Ch.13013 – The 31st Student Ghost Story 3

# 013 – The 31st School Ghost Story #3

“There’s bullying happening in Class D.”

After getting a hint from this note, I didn’t waste a moment to form a plan.

First, I tore a page from my notebook and quickly scribbled:

“Hidden Quest for Class D!”

“When the second hand of our classroom clock reaches exactly 10 minutes before the end of class, please simultaneously type the ‘example’ text below in our group chat.”

“Example: The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves”

“If all 29 people in the group chat enter the example at the exact time, each person will receive 30,000 won in cash.”

“Warning – You must NEVER mention the existence or content of this hidden quest in the group chat.

If this hidden quest is mentioned in the group chat or if anyone fails to enter the example, the hidden quest will automatically fail.”

“Please sign next to your name below after confirming the above.”

Take that, you ghost in the group chat!

You didn’t see this coming, did you?

A digital ghost can’t beat an analog human!

It’s just like how a digital girlfriend can’t compare to a real one.

“……”

I looked over what I’d written in my notebook again.

The biggest question was whether the Class D kids would actually participate in my plan.

That’s why I offered the hefty reward of 30,000 won per person.

In an era where high school students get an average monthly allowance of 80,000 won, getting 30,000 won for free?

Honestly, they won’t be able to resist this.

If someone offered me 30,000 won for free, I’d be jumping with joy too.

The problem was that I’d be the one giving out the money…

But that wasn’t a big issue for me right now.

If I solve this ghost story successfully, I’ll get more points.

Then I can unlock the “Bank” from the locked items, convert the points to cash, and distribute it to the kids.

I flipped the paper to the side.

There were about 25 minutes left until the end of class.

I checked the group chat atmosphere and it was still in a state of panic.

Error? Bug? And so on.

Was there a better way?

I fell into thought for a moment as I watched the note being passed around. Since I came up with this in a hurry, I was honestly quite uneasy about it.

How many people can stay calm in a life-or-death situation?

Thinking that the lives of all Class D students depended on me made it hard to stay calm.

Finally, the paper made its way back to me.

“Ahn Youngmi: Confirmed”

“Park Inbae: 30,000 won”

“Lee Jinseong: Sex”

“Cheon Soyeon: Confirmed”

“Jeongseok: Confirmed.”

“Kim Geonho: I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t pay up, I’ll kill you. Everyone do this properly”

.

.

.

“Ha Yeongwon: “

Only my name, at the very back of the classroom, was left blank.

It was reassuring to see everyone’s signatures and signs.

It was also good that the money-hungry Kim Geonho had intimidated the others.

With Kim Geonho laying down the law, no one would mess this up.

I was right to offer money!

“Wait…”

Looking at the list of 29 names excluding Yang Juhui, I realized something important.

Looking again, mine wasn’t the only name with a blank space!

“Jeong Sojin: “

Damn it!

The teacher said Jeong Sojin went to the infirmary at the beginning of class!

Crap!

I quickly checked the clock.

20 minutes left.

If I hurry to the infirmary, I could get there in 5 minutes!

“Teacher! I need to go to the bathroom! It’s urgent!”

I jumped up from my seat and quickly escaped from the classroom.

Thanks to my legs trained from buying bread for Yang Juhui, running full speed to the infirmary was no problem at all.

I opened the infirmary door and was greeted by the sight of curtains fluttering in the spring breeze.

I advanced through the smell of disinfectant and found Jeong Sojin lying on the bed.

“Sojin. Hey, can you read this and sign it? Quickly! There’s no time!”

“……”

The class president Jeong Sojin, who had been lying on the bed, half-raised her body.

She looked at the paper and pen I held out, then frowned.

“No. You’re trying to ostracize me, right? While I’m in the infirmary, everyone in class is plotting to bully me, right? I know everything.”

What is she talking about?!

Was Jeong Sojin always like this?

“What are you saying? Why would people bully you, Jeong Sojin!”

“Everyone hates me! Because I’m smart and pretty. Everyone is jealous of me. Especially the girls. I’ve known it all along. That everyone is jealous and hates me.”

I knew why Jeong Sojin was acting this way.

“Jeong Sojin: ‘Persecutory Delusion’ – The parallel lines of dreams and reality that should never meet have finally touched. Are the whispers in your ears really dreams? Or…”

It must be the quirk ‘Persecutory Delusion’ that had taken root in Jeong Sojin.

Is this how the quirks accumulated in the Nightmare Corridor snowball and roll toward me?

If I can’t get Jeong Sojin’s consent for this operation, maybe knowing her chat number would somehow work.

“Everyone hates me. I… I don’t even want to go to school anymore. I’m going to drop out. And just take the GED…”

Jeong Sojin was so dejected that she didn’t seem likely to easily tell me her chat number.

She was like a snail firmly hidden in its shell.

“Hey! Jeong Sojin! Snap out of it! People don’t hate you! They hate me! I’m still going to school, so how can you, the class president, say that!”

I desperately needed Jeong Sojin’s help.

Seeing that there were less than 13 minutes left until the end of class, I felt my blood rush up and down my body.

At this point, I had no choice!

“Status window.”

“Clinic ◀ Click to open”

“Spend 100P to treat quirk.”

I dragged Jeong Sojin’s name from the player list and put it in the clinic.

I currently had 111 points.

I had been saving points in case of an attack by ghosts like the Ajumma Ghost, but if I didn’t treat Jeong Sojin’s quirk now, we might all die.

“Quirk ‘Persecutory Delusion’ has been treated.”

The quirk was treated!

Now, I just needed to persuade Jeong Sojin!

“Jeong Sojin, do you see this? These words! Look at this! This! Don’t you want 30,000 won too!?”

“No… I’m an ugly bug.”

Damn it.

The quirk must have been treated! But she still hasn’t come to her senses!

Come to think of it, when my ‘Ghost Possession’ quirk was treated, I was also a bit dazed for a while.

Did I only come to my senses when I heard the police sirens?

She needs a big shock!

I reached out and slapped Jeong Sojin’s cheek.

There was quite a loud sound, and Jeong Sojin’s eyes widened behind her disheveled glasses.

“Snap out of it! You’re not a bug! I need your help!”

“……”

Tick-tock-tick-tock.

As the clock in the infirmary ticked loudly, Jeong Sojin’s gaze gradually regained its sharpness, then shifted to the paper and pen I was holding out.

There were about 2 minutes left.

Jeong Sojin looked at her phone.

With a whatever-happens-happens attitude, I opened the group chat and pre-typed the example text we had agreed on.

“The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves”

“Sojin. The second hand on Class D’s clock and the infirmary clock might be different. When everyone starts typing the same message, you should quickly enter it too.”

The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves

The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves

The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves

The sunlight was clearly licking the leaves

…

The same text started appearing rapidly in the group chat.

Now!

The scroll moved up quickly in an instant.

There was only one number that didn’t enter the text.

“30: Is it you, #4?”

“4: You caught me”

…”You caught me”?

Number 4 readily admitted their identity.

Just as I was wondering what would happen next, text appeared before my eyes.

“Congratulations! You have won against the ‘Death Game’!”

“Starting to calculate the share for 29 survivors.”

“You gain 290P.”

# # #

“Oh?”

The share for 29 survivors!

Did 2900 points appear…!?

I was so surprised I couldn’t speak.

But the incoming points were 290 points.

“Huh?”

Wasn’t it supposed to be 100 points per person for defeating one ghost?

290 points was still a lot, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

It seems the points applied differently for each ghost defeated.

Maybe there’s a difference in difficulty level…

Well, thinking about it, this “Death Game” I just defeated was easier than the “Ajumma Ghost.”

Come to think of it, #4 said at the very beginning, “4: I’ve invited everyone in our class except Yang Juhui lol.” So they were both the room host who invited everyone and the ghost.

“User #4 has left the chat.”

“User #22 has left the chat.”

“User #11 has left the chat.”

The group chat was being smoothly dismantled.

It’s all over now.

No, I still had the task of paying 30,000 won to each person who participated in this operation.

Honestly, I was a bit reluctant to part with the money… but running off with the money would be the worst move.

Who knows how many times something like this might happen in the future?

Each time, I might need the help of my classmates like this, and if they start thinking, “Ah, they won’t pay anyway,” I’d be screwed in many ways.

I needed to give the kids an “experience.”

The experience of completing a hidden quest and receiving a reward.

I spent 100 points to unlock the “Bank.”

“Would you like to withdraw 90P?”

“Yes/No”

Let’s try withdrawing just 90P for now.

“Remaining balance – 111P”

“Please check your locker.”

Locker?

Is it talking about my school locker?

I wanted to check what had happened right away.

I should go back to the classroom.

“Yeongwon.”

As I was about to leave the infirmary, Jeong Sojin got up from the bed and called me.

Jeong Sojin’s cheek was red and swollen, and only then did I remember that I had slapped her cheek.

I guess I didn’t control my strength well.

I hope this doesn’t cause any trouble.

“Yeongwon, what did we learn in math class today?”

“……”

But Jeong Sojin seemed fine with me slapping her cheek and asked what we learned in first period today. How would I know? I wasn’t paying attention either.

“Sojin. I’m busy, so I’ll be going now-. Um… I need to go buy bread for Yang Juhui.”

I left Jeong Sojin and slipped out of the infirmary.

I heard Jeong Sojin calling “Hey-” from behind, but that wasn’t important to me right now.

I quickly went to the classroom and peeked into my locker, and I could see a thick white envelope inside! Awesome!

Should I… just distribute this to the kids?

No.

If I distribute the money, everyone will know that I, Ha Yeongwon, was the mysterious person who set up the mission.

That would make things really complicated.

If all the class bullies come to me saying, “Yeongwon, you’re rich? Give us your money,” things would get messy in many ways.

It was better for me to keep my identity hidden if possible.

That’s why I left my name blank on the “Hidden Quest Note” so it wouldn’t look like I wrote it.

“Hmm.”

Wondering if there was a better way, I decided to write a note on the envelope.

“Vice President Jeongseok. You distribute 30,000 won to each student. From the Hidden Quest issuer.”

Vice President Jeongseok.

A model student type.

I slipped the envelope into his desk as I passed by.

About 5 minutes later?

“Hey, everyone. I’ll distribute 30,000 won to each of you.”

The students started buzzing at the vice president’s announcement.

“Amazing!”

“It must have been some kind of surprise!”

“It’s really 30,000 won!”

The only one who couldn’t join in the excitement was Yang Juhui.

“What’s this? Is this how you ostracize someone? Class D students are so childish.”

Yang Juhui, who wasn’t in the group chat, didn’t seem to understand the situation.

Sadly, neither did I.

My 840,000 won…

To change my mood and do some mind control, I had gained a lot in the end.

My points had increased, and I was able to find the informant.

As Vice President Jeongseok approached me to hand over the 30,000 won, I quietly said:

“Hey, Jeongseok. It was you, right? The one who wrote the note about bullying in Class D. Don’t try to deny it. I already have all the evidence.”

The “accusation note” and this guy’s “Hidden Quest signature.”

The similarities between them were quite strong evidence.