Ch. 50 - Eighth Ghost Story - Doomed Midterm Exam (1)

The last month, March, put a heavy toll on my mental state.

On March 4th, the incident with the school's broadcasting announcement, where people's heads exploded the moment they followed the instructions announced by the broadcast.

On March 5th, the appearance of a crazy woman, who climbed over the school wall and sliced off the necks of the students while laughing hysterically.

On March 6th, the appearance of a strange being in my apartment, pretending to be my mother.

On March 8th, during the first Club Activity session, I was trapped in a maze of endless dreams with my club members.

From March 15th to 22nd, the whole country was shaken by the melody of a song sung with deepest resentment.

Then, a peaceful week later on March 19th, I played gymnastics under the moonlit night with my teacher, who was possessed by a ghost story.

‘It’s been a really exhausting month.’

However, looking back at everything that I overcame, I couldn't help but laugh.

At that time, I was so stressed out figuring out what was happening and how to resolve the situation that I used my wits to its utmost and acted upon whatever came to mind at that time.

Now thinking about all that, laughter bubbled up my throat.

I defeated a ghost that was pretending to be my mom by pretending to be its mother-in-law?

“Hahaha.”

Unbelievable.

What made me come up with such a solution?

At the time, I was so desperate to avoid the situation that I acted upon any solutions that came to mind. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder, ‘How did I come up with that?’

It also made me question to myself in worry, ‘Will I be able to overcome this well in the future?’

After all, one's wit doesn't always come in handy when needed. Relying simply on my wits and using tricks to resolve a situation isn't always the solution.

However, looking back, I realized that all the hurdles that I overcame, I was never alone.

There was always someone by my side. Sunah, Gyeongwon, Hayoon, Jinhee, Dukhun...…

‘Teacher Hwaeun.’ Well, except Teacher Hwaeun.

That woman was a bit... It seemed she had suffered more than making me suffer.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat.

Anyway, it was time to turn off the game.

"I had fun. Really."

I exited the game I had been playing on the computer before turning it off.

Since the midterm exam was right around the corner, I had to study.

* * *

[2019, April 22nd | Monday, 08:47 AM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]

[Ghost Story Point: 202]

[Causality Rate: 11%]

Surprisingly, even as a month passed after encountering the ghost story, Psychology Test, nothing else happened. My life went by as uninterrupted as before when all the ghostly phenomena started.

“Okay~ Tomorrow is the beginning of your first midterm exam as a first year of high school! Hope you don't be fooled by the strange rumours that your grades for the first semester of your freshman year will not be reflected on your later grades. Please prepare diligently for the exam. Good luck then.”

During the homeroom class.

Damim, our homeroom teacher, cheered us on for the upcoming midterm exam, as we were stressing out for it for quite a bit, before leaving the classroom with a smile.

The past month had truly been a blissful moment of peace.

My daily schedule only consisted of going to school as usual and playing games at home. The days passed by so readily that I couldn't help but begin to wonder if it was all right to idle away my days like that.

My parents hardly put any restrictions on me, neither did they pressure me for good grades. Therefore, I wasn't forced to attend any cram school. Because of that, all my leisure time was spent rolling on the bed and playing video games all day.

As a result, the Ghost Story Club, whose job was supposed to unearth the mystery behind ghost stories and urban legends, became a place for ceremonious and friendly socializing.

Before, when one after another ghost stories occurred, we had no choice but to unite together as a team to fight the monsters. We were even forced to run around different places, going as far as a broadcasting studio just to appease the resentment of a vengeful ghost. However, now the members only gathered to either chat or take a nap.

Even so, if there was one thing that I felt fortunate about the past month was that everyone in the club had become a lot closer to each other.

* * *

5th floor of Nakseong High School.

Clubroom of Ghost Story Club.

It was a lazy afternoon.

“Zzz.”

Jinhee, lining up four chairs side by side in the corner of the clubroom, made a makeshift bed and was taking a nap.

It seemed she felt comfortable to sleep in the clubroom this way rather than sleeping face down on the desk in class.

“Wheeze, wheeze.”

Dukhun, who just stole two chairs from the hallway, entered the clubroom holding the chairs with both hands while wheezing along the way.

I guess because he saw Jinhee using most of the chairs in the clubroom as a makeshift bed, he went to get chairs from other clubrooms for everyone to sit.

“Wait a minute, Dukhun. Let me enter.”

Hayoon entered the clubroom, passing by Dukhun, who was dragging two chairs behind.

“Oh, thank you. As expected, there is no one like Dukhun.”

“Thank you, Dukhun.”

“Wheeze, wheeze… It’s no big deal, whatever.”

Even though we were showing our gratitude and complimenting him, Dukhun only wiped his sweat with a neutral expression.

Thanks to the extra chairs he stole, we were able to sit down.

As soon as he sat down, Dukhun quickly took out his phone and put on earphones to watch anime.

“Joon, how is your preparation for the exam going?”

Sunah asked as she put down her textbooks.

Perhaps she didn't have money to buy exercise books, there were only text books accompanying her side of the table.

“Haa. Just going okay. Hey, Sunah, would you like to try this exercise book?”

“Th… thank you…”

The exercise book that I gave her was devoid of any scratches or pen marks. It looked as clean as new.

I bought this from the bookstore solely on purpose for Sunah.

“You… is it okay for you… ?”

“I solved all the questions.”

“Really? It looks clean…”

“I’m someone who doesn't like to mark or write on the exercise book. I just open it and solve the questions in the notebook.”

“I see… thank you….”

Sunah looked at the exercise book with great hesitation before picking it up.

Of course, I lied to her. The truth was, I didn't even glance at the book, let alone study.

I had already brewed a perfect plan in mind. After checking the question papers in the midterm exam, I was thinking about committing suicide and turning the time back. Although there was a 100% chance I would fail in the exam, I was confident of having an excellent grade after turning back time.

“....Prez.”

Gyeongwon, who was sitting next to me, watched me handing the exercise book to Sunah before speaking.

“You would be in trouble if you give the book away to Sunah. You must know that the grades of the freshman year in high school are also included in your later grades.”

“Uh-huh. I’m quite confident in my grades.”

"Hmm."

Pushing the glasses up, Gyeongwon exclaimed with a mocking surprise.

“No way, are you planning to memorize the question papers, and then turn back time to study accordingly after going back to the past? You’re not planning on that, are you?”

“……!”

“If you do something like that, I will personally kick you out of the club.”

Gyeongwon warned coldly.

This guy…. Most of the members of my Ghost Story Club knew that I could turn back time, since I shared the incident with the girl group Fourincess with them.

The only people who were completely unaware about the fact were Jinhee, who was sleeping in the corner, and Dukhun, who had his earphones on and was busy watching anime. However, I believe they were also quite aware about the matter to a certain extent.

As I sat there unresponsive, Sunah gave me a questionable stare, as if silently asking if I truly planned to do that or not.

“Well, um… Ah, haha.”

Under the scruitizing stare of Gyeongwon and the questionable glance of Sunah, I laughed with embarrassment.

“You haven't turned back time already, have you?”

“… No, man. Take it easy.”

“Alright. I’ll trust you.”

Yes.

Turning back time would only benefit me, not others.

If I turn back time for a small reason, it was equivalent to not giving any worth to the time we spent together. It was as if our time spent together had no meaning.

Like telling them that their time and memories don't have any value to me.

From my perspective, it was nothing mentionable. But for them, it must be extremely scary.

A week in which I lived my best life was erased by someone else's choice. I would forget everything wonderful that happened.

Even myself.

Such a thing was already quite unacceptable even to myself.

It would have been better if the members didn't know this ability of mine, or if I did it secretly without them being aware.

However, in a situation where my intention could be seen as clear as a day, such an act was quite disappointing for the members.

“Of course, I’m studying properly. I have never had any intention of using such a dirty trick of turning back time.”

“Hoo, really? Then, try solving this problem.”

As if he couldn't trust my words, Gyeongwon pointed at a question of the English passage as he handed it over.

I scanned the question with my eyes for a moment before answering.

“The answer is the 3rd one.”

Gyeongwon showed a surprised look.

“You were really studying. Sorry for not trusting you earlier."

"It's okay."

The truth was, I was able to answer the question immediately thanks to the 3 years I spent in my previous life.

Theoretically, I had already graduated from high school, so I could solve most of the questions without much hassle.

‘Now that I think about it, I think there’s no need for me to do something as treacherous as turning back time for such a simple matter, right?’

Most of the topics of freshman year of high school were things that I had already learned and even given exams.

Certainly, the fact that now I was in a different school remained. However, even if the school is different, there wouldn't be any particular changes with the questions here at Nakseong High School.

Not to mention, nationwide joint exams, such as CSAT or college entrance examination, would definitely have the same questions as my previous life.

As long as I study properly and exercise the topics I had learnt before accordingly, I could surely score above average.

It was hard to watch my friends study hard by themselves while I already had the upper hand which they weren't even aware of. However, it was even more disturbing to commit suicide and turn back time just for the sake of better grades.

'Haa. Then, I should stop whining and study honestly. My grades have always been the worst anyway.'

That night, I was sitting in front of the desk in my room with a new exercise book open as I was focused on watching some videos on YouTube.

“Wow, is this Faker’s true strength? It's truly a fight between the strongest players in the world...”

The Faker is a real-life legend...

[T/N: Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1.]

After playing and watching videos on my phone, I checked the time and realized it was 1 a.m.

“Oh, it’s already 1 o’clock… I should turn off the phone and study properly now.”

As I checked the group of our newly opened Ghost Story Club for the last time before starting studying, I saw that Dukhun had left a KakaoTalk message in the evening.

“Hmm, what's this?”

[Oh Dukhun: What do you think about this video of a stray cat following a woman to her house?]

A link was attached with the message.

“Hmm… A stray cat following a woman to her house?”

As my interest piqued, I clicked on the link, which took me to YouTube.

In the video, a woman was seen walking on the road going home after a day of hard work when a stray cat began to follow her.

As she opened the door and entered her house, the cat slipped through the closing door just before it closed fully.

“Cats truly are foolish creatures.”

As I giggled and watched a few more videos, the clock struck 2 a.m in the meantime.

“Wow, I really need to stop scrolling and study now! I wonder if everyone in the club is studying well.”

Thinking of my members, I sent one last emoticon to the Ghost Story Club’s group chat room before deciding to put down the phone for now.

ᕙ⁠(⁠ ⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠ ⁠)⁠ᕗ

However, just as I was about to exit the chatroom, a red mark, which indicates the number of readers, lit up by 1.

"Ohh. Who is it?"

I waited for a while, but no one responded.

As I pondered who it could be, I thought perhaps it was Jinhee.

Jinhee usually didn't respond no matter how much we chatted about in the group chat room. Even so, a red mark would always lit up whenever we sent a message, which meant she read almost all the messages.

“So it was true that Jinhee works many part time jobs. It seems she's working hard even the day before the exam.”

She definitely didn't seem the type of students who would stay up until this hour studying.

Jinhee mentioned before that she worked part-time at a fast food restaurant, which seemed open for some reason even late at night.

As I thought about it, I realized the reason why Jinhee is seen frequently napping at school during the day. Perhaps because she had to stay up late every night, which deprived her of her sleep, to work. If she could schedule her work properly and sleep in the afternoon, while working late at night, it could keep a moderate balance between her work and school life.

“Is that okay for a minor like her?”

KakaoTalk~

"Oh. Who is it?"

[Yoon Sunah: ᕙ⁠(⁠ ⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠•⁠ ⁠ ⁠)⁠ᕗ]

It was Sunah.

It seemed Sunah was also awake until late at night.

“Pfft.”

As I laughed at the unexpected situation, Gyeongwon sent a message.

[Ahn Gyeongwon: You two aren't sleeping yet?]

[Lee Joon: Been studying for the test, haha]

[Yoon Sunah: (⁠゜⁠o⁠゜⁠;.]

[Ahn Gyeongwon: What's with the emoticon?]

[Yoon Sunah: (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+ 우''广. 니]

[Lee Joon: I（ ·【 ·）] 1 （·우-） J （（· - ·）] （（ ·【· )] ]

[Yoon Sunah: [O三''으.] ］J 1八응三、'응느 J ·广 응느 J]

[Ahn Gyeongwon: What do they supposed to mean lol]

KakaoTalk~

[In Hayoon: (⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆]

[T/N: The emoticons used in the original text are a bit confusing. So I've changed a few and kept some of them as they were.]

“Hick.”

I was startled by the sudden KakaoTalk message of Hayoon, who suddenly decided to join the group.

For some reason, whenever I was around her, I always get flustered.

Hayoon usually seemed like a quiet and calm person, one who gets along well with everyone else, including the members of Ghost Story Club.

Except me.

[Lee Joon: Gonna go to sleep, haha. Goodnight everyone]

[Ahn Gyeongwon: Goodnight.]

[Yoon Sunah: Goodnight~]

Turning off the phone, I lay down on the bed with a sigh.

‘I should sleep as quickly as possible.’

Since I had exams tomorrow, I decided to fall asleep early and not waste any more time.

At the end of the day, my ultimate goal was to stop the resurrection of the Demon King.

In order to achieve that, I needed to grow the club stronger than it was. Not to mention, if that were to happen, I would be busy investigating various ghost stories and paranormal phenomenons around with the members.

Only by achieving good grades would I be able to have the permission of my parents to move afar freely. If I could show my parents that I was doing my best in school, not only they wouldn't interfere in my investigation, they may also increase my monthly allowance.

"...Right. I wonder why it's so peaceful this month.”

Lying down in bed, waiting for sleep to consume my consciousness, I began to organize my thoughts.

As I began to ponder on the sudden peacefulness of the month, I suddenly realized something.

The goal of the Demon King was to prevent both me and my club from growing stronger.

If I think about it from the Demon King's perspective, simply sending ghosts and monsters to my way wasn't the best solution to kill or stop the hero.

If the hero becomes stronger by killing monsters and gaining experience points, he or she may become a bigger threat to him in the future.

Since there was no effective way to kill or stop the hero, it wasn't the best solution to sacrifice precious troops and help me grow stronger. Rather, it would be better to yield for now and let me drop my guard down and slowly become languished.

The Demon King had all the time in the world anyway.

A group of knights steeped in peace, is the shortest way to a bad ending.

'Now I understand. It seems having a peaceful month wasn't a good thing.'

For the first month of the semester, the four of us, Sunah, Gyeongwon, Hayoon, and I, had to fight against a torrent of ghost stories.

Thanks to this, now I know tons of information about supernatural phenomena and how to repel them compared to when my knowledge was null about such things.

Although it was a short period of time, I was able to gain a lot of points and grow a lot stronger, both mentally and practically.

However, I also had to accept the fact that my sense had dulled a lot by spending a month only attending school without experiencing any strange incidents.

If I compare the facts that three years later, the Demon King would be resurrected and the world would be destroyed to how we were struggling to study for exams now, it was a bit hilarious.

The time was so tight on my part that even if I quit school right away and ran around to resolve ghost stories and fight monsters to collect points, it wouldn't be enough.

“Now I understand why the club has such a strange ability called ‘Ghost Story Acquisition Skill’.”

In many RPG games, the confrontation between the hero and the Demon King wasn't mostly focused on defence.

Rather, offence was more important. This is also the reason why the subordinates of the hero would go to dungeons and clear them up while also wandering around and looting from random mobs.

A month of this peace.

It was nothing but wasted time for me.

‘Ghost Story Acquisition Skill.’

The ability to collect Ghost Story Points by the members, which was also connected to the club.

It would have been better if a ghost story showed up now. But there was no news about such things.

Perhaps because I was still at LV.1 so the buffer period seemed too long for me?

I fell asleep with a peaceful mind and the intention of starting my ‘adventure’ of ghost stories hunting again once the midterm exams were over.

Fortunately or unfortunately, an incident occurred the next day.

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