Chapter 22
Our first meeting was at a cafe, and while deciding on a second location, I got a message from my mom.
「 Mom: Mom won't be able to come home today because of work lol. Since you probably won't be able to wake up tomorrow morning, Mom will give you a call~ 」
It was a text saying Mom would be pulling an all-nighter at work today. She's been so busy lately that we haven't had time to see each other's faces.
You want me to stay alone in a house with cockroaches and ghosts?
Ghosts have been popping up every time Mom's not around. It was too terrifying.
"Hey guys. Let's go to my place for round two. While we're at it, stay over. Just stay at my place for tonight. Mom's not home, so there's a spare room."
I invited my classmates to my house and asked them to stay over at the same time. Even if a ghost suddenly appeared at home, it would be a bit better if my friends were there.
"Hey, you guys will stay over, right? Please!"
I asked again while looking at the crumbling villa building. Jung-seok sent a message to someone and calmly replied.
"I told them I might stay over."
Great, great!
As I was happily climbing the stairs, Jung-seok frowned, hesitating to climb.
"Do we have to walk up to the fourth floor?"
"How else would we go up? Want me to carry you?"
"......"
Is it because he's a young master?
He looked around as if he couldn't understand the concept of walking up to the fourth floor. But eventually, he climbed the stairs as if he'd given up.
When we reached the third floor, Jung-seok asked.
"Yang Juhee, are you okay? Your mom came to school when you stayed out overnight last time. If you stay out again tonight, won't she really make you drop out this time?"
Now that he mentioned it, that's right.
When Deaconess Kim Yeo-ok came to the classroom with scissors, looking like she was going to cut off all of Juhee's hair, we were all intimidated by the atmosphere and scared stiff.
If she stays over with me and Jung-seok today... won't the deaconess rip off Juhee's and my heads? Jung-seok might even get butchered.
"It'll be fine. My mom likes Young-won. He's a pastor's son. If I say I'm with him, she'll probably like it even more. She won't mind much even if I stay over."
I see.
It seems I've unknowingly scored a lot of points with Deaconess Kim Yeo-ok. In any church, deaconesses tend to see pastors' sons as their own children.
"Ha Young-won, you're a pastor's son?"
Jung-seok's eyes lit up as he looked at me.
"I thought you were from a single-parent family."
"Every family has its circumstances. Anyway, come in."
Jung-seok closed his mouth without prying or pressing further about my vague explanation. Maybe because he's smart, he knows his manners.
Beep, beep beep-
When I opened the door lock and entered, everything was dark.
Click-
When I turned on the lights, the messy interior was revealed.
"Oh right. I went to school without cleaning this up."
These were traces of the chaos from fighting with the copied moms this morning. I had tried to clean up a bit, but there was sand and dirt on the floor, so it was a complete mess.
"Hello."
While Juhee was taking off her sneakers and revealing her white socks as she entered without hesitation, Jung-seok stopped at the shoe rack, busy looking around.
His half-open mouth - was it an expression of amazement or shock?
"......"
His attitude was like that of a chaebol-born politician entering a gosiwon for the first time. Coincidentally, they both have the surname Jeong. Wondering if they might be relatives, I jokingly asked,
"Hey, Seok. Is my house at least bigger than your shoe rack?"
"I'm not sure about that... Aah!"
Jung-seok suddenly screamed and jumped. Shit, is a ghost already appearing?
Are these damn ghosts just going to pop out even with all the house lights on and three people wide awake?
Just as I was about to wet myself thinking these ghosts really have no manners, something went sha-sha-shak- past Jung-seok's feet.
"A cockroach! It's huge! Oh shit-"
Jung-seok seemed extremely startled by the cockroach.
I thought a guy wouldn't be so scared of just a bug, but I was so terrified that tears almost came out and I felt like I might foam at the mouth.
"We need to catch that! We have to catch it! Otherwise, we can't sleep tonight! We have to catch it!"
I appealed emotionally and sensitively.
I didn't have the guts to sleep with a cockroach as big as a human thumb roaming around near the shoe rack.
What if it sticks to my face while I'm sleeping?! I'll really die.
"Our Young-won, making such a fuss over this. I thought I'd seen a ghost."
Just then, Juhee lifted her foot and quickly stepped on the black object.
Pat-. Squish.
It was a very cool action, but at the same time, it was maddening.
"No, with your socked foot..."
"I was going to wear these socks just for today and throw them away. I can just wash my feet."
Swish-
Juhee nonchalantly threw her removed socks into a nearby trash can. Then she said, ‘I'm going to use the bathroom,’ and went in.
Swoosh-
The sound of water running from the shower could be heard, so she was probably washing her hands and feet.
"......"
Jung-seok and I quietly listened to the water sound.
I don't know about Jung-seok, but thinking that a girl from our class was washing up in my house made me feel strange and somewhat aroused.
I went to an all-boys middle school, so I had some fantasies about women.
"Young-won, let's clean up first."
Swish-
Jung-seok stepped from the shoe rack into our living room. He picked up a vacuum cleaner nearby and started pushing it across the floor with pretty good form.
***
"Seok and I will sleep together in my room. Juhee, you sleep in my mom's room. And if the pajamas are too big or uncomfortable, let me know. I'll change them for you."
I prepared bedding in each room and handed out pajamas and toothbrushes to my friends.
It had been a really long time since elementary school that a friend stayed over at my house, so it felt awkward and tense.
On the other hand, it was fun. I never thought I'd be sleeping with friends.
After being chased by ghosts, I thought my life would only be marked by misfortune, but I was glad to have such a fun experience.
Oh, I like it. Oh, I'm happy.
"You had an older sister too?"
Jung-seok discovered a photo of a woman and me hanging in the living room while drinking water from a cup. He's quite observant.
For reference, what Jung-seok saw was a photo of me and my mom taken at my middle school graduation ceremony.
"That's my mom. By the way, my mom is 34 years old this year."
"......"
Jung-seok made an expression of incomprehension on many levels.
He's probably calculating in his head, "How old was she when she had a child?" I decided to help with the calculation.
"She had me when she was in high school."
Anyway.
I sat in the living room and steeled myself to explain my "Status Window" to everyone. Just then, Juhee, who had changed into my pajamas, touched her stomach.
"Young-won, I'm hungry. Can't you order just one chicken for me? Our baby says it's hungry."
"Pfft-!"
Jung-seok spat out the water he was drinking.
"Ugh, you dirty guy."
"No, the baby..."
Jung-seok seemed really surprised by Juhee's words.
Is he a friend who's not immune to girls' jokes? Maybe Jung-seok also spent 3 years in an all-boys middle school.
"Of course, it's a lie. But about the chicken... okay. I'll treat. Why not. But you have to help clean up afterward. Is chicken okay?"
"Oh yes!"
Juhee was very happy. She ate all the carrot cake by herself earlier, but it seems she has room for chicken too.
Jung-seok also chimed in.
"I only eat boneless. Do you have BBQ Chicken's Ppurinkle?"
"...Wait, who eats Ppurinkle boneless? Ppurinkle is better with bones."
Does the rich young master have different tastes too?
As I was thinking that, Juhee asked from beside me.
"What's Ppurinkle?"
...I see.
We ordered two chickens.
Eating chicken at home late at night with friends was really fun. We didn't do much, but it's amazing how enjoyable a day can be.
"Hey, this is ginseng liquor. Hey, let's have just one shot of this!"
After eating lots of chicken, Juhee now had her eye on the ginseng liquor.
It was something Mom had received from work, in a shiny gold container with an impressive root inside.
Is Juhee here to clean out our entire household? I thought that, but I also wanted to try a shot of the ginseng liquor.
"Wait."
Tap-
Jung-seok lightly hit the table with his palm. It was similar to how he'd get the class's attention.
"This isn't why we gathered here, right? Young-won. You said you have superpowers. Explain what they are first."
Right. I was going to talk about the status window today.
But... the status window was my ultimate weapon and a top secret I had to hide from everyone.
If rumors spread that I have a status window, the National Intelligence Service might kidnap me and try to open up my brain.
If you asked me if I could trust Juhee and Jung-seok, honestly, I couldn't guarantee it. My relationship with Juhee wasn't particularly good to begin with, and I could count on one hand the number of times I'd talked with Jung-seok, the vice class president.
But I wanted to trust the friends in front of me. The world was too harsh for me to handle all this alone.
So I opened the ginseng liquor and poured it into glasses, one for each person.
Glug glug glug-
"Hey. From the moment we drink this, we're real blood allies and comrades. The secrets we talk about here, you have to keep them to the end. If the secrets aren't kept, you guys could really die. This isn't a joke."
I handed glasses to Juhee and Jung-seok. It was a tense moment in many ways.
"Why do you keep making me say the same thing? I said I'm with you. If we can find my sister and return my mom to normal, return our families to how they were. Ah, it's bitter."
Juhee emptied her glass in one go. She really had a tough personality.
Then the only one left was Jung-seok.
Jung-seok looked at the ginseng liquor in his glass.
In fact, Jung-seok's connection to me was a bit loose. Even though we exorcised the feng shui ghost together, it didn't mean he had an obligation to go all the way with me.
Slurp-
Jung-seok emptied his glass in an instant.
"I'm in too. But what you said about your superpower being helpful to my life. That information better be accurate. I'm going to be a prosecutor for South Korea someday, locking up all the criminals-"
Jung-seok's attitude as he said this was more serious than I expected, and there was something sharp about it.
Alright.
I emptied my glass in one go too. It was bitter and tasted bad.
"Ugh. It tastes bad. Anyway, now we're all members of Young-won's pirate crew. I'll tell you guys. I have something called a status window. If I draw it to show you, it looks like this."
***
Scribble scribble, scribble scribble-
I drew the letters I had always seen in my notebook.
"This appeared one day. To be exact, on the day of Yeongji High's entrance ceremony. There's something like a score that accumulates 2 points per day. I collected 100 points and opened a shop with it."
Scribble-
I drew the shop window to show everyone.
Jung-seok asked me,
"Can you exchange those points for money or buy money with them?"
"Yeah. 10,000 won per point. Also, if I fight and win against ghosts or exorcise them, I get points. The rules for this are a bit inconsistent. I think it depends on the difficulty or something."
I explained that I currently had 821P.
Soon, Juhee's eyes lit up.
"So you have 8 million won? That's amazing."
8 million won. It was a huge amount for a first-year high school student.
But Jung-seok shook his head.
"I'm against withdrawing the points as money. If all this is true, one point is honestly worth more than 10,000 won. I think it's better to unlock the locked items in the shop first. It widens our options."
It was a reasonable thought.
"Or raise the shop level first. Doesn't raising the shop level apply discounts to the products? We should buy these things early to maximize the benefits."
This Jung-seok guy. He's smarter than I thought!
I decided to follow Jung-seok's advice. I used 100P to raise the shop level. Then with a ding- sound, the shop changed!
『Welcome to the Level 2 Shop.
We sell various items that will help in battles against heroes.』
『Raising the shop level applies additional products and discounts.
Shop Level 2 Lv (0/500)
Trait Drawing Ticket - 90P
Capsule Drawing Ticket - 90P
Unlock Locked Item - 90P
Open 2nd Floor of Old School Building – 900P』
"Oh. All items got about 10 percent cheaper across the board. And it says we need 500 points to raise the shop level again."
Using 500 to upgrade the shop seemed a bit wasteful.
I had 721 points left. According to Jung-seok, unlocking a locked item would be good because it widens our options.
『Use 90P to unlock a locked item.』
『Training Ground is now open.』
『You can train players in the Training Ground.』
『You can acquire traits by using 100 points.』
『Shop Level 3 is required to unlock the next locked item.』
Training Ground! Training! Acquire traits by using points!
I see.
So I can now gift traits to allies like Juhee or Jung-seok by using 100 points!
"A Training Ground appeared in the locked items. It says you can get traits if you train? And it looks like we need to raise the shop level to 3 to unlock the next locked item."
"Traits? Honestly, there are still parts that are hard to believe. Can I get some kind of amazing talent too?"
Juhee showed curiosity while trying to appear nonchalant. Jung-seok also showed great interest.
"Try using it. Tell us what happens."
Is this about using Juhee like a guinea pig?
Swish-
I dragged Juhee's name and put it in the Training Ground.
『Yang Juhee - Training List!』
『Push-ups 0/1000 times』
『Run at over 2km/h for 0/100km』
『Reward: 《Fast Legs》』
『《Fast Legs》: You can run 1.5 times faster for 10 seconds.』
"This came up."
"Requirements and rewards. Just like a game quest."
Jung-seok evaluated. I agreed with his expression.
Juhee, the person in question, frowned as if something was off.
"1000 push-ups and running 100km. That's a bit intense. Running 1.5 times faster for 10 seconds... is this worth all that effort?"
Is that so?
Then Jung-seok got excited.
"No, this is amazing! The average 100-meter sprint time for high school girls is 20 seconds! The top-ranked Shin Uiju has a time of 12.1 seconds! But if you just get 1.5 times faster than average, you'd be at 13.3 seconds!"
"Wow, really? I ran 100 meters in about 16 or 17 seconds in the last PE class, so if I get 1.5 times faster... does that mean I could run in the 10-second range?"
"By the way, the world record for women's 100-meter sprint is 10.49 seconds!"
"Wow, that's incredible! Then with just a little exercise, I could go to the Olympics!"
Juhee was overjoyed.
However, I was a bit concerned that Jung-seok knew so much detail about women's sprint records.
Do smart guys usually know that much? Or is he a pervert?
Come to think of it, I think Bong Ji-yeon from Class C was on our school's track team...
"Young-won! This is amazing! This could really change lives and then some! Can you do it for me too? How many people can enter the Training Ground at once?"
Jung-seok was so excited it was hard to believe he had maintained a calm attitude until just now. His nostrils were flaring and he was even puffing out air, it was almost scary.
"Okay. Before that, can I try one capsule draw?"
I was really curious about the capsule draw. I used another 90 points. Now I had 541P left.
Something like a capsule vending machine appeared before my eyes, and round capsules started rattling.
I was wondering what would happen when:
『The item has been placed in front of the entrance.』
『15 steps to the northeast.』