Chapter 66
When Kang Bada asked for any information about high school student Yoo Dahee, I thought he was just a pervert interested in a pretty schoolgirl. His unkempt beard and artistic appearance certainly made him look like one.
But given today's revelations, it was clear that Kang Bada was actually Yoo Dahee's father. Of course, this was my speculation. But if it were true, it could be an important "joker card" for me.
Mr. Kang Bada seemed to know a lot. I might be able to acquire more information using Yoo Dahee as an excuse. I still hadn't figured out the exact meaning of "Be careful of the sky," after all.
Just then, Jung-seok asked,
"But Mrs. Ha, if the chairman's surname is Cheon, why is his daughter named Yoo In-na? The surnames are different..."
It was a perfectly reasonable question. As I was also feeling curious, Mom added an explanation.
"That's because she wasn't his biological daughter. The chairman liked taking in orphans. The Yeongji Foundation has many orphanages. The chairman has a hobby of collecting orphans."
"Collecting orphans..."
Jung-seok nodded as if understanding, with a subtle expression. But I couldn't comprehend it. It's not like he was playing some gacha mobile game, collecting orphans.
The Broken Clock's advice said there's a cause and effect for everything. There must be several reasons why the chairman started gathering orphans.
Mom soon added, "So, Young-won. Bada said you visited the chairman's house recently?"
I had hidden the fact that I met the chairman from Mom. I didn't want to worry her about various things. But it seemed she already knew through the adults' network.
Suddenly, I remembered that Mom had worked as a housekeeper at the chairman's mansion for 10 years. This meant there was a high probability that the chairman knew about my mom.
"Did the chairman ask you anything strange?"
"Strange?"
There wasn't anything particularly odd. When I shook my head, Mom said, "Then that's fine," and went to her room.
***
Anyway, today was the day to re-enter the Nightmare Corridor. And I had an in-depth conversation with Jung-seok about various things.
"You've accumulated a lot of points, right? I think we should consider opening the second floor."
Jung-seok suggested opening the second floor of the corridor.
Since we'd discovered the identity of the escape talisman and the third ghost on the first floor, he probably thought it was time to move up to the second floor and face other secrets.
『Welcome to the Level 3 Shop.
We sell various items to help in battles against heroes.』
『Raising the shop's level adds products and applies discounts.
Shop Level 3 (Lv MAX)
Trait Drawing Ticket - 80P
Capsule Drawing Ticket - 80P
Unlock Locked Item - 80P
Open Old School Building 2nd Floor – 800P』
The points needed to open the second floor were 800P. I currently had 950P.
Even after opening the second floor, I'd have 150P left, so I had quite enough points to spare. Still, 800P was a considerable sum.
In simple money terms, it's 8 million won.
For someone like me, living in a cockroach-infested house due to poverty, using such a large sum at once was certainly hesitant.
Also, we still didn't know what would happen when we opened the second floor.
However, considering all these factors, opening the second floor was a gamble worth taking. There might be something that could dramatically change our lives.
There could also be hints about Yang Juhee's sister, Yang Do-hee.
"The corridor's progress hasn't gone above 20 percent lately."
Maybe we had consumed quite a bit of the first floor's content in the "Nightmare Corridor".
After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion.
"Let's try the first floor one more time today, and we'll open the second floor next time."
We still didn't fully understand the first floor, so we didn't know what might happen if we recklessly opened the second floor.
So, I decided to safely finish exploring the first floor today.
"And I've been thinking about something. For today's party, I'm considering going with people other than you and Juhee."
"Other people?"
Jung-seok frowned.
"Who? Jung Sojin?"
"I'm thinking of Ms. Hong Mi-ri and Kwon Suho. These two are super suspicious, so I want to go myself and see what they do."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri's suspiciousness went without saying. She had even easily escaped from the nightmare I put her in.
"When people are cornered, their true nature and worth are revealed. We might be able to discover Ms. Hong Mi-ri's real identity and value."
"It seems like a good idea, but Young-won, Ms. Hong Mi-ri could be an Observer or a Hero. If she finds out you're putting people into the corridor... you know what could happen, right?"
Of course, I knew. In a manner of speaking, I was the "Game Master". It meant I was the host moving game pieces around on the game board.
Just keeping this fact hidden was already a big advantage in itself. I wasn't reckless enough to carelessly reveal such a thing to others.
Anyway. Moving past Ms. Hong Mi-ri's suspiciousness, next was Kwon Suho.
Kwon Suho, the third-generation chaebol with supernatural abilities. A guy who treats women like objects, yet still has them lining up for him.
I couldn't tolerate such a person. There must be some kind of trick behind it.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Kwon Suho is a bad guy. I need to see with my own eyes what happens when we put him in the corridor. It'd be even better if we can get some useful information out of it."
"Young-won, you know we only have two escape talismans, right?"
I knew that too. There would be four people entering the corridor today.
At least two would die. No, if Yoo Dahee barged in like last time, three might die.
"Yoo Dahee... She's the problem."
Swish-
At 10 PM, I called Yoo Dahee.
「Hello!」
Yoo Dahee answered the phone more energetically than I expected. I said to her,
"Dahee, are you alone?"
「I'm with Baekseol! Want me to put her on?」
I imagined the fluffy white cat. So she's alone in the mansion.
"Dahee, can you keep everything I'm about to say a secret? It's really, really important. Can you promise?"
「A secret?」
Yoo Dahee went silent for a moment, as if hesitating. Just as I was thinking I might have to give up on today's challenging journey, she spoke.
「Okay. What is it?」
"You promise, right? I helped you find your cat Baekseol and everything, so you can't break this promise."
「Hehe. What's this all about? You're making me nervous and excited.」
Yoo Dahee laughed like an innocent girl. I carefully said to her,
"Dahee, we might meet in a dream today. If you see me in the dream, could you pretend not to know anything...?"
She should understand what I'm getting at with just this much. The silence over the phone felt as heavy as a weight on my shoulders.
「Alright. I owe you a big debt, Young-won.」
Great! That means it's on!
I lay down in bed and manipulated the status window.
『Chapter 1. The Nightmare Corridor begins』
『Please select players from the list below.』
『You can select up to 4 players.』
As I was looking through the player list, I noticed a "New" mark on my own entry, "Ha Young-won". Checking it out, I saw something had been added to my inventory.
『Jewel Ring: A cheap toy ring. But it might be precious to someone. If given to someone looking for a lost item, something amazing might happen...?』
The "Jewel Ring" Mom gave me was now an item in my inventory. Reading its description, several things caught my attention.
"Someone looking for a lost item..."
Suddenly, I remembered Kwon Suho from today.
Didn't he say he lost his wallet? He called me in to ask if we had found his wallet when we discovered Gu Hyena's body.
But I didn't think the "someone looking for a lost item" mentioned here was Kwon Suho. There was one more thing that stood out to me.
It was the Bell Woman, the Shaman Ghost that gave us trouble on the first floor. The young shaman who reportedly committed suicide at Yeongji High.
Her name and identity were probably... Yoo In-na, Cheon Dae-gon's adopted daughter. This was just my theory, of course. The connection wasn't clear.
But I had felt something was off since the Baby Ghost possessed Yoo Dahee and the Shaman Ghost appeared to sing a lullaby.
They said the shaman who committed suicide at school was the daughter of the tutelary shaman who was originally Gaeryong's guardian.
So... did Cheon Dae-gon adopt Yoo In-na after the tutelary shaman died suddenly?
And then Yoo In-na committed suicide at Yeongji High for some reason─
After that, she's been appearing as a ghost.
Also, according to my theory, the Shaman Ghost is Yoo In-na, and Yoo In-na is Yoo Dahee's mother...
Does Yoo Dahee know this? I'm not sure.
In fact, all of this could just be my speculation. I'll know for sure if I can gather more information today.
"Ha Young-won", "Hong Mi-ri", "Kwon Suho".
Suicide Squad, let's go!