Chapter 21: Ghost Story (3)

"What do you want me to do?"

Jung-seok seemed to believe me.

I quickly spoke, afraid he might change his mind.

"We need to find books about our school's history. It'd be even better if we find books about past incidents and shamans. They say this school used to be a cemetery. That's probably why real ghosts are appearing."

In horror movies, ghosts often have grudges that make them kill people. If we could learn about the shaman ghost and resolve its grudge, maybe we could solve this problem?

"But Young-won, the library should be locked. How are we going to get in?"

"Don't worry. I'm the Class D library committee member. I know the library lock code. You think I'd call you here without a plan?"

We started walking. After unlocking the library door, we entered the dark, cold, and empty library interior that felt enormous.

Ding, ding-

The bell sound behind us had faded slightly.

"Jung-seok. You're my comrade now. Even if you run away from here, the ghost will chase you. So, we need to do our best to solve this. Our best. Our lives depend on it!"

"......"

Swish-

Jung-seok effortlessly found a book and handed it to me. The title was "Jung Do-san, Father of Gaeryong."

"It's my grandfather's autobiography. We have lots of copies at home, but it should have information about Yeongji High. Take a look. I'll search for other books."

Great! I quickly opened the book and I found the information I wanted!

"During the construction of Yeongji High School, unfortunate accidents kept occurring. The Cheon family, who owned the land and founded the educational foundation, suggested calling shamans to perform a pressing ritual."

"We asked a local shaman to perform the pressing ritual. Known as a powerful shaman, she was skeptical about building a school on a water vein site."

"The local shaman ultimately refused to perform the pressing ritual. Mr. Cheon brought in a young shaman from outside. She was very beautiful. She introduced herself as the head shaman."

"There were no more accidents, and the construction was completed safely."

Is that it? Is there nothing more?

As I was flipping through the book, Jung-seok approached me.

"There don't seem to be any books specifically about Gaeryong City shamans. Did you find anything?"

Thump thump-thump thump thump-

We heard something stomping on the floor.

"...Hey, Young-won. It seems like there's more than one ghost."

"If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come."

"Hey, you can hear this too, right? Now? Or am I going crazy? You can hear something outside the library, right?"

Jung-seok urged me to answer, looking very tense.

However, as I continued to examine the book, I felt like I had finally found a clue to this phenomenon.

"As the mayor, I asked the head shaman of the local shrine to perform the pressing ritual. Known as a powerful shaman, she was skeptical about building a school on a water vein site."

This was the part I focused on.

"Water vein site... Didn't the English teacher also say this school is on a water vein site? That's why people have nightmares or see things?"

Flash-

As if a light bulb went on in my head, I opened the "Easy Guide to Feng Shui" book and read the section about 'water veins.'

I had a feeling that Dahee's feng shui book would be helpful now!

"Damn it, this wasn't a cemetery! You bastards! This is a water vein site, right? There's no way they'd put a cemetery on a water vein site!"

Don't put cemeteries on water vein sites-

This is something every Korean knows without needing to look it up in a feng shui book. There's a proper cause and effect for everything.

"If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come."

The cause and effect of real ghosts appearing because we talked about ghosts in a cemetery-

But this school wasn't a cemetery, so ghosts shouldn't appear even if we talk about them.

"Get out! Get out, you bastards! This isn't a cemetery! We didn't talk about ghosts in a cemetery! All of you, get out!"

I was so angry, scared, and frustrated that I vented all sorts of strange emotions as if excreting them.

After yelling for a while, Jung-seok brought an old map from somewhere and said,

"There were houses here before the school was built. Big houses. It wasn't a cemetery, but a residential area. Yeongji High was built after demolishing the existing mansion on this site!"

Was our fact-bombing exorcism effective? The noisy library exterior suddenly became very quiet.

Then, Jung-seok muttered while catching his breath.

"Is it all over...?"

Hey! You shouldn't say things like that!

Swish-

As if my bad premonition came true, a silhouette appeared in the library window. It was a shadow with long legs and pronounced curves.

"...The shaman ghost!?"

Click-

The library door opened.

"Hey. What is it now? Why did you call me at this hour? Do you think I'm someone who comes and goes at your beck and call?"

It was Yang Juhee. The silhouette was Juhee!

So you came after receiving my message! I finally collapsed, my legs giving out.

Ding-

『Congratulations! You have defeated 'Ghosts Come When You Talk About Them'!』

『Calculating rewards for 2 survivors.』

『You gain 200P.』

Screw you!

***

We left the library and went to a nearby cafe. We bought three drinks and one carrot cake, and I paid.

"Explain what happened."

Vice class president Jung-seok demanded an explanation from me.

It was a reasonable attitude.

The reason I came to the cafe with them was actually to explain.

"You saw it earlier. I'm constantly tormented by ghosts and other terrible things. The problem is that sometimes they only target me, but other times they involve other people too."

There's a saying about fortune in misfortune.

Yang Juhee and Jung-seok. It was both unfortunate and fortunate that they had both experienced ghost incidents with me before - the "Copied Mom" and "Feng Shui Ghost" incidents.

These surreal and abnormal experiences tend to broaden people's rigid reason and worldview.

"Why?"

Jung-seok asked simply while putting a straw in his iced Americano.

Why-

What does he mean?

"Why are ghosts coming to you? There must be a reason for that too."

Jung-seok seemed to think the cause of my experiences was important, either because of the recent "Feng Shui Ghost" incident or because that was just his personality.

If I traced it back, the timing of when I opened the shop and bought the "Open Old School Building" option did coincide exactly with the ghosts' rampage...

"The reason... I don't really know. I want to find out."

It wasn't a lie.

Strictly speaking, the strange "Status Window" appearing was the root cause, wasn't it? I didn't know why this status window had appeared for me.

"......"

Jung-seok frowned. He was probably feeling afraid that he might keep experiencing things like this.

"I know, I know. I'm not asking for help without offering anything. If you help me, I can give you money. Don't you need money?"

"Money?"

Juhee's eyes sparkled at my offer.

Who doesn't need money?

Then Jung-seok asked,

"It was you, Young-won. The one who gave out 30,000 won to each person in class yesterday."

Jung-seok, this guy. He's sharper than I thought.

"Is yesterday's group chat incident related to what happened today?"

"Yeah. If it weren't for me, you'd all be dead. I'll be frank now that we're here - I saved your lives. I saved you all."

Honestly, I didn't want to brag, but I wanted to convince these friends who had experienced the same incident. We're in no position to be picky, as they say.

About a minute passed.

Jung-seok gulped down his Americano. Then he put down the empty cup with a thud and said,

"So, Young-won, what you're saying is that things are happening that could put my life in danger without me knowing. Rather than dying or getting hurt without knowing anything, it's better to cooperate."

"Oh. Yeah. You're right."

"But why me specifically?"

Jung-seok asked me.

I decided to be honest.

"You wrote that note about bullying in Class D, remember? It was a bit clumsy, I'll admit. If it were me, I'd have written with my left hand. But I thought you at least had some altruism."

"Altruism..."

"Since we're on the topic, let me ask you. Why did you suddenly write that note?"

I was curious about the person 'Jung-seok,' the vice class president. We might become comrades in the same boat, so it's good to know each other well.

Soon, Jung-seok spoke.

"It wasn't really because of altruism. My dad's in election season, so I was just trying to avoid causing trouble in class. But then... my thinking changed a bit."

Dad's in election season? Is he some kind of politician?

Come to think of it, didn't his grandfather's autobiography mention something about a mayor?

As I was thinking, Juhee, who was eating the carrot cake, spoke up.

"Ah. I thought I'd seen him somewhere. Jung Man-sik. Mayor Jung Man-sik of Gaeryong City! He looks like him!"

Jung Man-sik… The person on the banner fluttering in front of our house?

"Wow, Jung-seok, you're a real silver spoon. Your dad's the mayor. I've never met a politician's son before. Can I touch you?"

"...Wait, didn't you say you knew and were going to spread rumors?"

"I only knew he was a former prosecutor, not that he's the current mayor."

"......"

Jung-seok looked like he felt tricked.

"Keep it a secret."

Jung-seok seemed to want to hide that his dad was the mayor. If it were me, I'd have bragged about it. If I were the mayor's son, even the teachers would tiptoe around me, right?

If I said "Water-" the stylish English teacher would bring water to my desk.

"I really wanted to avoid trouble this year. That's why I pretended not to see you getting bullied, Young-won. I thought it was better not to get involved."

Well… I could understand that.

"Hey. You came today, didn't you? You didn't pretend not to see today. That's enough."

I thought that was a pretty cool thing to say.

As I was feeling impressed with myself, Jung-seok looked back and forth between me and Juhee.

"...But how did you two become friends?"

A bully and her lackey. He must have noticed that our relationship couldn't be defined by just that.

As I was thinking about how to explain, Jung-seok calmly added,

"A lot must have happened. It's the same for me. I got targeted by Bong Ji-yeon's gang and got beaten up, and it was tougher than I expected. So my mind... changed a bit. That's why I wrote the note too."

I wondered how Jung-seok, the mayor's son, ended up getting beaten by Bong Ji-yeon's gang.

There was a lot I wanted to ask, but I didn't think he'd answer easily.

The important thing is that Jung-seok and I became comrades today! It felt like we'd formed a real pirate crew.

Should we name our pirate crew? As I was thinking that, Jung-seok said,

"By the way, Young-won. Last time you smugly deduced that I wrote the note. Your claim was only half right. You said next time I should write with my left hand to disguise my handwriting, right?"

"That's right."

"That note was written with my left hand from the start. I'm left-handed."

Oh ho. He's got more spunk than I thought. I learned the TMI that Jung-seok is left-handed.

"Nice. Good. Anyway, you're all in the same boat with me now."

Grumble-

Maybe because I felt relieved, I was hungry. Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten dinner.

I thought about eating some carrot cake, but it was gone. Juhee had eaten it all.

"Young-won. Buy me some more cake. It's delicious."

"......"

Since it's come to this, should we just go get a late dinner?

With that thought, I bought the cake and was leaving the cafe when Jung-seok asked me in a low voice.

"By the way, Young-won. You're hiding something more, aren't you?"

"Hiding something?"

"You said you'd give us money if we help you. As far as I know, Cheonmun-dong where you live is home to people in the lowest income bracket in Gaeryong City. And you're from a single-parent family, right? You can't be well off."

"......"

"But you talked like someone who suddenly has money. What's going on? You gave out 30,000 won each then, and now you're saying you'll give 100,000 won?"

...Oh ho, look at this guy? He's better at deducing than I thought.

Well, I did give a lot of hints.

I looked at Juhee and Jung-seok.

Should I tell them about the status window?

"Alright. You pass. Actually, I have a mysterious superpower. Depending on the situation, my superpower could be very, very, very helpful in your lives too. Tempting offer, isn't it?"

It seemed like it would be difficult to keep it a secret forever anyway. It's probably best to emphasize that working with me will definitely be beneficial.

Now that it's come to this, I should use some of the 821 points I've accumulated today.

Let's see what this "Capsule Draw" is all about.