Ch.155155 – Your Name 4

# 155 – Your Name Is # 4

Kim Cheol-yong said he had attended a university in the metropolitan area.

But he quit school to pursue his dream and started earning money.

He was the only one among the construction workers who could speak Japanese, which made him the only Korean who could participate in the underground construction.

“Strange things started happening when we kept digging deeper underground. Boxes attached to cranes would fall to the ground. Sometimes we’d hear a woman crying. Things like that.”

The Yeongji High School construction was challenging for many reasons.

“There were several times when it rained so heavily that construction became impossible. Rain that wasn’t even in the weather forecast would pour down for days. We even found strange creatures like snakes with fur.”

Snakes with fur?

What a bizarre animal.

Could it be related to Giganoto, my family pet?

“I don’t have an eye for land, but even to me, it wasn’t suitable for building a school. And now students are studying there.”

“Mr. Cheol-yong. Please tell us about the box.”

Teacher Hong Miri wanted to cut short what seemed like a lengthy story.

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong seemed to be enjoying talking to other people after a long time, and he nodded with a slightly disappointed expression while licking his lips.

“Alright. Honestly, even now, those days feel like a dream. It was around the time when most of the underground construction was coming to an end after many twists and turns.”

The workers began building a temple in the deepest underground level using materials imported from Japan.

Having frequently visited Japan in his youth, Kim Cheol-yong noticed something strange.

“It wasn’t a Korean temple, but more like a Japanese shrine. I don’t know why these Japanese were building such a shrine on Korean soil. And it was a Korean rich man ordering it. The whole thing was strange.”

During the construction, workers who experienced strange things kept getting replaced. Kim Cheol-yong, who remained, was secretly pleased as his daily wages kept increasing.

“What I really wanted to do was boxing. I thought if I could make a big score at the construction site, I could step into the ring without worrying about money. I thought after finishing the Yeongji High construction, that dream wouldn’t be just a dream anymore, but…”

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong suddenly stopped talking.

Like someone at a loss for words, he scratched his forehead and started smoking his third cigarette.

I thought I might suffocate from all the smoke.

“When I started moving that iron box, my dreams flew away. It was incredibly heavy. I called it an iron box, but in shape and size, it was more like a coffin.”

“A coffin?”

Jeongseok, who had been quietly listening, interrupted.

He must have thought it was an important keyword.

“Can you describe it in detail?”

“It was just a coffin. But strictly speaking, not just any coffin. A coffin made of iron. Not for humans, I thought it might be for some ritual or religious purpose.”

Several workers carried the coffin, he said.

There were many complications in the process, and ultimately they failed to place it underground.

“Failed?”

“Yes. The coffin kept getting heavier. At first, four people could carry it, but later, even ten people couldn’t move it. Everyone was scared.”

A coffin that inexplicably grew heavier.

It was frightening just to hear about it.

If it were me, I would have quit immediately.

In that respect, Mr. Kim Cheol-yong was braver than me.

“We had no choice but to give up moving it to the underground shrine. They placed the iron coffin one floor above and just covered it with cement, but I don’t know the details. I quit by then. But from the day I quit, I started hearing something like Buddhist chanting…”

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong said that after moving the coffin, he began hearing what sounded like Buddhist chanting.

“I went to the hospital, but they said there was nothing wrong. But I clearly hear it. I have to rely on alcohol to sleep. Sometimes it’s okay, but…”

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong, once a man of strong will, tried his best to live a normal life and even got married.

However, it was difficult for him to maintain a household as he developed alcohol dependence.

When drunk, he became violent toward his wife and son.

“I’m scared of what I might do. It’s all because of moving that coffin. No, the school should never have been built there in the first place. My life was ruined because of money.”

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong suddenly began sobbing loudly.

“Huuuuuuh!”

Seeing an adult man cry was very unfamiliar, and as we all became uncomfortable, Teacher Hong Miri quickly pulled out an envelope of money from her bag and handed it to him.

“Here’s the rest of the money I promised.”

“Huuuuuuh!”

But Mr. Kim Cheol-yong continued crying like a baby.

His appearance was pitiful yet somehow creepy, making us all want to leave.

We couldn’t predict what this emotionally unstable man might do.

“Well, we’ll be going now.”

Teacher Hong Miri stood up.

We all followed suit and got up from our seats.

Everyone rushed out of the room.

I happened to look back.

If he hadn’t participated in the construction—

Would this man have successfully debuted as a boxer and lived well with his family?

“…Sir, what’s your son’s name? The one who attends Yeongji High.”

“His name uses the character for ‘strong’ (健) and the character for ‘tiger’ (虎).”

“Strong and tiger means…”

Gasp!

My tongue felt like it curled back into my throat.

Now that I thought about it, his sturdy build and angular jaw looked familiar.

Kim Geonho, the bully ghost who had been staring at me by my bedside this morning.

That Kim Geonho was this Kim Cheol-yong’s son?

I felt dizzy. I regretted asking.

How small the world could be.

Kim Geonho was a nasty bully.

What if his evil nature was shaped by growing up with an unstable father? And Mr. Kim Cheol-yong became unstable because of the construction.

It was a moment of clarity, like tangled threads suddenly revealing they were connected all along.

There seems to be no such thing as coincidence in this world.

Everything has a clear cause and effect.

“I haven’t seen my son’s face in years. I was going to give him this. If you meet him at school, please give this to him. It’s the glove he wanted for Christmas back then.”

Mr. Kim Cheol-yong handed me a soft glove.

For some reason, it felt as heavy as iron.

I took it and left the room.

# # #

On our way back.

Jeongseok said.

“That man was strange, but we learned a lot. The iron coffin is buried one floor above the shrine. One floor above the shrine means the second floor in terms of the Nightmare Corridor.”

Second floor.

The domain of all kinds of evil spirits, including the Rhythm Ghost.

The onmyoji’s coffin was buried there.

We hadn’t expected this at all.

For us, the second floor of the corridor was a place to “speedrun” through, not a place to explore.

Even for us who had reached the third floor and used the shop, the second floor remained an area of mystery and terror.

The ghosts that appeared there were still horrifying and we didn’t want to face them.

“Guys, should we go to the second floor of the old school building now?”

Jeongseok asked.

Where did he suddenly get such courage from?

It was around 2 PM.

I hadn’t checked the clock, but I was certain it was 2:22 PM.

After upgrading to “Crude Clock,” my internal clock had become quite accurate.

I checked the actual time, and it was indeed 2:22 PM.

My superpower.

Amazing.

Anyway, it was too early to go home.

Above all, the events of the past few days had left me confused, and I didn’t want to be alone.

“Let’s go to the old school building then.”

We all headed to the old school building together.

This time, we didn’t have to worry about Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon’s group attacking us.

But something was strange.

“…The padlock is broken?”

Teacher Hong Miri noticed that the padlock that had secured the school gate had been cut with a sharp cutter and was lying on the ground.

This looked like evidence that someone had forcibly broken in.

“Guys, you go in first.”

Jeongseok, who had suggested exploring the old school building, suddenly took a step back.

Was he getting scared now?

“I have something to pick up.”

We went inside, leaving Jeongseok behind.

Inside the old school building, we could see several footprints.

Kwon Sua knelt down to examine them and said.

“These are hiking boots. My dad used to love hiking, so I know them well. The shoe size is about 280mm… Did thieves break into the school?”

Thieves in this dilapidated school?

That would be better than the alternative…

Teacher Hong Miri said.

“This Yeongji High is quite famous in Korea. From the old days, shamans would climb over the school walls claiming they were receiving divine inspiration. It might be people like that.”

There are so many crazy people in the world.

Does that mean crazy shamans or treasure hunters might be hiding in this school?

It was terrifying.

Should we go back?

No, we need to explore the second floor.

Each of us grabbed something like a broken table leg and entered the old school building.

Signs that someone had made a fire.

There were also traces of ramen seasoning packets, suggesting someone had cooked ramen.

Soon, Bong Jiyeon exclaimed in disgust.

“Ugh!”

“What?”

“Who eats Jin Ramen mild flavor? Look at the packaging.”

Jiyeon telling us to look at the packaging.

It was a bit funny.

The footprints of the strangers and their traces led underground.

We followed them underground, but I was terrified that someone might jump out at any moment.

We arrived at the underground music room.

It was still an eerie place.

“What do you think? Does it look like there might be a coffin? Since they said they covered it with cement, it’s probably in the wall. There are cracks in the walls everywhere, so we might be able to see it.”

Do we have to search for the coffin in such a haphazard way?

While we were rummaging around, Jeongseok appeared.

He was carrying something that looked like a very long guitar case. Seeing his confident expression made me even more curious.

“What’s that?”

“A metal detector. My dad’s hobby is finding coins with a metal detector. Sometimes he picks up Joseon Dynasty coins and other strange things.”

Jeongseok’s father was the mayor of Gaeryong City.

It was quite surprising that such a person had a hobby of finding coins with a metal detector.

Politicians have peculiar hobbies.

“With this, we should be able to find the iron coffin. We can use this hammer to break the wall and see.”

As expected of our pirate crew’s first mate.

Jeongseok.

He seemed particularly reliable today.

He wasn’t much help when facing ghosts, but without ghosts around, Jeongseok was almost like Lü Bu.

“I know how to use the detector, so I’ll do it. The school construction used iron reinforcement, so it might be challenging. But if there’s an iron coffin hidden in the wall, the reaction should be stronger…”

I didn’t understand what Jeongseok was saying.

Everyone else seemed confused too.

Bong Jiyeon had an expression of complete exasperation.

“He’s always like this when he gets fixated on something.”

Jeongseok was currently fixated on the “iron box” and the “onmyoji.”

For the cowardly Jeongseok to have curiosity greater than fear.

It seemed like he was about to cause trouble.

They say it’s dangerous when people do things they’re not used to.

We wandered around the corridors of the real old school building.

But we couldn’t find anything that looked like a coffin.

We just wasted energy breaking walls with a large hammer.

“This is about the only place left.”

We stopped in front of the science lab.

In the Nightmare Corridor, this was where the Mirror Ghosts appeared. Yang Juhui had barely survived by using a straw doll when she entered this room.

So for me, the “Science Lab” was a place I should never enter.

I didn’t even know what it looked like inside.

Among us, only Yang Juhui knew about the inside.

“There were many mirrors inside.”

Just like in the old school building within the Nightmare Corridor, the entrance to the science lab was firmly blocked.

Piles of stuff inside blocked entry.

The only way to get in was through a hole in the wall.

The hole was as black as the entrance to hell, which was terrifying.

It was clear that ordinary courage wouldn’t be enough to enter.