Ch.20020 – Ghost Story 2

# 020 – Ghost Stories # 2

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound grew closer and closer.

Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-.

The sound of a severed head bouncing around in search of its body followed me.

“If you tell ghost stories in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you tell ghost stories in a cemetery, ghosts will come.”

That maddening voice was also hot on my heels.

I felt like I was truly going to lose my mind.

Why do these things keep happening to me?!

What did I do wrong?!

I decided to lock myself in the library bathroom to figure out a way to deal with this situation.

Fortunately, I had my Status Window, which I could call my external CPU!

“Advice!”

Please tell me the right answer to overcome this situation!

『《The Broken Clock》’s Advice: Every event has its proper cause and effect.』

Every event has its proper cause and effect!

That made sense.

There must be some reason why I keep experiencing these terrible things!

When did all this start happening?

Come to think of it, ever since I pressed the “Old School Building Unlock” button in the shop after collecting 100 points, my daily life had been overflowing with the supernatural.

That was the problem!

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound grew closer.

Was it trying to enter the men’s bathroom in the library?

No.

I realized that the sound wasn’t coming from outside the bathroom.

The sound was coming from… above me… directly above me as I sat trembling in the bathroom stall.

“……”

Creak. Cre-creak-.

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.

Strange noises and bell sounds came from above my head.

If I looked up now, I could probably see what was above my head.

But… if I did that, I would surely die.

I’m going to die!

The blood seemed to drain from my entire body.

The feeling of blood sinking all the way to my toes and turning cold.

My body temperature must have dropped by at least 2 degrees in an instant.

“…Oh, shit.”

Slide-.

Being careful not to raise my head, I slowly stood up in a low posture.

Like a snail extending its tentacles, I very quietly and slowly reached out my hand to unlock the bathroom stall…

Click-.

Good.

Now I just need to push this open and get out…

Thud-.

At that moment, something grabbed my shoulder.

It was a touch that felt bone-chillingly cold even through my clothes.

“GYAAAAAAAH! FUCK! AAAAH! AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAH!”

When a person is truly startled, they can actually have a seizure.

That’s exactly what happened to me, and I screamed and trembled as if I was about to wet myself.

“Who are you?”

“…Pardon?”

“I asked who you are.”

“……”

…What’s going on?

I was the one who wanted to ask what was happening.

When I came to my senses, the bell sound, the bathroom, and the cold touch had all disappeared.

Instead, a woman wearing a red blouse and black dress pants with her hair tied back was frowning at me.

She was a sophisticated and pretty woman.

The scent of some unidentifiable perfume wafted strongly toward me.

“…Ms. Hong Miri?”

“Yes.”

The woman turned out to be my English teacher whom I had once had a crush on. At 27, she was incredibly young, stylish, and pretty, making her very popular among students.

“Why are you so startled? Did you have a nightmare while sleeping with your head on the desk?”

“Ah.”

“Maybe it’s because the school grounds are built on a major water vein—lots of people have nightmares or see things. Anyway, it’s time to close the library, so get going. And wipe the drool off your mouth.”

Click. Click. Click.

The English teacher disappeared into the distance, her high heels striking the hard floor.

I got up from the library desk, still feeling dazed.

Books like “Chronicles of the Supernatural” and “Ghost Stories from the Back Alleys” were messily spread out in front of me.

Drool was also running down the corner of my mouth—I must have fallen asleep.

“A dream…?”

Were the things that just happened a dream?

Which parts were dreams and which weren’t?

“……”

The time was already 8 PM.

I had no idea when I’d fallen asleep, but evening had long since passed.

“Ah, shit, no wonder I had nightmares reading books like these.”

I roughly gathered the scattered books and stuffed them into my bag.

That’s when a book titled “Easy Guide to Feng Shui” fell out from among my things.

It had a Post-it note attached with “Yu Dahui” written on it.

“What’s with the feng shui book.”

I brought it close to my nose and sniffed it—it had quite a pleasant smell.

“Did Yu Dahui give me this book…? Was it not a dream? Did she recommend it because I said I liked feng shui?”

Shiver-.

My body trembled.

I needed to pee.

No joke, my bladder was about to burst.

If I had woken up wetting my pants… how much would my English teacher have despised me? I might have had to drop out of school.

With such playful thoughts, I tried to shake off the goosebumps covering my body as I headed toward the bathroom, but for some reason, I felt uneasy about using the library bathroom.

“……”

Was it because of my experience in the nightmare?

“…I’ll just go at home.”

Slide-.

I turned around and headed home.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound started again behind me.

“Oh fuck, what is this.”

This time, it wasn’t a dream.

# # #

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound continued.

I also had the feeling that something was chasing me.

I really wanted to cry.

The only reason I hadn’t gone insane yet was because I still had about 620 unused points.

Even if just out of spite, I need to keep my sanity until I use all of these!

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound kept coming.

“Where… Where… Where… Where…”

If I listened carefully, I could hear an eerie voice that sounded like either sobbing or wailing.

I really felt like I was going to lose it.

The dark back alleys of Cheonmun-dong were unusually empty today.

I recently said I liked Gaeryong City, but I take that back.

This place was an absolute dump.

Seoul with all its crowds is definitely the best!

-Soft and tender, my heart-.

-Like clear stream water-.

-Flowing, flowing stream water-.

I called someone while paying attention to the creepy presence behind me.

“Yang Juhui. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.”

With my colleague Yang Juhui, I might somehow be able to overcome this ordeal!

The source of the bell sound was probably the Shaman Ghost.

And since Yang Juhui’s family had been shamans for generations, maybe people with shamanic spirits could fight or communicate with each other!

With such creative and baseless thoughts, I was trying to grasp at straws by calling Yang Juhui, but she didn’t answer my call.

Is she sleeping? Taking a shower?

“I’m screwed…”

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

The bell sound was getting closer and closer.

The one fortunate thing was that it wasn’t moving very fast, and I could easily outpace it with my walking speed.

But I didn’t know how long this sound would follow me.

As a human, I needed to sleep, and if the Bell Maiden caught up to me then… I didn’t want to imagine what would happen.

If this turns into a war of attrition, I might lose.

Rather than that… wouldn’t it be better to find the answer and attack from my side first?

The Broken Clock’s advice had said:

『《The Broken Clock》’s Advice: Every event has its proper cause and effect.』

If I could find out the cause or background of the Shaman Ghost, there might be information that could help me exorcise it.

And that information… would probably be in the school library.

“…Go back there?”

8 PM in the evening.

The thought of going to the dark school library alone was terrifying.

It would have been nice if Yang Juhui were with me, but she still wasn’t answering her phone.

「Can you come to the school library? I’m too scared!」

I left a message just in case.

The 1 notification hadn’t disappeared… but she’d check it eventually!

Then another contact caught my eye.

「Jeong Sojin」.

Should I call Jeong Sojin?

Jeong Sojin has the trait 《Attentiveness》.

If that applies in reality too, she might be able to effectively find the book I’m looking for in the library.

“No. I can’t.”

I changed my train of thought.

Jeong Sojin is only useful as a colleague when her own safety is guaranteed.

If she could see this ghost too… she would definitely throw me under the bus and run away!

“Ah shit…”

Life without friends is so hard.

Then a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

I could use Jeong Sojin.

Jeong Sojin would have the “Class Emergency Contact List”!

# # #

Ring-ring-ring-.

It was a standard, boring ringtone.

After about five rings, someone picked up.

—Hello.

“Hey. Vice class president. It’s Ha Yeongwon. You need to help me. Remember when I helped you? When Bong Jiyeon was beating you up. I helped you then. Now you need to help me too.”

—How did you get my number…

“I asked Jeong Sojin! That’s not important right now! Just help me! I’ll be near the school library, so come quickly! If you don’t come, I’ll tell everyone who your father is, okay?”

—……

“Please help me! Please! I’m seriously dying here! Man! Didn’t you want to help me? You even wrote a note about bullying in Class D! Didn’t you want to help me?!”

—……

“If I die today, it’s your fault! Man! You bastard! Please! Just!”

I used both pleading and threats simultaneously.

Given the situation, I couldn’t afford to be picky about methods.

“If we resolve this well, I’ll give you 100,000 won! 100,000 won! Come to the front of the school library!”

I was practically screaming when it happened.

Sigh…

After a rather deep sigh, a gruff boy’s voice spoke.

—Fine. Wait. It’ll take about 10 minutes.

Oh, shit…!

It worked! It worked!

I turned toward the school.

As they say, even a blank sheet of paper is lighter when carried by two people—even a shitty situation feels better when you’re not alone. This is why people can’t live alone.

From now on, I won’t let anyone who advocates for single life get away with it.

Community living! Helping each other!

This is what human life is really about!

“Ha Yeongwon. What’s this all about?”

When I arrived at the library, a rather stern-looking boy was standing there. I was so happy I wanted to hug him.

“Jeongseok. From now on, find all the books related to our school’s history in the library. All of them. Everything!”

“……”

Jeongseok frowned.

He looked like a stubborn guy.

“Why? What’s the reason? You’ll die if we don’t do this?”

“Ghost! There’s a ghost! A Shaman Ghost! A Shaman Ghost is chasing me! I know! It sounds like bullshit! Just help me! A Shaman Ghost is chasing me! Please…”

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-.

I deliberately ignored the approaching bell sound and appealed sincerely.

Jeongseok’s expression soured even more.

“Are you joking right now? A ghost? I wasted my time. Are you making fun of me? Even playing bell sounds?”

…Bell?

I hadn’t mentioned anything about bells to Jeongseok.

As I was starting to find this strange…

Jeongseok’s frowning expression began to change subtly.

It seemed like he had seen something over my shoulder.

“…Hey. This Shaman Ghost… what does it look like? There’s something standing on the road where cars pass by… Something is standing there and coming this way…?”

“It has thin ankles wearing white socks. It’s wearing something like a disheveled hanbok with surprisingly large breasts. The face is fucking terrifying.”

Jeongseok was smart enough to rank 5th in the school during midterms.

After hearing my explanation, he seemed to quickly understand the situation with his sharp mind.

“Ah, Ha Yeongwon, you son of a bitch.”

“You saw it. You saw it too! You’re my comrade now! My comrade!”