Ch. 58 - Interlude - Situation Summarization (1)

[You've come across and survived a C-rank ghost story - Cursed Question Paper.]

[You have obtained 10 Ghost Story Points.]

[You've used your excellent wit and succeeded in returning the curse to the caster!]

[You have obtained 50 Ghost Story Points.]

[You've earned additional 10% bonus points for each contributing member.]

[Contributing Member (5 members): Ahn Gyeongwon, Oh Dukhun, Yoon Sunah, Lee Jinhee, In Hayoon]

[You've earned an additional 50% bonus, 30 points.]

[Current Ghost Story Point: 202 +60 +30]

Ding~

[Current Ghost Story Point: 292]

The science teacher’s ending was as expected.

While the detective took care of cleaning up the Science Lab, we went down to the classroom on the first floor as the bell to the end of schooltime rang.

There, we saw Damim, our homeroom teacher joking with others as always while an ambulance entered the playground and drove to the main building.

“Let’s go. I’ll explain everything.”

We each packed our bags and belongings before heading up to the clubroom on the 5th floor.

“Hey, Joon… What about Teacher Jang Hwaeun?”

“That person is excluded for now.”

I answered firmly.

In terms of the number of times people tried to kill me by being possessed by ghost stories, Teacher Jang Hwaeun was at the top.

Not to mention, she wasn't on the list of names I had memorized. Which meant there was a possibility she wasn't a part of the same faction hiding inside the school trying to kill me.

Even so, the risk of revealing my secrets to her was too great to brush aside.

‘...In Hayoon.’

What about Hayoon?

For now, she didn't behave particularly suspicious in the previous time period when we encountered a ghost story together.

The six of us climbed the stairs in silence in a somewhat serious atmosphere.

I, who was leading ahead, turned aside slightly and looked down at Hayoon below, who was climbing behind me.

With her black hair spilled behind, she was climbing the stairs with a nonchalant look on her face.

Could I trust her enough to reveal my secrets?

Certainly, I didn't suspect her too much, but that didn't mean she was without some suspicious aspects. However, she was the same Hayoon, who had sacrificed herself several times to save us.

In the ghost story of Dream Within Dreams, she voluntarily stayed in the first dream and let others escape. And even with the incident of Fourincess, she willingly got down off the elevator so we could proceed further.

And the most important aspect was, I was connected with Hayoon in the first place because of the S-rank special ability, Goddess of Luck.

‘...Let’s trust her for now. I can ask her my doubts later when we'll be alone.’

With that, I decided to trust the judgement of the system which I concluded operated beyond my perception rather than my own shallow calculations.

The time to explain everything had finally come.

“You guys came?”

Perhaps the Detective was able to roughly wrap up the investigation, he reached the clubroom before us and was standing by the window. When we entered, he turned around and greeted us.

"Yes. Guys, sit down.”

All the members sat down around the table in silence.

The Detective also sat down in the empty chair, which would have originally belonged to Teacher Jang Hwaeun.

“So, please explain to me how this all happened.”

Sighing, I stood in front of the whiteboard and looked at the members before opening my mouth.

“When I met the science teacher face-to-face for the first time, he talked to me in person and exchanged questions and answers, not over the phone but through direct conversation. From there, I learned that once the game starts, there is no need to continue it over the phone.”

For example, whether we exchanged questions and answers via KakaoTalk or through letters, the consequences would have been somewhat similar once the game was triggered.

This means that once the trigger, which was an eerie melody that rang through the phone the first time, was activated, the method had nothing to do with the game.

“I wrote the answer on the OMR sheet in advance and handed it to him in person. He personally received it and carried it with him. He must have kept it right under his nose the entire time he was on the phone with me without knowing that I had already answered the question.”

When the science teacher collected the answer himself, it was clearly recognized as it was ‘the answer sheet that Lee Joon had submitted to the question he had posed.’

Midterm exam: OMR sheet.

The problem with the ghost story: The answer.

These two elements became the key composition that was completely symmetrical to each other, and as a result, the answers to the teacher's questions were processed in the same way as I had written them down on paper.

He must have even held up my answer sheet and waved it around in front of him.

Therefore, he could never claim that it was invalid.

It was all thanks to what the science teacher said when I pretended to die. I even had succeeded in thoroughly eliciting many emotional reactions from him after my pretended death.

By thoroughly showing his real face to the members and the Detective, I succeeded in convincing the members of my club, who had been up till now blindly following me thinking it was just a fun game for them as freshmen in highschool, about the existence of ghost stories.

“… But I guess that’s not what you’re curious about.”

"Yes. We aren't curious about what happened during that face-to-face confrontation.”

The Detective spoke while resting his chin on his hands.

“Everything. From beginning to end. Starting with what a ghost story is, and how do you know about them.”

Gyeongwon and Sunah looked at me nervously.

Hayoon quietly stared at me.

Dukhun for the first time, looked a little serious.

Jinhee had her brows furrowed.

It was finally time to explain the truth to everyone.

My secret that even the members, with whom I shared similar incidents to some extent before, didn't know.

Truth regarding the game-like systems and my regression.

“...I think it would probably be quicker to show you an example.”

I opened the Status Window.

Pop.

《MAIN SCREEN

[2019, April 23rd | Tuesday, 12:52 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]

[Ghost Story Point: 292]

[Causality Rate: 12%]

Status Window

Manage Club

Statistics

Settings》

‘Manage Club.’

Pop.

[Ghost Story Club LV.5]

《Club Status Window

Manage Member

Store

Club Settings》

I finally opened the shop menu which I had been saving for.

'Store.'

Pop.

[Welcome to the Store.]

[You can spend your points to purchase various items necessary for the operations of the club at the lowest price at the store.]

[Not only that, you can also purchase various policies and facilities that can affect the management of the school directly.]

[Wise consumption is the easiest way to victory. Wish you all the best.]

Click.

[Apparel/ Appearance/ Merchandise/ Food/ Products/ Furnishings/ Lifespan/ Health/ Hire/ Technology/ Home Appliances/ Computer/ Sports/ Leisure/ Vehicle/ Books/ Tickets/ Travel/ E-coupons/ School Facilities]

Multiple categories listed endlessly appeared before my eyes.

Certainly, it wasn't my first time opening the Store option.

After unlocking the Store last month, I opened it occasionally to explore its features.

‘Let’s see. The clubroom just happened to need a sofa.’

Among the many categories, I clicked on Furnishings.

Pop.

[Furnishings]

[Furniture/ Lighting/ Interior / Living Room/ Bathroom/ Storage/ Kitchenware/ Bedding/ Curtain]

‘Furniture again.’

Pop.

Once again, endless categories of similar things popped up.

Built-in cabinets, wardrobes, mirrors, chests of drawers, sofas, tables, bookshelves, etc.

I clicked on the sofa among them.

Pop.

Finally, the list of actual products, which I had been searching for, popped out of the category hell.

[Movable King-sized 3-person Sofa - cushion free - 28 ghost story points]

[Discounted Square-shaped Wooden Sofa - Couch + 2 free cushions - 20 ghost story points]

[Best Western Natural Leather King-sized 4-person Sofa (Red) - 34 Ghost Story Points]

[Top Natural Bear Leather 4-person Sofa - 66 Ghost Story Points]

The names of the products shown in the screen hovering before me were written with full description and promotional phrases like deliveries, making it seem like they were actually crafted from some real shop.

There was even a simple photo attached next to the name, so it was easy to understand what kind of item it was.

‘There are so many.’

I felt dizzy as I looked at the big, endless screen hovering before me, almost covering the whole clubroom.

Waving my hand, I quickly shrunk the screen so that it wouldn't hinder my vision.

My gaze fell through the zoomed-out screen.

The members, as well as the Detective, were looking at me with strange eyes as I pointed my finger and waved my hand in the air.

"Hmm. Let’s see… It has to be big enough to accommodate four people, so even if one person sleeps, the others can sit next to them and rest, right?”

Choosing a moderately expensive one among the four-person sofas, I clicked on the screen.

[Western Bonita Stripe Fabric 4-person Sofa - 59 Ghost Story Points]

750 mm by width.

2,890 mm by length.

The sofa was over 2 meters long.

I looked around the clubroom to see if there was enough space, but I was worried for no reason.

The clubroom had already been expanded twice.

It was large enough to be about the size of an ordinary living room.

‘The price… 59 ghost story points? If I converted it to real money, it would be 590,000 won. This is quite expensive, right?’

For the past month, I had been studying the Status Window by myself and comparing the prices of products in the Store and actual products on the Internet.

It seemed that 1 ghost story point was approximately equivalent to 10,000 won.

‘Let’s have fun.’

“Jinhee.”

"Huh?"

Jinhee looked at me with a question mark above her head.

“I’m thinking of buying a sofa. There are gray and blue ones. Which one would you like to choose?”

Jinhee’s expression turned blank for a moment.

“...Well, wouldn’t gray be just fine?”

"Okay."

[Western Bonita Stripe Fabric 4-person Sofa - 59 Ghost Story Points]

[Warning! Products purchased with points cannot be returned, exchanged, or refunded.]

[Would you like to complete the purchase?]

Click.

“Congratulations, Jinhee. You don’t have to sleep on a hard chair anymore.”

[Purchase has completed.]

Swish-!

Something moving in the hallway was heard in the clubroom at that moment.

The members all turned their eyes toward the hallway where the sound came from.

I nodded in satisfaction before smiling.

“The delivery has arrived.”

“Wh, what is going on…”

Gyeongwon muttered with a puzzled expression.

When we peeked into the hallway, we saw a long sofa over 2 meters long, placed there.

“Uh, why is this thing here…”

“It’s ours. Let’s move it into the clubroom.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Nudging the dazed members, who were muttering in astonishment, I had them bring the sofa inside.

“Detective, use your strength a bit. Pull it from the front.”

“Haissssshhhh!”

The door of the clubroom was narrower than expected, so the members had to tilt the sofa on a side and adjust the angle before pushing in.

“Girls who are inside! Make some space by removing the whiteboard and desk! For now, we have to set those aside!”

Sunah and Hayoon groaned and whined as they pushed the desk, chairs and the whiteboard into a corner.

Jinhee was pulling the sofa from the front, pulling it shoulder to shoulder with the Detective.

"One, two! One, two!”

“It's not that heavy since many people are carrying it. Rather, it's the narrow door, huuu.”

After pushing and pulling for a while, we finally managed to carry the sofa into the clubroom before letting out a deep breath of relief.

“Uh~ it’s hot!”

The Detective took off his coat and flapped his clothes while loosening his tie with his hand.

“It’s not over yet! We have put it on the wall over there!”

“Oh my gosh, you guys should do that! I was fully immersed listening to the explanation and suddenly this disaster happened!”

“Pfft.”

The serious atmosphere eased up a bit as we worked together.

Only after pushing the sofa to the wall were the members able to wipe their sweat.

Among us, Jinhee looked at the sofa with a particularly satisfied and excited expression.

“You can sit down, Jinhee.”

Laughing at my suggestion, Jinhee ran over and jumped on the sofa.

Boing.

“Ah, f*ck, it’s good!”

"Mm-hmm!"

As Jinhee sweared loudly, indicating her happiness, the Detective looked at her with disapproval.

But Jinhee only giggled before lying down on the sofa and scratching her thighs.

“Dukhun, you b*stard, come sit next to your Noona!”

[T/N: ‘Noona’ is a Korean word which means ‘Sister’ in a respectful way.]

"Ku… Kusso.”

As Jinhee, who was lying down on her side and giggling happily pointed at Dukhun with her foot, he walked to her obediently.

It seems Jinhee is usually a very capricious person.

[Your understanding of the character Lee Jinhee has increased by 10.]

“Jinhee, skirt…”

Sunah muttered shyly, but Jinhee just giggled and rolled around on the sofa.

Her already short skirt was rolled up to the thighs, which made Sunah quite embarrassed.

“Huu, so, Prez. What on earth is happening?”

Gyeongwon took a breath before asking me.

Although it seemed he didn't put much effort into it because he lacked strength, it still seemed it was quite difficult for him as well.

“Now before I explain it, I have shown an example to you guys. So that when I explain it to you, you may believe it.”

“Ahem.”

I watched as everyone sat down after wiping their sweat and stared at me.

“Hmm.”

Standing in front of the whiteboard, I began the explanation of the strange phenomenon surrounding me.

“I don’t know if some of you have noticed it or not but our clubroom has expanded twice the size it was before.”

Since the Detective was there, I started to explain it from the very beginning in a respectful manner.

Sunah nodded enthusiastically when I mentioned the clubroom getting bigger, however, Gyeongwon looked confused. Jinhee, who was lying down on the sofa, saw the puzzled look on Gyeongwon’s face and couldn't help but mock.

“Won’t it only be an idiot to not notice such a thing?”

"... What? Everyone noticed?”

Dukhun crossed his fat arms before sighing exaggeratedly.

“Yare yare. I couldn't bear to mention it at that moment thinking it was only my illusion. But it seems what I thought was an illusion was actually true. I thought I started seeing things because of weight loss.”

“...Well, even though the clubroom expanded doesn't mean people actually came and did the work. Just as the sofa appeared out of thin air, some strange things have been happening to me that transcends human perception.”

“Strange things?”

“It started three years ago, during my high school entrance ceremony.”

After hearing those words, the members began to calculate in their heads for a moment, perhaps trying to grasp my age or questioning if they heard me right.

“...It must be during the middle school entrance ceremony.”

“No, it was the high school entrance ceremony.”

I corrected it again when Gyeongwon tried to correct me.

“What I said is correct.”

“...But, Prez, aren't you still a first year?”

Ignoring his question, I proceeded with the explanation.

“During the entrance ceremony, something that looked like a game-like system window suddenly appeared before my eyes. I call it ‘Status Window’. It looks a bit like this…”

I grabbed the marker pen, which was automatically added to the clubroom when it was first created and started drawing.

With the Status Window open in front of me, I copied the shapes and letters exactly as they were.

“It looks like this.”

[2019, April 23rd | Tuesday, 12:52 AM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]

[Ghost Story Point: 292]

[Causality Rate: 12%]

《Status Window

Manage Club

Statistics

Settings》

“Hoo.”

"Hmm."

All of the members, including the Detective, glowed their eyes.

Dukhun, who was the most knowledgeable about games among us, had the most glowing expression than everyone.

“Status Window…”

“Status Window.”

I nodded to him.

“This game-like system, which suddenly appeared to me on the day of my entrance ceremony, told me to solve various ghost stories and earn points because according to it, a supernatural being called the Demon King would be resurrected three years later. As I've mentioned earlier, strange phenomena that could only be described as ghost stories began to occur to me after that. There are probably members here who have already gone through the same experience as me.”

Those who had, nodded.

“Just how the science teacher just died, the phenomena were somewhat similar. That person tried to put a curse on me using a ghost story. But that didn’t work, and the curse returned to him and he died.”

“Hum.”

The Detective clicked his tongue before asking.

"I have a question. The word ‘ghost story’ that you keep mentioning, does it have the same definition as we know in the dictionary?”

"Yes, it does. A creepy or scary story. Urban legend. Occult. Strange rumors. Conspiracy theory…”

I nodded as I mentioned a few examples.

“For me, these are the things that materialize and happen.”

The Detective clicked his tongue once again with a ‘hmm’.

“Of course, these things don't happen only to me. Once a ghost story is materialized, it not only has physical power but also has a real impact on the world.”

“Another question. The science teacher. Why did he try to kill you, and how does he know these things?”

“… I don't know that either. But the system told me that this school has a hidden secret. I think it probably has something to do with it.”

“A hidden secret…”

The Detective rubbed his beard with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Yes, a hidden secret. But I foolishly... ignored the system's warning during my first time and spent my time living a normal life. Studying, taking the CSAT exam... And in February 2022, the Demon King was finally resurrected.”

“2022…?”

The members tilted their heads as if they couldn't understand. Knowing they would be able to understand once I finished the explanation, I continued.

"Yes. Hell unfolded in the world after the resurrection of the Demon King, and I, too, died in an incomprehensible way less than a day later.”

“Prez, a question.”

This time, it was Gyeongwon who raised his hand.

“Yes, please ask.”

“How did you die?”

Umm…

How do I explain this?

“I can only describe it as... it was truly bizarre and terrifying. It was like a nightmare.”

“What was the reason?”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll explain later. It's just that my death is very disturbing to me and doesn't matter much to the explanation I'm giving now. I think it will get too complicated if I tell you that now.”

“Okay, sorry. Continue."

“Hey, I’m sorry…”

I waved my hand, indicating it didn't matter to me.

However, this time, it was Dukhun who intervened.

"What?"

“That…”

Dukhun began to wiggle as he spoke as if he was embarrassed.

“I’m hungry…”

“Oh, me too.”

"I'm hungry too…”

When he mentioned it, we realized that it was already well past 1 o'clock.

Since it was the time of midterm exams, the cafeteria was closed because exams are usually completed quickly.

Because of that, we haven't had lunch yet.

I was immersed in trying to resolve the ghost story and then watched my science teacher dying in front of my eyes, so the thought of having lunch flew past my mind.

Everyone was also hungry since they haven't eaten anything until now.

Since the explanation was going to be long, it would be hard to take everything in with an empty stomach.

“We can’t go out and eat somewhere while discussing the matter. The information is not only strange but also highly sensitive, so it’s better to talk about it here in the clubroom before having lunch.”

“Then I guess we can order takeouts.”

At Gyeongwon's words, the eyes of the members instantly turned to the Detective, who was the only adult present.

The Detective, under the hopeful eyes of the members, quietly picked up his phone and called a nearby Chinese restaurant.

“Hello. I'm calling from Nakseong High School. We're on the fifth floor. I'd like to order 7 bowls of black bean noodles…”

“I want to eat chicken…”

When Sunah muttered quietly, the Detective looked very embarrassed for a moment, which looked quite strange for someone of his size.

"What? Chi, chicken? I don't know if there are any restaurants that sell chicken around. How about replacing it with sweet and sour pork or kkanpunggi? Uh, please bring some sweet and sour pork and the dried pork kimchi.”

[T/N: Kkanpunggi or Spicy Garlic Fried Chicken is a kind of Korean Chinese cuisine, also known as Sino–Korean cuisine, which is a hybrid cuisine developed by the ethnic Chinese in Korea.]

“Sauce, separately…”

"Yes? Sauce? Ah, I understand.”

If it's about work or dealing with criminals, the Detective had sharp intuition and a strict attitude.

However, he was the type of person who gets flustered in front of innocent students like this.

[Your understanding of the character Park Gangwoon has increased by 10.]

“No sauce on the sweet and sour pork. No, no, bring it here separately, don't pour it on the meat. Don't pour it, but bring it separately. If I find the sauce on the meat I'm going to complain.”

Jinhee, who was still lying down on the sofa, couldn't help but let out a sarcastic comment at the flustered detective.

“Who orders takeouts through calls these days? Everyone uses food delivery apps.”

“Don’t be sarcastic, children.”

The Detective nervously put down his phone before muttering to himself.

“It’s not like I normally have this vulnerable image…”

The extraordinary aura he displayed when we first met was really only half of his usual image which he had no choice but to suppress in front of young students.

The Detective let out a resigned sigh as if the image he painstakingly built was hurt.

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