Chapter 24: There's Space Behind the Pillar (1)

"Our house doesn't have an elevator."

The "Taegwang Villa" where I live was an old building with brown brick exterior.

The top floor was the 4th floor. There's no way it would have something like an elevator.

Whenever my mom sent messages like ‘Mom: Young-won, bring up the rice lol... but it's a lot ㄷㄷ’, my thighs would scream in protest.

So what on earth was this thing Jung-seok was pressing the button for?

"...Hey, Seok. I don't know what it is, but we should probably step away."

I suggested to Jung-seok, who was touching the "Down" button. Jung-seok seemed to realize the situation from my and Juhee's expressions and slowly backed away from the elevator.

Whoosh-

The elevator, receiving no input, finally closed its doors. The floor indicator remained at 4.

A sudden intrusion of the extraordinary.

My good mood for the day, planning to walk to school with friends, look at dandelions blooming on the street, and take shortcuts, felt like it was tied to a cold lead weight and sinking into the sea.

"Young-won. Are you sure your house doesn't have an elevator?"

"I'm telling you! Even if I haven't lived here long, I'd definitely know whether there's an elevator or not! Juhee, you remember too, right?"

"There was no elevator. Can an elevator be built in just one day? If there had been such construction, we couldn't have missed the noise."

This is really frustrating.

"Hey, Seok. You were grumbling yesterday about having to climb to the 4th floor, remember? Don't you remember struggling up without an elevator? I even joked about carrying you."

"......"

Jung-seok closed his mouth.

He seemed lost in thought, looking at the closed elevator.

About 10 seconds passed.

Making a groaning sound, Jung-seok spoke again.

"No. I saw this elevator since I came here yesterday. When I asked about climbing the stairs, I was asking why we had to use the stairs when there was an elevator."

What is he talking about now?

I felt a chill run down my spine.

"I thought maybe it was under maintenance or broken. When I pressed the button after coming out of the front door today, it worked fine, so I thought it must have been fixed."

Jung-seok had been seeing this suddenly appearing elevator since yesterday...?

Having experienced various incidents recently, I had no doubt that this was related to the events and accidents I had been through.

"Wasn't I supposed to have some peace for a while after spraying the 'Subtle Perfume' yesterday? What's going on first thing in the morning! I'm really going to lose it!"

I felt like I was about to foam at the mouth from the unfairness. Was the capsule draw a lie?

Then Jung-seok, who had been maintaining his composure, explained as if trying to calm me down.

"The perfume's effect was to greatly reduce the chance of being discovered by ghosts, right? Even if it reduces the probability from 99% to 1%, there's still a possibility. It doesn't completely eliminate it."

"I know that, but..."

I understood, but I couldn't help feeling wronged.

"Or maybe we can't escape from ghosts that have already discovered us. I had already seen this elevator before you acquired the perfume. It might have started from then."

That makes sense. Soon, Juhee, who had been quietly observing the situation, chimed in.

"Should we try going in? If we ride the elevator, we might find out what it is for sure, right?"

"What, you want to ride this?"

Both Jung-seok and I shuddered in surprise at Juhee's words. Is Juhee fearless? To readily suggest riding this suspicious and strange elevator.

Suddenly, I remembered that Juhee's player disposition was "Brave."

Even in the same situation, reactions can be this different depending on disposition and personality.

What should we do here?

Jung-seok looked at me.

"Young-won. You have the most experience with this kind of thing, right? You decide what to do. If you want my opinion, I'm against going in."

There's not much to decide. I didn't particularly want to enter this suddenly appeared elevator either.

"Let's absolutely not go into this elevator."

However... since there was no guarantee that only we could see this, I went back home to get tape, a pen, and paper, and wrote "DO NOT USE!" in large letters and stuck it on the elevator door!

"I think this might end the exorcism."

The method to exorcise the suddenly appeared elevator was to choose "not to ride it."

I had a slight hope, but the "Congratulations" message didn't appear on my status window. It meant the exorcism wasn't complete.

"Hmm."

I thought for a moment.

Unlike ghosts like "Auntie Ghost," "Ancestor Ghost," and "Feng Shui Ghost" that directly harassed and followed me, this elevator was well-behaved.

At least it didn't follow me or make scary noises.

"...Should we ignore it for now? We need to go to school."

Just in case, I plastered tape all over the elevator front.

I sent a message to Mom saying "Even if there's an elevator in the villa, don't ride it."

I also wrote and posted a sign at the villa entrance saying "WARNING! Do not ride the elevator. Risk of falling."

"Wow. Your handwriting is really good."

Juhee admired the warning sign Jung-seok had written. She seemed amazed by the handwriting that looked like it was printed by a computer. Jung-seok's neat handwriting had a certain impact that would surely make everyone listen.

***

Even after arriving at school and classes starting, my mind felt completely empty. I felt like someone who had left the gas stove on at home.

I couldn't calm down at all because of the elevator that suddenly appeared in the villa.

I'm really anxious.

If it had been a ghost that attacked directly, I could have dealt with it somehow and gotten rid of it.

Should I have ridden the elevator like Juhee suggested?

"What's the date today? The 14th? Then not number 14... number 24! Stand up and translate this sentence."

Number 24.

Isn't that me?

Swish-

I stood up and looked at the blackboard.

But I could only stand there blankly, not knowing which sentence I was supposed to translate. As I hesitated for a while, our class's English teacher, Ms. Hong Mi-ri, frowned deeply.

"Number 24. Ha Young-won. You're not paying attention. Sigh... Class D is strange these days. Did something happen to you all? Is something going on in class? Kim Geonho is late for first period again today."

As Ms. Hong Mi-ri said, the atmosphere in Class D wasn't the same as before. The class atmosphere had been generally unsettled lately.

Ding dong ding dong-

It was break time.

As I was thinking about calling Mom, something hit the back of my head. When I turned around, a boy with dyed red hair was grinning at me.

"You bastard. Why didn't you answer when the English teacher asked you a question earlier? Now that Geonho isn't keeping you in check, you're running wild? You’re not even paying attention in class."

It was Kim Young-ho, one of Kim Geonho's gang.

He had dyed his hair red and was usually the one making snide remarks and agreeing with everything Geonho said. Kim Geonho and Kim Young-ho. Even their names are similar, these bastards.

I thought it had been quiet for a few days, but is it starting again?

They say when the tiger's away, the fox plays king. Now that Geonho has quieted down, it seems Young-ho, who was below him, is trying to harass me.

That's when Juhee, sitting behind me, spoke up.

"Hey, Kim Young-ho. Get lost. I'm trying to take a nap, so stop making noise."

"What? Get lost? Our Juhee's words are harsh. The noisiest one at school was your mom."

The atmosphere was quite tense from the first period break. Class D fell silent for a moment, as if a storm was about to break out at any second.

While everyone was watching cautiously, Kim Young-ho added:

"Yang Juhee. Be careful. Bong Ji-yeon from Class C is grinding her teeth, saying she'll get you. How are you going to handle this alone without Kim Geonho's shield? If you get on the wrong side of Bong Ji-yeon and the seniors, you'll be in big trouble."

"That's ridiculous. Someone might think Kim Geonho was really protecting me and shielding me. Tell Bong Ji-yeon to come to me directly if she has something to say. Oh right, that bitch probably can't even look me in the eye because she's too scared."

"Wow, Yang Juhee, you've got some guts."

"At least I have bigger guts than you, Kim Young-ho, who used to hang around Kim Geonho and now is Bong Ji-yeon's lackey. Aren't you ashamed, as a guy, to be a lackey for a girl who's even shorter than you?"

"......"

Kim Young-ho was speechless, as if he'd been hit right where it hurts.

For some reason, my chest hurt too, but Juhee tore into her opponent mercilessly like a shark that had tasted blood.

"When Bong Ji-yeon acts like a queen bee, replying to your messages and occasionally smiling at you, does it make you feel like she likes you? There's a truckload of guys like you around her, you idiot. Kim Young-ho, you're just a fish in her pond."

I recalled the time I was beaten up in the back alley with Vice Class President Jung-seok.

There were quite a few guys from Class C around Bong Ji-yeon. Her pretty looks were power and authority in themselves. Bong Ji-yeon was a bully who knew how to use her weapons to manipulate people.

"Hey, Kim Young-ho. When you message her, does Bong Ji-yeon reply? She doesn't, right? Even when that bitch was getting beaten by me, she didn't let go of her phone. Why do you think her replies to you are so slow?"

"You bastard, who's a fish in the pond! Want to bet? Let's bet! Damn it! What will you do if I message her and she replies? Let's bet!"

I could see something like madness flickering in Kim Young-ho's eyes. I recalled the quirk that had recently appeared in Kim Young-ho.

『《Gambling Addiction》: For some people, gambling isn't just a means or a method, but becomes everything.』

Now Kim Young-ho's behavior made sense. He always liked illegal sports betting, so this quirk suits him perfectly.

Perhaps these quirks aren't just random, but manifest according to a person's constitution or aptitude. It was a hypothesis worth considering.

I should discuss this with Jung-seok later.

But first, I need to end this tense situation. If something too noticeable happens in class, we might be discovered by those 'observers'.

"Hey, Kim Young-ho. I'll take that bet. If you send a message to Bong Ji-yeon and she replies within 5 minutes, I'll do whatever you say. But if she doesn't reply, it's the opposite."

"Damn it, Young-won, who are you to butt in?"

"What? Scared? Afraid Bong Ji-yeon won't reply?"

"Wow, I never thought I'd experience something like this. Fine. Let's do it, you bastard. Ha Young-won, you're dead meat."

Kim Young-ho picked up his phone with bloodshot eyes. He sent a message to someone, probably Bong Ji-yeon.

「Hey Bong-ji lol what're you up to?」

5 minutes.

Will there be a reply from Class C's bully Bong Ji-yeon within 5 minutes? No, I didn't think so.

Bong Ji-yeon also had a quirk.

『《Androphobia》: Just seeing or being in the same place is unbearably repulsive. What does it feel like to fear half the world...?』

The power of quirks is almost absolute. There's no way she'd reply to someone she fears.

1 minute, 3 minutes, 4 minutes passed-

Kim Young-ho was almost like a madman, veins popping on his forehead.

「Hey hey hey hey hey answer answer me answer」

「Check please」

「Photo」

「Gift card」

「Kim Young-ho has sent a gift card.」

「Read it, damn it」

He's completely crazy. Sending messages like that would make anyone not want to reply.

"Hey, Young-ho. 5 minutes have passed."

The promised time had passed.

Kim Young-ho's face was flushed red.

The content of the bet was that Kim Young-ho would become my slave, but how will he react now?

"Screw this. It was just a joke to begin with. Bong-ji said she wasn't feeling well lately, so she's probably sleeping. Let's forget about it. Forget it."

I see.

Just because he has 《Gambling Addiction》 doesn't mean he'll properly follow through on the contents of a bet. But the fact that Kim Young-ho was being unfair was also true.

If I had lost the bet, would he have suggested nullifying it like this?

I thought for a moment and came up with a rather interesting idea.

"Hey, Kim Young-ho. Then let's make another bet. Whether you'll accept the result of the slave bread bet or not. I bet that you won't accept it. It means you won't become my slave. You should bet on the opposite, that you will accept it, right? How about a 50,000 won bet?"

"Uh... well..."

If Kim Young-ho wants to win this bet, he has to choose to become my slave. If he doesn't want to be a slave, he has to lose this bet and pay me 50,000 won.

How will 《Gambling Addiction》 Kim Young-ho bet on this dilemma?

"Uh... well..."

In fact, he could just not participate in such a ridiculous bet.

After all, the sure way to win in gambling is 'not to gamble at all'. I saw that in the movie Tazza.

But is it possible for gambling-addicted Kim Young-ho to resist gambling? Even if it's a gambling game where he's destined to lose, will Kim Young-ho stick his head into the lion's mouth?

"Uh... well..."

Kim Young-ho was shaking his shoulders and arms, sweating like someone with the flu. Just as I was thinking it looked pretty serious, the classroom door slid open and Jung-seok and Jung Sojin entered.

"Hey! What are you guys doing there! Are you bullying Young-won again? Yang Juhee! Kim Young-ho! Stop bullying Young-won! If you keep doing this, I'll report directly to the principal!"

Thump-

Sojin approached me and scolded Juhee and Young-ho. Of course, Juhee frowned deeply.

"What are you talking about? So annoying."

Ding-

Just then, a phone rang. Kim Young-ho's expression brightened.

"Is it a reply from Bong-ji!?"

"No, this is my phone."

The moment I checked the message, my vision went dark.

「Mom: Mom is stuck in the elevator now lol. Have you ever experienced this?」