Ch. 7 - Second Ghost Story - Laughing Woman (3)

The next morning.

Even before my mom could wake me up, my eyes opened on their own.

It might have been because of the fact that I was tense after all of the bizarre occurrences that I had been through.

I was able to get to school early because I woke up early.

Because it was the entrance ceremony the day before, we had been temporarily assigned to the upstairs classroom. They must have finished the class distribution, as they made an announcement to go to the first floor. Nakseong High School.

A humanities focused school that opened in 1984 in the City of Seoul, Gwanak District. The first seniors to have graduated from that school were already over the age of fifty and were members of society. If you wanted to, you could say that the school had quite the tradition.

From what I’d heard, the school had a foundation that paid for its costs, so it was categorized as a charter high school. However, because the school pursued normality to the point of being abnormal, its teaching methods and atmosphere were like that of any other typical school.

Because it was close to Seoul National University, it would have been reasonable for the school to have become a prestigious high school, but in the thirty years since its founding, it did not seem to put in the effort.

As such, the students tended to be a bit run-of-the-mill.

[T/N: Seoul National University is the most prestigious university in Korea.]

‘Thanks to that, even though I was thoroughly average, I was accepted.’

I tried picturing the layout of the school as I sat calmly in the classroom.

Three buildings were shaped in a ‘C’ formation, and in the middle was the courtyard. It was a simple layout.

If you looked in from the front gates, you could consider the middle building to be the main building. To the left of the main building was the cafeteria, and to the right was the gymnasium, which doubled as an auditorium.

There was nothing about it that seemed abnormal.

But the tutorial message suggested otherwise. It definitely stated that this school hid some sort of ‘secret’……

‘Even though it just looks like a typical school from the outside.’

Well, from my perspective the school already no longer seemed typical.

Underneath the school there existed some unknowable monster called the ‘Demon King.’

‘Haah… Where do I need to start unearthing clues?’

Whether it was secrets or the Demon King, both were such faraway objectives to me.

So I decided to focus on the incidents that occured right in front of my eyes, first.

What I meant by ‘right in front of my eyes’ was the ghost story ‘The Laughing Woman’ that was hinted at in the announcement printout.

This phenomenon called ghost story may have been closely related to the path I needed to take.

‘I need to make my objective for today finding out more about the ‘Laughing Woman’ that was mentioned in the announcement sheet.’

In order to do that, I needed to find someone who accurately remembered the portion of the announcement printout that described the laughing woman.

The more that time passed, the more likely it was that the students’ memories would grow shaky.

By the end of the day, I needed to ask as many of my classmates as possible if they remembered the contents of the announcement sheet.

‘I definitely am not the type of person to go out of my way to make friends……’

It was fine to have what people called ‘friends’, but they could also be tiring if you were bound by them.

To think that I, who didn't have such a disposition, was forced to act like some sort of extrovert…

While I was waiting in the classroom and ruminating, I watched Sunah slide open the classroom door and rush in right before the late bell rang.

‘Even though she lives right next to the school, she still had to rush over.’

I suddenly thought of a weird statistic that stated that the closer you lived to your destination, the more likely you were to be late.

“Now, everyone. Starting with those of you in the front, come out and pick out a piece of paper.”

It was our rotund, middle-aged homeroom teacher, who was laughing while speaking and using formal speech.

Within just a day of meeting each other, he made jokes and maintained his own pace.

I was thinking that he had amazing sociability as I went up and picked a piece of paper.

‘Let’s see… 26?’

Based on the number on the paper, our seats and our partners were being decided.

I checked the chalkboard to see the seat distribution that the homeroom teacher had marked down and walked to the desk that was assigned the number 26.

I had hoped to myself that a pretty girl would be my partner, but when I got to my seat I could see a massive guy sitting in the seat next to mine.

“Wheeze… wheeze……”

He was so obese that he seemed to have difficulty breathing.

He wore glasses and was fiddling around with his earbuds.

‘I think I saw him yesterday.’

Soon, I remembered that he was the one who was having a very intense conversation with Gyeongwon when they left school.

“Hello, nice to meet you. Let’s get along.”

“Wheeze… Nice to meet y-UwU~……”

The b*tch was an otaku.

[Your understanding of the character Oh Dukhun has increased by 15.]

After talking to him about various topics, I discovered that he wasn’t a bad person…

If you ignored the fact that he would hide a chocolate bar and secretly eat it while going ‘squee’, or the fact that he would spend his breaks watching some weird anime on his phone.

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Oh Dukhun

Age: 17

Disposition: ???

Special Ability: ???

Quirk: ???

Understanding: 15/100》

I decided to ask him about the pamphlet, like I had originally intended.

“Hey, Dukhun? There is something I’m curious about.”

“……?”

“You remember that printout that was distributed and then taken away, right? Did you read it?”

“… Yeah.”

“I heard that there were weird things written on it. Do you remember?”

When I began to talk to him, Dukhun, who had been watching anime on his phone for a while, took out his earbuds and began to stare off somewhere behind me.

“Aaah, are you talking about the laughing woman-desuka……?”

Maybe it was because he watched too much anime, but he seemed to be speaking Japanese.

I was going to point it out, but since it was our first time meeting, I held it in and nodded instead.

“Yeah, that’s right. Do you remember?”

Dukhun began to laugh as he responded.

“When you see the Laughing Woman, you must never act like you can see her, aruyo……”

“You can’t act like you see her?”

“Dame.”

Dame? What the f*ck does that mean?

“… Besides that, are there any specific words you remember?”

“Zenzen.”

The weeb put in his earbuds and returned to watching anime, ending the conversation with those words.

‘Haah……’

I went to visit Sunah’s seat after that.

Sunah’s partner, who was a girl wearing glasses, was reading a book. Her face was small, like a doll’s.

Her long black hair and clear skin caught my eye.

Sunah must have found it awkward to be with someone she just met, since she was fidgeting with her pencil case. When she saw me approach, her face changed to show a welcoming expression.

“Hey, Sunah. I saw you were almost late today.”

“Ahaha……” Sunah spoke after laughing a bit more naturally than yesterday.

“My grandmother woke me up late……”

“Do you just live with your grandmother?”

“Yeah.”

I wondered where her parents were. Her household situation seemed complicated.

“Did you greet your partner yet?”

“Not yet……”

When Sunah’s partner heard that, she briefly peeked in our direction before her expression turned stoic and she returned to reading.

‘I need to ask about the announcement sheet.’

I tried speaking to Sunah’s partner in an attempt to get the two to start speaking with each other as well.

“Hello, I’m Lee Joon.”

In response, the girl met my eyes and greeted me, smiling very brightly.

“Yes, hello. I’m In Hayoon.”

Because she had a stoic expression on right before, I had been scared that she would ignore me while thinking, ‘Why the f*ck is this b*stard talking to me?’ Instead, she greeted me brightly, with a smile.

She was unlike Sunah, who had a hesitant demeanor and spoke with a slight mumble. Instead, she had a clear voice and great pronunciation—like a newscaster.

“Do you happen to remember the announcement sheet that they distributed and took back yesterday?”

“Yes, why?”

“I heard there was a weird warning on it, do you happen to remember it?”

“I remember. Are you curious?”

“Yes, I’m curious. Will you tell me?”

Hayoon put her finger to her lips, making a gesture that suggested she was thinking.

White and smooth hands, slender fingers, tidy and trimmed fingernails.

Her hands were so different from my own hands, which I didn’t take particularly good care of, that I subconsciously gulped.

“I think it was… If you discover a woman laughing in an unusual manner at school, pretend you don’t see her and just act naturally until she passes by.”

“……!”

She remembered it exactly, right down to the details.

“My gosh… It seems very creepy, right?”

“I know.”

To think that such a creepy warning was just written in among the various rules, like the uniform restrictions or the rules on hair length.

I could only call this situation bizarre.

“……”

When Sunah couldn’t find an opportunity to slip into the conversation, her expression grew worried as she looked around.

I began to speak to the worried Sunah.

“Sunah, do you want to go check out the school cafeteria on our next break?”

“Yes. It seems like it’d be fun……“

Sunah smiled slightly, as if she was relieved. I said goodbye and made my way back to my seat.

‘… In my last life, I went to an all boys school. I didn’t have many opportunities to hang out with girls. Thank god I could speak without stuttering.’

The school I went to in my past life, after Nakseong High was closed down, was sadly an all boys school.

While thinking to myself that co-ed schools were the best, I sat down at my seat and prepared for the next lesson.

The next class was English, but nothing much happened.

Because it was the first lesson, all we did was say our names and introduce ourselves in English.

After that was break time.

Like I promised, I left the classroom with Sunah, with the intention of going to the school cafeteria together.

I was planning to invite her partner Hayoon as well if we made eye contact, but she just continued to read her book.

I calmed my disappointment and left for the school cafeteria with Sunah.

Right before we reached the school cafeteria, Sunah spoke up as if she had just remembered something.

“Ah, right. Gyeongwon……”

“Ah, right.”

Because my mind was so occupied with the school and ghost stories, I had completely forgotten.

The three of us had ditched the entrance ceremony together and gotten friendly with each other yesterday, so we could have at least asked him to come to the school store with us.

During the stage when people were just getting closer, like right then, sticking together with the original members of a group without isolating anyone was necessary to avoid trouble.

“You think he’ll be upset that he was left out?”

“Probably……”

But that guy looked like some rich household’s young master, so he didn’t seem like he would eat the cheap foods sold at the school cafeteria…

That was the excuse I came up with as I reached the school store.

Of course, the school cafeteria had a long line.

“It seems like the break will end before we even get to look at the snacks.”

“Seems like it……”

Well, I didn’t come here because I was hungry, but because it was an opportunity to get closer to my newly made friend, so it didn’t really matter.

Regardless, the front of the school store was utter chaos.

With all of the chatter between waiting students, the sound of students shouting, ‘please give me this, please give me that, please ring it up,’ and the chaos caused by students leaving and bumping into students entering the store… the whole place seemed like it would erupt within five minutes.

And during that time, some good-for-nothing upperclassmen pushed past us and cut in line. I almost fell over, but I managed to steady myself by grabbing Sunah’s hand.

“……!”

At that moment, I could feel the smoothness and the warmth of Sunah’s hand, and I couldn’t help but jolt.

‘F*ck, I’m screwed……’

“……!”

Sunah stared at me in surprise, her eyes wide.

Before I could even give an excuse, the students around us continued to push and pull, so we almost fell over again. In the end, I continued to hold Sunah’s hand and pulled us both out of the crowd.

Like that, we passed through the chaotic entrance. Once we were inside the school cafeteria, the situation was a bit better.

“……”

“……”

We ended up in front of the snack display, neither holding hands nor letting go. Our hands were in a weird in-between state, where they just barely overlapped on top of each other.

“Whew, this place is really hectic, isn’t it?”

I tried acting like nothing had happened.

“……”

Sunah didn’t answer.

Although our surroundings were noisy, there was a quiet tension building between us. Soon, I could feel Sunah trying to slip her hand from mine. I let go, as well.

I pretended to pick out things to buy, as I secretly peeked to see Sunah’s reaction.

It was a stiff expression, slightly mixed with seriousness.

It was, without question, a face that thought the situation was burdensome.

‘Ah f*ck… I knew I was screwed.’

At that point, it would have been a bit iffy to give some kind of excuse, too…

“Did you decide on what you want to eat?”

“……”

No response.

“… Sunah?”

Sunah furrowed her brows slightly as she tried to avoid my gaze.

… Was she annoyed?

The kind boys and girls in the movies often ended up holding hands within a day of knowing each other when coincidences like that happened.

Was that sort of thing just in the movies? In reality, if some guy began grabbing the hands of someone he just met the day before, people would definitely think he was a moron.

‘But it really was an accident……’

‘Ah f*ck… what do I say now?’

We were getting pretty friendly, but because of this one incident……

It was an awkward situation because I hadn’t spoken much to girls, and Sunah already had low self-esteem and was inept at human relations.

I was anxious about how to recover from this situation.

‘If only I could turn back time just five minutes……’

It was at that moment that I could hear a small scream near the entrance of the school store.

“……?”

I was about to pay for the Chochung Rice Snack I had randomly chosen at the counter when I reflexively turned my head towards the entrance.

I could see a brightly smiling middle-aged woman standing by the entrance.

“……”

“……”

I was shocked the moment I saw that woman.

She seemed like just some typical neighborhood lady, but she had such thick and white makeup all over her face that it was hard to even make out her features.

But her eyes and mouth made such a sharp crescent moon shape that the bright laughter seemed eerie, as if her features were ripping. Someone screamed after being surprised by the woman’s appearance.

“Wow, that scared me…”

“Who are you, old lady? Don’t block the path. Move aside!”

“F*ck, stop blocking the pa—”

Even without her standing there, the entrance was busy. The students who bumped into her on their way out couldn’t help but be annoyed as they passed her by.

Meanwhile, some of the students in the line that saw her monstrous makeup and heard her awful laughter couldn’t help but shout in surprise.

In addition……

‘Just how tall is that lady?’

It seemed like nobody else noticed because they were all in such a hurry.

The school store entrance was a chaotic mess. Even in that situation, everyone was able to see the woman. They either shouted or cursed at her.

In that sort of situation, where it was difficult to differentiate even the person right next to you, they could all see her. That was because she was at least head and shoulders taller than all of the highschoolers, who should have been at the end of their growth spurts.

“Su-Sunah……”

I subconsciously searched for Sunah.

As Sunah had also seen the lady, she forgot about all of the awkwardness that had happened between us and had attached herself to my side, her face pale with fear.

“Ye-yeah……?”

“Uh, what do we do? That’s uh… that, right? The Laughing Woman……”

I was flustered at that moment, and ended up asking Sunah for the answers.

“Uh, uh, yeah… Let’s……”

Sunah continued to speak with a pale face.

“Let’s just, uh go over there……”

I looked into Sunah’s eyes and nodded my head slightly.

[If you see the Laughing Woman, pretend that you didn’t and just act normally.]

That had definitely been written in the school announcements.

Murmur, murmur.

The students, who had been busy trying to get in and out of the school store, all eventually focused their attention on the woman.

They all began whispering in worry.

“What is that……?”

“Isn’t she a crazy person?”

“I AAAAAMMMMM NNNNNOOOOOOOOTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

At that moment, she let out a piercing scream as she pulled something out and began to make sweeping swings with her arms.

It seemed to be a boxcutter.

It wasn’t the type that students would use for arts and crafts, but an industrial one.

As she swung the boxcutter in the direction of the students trying to get past her, the student’s necks tilted at awkward angles and a dark, reddish liquid squirted out.

“Gasp, keeeek.”

Swish, slash.

“Mommy, my neck……”

Everything suddenly went silent.

And then—

“KYAAAAAA!”

“AAAAAAACK! Save me!”

“AAAAAGHH! UAHHHH! She's a crazy lady!”

The students tried to run away, screaming.

However, the area around the school cafeteria was already packed with students, bursting at the seams with them.

As those trying to run away and those standing in line crashed into each other, it became total pandemonium.

And in the center of it all, the laughing girl began swinging the box cutter like crazy.

“KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

“UACK!! Save me!”

“Gasp… gasp. Get out of the way!”

“KYAA! Run, run!

Around half a dozen students had their necks slit by the Laughing Girl, and could be seen tilting and then collapsing.

It wasn’t even a full collapse onto the floor. Because of the crowd of people, it was closer to bodies leaning against other people.

The male student who had just caught a dead body lost all sense of reason as the blood spurted out.

KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The woman laughed like crazy as she began slicing away at a speed and with a strength that seemed inhuman.

“UAHHHH! F*CK!”

“Uaarrgh.”

As the woman committed slaughter at the store entrance, those of us inside were unable to leave and were forced closer to the counter, trapped like rats.

“Kuuuaaaaaak-”

Swish.

“Gaaaarrgghh”

KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

Swish.

“Grrrrrghhh…… .”

“Su-Sunah.”

“Gasp… Gasp……”

Sunah was so scared that she began hyperventilating.

The crazily laughing woman made her way through the overcrowded students and slowly began to draw closer.

I was supposed to pretend I didn’t see her and act naturally in this situation?

‘That’s f*cking dogsh*t.’

Both of our shoulders were already shaking in fear.

Calmly pretending not to see her seemed impossible.

“Heub!”

I quickly pushed Sunah towards the counter. Sunah quietly yelped.

I then knelt and interlocked my fingers as I lifted Sunh’s feet on top.

[“Cross. O. Ver. Es. Cape. Through. Win. Dow.”]

After a moment of slight confusion at what I had mouthed, she understood what I said and used the boost I provided to get over the counter. She began running towards the window.

Because the Laughing Woman was blocking the entrance of the store, the only path of escape was the window on the opposite side of the counter.

That was the only method of escape.

I followed Sunah across the glass pane of the counter when I saw the store clerk crouching and hiding in the corner, trying to call the police.

“Th-this is the police right? This is the school store of Nakseong High School! Please come quickly! It’s a murder, a murder! Pl-please come quickly!”

We passed by the hiding woman and headed towards the window.

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