Ch. 45 - Seventh Ghost Story - Psychology Test (4)

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains suggestions of cruelty. Readers, please be advised.

Thud-

[2019, March 19th | Tuesday, 02:00 AM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 136]

[Causality Rate: 10%]

Just as I opened my eyes and checked the Status Window for time, I realized that I had woken up seven minutes earlier than before being stabbed by that psycho. It must have been because I jumped from the rooftop as soon as the dream started.

Without wasting my time on thinking or planning, I immediately jumped off the bed and left my room.

The whole apartment was dark as the lights were turned off. Only the thin pale moonlight was pouring from the gaps of the curtains, outlining everything around and making them partly visible.

‘He’s not here.’

I looked around for any sign of movement or sound. However, everything in the house was as quiet as a mouse.

So that burglar hasn't broken in yet? With the thought in my head, I walked to the front door.

The front door was closed, but not locked.

Probably Mom or Dad returned home late in the evening and accidentally put one digit less in the door lock in a hurry. That's why, although the door lock had closed the door, it didn't lock the door.

As I stared at the unlocked door.

I saw a sign of movement right in front of the door from outside.

Tap.

Before the person from outside could open the door, I ran to the front door and hovered my fingers on the keypad.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

At the same moment, I could feel someone jiggling the doorknob, pulling it and trying to open with all their might.

Click. Click.

However, I locked the door just in time.

I stopped the burglar from breaking in.

By locking the door with the correct password.

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as a sigh of relief was about to leave my mouth, the sound of knocking was heard.

Someone was knocking on the front door.

Knock, knock, knock.

What should I do?

No matter how strong the psycho was created by the power of the ghost story… the door was tightly locked with modern technology.

There was no way they could pick up the lock and come in.

I was safe inside the house.

'Then why?'

Knock, knock, knock.

I quietly approached the door and lowered my voice for fear of my parents waking up before opening my mouth and asking quietly.

“Who is this?”

From the other side of the door, the sound of a voice without any emotion was heard.

“Oh, I've just been passing by. But suddenly, I needed to use the bathroom. Could you please help me?”

“At 2 a.m.?”

“Yes.”

“Is it very urgent?”

“I'm in a bit of a hurry.”

“Number 1 or number 2?”

“Both of them.”

“If you want to use the bathroom, you have to pay for it.”

“Oh, is that so? How much do I have to pay?”

Could it be that they noticed that I was playing with them?

For a moment, I freaked out not understanding what I should do to avoid the situation. But before I could say anything more.

Tap, tap, tap.

I heard the sound of the person walking away from the door.

Could it be they were leaving because I caught their motive?

“This p*nk is really…”

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

I slowly opened the front door a crack and peeked in the hallway.

Perhaps the burglar also heard the sound of the door opening, they looked back in surprise. They were standing quite far away from our apartment and looking back at me.

“Hey, you idiot.”

“……”

“Did you think I'll open the door for you, you son of a b*tch?”

The burglar strode back to me with heavy steps, clearly showing their anger.

“No, so please go away~”

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Before the burglar could reach the door again, I quickly closed the front door and locked it back again.

Knock, knock, knock.

Then the sound of knocking was heard once again.

“What now?”

Perhaps the burglar heard me but didn't want to answer, or perhaps they didn't hear me, no response came from them.

A moment later.

Tap, tap, tap.

I could hear the sound of footsteps moving away from the door again.

I waited for a while before quietly opening the front door again.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

“Did you think I was gone, you little rat?”

To my astonishment, the burglar was hiding right beside the door. The moment I opened the door and peeked my head out, they jumped on me and tried to stab me with a knife.

With a fast reflex, I quickly stepped back and avoided the fast approaching blade.

The hand of the burglar holding a sharp knife stuck through the gap of the door.

However, they were unable to come inside further, and could only flounder their limbs through the door.

“I knew you would be outside. That's why I hung the safety chain before opening the door, idiot.”

“You… you b*tch.”

The burglar fumbled with their limbs, trying to get inside with their feet with the shoes off.

It seemed they only pretended to go away, and the footsteps were made deliberately to deceive me.

Afterward, when I was waiting to be certain they truly went away, they took off their shoes and tiptoed back again before hiding beside the door barefooted, silently but quickly.

“I'm going to kill you!”

“Keep your voice down, you b*tch. I'll call the police if you wake up my parents.”

The person in mask looked at me with cold eyes.

“Safety chain… How can you trust this? It won't take me even a second to unhook it.”

Then, the burglar quickly brought out a long, thin stick made of steel and stuck it inside the hole of the safety chain before fumbling through it. But they were still unable to unhook the safety chain.

Click! Click!

“This is a double safety chain.”

“……”

“I heard on TV that a single safety chain doesn't work these days. So my parents changed it to a double one.”

“Oh, I see…”

The masked burglar stood outside blankly for a while, then sent a nasty glare at me before turning back and walking away.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Are you leaving? For real?”

“You p*nk. I'm going to go to jail if I make too much of a ruckus here.”

“Take off your mask, you idiot… is he really gone this time?”

It seemed the burglar was really gone.

'Do you think I will let you go, you b*tch?'

The burglar tried to break into my house in the middle of the night just to kill me and my family without any reason.

There was no way in hell I had any intention of letting them go. They stabbed me to death and also dared to kill my parents.

But if I tried to fight them one-on-one, I had a high chance of losing.

They were a psychopath with a weapon and no hesitation of using it on people.

Even if I think with my toes, it was logical to call the police rather than attempting to solve the problem on my own.

However…. It wasn't a coincidence that the burglar showed up today specifically to my house.

'That psychopathy test.'

When the clubroom level rose, the system gained the ability to distribute ghost stories among my club members through the ‘Ghost Story Acquisition Skill’. And at that same time, a C-rank ghost story was triggered.

The psychopath must have jumped out of it.

Then, perhaps it would be possible to solve the ghost story by using the same tricks as before, rather than engaging in a physical fight against the psycho without a weapon.

But to solve the ghost story, I must know exactly what kind of ghost story this was about.

I didn't remember doing anything particular except for taking the psychopathy test.

I didn't have any knowledge about what kind of ghost story it was.

“.... Gyeongwon!"

Because of nervousness and tension, I had almost forgotten that I took a picture of the psychopathy test and sent it to Gyeongwon. And because I fell asleep early today, I didn't know whether he had replied or not.

Without wasting a single second, I hurried to my room and picked up my phone. Just as I had expected, I got a long reply from Gyeongwon while I was asleep.

I quickly opened the KakaoTalk app in a hurry and checked the messages.

[Sorry for the late reply, today the cram school had some extra sessions.]

[Prez, the riddles you sent me didn't seem like riddles to me. The questions written there seemed too odd, so I did some research. Turns out, it wasn't a psychopath test to find out psychopaths at all.]

The riddles weren't a psychopathy test to find out psychopaths?

What did that mean?

I thought hard about it as I checked the next KakaoTalk message.

[Robert Bundy, the psychologist who created this test, was originally a serial killer.]

[T/N: Theodore Robert Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls during the 1970s.]

[He studied psychology at the University of Washington in the U.S. While studying there, he would cleverly ask questions to the subjects related to their addresses under the name of tests. Then, he would conduct some sort of psychology tests on the patients who would come to him, and also the people around him to select the right victim.]

[Take a closer look at the questions. If you ask someone to solve the riddles, you would be able to gain a lot of information regarding the person, such as the floor number where they live.]

[This psychology test was created by a psychopath to choose his victim.]

So this was a psychology test created by a psychopath.

To put it simply, the C-rank ghost story I was experiencing was related to the psychology test. And if I was not wrong, the original story must have been a bit like this.

『 One day, a teacher of yours handed over a psychology test to you that separates the true psychopaths from ordinary people. Without thinking much, you decided to take the test because your teacher urged you to. However, you didn't know that the person who conducted the test was a psychopath himself! In the end, you became the victim of the psychopath. 』

“Huu.”

If the story was like this, then I already had a plan for my next task.

I had to solve and answer the questions like how a psychopath would.

If I was able to answer all the questions successfully, I would be able to change the plot of the story.

If that happens, then the contents of the ghost story would change as follows.

『One day, a teacher of yours handed over a psychology test to you that separates the true psychopaths from ordinary people. Without thinking much, you decided to take the test because your teacher urged you to. However, you didn't know that the person who conducted the test was a psychopath himself! However, you were able to use your wits and answer the questions like a psychopath. As a result, you were able to survive the near-death situation.』

…. Would it work?

First, I had to try to answer the question like a psychopath.

If I was successful changing the plot of the story, then I would be able to rise from the victim's position to an equal footing with the psychopath.

Even though I used my wits to the fullest, I was barely able to save myself from the psychopath and was in a dangerous position. It must be because I was considered the victim in the story.

Both the system and the ghost stories have the power to change people's perceptions and manipulate situations and realities.

'… Alright. Let's do this.'

As I strengthened my resolve, I rushed to the bathroom and faced the mirror in the dark.

[You stumbled upon an empty room all alone. There, you found a mirror. When you looked into the mirror, you realized that you didn't like how your reflection looks in the mirror. Why don't you like your reflection?]

“Because the mirror is dirty. It's all because of the mirror.”

I replied, looking straight at my reflection in the mirror with a look of determination.

Thump. Thump.

Something… I began to feel something.

Because of the sudden appearance of the burglar, my nervous system was on edge all this time. However, the moment I answered like a psychopath, my head cooled down on its own, like an ice bag was placed on top of my head.

“Next. What was the next riddle?”

Just as the next riddle passed my mind, I swiftly went to the nearest window and opened it before looking down.

Slid.

Just as I had expected, the strange person from earlier was standing just below our apartment, looking up at me from the ground. Perhaps they were determined to hurt me and unwilling to go away just like this.

As our eyes met, the burglar pointed their finger at me threateningly before waving it up and down.

[You woke up in the middle of the night hearing some weird noises and went to the balcony to check. When you looked down, you saw a man holding a knife, with another man lying in a pool of blood at his feet. Suddenly, the man holding a knife looked up and stared straight at you. Then, with a creepy smile, he raised his index finger and began to move his finger up and down. Why was he moving his finger?]

“He's counting the number of floors I reside in.”

Just as I finished muttering, my head felt lighter again, and my heart began to thump slower.

I could feel something changing inside me, gradually taking over my reasoning and way of thinking.

Shaking my head from the unfamiliar feeling, I quickly headed to the kitchen.

[Right after the previous question, you suddenly feel the need to go to your kitchen. Why?]

“I'm hungry.”

I opened the refrigerator and quickly took a slice of cheese from the packet that my dad had bought as a snack and stuffed it in my mouth.

Gradually but surely, all the emotions of fear and anxiety of danger were gone. What remained only was the extreme desire for revenge.

To alter the plot of the ghost story, I answered the questions like a psychopath.

And for that reason, my reasoning began to change from an ordinary person to a psychopath’s as the mind of a psychopath slowly began to assimilate into me.

Because, only a psychopath would answer like that.

“Huuu.”

I could feel my muscles tightening up as the feeling of revenge rose.

The cool feeling of losing one's reasoning began to fluctuate in my mind as the dark emotions tried to take over my consciousness.

However, I desperately shook my head, trying not to lose myself to those desires.

Swallowing the cheese that I just put in my mouth, I began to reflect on the goal I had set in mind.

I quickly and quietly left the apartment and headed to the elevator through the hallway.

After getting off the top floor by elevator, I ran up to the rooftop from there.

Creak-

Removing all the cleaning supplies that were kept in front of the door, I opened the door to the roof.

Then I quickly approached the edge, overlooking the night scenery in the distance.

[In the middle of the night, you went up to the rooftop to get some fresh air. As you were looking at the scenery, you suddenly felt the presence of something passing behind you. What was it that passed by?]

A psychopath would answer it was an animal or something like that.

However, an animal seemed too odd to me, since they can't pop out of nowhere.

So I changed the answer a bit and thought about it differently.

“Woman. A woman walked past.”

After muttering the answer to myself, standing at the edge of the roof under the dark sky, I slowly turned around.

Then, the figure of Hayoon was revealed in front of my vision.

“Hello, Joon.”

I was so surprised for a moment that my head became blank, and I couldn't differentiate if I was still experiencing the ghost story or if everything was just my imagination. The ghost stories that I previously encountered never made any sense to me, but this ghost story was even more out of my normal way of thinking.

“Why are you…”

Step, step.

Hayoon, who had been standing under the moonlight, smiled casually and approached me.

“It's very high up here, isn't it?”

“.... What.”

“Wow.”

Hayoon peered over down the railing, her body dangerously leaning over the edges with her thin neck stuck out.

A few strands of black hair fell over her eyes and scattered next to the thin neckline.

“Look over there. It's Teacher Hwaeun.”

“Teach… Teacher?”

Feeling curious, I also slowly approached Hayoon's side and looked down where she was pointing.

I was standing much higher than when I looked down from our apartment, so the outlines of the things down were a bit vague under the dark sky with pale moonlight scattered everywhere.

However, I could still see the figure of that psychopath in a trench coat loitering around the apartment complex.

“Teacher Hwaeun?”

“You didn't know?”

Of course, I didn't know.

There was only one way I could be sure of.

“.... Status Window.”

As I murmured the words, looking down at the burglar.

Pop.

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Jang Hwaeun LV.1 [0/100]

Age: 34

Title: Old-Maid Teacher

Disposition: Hyperactive

Special Ability: ???

Quirk: ???

Understanding: 40/100》

It.

It was truly Teacher Hwaeun.

It.

It can't be!

[Your understanding of the character Jang Hwaeun has increased by 10.]

[Your understanding of Jang Hwaeun has reached 50%. You can now view information about her Quirk.]

[Opening information about Quirk.]

[Jang Hwaeun's Quirk is ‘Possession’.]

“Possession? F*ck! My ability to perceive things is greater than I imagined. I figured it out a long time ago!”

Hayoon stared at me, shouting and laughing hysterically.

“Damn it, why…”

Huup! Huu.

My breathing turned heavier as my body shook wildly in a fit of rage.

In the afternoon when I last saw Teacher, she was chatting and joking with me so naturally, as if she wasn't a psychopath who took pleasure in tormenting and killing people.

Hayoon laughed at me, who was still having a hard time accepting the situation.

“Cheer up~”

Her long eyelashes fluttered as she smiled thinly.

Seeing my classmate, who always carried a mysterious atmosphere around her, standing on the rooftop of my apartment made me feel like nothing was real.

“Hey, but… why are you here all of a sudden…”

At my question, Hayoon just giggled and laughed instead of answering me.

“Isn't it bothering?”

“What?”

“Teacher Hwaeun.”

Hayoon giggled again, hiding her mouth with her thin, long fingers. Her appearance now looked so different from her usual appearance. She seemed like she was having fun as she giggled and laughed continuously, showing her happy emotions.

“She killed your parents. Aren't you angry?”

“How do you know that…”

“Kill her. Until you feel better.”

The words that left her pretty lips weren't something the usual Hayoon would have said.

However, her simple words stimulated my dark desires instantly.

Teacher Hwaeun was a psychopath, who behaved like a good person in the daytime but killed my parents. She had no motive to do it, but she still killed them just for fun.

Wasn't it alright if I tortured her to death?

Hayoon began to giggle hysterically, as she saw my face turning more and more red with madness.

“Make a bloody mess of her, Joon. So that she won't be possessed ever again.”

“.... Stop, stop for a moment.”

“Torture her, murder her so mercilessly that she won't ever think of killing anyone again, Joon!”

“Be, be quiet! Stop, please stop for a moment, please stop…”

Hick.

I clamped my hand over Hayoon's mouth, stopping her from speaking further.

My head was getting more and more warmer as my vision turned fuzzy.

Something inside me stirred when I heard those filthy words.

The feeling of bloodlust.

Ways to torture Teacher.

My body began to shake just at the imagination, I could hardly calm down the excitement inside me. As if all my senses were urging me to commit the crime because they knew it was going to be very, very exciting.

However, I knew that those desires were nothing but dangerous. So I quickly shook my head, shaking those thoughts away desperately.

“Stop. Stop. Just for a moment, please stop….”

I could feel my mind changing to that of a psychopath as I answered the questions like a psychopath.

But her encouraging words made my desire boil even more, as if I didn't calm them down, I would surely do something that I would regret.

“You… be quiet, stop…”

“Are you worried about something? You can just turn back time later.”

“……!”

“Don't worry. Everything will be okay once you turn back time. So go kill her, Joon. Haha.”

Hayoon laughed out loud, hitting her knees as if she heard something very hilarious.

“Kill them, kill whoever you don't like. Is there anyone who gets on your nerves? Choke them to death. Stab them, kick them, punch them. Torture them to your heart content, relieve all your anger and frustration on them. Dump your stress. Pour your darkest desires everywhere! Everything will be all right once you turn back time, anyway!”

“……”

“Don't you want to have a little bit of fun while saving the world? Joon is a Hero! Haha. No one can escape from you! Go and destroy everything. Turn everything to ashes until you feel like you've gone crazy…”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

On the dark rooftop.

Under the pale moonlight, Hayoon's appearance of pouring out lowly words seemed more mysterious and beautiful than usual.

“Who are you? Who are you?”

At my desperate question, Hayoon just laughed instead of answering.

“Status Window.”

There was no response.

"Status Window!"

“Haha. Joon, Joon.”

Again, there was no response.

Just as I had expected, the Hayoon in front of me was an illusion.

Just like the Sunah in my subconscious mind.

Sunah in my dream was an existence created by my subconsciousness. And Hayoon in front of me, was also an illusion created by the ghost story. None of them were real.

[In the middle of the night, you went up to the rooftop to get some fresh air. As you were looking at the scenery, you suddenly felt the presence of something passing behind you. What was it that passed by?]

While responding to that question, I unconsciously thought of Hayoon, whom I thought was the closest to the image of a woman I knew, and she popped out in reality.

No wonder psychopaths would answer it was an animal.

Even if it was impossible for it to be an animal, at least they wouldn't pop out in reality and bother me unlike real people.

“Get out of here.”

“Joon, Joon. Haha.”

“Get out of here!”

Why was she laughing so much? What was so funny? Hayoon’s face turned red because of how hard she was laughing.

Not being able to handle the situation anymore, I left the fake Hayoon on the rooftop and hurried back home.

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