Chapter 85
“The air is chilly."
That was Jung-seok's first impression upon entering the second floor.
It was definitely cooler on the second floor than the first. It felt like being indoors in a cold winter without any heating like a boiler, that precarious feeling just before you can see your breath.
"There are hardly any lockers or boxes to hide in here. So when we move around, we need to avoid being spotted by ghosts as much as possible. If we're caught, our brains might get sucked out."
So far, the ghosts I had seen were only the Rhythm Ghost, the Dancing Ghost, and the Mirror Ghost.
"The Rhythm Ghost makes ticking sounds with its mouth to keep time. So if it gets close, you can kind of tell by that sound. The Dancing Ghost, as the name suggests, is a ghost that dances, so it's noisy and stomps around."
Only the Mirror Ghost I saw in the principal's office was mysterious in nature. And there was no chance that these three were the only ghosts.
The second floor was so suspicious that even Gu Hyena, a ghost herself, was reluctant to set foot there.
We moved cautiously through the labyrinth of corridors without a map. Then my eyes caught sight of the "Principal's Office".
"It's the principal's office! There was a weird safe in there! And the mirror ghost too..."
I was half excited and half tense to see the principal's office, as I wanted to get into a place with walls and doors.
I wondered if it was the right choice to go into that room where the mirror ghost might be.
Thump thump thump thump-
Just then, we heard the sound of frantic footsteps from far down the dark corridor. It meant the Dancing Ghost was approaching.
If we stayed here, we might encounter the Dancing Ghost. There was nowhere to hide.
It meant our only option was to go into the principal's office.
Dancing Ghost vs Mirror Ghost.
As I was thinking hard about which ghost it would be better to face, Yang Juhee strode forward as if she couldn't stand the hesitation and opened the principal's office door.
"What are you doing! Hurry up and get in!"
Jung-seok and I, as if inspired by Yang Juhee's decisiveness, moved to take shelter in the principal's office.
Click-
After closing the thick metal door, we soon heard the sound of heavy footsteps passing by the corridor outside the principal's office.
Only after that sound became completely inaudible could we finally breathe a sigh of relief. Yang Juhee leaned against the wall and straightened the hem of her disheveled skirt.
"...My grandmother used to tell me ghost stories when I was young. She said dancing ghosts are not normal, so we must avoid them at all costs."
Are there normal and abnormal ghosts? Isn't the very concept of 'ghosts' far from 'normal' to begin with?
As I was thinking this, Jung-seok, who had been hyperventilating from fear, caught his breath and asked,
"...Why? Why are dancing ghosts not normal?"
"Don't you guys know the ghost story of Jang Hee-bin's tomb? The urban legend that if women who want to date or get married visit Jang Hee-bin's tomb and receive her energy, they'll get a boyfriend."
Jang Hee-bin was a woman known as the villainess of Joseon. If she were born today, she'd probably be a bully like Bong Ji-yeon or Yang Juhee.
Yang Juhee rambled on, either because she was happy to show off her knowledge for once, or because she wanted to shake off her own unfamiliarity and creepiness of this second floor, though she didn't show it.
"But actually, they say even shamans are afraid of Jang Hee-bin's tomb. There's supposed to be a ghost in hanbok dancing on top of Jang Hee-bin's tomb. Laughing so loudly it gives you goosebumps."
"......"
"......"
Being cowards, Jung-seok and I couldn't help but be terrified by Yang Juhee's story.
Do we really have to hear ghost stories when we're already scared? But Jung-seok seemed to think we needed to hear this.
"So why are dancing ghosts not normal?"
"Ghosts are dead souls, so they're bound to have faint emotions and be dull, right? If such a ghost shows various expressions and even dances, it's not normal. I don't know. That's what my grandmother said."
I knew that Yang Juhee's grandmother was an impressive shaman who had even studied in Japan. To be precise, she was closer to a Japanese miko than a Korean shaman.
When I searched, I found that Japanese sorcery has many creepy and bizarre stories. I'm not sure if it's because of the unique closed culture of an island nation...
Anyway, because it was a story from Yang Juhee's grandmother, we couldn't easily dismiss it. So we decided on one rule of conduct for the second floor at that moment.
"If we're in a situation where we have to face either another ghost or a dancing ghost, let's try to avoid the dancing ghost first."
If you have to avoid either a tiger or a fox, you should obviously avoid the tiger.
So what should we do now?
"There could be ghosts here too. Everyone be careful."
I turned on the desk lamp in the principal's office and advised Jung-seok and Yang Juhee. The sharp-eyed Yang Juhee was the first to spot the mirror, pointing at it with her hand.
"Is this the mirror where ghosts are supposed to come out?"
"...I think that's it. When I escaped from here before, I definitely left it fallen on the floor, but now it's hanging on the wall again. There was a picture like a portrait. But it was actually a mirror."
Even I thought my explanation was a bit rambling, but Jung-seok seemed to understand well.
"It's a common ghost story where something thought to be a portrait turns out to be a mirror or window. Mirror ghost... Be careful not to get too close to the mirror. You might get pulled into it if you're not careful."
Getting pulled into the mirror?
I had never thought of that, but hearing it now, it didn't seem strange if such a thing happened.
Yang Juhee's explanation about dancing ghosts. Jung-seok's speculation about mirror ghosts.
Indeed, we're getting much more information than when I came to the second floor alone by force.
This is why people can't live alone. From now on, I won't let off easy those who advocate for staying single or living alone, those who deny community life and say humans are dogmatic. Humans are social animals who need to receive and give help to others!
"Let's just break this damn mirror."
Yang Juhee dropped the mirror on the floor and stomped on it, shattering the glass.
I was a bit tense and worried about breaking what might be a cursed mirror, but fortunately, nothing happened.
Instead, a safe behind the mirror was revealed. It was a safe that opened by pressing numbers, like a door lock. There was also writing next to the safe that looked like someone had written with a fluorescent pen.
"ㅁ4ㅁ1"
"So this is the safe you mentioned, Young-won. It definitely looks tempting to open. Do we just input numbers from 0 to 99? No, this is the kind that sets off a loud alarm if you get the password wrong three times in a row."
"An alarm goes off? How do you know?"
When I asked, Jung-seok replied with almost certainty.
"My grandfather had exactly the same one in his study. It really sets off a super loud alarm. It'll probably be loud enough to be heard in every corner of this corridor."
So you're saying all the ghosts will rush to the principal's office when they hear that sound? Are we supposed to guess the right combination from 0 to 99 in just three tries?
I was very curious about the safe, but should we give up?
Just as I was thinking this,
Beep beep-
Click.
The electronic safe made a sound and opened. It was very surprising.
"Hey, Jung-seok! How did you open it?"
"I told you my grandfather's safe was exactly the same as this. This safe has a master key number that can reset the settings when you forget the password and change it to '0000'."
Oh, shit! As expected of a young master from a rich family that has a safe at home!
"Wow, Jung-seok. You're really proving your worth for eating that escape talisman."
"This is who I am."
So what's inside the safe? An incredible treasure? Gold bars?
***
[200─ ㅁ Month ㅁ Day 1ㅁ:00 Yeongji High School Student Status]
[1st Year: 252 out of 253 students attending, 1 missing]
[2nd Year: 252 out of 25ㅁ students attending, 2 missing]
[3rd Year: 256 out of 255 students attending, 1 increase?]
[Chairman, students keep going missing from the school.
The number of students who say they've seen ghosts in the stairs or bathrooms is increasing. Even students without aptitude as Observers are getting involved.
And in the 3rd year, reversals are happening. We can't tell which of the 256 students is a ghost, so please inform your son.
It's ominous that bad things keep happening. It might be good to close the school temporarily for a while. During that time, please request people from Gwanak First Presbyterian Church for exorcism.
Chairman. I humbly advise that if the situation worsens like this, truly uncontrollable things will happen. Please reconsider my proposal. From Principal Ji Dong-seok]
What was inside the safe wasn't treasure, but a letter in a small envelope. The letter contained the above.
"The year is erased so I'm not sure, but if it's before the 2010s, this seems to be from when my mom attended Yeongji High. It looks like students were already going missing back then."
When I first enrolled, I didn't know there had been so many disappearances at Yeongji High. But now I see that Yeongji High was a completely... bizarre place.
Even in the 3rd year, 256 out of 255 students attended.
What does it mean that one increased? Does it mean a ghost pretended to be human and mixed in with the students?
As I was feeling puzzled about many things, Jung-seok concluded,
"It seems this letter never reached the Chairman in the end. Given that it was in this safe, it looks like the principal at the time decided to just bury this letter in the safe."
"Why?"
"I don't know. But considering that so many students have gone missing until now, yet it feels like we're hearing about it for the first time... maybe they tried to deliberately conceal the information?"
Jung-seok's words made sense. Looking further into the safe, we found what looked like student records.
[1st Year Kim Mi-young
2nd Year Choi Ye-jin
2nd Year Lee Ha-na]
As I was wondering about these students, Jung-seok said,
"Couldn't these be records of the missing students?"
"That makes sense. And they're all female students."
A chilling shiver ran down my spine.
I remembered what Kwon Suho said before he died: "It was true that they kill people to make them into some kind of ghost. They said they make women into ghosts to use their blood to prevent the overflow of water veins."
"When the Cheon family... demolished their mansion to build a school, there were people who opposed it, right? Saying the site wasn't good for building a school. But the current Chairman Cheon Dae-gon built the school despite the opposition and it's come to this..."
A ritual to prevent the overflow of water veins with virgin blood, and a school built on top of that.
Is it an exaggerated thought?
I thought the reasons for building a high school on this site were not unrelated to these disappearances. No, maybe these disappearances were actually the fundamental reason for building the school?
"...Maybe Yeongji High was built to make students disappear? To create kids who fall into this nightmare corridor like us today... or to offer them as blood sacrifices to stabilize the water veins..."
It was just my speculation, but I thought it fit too perfectly. Soon, Yang Juhee shuddered as if something occurred to her too.
"My grandmother said my sister had to go to Yeongji High for our whole family to live. If what you're saying is true, does that mean my grandmother sent my sister to school to sacrifice her to stabilize the water veins or whatever?"
...I hadn't thought of that at all. That's how it sounded to Yang Juhee, it seems.
But thinking about it coldly, doesn't that make sense too? Jung-seok nodded.
"...Human sacrifice. It's a common story. Look at the story of Sim Cheong who sacrificed herself to the sea. And in Japan, there are many stories about the Gandara priestess offered to snakes."
At Jung-seok's words, Yang Juhee shuddered as if feeling sick and made a disgusted expression.
"Why are only women sacrificed? Ugh, am I in danger too?"
"...That... I don't know either. Maybe the beings receiving the sacrifices like young and pretty women. Or maybe young and pretty women increase the tragedy of stories that get passed down."
In many ways, these were stories I hoped weren't true. To think I was attending such a terrible school!
No wonder something like a status window appeared at the entrance ceremony and I've been dealing with all sorts of ghosts!
Bang bang bang-!
Just then, someone knocked on the principal's office door. I was almost on the verge of having a fit, and Jung-seok was so startled he jumped about 2 meters in the air.
─Kids! Are you in there! Open the door! Quickly! It's me! Bong Ji-yeon!
Bong Ji-yeon's voice was heard from beyond the door. Bong Ji-yeon suddenly!?
I couldn't help but be surprised and suspicious in many ways. Then Jung-seok said,
"It could be a ghost pretending to be Bong Ji-yeon. I'll test it."