Ch.158158 – Devil 2

# 158 – Devil #2

At the beginning of the semester.

I once had a crush on a girl who wore glasses.

It was our class president, Jeong Sojin.

She had a friendly personality and treated people without shyness, making me harbor hopes like “Do I have a chance?” But that same Jeong Sojin eventually became one of the people who subtly excluded me.

That led to my first exploration of the Nightmare Corridor.

It was truly hell back then.

I had no idea what was happening—ghosts appearing everywhere, and Jeong Sojin suddenly going crazy and pushing me toward where the ghosts were. Even thinking about it now, it was absolute chaos.

After that, I used Jeong Sojin as a member of my exploration party.

Although she was a nasty girl, she was exceptionally good at finding items.

She was sort of my ace character.

Perhaps that’s why I felt a certain inner closeness to Jeong Sojin. The kind of feeling a gamer has when looking at a cherished game character.

The problem was that Jeong Sojin and I met again in this Nightmare Corridor.

As I just mentioned, when Jeong Sojin and I came to this corridor together for the first and last time, I was almost killed after being pushed toward a ghost. Remembering that moment made me dizzy.

Was there any guarantee that wouldn’t happen again?

Jeongseok, Sojin’s cousin, was here, but that girl is a cold-hearted warrior ready to sacrifice others whenever her own life is in danger!

“Hey guys, say something.”

Don’t say anything, everyone!

I gave them a silent signal while recalling Jeong Sojin’s character sheet.

“Name: Jeong Sojin Lv.4

Trait: 《Mind’s eye》

Disposition: Cunning

Quirk: None

Possessions: Class President’s Glasses

A popular and energetic girl who serves as Class D’s president. Her crisis response ability is low, but her versatility may compensate for this. She’s difficult to handle as her outside and inside are different.”

“《Mind’s eye》: A higher trait than 《Attentiveness》. Increases the probability of discovering the bizarre and taboo. Can see hidden bizarre entities. Easily detects lies.”

Jeong Sojin had 《Mind’s eye》.

If we told clumsy lies here, she would easily see through them.

“I understand. You’re all scared, right? It’s okay. I’ll help you get out. It might be impossible for everyone to escape, but some people could get out safely. With this talisman.”

Flutter-

I now noticed that Jeong Sojin was holding a talisman.

That looks like the talisman from this first floor.

This was a difficult situation in many ways.

Jeong Sojin looked at me and chuckled.

“Yeongwon, why are you so stiff? You must have seen a lot of ghosts.”

It’s because I saw you!

Of course, I couldn’t say that.

While I was deeply contemplating what to do, Jeongseok spoke.

“Sojin, I’ll be honest. We already know about this corridor. We’d like to ask for your cooperation.”

…This guy Jeongseok! Suddenly going for a frontal assault!

As everyone was flustered, Jeongseok sighed calmly.

“We’ll be found out anyway. Sojin has always been incredibly good at detecting lies. Rather than hiding things and breaking trust, it’s better to be upfront.”

…Do we even have trust to break?

I was confused in many ways, but Jeong Sojin’s reaction was more ordinary than expected.

“What? You guys were also exploring this corridor? I thought I was the only one from our class. Along with Ms. Hong Miri. If I’d known, I would have talked to you about it sooner!”

Swish-

Jeong Sojin showed me her palm.

She wasn’t showing off her palm lines; she seemed to be asking for a high-five.

Clap-

I raised my palm and clapped hands with her.

# # #

The key was how much information to reveal.

Fortunately, Jeongseok was a guy who knew how to use his brain.

“We just wander around this corridor. We collect talismans to escape. Since there are many of us, we’re also aiming for the second floor or higher.”

Jeongseok concealed information just enough to not reveal too many of our secrets.

It was like a card game where you hide your hand while trying to see your opponent’s cards.

However, Jeong Sojin was surprisingly honest.

“You really want to go up to the second floor? You shouldn’t go. There are scary ghosts up there. It’s nothing compared to this first floor. You could all die.”

Her attitude was relaxed, like a veteran adventurer.

Perhaps it was confidence from having the escape talisman, allowing her to leave this place anytime.

Of course, we couldn’t let our guard down.

Jeong Sojin was someone who could pull off incredible trolling when cornered.

“But I owe Yeongwon a debt. If Yeongwon asks me for help, I don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t do for him. Hmm…”

Jeong Sojin’s eyes sparkled strangely behind her glasses.

She owes me a debt?

“What debt? There’s no debt between us, Sojin. You know that well.”

“You saved me. When I was scared alone in the infirmary. And last week, you saved me from a dream where I was being eaten by a dinosaur. The week before that, you pulled me out of the sea.”

What are you talking about!

Jeong Sojin once had a quirk called 《Persecutory Delusion》. I did wake her from that quirk by slapping her cheek.

But all that talk about saving her in dreams was nonsense.

Perhaps just as Yang Juhui hadn’t completely escaped from the 《Boiling Blood》 quirk, maybe Jeong Sojin hadn’t fully recovered from 《Persecutory Delusion》.

Glance-

Yang Juhui glared at me.

It felt like she was asking, “Is that true?”

I felt wronged.

When I couldn’t answer, Yang Juhui snorted and said to Jeong Sojin:

“Hey, stop playing games and go to your boyfriend Kim Geonho.”

That was quite direct.

However, Jeong Sojin shouted with a very displeased tone:

“What? Why would he be my boyfriend?”

“The rumors were already out there. That you and he were… you know.”

“Flirty girls like you only have such things in your head. There’s nothing between me and Kim Geonho, okay? I wondered who was spreading such rumors, and it was you! Yang Juhui, you crazy bitch!”

Yaaak-!

Jeong Sojin suddenly went mad and lunged at Yang Juhui.

She grabbed Yang Juhui’s long hair and they became entangled. Yang Juhui, not expecting Jeong Sojin to suddenly attack, fell backward and ended up on the floor.

Girls fighting.

I thought I should stop them somehow, but it was more vicious than expected, so neither Jeongseok nor I could do anything except stand with our palms out, hesitating.

Seeing this, Kwon Sua burst into laughter.

“…No, it’s just that you two look like you’re controlling each other.”

I felt like I was going crazy in many ways.

At this point, there was nothing else to do.

“Hey! I’ll handle Yang Juhui! Jeongseok, you take your cousin Jeong Sojin! Let’s separate them quickly!”

Pat-

I hugged Yang Juhui from behind, putting my arms between her armpits and pulling her tightly.

“Hey! Let go! Let go! I’m so angry! Let me go!”

Struggle-

Yang Juhui thrashed about, swinging her long legs as if ready to lunge at Jeong Sojin again. Meanwhile, Jeong Sojin adjusted her glasses and quickly regained her composure.

“I really can’t deal with this. Me dating Kim Geonho? What nonsense. My ideal type is someone like a prince who saves me. He should also be good at studying.”

“What are you saying? People saw you kissing Kim Geonho.”

“What? Is that all? Anyone can kiss. By that logic, Jeongseok and I would be married!”

“……”

Jeongseok fell silent. He seemed flustered.

I asked Jeongseok what was going on.

“What does she mean?”

“Jeong Sojin’s family lived in Dominica when they were young. So she’s more familiar with South American culture than Korean culture, and she would casually kiss people’s cheeks or lips. We also played house a lot…”

Does she mean the Dominican Republic? Is that Latin American style?

No, that wasn’t important right now.

I just wanted to sort out this situation.

“Guys, don’t fight. And even though we’re in the faculty office, if we make too much noise, ghosts will come. It seems like we’ve finished farming, so let’s go up to the second floor.”

I collected two batteries from the faculty office.

We were lucky.

“I know the way.”

Jeong Sojin led the way to the second floor.

And so we arrived at the second floor.

Our destination is the “Science Lab.” It seemed best to avoid the music room where the long-necked Rhythm Ghost was likely to appear. We needed to move as stealthily as possible while keeping watch.

“Yeongwon, I’m scared. This is my first time on the second floor.”

Swish-

Jeong Sojin, who had been walking behind me, grabbed my waist.

I was scared too.

…Scared she might suddenly push me.

Jeong Sojin continued speaking to me:

“Yeongwon doesn’t seem scared of this second floor either. So reliable.”

I feel déjà vu from somewhere.

Perhaps because the misfortune of meeting Jeong Sojin was so great, according to the “Law of Proportional Happiness,” an equal amount of luck accompanied us. We were able to reach the science lab without encountering any ghosts.

Now we just needed to enter the science lab.

There was a dog hole in the science lab, large enough for one person to crawl through.

“I’ll go. I’ll go in and create a barrier with the magic wand, then shout for you to come in.”

Yang Juhui took a deep breath, holding the magic wand.

As we all watched her tensely, Yang Juhui crawled into the science lab.

“Now!”

Let’s go in quickly!

We all crawled into the science lab together.

Inside, Yang Juhui was panting heavily.

“Are you okay?”

“Those Mirror Ghost bastards, I chased them all away for now. Whew…”

That’s a relief.

But this science lab. It had a similar yet different structure from what we saw in the real old school building.

It was full of mirrors, which was the same.

But the floor was concrete.

“What? There should be a wooden floor with a coffin buried underneath.”

Jeongseok was confused.

He must have been planning to dig up the wooden floor to get the coffin.

But the science lab in this nightmare had cold, hard concrete.

“This can’t be…”

Jeongseok seemed confused.

We were all confused, and Kwon Sua was in panic.

“The…the mirror smiled at me! The mirror smiled! And my chest looks smaller in the mirror! This doesn’t seem like a mirror! Hik! There’s a hand behind me!”

The mirrors filling the science lab were creepy.

Due to the multiple reflections created by mirrors facing each other, this science lab had transformed into a wider and more eerie otherworldly space.

Swish-

When I looked at the mirror in front of me, I saw a hand approaching behind my reflection. Startled, I turned around, but there was nothing behind me.

“What should we do? Hey! Jeongseok! I think we should get out of here first!”

“No, it must be here. Should we dig up the concrete floor? We don’t have tools though. Somewhere here… there must be a hidden space…”

Jeongseok nervously tapped his temple with his finger. Then, as if he had realized something, he shouted:

“The mirror! The mirror is the answer! Ms. Hong Miri said it! There’s a mirror where hands come out and pull you in! It’s inside the mirror! The coffin is inside the mirror! That’s why they put mirrors in the science lab!”

The mirror is the answer?

Jeongseok’s logic was difficult for me to understand, but it seemed like he had something in mind.

“It’s one of these mirrors! One mirror is different from the others! How do we distinguish it? How… Ms. Sua, could you try to attract the attention of the mirrors!”

“How am I supposed to attract the attention of mirrors!”

Kwon Sua shouted.

Thinking it would be foolish to remain in panic, I decided to take a gamble on Jeongseok’s words.

“Sua! Just try something! Anything! You’re an idol, right?”

“Ugh…!”

Boom-chit-boom-chit-

Kwon Sua began dancing, wiggling her hips.

She danced with a face full of fear, and Yang Juhui admired the sight.

“That’s the Dorangmul dance.”

What could that be?

What mattered was that the mirrors all around, defying the laws of physics, reflected Kwon Sua’s dancing. It was like a monitor focused on the main idol.

In that situation, Jeong Sojin’s glasses gleamed.

“Oh, that mirror doesn’t reflect Kwon Sua.”

Swish-

Jeong Sojin pointed to one mirror.

Soon Jeongseok shouted:

“That’s it! Yang Juhui! Break all the other mirrors!”

“I’m not sure what I’m doing right now.”

Swish-

Yang Juhui took out gloves from her luxury bag.

It was the Destroyer’s Gloves she had prepared today.

Crash-!

—!

When Yang Juhui, wearing the gloves, punched a mirror, an ear-splitting scream was heard.

But Yang Juhui’s destructive and sadistic fists didn’t stop, and finally only one mirror remained in the science lab.

…Mirror?

Is this really a mirror?

When it was hidden among many mirrors, I couldn’t tell, but looking at it now, it wasn’t a mirror.

“This is… iron. Polished and shiny…”

It was an iron plate polished so clean that we could see our reflections clearly.

Its size and shape looked just like a coffin lid.

“The coffin we saw in the real school didn’t have a lid, right? Could this be it…?”

Kwon Sua looked like she had discovered something terrifying.

She was half crying.

So was I.

We thought it was a mirror, but it was an iron plate?

To think that the identity of the Mirror Ghost was actually the iron coffin lid believed to have contained a yin-yang master.

“Wait, there’s something written here.”

Flash-

Jeong Sojin’s glasses gleamed.