Chapter 8: The Auntie from Hell (1)

『Congratulations! You have safely returned from the Nightmare Corridor!』

『Beginning settlement for 1 Survivor, 3 Deaths.』

The settlement began.

Clink clink clink-

With the sound of countless coins falling, text appeared before me like ending credits.

『Ghost Encounters: 3 times + 30 P』

『Escaped Personnel: 1 person + 100 P』

『Deaths: 3 people + 30 P』

『Item Acquired: Battery Flashlight (Rare) + 100 P』

『Nightmare Corridor Progress: 5% + 50 P』

『Total: 310 P』

Whoa! Oh shit!

I had been feeling troubled in many ways until now. But now I felt refreshed enough to wash away all that gloom.

310 points!

I, who had barely collected 2 points per day through the 《Broken Clock》 trait, suddenly earned 310 points.

Usually, it would have taken 155 days to collect 310 points.

I felt like I'd won the lottery and become rich.

Ah, this is life!

Since I'd recently unlocked the shop, there was a lot I could do with these points.

I was about to head to the shop when unfamiliar text appeared, suggesting there was more to settle.

『3 Deaths will acquire quirks.』

『Kim Geonho ◀ Select to view』

『Jung Sojin ◀ Select to view』

『Yang Juhee ◀ Select to view』

Quirk acquisition after death. It seemed something strange happened to those who died in the Nightmare Corridor.

It was particularly puzzling to see Juhee's name there.

Did Juhee end up dying...?

I wanted to ask what happened, but Juhee seemed to have no memory of the corridor.

"Hey, who's this girlfriend who dumped you? Is she from our school? She's ugly, right?"

"......"

"Okay, let's start class. Everyone, take your seats. Class president Sojin... ah, I mean, today vice president Seok will lead the greeting. Seok, go ahead."

The middle-aged, bald math teacher came in for first period. Juhee had to stop questioning me and close her mouth.

I decided to use today's 'advice' function to learn about what quirks were.

"Advice."

『《Broken Clock》's Advice: 《Quirks》 are supernatural anomalies that affect the body, soul, and mind. Possessing 2 or more quirks results in death. 《Quirks》 can be cured by spending 100P at the Treatment Center, which needs to be unlocked in the shop.』

Death-.

My body trembled at that word.

Dying in the Nightmare Corridor leads to acquiring quirks, and if this process repeats, it ultimately leads to death in reality.

Could everyone except me losing their memories be related to their death and survival?

If I had died too, I might have lost my memories and gained a quirk. With this realization, I knew what I needed to do first with my points.

Clink-

『Spending 100P to unlock item.』

『Treatment Center is now open.』

『《Quirks》 can be treated at the Treatment Center.』

That was reassuring for now. If I get a quirk, I can immediately cure it at the Treatment Center for 100P. It seemed wise to save up plenty of points.

But... what happens now with the "Nightmare Corridor" that gave me all these points?

I manipulated the status window.

『Chapter 1. Starting Nightmare Corridor.』

『Please select players from the list.』

『Up to 4 players can be selected.』

『Re-entry waiting time - 32:15:44』

Oh, I can go again.

Not sure if I should be happy or scared about that…

The matching wait time made it feel like a dungeon with time and date restrictions.

"Hey!!!! Apologize right now!!!!"

During the boring math class, a girl's sharp voice pierced through like a dagger. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to see Sojin standing like a warrior, glaring at her desk mate An Young-mi.

"Young-mi, you just said I smell! You said I smell like night flowers! Apologize now!"

"What... what are you talking about? Sojin, why are you suddenly like this? What flower smell? What did I say...? You're scaring me..."

What's going on here?

Whisper whisper-

As students started murmuring, Sojin finally ran out of the classroom as if overcome with emotion.

I checked Sojin's name in the quirk settlement window.

『Jung Sojin: 《Paranoia》 - The parallel lines of dreams and reality that should never meet have finally touched. Are the whispers in your ears really just dreams? Or...』

Paranoia, arbitrarily imagining that others are trying to harm you.

Sojin's recent behavior suddenly made sense.

What about the others?

Just as I finished checking Geonho's quirk and was about to check Juhee's-

Slide-

The classroom door opened again.

I thought Sojin had returned, but instead of a fresh-faced student in uniform, there stood a rather aged and fierce-looking middle-aged woman.

"What?"

"Who's that?"

I was quite shocked by these continuing disruptions during class.

The woman in a white dress had a face twisted with horrifying anger, like some kind of ghost.

Looking closer, she was holding scissors covered in ominous and filthy stains.

"Ah... isn't she the woman who was handing out flyers in front of school yesterday?"

"The church lady? The one who always tells us to go to church?"

"What's with those scissors?!"

The church lady strode into the classroom and approached my direction.

What's this? Why is she coming toward me? What's going on?

Just as I was wondering if I hadn't actually escaped the nightmare-

"You little b*tch! You've lost your mind, staying out overnight with boys? You damned girl! You Satan-possessed girl! Come here!"

"Eek!"

Juhee screamed. She was dragged by her long yellow hair, nearly falling over.

"Let... let go! Let's talk about this after you let go! Outside! Let go! Aah!"

"You demon-possessed girl! You harlot! You need to repent before the Lord! Come! We need to cut off your phone and internet while we're at it. And shave all your hair off! You devil!"

"Ah! Let's just go outside first!"

"How dare you speak to your mother that way? You really are possessed by Satan. In the name of Jesus, I command the evil spirit to leave! In the name of Jesuth, I command Thatan to leave!"

The shouting echoed so loudly down the hallway that the young English teacher from next door came to witness the scene.

"Um... Should I call the police?"

"No, no, the school atmosphere is already unsettled with the recent disappearances. Let's handle this internally first..."

"What's going on? What's happening?"

As students from other classes gathered to watch the chaos, I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to cover my ears and scream.

***

"Wasn't Juhee's family rich? This is creepy."

"She never talked about her home. She never let anyone visit either."

"So fake. No wonder she only used cheap shoes and makeup."

After the seventh period, during dismissal. Students were still talking about the morning's events.

The overnight stay, Sojin's outburst during class, and the scene with Juhee and her aggressive mother.

Honestly, everything was shocking. It was hard to believe all this happened in just one day.

"Wow, so that cult girl was acting all high and mighty? That's messed up."

"I heard the girls from Class C are getting ready to beat up Juhee. I'm going to watch. You know I'm close with Ji-yeon from Class C."

"Ji-yeon's targeting her? Juhee's in big trouble. I should record it too."

First-year high school students are neither children nor adults.

Perhaps that's why their unstable middle ground sometimes makes it hard to recognize boundaries. This was especially true for the bottom-feeders at a delinquent school like Yeongji High.

Kim Young-ho. Lee Jinsung. Park In-bae.

I should throw those Geonho lackeys into the "Nightmare Corridor" later.

It wasn't really about justice, but Juhee had been my girlfriend, if only briefly. Honestly, it angered me to hear others badmouthing her.

I guess I was secretly a romantic.

Also, now that I knew putting people in the Nightmare Corridor earned me points, I had many things I wanted to test and verify. If they didn't want trouble, they should have lived better lives.

"Honestly, every single person in Class D deserves to be thrown into the corridor like lab rats."

Everyone in Class D is either a perpetrator or a bystander.

Especially that Geonho...

Well, with his quirk, it was only a matter of time before he settled down.

While thinking this, I unpacked my things in the library.

I was on the library committee, and after classes, when I had free time, I'd manage books or clean the floor at Yeongji High's library.

Though Yeongji was a delinquent school, the library facilities were quite good, and since nobody read books, it was a peaceful study environment. You could say this was my oasis.

And occasionally, the 'literary girl' I secretly had a crush on would come to read difficult books like Baudelaire's "The Flowers of Evil" or Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."

"I wonder what class she's in."

She wasn't here today. It's usually fun watching her when I come to the library. Too bad.

Anyway, I wanted to learn more about the old school building.

What's with ghosts appearing in its corridors?

Would there be books about the school's history or something like that?

While I was looking for such materials...

"Young-won."

A soft, gentle voice called me.

Turning around, I saw a woman in a black suit looking at me.

It was Ms. Kang Ha-neul, the Korean language teacher.

"I'd like to talk with you for a moment. Would that be okay?"

"Yes, of course."

Slide-

I sat down with the teacher in a corner of the library. Some students glanced our way occasionally.

Ms. Kang Ha-neul was beautiful.

While girls my age were fresh and innocent, how should I describe this thirty-one-year-old teacher... well-matured perhaps... or having the impressive confidence of a working adult... she had an adult woman's charm that was difficult to express with my vocabulary.

She was popular among other teachers and male students, and apparently received quite a few confessions.

Honestly, if I'd had the courage, I might have playfully confessed too.

"Young-won, are you having any difficulties lately?"

"No, nothing in particular."

"Really? You've been wearing bandages on your face often these days."

"I just fell."

"Then do you know what this is?"

Slide-

Ms. Kang Ha-neul handed me a piece of paper. It read "Bullying is occurring in Class D."

The handwriting was neat. It even had a precise period at the end.

"...I don't know anything about this."

I really don't know. Who wrote this? Is it the same person who wrote to the faculty office yesterday?

"Young-won, you can be honest. I can help. We can hold teacher meetings, convene the school violence committee. Contact the police."

"No. Really, you don't need to. Really. There's no problem in Class D."

"I think you're an honest and kind student, Young-won. That poem you wrote was also very good... So could you please be honest with me?"

The poem. At the start of the semester, Ms. Kang Ha-neul assigned students to write poems.

She particularly liked my poem "Stream Stream Streaming Water," praising it highly and even reading it in front of the class. She was also the one who recommended me for the library committee.

"Teacher, I'm really not being bullied. And I'm not as honest and kind as you think I am."

"Is it because of your mother? Are you worried about making her concerned if this gets bigger? But Young-won, considering your mother raising you alone, wouldn't it be better to be honest rather than hiding..."

"Really! Nothing's wrong. Teacher, I'm honestly confused. By the way, you said you graduated from Yeongji High, right?"

"Yes. You could say you're my junior. I was once a high school student too. That's why I can help counsel you about your worries and difficulties..."

"Then... do you know if anything happened in the old building in the past? Like a shaman with bells visiting... If you tell me, I might think about it more."