaaaaah! Fuck! Aaaah! Aaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
When people are truly startled, they can have seizures.
That's exactly what happened to me, and I screamed and shook as if I was about to wet myself.
"What are you doing?"
"...Pardon?"
"I asked, what are you doing?"
"......"
...What's going on?
I was the one who wanted to ask what was happening.
When I came to my senses, the bell sound, the cold bathroom, and the chilling touch had all disappeared.
Instead, a woman with her hair tied back, wearing a red blouse and black dress pants, was frowning at me. She was a beautiful woman with a sophisticated appearance, and the scent of an unidentifiable perfume wafted over.
"...Ms. Hong Mi-ri?"
"Yes."
The woman turned out to be the English teacher I once had a crush on. At 27, she's very young, stylish, and pretty, making her extremely popular among students.
"Why are you so surprised? Did you have a nightmare while sleeping with your head on the desk?"
"Ah."
"Maybe it's because the school grounds are on a big water vein, but many people have nightmares or see things. Anyway, it's time to close the library, so get out quickly. And wipe the drool off your mouth."
Click. Click. Click.
The English teacher disappeared into the distance, her high heels striking the hard floor.
I shook off my dazed feelings and got up from the library desk.
In front of me were books like "Record of Ghost Stories" and "Alley Ghost's Tales" spread out messily.
There was even drool running down my chin, so I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.
"A dream...?"
Were the things that just happened a dream? Which parts were real and which were dreams?
"......"
The time was already 8 PM. I don't even know when I fell asleep, but evening had long since passed.
"Ah, geez. No wonder I had a nightmare reading books like these."
I roughly gathered the scattered books and shoved them into my bag.
That's when a book titled "Easy Guide to Feng Shui" fell out from among my things.
It had a post-it note attached with "Yoo Dahee" written on it.
"What's with the feng shui book?"
I brought it close to my nose and sniffed it, and it had quite a nice smell.
"Did Dahee give me this book... Was it not a dream? Did she recommend it because I said I liked feng shui?"
Shiver-
My body trembled. I needed to pee.
No joke, my bladder was about to burst.
If I had woken up wetting my pants... how much would the English teacher have despised me? I might have had to drop out of school.
With such playful thoughts, I shook off the goosebumps on my body and headed towards the bathroom, but for some reason, I felt uneasy about using the library bathroom.
"......"
Was it because of the experience in the nightmare?
"...I'll go at home."
Swish-
I turned around and headed home.
Ding, ding, ding-
The bell sound started again behind me.
"Oh, fuck, what is this?"
This time, it wasn't a dream.
***
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-
The bell sound continued. I felt like something was chasing me.
I really felt like crying.
The only reason I hadn't gone insane yet was because I still had about 620P in unused points.
I need to keep my sanity at least until I use all of this, even if just out of spite!
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-
The bell sound continued.
"Where... Where... Where... Where..."
If I listened closely, I could hear an eerie voice that sounded like either sobbing or wailing.
I felt like I was really going to lose it.
The dark back alleys of Cheonmun-dong were unusually empty tonight.
I had said I liked Gaeryong City not long ago, but I take that back. This place was a terrible neighborhood.
Seoul with its crowds is definitely the best after all!
-My heart's so soft-
-Like clear stream water-
-Stream, stream, stream water-
I dialed a number while paying attention to the creepy presence behind me.
"Yang Juhee. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up."
If I'm with my partner Juhee, we might be able to overcome this ordeal somehow!
The source of the bell sound is probably the shaman ghost. And since Juhee's family has been shamans for generations, maybe people with shaman souls can fight it out or communicate with each other!
With such creative and baseless thoughts, I was grasping at straws by calling Juhee, but she didn't answer.
Is she sleeping? Taking a shower?
"I'm screwed..."
Ding, ding, ding-
The bell sound was getting closer and closer. The only good thing was that it wasn't moving very fast, and I could outpace it at my normal walking speed.
But I didn't know how long this sound would follow me.
As a human, I needed to sleep, and if the bell woman caught up to me then... I didn't want to imagine what would happen.
If this turns into a war of attrition, I might lose. In that case... wouldn't it be better to find the answer and attack first from my side?
The Broken Clock's advice said:
『Advice from 《Broken Clock》: There's a proper cause and effect for everything.』
If I can find out the cause or background of the shaman ghost's appearance, there might be information that could help exorcise it. And that information... is probably in the school library.
"...Should I go there again?"
It was 8 PM in the evening.
The thought of going to the dark school library alone was terrifying. It would have been nice if Juhee was here, but she still wasn't answering her phone.
「Can you come to the school library? I'm too scared!」
I left a message just in case. The 1 didn't disappear, but... she'll check it eventually!
Then, a contact caught my eye.
「Jung Sojin」.
Should I call Sojin? Sojin has the 《Attentiveness》 trait.
If that applies in reality too, she might be able to find the book I'm looking for in the library effectively.
"No. I can't."
I changed my train of thought. Sojin is only useful as an ally when her own safety is guaranteed.
If this ghost becomes visible to Sojin too... she'd definitely throw me under the bus and run away!
"Ah, shit..."
Life without friends is this hard. Then, a bright idea came to me.
I'll use Sojin. Sojin should have the "Class Emergency Contact Network"!
***
Ring ring ring-
It was a formal and boring ringtone. After about five rings, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, vice president. It's Ha Young-won. You need to help me. Remember when I helped you? When Bong Ji-yeon was hitting you. I helped you, right? Now you help me."
"How did you get my number...?"
"I asked Jung Sojin! That's not important right now! Help me! I'll be near the school library, so come quickly! If you don't come, I'll tell everyone who your dad is, okay?"
"......"
"Please help me! Please! I'm really going to die! Man! Didn't you want to help me? You even wrote a note about bullying in Class D! Didn't you want to help me?"
"......"
"If I die today, it's because of you! Man! You bastard! Please! Just...!"
I used both pleading and threats simultaneously. Given the situation, it wasn't the time to be picky about methods.
"If this gets resolved well, I'll give you 100,000 won! 100,000 won! Come to the front of the school library!"
I was almost screaming at this point.
Hoo...
I heard a rather deep sigh, and then a gruff boy's voice spoke.
"Fine. Wait. It'll take about 10 minutes."
Oh, shit...! It worked! It worked!
I turned my steps towards the school.
As they say, even a blank paper is easier to carry when two people hold it. Thinking that even a shitty situation is better with two people made me feel a bit better. This is why people can't live alone.
From now on, I won't let anyone who advocates for single life get away with it.
Community life! Helping each other! This is what human life is really about!
"Ha Young-won. What is it?"
When I arrived at the library, there was a rather gruff-looking boy standing there. I was so happy I wanted to hug him.
"Jung-seok. From now on, find all the books related to our school's history in the library. All of them. Everything!"
"......"
Jung-seok frowned. He looked stubborn.
"Why? What's the reason? You'll die if you don't do this?"
"Ghost! There's a ghost! A shaman ghost! A shaman ghost is chasing me! I know! It sounds like bullshit! Anyway, just help me! A shaman ghost is chasing me! Please..."
Ding-a-ling-
I earnestly appealed while trying to ignore the approaching bell sound.
Jung-seok's frown deepened as if he was getting annoyed.
"Are you joking right now? A ghost? I wasted my time. Are you making fun of me? You’re even playing bell sounds."
...Bell?
I didn't mention anything about bells to Jung-seok. As I was starting to think this was strange…
Jung-seok's frowning expression gradually changed to something more subtle. It seemed like he saw something over my shoulder.
"...Hey. This shaman ghost... what does it look like? There's something standing on the road where cars pass... Something is standing there and coming this way...?"
"It has thin ankles wearing traditional socks. It's wearing something like a loose hanbok, and its chest is probably bigger than you'd expect. The face is terribly ugly."
Jung-seok was smart enough to rank 5th in the entire school during midterms.
After hearing my explanation, he seemed to quickly understand the situation with his sharp mind.
"Ah, Ha Young-won, you son of a bitch."
"You saw it? You saw it too! You're my comrade now! My comrade!"