Ch. 18 - Interlude - Ghost Story Club (2)

Although the first official day for club activities wasn’t until the next day, I was so curious about what our clubroom looked like that I couldn’t sit still the rest of the day.

After the last homeroom period ended, the three of us dashed towards the homeroom teacher.

“Where is the Ghost Story Club’s clubroom?”

Damim stared at us with a stunned look on his face.

“Is there such a ghostly club like that in our school? As well as a clubroom? What do you……?”

Sunah and Gyeongwon had an expression on their faces that suggested that was different from what they had heard and began to look back and forth between me and Damim.

“No way, Joony Boy. You weren’t tricked by that fake document I printed out yesterday and handed you this morning, were you?”

I stared at him with a face of pure disgust.

“… I get it, I get it. If you go up to the fifth floor, there will be a multipurpose room with a wooden door. That will be your clubroom from now on. Please keep it clean.”

“Thank you.”

The rotund and balding middle-aged man had a sad expression on his face as he mumbled to himself.

“Are you no longer falling for my tricks, Joony Boy? This teacher here is very sad.”

I coldly turned around and led Sunah and Gyeongwon out of the classroom.

***

A sleep-inducing ray of afternoon sunlight illuminated the entire school.

We ran up to the fifth floor as we passed the first years, who were busy leaving school for home, and the upperclassmen, who were sadly busy studying.

“Quickly, quickly!”

Huuu, haaaa.

Due to the excitement, I didn’t even feel tired as I ran up the stairs two steps at a time. However, when we reached the door…

“… It’s locked.”

Sunah stated as much in a dull manner.

After we followed the homeroom teacher’s directions and went to the very end of the fifth-floor hallway, we saw the multipurpose room with a wooden door in a slightly iffy location.

Above the door there was a panel that read ‘Multipurpose Room 3’. It looked like it had suddenly appeared, squeezed in between two classrooms. It was in a location that was surprisingly difficult to justify.

The immediate problem, however, was that the door was locked.

No matter how much we twisted the doorknob, it only clicked a bit and did not open.

“… Well. Although our club was approved, club activities don’t start until tomorrow. We will probably receive the keys then.”

Gyeongwon must have been disappointed, as he mumbled his explanation.

The firmly shut wooden door had a small glass window at the top, which could have been used to peer inside. Even that was blocked off by a sheet of paper. What was within the room on the other side of the door? What exactly did the clubroom we would spend the next three years doing activities in look like?

‘I spent all day thinking about this moment. To think the door was locked……’

On that sleepy afternoon, the three of us were standing blankly in front of our clubroom door. I was about to cheer them up, after trying to hide my disappointment, by stating the room wouldn’t be disappearing any time soon.

Suddenly, a message window popped up over the doorknob.

[Do you want to open the clubroom?]

I quietly looked at Sunah and Gyeongwon.

As I expected, they couldn’t see it. I put my finger over the doorknob and clicked on the message.

Click.

[The clubroom is opening. Please wait.]

[Loading……]

[4%]

[17%]

[25%]

Sunah and Gyeongwon began to stare curiously at me as I fiddled with the doorknob.

[51%]

[73%]

[89%]

“… Don’t be too disappointed, President. We just have to come back tomorrow. It’s not like the clubroom will be going anywhere anyti-”

[100%]

[The clubroom has opened.]

Click.

At that moment, the lock opened with a click and the doorknob turned.

Gyeongwon was so surprised that he stopped speaking, his jaw dropping. I pretended to be calm.

“Umm, this doorknob… Yeah. I think it was just a bit stuck. When I used some extra strength, it worked.”

Everyone’s anxiousness was heavy on the air.

Badum, badum.

Slam!

In an instant, I shoved open the door. Creak.

“Ooooooh!”

“Wow!”

It was a petite clubroom with a wonderfully comfortable atmosphere. The curtains were drawn closed over a large window. There was a wide table with four chairs. Next to the table was a standing whiteboard with wheels attached. The room was only about 71 square feet, so it was a bit cramped, but it had everything a club could need. That made it the perfect clubroom.

“Oh my, oh my. President, you really……”

Gyeongwon, who had naturally started calling me President instead of by name, began to smile.

He was adjusting his glasses as he shook his head.

“How did a new student like you manage to get a room like this?! And as soon as you made a whole new club! Really! Huhu!”

He was absolutely loving it.

“How am I supposed to express this? We are truly lucky, I guess. President! Huhu.”

In a small voice, he mumbled ‘I really like this’. I couldn’t help but smile and nod back at him.

Sunah was also admiring the room as she looked everywhere, over and over.

“It’s really clean here! The desk, the chairs, everything here is new……!”

“Well, it wasn’t much.”

I shrugged as if it wasn’t much. Truthfully, I would have been happy as long as it wasn’t some small storage room with rats running around. I had no idea that the system would provide such a complete, if basic, clubroom.

In fact, even the wooden floors were sparkling brightly, proving that it was completely new. Because the school itself had quite a few years on it, there were many signs of wear throughout the building. Nowhere in the school was as new or clean as the clubroom.

‘Impressive.’

I, of course, could not help but admire the new room.

I approached the windows and drew the curtains open to look outside. As I looked down, I could see the afternoon sunlight shine down on the courtyard as students toting their bags left the school.

I saw the other two sitting down on the chairs and brushing their hands over the table. The sight made me a bit happy as I decided to take a look at the menu.

‘Main Screen.’

Pop.

《MAIN SCREEN

[2019 March 7th | Thursday, 16:35 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 110]

[Causality Rate: 8%]

Status Window

Manage Club: NEW! Click to Open

Statistics

Settings》

As I expected, the Manage Club menu had unlocked. I clicked on it, wondering what would be in that menu.

Pop.

《MANAGE CLUB

[Ghost Story Club Lv.1]

Club Status Window

Manage Members

Store (LOCKED)

Club Settings》

Once I went into the Manage Club menu, I saw another four menu options appear. I decided to check out each one.

‘Number One, Club Status Window.’

Pop.

《CLUB STATUS》

[Ghost Story Club LV.1]

[You may spend points to nurture your club]

[Points until next level 0/100]

[Ability: None]

That meant the club also had levels. That reminded me of the tycoon type games I used to play as a child. Games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon, where you had to increase the levels of the attractions themselves.

‘I wonder what changes when I level up the club?’

When I invested the points on myself, I was able to receive weird abilities. What would happen if I were to put points into the club itself?

But it was the one hundred points that I had saved up!

I decided that I should pour my points into this option, but that was for later—when there were no prying eyes. I looked back at Sunah and Gyeongwon.

There was no telling what would change within the clubroom if the club were to level up.

Although it was a bit unfortunate, since the club members were with me, I decided to push the leveling up to the next day.

I went back to the Manage Club menu and opened the number two, the Manage Members menu.

Pop.

MANAGE MEMBERS

Yoon Sunah [0/100]

Ahn Gyeongwon [0/100]

Lee Jinhee [0/100]

Jang Hwaeun [0/100]

‘Well, damn.’

I did think that the system was copying some kind of game system, but I didn’t think it would be to that extent.

It felt like managing a guild from some sort of online game.

‘Lee Jinhee is the scary girl who always sleeps in the back, and Jang Hwaeun is… Who was this person again?’

I suddenly recalled the homeroom teacher telling me that each club needed an advising teacher, so some leftover teacher was written down as the club teacher. The system must have just included the teacher as a club member.

I tried clicking on Sunah’s name.

Pop.

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Yoon Sunah LV.1 [0/100]

Age: 16

Title: Dirt Spoon

Disposition: ??? NEW! Click to Open

Special Ability: None

Quirk: ??? NEW! Click to Reveal

Understanding: 50/100》

[Your understanding of the target character is too low. Please interact more with this character to obtain more information.]

'Ah, so it brings me back here.'

After pressing her name, it brought me to the Status Window I had seen before.

Previously, if the targets disappeared from my view I couldn’t open the Status Window anymore, which made it a bit less useful. With the new menu, I could always check the status of my club members.

The button that said ‘NEW!’ next to Sunah’s disposition caught my attention.

‘It probably appeared because my understanding of Sunah increased by quite a lot.’

Now that I could check the status windows from anywhere, I thought that I should read this more thoroughly once I got home. I once again went back to the Mange Club menu.

《MANAGE CLUB

[Ghost Story Club Lv.1]

Club Status Window

Manage Members

Store (LOCKED)

Club Settings》

Next, I tried pressing number three—the Store.

Click.

STORE (LOCKED)

[This function unlocks when the Club Level reaches Level 5.]

‘Level 5……’

How many points would I have to hoard to reach level 5? If each level took 100 points to increase one level, I would have to gather 400 points just so that I could use the shop function.

When I survived the D-rank ghost story, the School Broadcasting Ghost Story—I received 5 points.

When I survived the C-rank ghost story, Red Tissue, Blue Tissue—I received 10 points.

Finally, when I survived the B-rank ghost stories—the Laughing Woman and the Mother Ghost—I received 15 points each. If I was able to repel the ghost as well, I received a bonus 70 points.

‘If I want to gather 400 points… I have to defeat at least five more monsters like the Laughing Woman?’

I couldn’t help but sigh. It wasn’t a sigh because I really wanted to unlock the shop. I sighed because I realized how much I would be forced to solve those ghost stories.

I suddenly had the scary thought that my three years in high school would be mysterious, but also extremely long and arduous.

I had to run the club, earn points, raise my level… Which was all fine and dandy—I was a normal high school student. I welcomed those game-like fantasies.

‘If only they weren’t ghost stories!’

If it weren’t for those weird stories, everything would have been fine.

There was so much to discover in the system, and all the game-like elements made my heart pound. However, the thought of those monsters—all of which eluded common sense just by existing—ready to tear me apart, limb from limb, made me tremble in fear. With that in mind, I wanted to say ‘no thanks’ to the system.

The fact that I had to fight my way through monsters, despite the tycoon-type game system, made my heart grow heavy.

If it were possible, I wanted to avoid those scary existences. Those were my true feelings.

‘… Haaaah.’

No one else would want to go down that harsh path, all while risking their safety.

I suddenly thought of the three years I spent in another school—in my past life, after Nakseong High had been closed down.

I spent my time being normal. I studied like a normal student, played games when I got home, and went out to exercise or play sports on my days off.

I had a realistic goal—university—and all I had to do was complete my tasks within the time frame I was given.

It was a time where I didn’t need to stress about losing my life. It was a peaceful daily life. I wished that I had that life back.

Hmm… I did have the ability to go back in time when I died. Could I use that ability to live a more comfortable life? You know, like winning the lottery or something.

“… Ummm, Joon?”

At the sound of Sunah calling for me, I turned my head away from the window.

Sunah and Gyeongwon were sitting down on the chairs and staring at me. I, who had become the president of the Ghost Story Club, was standing by the window and looking right back at them. My fellow club members. To think that my life would follow such a path.

“What are we doing tomorrow during the club activities period?”

Sunah asked me her question in a quiet voice. Gyeongwon also looked at me with a curious expression.

“……”

Ah, right. Even if I avoided everything and ran away to live a different life, there was still an issue. The Demon King. That thing would awaken in three years, no matter what. Even if I lived a comfortable life, it would be for three years at best. There was no escape.

“……”

I had no option but to try living this life, just like that.

Although I did wish for a peaceful—normal—life, there was no such thing as absolute safety in the world.

Even in normal life, there were always special situations a person went through, and dangerous situations they wished to run away from, but were unavoidable.

“Tomorrow, each of us should think of and share the scary stories we know. That way, we can share information and establish each of our tastes and familiarity with ghost stories. That’s not bad for the first day, right?”

I had to try. I’d live my life the way I needed to.

“… Yeah, I got it! I’ll definitely think of something!”

“Huhu! Revealing all the ghost stories stored in my mind would take longer than a day……”

And that was how the afternoon passed by.

***

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Ahn Gyeongwon LV.1 [0/100]

Age: 17

Title: Pro WikiWarrior

Disposition: Explanation Character. NEW! Click to Open

Special Ability: ???

Quirk: ??? NEW! Click to Reveal

Understanding: 70/100》

Click.

《Disposition: Explanation Character This character is overwhelmingly narcissistic. As the only child of a rich household, he has spent his life receiving an elite education, which led to his enjoyment of flaunting his status as well as his high pride.

He is especially confident and prideful about his knowledge. It is good to know that, if you use this aspect to stroke his ego a bit, he will answer your questions quite easily to show off how much he knows. However, having lived a sheltered lifestyle as a nerd, when he meets a supernatural situation that goes beyond his common sense, he will fall into a panic easily.》

[Your understanding of Ahn Gyeongwon has reached 50%. You can view information about his Quirk.]

[Opening information about Quirk.]

[Ahn Gyeongwon’s Quirk is Denial of Reality]

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Lee Jinhee LV.1 [0/100]

Age: 17

Title: Backseat Delinquent Girl

Disposition: ???

Special Ability: ???

Quirk: ???

Understanding: 0/100》

[Your understanding of the target character is too low. Please interact more with this character to obtain more information.]

《STATUS WINDOW

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

Age: 34

Title: Old-Maid Teacher

Disposition: ???

Special Ability: ???

Quirk: ???

Understanding: 0/100》

[Your understanding of the target character is too low. Please interact more with this character to obtain more information.]

《STATUS WINDOW

Name: Yoon Sunah LV.1 [0/100]

Age: 16

Title: Dirt Spoon

Disposition: ??? NEW! Click to Open

Special Ability: None

Quirk: ??? NEW! Click to Reveal

Understanding: 50/100》

Disposition: ??? [Low Self-esteem]

《This character has spent her childhood in a disadvantaged household, leading to an extremely low self-esteem. She is passive in all things and slow in decision making. She is just lethargically living through the reality she was given.》

[Your understanding of Yoon Sunah has reached 50%. You can view information about her Quirk.]

[Opening information about Quirk.]

[Yoon Sunah’s Quirk is Yandere.]

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