Chapter 70: Walking into Hell (2)

Gu Hyena scratched the back of her head vigorously for a very, very long time.

After scratching for a while, she asked me,

"So you said your name was Ha Young-won? What's going to happen to me now?"

Why are you asking me that? I don't know either.

Gu Hyena said,

"You gave me back my body, didn't you? Don't you know something? Why I'm going through all this, and what I should do from now on. Explain it well."

I don't know either.

I just summoned the body as a gamble to escape from the Head Ghost. It just happened to work well. Pure coincidence.

But if I told her that honestly, she might get angry. And if she gets angry... I'll die of a heart attack.

"Hyena, I'm really glad to meet you. Actually, I've been wandering this corridor trying to save you. We finally met like this. We were lucky."

"Really? Save me? Is that possible?"

"Of course. It's true. I'm quite an amazing person. There's something like Dragon Balls at the end of this corridor that grants wishes. You know Dragon Balls, right? Anyway, with that, we can even bring back dead people."

"Oh! But why are you trying to save me?"

"That's..."

"Oh, I get it. You like me, don't you? I am pretty attractive. I was even in a web drama, did you see it? It's called 'Nostalgic Back Alley City'. My dream is actually to be an actress. It's all ruined now that I'm like this."

Back Alley City what? What kind of drama name is that? I didn't see it.

"Anyway, Hyena. Cooperate with me from now on. If someone else gets the treasure, it might be harder to save you. So you need to help me."

"How do I help?"

"If other people come... attack them or something? You said your dream was to be an actress, right? You'll be acting as a scary ghost. A ghost role. Wow. That's perfect. It suits you perfectly."

Hong Mi-ri. Kwon Suho. I could tell these people were after the corridor's treasure. If I use the High School Girl Ghost Gu Hyena... I could gain an advantage in the fight against them.

I thought it was quite an ingenious idea.

"Acting as a ghost? Okay. Well, I've been doing that all along anyway. I'm not acting, I'm a real ghost after all. So what?"

What do you mean 'so what'?

As I stuttered slightly, Gu Hyena asked as if she was frustrated,

"What's happening outside now? You really don't know the web drama 'Nostalgic Back Alley City'? It should have finished by now? What year is it now?"

Gu Hyena seemed curious about how the world had changed while she was dead.

The Shaman Ghost had attained enlightenment, and the Red Mask wasn't appearing today.

The only ghost on the first floor was Gu Hyena's head, and now that Gu Hyena was talking to me, this first floor was a safe place. So, I had quite a long conversation with Gu Hyena.

"The man who killed me was caught? Serves him right. That bastard."

"I helped catch him. My friends and I also found your body. It was really tough."

"Really? Most people couldn't do that. You. How much did you like me? Okay. I feel good! When I come back to life, I'll go on a date with you. How about that? Sounds good, right?"

I'm not sure what happened, but it seemed I had built up a good rapport with Gu Hyena. Everything that had happened so far had been helpful.

"I wonder when I can come back to life. Do I have to go back to school? I must be registered as deceased now, can that be changed too? People will be really surprised if I come back to life, right?"

"Well..."

I honestly didn't know if it was possible for a dead person to come back to life. But looking at her like this, Gu Hyena seemed like a normal high school girl, except for being a bit of a princess.

It's sad that such a girl got caught by a crazy psychopath and became a ghost. Gu Hyena said,

"And when I come back to life, I'll take revenge on that bastard Kwon Suho myself."

"Kwon Suho?"

"Yeah! In a way, it's because of that Kwon Suho that I died!"

Why?

I was so curious I wanted to ask, but the sight of the pissed-off high school girl ghost Gu Hyena was so terrifying that my throat felt blocked and I couldn't open my mouth.

Her body stiffening and making unnatural creaking sounds, her uncontrollable twitching mouth corners, and her eyes like broken glass windows wide open.

Her pale white face smiling creepily was really scary.

...Should I ask about the Kwon Suho incident later? No! It could be important information!

From my experience so far, it's beneficial to ask questions right away and collect information when you're curious. So, with the help of my 《Strong Heart》 trait, I gathered my courage and asked.

"What happened with Kwon Suho? I might be able to help with your revenge if I know."

"Kwon Suho called me under a bridge. He said there was a new A-grade movie script and asked if I'd like to take the lead role. He said to talk with the director."

"Ah─, talk with the director..."

I recalled a good conversational skill for talking with girls.

It meant to roughly repeat the end of their sentences with a convincing expression. In other words, it was the technique of agreeing and adding interjections.

It seemed to work well, as Gu Hyena continued.

"Yeah. But when I actually went under the bridge, Kwon Suho, who said he'd be waiting there first, was nowhere to be found no matter how much I looked. It was too dark and scary, so I was about to go home when I was hit on the back of my head and died."

"Ah, you were hit on the back of your head. That must have hurt a lot."

"Oh come on. Don't interrupt. Anyway, it's clear that Kwon Suho set me up. Isn't it obvious to anyone?"

If Gu Hyena's words were true, it made sense that Kwon Suho deliberately called Gu Hyena under the bridge to kill her.

But there was one thing wrong with Gu Hyena's story. As far as I knew, Gu Hyena didn't die from being hit on the back of her head, but from having her neck cut. That's what the police announcement said.

In other words, she was knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of her head, and then her neck was cut while she was still alive. But Gu Hyena didn't seem to know that fact.

Anyway. From this conversation, two questions arose in my mind.

Why did Kwon Suho set Gu Hyena up?

Are Kwon Suho and the psychopath killer Kim Hae-il in cahoots?

"But why did Kwon Suho deliberately set you up?"

"That's because of the wallet..."

Gu Hyena, who was saying something, closed her mouth.

Just the high school girl ghost falling silent was enough to make me feel like I might wet myself in fear.

When she was talking, I could somehow filter her in my brain as a haughty aspiring actress high school girl, but when she closed her mouth, it felt more vividly that she was a ghost with a terrifying face.

To push away the nervousness that felt like ants crawling all over my body, I spoke first.

"Why? What about the wallet?"

"I… I don't completely trust you yet. I can't tell you everything truthfully."

I see.

If it were Jung-seok, he would have said, "It seems the affinity level isn't high enough to get information yet." That was exactly it.

Anyway, I learned that the wallet Kwon Suho lost was definitely related to Gu Hyena.

"Bring Kwon Suho to me. Then I'll tell you the truth. Until then, I won't talk to you either. I can't trust anyone."

The vengeful high school girl ghost, Gu Hyena, spoke those words and vanished into the darkness. It was incredibly eerie.

I was afraid Gu Hyena might suddenly change her mind, decide to kill me, and leap out of the darkness to attack.

So, I thought it would be best for me to escape this place quickly too.

First, let's do a self-check.

The talismans from the basement and first floor were gone. The first floor exit was closed.

The only way for me to escape was to open the second floor.

The best option was to gamble on the effect of the "Paper Crane" Dahee gave me, hoping there would be an altar on the second floor too.

"Status window."

[Status details omitted]

My current funds were 850 points.

[Shop details omitted]

The points needed to open the second floor were 800. It was enough.

Still, just in case, let's use the advice feature.

"Advice."

[Advice details omitted]

Right. It means you need to take on challenges to achieve something.

I moved my finger and spent 800 points.

Ding-

『The second floor of the old school building is now open.』

The moment those words appeared before my eyes,

Rumble-

The ground beneath my feet shook violently as if there was an earthquake.

I had never experienced such a strong earthquake before, so I lost my balance and fell over.

***

When the earthquake ended, the air felt even cooler and colder. The atmosphere had changed somehow.

I could feel it.

I headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor, checking the map. It was easy to get to the stairs because there were no ghosts hindering me.

Finally, I arrived at the second floor stairs.

As I stepped onto the stairs, chills ran down my spine.

Honestly, I was scared. The second floor was a complete unknown, even for me.

But I couldn't stay on the first floor forever, so I moved my feet step by step towards the second floor. And finally, I arrived.

The second floor. It was similar to the first floor's scenery, yet vastly different.

It resembled the old school building's corridor, but the walls were covered in horrifying graffiti.

[Graffiti content omitted]

The red letters looked as if they were written in blood. Feeling creeped out, I took out the paper crane from my pocket.

It was the one Yoo Dahee had given me.

I remembered that if I placed it on my palm and blew it to make it fly, the crane would show me the location of the altar with the talisman.

"Whoo─"

I blew hard and made the paper crane fly.

The paper crane really floated up into the air and started slowly flying towards somewhere. It moved at about the same speed as I walked.

Rustle-

At the end of that flight should be an altar where I could escape!

I followed the paper crane, inwardly rejoicing. But there was a problem.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump-

Something making a very loud noise was approaching me from behind. It sounded like someone deliberately stomping to cause noise between floors.

"......"

I looked around.

On the first floor, there were often lockers and classrooms where I could hide, but on this second floor, I couldn't see any such refuge. Either they didn't exist or I just couldn't find them.

Rustle-

Thump thump thump thump thump-

The slowly flying paper crane. And the strange presence chasing me from behind.

"You paper crane bastard, aren't you going too slowly...!"

I thought hard and decided it would be best to hide in any room I could see. I spotted a place labeled "Music Room".

It seemed best to go in there and hide.

Rattle-!

Fortunately, that door wasn't locked either!

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz-

Tick tock tick tock.

But in the music room, something was hanging from the ceiling, swinging left and right.

A metronome? A machine that keeps the beat?

But it seemed too big for that.

Flick-

When I briefly shone my lighter, I was so startled I fell backwards.

"Ugh! Gasp!"

It felt like my breath was caught in my throat. What was hanging in the air was a corpse.

A woman's corpse with an extremely elongated neck was hanging from a rope high on the ceiling, swinging left and right. And from its mouth came a ticking sound like a metronome.

"Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock-"

...The Rhythm Ghost!