Chapter 40
Yoo Dahee was waiting for me in front of our house.
Somehow, I felt I needed to check if this presence that didn't seem quite human was real. To determine if she was a ghost or not!
"Don't suddenly scream or anything! I'm warning you! If you suddenly scare me or startle me, I'll really get angry!"
They say ghosts don't have heartbeats because they're already dead. If I reach out my hand and check Dahee's heartbeat, everything would be clear.
But putting my hand on a high school girl's chest... was in some ways more tense and frightening than heading to the basement of the old school building.
Dahee asked.
"...Why aren't you checking?"
"No. I can't do it with you watching like that."
"Okay. Then I'll cover my eyes."
Swish-
Dahee covered her face with both hands. Maybe because Dahee's gaze was gone, I felt more at ease.
"Alright, I'm really going to check now. I don't have any weird intentions, I'm just a scaredy-cat. Please understand."
I really just wanted to know if Dahee was a ghost or not, without any ulterior motives. So I slowly reached out my hand and gently... placed it on Dahee's chest!
And I felt like all the blood in my body instantly froze. My hair stood on end, and it felt like the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way.
"The heart..."
...The heart isn't beating?
Even though I placed my hand on her chest, Dahee's heart wasn't beating! This could only mean one thing.
"...!"
Oh no.
Ha Young-won, you stupid idiot! You fell for such an obvious trap again!
"The heart... isn't beating!"
What's going to happen to me now?
Will I be sucked in and absorbed, starting from the hand that touched this high school girl ghost who looks like Dahee?
As I was thinking this, the high school girl Dahee, who was covering her face with her hands, said.
"...You caught me?"
"Eek!"
"Hehe. I'm joking. If I were really a ghost, I'd visit Young-won every day. It's fun teasing you. The heart is more central than that. Here."
Swish-
One hand that was covering her face came down and grabbed my hand. Then she guided it more towards the center of her chest and pressed the back of my hand firmly.
Thanks to that, my hand could feel a softness I had never experienced before in my life.
The high school girl's uniform vest. The shirt. What's felt underneath...
Click-
Just then, the sensor light illuminating the 4th floor stairs went off again. Darkness covered us like a blanket, and I felt like I was dreaming.
"How is it? Can you feel my heart? It must be beating really fast right now. This is the first time I've felt my heart race like this."
...To be honest, I couldn't tell.
Maybe because Dahee was fully dressed in her school uniform, there were many layers. Especially since women wear one more type of undergarment compared to men.
Press-
But Dahee's hand pressing firmly on the back of my hand was very warm and soft. It didn't feel like a ghost.
Slip-
Somehow feeling embarrassed, I withdrew my hand.
Although I couldn't feel Dahee's heartbeat because of the thick clothes, I thought Dahee was human. Then I felt very embarrassed about what had just happened.
"...Is this a dream too?"
I muttered to myself, not feeling a sense of reality.
Then Dahee said.
"What are you saying? A dream?"
The 4th floor was covered in darkness, so I couldn't see Dahee's expression. And fortunately, my embarrassed face probably wasn't visible to Dahee either.
"Ahem. Dahee. I hope you understand that what just happened had no ulterior motives or personal feelings. Anyway, let's not stand here like this and go inside."
I moved my body around. The light came on again.
Beep, beep beep-
As I was entering the door lock number, Dahee standing next to me looked closely at my hand. Does she want to hijack the number?
Click-
When I opened the door and went in, the interior was dark. It was already evening.
When I turned on the lights, the house brightened up.
"......"
I looked around cautiously like a sentry on guard duty.
I was worried there might be cockroaches hiding somewhere. It was my routine to always look for cockroaches when I came home and turned on the lights.
Fortunately, I didn't see any today.
"Dahee. But is this okay? Won't things get complicated if your family reports you missing?"
Dahee said she had run away from home. It means she didn't leave home legally.
Didn't she say her phone was confiscated at home?
If a daughter left without any means of contact, who could be at ease?
If I had a daughter like Dahee, I would have set the curfew at 4 PM to make sure she came home early.
The world is dangerous.
Especially boys the same age as Dahee were wolves waiting for a chance to get closer to girls. If I were a dad, I'd have cracked all their skulls.
Anyway. Dahee said.
"I don't know."
...No. You're the one who shouldn't not know.
Is this the thoughtless whim of a rich girl? Dahee didn't seem to consider what disadvantages the commoner Ha Young-won might face for getting involved in her running away.
Swish-
Dahee sat on a dining chair.
And swinging her legs back and forth, she said,
"It'll probably be fine. I've stayed away from home for about a month before. They didn't look for me. It'll probably be the same this time."
"A whole month?"
Is Dahee more delinquent than she looks? Should I be impressed that she ran away for a month?
How did she stay away from home for a whole month?
"...But Young-won. I'm hungry. I'm thirsty."
I see.
Dahee said she had been waiting for me in front of our house since this morning. She probably couldn't eat or drink much.
I was hungry, too.
***
For dinner, we ordered chicken mayo boxed meals. Dahee seemed to be eating chicken mayo for the first time in her life.
"It's delicious."
I'm not sure if she's just being polite or sincere.
After eating, Dahee borrowed our bathroom to wash up.
Thanks to the experience of Yang Juhee staying over with Jung-seok, I was able to prepare clothes that Dahee could wear.
I could give her my sweatpants. Black Sadidas sweatpants.
After about 30 minutes, Dahee appeared in the living room wearing my sweatpants and smelling of soap.
Although her face was completely free of makeup, I was surprised to see a slight blush, perhaps from the hot shower.
Dahee is really pretty even with a bare face.
"What?"
"...Nothing. Shall we go to sleep now? Dahee, you can use my mom's room."
"Okay! But I'm so excited. This is my first time sleeping at a friend's house."
It's her first time sleeping at a friend's house. Then, I suddenly became curious.
She said she ran away from home for a month before. Where did she sleep then?
From my interactions with Dahee over the past few days, I've noticed something.
She always made me question things.
Like an onion, there were always more layers of mystery no matter how much I peeled.
The 'wish coupon' would be the key to unraveling my curiosity. I'll need to use it wisely.
"Dahee. You said you'd grant me a wish if we went to the old school building together."
"...Huh? Did I say that? I don't remember."
"What?"
"Hehe. I'm joking."
"I see."
First pretending to be a ghost to surprise me, and now this. Dahee seems to be a friend who likes jokes.
To be honest, her jokes weren't that funny, but maybe because she's pretty, I found myself laughing anyway.
If I were an incredibly handsome guy, women would probably be in fits of giggles just from me saying "It's delicious" while eating.
"But Young-won. I noticed this last time too, but the room layout doesn't seem very good. Did you know there's a correct way to arrange furniture according to feng shui?"
"Furniture?"
"Look here. The fan is placed at the head of the bed. They say it can be dangerous to sleep with a fan blowing at your head. It's better to put it at the foot of the bed like this."
Swish-
Dahee moved my fan to the foot of the bed. But there was a problem.
"There's no outlet there, so I can't plug in the fan."
"Really? Then... how about moving this chair at least?"
"The computer chair? Why?"
"Haven't you heard that if you sleep with a chair at the head of your bed, a ghost will sit on it and watch you sleep until morning?"
A ghost sitting on a chair at the head of the bed, watching me sleep. I'd never heard that before.
But somehow it made me uneasy. Whenever I felt this uneasy, real ghosts always appeared.
After much consideration... I came up with a way to solve both the fan and desk issue at once! I could just turn my head to the opposite side when sleeping!
"What if I sleep with my head on this side?"
"No, that won't do! That's the north side. They say you shouldn't sleep with your head to the north. There's too much negative energy in the north, you might have nightmares or sleep paralysis!"
"...Really?"
Then what should I do? As I was feeling perplexed, Dahee said,
"...Was I being too picky? My grandfather is sensitive about these things, I guess I take after him."
"Your grandfather... you mean the school chairman?"
I vaguely heard Ms. Hong Mi-ri scolding Dahee about it.
Something about the school chairman. So Dahee's grandfather is currently the chairman of the Yeongji Foundation.
Ding-
Just then, my phone rang.
「Joo Chan-mi: Hehe Young-won, it's your church noona. It was nice meeting you today」
"......"
What's this?
It was Joo Chan-mi, the high school teacher from Glory Church. How did she get my number? I didn't give it to her.
"Who is it?"
Dahee was curious.
I... answered simply!
"A noona from church."
"Church? Young-won, did you go to church?"
"...Why? Is there something wrong with going to church?"
Maybe I shouldn't go from next week. As I was thinking that, Dahee said.
"No, just... My grandfather used to go to church too. We even have a prayer room at home."
Isn't Dahee's grandfather the one who called shamans when building the school?
Someone who called shamans also went to church. It reminded me of politicians who visit Buddhist temples, churches, and even consult fortune-tellers during election season.
Well... I guess it's something like that.
Ding-
「Joo Chan-mi: You remember noona, right? I got your contact from Pastor Cheon Ae-su hehe」
What's this? Is she interested in me? Is this a green light?
「Joo Chan-mi: I heard from the pastor that you're a PK? Pastor's Kid. We have a spot open in our advanced Bible study group, would you like to join? It's on Monday evenings during the Monday service time.」
Oh, come on. This was an invitation to attend church services, and a Monday service at that.
Shouldn't it be called a prayer meeting or something on Mondays, not a service?
Come to think of it, Yang Juhee also said her mom, Deaconess Kim Yeook, attends Monday services.
That's when she was possessed by the shaman ghost and I defeated her as a T-Rex.
Anyway, how passionate must this church be to have services even on Mondays...? Getting caught up in a place like this would be really troublesome.
You'd have to participate in all the high school and young adult activities, become a church officer, teach Sunday school, lead praise, do volunteer work, and so on, dedicating your whole life to the church.
And all unpaid!
「Joo Chan-mi: I'll contact you tomorrow! If you're free in the evening, let's have dinner together!」
...Damn it.
How can I not be happy about the church noona I briefly had a crush on asking me to have dinner together?
I need to think of an excuse to avoid this somehow.
"Young-won, you're popular. You keep getting messages. Well then, Young-won. Good night."
Dahee went into my mom's room.
After that, I fell asleep so deeply I didn't know when I dozed off, but I woke up feeling very cold and turned my head to find the fan turned on at my bedside.
"What? When did this turn on?"
Click-
When I pressed the stop button, text appeared.
『Congratulations! You have defeated the 'Electric Fan Ghost Story'!』
『Calculating rewards for 1 survivor.』
『50P gained』
『Current balance: 538P』
"What the hell. Is this some point duplication event?"
This is really funny.
The current time is midnight. I felt like I had forgotten something, and after thinking for a while, I finally remembered.
"Ah. Today's the day to enter the corridor. Status window."
I manipulated the status window.
『Chapter 1. The Nightmare Corridor begins.』
『Please select players from the list below.』
『You can select up to 4 players.』
Into the Nightmare Corridor... Let's go! But first, let's check the player sheet?
"There's something new here."
There was text marked 'NEW' on the player sheet.
It was a new item Yang Juhee had acquired.
[Princess Magic Wand] - New!